GB2435983A

GB2435983A - Method of Establishing a Distributed Network of Wireless Access Points.

Info

Publication number: GB2435983A
Application number: GB0525926A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Yun-Ti Chen; Feng-Che Liu; Hsun-Yu Lee; Chi-Chung Chen; Chen-Yang Lo; Tien-So Huang
Original assignee: Giga Byte Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Giga Byte Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2005-12-21
Filing date: 2005-12-21
Publication date: 2007-09-12
Anticipated expiration: 2025-12-21
Also published as: GB0525926D0; GB2435983B

Abstract

The invention is to provide a method of automatically establishing distributed network of a plurality of access points. According to the invention, a beacon is sent by one of the access points. When any of the reachable access points in the plurality of access points receives the beacon sent by said one access point the access point, receiving the beacon, communicates with said one access point in accordance with the information in the beacon.

Description

METHOD OF AUTOMATICALLY ESTABLISHING

DISTRIBUTED NETWORK OF A PLURALITY OF

ACCESS POINTS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the invention

This present invention relates to a method of automatically establishing a distributed network; more particularly, this present invention relates to a method of automatically establishing distributed network of a plurality of access points. Each access point sends information about itself via beacons. Each access point receives beacons from other access points, such that the access points establish a distributed network according to the information in the beacons.

2. Description of the prior art

According to the IEEE 802.11 protocol, wireless adapters must listen to the beacons to get the Station service identification (SSID), Basic service set identification (BSSID) and security settings of the wireless access points. Beacons are sent by the access points. The beacons include SSID, BSSID, and security settings. The beacons are broadcasted by access points periodically and received by wireless adapters.

Currently, according to the IEEE 802.11 protocol, WI-Fl protocol... .etc, a plurality of access points can be connected to each other to be a wireless bridge.

However, the communication among access points must be set manually. That is, information about BSSID of the other access points must be manually input into each access point to start communicating.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a method of automatically establishing a distributed network of a plurality of access points to resolve the manual setting problems. For this reason, the inventor shows his creativity and develops his invention to the best. Therefore, the invention is created.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a method of automatically establishing a distributed network of a plurality of access points. A beacon is sent by a first access point among the access points. The method is to add information about the access point in the beacon. When any of the reachable access points in the plurality of access points receives the beacon sent by the first access point, the access point, receiving the beacon, communicates with the first access point in accordance with the information in the beacon.

:. The advantage and spirit of the invention may be understood by the following :..::: recitations together with the appended drawings. * ** * I S

* 15 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE APPENDED DRAWINGS S.. a

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the method of the invention according to the preferred S.....

* 1 embodiment of the invention.

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*5I55I * S

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a method of automatically establishing a distributed network of a plurality of access points. The method in practice will be described below in detail according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a flow chart of the method of the invention according to the preferred embodiment of the invention. First, at a first access point among the plurality of access points, step Si 0 is executed to scan at least one channel to get a list of all the reachable access points among the access points; the list includes station service identifications (SSID), Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID), received signal strength information (RSSI), and security settings associated with the reachable access points.

Then, step S12 is executed, according to the RSSI and the security settings in the list, to determine an assigned access point from the reachable access points.

Then, step Si4 is executed at the first access point to append the SSID and BSSID of the reachable access points into a first distribution setting of the first access point, based on the strengths of the RSSI associated with the reachable access points from strong to weak.

Then, step Si6 is executed at the first access point, through the channel used by the assigned access point, to send a beacon including records in the first distribution setting of the first access point. a...

* ** Then, step Si 8 is executed, at any of the reachable access points, to receive the beacon, to retrieve the records from the received beacon, and to append the records **.

into a respective second distribution setting of the access point receiving the beacon.

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a.....

* In an embodiment, the access points are set in an IEEB8O2. 11 wireless network. ISIS. * a

In another embodiment, the access points are set in a Wi-Fl wireless network.

With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of the invention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is: 1. A method of automatically establishing a

distributed network of a plurality of access points, said method comprising the steps of: (a) at one of the access points, scanning at least one channel to get a list of all the reachable access points among the access points, the list comprising station service identifications (SSID), Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID), received signal strength information (RSSI), and security settings associated with the reachable access points; (b) at said one access point, according to the RSSI and the security settings in the list, determining an assigned access point from the reachable access points; (c) at said one access point, appending the SSID and BSSID of the reachable access points into a first distribution setting of said one access point, : * based on the strengths of the RSSI associated with the reachable access :..::: 15 pointsfromstrongtoweak; *S*.

(d) at said one access point, through the channel used by the assigned access :.: point, sending a beacon comprising records in the first distribution setting *** of said one access point; and * ****** . * * (e) at any of the reachable access points, receivmg the beacon, retrieving the * : * 20 records from the received beacon, and appending the records into a respective second distribution setting of the access point receiving the beacon.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the access points are set in an IEEE8O2.l1 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access points are set in a Wi-Fl wireless network.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A method of automatically establishing a distributed network of a plurality of access points, said method comprising the steps of: (a) at one of the access points, scanning at least one channel to get a list of all the reachable access points among the access points, the list comprising station service identifications (SSID), Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID), received signal strength information (RSS1), and security settings associated with the reachable access points; (b) at said one access point, according to the RSSI and the security settings in the list, determining an assigned access point from the reachable access points; (c) at said one access point, appending the SSID and BSSID of the reachable access points into a first distribution setting of said one access point, based on the strengths of the RSSI associated with the reachable access points from strong to weak; (d) at said one access point, through the channel used by the assigned access : point, sending a beacon comprising records in the first distribution setting S..

of said one access point; and (e) at any of the reachable access points, receiving the beacon, retrieving the : * 20 records from the received beacon, and appending the records into a respective second distribution setting of the access point receiving the beacon.

2. The method of claim I, wherein the access points are set in an IEEE8O2.1l 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access points are set in a Wi-Fi wireless network.