Patent application number | Description | Published |
20090029691 | Base station initiated proximity service discovery and connection establishment - The normal roles of wireless stations and wireless access points in initiating the establishment of wireless connections may be reversed without the need for changes in the network interfaces for either the station or access point device. This capability may be used to allow wireless devices acting as access points, but on which service clients operate, to initiate the establishment of a connection with a station, on which a wireless service provider operates. Discovery of services between wireless devices can be provided prior to establishing a connection between the devices. A service client device providing access point functionality may broadcast an invitation for service advertisements and then receive service advertisements from relevant service providers acting as wireless stations. An information element may be included as part of periodically broadcast administrative messages to wirelessly convey an invitation for service advertisements. In response to a service advertisement, the access point may send to the wireless station an invitation to connect, prompting the wireless station to begin to establish a connection according to a wireless communication protocol. | 01-29-2009 |
20090029728 | Base station initiated proximity service discovery and connection establishment - The normal roles of wireless stations and wireless access points in initiating the establishment of wireless connections may be reversed without the need for changes in the network interfaces for either the station or access point device. This capability may be used to allow wireless devices acting as access points, but on which service clients operate, to initiate the establishment of a connection with a station, on which a wireless service provider operates. Discovery of services between wireless devices can be provided prior to establishing a connection between the devices. A service client device providing access point functionality may broadcast an invitation for service advertisements and then receive service advertisements from relevant service providers acting as wireless stations. An information element may be included as part of periodically broadcast administrative messages to wirelessly convey an invitation for service advertisements. In response to a service advertisement, the access point may send to the wireless station an invitation to connect, prompting the wireless station to begin to establish a connection according to a wireless communication protocol. | 01-29-2009 |
20090093956 | Transmitting location data in wireless networks - A wireless access point in a wireless network that may be adapted to transmit location data indicating its location to other devices within range, including other wireless access points and client devices. In some embodiments of the invention, the location data may be embedded in a control message or announcement transmission transmitted by the wireless access point, or other message conventionally used to broadcast network characteristics necessary for a client device to establish a connection to the wireless access point. In terms of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) layered model of a network, layer 2 control messages, including beacons, probe responses, or other suitable transmissions may be used for control messages or announcement transmissions. The other wireless access points and client devices may receive the location data broadcast by the wireless access point without establishing a connection to the client device. Devices receiving the location data may use the received location data to determine their own locations, and may provide the determined locations to consumers of location data. | 04-09-2009 |
20090094111 | Advertising framework for wireless networks - An advertising framework for transmitting advertisements from wireless access points to client devices that need not be connected to the wireless access point. The client device can display the advertisements on a user interface of the client device. Such advertisements may be transmitted, for example, as part of a control message transmitted by a wireless access point of a wireless network, or other message conventionally used to broadcast network characteristics necessary for a client device to establish a connection to the wireless access point. In terms of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) layered model of a network, layer 2 control messages, including announcement transmissions such as beacons, may be used for control messages. | 04-09-2009 |
20090175182 | Differentiated service transmission parameters adaptation - Systems and methods are provided for transmitting data on a wireless network. Some embodiments provide a technique whereby a type is determined for the transmission, at least one metric is determined for the transmission based at least in part on the transmission type and/or an indication of conditions on the channel on which the transmission is to be performed, at least one transmission parameter to be used in performing the transmission is selected to optimize the at least one metric, and the data is transmitted in accordance with the at least one transmission parameter. | 07-09-2009 |
20090214036 | AUTHENTICATION MECHANISMS FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS - Security techniques and security mechanisms for wireless networks that transmit content such as advertisements. According to exemplary techniques, control messages comprising unrequested content (e.g., advertisement data) may be transmitted in response to a request from a client device, while in other exemplary techniques the control messages may be transmitted without any request from a client device. In some exemplary implementations, security mechanisms such as public key cryptography algorithms may be used to secure transmissions. In some of these techniques which implement public key cryptography, a user may be required to retrieve a public key from a source other than the wireless access point transmitting encrypted advertisements (e.g., a sign or terminal in a commercial entity transmitting such advertisements, or from a web service), such that the user may confirm that the encrypted content is from a source matching the retrieved public key and thus confirm the authenticity of a wireless access point. | 08-27-2009 |
20090254924 | OPERATING SYSTEM INTERFACES FOR VIRTUAL WIFI AND SOFTAP CAPABLE DRIVERS - Some embodiments of the invention provide an interface between programmed instructions (e.g., an operating system) and a miniport driver configured to communicate with radio hardware on a computer. The interface may include components operable to invoke various wireless connectivity-related functionality implemented by the radio hardware and/or miniport driver. The functionality may, for example, include a capability whereby the computer may maintain simultaneous connections on a plurality of wireless networks using a single radio, and/or a capability whereby the computer may function as an access point for a wireless network. | 10-08-2009 |
20090290520 | WIRELESS NETWORK HOST IN SILENT MODE - An access point that implements operating modes in which beacons may be selectively disabled. Beacons may be disabled when no device is actively associated through the access point. Beacons may be enabled in response to one or more triggers, which may include events such as a client forming an association through the access point following a probe request message identifying the access point. In addition, active beaconing may be triggered by user input or may occur during periodic brief intervals that allow client devices to discover the network identifier for the access point. Selective control of beaconing may lead to more effective wireless communication, particularly in areas where users congregate with computers implementing soft APs for personal networks. | 11-26-2009 |
20120022948 | ADVERTISING FRAMEWORK FOR WIRELESS NETWORKS - Discovery of services between devices is provided prior to establishing a connection between devices, including wireless-enabled devices or devices that are communicatively coupled to wireless access points or other wireless communication devices. Discovering services prior to establishing a connection may facilitate finding a desired service. The services that may be discovered may be, for example, print services, camera services, PDA services or any other suitable services. Services may be discovered using 802.11, Bluetooth, UWB or any other suitable wireless technology. A graphical user interface is provided that enables a user to select a desired service. | 01-26-2012 |
20130142188 | WIRELESS NETWORK HOST IN SILENT MODE - An access point that implements operating modes in which beacons may be selectively disabled. Beacons may be disabled when no device is actively associated through the access point. Beacons may be enabled in response to one or more triggers, which may include events such as a client forming an association through the access point following a probe request message identifying the access point. In addition, active beaconing may be triggered by user input or may occur during periodic brief intervals that allow client devices to discover the network identifier for the access point. Selective control of beaconing may lead to more effective wireless communication, particularly in areas where users congregate with computers implementing soft APs for personal networks. | 06-06-2013 |
20140177618 | BASE STATION INITIATED PROXIMITY SERVICE DISCOVERY AND CONNECTION ESTABLISHMENT - The normal roles of wireless stations and wireless access points in initiating the establishment of wireless connections may be reversed without the need for changes in the network interfaces for either the station or access point device. This capability may be used to allow wireless devices acting as access points, but on which service clients operate, to initiate the establishment of a connection with a station, on which a wireless service provider operates. Discovery of services between wireless devices can be provided prior to establishing a connection between the devices. A service client device providing access point functionality may broadcast an invitation for service advertisements and then receive service advertisements from relevant service providers acting as wireless stations. An information element may be included as part of periodically broadcast administrative messages to wirelessly convey an invitation for service advertisements. In response to a service advertisement, the access point may send to the wireless station an invitation to connect, prompting the wireless station to begin to establish a connection according to a wireless communication protocol. | 06-26-2014 |