Bss-switch module for wireless devices

Abstract

An access point (AP) () manages and coordinates the switching of mobile devices () to other access points (). The access point () monitors the quality of its communications link with the mobile device (). When the access point () determines that the quality is degrading, or when the access point () determines that its traffic is excessive, or when another switch-triggering event () occurs, the access point () sends a transfer-request to other access points () in its vicinity. If another access point can accept the mobile device (), it notifies the requesting access point () that it is available. The requesting access point () selects from among the available access points (), and notifies the mobile device () to switch to the selected access point. The notification to the mobile device () includes the appropriate attributes of the selected access point, so that the mobile device () can effect the switch to this selected access point with minimum overhead or delay. The requesting access point () maintains a message buffer during this transfer process, so that any data lost during the transfer can be easily recovered.