Cooperative access points for quality of service (QoS) requirements in wireless local access networking (WLAN)

1. A computer-implemented method in a controller device coupled to and managing a plurality of access points (APs) over a data communication network, for load balancing quality of service (QoS) packet processing based on processor performance, the method comprising:

receiving, at a communication interface of the first access point, one or more network packets for a specific session of network packets from a station, from the data communication network;

identifying a QoS required by the session of network packets;

calculating a cost function value for the specific session based on a number of network packets to be processed in the queue and the identified QoS requirement;

determining whether another of the plurality of access points within range of the specific session can better serve the identified QoS requirement than the first access point by comparing the cost function value for the specific session against at the first access point against at least a cost function value for a second access point; and

responsive to the second access point being able to better serve the identified QoS requirement based on the cost function value for the second access point, handing off the specific session from the first access point to the second access point, wherein the handoff occurs despite the lower signal strength for low priority network packets.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a dynamic threshold value;

responsive to a number of handoffs within a predefined window exceeding a predetermined value, adjusting the dynamic threshold value.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

determining a processor load for the processor relative to an ideal processor load;

wherein the adjustment of the dynamic threshold value is responsive to both the processor load and the number of handoffs within the predefined window exceeding the predetermined value.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identified QoS requirement is associated with at least one of: voice, video, best effort, and background.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the second access point has a lower signal strength relative to the specific session than the first access point,

wherein the handoff occurs despite the lower signal strength for low priority network packets, the identified QoS requirement being associated with either best effort or background.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

recalculating the cost function value for the specific session after a predetermined length of time; and

handing off the specific session if the second access point is now better able to service the identified QoS requirement.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the specific session is associated with an application executing on the station, the application having a QoS requirement.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a computer-implemented method in a controller device coupled to and managing a plurality of access points (APs) over a data communication network, for load balancing quality of service (QoS) packet processing based on processor performance, the method comprising:

receiving, at a communication interface of the first access point, one or more network packets for a session of network packets, from the data communication network;

identifying a QoS required by the session of network packets;

calculating a cost function value for the specific session based on a number of network packets to be processed in the queue and the identified QoS requirement;

determining whether another of the plurality of access points can better serve the identified QoS requirement than the first access point by comparing the cost function value for the specific session against at the first access point against at least a cost function value for a second access point; and

responsive to the second access point being able to better serve the identified QoS requirement based on the cost function value for the second access point, handing off the specific session from the first access point to the second access point, wherein the handoff occurs despite the lower signal strength for low priority network packets.

9. A controller device coupled to and managing a plurality of access points (APs) over a data communication network, for load balancing quality of service (QoS) packet processing based on processor performance, the controller device comprising:

a processor;

a communication interface of the first access point, communicatively coupled to the processor and to the data communication network, to receive the one or more network packets for a session of network packets, from the data communication network;

a memory, storing source code for:

a QOS determination module to identify a QoS required by the session of network packets;

a QOS function value module to calculate a cost function value for the specific session based on a number of network packets to be processed in the queue and the identified QoS requirement; and

a QOS session assignment module to determine whether another of the plurality of access points can better serve the identified QoS requirement than the first access point by comparing the cost function value for the specific session against at the first access point against at least a cost function value for a second access point, and responsive to the second access point being able to better serve the identified QoS requirement based on the cost function value for the second access point, handing off the specific session from the first access point to the second access point, wherein the handoff occurs despite the lower signal strength for low priority network packets.