System and method for provisioning a unique device credentials
Granted: June 2, 2015
Patent Number:
9049184
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for controlling access to a network comprises a first operation of determining a type of electronic device to join the network. Then, unique device credentials are sent to the electronic device. These unique device credentials are used in authenticating the electronic device, and the format of the unique device credentials is based on the type of electronic device determined.
Peer-to-peer forwarding for packet-switched traffic
Granted: June 2, 2015
Patent Number:
9049045
One of the embodiments is directed to establishing peer-to-peer tunnels between clients in a mobility domain. Normally, clients attached to a network having access nodes connected to a central controller transfer all traffic through the central controller via tunnels between the access node and the central controller. A mobility manager operating in the controller tracks access nodes connected to the controller, and clients connected to those access nodes. When the mobility controller…
Apparatus and method for producing a multi-pattern wireless frame
Granted: May 26, 2015
Patent Number:
9041604
Multi-pattern transmission of frames. The method of operations comprises transmitting a first portion of a frame using a first radiation pattern. The frame comprises one or more preambles and a single data portion associated with the one or more preambles. Thereafter, an operation is conducted to switch the radiation pattern from the first radiation pattern, used to produce the first portion of the frame, to a second radiation pattern. A second portion of the same frame is produced using…
System and method for centralized station management
Granted: April 28, 2015
Patent Number:
9019911
A wireless network is adapted with a wireless network switch in communication with a plurality of access points, which are in communication with one or more stations. Specifically, a network device may receive a plurality of request messages on a plurality of wireless communication channels through a plurality of access points. The request messages are originated from a single station. Furthermore, the network can extract a plurality of channel identifiers from the request messages, and…
Correlating data from multiple spectrum monitors
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9014021
A combination and correlation of data from multiple sensors in a wireless digital network is described. Sensors such as spectrum monitors, access points, and wireless client devices provide spectrum data to one or more central stations connected to the network. Spectrum data from multiple sensors is combined and correlated to provide insight into network operation such as spectrum maps, detection-range maps, and for network diagnostics. Sensors providing spectrum data may be…
Cloud-based firmware distribution service
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9015694
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method for altering stored firmware within a network device comprises receiving, by a first network device, information to download firmware. This information is provided from the first network device to at least a second network device, which is communicatively coupled to the first network device. The information enables the second network device to access a second version of firmware different than a first version of firmware installed on…
System and method for achieving enhanced performance with multiple networking central processing unit (CPU) cores
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9015438
The present disclosure discloses a method and network device for achieving enhanced performance with multiple CPU cores in a network device having a symmetric multiprocessing architecture. The disclosed method allows for storing, by each central processing unit (CPU) core, a non-atomic data structure, which is specific to each networking CPU core, in a memory shared by the plurality of CPU cores. Also, the memory is not associated with any locking mechanism. In response to a data packet…
Wireless macro cell overlay
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9014706
Overlaying a Wireless Macro Cell architecture on a Micro Cell network. WLAN MAC Address Translation (WMAT) is used to translate BSSIDs from the BSSID used to initialize a radio in an access node and identify communications between the radio in the access node and a controller, and the BSSID used over the air for Macro Cell operation. WMAT is used for transmit operations, translating the BSSID of outgoing packets to the Macro Cell BSSID prior to wireless transmission. On the receive side,…
Traffic forwarding in mesh networks
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9014156
Prioritizing traffic forwarding in a wireless mesh network. In a wireless mesh network using carrier detect multiple access—collision avoidance with backoff, such as mesh networks supporting IEEE 802.11 clients, access points in the mesh calculate a node rank based on downstream and upstream rank components. Access points in the mesh then generate backoff times inversely proportional to their node rank. This has the effect of prioritizing traffic at nodes that have higher rank. The…
System and method for computing coverage set and resource allocations in wireless networks
Granted: April 21, 2015
Patent Number:
9014112
The present disclosure discloses a network device and/or method for computing coverage set and resource allocations in wireless networks. The disclosed network device selects a radio frequency subdomain in a wireless network, and further determines a coverage set for the selected radio frequency subdomain. The coverage set includes a subset of access nodes in the selected radio frequency domain. Moreover, a respective access node in the radio frequency subdomain satisfies one of (a) the…
Method and system for call admission control in a wireless mesh network
Granted: February 17, 2015
Patent Number:
8958417
A method and system for call capacity control in a mesh network are disclosed. The mesh network uses on-device SIP proxy and includes multiple client devices, mesh points (“MPs”), and mesh access points (“MAPs”). The method of updating call capacity information (“CCI”) is also disclosed. Adaptive Wireless Routing (“AWR”) protocol is used to establish connectivity among all the mesh access points. Messages are sent to one or more of the plurality of nodes on a periodic…
Method and system for a radio frequency management in a mesh network with a path distance factor
Granted: February 10, 2015
Patent Number:
8953457
A method and system for radio frequency management (RFM) in a mesh network using a path distance factor (PDF) is disclosed. According to one embodiment, a computer-implemented method, comprises calculating a path distance factor (PDF) between a first mesh router and a portal. A frame is transmitted to a second mesh router, wherein the frame includes the path distance factor.
Securely virtualizating network services
Granted: February 3, 2015
Patent Number:
8949965
Services in a network device are added through providing virtual environments. Virtualization allows services based on other platforms or architectures to be run with minimum modification and in a secure manner. Connecting services to the host through a stateful firewall allows dynamic integration, and passes only traffic of interest to the service. Virtualization allows services written for different instruction architectures to be supported. Multiple virtualized environments each…
Multimode authentication
Granted: November 11, 2014
Patent Number:
8887237
Assigning clients to VLANs on a digital network. A client attaching to a digital network through a network device is initially assigned to a first VLAN. This VLAN may have restricted access and is used for authentication. The device snoops DHCP traffic on this first VLAN rewriting DHCP traffic from the client to request a short lease time for the client. A short lease time may be on the order of 30 seconds. The device optionally rewrites DHCP traffic to the client on the first VLAN to…
Method and system for using a minimum sensitivity threshold for receiving wireless signals
Granted: November 11, 2014
Patent Number:
8886236
A method includes computing a minimum sensitivity threshold value for a particular wireless device, configuring the particular wireless device to receive wireless signals with a signal strength higher than the minimum sensitivity threshold value, distributing the minimum sensitivity threshold value to other wireless devices, and configuring the other wireless devices based on the minimum sensitivity threshold value for the particular wireless device.
Spectrum-aware RF management and automatic conversion of access points to spectrum monitors and hybrid mode access points
Granted: November 11, 2014
Patent Number:
8885499
Methods of operating devices on a wireless network as access points (AP) or spectrum monitors (SM). An adaptive radio management (ARM) process operating on the digital network senses network conditions based on data from APs and SMs on the network, and in response to conditions changes devices from AP operation to SM operation, and from SM operation back to AP operation. A method for providing wideband spectrum analysis functions on a radio operating as an AP on a channel proving client…
Stateless cryptographic protocol-based hardware acceleration
Granted: September 16, 2014
Patent Number:
8838957
According to one embodiment of the invention, a method comprises an operation of commencing a first phrase and passing control of an authentication handshaking protocol. The first phase is commenced for establishing a secure communication path by a data path processor within a first network device. The first phrase comprises an exchange of data during an authentication handshaking protocol. The passing of control for authentication handshaking protocol by the data path processor to a…
System and method for adaptive channel scanning within a wireless network
Granted: August 26, 2014
Patent Number:
8817813
An access point device that is adapted to a wireless network and a wired network is disclosed. The access point includes a transceiver to receive wireless frames from a plurality of wireless devices of the wireless network, respectively, and at least one component to process information extracted from the wireless frames and to control channel scanning based upon at least one of an amount of wireless device traffic and a type of call.
Initiating peer-to-peer tunnels
Granted: July 22, 2014
Patent Number:
8788700
Client traffic normally passes from a client to an access node, and from the access node through a tunnel to a controller, and then through another tunnel from the controller to the destination access node, and the destination client. When initiated by the controller, the access nodes establish a peer-to-peer tunnel for suitable client traffic, bypassing the “slow” tunnels through the controller with a “fast” peer-to-peer tunnel. Traffic through this “fast” tunnel may be…
Determining WLAN edges
Granted: June 17, 2014
Patent Number:
8755272
Determining whether a station is at the edge of wireless local area network (WLAN) coverage. In an IEEE 802.11 wireless network comprising one or more access points (APs) which may optionally be connected to one or more controllers, with wireless clients connected to those APs. Station S connected to AP A collects reports such as beacon reports which contains information on all APs station S can hear, including signal strengths. AP A collects a neighbor report which contains information…
