Method and apparatus for automatic geoaware access point provisioning
Systems and methods of discovering and registering with a WiFi controller by a wireless access point that can provide location awareness in the WiFi controller discovery and registration process. The systems and methods employ a DNS server that can receive a DNS query containing the FQDN of a WiFi controller from an access point, and compare the FQDN of the WiFi controller and the source IP address of the DNS query against a mapping table, which maps FQDNs of WiFi controllers and ranges of source IP addresses of DNS queries to groups of WiFi controllers. By comparing the FQDN of the WiFi controller and the source IP address against the mapping table, the DNS server can resolve the FQDN to IP addresses of a group of WiFi controllers, which can belong to a particular broadband service provider, and/or serve a target market of mobile subscribers located within a geographical area.
1. A method of discovering a wireless network controller by a wireless access point, the method comprising:
receiving, at a domain name system (DNS) server from a wireless access point, a DNS query message including a source Internet protocol (IP) address of the DNS query message, the DNS query message further including a domain name of a wireless network controller;
providing a mapping, by the DNS server into a mapping table, of one or more predetermined ranges of source IP addresses of DNS query messages to one or more IP addresses of specified wireless network controllers;
comparing, by the DNS server, the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table to resolve the domain name of the wireless network controller to a group of one or more of the IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers; and
sending, by the DNS server to the wireless access point, a DNS response message including the group of one or more IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mapping into the mapping table includes mapping the one or more predetermined ranges of source IP addresses of DNS query messages to one or more IP addresses of specified wireless management systems.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the comparing of the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table includes comparing the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table to obtain one of the IP addresses of the specified wireless management systems.
4. The method of claim 3 further comprising:
sending, by the DNS server, a query message to the obtained IP address of a specified wireless management system in order to request predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers in the group.
5. The method of claim 4 further comprising:
receiving, at the DNS server from the specified wireless management system, a response message including the predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers.
6. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
preparing, by the DNS server, an ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers based on the predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers.
7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:
sending, by the DNS server, a first provisioning message to the IP address of the specified wireless management system for provisioning one or more wireless network controllers in the ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the sending of the DNS response message to the wireless access point includes sending the DNS response message including the ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers.
9. The method of claim 5 further comprising:
producing a list to indicate identities of candidate wireless network controllers based on the predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers.
10. The method as in claim 1 , wherein the group includes identities of multiple IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
11. The method as in claim 1 , wherein identities of the specified wireless network controllers in the DNS response are ranked in order from most favorable to least favorable for selection.
12. The method as in claim 1 , wherein identities of the specified wireless network controllers in the DNS response are ranked based on wireless access point loads with respect to the specified wireless network controllers.
13. The method as in claim 1 , wherein comparing the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table to resolve the domain name includes:
utilizing the mapping table to convert a combination of the domain name of the wireless network controller and the source IP address of the DNS query message into the group of one or more IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
14. A method of discovering a wireless network controller by a wireless access point, the method comprising:
sending, from the wireless access point to a domain name system (DNS) server, a DNS query message including a source Internet protocol (IP) address of the DNS query message;
receiving, at the wireless access point from the DNS server, a DNS response message including resolved IP addresses of specified wireless network controllers, one or more predetermined ranges of source IP addresses of DNS query messages being mapped, into a mapping table, to one or more IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers, the source IP address of the DNS query message being compared against the mapping table to resolve a predetermined domain name of a wireless network controller to the one or more IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers; and
selecting, by the wireless access point, one of the resolved IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
sending, from the wireless access point, a join request message to the selected IP address of a specified wireless network controller.
16. The method of claim 15 further comprising:
receiving, at the wireless access point, a join response message from the specified wireless network controller.
17. The method of claim 14 , wherein receiving the DNS response message includes receiving an ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers, each of the candidate wireless network controllers corresponding to one of the resolved IP addresses.
18. A system for discovering a wireless network controller for use in conjunction with a wireless access point, the system comprising:
the wireless access point; and
a domain name system (DNS) server communicably coupled to the wireless access point,
wherein the wireless access point is operative:
to send, to the DNS server, a DNS query message including a source Internet protocol (IP) address of the DNS query message, the DNS query message further including a domain name of a wireless network controller; and
wherein the DNS server is operative:
to map, into a mapping table, one or more predetermined ranges of source IP addresses of DNS query messages to one or more IP addresses of specified wireless network controllers;
to compare the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table to resolve the domain name of the wireless network controller to one or more of the IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers; and
to send, to the wireless access point, a DNS response message including one or more resolved IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the DNS server is further operative:
to map the one or more predetermined ranges of source IP addresses of DNS query messages to one or more IP addresses of specified wireless management systems.
20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the DNS server is further operative:
to compare the source IP address of the DNS query message against the mapping table to obtain one of the IP addresses of the specified wireless management systems.
21. The system of claim 20 , wherein the DNS server is further operative:
to send a query message to the obtained IP address of a specified wireless management system in order to request predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers corresponding to the resolved IP addresses.
22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the DNS server is further operative:
to prepare an ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers based on the predetermined information pertaining to the specified wireless network controllers.
23. The system of claim 22 , wherein the wireless access point is further operative:
to receive, from the DNS server, the DNS response message including the ordered list of candidate wireless network controllers, each of the candidate wireless network controllers corresponding to one of the resolved IP addresses of the specified wireless network controllers.
24. The system of claim 18 further comprising:
a first IP sub-network,
wherein the wireless access point and the DNS server are each communicably coupled to the first IP sub-network.
25. The system of claim 24 further comprising:
a second IP sub-network,
wherein the specified wireless network controllers are each communicably coupled to the second IP sub-network, and
wherein the first IP sub-network and the second IP sub-network are communicably coupled to one another by a gateway router.