Method and apparatus for providing performance and usage information for a wireless local area network

Abstract

Systems and methods provide for a server coupled to a wireless local area network (WLAN) or an agent to receive an input from a device. The input causes the server or the agent to select either the WLAN or devices coupled to the WLAN for which to report current performance and usage information and historical performance and usage information. Based on the selection, the information is retrieved at the server or the agent and transmitted to the device.

1 . A network management method comprising:
 receiving, at a server coupled to a wireless local area network (WLAN) or an agent, input from a device, the input causing the server or the agent to select one or more of the WLAN or a plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN for which to report current performance and usage information and historical performance and usage information;   retrieving at the server or the agent the historical performance and usage information, and the current performance and usage information; and   transmitting the current performance and usage information, and the historical performance and usage information from the server or the agent to the device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein transmitting comprises transmitting one or more of:
 a type of at least one of the plurality of devices;   a status of at least one of the plurality of devices; or   an action performed on the device that affects performance or usage of one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising presenting in a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display screen of the device, the current performance and usage information and the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein presenting comprises:
 presenting the current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN in a first graphical bar; and   presenting the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN in a second graphical bar.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first graphical bar and the second graphical bar overlap at least in part and are distinguished from each other by a graphical characteristic that comprises at least one of a color, a shading, a transparency, a translucency, or a border. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein presenting further comprises at least one of presenting the current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN in a vertically-scrolling newsfeed-style display, or presenting a multiple page view display in which a selected one of the multiple page views is displayed by receiving user input swiping or tapping a display to transition to the selected one of the multiple page views. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein presenting comprises sorting the current performance and usage information according to a priority or ordering scheme including or based on a chronological ordering scheme, a reverse chronological ordering scheme, a magnitude of change in performance for one or more of: the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, a type of the devices, a status of the devices, an action performed on the device that affects performance and/or usage of one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, an action performed on the device that affects performance and/or usage of the device, or base station identifiers. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising issuing from the agent a request to the server to provide the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN and, responsive to the request, retrieving, at the agent, the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising issuing from the agent a second request to the server to provide the current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, wherein retrieving comprises retrieving at the agent the current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN responsive to the second request. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 uploading to the server current performance and usage information for the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN; and   processing and validating at the server the current performance and usage information for the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, wherein issuing from the agent the second request comprises issuing from the agent the second request to the server to provide the validated current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the server is: co-located with the agent on one of the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, located on a different one of the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN than the device on which the agent is located, or is remotely located from the WLAN or coupled to the agent over a network. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the server receives the request and obtains from a memory the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN responsive to the agent issuing the request. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein receiving at the server input further comprises issuing from the server a request to the agent to provide the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, wherein retrieving at the server the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN comprises retrieving at the server the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN responsive to the request. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising the server receiving UDP pings from the agent to maintain a network address and port translation (NAPT) rule such that the server is able to issue the request to the agent. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: obtaining at the server, by measurements collected over a period of time, the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN; and
 storing the measurements in a memory accessible on or to the server, for later retrieval and provisioning to the agent responsive to the agent issuing the request to the server to provide the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the device, to which to report the current performance and usage information and the historical performance and usage information for one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, includes one or more of: a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a wireless mobile computing device, a wireless router, a wireless access point, and a wireless switch. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the current performance and usage information is provided as one or more of: a data transmission throughput, network-layer throughput, latency, jitter, connectivity, error rates, a received signal strength indication, a signal-to-noise ratio, power consumption, transmit power, security information, and quantity of data bytes transmitted, for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN according to or on a timeline, or in comparison to a historical baseline thereof. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 changing a setting on one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN; 
 probing, from the agent, for new current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, responsive to the changed setting; and 
 combining at the agent the new current performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN or the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN, for forwarding to the device. 
 
     
     
         19 . A network management method comprising:
 receiving input from a device to select one or more of a wireless local area network (WLAN) or a plurality of devices coupled to WLAN for which to report a current performance and usage information and historical performance and usage information to the device;   transmitting the input to a server coupled to the WLAN, or an agent executing on at least one of the plurality of devices;   receiving from the server or the agent the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN;   receiving from server or the agent the current performance and usage information from the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN; and   presenting, in a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display screen of the device, the current performance and usage information and the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN.   
     
     
         20 . A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium, comprising computer instructions, that when executed, cause a computing device to perform steps comprising:
 receiving at a server coupled in communication with a wireless local area network (WLAN) or an agent executing on at least one of a plurality of devices, input from the device, the input causing the server or the agent to select one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN for which to report a current performance and usage information and the historical performance and usage information to the device;   retrieving at the server or the agent the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN;   retrieving at server or the agent the current performance and usage information from the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN; and   transmitting from the server or the agent to the device to present the current performance and usage information and the historical performance and usage information for the selected one or more of the WLAN or the plurality of devices coupled to the WLAN in a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display screen of the device.