Method and apparatus for an improved mechanism for selecting an access point

Abstract

The present disclosure presents a method and apparatus for identifying an access point (AP) for selection by an access terminal (AT). For example, the method may include receiving a probe request by one or more APs from an AT, wherein the probe request is broadcasted by the AT to the one or more APs, generating load information and Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) values of the probe request at the one or more APs, identifying an AP of the one or more APs for selection by the AT, wherein the AP for selection by the AT is identified by the one or more APs based at least on the load information and RSSI values generated at the one or more APs, and transmitting information of an AP identified by the one or more APs to the AT. As such, an improved mechanism for selecting an access point may be achieved.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for generating beacons or probe responses at an access point (AP), comprising:
 generating, at the AP, a beacon or a probe response based at least on a load at the AP;   adjusting, at the AP, a transmission power of the beacon or the probe response based at least on the load at the AP; and   transmitting, from the AP, the beacon or the probe response to an access terminal (AT) based at least on the adjusted transmission power.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP based at least on the load at the AP.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP further comprises:
 delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP when the load at the AP is above a threshold value associated with a high load at the AP.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the load at the AP is defined as a number of ATs connected to the AP. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the beacon is broadcasted from the AP or the probe response is generated at the AP in response to a probe request received from the AT. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the beacon or the probe response includes an AP channel report containing a list of channels for neighboring APs. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 performing a mapping between the load at the AP and probe response parameters in a centralized or a distributed manner.   
     
     
         8 . An apparatus for generating beacons or probe responses at an access point (AP), comprising:
 a memory;   and at least one processor coupled to the memory and configured to:
 generate, at the AP, a beacon or a probe response based at least on a load at the AP; 
 adjust, at the AP, a transmission power of the beacon or the probe response based at least on the load at the AP; and 
 transmit, from the AP, the beacon or the probe response to an access terminal (AT) based at least on the adjusted transmission power. 
   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 delay the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP based at least on the load at the AP.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to delay the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP when the load at the AP is above a threshold value associated with a high load at the AP. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the load at the AP is defined as a number of ATs connected to the AP. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the beacon is broadcasted from the AP or the probe response is generated at the AP in response to a probe request received from the AT. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the beacon or the probe response includes an AP channel report containing a list of channels for neighboring APs. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:
 perform a mapping between the load at the AP and probe response parameters in a centralized or a distributed manner.   
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code for generating beacons or probe responses at an access point (AP), comprising:
 code for generating, at the AP, a beacon or a probe response based at least on a load at the AP;   code for adjusting, at the AP, a transmission power of the beacon or the probe response based at least on the load at the AP; and   code for transmitting, from the AP, the beacon or the probe response to an access terminal (AT) based at least on the adjusted transmission power.   
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 code for delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP based at least on the load at the AP.   
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the code for delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP further comprises:
 code for delaying the transmission of the beacon or the probe response from the AP when the load at the AP is above a threshold value associated with a high load at the AP.   
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the load at the AP is defined as a number of ATs connected to the AP. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the beacon is broadcasted from the AP or the probe response is generated at the AP in response to a probe request received from the AT. 
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the beacon or the probe response includes an AP channel report containing a list of channels for neighboring APs.