Methods and systems for improved access point selection in a wireless network

1. A method comprising:

calculating, based on data received from a first access point on a wireless network within a communication range of an identified client device, a first effective uplink data rate for the client device with respect to the first access point based on a) an uplink data rate for the first access point and b) a percentage of uplink airtime for the first access point that is available to the client device based on uplink data and uplink data rates for devices that are connected to the first access point;

calculating, based on data received from the first access point, a first effective downlink data rate VCH D for the client device with respect to the first access point based on formula

VCH

D

=

DD

C

/

DDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

DD

i

DDR

i

*

DDR

C

 wherein DD C represents downlink data sent by the client device, DDR C represents a downlink data rate of the client device, DD i represents downlink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and DDR i represents a downlink data rate of another device connected to the first access point, wherein the downlink data rate for the first access point is estimated based on a signal to noise ratio with respect to the first access point;

computing a first metric for the first access point based on the first effective uplink data rate, the first effective downlink data rate, and a noise floor scaling factor; and

generating a recommendation for access point connection by the client device based on a comparison of the first metric for the first access point and a second metric computed for a second access point.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client device is associated with the second access point.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second access point is configured to calculate the first effective uplink data rate and the first effective downlink data rate and compute the first metric.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein a controller is configured to calculate the first metric and the second metric.

5. The method of claim 1 , further including ordering a plurality of metrics including the first metric and the second metric to generate an ordered list of recommended access points for association with the client device.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first effective uplink data rate is calculated as follows:

VCH

U

=

UD

C

⁢

/

⁢

UDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

UD

i

UDR

i

*

UDR

C

,

 wherein VCH U represents the first effective uplink data rate as a first uplink component of the first metric, UD C represents uplink data sent by the client device, UDR C represents an uplink data rate of the client device, UD i represents uplink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and UDR i represents an uplink data rate of another device connected to the first access point.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first effective uplink data rate or the first effective downlink data rate is weighted according to an uplink to downlink traffic ratio.

8. An apparatus comprising:

a processor particularly configured to generate a recommendation for access point connection by:

calculating, based on data received from a first access point on a wireless network within a communication range of an identified client device, a first effective uplink data rate VCH U for the client device with respect to the first access point based on formula

VCH

U

=

UD

C

⁢

/

⁢

UDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

UD

i

UDR

i

*

UDR

C

,

 wherein UDC represents uplink data sent by the client device, UDRC represents an uplink data rate of the client device, UDi represents uplink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and UDRi represents an uplink data rate of another device connected to the first access point;

calculating, based on data received from the first access point, a first effective downlink data rate for the client device with respect to the first access point based on a) a downlink data rate for the first access point and b) a percentage of downlink airtime for the first access point that is available to the client device based on downlink data and downlink data rates for the devices that are connected to the first access point, wherein the downlink data rate for the first access point is estimated based on a signal to noise ratio with respect to the first access point;

computing a first metric for the first access point based on the first effective uplink data rate, the first effective downlink data rate, and a noise floor scaling factor; and

 generating the recommendation for access point connection by the client device based on a comparison of the first metric for the first access point and a second metric computed for a second access point.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the client device is associated with the second access point.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to order a plurality of metrics including the first metric and the second metric to generate an ordered list of recommended access points for association with the client device.

11. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to calculate the first effective downlink data rate as follows:

VCH

D

=

DD

C

⁢

/

⁢

DDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

DD

i

DDR

i

*

DDR

C

,

 wherein VCH D represents the first effective downlink data rate as a first downlink component of the first metric, DD C represents downlink data sent by the client device, DDR C represents a downlink data rate of the client device, DD i represents downlink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and DDR i represents a downlink data rate of another device connected to the first access point.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to weight at least one of the first effective uplink data rate or the first effective downlink data rate according to an uplink to downlink traffic ratio.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to:

calculate, based on data received from a first access point on a wireless network within a communication range of an identified client device, a first effective uplink data rate for the client device with respect to the first access point based on a) an uplink data rate for the first access point and b) a percentage of uplink airtime for the first access point that is available to the client device based on uplink data and uplink data rates for devices that are connected to the first access point, wherein the first effective uplink data rate is calculated as follows:

VCH

U

=

UD

C

/

UDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

UD

i

UDR

i

*

UDR

C

,

 wherein VCH U represents the first effective uplink data rate as a first uplink component of the first metric, UD C represents uplink data sent by the client device, UDR C represents an uplink data rate of the client device, UD i represents uplink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and UDR i represents an uplink data rate of another device connected to the first access point;

calculate, based on data received from the first access point, a first effective downlink data rate for the client device with respect to the first access point based on a) a downlink data rate for the first access point and b) a percentage of downlink airtime for the first access point that is available to the client device based on downlink data and downlink data rates for the devices that are connected to the first access point, wherein the downlink data rate for the first access point is estimated based on a signal to noise ratio with respect to the first access point;

compute a first metric for the first access point based on the first effective uplink data rate, the first effective downlink data rate, and a noise floor scaling factor, wherein at least one of the first effective uplink data rate or the first effective downlink data rate is weighted according to an uplink to downlink traffic ratio; and

generate a recommendation for access point connection by the client device based on a comparison of the first metric for the first access point and a second metric computed for a second access point.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the first effective downlink data rate is calculated as follows:

VCH

D

=

DD

C

⁢

/

⁢

DDR

C

∑

i

=

1

n

⁢

DD

i

DDR

i

*

DDR

C

,

 wherein VCH D represents the first effective downlink data rate as a first downlink component of the first metric, DD C represents downlink data sent by the client device, DDR C represents a downlink data rate of the client device, DD i represents downlink data sent by another device connected to the first access point, and DDR i represents a downlink data rate of another device connected to the first access point.