Apparatus, system and method of concurrent multiple band (CMB) network access
For example, a wireless communication device may be configured to, while communicating via a first radio of the wireless communication device over a first network connection in a first WLAN over a first wireless communication frequency band, identify a second WLAN over a second wireless communication frequency band for Concurrent Multiple Band (CMB) network access, the second wireless communication frequency band different from the first wireless communication frequency band; based on identifying the second WLAN, to automatically transmit from a second radio of the wireless communication device user credentials to establish a second network connection with the second WLAN over the second wireless communication frequency band, the second network connection concurrent with the first network connection; and to concurrently communicate over the first and second network connections by routing to the first and second radios a plurality of application streams corresponding to one or more applications.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a processor comprising logic and circuitry configured to cause a wireless communication device to:
while a first radio of the wireless communication device is connected via a first network connection for communication in a first Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) over a first wireless communication frequency band, identify a second WLAN over a second wireless communication frequency band, the second wireless communication frequency band different from the first wireless communication frequency band;
based on a determination to connect to the second WLAN for Concurrent Multiple Band (CMB) network access, automatically transmit from a second radio of the wireless communication device user credentials to establish a second network connection with the second WLAN over the second wireless communication frequency band, the second network connection concurrent with the first network connection; and
route a plurality of application streams to the first and second radios for communication over the concurrent first and second network connections; and
a memory to store data processed by the processor.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 configured to cause the wireless communication device to determine whether or not to enable the CMB network access with the first and second network connections based on at least one criterion.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises a power mode criterion corresponding to a power mode of the wireless communication device.
4. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises an interference criterion corresponding to an interference between the first and second network connections.
5. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises a throughput criterion relating to a required throughput for one or more of the plurality of application streams.
6. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises a latency criterion relating to a required latency for one or more of the plurality of application streams.
7. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises a stability criterion relating to a stability of at least one of the first network connection or the second network connection.
8. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the at least one criterion comprises a channel condition criterion relating to a channel condition of at least one of the first network connection or the second network connection.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second WLANs share a same Service Set Identifier (SSID).
10. The apparatus of claim 9 configured to cause the wireless communication device to, based on the determination to connect to the second WLAN for the CMB network access, automatically transmit to the second WLAN user credentials of the first network connection.
11. The apparatus of claim 9 configured to cause the wireless communication device to establish the second network connection using security credentials of the first network connection.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first WLAN has a first Service Set Identifier (SSID), and the second WLAN has a second SSID different from the first SSID.
13. The apparatus of claim 12 configured to cause the wireless communication device to retrieve a user profile corresponding to the second SSID from a memory of the wireless communication device, and based on the user profile, to determine the user credentials to establish the second network connection with the second WLAN over the second wireless communication frequency band.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 configured to cause the wireless communication device to retrieve from the user profile security credentials corresponding to the second SSID, and to establish the second network connection using the security credentials corresponding to the second SSID.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 configured to cause the wireless communication device to map a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a second IP address to a local IP address for one or more applications executed by the wireless communication device, the first IP address for communication by the first radio over the first network connection, the second IP address for communication by the second radio over the second network connection.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 configured to cause a user interface of the wireless communication device to provide to a user of the wireless communication device a concurrent connection indication to concurrently indicate a connection state of the first and second network connections.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first and second network connections are with a same Access Point (AP).
18. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first network connection is with a first Access Point (AP), and the second network connection is with a second AP.
19. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the user credentials to establish the second network connection comprise at least one of a username, a password, a Media Access Control (MAC) address, a device barcode, an access code, or an acceptance of terms and conditions.
20. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first wireless communication frequency band or the second wireless communication frequency band comprises a 2.4 Gigahertz (GHz) band, a 5 GHz band, or a 6-7 GHz band.
21. The apparatus of claim 1 comprising the first and second radios.
22. A product comprising one or more tangible computer-readable non-transitory storage media comprising computer-executable instructions operable to, when executed by at least one processor, enable the at least one processor to cause a wireless communication device to:
while a first radio of the wireless communication device is connected via a first network connection for communication in a first Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) over a first wireless communication frequency band, identify a second WLAN over a second wireless communication frequency band, the second wireless communication frequency band different from the first wireless communication frequency band;
based on a determination to connect to the second WLAN for Concurrent Multiple Band (CMB) network access, automatically transmit from a second radio of the wireless communication device user credentials to establish a second network connection with the second WLAN over the second wireless communication frequency band, the second network connection concurrent with the first network connection; and
route a plurality of application streams to the first and second radios for communication over the concurrent first and second network connections.
23. The product of claim 22 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the wireless communication device to determine whether or not to enable the CMB network access with the first and second network connections based on at least one criterion.
24. The product of claim 22 , wherein the first and second WLANs share a same Service Set Identifier (SSID).