Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP

Abhiruchi Dakshinkar

Gaurav Patwardhan

Eldad Perahia

Nitin A Changlani

Sachin Ganu

Mohd Shahnawaz Siraj

Shubham Saloni

Qiang Zhou

Wei Hu

Myung Cheol Kim

Andre Beaudin

Xuguang Jia

Daniel N Harkins

Omar El Ferkouss

Amogh Guruprasad Deshmukh

Subbiah Nagarajan Veerabudran

Systems and methods are provided for encryption enhancement for a multi-link operation. Various subsets of addresses (or all addresses) associated with the frame are set to a determined known value, allowing encryption of the mac protocol data unit (MPDU) at a controller without knowledge of which particular link the frames will be sent. The multi-link devices (MLDs) used in the above communication may conduct communications in compliance with the IEEE 802.11be standard.

Encryption enhancement for multi-link operation in 802.11

Currently, spatial reuse (SR) is a feature used indiscriminately for/across all traffic classes. However, systems and methods are provided for increasing the reliability of voice traffic and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Acknowledgement (ACK) messaging. The result is improved quality of voice calls, and enhanced network capacity. When the length of a data section of a packet suggests that subsequent packets are associated with voice traffic or TCP ACKs, such packets are not transmitted when another transmission(s) is occurring under spatial reuse. When a determination is made that the length of a data section of the packet suggests non-voice traffic or TCP ACKs, they can be transmitted simultaneously with other transmissions occurring under spatial reuse.

Selective spatial reuse to enhance network performance

In a computer network, communication connections may be established between client devices and network devices. An algorithm may be generated and used as a method to identify and resolve issues with Uplink communications between client devices and network devices. When an issue with an Uplink communication is identified, a total number of issues with the communication may be determined. Determining that the total number of issues with a communication is greater than a threshold, the client device associated with the communication may be deauthenticated from the respective network device. After a client device is deauthenticated from a network device, the total number of deauthentications may be determined with the network device. Determining the total number of deauthentications with a network device is greater than a threshold, the radio of the network device may be disabled to deauthenticate all connected client devices. Solutions may be implemented according to the issues identified.

Strategy to ensure continual user experience and system performance if an Uplink is stuck

Examples described herein relate to a method for reconfiguring a beacon by an access point (AP) to minimize or avoid network outages experienced by client devices connected to the AP. The AP transmits a beacon comprising a basic service set identifier (BSSID) field and a Multiple BSSID (MBSSID) element. The MBSSID element corresponds to an MBSSID set comprising a transmitted BSSID associated with a transmitted virtual access point (VAP) and a non-transmitted BSSID associated with a non-transmitted VAP, where the BSSID field in the beacon is set to the transmitted BSSID. Further, the AP reconfigures the beacon to generate a reconfigured beacon upon determining that the transmitted VAP is non-functional. In particular, the BSSID field in the reconfigured beacon is set to the non-transmitted BSSID of the MBSSID set. Moreover, the AP transmits the reconfigured beacon to the client device.

Reconfiguring beacon frames to minimize network outage

Systems and methods are provided for generating an MBSSID virtual access point (VAP) to facilitate an uninterrupted MBSSID. An access point (AP) can determine characteristics, or network properties, of VAPs associated with the AP. The AP can generate an MBSSID VAP based on the characteristics of the VAPs. An MBSSID beacon can be generated using the MBSSID VAP as a transmitted VAP (TX VAP) of the MBSSID beacon. The MBSSID VAP serves as a TX-VAP that is not subject to changes and does not need to be interrupted to have changes made to it. As the MBSSID VAP serves as a TX VAP that is not subject to changes or interruptions, the MBSSID based on the MBSSID VAP does not need to be interrupted for changes to be made to other VAPs associated with the MBSSID.

Uninterrupted multiple basic service set identifiers

A dynamic BSS color feature for co-hosted virtual access points is described. An example of a storage medium includes instructions to operations including enabling, by an access point, a dynamic basic service set (BSS) color feature for operation with multiple virtual access points (VAPs) hosted by the access point; switching a parameter of the access point to indicate that no co-hosted BSS is present; assigning a different BSS color to each of the VAPs; performing access point operations, including utilizing the assigned BSS colors for transmissions relating to any of the VAPs; and disabling the dynamic BSS color feature upon occurrence of one or more conditions.

Dynamic BSS color feature for co-hosted virtual access points

Examples of techniques for handling unsolicited probe responses are disclosed. In an example, occurrence of an attack on an access point (AP) in an enterprise Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) is detected based on an unsolicited probe response and Robust Security Network Information Element (RSN IE). Responsive to detecting the attack, unsolicited probe responses at the AP is disabled. Further, Fast initial Link Setup (FILS) discovery at the AP is enabled.

Handling unsolicited probe responses

Implementations of the present disclosure relate to selecting a transmitting virtual access point (VAP) for a MBSSID set. A method comprises selecting a VAP from a set of VAPs as a transmitting VAP based on context information about the set of VAPs, at least one of the set of VAPs other than the transmitting VAP being determined as at least one non-transmitting VAP The method also comprises generating a beacon frame for the set of VAPs by including an identifier of the transmitting VAP in a header part of the beacon frame and including at least one identifier of the at least one non-transmitting VAP in a payload part of the beacon frame. A generated beacon frame is broadcasted. In this way, a transmitting VAP of a set of VAPs is no longer determined by default, but can be selected for different cases.

Selection of a transmitting VAP for a MBSSID set

Examples of techniques for dynamically controlling data bursts are described. In an example, an access point (AP) monitors a link quality between the AP and a client device associated with the AP. The AP determines a channel occupancy of a channel in which the AP is configured to operate. In response to determining that the channel occupancy is less than a channel busy threshold, the AP modifies a burst duration for traffic flow between the AP and the client device based on the link quality. The AP communicates with the client device using the channel for the modified burst duration.

Dynamic control of data bursts

Examples described herein relate to an investigator device and a method for determining a condition of an antenna of an access point (AP). At least one investigator device may receive one or more antenna condition test frames transmitted via a plurality of antennas of the AP Further, the at least one investigator device may determine an average received signal strength indicator (RSSI) value corresponding to each of the plurality of antennas based on the one or more antenna condition test frames. A condition of the plurality of antennas of the AP may be determined based on a relative comparison between the average RSSI value corresponding to each of the plurality of antennas of the AP. Moreover, in some examples, the at least one investigator device may send a notification to an administrator of the AP based on the condition of the plurality of antennas.

Determining antenna condition

Systems and methods are provided for using a short data frame sent at a particular rate that can be used to probe a channel on which an access point is operating. The rate can be increased/decreased depending on whether or not transmission of the short data frame was successful or not. In this way, the highest possible rate (which can be impacted by any or all of the following factors: number of spatial streams, modulation and coding scheme, channel bandwidth, guard interval) can be selected to transmit data on the channel. In other words, a transmission rate can be selected dynamically and on a per-packet basis for a spatial reuse data frame that would follow the short data frame based on whether transmission of the short data frame was successful.

Systems and methods for optimizing rate selection for transmissions during spatial reuse in WLAN networks

Systems and methods are provided for opportunistic spatial reuse. In various embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods provide for mechanisms for enabling and disabling spatial reuse in a wireless network as appropriate based on the deployment of the wireless network. In some embodiments, spatial reuse can be enabled and disabled based on various factors, such as channel utilization. In some embodiments, spatial reuse can be enabled and disabled as appropriate for various types of traffic in a wireless network. For example, spatial reuse can be enabled and disabled for downlink traffic (e.g., traffic from an access point to a client device), for uplink traffic (e.g., traffic from a client device to an access point), for multicast or broadcast traffic (e.g., traffic distributed to multiple recipients), or for certain modes of transmission (e.g., single user beamformed transmission, Dual Carrier Modulated transmission).

Opportunistic spatial reuse

Systems and methods are provided for aggregating Media Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Units (MPDUs) destined for different peers, and may have the same or different source address information, e.g., within the same or across different virtual access points (VAPs). For example, trigger frames used to signal to devices which subchannel(s) those devices can utilize, may be aggregated. For example, a multi-VAP/multi-device block acknowledgement for acknowledging packets transmitted to devices belonging to different VAPs can be sent as an aggregated MPDU.

Optimized transmissions using A-MPDU and multi-VAP frames

Systems and methods are configured to receive a first request to schedule a Time To Wake (TWT) service period (SP) for a first station. The first request can be based on individual TWT protocol. That the TWT SP satisfies a threshold level of similarity with an existing TWT SP maintained for a group of at least one station scheduled to communicate over the existing TWT SP can be determined. The group can include a second station. The first station can be assigned to the group. A first packet can be transmitted to the first station and a second packet can be transmitted to the second station over the existing TWT SP.

Optimizing service period negotiations in WLAN networks

Currently, spatial reuse (SR) is a feature used indiscriminately for/across all traffic classes. However, systems and methods are provided for reducing channel access latency via selective application of SR for latency-sensitive and high-priority traffic. If a radio frequency (RF) signal is detected on a channel used by an access point (AP) or a client device, a determination can be made as to whether the energy of the RF signal relative to SR energy level thresholds permits transmission on that channel used simultaneously by another, e.g., neighboring AP. If so, frames can be transmitted so long as the other neighboring AP is associated with a different basic service set (BSS) color than that of the AP, and so long as the frames to be transmitted belong to a high-priority/low-latency traffic access category.

Growing community of inventors

Santa Clara, CA, United States of America

Abhiruchi Dakshinkar