Wireless Terminal Roaming via Priority Band Scanning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing wireless communication terminals face prolonged scanning times when searching for access points across multiple bands, leading to potential communication errors and incompatibility with general-purpose access points.
Innovation Solution
A wireless communication terminal that prioritizes scanning in descending order of high-priority bands during roaming, connecting to an access point if found in the high-priority band, and scanning lower-priority bands only if the high-priority band does not have a suitable access point.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the terminal scans all 33 channels (14 channels in 802.11b/g band and 19 channels in 802.11a band) during the scanning process, then the terminal can detect all available access points, but the scanning time is prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the scanning process into two distinct phases: a fast scan of high-priority bands (802.11b/g band with 14 channels) and a subsequent scan of lower-priority bands (802.11a band with 19 channels). This segmentation allows the terminal to quickly identify access points in the most commonly used band while preserving the option to scan other bands if needed, thereby reducing overall scanning time while maintaining detection completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the high-priority band scan first before proceeding to lower-priority bands. The terminal pre-establishes the scanning order with 802.11b/g band as the first target, allowing it to quickly detect access points in the most probable band where the target access point resides, thus reducing the expected scanning time while maintaining reliability.
2Productivity
If the access point implements original processes to manage roaming history information, then the roaming efficiency is improved, but it is difficult to use a general-purpose access point
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service by enabling the wireless terminal to autonomously manage its own roaming process through priority-based band scanning. The terminal independently determines scanning order and executes the scan without requiring external assistance from the access point, thereby achieving high roaming efficiency while maintaining compatibility with any standard-compliant access point that does not require custom modifications.
3Reliability
If the terminal scans multiple bands sequentially to find an access point, then the scanning thoroughness is improved, but the roaming time is extended
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the scanning process adaptive rather than static. The terminal dynamically adjusts the scanning sequence based on priority assignments to different bands, starting with high-priority bands and proceeding to lower-priority bands only if necessary. This dynamic approach maintains scanning thoroughness while minimizing roaming time by potentially completing the scan in fewer bands depending on where access points are found.
Data Source
AI summary
A wireless communication terminal includes: a scanning section configured to, in a case where a roaming is performed to switch a connection to an access point in the course of the movement, perform a scan for an access point from a high-priority scan-band in descending order; and a roaming executing section configured to, in a case where a scanning result of the scanning section indicates that an access point of a roaming destination is present, make a connection. In a case where a scanning result of scanning a scan-band of a priority order indicates that an access point of a roaming destination is not present, the scanning section scans a scan-band of a lower priority order than the priority order.