Wireless network with performance signalling

The present invention relates to networking with performance signalling.

Wireless networks are well-known and include one or more computers and a wireless access point (AP). Wireless access points have wired network, e.g. Ethernet ports, for connecting to local area networks and sometimes have ADSL (asynchronous digital subscriber line) ports, or the like, for connecting to a wide area network such as the Internet.

If a fault arises in a wireless network, it is difficult for an inexpert user to determine whether the fault is in his own computer, the access point or a remote computer, e.g. a server, with which his computer is communicating via the wireless network.

Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a computer, an access point, a network system and methods therefore where a host provides data about its data transmitting/receiving state to a client, thereby allowing the client to check the data transmitting/receiving state of the host.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

<patcit id="pcit0001" dnum="EP1235446A"><text>EP1235446</text></patcit> relates to a wireless system for performing a remote maintenance assessment of a wireless base station. <patcit id="pcit0002" dnum="EP199901A"><text>EP199901</text></patcit> relates to determining the quality of an uplink connection and displaying a warning message if it is poor. <patcit id="pcit0003" dnum="WO9809469A"><text>WO9809469</text></patcit> and <patcit id="pcit0004" dnum="US5953323A"><text>US5953323</text></patcit> relate to a base station sending its status information to a receiving device in a beacon signal.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network system according to claim 1. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an access point according to claim 12. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer according to claim 21. According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling a network system according to claim 22

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the host further includes an access point to which the client is wirelessly connected through a wireless network.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first controller embeds the operation state data in a beacon signal, transmitted by the host, to transmit the operation state data.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first controller records the operation state data in a capability information field of a frame body of the beacon signal.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the operation state data includes information about a first connection state corresponding to a wireless data transmitting/receiving state between at least one other client connected to the access point and the access point and/or between the client and the access point.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the information about the first connection state includes at least one of authentication information about the client trying to access the access point, and information about a wireless data transmitting/receiving error between the access point and the client and/or between the access point and the other client.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the information about the wireless data transmitting/receiving error includes at least one of information about a retried packet rate per a predetermined period, and information about a cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) error rate per a predetermined period.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the network system further includes a network server connected to the access point through a wired network, wherein the operation state data includes information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the information about the second connection state includes information about an irresponsiveness rate with respect to a PING from the access point toward the network server.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the operation state data includes auxiliary information to define a sub-state with respect to information about the first connection state and/or the second connection state.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the network system further includes a network server connected to the access point through a wired network, wherein the operation state data includes information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the host includes a server to which the client is wire-connected.

The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention are also achieved by providing an access point relaying data transmission between a network server and a client, the access point including a wireless network module wirelessly communicating with the client; and a controller checking a data transmitting/receiving state related to the wireless network module and transmitting operation state data corresponding to the data transmitting/receiving state through the wireless network module.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the controller embeds the operation state data in a beacon signal and transmits the beacon signal to the client through the wireless network module.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the controller records the operation state data in a capability information field of a frame body of the beacon signal.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the operation state data includes information about a first connection state corresponding to a wireless data transmitting/receiving state between at least one other client connected to the access point through the wireless network module and the access point and/or between the client and the access point.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the information about the wireless data transmitting/receiving error includes at least one of information about a retried packet rate per a predetermined period, and information about a cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) error rate per a predetermined period.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the access point further includes a wired network module wire-connected to and wire-communicating with the network server, wherein the operation state data includes information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the operation state data includes information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer communicating with a host through a network, the computer including a display displaying a picture; a network module communicating with the host through the network; and a controller detecting operation state data from data received through the network module and controlling the display to display information about a data transmitting/receiving state of the host on the basis of the detected operation state data.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of controlling a network system including a host and a client communicating with the host, the method including creating operation state data corresponding to a data transmitting/receiving state of the host; transmitting the operation state data from the host; receiving the operation state data transmitted from the host by the client; and allowing the client to display information about the data transmitting/receiving state of the host on the basis of the operation state data.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the host includes an access point to which the client is wirelessly connected through a wireless network, and the creating of the operation state data includes embedding the operation state data in a beacon signal.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the creating of the operation state data includes detecting information about a first connection state corresponding to a wireless data transmitting/receiving state between other client connected to the access point and the access point and/or between the client and the access point.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the detecting of the information about the first connection state includes at least one of detecting authentication information about the client trying to access the access point, and detecting information about a wireless data transmitting/receiving error between the access point and the client and/or between the access point and the other client.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the detecting of the information about the wireless data transmitting/receiving error includes at least one of detecting information about a retried packet rate per a predetermined period, and detecting information about a cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) error rate per a predetermined period.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the network system includes a network server connected to the access point through a wired network, and the creating of the operation state data includes detecting information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the detecting of the information about the second connection state includes calculating an irresponsiveness rate with respect to a PING from the access point toward the network server.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the network system includes a network server connected to the access point through a wired network, and the creating of the operation state data includes detecting information about a second connection state corresponding to a wired data transmitting/receiving state between the network server and the access point.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: <ul id="ul0001" list-style="none" compact="compact"><li><figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref> is a control block diagram of a network system according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref> illustrates another network system according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0003">Figure 3</figref> is a control block diagram of an access point according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0004">Figure 4</figref> illustrates a beacon signal frame transmitted from an access point, according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0005">Figure 5</figref> is a control block diagram of a computer according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0006">Figure 6</figref> illustrates access point information displayed on a computer according to the present invention;</li><li><figref idref="f0007">Figure 7</figref> is a control flowchart of a network system according to the present invention; and</li><li><figref idref="f0008">Figure 8</figref> illustrates another network system according to the present invention.</li></ul>

Referring to <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>, a network system includes a client 300 and a host 100, to which the client 300 is connected through a network.

The host 100 includes a first network module 120 for transmitting and receiving data through the network and a first controller 110, which checks the data transmitting and receiving state of the first network module 120. The first network module 120 transmits operational state data identifying the data transmitting and receiving state of the first network module 120 to the client 300.

The client 300 include a display 330 for displaying a graphics, a second network module 320 for receiving the operational state data from the host 100 and a second controller 310 for controlling the display 330 to display information about the data transmitting and receiving state of the host 100 according to the operational state data received from the second network module 320.

The computer 30 (<figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>) and the computer 30' (<figref idref="f0008">Figure 8</figref>) are examples of the client 300. However, various network supporting devices can embody the client 300, as long as they can connect to the host 100 through a network and are capable of transmitting data to and receiving data from the host 100.

Referring to <figref idref="f0002">Figure 2</figref>, an access point 10 is an embodiment of the host 100 and computer 30 is employed as the client 300 and connects to the access point 10 through a wireless network.

The network system includes an access point 10 providing an interworking service between a wireless LAN service area and a wired LAN service area, with the computer 30 wirelessly transmitting and receiving data through the access point 10.

In this example, the wireless network between the access point 10 and the computer 30 is based on an IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11 series specification, e.g. IEEE 802.11b or IEEE 802.11g. However, other types of wireless network may be used.

The access point 10 manages the network within its own service area and is connected to a network server 70 through a backbone network 50, thereby supporting wired/wireless interworking services between the network server 70 and the computer 30. Furthermore, the access point 10 may periodically output a "beacon" signal, allowing the computer 30 to determined that it is located within the service area of the access point 10 and including information about the access point 10 for the computers 30. The service areas of respective access points 10 may overlap each other and, thus, the computer 30 may be located within a shared service area of two or more access points 10.

Referring to <figref idref="f0003">Figure 3</figref>, the access point 10 includes an antenna 14, a first network module 12 having a wireless network module 12a and a wired network module 12b, a packet processor 13 and a first controller 11 for controlling the same.

The wireless network module 12a receives data through the antenna 14 and transmits it to the packet processor 13. Data received by the wireless network module 12a includes data packets according to an IEEE 802.11 specification. The packet processor 13 decodes the data packets and transmits them to the network server 70 through the wired network module 12b. The packet processor 13 encodes the data received through the wired network module 12b and transmits it to the computer 30 through the wireless network module 12a, thereby acting as a bridge between the network server 70 and the computer 30.

The first controller 11 checks the data transmitting and receiving state of the first network module 12 and creates operational state data corresponding to the data transmitting and receiving state. Furthermore, the first controller 11 then transmits the created operational state data to the computer 30 through the wireless network module 12a.

The first controller 11 embeds the operational state data in the beacon signal in order to transmit it.

Referring to <figref idref="f0004">Figure 4</figref>, the data frame of an IEEE 802.11-like beacon signal includes a frame body field. The frame body field includes a plurality of sub-fields, such as a capability information field. The capability information field further includes a plurality of sub-fields. The capability information field comprises two octets, wherein a portion from bit 8 to bit 15 is reserved and unassigned in the present IEEE 802.11 series specifications. The first controller 11 records the operation state data in the reserved portion of the capability information field for transmitting the operation state data to, for example, the computer 30.

The operation state data of the network system may include information about a first connection state, corresponding to the wireless data transmitting and receiving state between other clients 300, shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>, connected to the access point 10 and/or between the computer 30 and the access point 10.

For example, information about the first connection state can include authentication information about a client 300 trying to access the access point 10. That is, the first controller 11 may calculate a ratio of access or authentication failures to access successes or authentication attempt frequencies for a client and the access point 10 during a preset period, and then may add the calculated ratio, as the information about the first connection state, to the operational state data. When an access failure or an authentication failure rate per preset period is beyond a predetermined rate, e.g. 80%, the computer 30 may determine that the access point 10 has a problem.

The information about the first connection state can further include information about wireless data transmitting and receiving errors between the access point 10 and clients connected to the access point 10. For example, the information about the first connection state can include information about a packet retry rate between the access point 10 and a client, per a predetermined period. That is, the first controller 11 may retry receiving data packet from the computer 30 when there is trouble in receiving the data packet. At this time, the first controller 11 can calculate the ratio of the retried packets to the total number of data packets received from the computer 30 during a predetermined period, and then add the calculated ratio as the information about the first connection state to the operation state data. Alternatively, the first controller 11 may calculate the ratio of the retry packets to the total number of data packets, transmitted to the computer 30 during a predetermined period, and then add this ratio as the information about the first connection state to the operational state data.

Also, the information about wireless data transmitting and receiving errors can include information about a cyclic redundancy checking (CRC) error rate, per a predetermined period. For example, the first controller 11 can calculate the ratio of the CRC error packets to the whole data packets, per a predetermined period, and then add that ratio to the operational state data.

Additionally, the operational state data may include information about a second connection state corresponding to the wired data transmitting and receiving state between the network server 70 and the access point 10. Therefore, the operational state data may include information about problems in the wired network, between the network server 70 and the access point 10. For example, the first controller 11 may periodically ping the network server 70 to check the network connection to the network server 70. At this time, the first controller 11 can calculate an irresponsiveness rate, on the basis of the results of the pinging of the network server 70, per a predetermined period and then add that calculated rate to the operational state data.

The following Table 1 shows how a first controller 11 can record operational state data in a beacon signal. For example, the first controller 11 may allocate the operational state data to bits 8 and 9 of the aforementioned capability information field, wherein bit 8 and 9 are set to "00" when the access point 10 is operating normally, to "01" when the access/authentication failure rate is beyond a predetermined rate, to "10" when the wireless data transmitting/receiving error rate is beyond a predetermined rate and to "11" when the wired data transmitting/receiving error rate is beyond a predetermined rate. Thus, the operation state data of the access point 10 can be embedded in the beacon signal and then output to any potential client. <tables id="tabl0001" num="0001"><table frame="all"><title>Table 1</title><tgroup cols="3"><colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="12mm" /><colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="12mm" /><colspec colnum="3" colname="col3" colwidth="73mm" /><thead><row><entry valign="top">Bit-8</entry><entry valign="top">Bit-9</entry><entry valign="top">Operation state of Access point</entry></row></thead><tbody><row><entry>0</entry><entry>0</entry><entry>Normal operation</entry></row><row><entry>0</entry><entry>1</entry><entry>High access/authentication failure rate</entry></row><row><entry>1</entry><entry>0</entry><entry>High wireless data transmitting/receiving error rate</entry></row><row><entry>1</entry><entry>1</entry><entry>High wired data transmitting/receiving error rate</entry></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

Furthermore, the operation state data may also include auxiliary information to define the state in more detail, with respect to information about the first connection state and/or the second connection state, for example.

The auxiliary information can include more detailed information about the access/authentication failure rate of the information about the first connection state. For example, as shown in the following Table 2, the auxiliary information may include the information that the access failure rate is high for only one client, the access failure rate is high for two or more clients, the authentication failure rate is high for only one client and/or the authentication failure rate is high for two or more clients, thereby providing more detailed information about the access point 10 to the computer 30.

By way of example, the first controller 11 may allocate the auxiliary information to bits 14 and 15 of the aforementioned capability information field, so as to transmit the auxiliary information. <tables id="tabl0002" num="0002"><table frame="all"><title>Table 2</title><tgroup cols="3"><colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colwidth="14mm" /><colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colwidth="14mm" /><colspec colnum="3" colname="col3" colwidth="77mm" /><thead><row><entry valign="top">Bit-14</entry><entry valign="top">Bit-15</entry><entry valign="top">Auxiliary information</entry></row></thead><tbody><row><entry>0</entry><entry>0</entry><entry>High access failure rate for one client</entry></row><row><entry>0</entry><entry>1</entry><entry>High access failure rate for two or more clients</entry></row><row><entry>1</entry><entry>0</entry><entry>High authentication failure rate for one client</entry></row><row><entry>1</entry><entry>1</entry><entry>High authentication failure rate for two or more clients</entry></row></tbody></tgroup></table></tables>

The computer 30, used as the client 300 (shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>), will be further described with reference to <figref idref="f0005">Figure 5</figref>.

As shown in <figref idref="f0005">Figure 5</figref>, the computer 30 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 41, a graphic controller 40 connected to a display 33 and outputting video signals to the display 33, a memory control hub (MCH) 34 and an input/output control hub (ICH) 35.

A memory unit 36 may include a random access memory (RAM) 36a, a basic input/output system (BIOS) - read only memory (ROM) 36c, storing a boot routine such as BIOS booting, and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) RAM 36b.

The memory control hub 34 may control the RAM 36a, and manage data communication among the CPU 41, the RAM 36a, and the graphic controller 40. Here, the graphic controller 40 can also be integrally provided with the memory control hub 34 as a single chipset, e.g., a graphic memory control hub (GMCH).

The input/output control hub 35 may manage data communication among the RAM 36a, connected to the memory control hub 34, and the other components, such as the BIOS ROM 36c, the CMOS RAM 36b, a hard disk drive 39 and an I/O controller 37, except for the graphic controller 40, for example.

A user input unit 38 may include various devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch pen, a touch screen, etc., as long as it can be handled by a user to input a signal. The I/O controller 37 may control the signal input through the user input unit 38.

The computer 30 includes a second network module 32 for wirelessly connecting to the access point 10. The operational state data can be received from the access point 10 through the second network module 32.

Preferably, though not limited thereto, the second controller 310 (shown in <figref idref="f0001">Figure 1</figref>) of the computer 30, as shown in <figref idref="f0005">Figure 5</figref>, may include a network driver 31 to control the second network module 32. However, the second controller 310 may also be a separate application program based on an operating system (OS) or a built-in function of the OS. Hereinbelow, it will be supposed that the network driver 31 is used as the second controller 310 of the computer 30.

The network driver 31 may be embodied in computer readable code represented by an electric or electronmagnetic signal or carried on a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium can be any data storage device that can store or transmit data which can be thereafter read by a computer system. Examples of the computer readable media include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), CD-ROMs, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives, floppy disks and optical data storage devices. The code can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code can be stored/transmitted and executed in a distributed fashion.

Thus, the network driver 31 will be described as being stored in the hard disk drive 39, for example, and control the second network module 32 to transmit/receive data or perform other network relevant functions. Furthermore, the network driver 31 may detect the operational state data included in a beacon signal, for example, from the data received through the second network module 32. Also, the network driver 31 may allow the information about the data transmitting/receiving state of the access point 10 to be displayed on the display 33, based on the received operational state data.

Referring to <figref idref="f0006">Figure 6</figref>, a user interface 90 may show a list of the access points 10 available to a computer 30 and an icon identifying the operational state of each access point 10, thereby providing a user with information about the data transmitting/receiving state of each access point 10. In <figref idref="f0006">Figure 6</figref>, "<img file="EP1598984B1_D0001.tif" />" is used to indicate that there is a problem with access point #2.

When a user selects one of the access points 10, from the list of access points 10, the network driver 31 visually informs the user of more detailed information, e.g. based on Tables 1 and 2, for the selected access point 10 by various methods, e.g. via displayed text.

Hence, a user can connect a computer 30 to an available access point 10, with which there is not a problem, by referring to the operational states of the respective access points 10 displayed on the user interface 90.

With this configuration, the operation of the network system will be described with reference to <figref idref="f0007">Figure 7</figref>.

In operation S10, a first controller 11 of an access point 10 checks the operational state of the access point 10, that is, it checks the data transmitting and receiving state related to a first network module 12 of the access point 10. The first controller 11 checks the operational state of the access point 10 as described above.

In operation S11, the first controller 11 creates operational state data corresponding to the data transmitting and receiving state of the access point 10. In operation S12, the first controller 11 embeds the operational state data in a beacon signal, for example. In operation S13, the first controller 11 outputs the beacon signal, which can be received by a computer 30, through the first network module 12.

Then, in operation S14, when the computer 30 receives the beacon signal from the access point 10, through a second network module 32, a network driver 31 of the computer 30 detects, in operation S15, the operational state data of the access point 10 from the received beacon signal. The network driver 31 may display the data transmitting and receiving state of the access point 10 on a display 33, for example, based on the received operational state data, in operation S17. In operation S16, when a user's request is input through the user input unit 38, the network driver 31 causes, in operation S17, the information about the data transmitting and receiving state of the access point 10 to be displayed on the display 33.

Operational state data of an access point 10 can be embedded in a beacon signal and output from the access point 10. However, the operational state data for the access point 10 may be output separately from the beacon signal, using a predetermined communication protocol.

In another network system shown in <figref idref="f0008">Figure 8</figref>, a server 10' sends operation state data including information about its data transmitting and receiving state to the relevant computer 30'.

The operational state data of the network system is based on a predetermined protocol between the server 10' and the computer 30', so that the computer 30' can recognize the operational state data output from the server 10'. Furthermore, a reserved field or a predetermined field of a data packet based on a well-known protocol, such as a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), etc., can be allocated for recording the operation state data of the server 10', thereby allowing the computer 30' to recognize the operation state data.

In the case where the network system, shown in <figref idref="f0008">Figure 8</figref>, is created by just interchanging a network system similar to aforementioned embodiment from the wireless networks to a wired network, the configurations and the operations of the network system according to the aforementioned embodiments can be equally applied to the wired network, without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention.

As described above, there are provided a host 100 including the first network module 120 and the first controller 110 for checking the data transmitting and receiving state, related to the first network module 120, and outputting operational state data about the data transmitting and receiving state related to the first network module 120 through the first network module 120, and the client 300 including the display 330, the second network module 320 receiving the operation state data from the host 100, and the second controller 310 controlling the display 330 to display information about the data transmitting/receiving state of the host 100 on the basis of the operation state data received through the second network module 320.

As described above, an embodiment of the present invention includes a computer, an access point, a network system and a control method thereof, in which a host can provide a client with operation state data corresponding to a data transmitting/receiving state of the host, thereby allowing a user to check the data transmitting/receiving state of the host computer.