Method and apparatus for Wi-Fi device type identification and device type based diagnostics and optimization
A software application executing on a server and communicating with an agent in a wireless access point predicts a type of a computing device wirelessly connected via a radio frequency link to the wireless access point. The application receives an indication of a model of the computing device from the wireless access point, and further receives one or more characteristics of the computing device from the wireless access point. The application then predicts the type of the computing device associated with the one or more of the indication of the model, and characteristics, of the computing device.
1. A method for applying access control policies, the method comprising:
receiving, from at least one of a server or an access point, one or more characteristics associated with a computing device;
using the one or more characteristics to determine a type of the computing device;
based on at least the type, examining the one or more characteristics according to a device-specific policy to obtain device-specific information; and
using the device-specific information to enhance a performance of a radio frequency link between the computing device and the access point.
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the computing device comprise a type of traffic between the computing device and the access point.
3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprise historical performance data associated with the computing device.
4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the historical performance data comprises at least one of throughput, latency, or connectivity.
5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, in a training phase, using a type detector to classify the type of the computing device from a class of computing devices.
6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein using the one or more characteristics to determine the type comprises predicting the type based on a characteristic that is closest to the one or more characteristics.
7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein determining the type comprises determining a model of the computing device.
8. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising requesting from an agent or from the access point one or more characteristics associated with the access point.
9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the access point is a wireless access point.
10. A system for applying access control policies, the system comprising:
an access point coupled to a computing device, the access point being associated with one or more characteristics of the computing device;
a type detector coupled to at least one of the access point or server, the type detector uses the one or more characteristics to determine a type of the computing device; and
an optimization module coupled to the type detector, the optimization module configured to perform the steps of:
based on at least the type, examining the one or more characteristics according to a device-specific policy to obtain device-specific information; and
using the device-specific information to enhance a performance of a radio frequency link between the computing device and the access point.
11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the optimization module generates the device-specific policy.
12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of an address for the computing device or a name for the computing device.
13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the type detector predicts the type of the computing device by searching a permanent data store for a range of one or more addresses that comprise the address for the computing device.
14. The system according to claim 12 , wherein the address for the computing device is one of a physical layer address, a data link layer address, a network layer address, a transport layer address, or an application layer address.
15. A system for applying access control policies, the system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause steps to be performed, the steps comprising:
receiving, from a server or an access point, one or more characteristics associated with a computing device;
using the one or more characteristics to determine a type of the computing device;
based on at least the type, examining the one or more characteristics according to a device-specific policy to obtain device-specific information; and
using the device-specific information to enhance a performance of a radio frequency link between the computing device and the access point.
16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the one or more characteristics of the computing device comprise a type of traffic between the computing device and the access point.
17. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprise historical data associated with the computing device.
18. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the one or more characteristics comprise at least one of an address for the computing device or a name for the computing device.
19. The system according to claim 16 , wherein the access point is a wireless access point.
20. A method for applying access control policies, the method comprising:
receiving, from at least one a server or an access point, one or more characteristics associated with a computing device;
using the one or more characteristics to determine a type of the computing device;
based on at least the type, examining the one or more characteristics according to a device-specific policy to obtain device-specific information; and
using the device-specific information to diagnose a radio frequency link between the computing device and the access point.