Extended service set transitions in wireless networks
A mobile device may transition between Extended Service Set (“ESS”) networks seamlessly, such that a consumer never loses the network connection despite the transition. The communication for enabling a transition may be prior to association with that network. The seamless transition may be enabled through the creation and utilization of a central key holder authority that advertises its identity to mobile devices in a pre-associated state. The mobile device can use the key discovery communication along with a key generation method to authenticate and/or associate with a network and transition from one ESS to another. There may be a common root key across ESSs. At each new access point (“AP”) that the mobile device encounters, ESS and key holder identities may be discovered through discovery communications.
1. A method for Fast Initial Link Setup (FILS) in a mobile device, the method comprising:
receiving an identifier of a key holder from an access point associated with the key holder;
constructing a FILS authentication request, the FILS authentication request including a first nonce, where the first nonce includes first randomly generated data;
transmitting the FILS authentication request to the key holder;
receiving an authentication response including a second nonce, where the second nonce includes second randomly generated data; and
generating a mutually derived key with the access point associated with the key holder based on a symmetrical algorithm using the FILS authentication request and the authentication response.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device receives a homogenous extended service set identifier (HESSID) parameter that is used to identify a first extended service set (ESS) network of the access point.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifier of the key holder is received prior to the mobile device associating with a network of the access point.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identity of the key holder is received at a media access control (MAC) sub-layer.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the mutually derived key allows the mobile device to perform a transition from the first ESS network to a second ESS network, wherein the second ESS network is associated with the key holder.
6. A method for fast initial link setup (FILS) authentication in an access point, the method comprising:
receiving, from an extended authentication server, an initialization message comprising a key and an identity of a key holder of the key;
transmitting, to a mobile device, the identity of the key holder;
performing expedited authentication of the mobile device using the key when the mobile device has previously communicated with the key holder; and
generating a mutually derived key with the mobile device based on a symmetrical algorithm.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the access point transmits a homogenous extended service set identifier (HESSID) parameter that is used to identify a first extended service set (ESS) network of the access point.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identity of the key holder is transmitted prior to the expedited authentication.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the identity of the key holder is transmitted at a media access control (MAC) sub-layer.
10. A mobile device for performing fast initial link setup (FILS) authentication, the mobile device comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor configured to execute instructions stored on the storage device such that when executed, cause the mobile device to:
receive an identifier of a key holder from an access point associated with the key holder;
construct a FILS authentication request, the FILS authentication request including a first nonce, where the first nonce includes first randomly generated data;
transmit the FILS authentication request to the access point associated with the key holder;
receive an authentication response including a second nonce, where the second nonce includes second randomly generated data; and
generate a mutually derived key with the access point associated with the key holder based on a symmetrical algorithm using the FILS authentication request and the authentication response.
11. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the mobile device receives a homogenous extended service set identifier (HESSID) parameter that is used to identify a first extended service set (ESS) network of the access point.
12. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the identity of the key holder is received prior to the mobile device associating with a network of the access point.
13. The mobile device of claim 10 , wherein the identity of the key holder is received at a media access control (MAC) sub-layer.
14. The mobile device of claim 11 , wherein the mutually derived key allows the mobile device to perform a transition from the first ESS network to a second ESS network, wherein the second ESS network is associated with the key holder.