System and method for concurrent operation of a wireless device in two disjoint wireless networks
US7194263B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Sep 17, 2001 |
| Grant date | Mar 20, 2007 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 12, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04W84/18
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method for wireless network communications provides a “dual-mode” wireless device that operates concurrently as a member of two disjoint wireless networks, such as an infrastructure (“IS”) network and an ad hoc (“AH”) network. The dual-mode device has a wireless controller driver inserted in its networking stack (e.g., the stack comprising of the Network and NDIS drivers) that exposes two virtual wireless network adapters, one for the first wireless network and one for the second wireless network. Each virtual wireless network adapter has an associated queue for queuing packets in the flow for the corresponding wireless network mode. The wireless controller driver controls the switching of the network mode. In one embodiment where the two networks include an IS network and an AH network, the mode switching is triggered by poll signals transmitted by an access point of the IS network. When the mode is switched from operating in the first network to operating in the second network, the first virtual network adapter is disabled and the second virtual network adapter is enabled, and the queued packets in the queue for the second virtual network adapter are transmitted over…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.