Centralized Access Control Gateway for Wireless Hotspots
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing centralized access control systems for public wireless hotspots are costly to implement and maintain, often compromising functionality, manageability, and security, especially in low-traffic areas like small venues.
Innovation Solution
A centralized access control gateway system with plug-and-play wireless access point modules that establish a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel for subscriber authentication and communication, allowing for efficient management and scalability while reducing deployment and maintenance costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a feature-rich switch is deployed at each hotspot location, then functionality and reliability are improved, but implementation and maintenance costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the complex access control gateway functionality from individual hotspot locations and consolidates it into a centralized server. Each hotspot becomes a simple wireless access point without switch functionality, while the centralized server handles authentication, authorization, and accounting for all hotspots. This extraction eliminates the need for expensive switches at each location while maintaining full functionality through centralized management.
Solution Approach 2:
The centralized access control gateway server provides universal service to multiple hotspots, performing authentication, authorization, and accounting functions for all connected wireless access points. This single multi-functional server replaces what would otherwise require individual feature-rich switches at each hotspot location, achieving cost reduction while maintaining reliability through centralized control.
2Ease of manufacture
If a reduced-cost access control gateway is used, then deployment cost is reduced, but functionality and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes complex switch functionality from individual hotspot devices, replacing it with simple wireless access points. The extracted access control functions are then provided by a centralized server that can be deployed at reduced cost per location while maintaining full functionality through centralized management and shared resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the access control functions of multiple individual hotspots into a single centralized gateway server. By combining authentication, authorization, and accounting capabilities into one shared system, the solution achieves cost reduction through resource sharing while maintaining reliability through centralized control and unified management of all hotspot locations.
3Ease of operation
If individual switches are deployed at each hotspot, then local access control is improved, but scalability and manageability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts access control functionality from individual local switches and consolidates it into a centralized gateway. This extraction simplifies each local hotspot to a basic wireless access point while the centralized system handles all access control operations, dramatically reducing network management complexity while maintaining effective local access control through centralized policies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the network into simple wireless access points at each location and a centralized access control gateway. This segmentation allows each access point to focus solely on wireless connectivity while the centralized gateway handles all complex access control functions, improving both local operation and overall network manageability through clear functional separation.
Data Source
AI summary
In accordance with the teachings herein, a wireless access point module having a plug and play feature and an auto-configuration engine may be used to provide substantial benefits to business owners, Internet service providers, and subscribers. The wireless access point module may have memory and a processor configured such that during “power-up” the processor reads instruction from memory and automatically creates a virtual private network (VPN) with a centralized access gateway via a network VPN server. In turn, the wireless access point module may utilize this VPN for subscriber communications.