Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC

Sunmeel Meelind Bhumkar

Muhib Taiye Oduwaiye

Sourabh Gupta

Hussain Zaheer Syed

Zaheer Syed

Syed Ahsan

To facilitate a handoff of a communication session in a wireless network, a first wireless access point at least temporarily emulates a second wireless access point, spoofing a target communication device that communications transmitted from the first wireless access point appear to be transmitted from the second wireless access point. According to a first configuration, the communication session is handed off from the first wireless access point to the second wireless access point. According to another configuration, the communication session is handed off from the second wireless access point to the first wireless access point.

Wireless communication management and handoffs

A first wireless access point notifies a handoff management resource that a second wireless access point is a potential handoff candidate. Subsequent to authentication of the second wireless access point as being a valid handoff candidate, the handoff management resource notifies a mobile communication device that the second wireless access point is a valid handoff option to receive a communication session from the first wireless access point. To perform a handoff, the mobile communication device initiates termination of a wireless communication link with the first wireless access point and communicates with the second wireless access point to establish a new wireless communication link. In furtherance of providing uninterrupted network access, the handoff management resource conveys communication settings information associated with the handed off communication session to the second wireless access point for use over the new wireless communication link.

A wireless network includes a channel allocation manager and multiple wireless access points. The wireless channel allocation manager receives a request from a first wireless access point amongst multiple wireless access points for allocation of a wireless channel. In response to receiving the request for allocation of a wireless channel, the channel allocation manager selects a particular wireless channel for allocation to the first wireless access point in the network environment. The channel allocation manager notifies the multiple wireless access points of a particular wireless channel that has been allocated for use by the first wireless access point (or its subordinates) in a specified timeframe. The first wireless access point either uses the allocated channel to communicate data downstream to a respective mobile communication device or notifies the mobile communication device that the particular wireless channel has been allocated to communicate upstream to the first wireless access point.

Wireless media usage, channel aggregation, and full-duplex communications

A mobile communication device generates a respective discovery request (probe request) in a wireless network. The mobile communication device generates the probe request to learn of available access points providing access to a network such as the Internet. Any access points within range of the mobile communication device receive the discovery request generated by the mobile communication device. In lieu of each of the access points immediately generating a respective probe response to the mobile communication device, each of the access points receiving the discovery request provides notification of the receipt of the discovery request to a wireless network controller controlling communications in the wireless network. The wireless network controller controls which of the multiple access points in the network responds to the discovery request, reducing a number of probe responses collectively generated by the wireless access points to the mobile communication device.

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Rockville, MD, United States of America

Sunmeel Meelind Bhumkar