WLAN Discovery via Base Station Beacon Grouping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for discovering WLAN Access Points (APs) are inefficient, requiring separate interfaces for synchronization and burdening terminals with extensive information, especially when multiple APs are present within a cellular network's service coverage.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that utilize a cellular Base Station (BS) to collect and group beacon transmission information of WLAN APs, mapping this information to time areas and transmitting it to terminals, allowing them to discover APs only during designated times, thus reducing discovery time and data burden.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a terminal performs active scanning to discover WLAN APs, then the discovery time is reduced, but the terminal must transmit probe requests and the WLAN AP must generate additional packets
Solution Approach 1:
The base station performs preliminary actions by collecting beacon transmission time information from multiple WLAN APs, grouping them by time areas, and providing this grouped information to the terminal in advance. This allows the terminal to passively scan only during specific time windows without needing to transmit probe requests, reducing both discovery time and terminal burden.
Solution Approach 2:
The base station acts as an intermediary between WLAN APs and the terminal. It collects beacon information from APs, processes and groups it by time areas, and delivers it to the terminal. This intermediary role eliminates the need for direct terminal-AP interaction during scanning, reducing terminal complexity while maintaining efficient discovery.
2Measurement precision
If a separate interface is used to synchronize cellular BS and WLAN AP, then synchronization accuracy is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The existing base station interface is made multi-functional by enabling it to not only handle cellular communications but also to collect, process, and distribute WLAN beacon information. This eliminates the need for a separate synchronization interface while maintaining the base station's ability to coordinate WLAN discovery activities.
Solution Approach 2:
The functions of cellular base station operations and WLAN synchronization are merged into a single interface and processing system. The base station uses its existing infrastructure to collect beacon times from WLAN APs, group them by time areas, and provide this information to terminals, combining multiple functions into one unified system.
3Loss of information
If information on all WLAN APs is provided to the terminal, then complete AP information is available, but the data burden on the terminal increases
Solution Approach 1:
The complete set of WLAN AP information is segmented by dividing it into time-area groups. Instead of providing all AP information uniformly, the system groups APs by their beacon transmission time areas and provides only the relevant group information to the terminal at each discovery stage. This reduces data volume while maintaining information completeness for the current time window.
Solution Approach 2:
The terminal receives information with local quality optimized for its specific needs - only the beacon time area information relevant to the current discovery moment is provided in detail, while other AP information is either grouped or provided on demand. This ensures the terminal has complete information for current operations without being burdened by unnecessary data.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are a signal transmitting method by a BS and a discovery method by a terminal to perform a WLAN discovery. The signal transmitting method by the BS includes: collecting information including beacon transmission periods and beacon transmission time of one or more WLAN Access Points (APs) within a cell range of the BS; generating grouping information in which beacon transmission time of the WLAN APs is mapped to a time area divided according to a grouping level from a reference time by using the collected information; and transmitting the grouping information to one or more reception terminals within cell range of the BS. Further, the discovery method by the terminal includes: receiving grouping information in which beacon transmission time of one or more WLAN Access Points (APs) is mapped to a time area divided according to a grouping level from a reference time; and discovering a WLAN AP only during a time to which the beacon transmission time is mapped according to the grouping information. Accordingly, the terminal can energy-efficiently discover a WLAN.