Merunetworks, Inc.

Anand P Poomagame

Berend Dunsbergen

Using the feature named 'KEY_SEARCH_AD1' in the Atheros 11n chipset, an access point can determine whether to send an ACK packet in response to a message packet in response to whether the BSSID present in the sender address is present in the keycache. The AP can maintain a list of about 128 arbitrarily selected BSSID's, to each of which it will respond with an ACK packet if it receives a message from a mobile station with that BSSID. (1) the number of mobile stations that can be assigned to that AP is relatively greater. (2) the selection of those BSSID's is no longer constrained by having to match the AP's BSSID using a mask. With selection of those BSSID's being no longer so constrained, it is easier to assign BSSID's to mobile stations while allowing those mobile stations to roam among multiple AP's.

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Sunnyvale, CA, United States of America

Anand P Poomagame