Method, mobile station, and software product for access point selection
View Patent ↗A method, mobile station, and software product are used to select an access point in a wireless local area network (WLAN) for access by the mobile station. This is accomplished by calculating a preference value for each of a plurality of the access points, based upon information regarding current communication characteristics of the access points. That information includes physical signal characteristics of the access points, and current channel loads of the access points, and also the traffic type affecting the current channel loads of the respective access points. The information about channel loads is weighted differently based upon the corresponding traffic types, and may also be calculated differently depending upon whether or not the mobile station is set up to utilize multimedia traffic.
1. A method, comprising:
detecting at least two network access points;
receiving information regarding current communication characteristics of each of at least two access points, wherein the information includes parameters relating to physical signal characteristics of the access points, and relating to current channel loads, and relating to traffic type affecting the current channel loads of the at least two access points;
calculating a preference value for each of the at least two access points based at least on the received information; and
selecting an access point for access by a mobile station, based at least upon the calculation
wherein said information at least about said channel loads and said traffic type affecting said channel loads is received wirelessly via a transceiver.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information relating to traffic type includes information about capacity to handle more multimedia traffic by each of the access points, and information about capacity to handle more other traffic by each of the access points.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the selecting step is also based on whether or not the mobile station is for utilizing any multimedia traffic.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein if the mobile station is set up to utilize any multimedia traffic, then the information relating to traffic type includes available admission capacity, and if the mobile station is set up to utilize only non-multimedia traffic then the information relating to traffic type includes channel utilization.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the capacity to handle more multimedia traffic is weighted differently than the capacity to handle more other traffic.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising detecting the mobile station that is seeking access to at least one of the access points, wherein the method is performed apart from the mobile station.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed within the mobile station.
8. A computer readable medium arranged for causing a processor to execute the method of claim 1 .
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network is a wireless local area network.
10. An apparatus, comprising:
means for detecting at least two network access points;
means for receiving information via the means for detecting, regarding current communication characteristics of each of the two or more access points, wherein the information includes parameters relating to physical signal characteristics of the access points, and relating to current channel loads, and relating to traffic type affecting the current channel loads of the at least two access points;
means for calculating a preference value for each of the at least two access points based at least on the received information stored in the means for receiving; and
means for instructing the means for detecting that a selected access point shall be accessed by the apparatus,
wherein the selection is based at least upon the calculation performed by the means for calculating, and
wherein said information at least about said channel loads and said traffic type affecting said channel loads is received wirelessly via a transceiver.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is a mobile station, the means for detecting is a transceiver, the means for receiving is a memory unit, the means for calculating is a processor, and the means for instructing is a selection module.
12. A computer readable medium having executable codes embedded therein, the codes, when executed, being adapted to carry out the functions of:
receiving information regarding current communication characteristics of each of at least two network access points, wherein the information includes parameters relating to physical signal characteristics of the access points, and relating to current channel loads, and relating to traffic type affecting the current channel loads of the at least two access points;
calculating a preference value for each of the at least two access points based at least on the received information; and
selecting an access point for access by a mobile station, based at least upon the calculation,
wherein said information at least about said channel loads and said traffic type affecting said channel loads is received wirelessly via a transceiver.
13. The computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the information relating to traffic type includes information about capacity to handle more multimedia traffic by each of the access points, and information about capacity to handle more other traffic by each of the access points.
14. The computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the selecting step is also based on whether or not the mobile station is set to utilize any multimedia traffic.
15. An apparatus, comprising:
a transceiver configured to detect at least two wireless local area network access points and configured to receive information regarding current communication characteristics of each of the two or more access points, wherein the information includes parameters relating to physical signal characteristics of the access points, and relating to current channel loads, and relating to traffic type affecting the current channel loads of the at least two access points;
a processor configured to calculate a preference value for each of the at least two access points based at least on the received information; and
a selection module configured to instruct the transceiver that a selected access point shall be accessed by the apparatus, wherein the selection is based at least upon the calculation performed by the processor,
wherein said information at least about said channel loads and said traffic type affecting said channel loads is received wirelessly via the transceiver.
16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the information relating to traffic type includes information about capacity to handle more multimedia traffic by each of the access points, and information about capacity to handle more other traffic by each of the access points.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the selection is also based on whether or not the apparatus is for utilizing any multimedia traffic.
18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein if the apparatus is set up to utilize any multimedia traffic, then the information relating to traffic type includes available admission capacity, and if the mobile station is set up to utilize only non-multimedia traffic then the information relating to traffic type includes channel utilization.
19. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the capacity to handle more multimedia traffic is weighted differently than the capacity to handle more other traffic.
20. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein said transceiver comprises a memory unit configured to receive and store said information.