Centralized Wireless Network Management via Flow-Based Access Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wireless network management systems are inflexible and complex, requiring duplicated configurations across multiple locations, leading to scalability issues, latency, and faulty configurations due to high configuration churn, especially with user device mobility.
Innovation Solution
A centralized wireless network management system utilizing a cloud-based flow controller and access point flow agents for flow-based wireless access control, enabling comprehensive management and scalable architecture that supports complex access points and new technologies with deep packet inspection and classification.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional wireless network management systems duplicate configurations across all wireless controllers and access points, then user device mobility is supported, but system complexity and configuration churn increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized wireless controller as an intermediary between access points and the network core. This controller maintains a global configuration database and pushes configurations to access points as needed, eliminating the need for each access point to maintain duplicate configurations. The intermediary absorbs the complexity of configuration management and provides a simplified interface for mobility support.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges configuration management functions into a centralized wireless controller that consolidates configuration data from multiple access points. Instead of duplicating configurations across all controllers and access points, the system combines configuration management at a single point, reducing overall system complexity and configuration churn while maintaining mobility support.
2Adaptability or versatility
If centralized network management is implemented across multiple physical locations, then network scalability improves, but configuration latency and faults increase due to high configuration churn
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized wireless controller pre-configures access points with necessary parameters before user devices need to connect. Configuration data is prepared in advance and stored in a centralized database, allowing rapid deployment when devices move between locations. This preliminary action reduces real-time configuration latency while maintaining scalability across multiple physical locations.
3Ease of operation
If complex wireless controller designs are used to support centralized network management, then network management capability improves, but system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts complex configuration management functions from individual access points and wireless controllers, placing them in a separate centralized wireless controller. This extraction allows standard access points to remain simple while centralized management capabilities are provided by the dedicated controller, reducing overall system complexity and cost while maintaining management capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A centralized network management system includes a wireless controller system and a plurality of access points that are coupled together through a network. Each of the plurality of access points is configured to receive wireless traffic from user devices and determine whether flow session rules are available for the wireless traffic. If so, wireless traffic received by an access point that is part of a flow session is modified by that access point according to at least one flow session rule that was received from the wireless controller system and that is associated with the flow session to which that wireless traffic belongs. That modified wireless traffic is translated to modified wired traffic by the access point, and the access point then perform an action on the modified wired traffic according to the at least one flow session rule associated with the flow session.