Wireless network architecture
The performance and ease of management of wireless communications environments is improved by a mechanism that enables access points (APs) to perform automatic channel selection. A wireless network can therefore include multiple APs, each of which will automatically choose a channel such that channel usage is optimized. Furthermore, APs can perform automatic power adjustment so that multiple APs can operate on the same channel while minimizing interference with each other. Wireless stations are load balanced across APs so that user bandwidth is optimized. A movement detection scheme provides seamless roaming of stations between APs.
1 . A program product for use by a device in a wireless communications environment, the program product comprising a computer readable medium having embodied therein a computer program for storing data, the computer program comprising:
platform independent logic for passing platform independent protocol messages between wireless devices, the platform independent protocol messages for controlling channel selection and for causing power adjustment and load balancing of wireless devices, wherein the platform independent logic is not dependent upon the underlying hardware upon which it is employed;
wherein the platform independent logic can communicate with platform dependent logic, the platform dependent logic for use by each wireless device to translate the platform independent protocol messages into platform dependent commands for execution, the platform dependent commands being dependent upon the hardware upon which they are employed.
2 . The program product of claim 1 wherein the platform independent messages include Claim messages used by devices to select a channel on which to communicate;
3 . The program product of claim 1 wherein the platform independent messages include Announce messages used by devices to indicate their presence and their protocol capability to other devices;
4 . The program product of claim 3 wherein the platform independent messages include Bid messages, wherein a sending device sends a Bid message to a receiving device to indicate that the sending device desires to communicate in the wireless communications environment via the receiving device;
5 . The program product of claim 4 wherein the platform independent messages include Accept messages, wherein a sending device sends an Accept message to a receiving device in response to a Bid message to indicate that the sending device will allow the receiving device to communicate in the wireless communications environment via the sending device.
6 . The program product of claim 5 wherein the platform independent messages include Registration Request messages, wherein a sending device sends a registration request message to a receiving device to indicate that the sending device desires to communicate in the wireless communications environment via the receiving device using a particular protocol;
7 . The program product of claim 6 wherein the platform independent messages include Registration Acknowledge messages, wherein a sending device sends a Registration acknowledge message to a receiving device in response to a Registration Request message, to indicate that the sending device understands that the receiving device will communicate in the wireless communications environment using the Dynamic Radio Control Protocol.
8 . The program product of claim 1 wherein the wireless communications environment is an 802.11 wireless network.