Method and system for dynamically prioritizing user connections on network

1. A method comprising:

designating a priority class associated with a client device based on pre-configured network rules and network policies, wherein the pre-configured network rules and network policies are based on a MAC address of the client device;

identifying, by a network device in a network, the priority class associated with the client device prior to an initial connection from the client device to the network; and

reserving, by the network device, prior to the initial connection from the client device to the network, access to a network resource for the client device by:

evaluating a total capacity of the network resource;

evaluating an anticipated usage of the network resource by the client device associated with the priority class prior to the initial connection from the client device to the network; and

rejecting requests for accessing the network resource received from other client devices prior to the client device associated with the priority class accessing the network resource based on a current usage of the network resource by all client devices, the anticipated usage of the network device by the client device associated with the priority class, and the total capacity of the network resource; and

accepting a request for accessing the network resource by the client device associated with the priority class after the client device initiates the connection to the network, wherein the request is accepted after the requests from the other client devices are rejected while the total capacity, the current usage, and the anticipated usage remain unchanged.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein rejecting the requests further comprises rejecting the requests in response to the difference between the total capacity and the sum of (i) the current usage and (ii) the anticipated usage of the network resource is insufficient for accommodating accesses to the network resource from the other network devices.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

restricting usage of the network resource by client devices which have been granted access in response to the difference between the total capacity and the sum of (i) the current usage and (ii) the anticipated usage of the network resource being near zero.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network resource comprises one or more of airtime usage of the network device and network service features.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the network service features further comprise key cache entries for offloading hardware cryptographic functionalities at the network device.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the network service features further comprise beamforming entries for directing beamforming activities from multiple network devices to targeted client devices.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

caching, by the network device, device priority information in a cache;

updating, by the network device, the device priority information; and

exchanging, by the network device, the updated device priority information with other network devices in the network.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the cache maintains a mapping between client device identifiers of a plurality of client devices and designated priority classes associated with the plurality of client devices.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the device priority information provides one or more of prioritized wireless network association handling, prioritized reservation of Wireless Multimedia Extension (WMM), prioritized reservation of access point radio queues, dynamically prioritized traffic in higher queues.

10. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the pre-configured network rules and network policies are based on the MAC address and one or more of:

a user role,

a device type, and

an Extended Service Set Identification (ESSID).

11. A network device comprising:

a processor;

a network interface to receive one or more data packets;

a memory on which is stored instructions that are to cause the processor to:

designate a priority class associated with a client device based on pre-configured network rules and network policies; wherein the pre-configured network rales and network policies are based on an Extended Service Set Identification (ESSID);

identify the priority class prior to an initial connection from the client device to the network,

determine whether the identified priority class is a high priority class;

in response to the identified priority class being a high priority class, reserve access to a network resource for the client device prior to the initial connection from the client device to the network by:

evaluating a total capacity of the network resource; and

evaluating an anticipated usage of the network resource by the client device associated with the priority class prior to the initial connection from the client device to the network;

reject requests for accessing the network resource received from other client devices prior to the client device associated with the priority class accessing the network resource in response to a current usage of the network resource by all client devices and the anticipated usage of the network device by the client device associated with the priority class equaling or exceeding the total capacity of the network resource; and

accept a request for accessing the network resource by the client device associated with the priority class after the client device initiates the connection to the network, wherein the request is accepted after the requests from the other client devices are rejected while the total capacity, the current usage, and the anticipated usage remain unchanged.

12. The network device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions are to cause the processor to reject the requests for accessing the network resource received from other client devices in response to a difference between the total capacity of the network resource and the sum of (i) the current usage and (ii) the anticipated usage of the network device by the client device associated with the priority class being insufficient for accommodating accesses to the network resource from the other network devices.

13. The network device of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:

restrict usage of the network resource by client devices which have been granted access in response to the difference between the total capacity and the sum of (i) the current usage and (ii) the anticipated usage of the network resource being near zero.

14. The network device of claim 13 , wherein the network resource comprises one or more of airtime usage of the network device and network service features.

15. The network device of claim 14 , wherein the network service features further comprise key cache entries for offloading hardware cryptographic functionalities at the network device.

16. The network device of claim 14 , wherein the network service features further comprise beamforming entries for directing beamforming activities from multiple network devices to targeted client devices.

17. The network device of claim 13 , wherein the instructions are further to cause the processor to:

cache device priority information in a cache,

update the device priority information, and

exchange the updated device priority information with other network devices in the network.

18. The network device of claim 17 , wherein the cache maintains a mapping between client device identifiers of a plurality of client devices and designated priority classes associated with the plurality of client devices.

19. The network device of claim 17 , wherein the device priority information provides one or more of prioritized wireless network association handling, prioritized reservation of Wireless Multimedia Extension (WMM), prioritized reservation of access point radio queues, dynamically prioritized traffic in higher queues.

20. The network device of claim 13 , wherein the pre-configured network rules and network policies are based on the ESSID and one or more of:

a user role,

a device type, and

a MAC address of the client device.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing embedded instructions for a plurality of operations that when executed by a processor of a network device, cause the processor to:

designate a priority level associated with a client device based on pre-configured network rules and network policies, wherein the pre-configured network rues and network policies are based on an Extended Service Set Identification (ESSID);

identify the priority level prior to an initial connection from the client device to a network;

determine whether the identified priority level is a high priority level; and

in response to the identified priority level being a high priority level, reserve access to a network resource for the client device prior to the initial connection by:

evaluating a total capacity of the network resource;

evaluating an anticipated usage of the network resource by the client device associated with the priority level prior to the initial connection from the client device to the network; and

rejecting requests for accessing the network resource received from other client devices prior to the client device associated with the priority level accessing the network resource based on a current usage of the network resource by all client devices, the anticipated usage of the network device by the client device associated with the priority level, and the total capacity of the network resource; and

accepting a request for accessing the network resource by the client device associated with the priority class after the client device initiates the connection to the network, wherein the request is accepted after the requests from the other client devices are rejected while the total capacity, the current usage, and the anticipated usage remain unchanged.