Method and system for channel allocation and bandwidth management in a WiFi device that utilizes full spectrum capture

1. A method, comprising:

in a WiFi access point device:

capturing signals over a wide spectrum comprising one or more WiFi frequency bands;

extracting a plurality of WiFi channels from said captured signals;

analyzing said extracted plurality of WiFi channels to determine a subset of said WiFi channels that are useable for a particular WiFi client device; and

allocating one or more of said usable WiFi channels to said particular WiFi client device as an aggregated WiFi, wherein said allocating is controlled based on current bandwidth needs of said particular WiFi client device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said one or more WiFi frequency bands comprise a 2.4 GHz WiFi frequency band and a 5 GHz WiFi frequency band.

3. The method according to claim 2 , comprising determining one or more characteristics of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels as part of said analyzing.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein said determined one or more characteristics comprise noise, interference, fading and blocker information.

5. The method according to claim 3 , comprising generating a channel map based on said determined one or more characteristics, wherein said channel map indicates, for each one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels, a status of said one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels for each of one or more WiFi client devices served by said access point device.

6. The method according to claim 5 , comprising:

dynamically and/or adaptively sensing said extracted plurality of WiFi channels; and

updating said determined one or more characteristics of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels.

7. The method according to claim 6 , comprising updating said status of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels in said channel map based on said updated determined one or more characteristics.

8. The method according to claim 5 , comprising:

receiving, for said extracted plurality of WiFi channels, channel characteristics information from said one or more WiFi client devices; and

updating said status of said one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels in said channel map based on said received channel characteristics information.

9. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said allocating is based on said channel map.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said allocating is based on one or more of: a class of service (CoS), a quality of service (QoS) and/or a type of traffic being communicated by said particular WiFi client device.

11. A system, comprising:

one or more circuits for use in an WiFi access point device, said one or more circuits being operable to:

capture signals over a wide spectrum comprising one or more WiFi frequency bands;

extract a plurality of WiFi channels from said captured signals;

analyze said extracted plurality of WiFi channels to determine a subset of said WiFi channels that are useable for a particular WiFi client device; and

allocate one or more of said usable WiFi channels to said particular WiFi client device as an aggregated WiFi channel, wherein said allocation is controlled based on current bandwidth needs of said particular WiFi client device.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein said one or more WiFi frequency bands comprise a 2.4 GHz WiFi frequency band and a 5 GHz WiFi frequency band.

13. The system according to claim 12 , wherein said one or more circuits are operable to determine one or more characteristics of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels as part of said analysis.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein said determined one or more characteristics comprise noise, interference, fading and blocker information.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein said one or more circuits are operable to generate a channel based on said determined characteristics, wherein said channel map indicates, for each one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels, a status of said one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels for each of one or more WiFi client devices served by said access point device.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein said one or more circuits are operable to:

dynamically and/or adaptively sense said extracted plurality of WiFi channels; and

update said determined one or more characteristics of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels.

17. The method according to claim 16 , wherein said one or more circuits are operable to update said status of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels in said channel map based on said updated determined one or more characteristics.

18. The system according to claim 15 , wherein said one or more circuits are operable to:

receive, for said extracted plurality of WiFi channels, channel characteristics information from one or more WiFi client devices; and

update said status of said one of said extracted plurality of WiFi channels in said channel map based on said received channel characteristics information.

19. The system according to claim 15 , wherein said allocation is based on said channel map.

20. The system according to claim 11 , wherein said allocation is based on one or more of: a class of service (CoS), a quality of service (QoS) and/or a type of traffic being communicated by said particular WiFi client device.