WLAN Profile List Segmentation by Geographic Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wireless devices face inflexibility and management challenges with a single list of wireless local area network (WLAN) profiles, which grows large and cumbersome as users travel between geographic areas, leading to delayed connections and overwhelming information.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method to generate and store separate lists of WLAN identifiers for different geographic locations, allowing users to select an active list based on their current location, thereby reducing the need to scan the entire list and presenting only pertinent information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single list of WLAN profiles is maintained in wireless devices, then the device can access any WLAN anywhere, but the list grows large and cumbersome as users travel between geographic areas, leading to delayed connections and overwhelming information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the single large WLAN profile list into multiple smaller lists organized by geographic location. Each list contains only the WLAN profiles relevant to a specific location, making the lists more manageable and reducing the cognitive load on users when selecting networks to connect to.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a new organizational dimension (geographic location) to structure the WLAN profiles. Instead of a flat single list, profiles are now organized in a hierarchical structure with location-based grouping, allowing users to navigate and select profiles more efficiently based on their current geographic context.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a single list of WLAN profiles is maintained, then all profiles are available for selection, but scanning the entire list causes connection delays when only a few profiles are relevant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the relevant WLAN profiles from the complete list by filtering based on geographic location. When a user is in a specific location, only the profiles in that location's list are scanned and presented, eliminating the time waste of scanning irrelevant profiles from other locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary organization of WLAN profiles by geographic location before the connection process. This pre-grouping allows the system to quickly identify and scan only the relevant profiles for the current location, rather than scanning the entire list during the connection process.
3Quantity of substance
If a single list of WLAN profiles is maintained, then comprehensive coverage is achieved, but user experience deteriorates due to overwhelming information and inflexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making each geographic location's profile list have specialized characteristics tailored to that location. Each list contains only the locally relevant profiles with appropriate prioritization, making the information more digestible and easier to operate with, while still maintaining comprehensive coverage across all locations through the multi-list structure.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method for selecting a wireless local area network ("WLAN") for a wireless device, comprising: generating a first list of WLAN identifiers for a first group of one or more wireless local area networks ("WLANs") accessible at a first geographic location and storing the first list in the wireless device; generating a second list of WLAN identifiers for a second group of one or more WLANs accessible at a second geographic location and storing the second list in the wireless device; selecting one of the first and second lists as an active list; and, scanning for WLANs identified by the active list to identify an available WLAN for the wireless device.