AN RFID BASED ARRANGEMENT FOR REDUCING WIFI HANDOFF LATENCY

1 . A mobile station configured for performing a handoff operation in a wireless communication network, comprising:

a long range RFID transmitter for transmitting an interrogating RF signal;

an RFID receiver stage capable of receiving, in response to said interrogating RF signal, a plurality of responding RF signals generated in a plurality of RFID tags, respectively, located in a plurality of locations, each responding RF signal containing information identifying a location of a RFID tag having generated the responding RF signal; and

a processor configured to select, in accordance with a selection criterion, at least one of said responding RF signals containing further information identifying a corresponding access point, and to select, in accordance with said identifying information, said identified access point from a plurality of access points for said mobile station to associate with in said handoff operation.

2 . The mobile station according to claim 1 , wherein said processor is configured to select said one of said responding RF signals ( 121 a ), in accordance with signal strength.

3 . The mobile station according to claim 1 , wherein said further information contained in said selected responding RF signal that associates said selected responding RF signal with said selected access point is capable of being used by said mobile station in a protocol of said wireless communication network for performing the handoff operation.

4 . The mobile station according to claim 1 ,

wherein the plurality of responding RF signals include a first plurality of sets associated with a first location of said plurality of locations and a second plurality of sets associated with a second location of said plurality of locations, each set of RF signals being generated by a given RFID tag pair including a first RFID tag and a second RFID tag separated from each other by a distance,

said processor being further configured to select, in accordance with the selection criterion, a first and a second magnitudes respectively of a first and a second responding RF signals in respectively a first and a second sets of said first plurality of sets, said processor being configured to combine said selected first and second magnitudes of said first plurality of sets,

said processor being further configured to select, in accordance with the selection criterion, a further first and a further second magnitudes respectively of a further first and a further second responding RF signals in respectively a first and a second sets of said second plurality of sets, said processor being configured to combine said selected further first and further second magnitudes of said second plurality of sets,

said processor being additionally configured to compare a value indicative of said combined first and second magnitudes of said first plurality of sets with a further value indicative of said combined further first and further second magnitudes of said second plurality of sets for selecting, in accordance with the comparison, the location corresponding to the selected at least one of said responding RF signals.

5 . (canceled)

6 . The mobile station according to claim 4 , wherein said selected location is selected in accordance with a sum of each selected magnitude associated with a corresponding RFID tag pair of a plurality of RFID tag pairs that are located in said selected location.

7 . The mobile station according to claim 6 , wherein said selected location is selected in accordance with said sum that is larger than each other sum, similarly obtained, that is associated with each of the other locations of said plurality of locations.

8 . The mobile station according to claim 4 wherein said mobile station is configured to apply a protocol applicable to said selected access point in accordance with information contained in at least a responding RF signal generated in a corresponding RFID tag pair located in said selected location.

9 . The mobile station according to claim 4 , further comprising a motion detector wherein said RFID transmitter is responsive to an output of said motion detector for transmitting said interrogating RF signal after said motion detector detects a motion of said mobile station.

10 . The mobile station according to claim 4 , wherein each of said RFID tag pairs is attached to a corresponding region of a plurality of regions of said given location, respectively.

11 . The mobile station according to claim 4 , wherein said distance is larger than or equal to λ/4 and smaller than or equal to λ/2 based on a frequency of a responding RF signal of said plurality of responding RF signals generated in said given RFID tag pair.

12 . An RFID tag configured for transmitting a RFID signal in response to an interrogating RF signal according to claim 1 , the RFID signal containing information identifying a location of the RFID tag, the RFID signal further containing further information identifying an access point for being selected among a plurality of access points, by a mobile station to associate with in a handoff operation.

13 . A pair of RFID tags comprising a first RFID tag, and a second RFID tag, the first and the second RFID tags being according to claim 11 , and being further separated from each other by a distance.

14 . The pair of RFID tags, according to claim 12 , wherein said distance is larger than or equal to λ/4 and smaller than or equal to λ/2 based on a frequency of the RF signal generated in response to the interrogating RF signal.

15 . A computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable program instructions to enable a computer to:

transmit by a long-range RFID transmitter an interrogating RF signal;

receive, in response to said interrogating RF signal, a plurality of responding RF signals generated in a plurality of RFID tags, respectively, located in a plurality of locations, each responding RF signal containing information identifying a location of a RFID tag having generated the responding RF signal; and

select, in accordance with a selection criterion, at least one of said responding RF signals containing further information identifying a corresponding access point, and to select, in accordance with said identifying information, said identified access point from a plurality of access points for said mobile station to associate with in said handoff operation.