Public access point

摘要

The invention instantiates a Personal VLAN bridge, using IEEE Std. 802.11 elements. The result is a bridge, referred to as a public access point, that is better suited for implementing public wireless data networks than the IEEE Std. 802.11 architecture. The invention also provides a location-update protocol for updating the forwarding tables of bridges that connect public access points together. The invention further provides a method for more controlled bridging, which is referred to as fine bridging.

主权项

1. A fine bridging method for a wireless network, comprising steps of:
decoupling identification of a broadcast or multicast domain with a Basic Service Set (BSS); determining bridging behavior of an access point (AP) by a policy expressed as a directed graph, wherein for a given policy, a broadcast domain for a node is itself and all nodes it must access, wherein said broadcast domain set of said policy is a set of broadcast domains for its nodes, and wherein nodes of said graph are stations and there is an edge from a first station to a second station if and only if said first station must be able to communicate with, or access said second station, such that said second station must be able to receive directed or group frames from said first station; and providing a group security association per broadcast domain.