Methods and apparatus for performing access and/or forwarding control in wireless networks such as WLANS
Methods and apparatus for controlling access to and/or forwarding of communicated information, e.g. traffic, in a wireless communication system are described. The key, e.g., PSK, used to secure data that is transmitted to an access point for communication to a destination device is taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to provide the destination device access to the communicated content. The decision of whether or not to provide the destination device access to a communication may involve deciding whether or not to forward the received data to another device, e.g., another access point, for delivery to the destination device and/or may involve deciding whether or not to transmit the data to the destination device. If the destination device is not associated with, e.g., does not have access to and/or authorization to use, the key used to secure the received data, the data is not communicated to the destination device.
1. A method comprising:
determining, by a wireless access point and based on a message received from a first wireless terminal connected to the wireless access point, that the message is addressed to a second wireless terminal;
determining, by the wireless access point, a key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal;
determining, by the wireless access point, whether the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal based on whether the second wireless terminal is connected to the wireless access point; and
based on determining that the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal, forwarding, by the wireless access point, the message to the second wireless terminal.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the key is a preshared key (PSK).
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the message is a first message and the wireless access point is a first wireless access point, the method further comprising:
determining, by the first wireless access point and based on a second message received from the first wireless terminal, that the second message is addressed to a third wireless terminal;
determining, by the first wireless access point, that the third wireless terminal is not associated with the key; and
based on determining that the third wireless terminal is not associated with the key, dropping, by the first wireless access point, the second message without delivering the second message to the third wireless terminal.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein forwarding the message to the second wireless terminal includes:
securing, by the wireless access point, the message using the key prior to forwarding the message to the second wireless terminal.
5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, in a storage device at a network management node, key information identifying which of a plurality of keys are associated with one or more wireless terminals, wherein determining that the second wireless terminal is associated with the key is based on the stored key information.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, in a storage device at the wireless access point, key records identifying which of a plurality of keys are associated with one or more wireless terminals, wherein determining that the second wireless terminal is associated with the key is based on the stored key records.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the wireless access point is a first wireless access point and the key is a first key;
wherein forwarding the message to the second wireless terminal includes forwarding the message to a second wireless access point when the second wireless terminal is attached to the second wireless access point; and
securing, by the second wireless access point, the message using a second key used to secure communications between the second wireless access point and the second wireless terminal.
8. The method of claim 7 ,
wherein the first wireless access point is a WiFi access point; and
wherein the second wireless access point is an LTE access point, the second wireless access point using a different wireless communications protocol than the first wireless access point.
9. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:
notifying, by the second wireless access point, the first wireless access point that the second wireless terminal is not associated with the first key or instructing, by the second wireless access point, the first wireless access point to stop forwarding content addressed to the second wireless terminal and secured with the first key to the second wireless access point for delivery to the second wireless terminal.
10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
decrypting, by the wireless access point, the message using the key.
11. A wireless access point device, comprising:
a processor configured to:
determine, based on a message received from a first wireless terminal connected to the wireless access point, the message is addressed to a second wireless terminal;
determine a key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal;
determine whether the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal based on whether the second wireless terminal is connected to the wireless access point, and
based on determining that the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the wireless access point and the first wireless terminal, forward the message to the second wireless terminal.
12. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the message is a first message and the wireless access point is a first wireless access point, and wherein the processor is further configured to:
determine, based on a second message received from the first wireless terminal, that the second message is addressed to a third wireless terminal;
determine, whether the third wireless terminal is associated with the key; and
based on determining that the third wireless terminal is not associated with the key, drop the second message without delivering the second message to the third wireless terminal.
13. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the key is a preshared key (PSK).
14. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
secure the message using the key prior to transmitting the message to the second wireless terminal.
15. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the processor further configured to:
store key information identifying which of a plurality of keys are associated with one or more wireless terminals, and wherein the processor determines whether the second wireless terminal is associated with the key based on the stored key information.
16. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the wireless access point is a first wireless access point, wherein the processor further configured to:
forward the message to a second wireless access point when the second wireless terminal is attached to the second wireless access point.
17. The wireless access point device of claim 16 , wherein the first wireless access point is a WiFi access point, and wherein the second wireless access point is an LTE access point, the second wireless access point using a different wireless communications protocol than the first wireless access point.
18. The wireless access point device of claim 16 , the processor further configured to:
receive a notification from the second wireless access point, the notification including an indication that the second wireless terminal is not associated with the key or an instruction to stop forwarding content addressed to the second wireless terminal and secured with the key to the second wireless access point for delivery to the second wireless terminal.
19. The wireless access point device of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to decrypt the message using the key.
20. A system comprising:
a first wireless access point connected to a first wireless terminal; and
a second wireless access point connected to a second wireless terminal;
the first wireless access point including a processor configured to:
determine, based on a message received from the first wireless terminal, that the message is addressed to the second wireless terminal;
determine a key used to secure communications between the first wireless access point and the first wireless terminal;
based on a determination that the first wireless access point does not have key association information available for the second wireless terminal, forward the message to the second wireless access point;
the second wireless access point including a processor configured to:
determine whether the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the first wireless access point and the first wireless terminal based on whether the second wireless terminal is connected to the second wireless access point; and
based on determining that the second wireless terminal is associated with the key used to secure communications between the first wireless access point and the first wireless terminal, forward the message to the second wireless terminal.