EP1573927A2 - Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil - Google Patents

Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil

Info

Publication number
EP1573927A2
EP1573927A2 EP03752165A EP03752165A EP1573927A2 EP 1573927 A2 EP1573927 A2 EP 1573927A2 EP 03752165 A EP03752165 A EP 03752165A EP 03752165 A EP03752165 A EP 03752165A EP 1573927 A2 EP1573927 A2 EP 1573927A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
switch
messaging protocol
bandwidth
message
access point
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP03752165A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP1573927A4 (fr
Inventor
Ed H. Frank
Richard Martin
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Broadcom Corp
Original Assignee
Broadcom Corp
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Broadcom Corp filed Critical Broadcom Corp
Publication of EP1573927A2 publication Critical patent/EP1573927A2/fr
Publication of EP1573927A4 publication Critical patent/EP1573927A4/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
    • H04L47/12—Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
    • H04L47/125—Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/08—Configuration management of networks or network elements
    • H04L41/0896—Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities
    • H04L41/0897—Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
    • H04L47/24—Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/76—Admission control; Resource allocation using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions
    • H04L47/765—Admission control; Resource allocation using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions triggered by the end-points
    • H04L47/767—Admission control; Resource allocation using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions triggered by the end-points after changing the attachment point, e.g. after hand-off
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/78—Architectures of resource allocation
    • H04L47/781—Centralised allocation of resources
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/78—Architectures of resource allocation
    • H04L47/783—Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers
    • H04L47/785—Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers among multiple network domains, e.g. multilateral agreements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/80—Actions related to the user profile or the type of traffic
    • H04L47/805—QOS or priority aware
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/82—Miscellaneous aspects
    • H04L47/822—Collecting or measuring resource availability data
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/70—Admission control; Resource allocation
    • H04L47/82—Miscellaneous aspects
    • H04L47/824—Applicable to portable or mobile terminals
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L49/00—Packet switching elements
    • H04L49/35—Switches specially adapted for specific applications
    • H04L49/351—Switches specially adapted for specific applications for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
    • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
    • H04L63/10—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for controlling access to devices or network resources
    • H04L63/101—Access control lists [ACL]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/14—Session management
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50—Network services
    • H04L67/52—Network services specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
    • H04L67/50—Network services
    • H04L67/60—Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources
    • H04L67/63—Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
    • H04L69/324—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the data link layer [OSI layer 2], e.g. HDLC
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/40—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/14—Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks
    • H04W16/16—Spectrum sharing arrangements between different networks for PBS [Private Base Station] arrangements
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W28/00—Network traffic management; Network resource management
    • H04W28/02—Traffic management, e.g. flow control or congestion control
    • H04W28/08—Load balancing or load distribution
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W28/00—Network traffic management; Network resource management
    • H04W28/16—Central resource management; Negotiation of resources or communication parameters, e.g. negotiating bandwidth or QoS [Quality of Service]
    • H04W28/18—Negotiating wireless communication parameters
    • H04W28/20—Negotiating bandwidth
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L1/00—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received
    • H04L1/12—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel
    • H04L1/16—Arrangements for detecting or preventing errors in the information received by using return channel in which the return channel carries supervisory signals, e.g. repetition request signals
    • H04L1/1607—Details of the supervisory signal
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L49/00—Packet switching elements
    • H04L49/20—Support for services
    • H04L49/205—Quality of Service based
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/14—Multichannel or multilink protocols
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/18—Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L69/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
    • H04L69/30—Definitions, standards or architectural aspects of layered protocol stacks
    • H04L69/32—Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
    • H04L69/322—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions
    • H04L69/329—Intralayer communication protocols among peer entities or protocol data unit [PDU] definitions in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Definitions

  • Embodiments of the present application relate generally to local area networks, and more particularly to a switching system and method for providing bandwidth management in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network (WLAN).
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • FIG. 1a is a block diagram 100 of the OSI model.
  • the OSI model has seven distinct functional layers including layer 7, an application layer 114; layer 6, a presentation layer 112; layer 5, a session layer 110; layer 4, a transport layer
  • the physical layer 102 may further include a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) sublayer 102b and a physical media dependent sublayer 102a.
  • the data link layer 104 may also include a Medium access control (MAC) layer 104a.
  • MAC Medium access control
  • each OSI layer describes certain tasks which are necessary for facilitating the transfer of information through interfacing layers and ultimately through the network. Notwithstanding, the OSI model does not describe any particular implementation of the various layers.
  • OSI layers 1 to 4 generally handle network control and data transmission and reception, generally referred to as end-to-end network services. Layers 5 to 7 handle application issues, generally referred to as application services. Specific functions of each layer may vary depending on factors such as protocol and/or interface requirements or specifications that are necessary for implementation of a particular layer.
  • the Ethernet protocol may provide collision detection and carrier sensing in the physical layer.
  • Layer 1 the physical layer 102, is responsible for handling all electrical, optical, opto- electrical and mechanical requirements for interfacing to the communication media.
  • the physical layer 102 may facilitate the transfer of electrical signals representing an information bitstream.
  • the physical layer 102 may also provide services such as, encoding, decoding, synchronization, clock data recovery, and transmission and reception of bit streams.
  • the PLCP layer 102b may be configured to adapt and map services provided by the physical layer 102 to the functions provided by the device specific PMD sublayer 102a. Specifically, the PLCP layer 102b may be adapted to map PHY sublayer service data units (PDSUs) into a suitable packet and/or framing format necessary for providing communication services between two or more entities communicating via the physical medium.
  • the PMD layer 102a specifies the actual methodology and/or protocols which may be used for receiving and transmitting via the physical medium.
  • the MAC sublayer 104a may be adapted to provide, for example, any necessary drivers which may be utilized to access the functions and services provided by the PLCP sublayer 102b. Accordingly, higher layer services may be adapted to utilize the services provided by the MAC sublayer 104a with little or no dependence on the PMD sublayer 102a.
  • the 802.11 is a suite of specifications promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which provide communication standards for the MAC and physical (PHY) layer of the OSI model.
  • IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
  • the 801.11 standard also provides communication standards for wired and wireless local area networks (WLANs). More specifically, the 802.11 standard specifies five (5) types of physical layers for WLANs. These include, frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS), direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS), infrared (IR) communication, high rate direct sequence spread spectrum spread spectrum (HR-DSS) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM).
  • FHSS frequency hopping spread spectrum
  • DSSS direct sequence spread spectrum
  • IR infrared
  • HR-DSS high rate direct sequence spread spectrum spread spectrum
  • OFDM orthogonal frequency division multiplexing
  • the 802.11 standard also provides a PLCP frame format for each of the specified PHY layers.
  • Ethernet speeds being increased from about 1-2 megabit per second (Mbps), to 10 Mbps, to 100 Mbps, to 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) to 10 Gbps.
  • the 802.11g standard for example, provides a maximum data rate of about 54 Mbps at a transmitter/receiver range of 19 meters (m) in a frequency range of 2.4 GHz to 2.4835 GHz.
  • the 802.11b standard for example, provides a maximum data rate of about 11
  • the 802.11a standard for example, may be adapted to provide a maximum data rate of about 54 Mbps at a transmitter/receiver range of 12 meters (m) in a 300 MHz segmented bandwidth ranging from 5.150 GHz to 5.350 GHz and from 5.725 GHz to
  • the 802.11 standard forms the basis of the other standards in the suite of specifications, and the 802.11b, 802.11a and 802.11g standards provide various enhancements and new features to their predecessor standards. Notwithstanding, there are certain elementary building blocks that are common to all the standards in the suite of specifications. For example, all the standards in the suite of specifications utilize the Ethernet protocol and utilize carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA CA).
  • CSMA CA carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance
  • CSMA/CA utilizes a simple negotiation scheme to permit access to a communication medium. If a transmitting entity wishes to transmit information to a receiving entity, the transmitting entity may sense the communication medium for communication traffic. In a case where the communication medium is busy, the transmitting entity may desist from making a transmission and attempt transmission at a subsequent time. In a case where the communication transmission is not busy, then the transmitting entity may send information over the communication medium. Notwithstanding, there may be a case where two or more transmission entities sense that the communication medium is not busy and attempt transmission at the same instant. To avoid collisions and retransmissions, a CSMA/OA or ready to send (RTS) and clear to send (CTS) messaging scheme may be employed, for example.
  • RTS ready to send
  • CTS clear to send
  • the transmitting device may send a ready to send message to one or more receiving device. Subsequent to the receipt of the ready to send message, the receiving device may send a clear to send message. Upon receipt of the clear to send message by the transmitting device, the transmitting device may initiate transfer of data to the receiving device. Upon receiving packets or frames from the transmitting device, the receiving device may acknowledge the received frames.
  • the 802.11b standard commonly called Wi-Fi, which represents wireless fidelity, is backward compatible with its predecessor standard 802.11.
  • 802.11 utilizes one of two modulation formats including direct sequence spread spectrum (DSS) using differential binary phase shift keying and frequency hopping spread spectrum (11 -bit Barker sequence), 802.11b utilizes a higher data rate form of DSS called complementary code keying (CCK).
  • DSS direct sequence spread spectrum
  • CCK complementary code keying
  • CCK permits higher data rate and particularly less susceptible to interference effects such as multipath-propagation interference, the PSK.
  • 802.11a utilizes orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation/encoding scheme, which provides a maximum data rate 54 Mbps.
  • OFDM orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing
  • Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing is a digital modulation technique which splits a signal into several narrowband channels, with each channel having a different frequency. Each narrowband channel is arranged so as to minimize the effects of crosstalk between the channels and symbols in the data stream.
  • 802.11a equipment Since equipment designed to provide support for 802.11a operates at frequencies in the ranges 5.150 GHz to 5.350 GHz and from 5.725 GHz to 5.825 GHz, 802.11a equipment will not interoperate with equipment designed to operate with the 802.11b standard which defines operation in the 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz frequency band.
  • 802.11g standard was developed as an extension to 802.11b standard.
  • the 802.11g standard may utilize a similar OFDM modulation scheme as the 802.11a standard and delivers speeds comparable with the 802.11a standard.
  • 802.11g compatible equipment operates in the same portion of the electromagnetic spectrum as 802.11b compatible equipment, 802.11g is backwards compatible with existing 802.11b WLAN infrastructures. Due to backward compatibility of 802.11g with 802.11 b, it would be desirable to have an 802.11 b compliant radio card capable of interfacing directly with an 802.11g compliant access point and also an 802.11g compliant radio card capable of interfacing directly with an 802.11b compliant access point. Furthermore although 802.11g compatible equipment operates in the
  • a typical transmitted signal utilizes a bandwidth of approximately 22 MHz, about a third or 30% of the total allocated bandwidth. This limits the number of non-overlapping channels utilized by an 802.11g access point to three (3).
  • 802.11 b A similar scenario exists with 802.11 b. Accordingly, many of the channel assignment and frequency reuse schemes associated with the 802.11b standard may be inherent in the 802.11g.
  • RF interference may pose additional operational problems with 802.11b and 802.11g equipment designed to operate in the 2.4 GHz portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.
  • the 2.4 GHz portion of the spectrum is an unlicensed region which has been utilized for some time and is crowded with potential interfering devices. Some of these devices include cordless telephone, microwave ovens, intercom systems and baby monitors. Other potential interfering devices may be Bluetooth devices. Accordingly, interference poses interference problems with the 802.11b and 802.11g standards.
  • 802.11a compatible equipment utilizes eight non-overlapping channels, as compared to three non-overlapping channels utilized by 802.11b.
  • 802.11a access points may be deployed in a more dense manner than, for example 802.11 b compatible equipment. For example, up to twelve access points each having a different assigned frequency may be deployed in a given area without causing co-channel interference. Consequently, 802.11a may be particularly useful in overcoming some of the problems associated with channel assignment, especially in areas that may have a dense user population and where increased throughput may be critical. Notwithstanding, the higher operating frequency of 802.11a causes more attenuation resulting in a shorter operating range at a given data rate. This may significantly increase deployment cost since a larger number of access points are required to service a given service area.
  • a method for bandwidth management in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network may include receiving from a first access point and/or a first switch, a first messaging protocol message for establishing a communication session. Responsive to the first messaging protocol message, determining an available communication bandwidth for at least a portion of the hybrid wired/wireless local area network and allocating bandwidth to accommodate the communication session. The first access point may be notified of the allocation of bandwidth using a second messaging protocol message. The first messaging protocol message may be received by a second switch and/or a second access point. Bandwidth usage information may be requested from the first access point and/or the first switch using the first messaging protocol message.
  • the allocated bandwidth may be de-allocated using a third messaging protocol message upon termination of the established communication session.
  • the third messaging protocol message may be sent from the second switch and/or the second access point to the first switch and/or the first access point.
  • Bandwidth information may be received from at least one of a quality of service management process, a load balancing management process, a session control process, and a network management process using a fourth messaging protocol message.
  • the bandwidth information may be requested from any one or more of the quality of service management process, the load balancing management process, the session control process, and the network management process using a fifth messaging protocol message.
  • the first, second, third, fourth and fifth messaging protocol messages may be at least one of an access point status message, access point configuration message, a switch status message, a switch configuration message, a client status message and a device discovery message.
  • Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having at least one code section for providing bandwidth management for a switch in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network, where the at least one code section is executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps described above.
  • Another embodiment of the invention may provide a system for bandwidth management in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network.
  • the system may include a receiver adapted to receive from a first access point and/or a first switch, a first messaging protocol message for establishing a communication session.
  • One or more controllers may be adapted to determine an available communication bandwidth for at least a portion of the hybrid wired/wireless local area network. At least one of the controllers may determine the available bandwidth in response to the first messaging protocol message. Additionally, at least one of the controllers may be adapted to allocate bandwidth to accommodate the communication session and/or notify the access point of the allocated bandwidth using a second messaging protocol message.
  • the receiver may be further adapted to receive the first messaging protocol message by the second switch and/or a second access point.
  • At least one of the controllers may be adapted to request bandwidth usage information from the first access point and/or the first switch using a first messaging protocol message.
  • One or more of the controllers may be adapted to de-allocate the allocated bandwidth using a third messaging protocol message subsequent to termination of the established communication session.
  • the third messaging protocol message may be sent from the second switch and/or the second access point to at least one of the first switch and the first access point by one or more of the controllers.
  • the receiver may be adapted to receive bandwidth information from any one or more of a quality of service management process, a load balancing management process, a session control process, and a network management process using a fourth messaging protocol message.
  • At least one controller may be adapted to request the bandwidth information from the quality of service management process, the load balancing management process, the session control process, and the network management process using a fifth messaging protocol message.
  • the first, second, third, fourth and fifth messaging protocol messages may be any one or more of an access point status message, access point configuration message, a switch status message, a switch configuration message, a client status message and a device discovery message.
  • The may be a bandwidth management controller, a quality of service controller at least one controller, a load balancing controller a session controller and a network management controller.
  • FIG. 1a is a block diagram of the OSI model.
  • FIG. 1b is a block diagram illustrating a general PLCP frame as defined by 802.11.
  • FIG. 1c is a block diagram illustrating a PLCP frame utilized by frequency hopping spread spectrum as defined by 802.11.
  • FIG. 1d is a block diagram illustrating a PLCP frame for direct sequence spread spectrum and high rate direct sequence spread spectrum as defined by 802.11.
  • FIG. 1e is a block diagram illustrating a PLCP frame for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing as defined by 802.11.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for network management in a wireless local area network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary Enterprise Wireless LAN having switches serving as the edge managers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an exemplary switch as illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 in accordance with an aspect of the invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary switching system for bandwidth management in a wireless local area network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an exemplary session control process as described in FIG. 8 that may be utilized by the switching system for bandwidth management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an exemplary load balancing process as described in FIG. 8 that may be utilized by the switching system for bandwidth management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an exemplary QoS enabling process as described in FIG. 8 that may be utilized by the switching system for bandwidth management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a method for bandwidth management in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network may include receiving from a first access point and/or a first switch, a first messaging protocol message for establishing a communication session. Responsive to the first messaging protocol message, an available communication bandwidth is determined for at least a portion of the hybrid wired/wireless local area network and bandwidth is allocated to accommodate the communication session. The first access point may be notified of the allocation of bandwidth using a second messaging protocol message. The first messaging protocol message may be received by a second switch and/or a second access point. Bandwidth usage information may be requested from the first access point and/or the first switch using the first messaging protocol message.
  • FIG. 1b is a block diagram 120 illustrating a general PLCP frame as defined by 802.11.
  • preamble 122 may include synchronization (SYNC) data 122a and synchronization delimiter 122b.
  • the PLCP header 124 may include, for example PLCP signal field (PSF) 124a, service data 124b, length 124c and other fields.
  • the preamble 122 may be dependent on the PHY.
  • the SYNC data 122a may include a unique bit stream that may be adapted to signal timing parameters such as the start of a frame.
  • the SYNC data 122a is used for bit synchronization and demodulation.
  • the SYNC delimiter 122b provides frame timing information and may be adapted to delimit the end of synchronization information.
  • the PLCP header 124 may be adapted to contain information used for decoding the frame.
  • the PSF 124a may be adapted to include communication data rate information.
  • the service data 124b is generally reserved, but may be utilized to provide application specific functionality.
  • the length 124c may be adapted to indicate the length of the MAC data 126. In this regard, the length 124c may be expressed in terms of the time required to transmit the MAC data 126.
  • FIG. 1c is a block diagram 130 illustrating a PLCP frame utilized by frequency hopping spread spectrum as defined by 802.11. Referring to FIG. 1c, there is shown a SYNC data 132, PLCP header 134 and PSDU 136. The
  • PLCP header 134 may include, for example, PSDU length word (PLW) 134a, PLCP signaling field (PSF) 134b, header error check field or CRC 134c and other fields.
  • PSDU length word PLW
  • PSF PLCP signaling field
  • CRC header error check field
  • the PLW 134a may specify the number of octets contained in the PSDU 136.
  • the PSF 134 be may be 4-bits in length and may be used to denote the communication data rate.
  • FIG. 1d is a block diagram 140 illustrating a PLCP frame for direct sequence spread spectrum and high rate direct sequence spread spectrum (HR-DSS) as defined by 802.11.
  • preamble 142 may include synchronization (SYNC) data 142a and synchronization delimiter 142b.
  • SYNC synchronization
  • PLCP header 144 may include PLCP signal field (PSF) 144a, service data 144b, length 144c, and CRC field 144d.
  • the SYNC data 142a may be 128 bits as compared to 8 bits for SYNC data 132a for frequency hopping spread spectrum.
  • the CRC 144d is 16 bits, which is similar to CRC 134c for frequency hopping spread spectrum.
  • FIG. 1e is a block diagram 150 illustrating a PLCP frame for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing as defined by 802.11.
  • preamble 152 may include synchronization (SYNC) data 152a and synchronization delimiter 152b.
  • the PLCP header 154 may include length
  • the length 154a is a 12-bit field that may be adapted to indicate the length of the frame.
  • the PSF 154b is a 4-bit field that may indicate a modulation scheme utilized and its associated coding rate of the PSDU. For example, the specification utilizes binary 1011 to represent 6
  • the reserved field 154c is a 1 bit field that is reserved for future use and may be adapted for application specific use.
  • the parity field 154d may indicate odd or even parity.
  • the tail field 154e is a 6-bit field.
  • the service field 154f is a 16-bit field that may be adapted to indicate the type of service.
  • a switch is provided to facilitate communication between one or more of a plurality of access devices and/or access points, and/or other switches.
  • the switch may utilize a messaging protocol, which may be adapted to facilitate tasks such as, switch filter transfer, bandwidth management, session control and management, load balancing and/or QoS control and management.
  • the switch in accordance with an aspect of the invention, may be configured to perform bandwidth management for a wired and/or a wireless portion of the network.
  • the task of bandwidth management may involve performing one or more activities including, but not limited to, allocating and de-allocating bandwidth, implementing policies, tracking bandwidth usage and adapting bandwidth allocation to meet user demands and system capability.
  • the management of these activities may be directly or indirectly related to providing mobility and operability throughout a wired or wireless LAN, or a hybrid combination thereof.
  • FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary system for network management in a wireless local area network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the first networking domain 214 may include a switch 202, and access points 204, 206, 208, 210, 212. Each of access points 204, 206, 208, 210, 212 may be coupled to the switch 202.
  • the second networking domain 234 may include a switch 222, and access points 224, 226, 228, 230, 232. Each of access points 224, 226, 208, 230, 232 may be coupled to the switch 222.
  • Switch 222 may be coupled to switch 202 through any one or more of a wired and a wireless medium. Although not shown, at least some of the access points in any one of the networking domains 214, 234 may be coupled to each other.
  • networking domains 214 and 234 are illustrated as separate networking entities, the invention is not so limited. Accordingly, the networking domain 214, 234 may be part of a single networking entity, but may represent separate security domains within the single networking entity.
  • any one or more of the switches 202, 222 may be adapted to send network management related information and parameters to any one or more of the access points in any one or more of the networking domains 214, 234.
  • switch for example, switch
  • switch 202 may be adapted to communicate bandwidth information to access point 206.
  • switch 202 may be adapted to send network management related information to any one or more of access points 204, 208, 210, 214.
  • switch 222 may be adapted to communicate network management related information to any one or more of access points 224, 226, 228, 230,
  • the bandwidth information and/or network management related information may be used by an access point to efficiently allocate and/or deallocate bandwidth for associating and/or dissociating access devices.
  • the switches 202, 222 may be adapted to provide, for example, certain QoS management activities to the access points using for example a messaging protocol. Accordingly, some activities such as bandwidth policing, bandwidth management, load balancing, roaming and handover may be handled by coordinating one or more switches and one or more access points utilizing, for example, the messaging protocol. Notwithstanding, a switch for example, switch 222, may be configured to establish rules that may be adapted by the access points 224, 226, 228, 230,
  • the rules may be propagated from the switches 222, 202 to the access points 204, 208, 210, 214, 224, 226, 228, 230, 232 using, for example, the messaging protocol.
  • Prioritization and processing may be based on acceptable levels of latency and bandwidth availability. For example, an IP telephone call may be assigned highest queuing and processing priority in order to minimize latency.
  • Policing for example, may include performing activities which may limit and control the usage of available bandwidth by a particular access device or a type of access device. These and other tasks may be controlled by the switch using the messaging protocol. Although activities such as policing and QoS management may be conducted independently of the bandwidth management, in accordance with an aspect of the invention, QoS management related information may be utilized for bandwidth management.
  • any one or more of the access points in any one or more of the networking domains may be adapted to acquire various bandwidth related information and parameters and communicate the bandwidth related information to one or more of the switches 202, 222.
  • access point 206 may be adapted to acquire various bandwidth related information and communicate the acquired information back to the switch 202.
  • any one or more of access points 204, 208, 210, 214 may acquire various bandwidth related information and parameters and communicate the acquired information to switch 202.
  • any one or more of access points 224, 226, 228, 230, 232 may acquire various bandwidth related information and parameters and communicate the acquired information to the switch 202 through switch 222.
  • This may be particularly useful in, for example, a roaming scenario or handoff scenario. In both the roaming and handoff scenarios where a particular access device is roaming or being handed off from networking domain 234 to networking domain 214, it may be advantageous to acquire bandwidth related information pertaining to networking domain 214 before permitting an access device to acquire service from networking domain 214.
  • switch 222 may initiate a query requesting bandwidth related information from switch 202.
  • switch 214 may request bandwidth related information from any one or more of access points 204, 206, 208, 210, 212.
  • switch 202 may communicate the information to the switch 222. Accordingly, the switch 222 may decide whether to handoff or permit roaming depending on the bandwidth related information received from the switch 202.
  • a switch may be adapted to force an access device to roam. For example, in a case where the switch determines that there may be insufficient bandwidth or channel capacity, then the switch may be adapted to dynamically force existing and/or new incoming access devices to roam. In one aspect of the invention, a list of devices which have been forced to roam may be maintained. Accordingly, if a switch determines that there is sufficient channel capacity available, then the switch may be adapted to signal or notify devices on the list to reattempt establishment of service and permit access to the service provided by the network.
  • any one or more of the switches 202, 222 may be adapted to determine the total available bandwidth for any one or more of a plurality of access points and/or switches. Accordingly, the switches 202 and/or 222 may provide channel/frequency management and quality of service QoS management in order to optimize bandwidth utilization for a plurality of access devices.
  • an access prioritization scheme may be adapted and enforced by, for example, any one or more of the switches 202, 222.
  • the prioritization scheme may include, establishing a priority for all network traffic, honoring prioritized traffic from all clients, and/or honoring prioritized traffic from some select clients such as trusted clients.
  • the switches 202, 222 may be adapted to provide certain QoS management activities to the access points. Accordingly, some activities such as bandwidth policing, bandwidth management, packet prioritization and processing, and service type queuing may be handled by an access point.
  • a switch may be adapted to establish rules that may be utilized by the access points in carrying out these activities.
  • Prioritization and processing may be based on acceptable levels of latency and bandwidth availability. For example, an IP telephone call may be assigned highest queuing and processing priority in order to minimize latency. Policing, for example, may include tasks which limit and control the usage of available bandwidth by a particular access device or a type of access device.
  • the switch may utilize the messaging protocol (MP) to provide enhanced communication services to one or more of a plurality of access devices or mobile stations in, for example, an enterprise Wireless LAN (WLAN).
  • MP messaging protocol
  • the enhanced communication in addition to ordinary WLAN device communication such as authentication, authorization, key exchanges, beacon broadcast, etc., may provide additional features not provided by a WLAN to its clients. These additional features may include, but are not limited to, bandwidth management, access control, load balancing, network management and quality of service.
  • other enterprise WLAN devices that may utilize messaging protocol message transactions may include but are not limited to, wireless access points, enterprise switches and wireless stations. These devices may be messaging protocol enabled in certain instances.
  • an exemplary WLAN Architecture may be provided.
  • the wireless devices may be located at the edge of the network.
  • the wireless devices may be connected or coupled to the enterprise network via the one or more access points, which in turn may be the edge devices of, for example, a wired LAN.
  • the access points may be connected to the LAN via switches.
  • These switches which may be called wireless LAN switches, and in certain instances, may not only perform Layer 2 switching, but may be adapted to function as a wireless edge manager. They may also provide additional functionalities such as bandwidth management, access control, firewall functions, traffic privacy and quality of service (QoS), network management, and load balancing.
  • QoS quality of service
  • FIG. 3 is a block diagram 300 of an exemplary Enterprise Wireless LAN having switches serving as the edge managers in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a local area network (LAN) 302 authentication server 304
  • switches 306, 308 access points (APs) 310, 312, 314, 316, 318, 320 and access devices 322, 324, 326, 328, 330, 332, 334, 336, 338.
  • LAN local area network
  • APs access points
  • the invention may be applicable to a wired LAN, a wireless LAN and any combination thereof.
  • FIG. 4 is a block diagram 400 of an exemplary switch 402 as illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG.
  • switch 402 may include a processor 410, transmitter 404, receiver 406, generator 408 and controller 412.
  • the controller 412 may include bandwidth controller 422, QoS controller 414, load balancing controller 416, session controller 418 and network management controller 420.
  • the transmitter 404, receiver 406, generator 408 and the components of the controller 412, namely QoS controller 414, load balancing controller 416, session controller 418 and network management controller 420, may be variously coupled to processor 410.
  • the components of switch 402 may include suitable circuitry and/or software capable of implementing the various functions, including but not limited to, bandwidth management, QoS management, load balancing, session management and control, and network management. Notwithstanding, although the components of the switch 402 are individually shown, the invention is not limited in this regard.
  • the generator function 408 may be implemented solely by the processor 422.
  • any one or more of the bandwidth management, QoS management, load balancing, session management and control, and network management may be integrated and with suitable logic and/or software, may be executed by the processor 410.
  • the transmitter 404 may be adapted to send a first messaging protocol message between a first switch and a first access point.
  • the receiver 406 may be adapted to receive a second messaging protocol message from the first access point and the first switch. In response to the transmittal of the first messaging protocol message, a second messaging protocol message may be received.
  • the controller 412 may be adapted to allocate bandwidth for one or more devices using any one or more of the first second and/or third messaging protocol messages. These devices may include but are not limited to the first switch, a second switch, the first access point, the second access point, and one or more access devices.
  • the generator 408 may be adapted to generate the first messaging protocol message by the first switch.
  • the receiver 406 may be adapted to receive the second messaging protocol message from a second switch.
  • the processor 410 may be adapted to control the transmitter 404, the receiver 406, the controller 412 and the generator 408.
  • the processor 410 may utilize one or more messaging protocol messages to control transmitter 404, receiver 406, generator 408, bandwidth controller 422, QoS controller 414, load balancing controller 416, session controller 418 and network management controller 420.
  • the switch may be adapted to facilitate bandwidth management by utilizing a messaging protocol.
  • the messaging protocol may utilize one or more protocols associated with a device communication protocol (DCP) umbrella (DCPU).
  • DCP device communication protocol
  • the messaging protocol utilized by the switch may be adapted to run over the transmission control protocol (TCP) or user datagram protocol (UDP) using for example, a well-known port number specified under the framework of the device communication protocol.
  • TCP transmission control protocol
  • UDP user datagram protocol
  • Under the DCP umbrella there may be several sub-protocols defined for the purpose of facilitating interoperability with other products. Some of these products may include but are not limited to, cable modems and cable modem termination systems (CMTS) equipment.
  • CMTS cable modems and cable modem termination systems
  • the messaging protocol utilized by the switch may be adapted to include the necessary protocols under DCP to facilitate communication for wired and/or
  • the switch may utilize the messaging protocol to facilitate bandwidth management between various wireless networking devices and/or clients, and to facilitate bandwidth management the devices and/or clients.
  • one or more of WLAN switches 306, 308 may be adapted to utilize the messaging protocol to facilitate communication with one or more of the access points 310, 312, 314, 316, 318, 320 of FIG. 3.
  • Information exchanged between these two devices may include, but is not limited to, control, configuration and status information of the devices and also client session information. At least some of this information may be used for bandwidth management.
  • the control information may include, for example, signaling information that may be communicated in-band or out-of-band.
  • the switch may utilize the messaging protocol, which may include a plurality of message types.
  • the switch may utilize a messaging protocol that may include, for example, six (6) categories of messages or message types. Notwithstanding, the invention is not so limited. These messages and their usage may be illustrated as follows:
  • AP_Status from AP to Switch or AP
  • An AP_Status message may be used to indicate, for example, an access point capacity, bandwidth allocation, the number of attached clients, signal strength, power levels, etc.
  • An AP_Config message may be used to configure an access point to accommodate a client. This may include but is not limited to, 802.11e QoS, security information, etc.
  • Switch_Status From Switch to Switch
  • Switch_Status message may be used to indicate a switch's association with one or more clients. This may include but is not limited to, client session information, access control, QoS parameters, etc.
  • Switch_Config from Switch to Switch
  • a Switch_Config message may be used to configure a switch such as a WLAN Switch to accommodate a client.
  • The may include but is not limited to, access control, QoS configuration, etc.
  • Client_Status from AP to Switch
  • a Client_Status message may be used to indicate a client's information. This may include but is not limited to, client identification, associated MAC address, session status, connecting location, etc.
  • the Device_Discovery message may be used by a switch and/or a server to discover clients or by client to discover servers.
  • the message may be broadcast to some or all devices in the subnet to draw responses from the intended devices.
  • the message may include, for example four (4) message subtypes — .request, .data, .alert, and .ack.
  • a message type/subtype pair of .request and .data may represent the request of data and a corresponding response of data itself.
  • the subtype pair of .alert and .ack may represent the voluntary transmission of data and its acknowledgement. Additionally, there may be two conventions utilized in a message exchange sequence.
  • a message exchange sequence starts with a request (.req)
  • it may be followed by a reactive transmission of data (.data).
  • a message exchange sequence starts with a proactive transmission of data (.alert)
  • it is followed by an acknowledgement (.ack).
  • one or more message types and/or subtype may be used to facilitate bandwidth management.
  • the switch may include a- network management controller that may be configured for network management and may provide valuable information that may be utilized for bandwidth management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the switch may be adapted to utilize, for example, the messaging protocol to transfer networking monitoring and/or status messages such as SNMP and RMON statistics from an old attachment or connection point to a new connection point.
  • the switch may be configured to use the messaging protocol to enable location-specific management of at least certain clients and/or network devices.
  • the switch may send client association information to a central management entity which may be aware of the location of the various access points and/or switches in the network.
  • This information may be disseminated to, for example a bandwidth controller, a QoS controller and/or a load balancing controller. Accordingly, a decision may subsequently be made to determine whether to allow or disallow access from certain locations in order to maximize bandwidth usage, balance a load within the network and/or provide a specified QoS. For example, information pertaining to at least some detected clients may be transferred to the switch. Accordingly, a load balancing manager and/or controller located in the switch may use this information to achieve efficient load balancing.
  • the load balancing controller may include suitable circuitry and/or software that may be adapted to receive and assess various client information and effectuate an efficient load balancing.
  • Parameters such as signal strength, access level and device type, may be indicative of the information that may be used to effectuate efficient load balancing.
  • Client association/dissociation information may be communicated between the load balancing manager and one or more access points and/or switches. Once the load-balancing manager determines an optimal load configuration, new client and/or access point association information may be passed to the various access points in the network using messaging protocol messages.
  • the switch may include a QoS controller that may be configured to utilize the messaging protocol to transfer QoS parameters from an original switch port to a new switch port, in order to facilitate roaming.
  • One or more switches in the network may be adapted to facilitate roaming between various access points located in the same network or between different networks. This may affect the QoS handling of, for example, downstream traffic destined for the roaming client or access device.
  • a switch may be adapted to utilize one or more messaging protocol messages to automatically transfer various pertinent network management parameters between access points and or other switches. This centralized may eliminate a need for a distributed management interface, thereby providing a more robust communication system.
  • a switch may be adapted to utilize the messaging protocol to transfer QoS parameters from an old access point to a new access point. This may affect upstream traffic from the client to an access point.
  • the switch may utilize one or more messaging protocol messages to transfer QoS parameters from the old access point to the new access point. Since this handling of QoS parameters may be similar to the handling of client traffic, the messaging protocol may be used to provide seamless roaming.
  • FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of an exemplary switching system for bandwidth management in a wireless local area network in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • the CPU block 502 may include a bandwidth management controller block 520, a quality of service (QoS) controller block 506, a load balancing controller block 508, a session controller block 510 and a network management control block 512.
  • the switching fabric block 504 may include a filtering engine block 514.
  • the CPU block 502 may be adapted to interface with the switching fabric block 504.
  • One or more of the QoS controller block 506, load balancing controller block 508, session controller block 510 and network management control block 512 may interface directly with the filtering engine block 514.
  • selected signaling packets may be communicated from the switching fabric block 504 to one or more of the bandwidth management controller block 520, QoS controller block 506, load balancing controller block 508, session controller block 510 and network management control block 512.
  • Messaging protocol messages may be used to facilitate communication between the switching fabric block 504 and one or more of the bandwidth management controller block 520, QoS controller block 506, load balancing controller block 508, session controller block 510 and network management control block 512.
  • the selected signaling packets may include, but are not limited to, VoIP packets, and streaming media packets including voice, video and data.
  • the filtering engine block 514 may be adapted to filter information received from one or more of the bandwidth management controller block
  • the filtering engine block 514 may be adapted to filter messaging protocol messages used to control switching functions, network traffic statistics messages, layer two (2) address update messages, and filter update messages.
  • the filter update messages may include, but are not limited to, bandwidth management messages, access control messages, QoS messages and load balancing messages.
  • the switching system for network management may include a session control process that may be adapted to manage and control at least one client database and session information for some or all active clients.
  • the switching system for network management may be adapted to provide session management information that may be utilized for bandwidth management.
  • the session control process may be configured to enforce access control based on, for example, a client session, a subnet, a network management application, and switch ports. Access control may be used to facilitate, for example, bandwidth management and load balancing in at least a portion of the network.
  • the session control process may also control and manage switching intelligence and to determine bandwidth availability in order to facilitate roaming.
  • FIG. 6 is a block diagram 600 of an exemplary session control process as described in FIG. 5 that may be utilized by the switching system for bandwidth management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a session control process 602 having a client database 604, an access control list (ACL) database 606, a session control manager 608 and a VoIP enabler 610.
  • ACL access control list
  • One or more interfaces may be adapted to provide communication between session manager 608 and the client database 604 and the ACL database 606.
  • the session manager 608 may include at least one interface that may be adapted to facilitate communication with the VoIP enabler 610.
  • the session control manager 608 may be adapted to process, for example, messaging protocol messages, layer two (2) updates, and filter updates.
  • the session control manager 608 may be adapted to receive information from one or more of client database 604 and ACL database 606.
  • the VoIP enabler 610 may be adapted to process VoIP signaling packets. VoIP enabler 610 may also be adapted to decode various standards-based VoIP signaling packets and prioritize filter setup.
  • Information from the session control manager 608 may be communicated to the bandwidth management controller 520, the QoS controller 506, the load balancing controller 508, and the network management controller 512, which are illustrated in FIG. 5.
  • the switching system 602 may include a load balancing process that may be adapted to obtain access point load from, for example, a bandwidth management process and a network management process.
  • the network management process may include but is not limited to SNMP, RMON, RMON2, and MIB.
  • the load balancing process may be adapted to keep an access point database on, for example, a plurality or bank of access points.
  • the load balancing process may include intelligence for making load distribution decisions.
  • the access point database may be accessible by one or more of the bandwidth management controller 520, the QoS controller 506, the load balancing controller 508, and the network management controller 512, which are illustrated in FIG. 5.
  • FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 of an exemplary load balancing process as described in FIG. 6 that may be utilized by the switching system for network management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • a load balancing process 702 having an access point database 702 and a load balancing manager 706.
  • At least one interface may be adapted to provide communication between access point database 704 and the load balancing manager 706.
  • the load balancing manager 706 may be adapted to include at least one interface that may facilitate communication with a network management process.
  • the load balancing manager 706 may be adapted to process messaging protocol messages, layer two (2) updates, and filter updates.
  • the load balancing manager 706 may receive network statistics from one or more network management processes.
  • Information from the access point database 704 may be utilized by the load balancing manager 706 for making load balancing decisions.
  • the switching system for network management may include a QoS enabling process that may be adapted to control and manage activities such as, traffic policing, metering filters, and protocol configurations.
  • the QoS enabling process may be adapted to manage, for example, 802.11e based configurations that may be sent to the access point.
  • FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 of an exemplary QoS enabling process as described in FIG. 8 that may be utilized by an the switching system for network management in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.
  • QoS enabling process 802 having QoS policy database 804, a QoS manager 806 and a VoIP enabler 808.
  • At least one interface may be adapted to provide communication between QoS policy database 804 and the QoS manager 808.
  • the QoS manager 806 may be adapted to include at least one interface that may facilitate communication with, for example, the VoIP enabler 808.
  • the QoS manager 806 may be adapted to process, for example, messaging protocol messages, and filter updates.
  • the QoS manager 806 may send and receive VoIP signaling information to and from VoIP enabler 808 806 for making QoS related decisions.
  • information related to the QoS management may be utilized for bandwidth management.
  • the bandwidth management controller 412 may be adapted to receive pertinent QoS related information from the QoS controller 414.
  • the QoS controller 414, the load balancing controller 416, the session controller 418, the network management controller 420 and/or the bandwidth management controller 412 may be adapted to transfer and/or store information in a database, for example, database 424.
  • the QoS controller may be adapted to store at least some of its related QoS related information in database 424. Accordingly, whenever a need arises, the bandwidth management controller may access database 424 and retrieve any QoS related information that may be pertinent to bandwidth management.
  • the bandwidth management controller 422 may be adapted to request required QoS related information from the QoS controller 414.
  • real-time information not necessarily located in the database
  • the QoS controller 414 may be adapted to also request an receive related information from any one or more of the load balancing controller 416, the session controller 418, the network management controller 420, the bandwidth management controller 422 and/or the database 424.
  • the bandwidth management process may be executed in an adaptive manner and may occur in real-time.
  • one or more of the PLCP frames illustrated in FIG. 1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d and FIG. 1e may be adapted to contain information which may be utilized for providing communication in accordance with various embodiments of the invention.
  • the PLCP frames may be adapted to convey information for any one or more of the 801.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g modes of operation utilized by access points and/or access devices in accordance the embodiments of the invention.
  • the present invention may be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.
  • the present invention may be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems.
  • a typical combination of hardware and software may be a general-purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the methods described herein.
  • the present invention also may be embedded in a computer program product, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer system is able to carry out these methods.
  • Computer program in the present context means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having an information processing capability to perform a particular function either directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversion to another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different material form.

Landscapes

  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Computing Systems (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Quality & Reliability (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Selon des aspects de l'invention, un système et un procédé permettent de gérer des largeurs de bande dans un réseau local fixe/sans fil. L'invention concerne un procédé de gestion de largeur de bande dans un réseau local fixe/sans fil comprenant la réception d'un premier point d'accès et/ou d'un premier commutateur, un premier message de protocole de messagerie destiné à établir une session de communication. Par rapport au premier message de protocole de messagerie, une largeur de bande disponible est déterminée pour au moins une partie du réseau local hybride fixe/sans fil et la largeur de bande est attribuée, de manière à autoriser la session de communication. Le premier point d'accès peut être notifié d'une attribution de largeur de bande au moyen d'un second message de protocole de messagerie. Le premier message de protocole de messagerie peut être reçu par un second commutateur et/ou un second point d'accès. Les informations relative à l'utilisation de la largeur de bande peuvent être demandées à partir du premier point d'accès et/ ou du premier commutateur, au moyen du premier message de protocole de messagerie.
EP03752165A 2002-09-17 2003-09-09 Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil Withdrawn EP1573927A4 (fr)

Applications Claiming Priority (9)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US41130102P 2002-09-17 2002-09-17
US41126102P 2002-09-17 2002-09-17
US411261P 2002-09-17
US411301P 2002-09-17
US43311702P 2002-12-13 2002-12-13
US433117P 2002-12-13
US43598402P 2002-12-20 2002-12-20
US435984P 2002-12-20
PCT/US2003/028302 WO2004027999A2 (fr) 2002-09-17 2003-09-09 Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP1573927A2 true EP1573927A2 (fr) 2005-09-14
EP1573927A4 EP1573927A4 (fr) 2010-11-03

Family

ID=32034401

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP03752165A Withdrawn EP1573927A4 (fr) 2002-09-17 2003-09-09 Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil

Country Status (2)

Country Link
EP (1) EP1573927A4 (fr)
WO (1) WO2004027999A2 (fr)

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6108314A (en) * 1998-08-31 2000-08-22 Motorola, Inc. Method, subscriber device, wireless router, and communication system efficiently utilizing the receive/transmit switching time
DE10120075A1 (de) * 2001-04-24 2002-11-07 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Zugreifen von Stationen auf ein gemeinsames Übertragungsmedium sowie eine Netzstation zum Durchführen eines solchen Verfahrens

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6263370B1 (en) * 1997-09-04 2001-07-17 Mci Communications Corporation TCP/IP-based client interface to network information distribution system servers

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6108314A (en) * 1998-08-31 2000-08-22 Motorola, Inc. Method, subscriber device, wireless router, and communication system efficiently utilizing the receive/transmit switching time
DE10120075A1 (de) * 2001-04-24 2002-11-07 Siemens Ag Verfahren zum Zugreifen von Stationen auf ein gemeinsames Übertragungsmedium sowie eine Netzstation zum Durchführen eines solchen Verfahrens

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
JOUNI MIKKONEN ET AL: "The Magic WAND-Functional Overview" IEEE JOURNAL ON SELECTED AREAS IN COMMUNICATIONS, IEEE SERVICE CENTER, PISCATAWAY, US, vol. 16, no. 6, 1 August 1998 (1998-08-01) , XP011054811 ISSN: 0733-8716 *
See also references of WO2004027999A2 *

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO2004027999A3 (fr) 2007-11-29
EP1573927A4 (fr) 2010-11-03
WO2004027999A2 (fr) 2004-04-01

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP1515484B1 (fr) Procédé et système d'équilibrage de charges optimal dans un réseau cablé/sans fil hybride
US8619728B2 (en) Method and system for providing an intelligent switch for bandwidth management in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network
EP1515480B1 (fr) Procédé et système pour la gestion de réseau dans un réseau hybride filaire/sans fil
US9094314B2 (en) System and method for access point (AP) aggregation and resiliency in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network
US8170607B2 (en) Communication system and method in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network
EP1515494B1 (fr) Méthode et système pour fournir l'allocation et le partage de bande passante dans un réseau hybride filaire/non filaire
US7164663B2 (en) Method and system for providing an intelligent switch in a hybrid wired/wireless local area network
US9014196B2 (en) System and method for providing a super channel in a multi-band multi-protocol hybrid wired/wireless network
EP1401149A2 (fr) Réseau de communication et méthode de découverte des points terminaisons utilisant une connexion de couche liaison dans un réseau local avec/sans fil
EP1552711A1 (fr) Procede et systeme d'equilibrage de charges optimal dans un reseau cable/sans fil hybride
US20040054798A1 (en) Method and system for providing seamless connectivity and communication in a multi-band multi-protocol hybrid wired/wireless network
EP1401150B1 (fr) Réseau de communication et méthode dans un réseau local hybride avec/sans fil
WO2004028057A2 (fr) Systeme et procede de mise en place d'un supercanal dans un reseau hybride filaire/hertzien multiprotocole et multibande
WO2004028049A1 (fr) Procede et systeme de gestion de reseau dans un reseau cable/sans fil hybride
EP1573927A2 (fr) Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent pour une gestion de largeur de bande dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil
EP1547409A2 (fr) Procede et systeme a commutateur intelligent dans un reseau local hybride fixe/sans fil
EP1547295A2 (fr) Procede et systeme d'attribution et de partage de largeur de bande dans un reseau hybride cable/sans fil

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
PUAI Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012

AK Designated contracting states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE BG CH CY CZ DE DK EE ES FI FR GB GR HU IE IT LI LU MC NL PT RO SE SI SK TR

RBV Designated contracting states (corrected)

Designated state(s): DE FR GB

RIN1 Information on inventor provided before grant (corrected)

Inventor name: FRANK, ED, H.

Inventor name: MARTIN, RICHARD

RAP1 Party data changed (applicant data changed or rights of an application transferred)

Owner name: BROADCOM CORPORATION

PUAK Availability of information related to the publication of the international search report

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009015

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: G06F 15/16 20060101AFI20080104BHEP

17P Request for examination filed

Effective date: 20080529

RBV Designated contracting states (corrected)

Designated state(s): DE FR GB

A4 Supplementary search report drawn up and despatched

Effective date: 20100930

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: H04L 29/06 20060101AFI20100924BHEP

Ipc: H04L 12/56 20060101ALI20100924BHEP

Ipc: H04L 12/28 20060101ALI20100924BHEP

17Q First examination report despatched

Effective date: 20110110

GRAP Despatch of communication of intention to grant a patent

Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: EPIDOSNIGR1

RIC1 Information provided on ipc code assigned before grant

Ipc: H04L 12/28 20060101ALI20160201BHEP

Ipc: H04L 29/06 20060101AFI20160201BHEP

INTG Intention to grant announced

Effective date: 20160216

STAA Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent

Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN

18D Application deemed to be withdrawn

Effective date: 20160628