Granted Patent B2

US 9,860,762 · App. 14/642,555 · Granted Jan 2, 2018

Inventor: Venkat Kalkunte (Saratoga, CA)

Assignee: Vivint, Inc.

H04W24/02H04W56/002H04W24/08H04W36/06H04W56/0005H04W84/18

Abstract

Claims (67)

1. A method, comprising:

receiving a prior beacon from a first access point, wherein the prior beacon comprises information;

changing a geo-timing synchronization function to account for a time difference resulting from receiving and sending beacons;

sending a beacon, the beacon comprising a channel change request in both proprietary and standard formats, the channel change request comprising:

an instruction to change to a particular channel; and

the geo-timing synchronization function identifying when the change to the particular channel should occur;

using the geo-timing synchronization function, determining that a time has arrived to change to the particular channel; and

changing to the particular channel synchronously with all other access points in a mesh network.

2. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a location of a second access point using a location system in the second access point; and

computing at least a portion of the geo-timing synchronization function based on information about the location provided by the location system.

3. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

performing a scan of one or more neighboring cells;

detecting an interfering cell; and

minimizing a rate of channel switching by instructing the interfering cell to reduce a power level.

4. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein the geo-timing synchronization function comprises information for identifying one or more of:

a time prior to the time for changing to the particular channel when a transmission queue should be stopped;

a time prior to the time for changing to the particular channel when a reception queue should be stopped;

a time after the time for changing to the particular channel when the transmission queue should be restarted; and

a time after the time for changing to the particular channel when the reception queue should be restarted.

5. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein sending the beacon is performed by a second access point after receipt of the prior beacon and further comprising:

adding the information from the prior beacon into the beacon that is sent.

6. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

registering the change to the particular channel using a callback function of a proprietary kernel module, wherein a second access point registers the change to the particular channel, the second access point comprising a kernel mode that includes the proprietary kernel module.

7. The method recited in claim 1 , wherein the standard format comprises an implementation in an action frame of 802.11 channel-switch announcement (CSA) elements to enable channel changes by devices that do not have access to the proprietary format.

8. The method recited in claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to sending the beacon, sending a clear channel assessment request identifying a particular channel for a clear channel assessment, wherein sending the clear channel assessment request comprises adding information from the prior clear channel assessment request.

9. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein the clear channel assessment is performed, on all channels, synchronously with other access points in the mesh network.

10. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein performing the clear channel assessment comprises determining if power on a sampled channel is above or below a power threshold.

11. The method recited in claim 8 , wherein performing the clear channel assessment comprises measuring how busy the channel is, and wherein a busyness of a channel is inversely proportional to a bit asserted for each sample where power is below a predetermined threshold.

12. A computing device configured for channel switching, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor; and

instructions stored in the memory, the instructions being executable by the processor to:

receive a prior beacon from a first access point, wherein the prior beacon comprises information;

change a geo-timing synchronization function to account for a time difference resulting from receiving and sending beacons;

send a beacon, the beacon comprising a channel change request in both proprietary and standard formats, the channel change request comprising:

an instruction to change to a particular channel; and

the geo-timing synchronization function identifying when the change to the particular channel should occur;

use the geo-timing synchronization function, determining that a time has arrived to change to the particular channel; and

change to the particular channel synchronously with all other access points in a mesh network.

13. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

determine a location of a second access point using a location system in the second access point; and

compute at least a portion of the geo-timing synchronization function based on information about the location provided by the location system.

14. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

perform a scan of one or more neighboring cells;

detect an interfering cell; and

minimize a rate of channel switching by instructing the interfering cell to reduce a power level.

15. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the geo-timing synchronization function comprises information for identifying one or more of:

a time prior to the time for changing to the particular channel when a transmission queue should be stopped;

a time prior to the time for changing to the particular channel when a reception queue should be stopped;

a time after the time for changing to the particular channel when the transmission queue should be restarted; and

a time after the time for changing to the particular channel when the reception queue should be restarted.

16. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein sending the beacon is performed by a second access point after receipt of the prior beacon comprising the channel change request; and wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

add information from the prior beacon into the beacon that is sent.

17. The computing device of claim 12 , wherein the standard format comprises an implementation in an action frame of 802.11 channel-switch announcement (CSA) elements to allow channel changes by devices that do not have access to the proprietary format.

18. A computer-program product for channel switching, by a processor, the computer-program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions thereon, the instructions being executable by the processor to:

receive a prior beacon from a first access point, wherein the prior beacon comprises information;

change a geo-timing synchronization function to account for a time difference resulting from receiving and sending beacons;

send a beacon, the beacon comprising a channel change request in both proprietary and standard formats, the channel change request comprising:

an instruction to change to a particular channel; and

the geo-timing synchronization function identifying when the change to the particular channel should occur;

use the geo-timing synchronization function, determining that a time has arrived to change to the particular channel; and

change to the particular channel synchronously with all other access points in a mesh network.

19. The computer-program product of claim 18 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to:

determine a location of a second access point using a location system in the second access point; and

compute at least a portion of the geo-timing synchronization function based information about the location provided by the location system.

Assignments (10)

Continuity (2)