Custom Region Service Discovery in WLANs
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current location-based service discovery mechanisms in WLANs are limited to RF neighborhoods or entire floors, lacking flexibility and precision in controlling service availability, leading to irrelevant devices being discovered by clients, and failing to define customized service boundaries effectively.
Innovation Solution
A network device determines the location of a client device and identifies associated network devices within custom, geographically defined regions, using a mapping tool, location engine, and policy engine to selectively present available resources based on predefined policies, allowing precise control over service discovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If location-based service discovery is restricted to RF neighborhood or entire floor, then service availability is improved, but precision and flexibility of service boundary control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the service boundary control into multiple hierarchical levels: RF neighborhood level, floor level, and custom region level. Each level provides progressively finer granularity, allowing the system to segment service visibility from broad (entire floor) to precise (custom-defined regions), thereby resolving the contradiction between service availability and boundary precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables different service discovery policies to be applied to different spatial regions. Custom regions allow administrators to define specific geographic boundaries where particular services are visible, creating local quality variations in service availability rather than uniform application across entire floors or RF neighborhoods
2Adaptability or versatility
If service discovery is expanded to broader areas, then service accessibility is improved, but irrelevant device discovery increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic service boundary definitions through custom regions that can be flexibly configured and modified. Service boundaries are not static but can be dynamically adjusted to match actual service availability zones, allowing the system to adapt service accessibility to precise geographic areas and eliminate irrelevant service discovery
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical/service-based service discovery mechanisms with location-aware service discovery. Instead of relying on device presence or manual configuration, the system uses geographic location information and custom region definitions to automatically determine service visibility, substituting location-based control for traditional service announcement mechanisms
3Measurement precision
If custom region definitions are implemented, then service boundary precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal custom region definition mechanism that can be applied across multiple access points and serving devices. The same region definition framework and policy enforcement logic work consistently throughout the WLAN infrastructure, allowing precise service boundary control without requiring separate complex configurations for each device
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces custom regions as an intermediary layer between physical location and service discovery policies. Rather than directly configuring each device's service visibility, administrators define custom regions that act as intermediaries, automatically translating geographic boundaries into service discovery rules and simplifying the overall system configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Example method includes determining, by a network management device, a location of a client device in a wireless local area network (WLAN); identifying, by the network management device, a first region comprising the location of the client device, wherein an irregular boundary of the first region is arbitrarily defined on a floor plan based on a device sharing policy; determining, by the network management device, that the device sharing policy permits the client device to discover a network service provided by at least one network device; and selecting, by the network management device, the at least one network device to be presented as providing the network service available to the client device.