A wireless data communications system has mobile units which become associated with access points. Association between a mobile unit and an access point is changed as mobile units move within an area having a plurality of access points. Selection of an access point for association with a mobile unit is made according to selection criteria including a plurality of selection parameters. The system includes arrangements for determining location of a mobile unit within the area. The selection parameters include location of the mobile unit or direction of movement of the mobile unit when there are a plurality of access points available for association with the mobile unit.
An indoor location awareness method for locating a device using device-observable signals of known proximity sensors and device-unobservable signals of known proximity sensors. The exclusion of the possibility that the device is within an unobservable proximity sensor's range increases the knowledge of the device's true location. In addition to defining the location of the device, the device can predict the arrival and departure of unobservable proximity sensors as it moves throughout the environment.
Methods are described for using collaboration of neighboring wireless devices to enable location of disconnected wireless devices and rogue wireless access points. A central server computes the locations of the neighboring clients and uses those locations to estimate the location of a disconnected client. These techniques may take advantage of the beaconing and probing mechanisms of IEEE 802.11 to ensure that connected clients do not pay unnecessary overheads for detecting disconnected clients. Methods are also described for detecting and locating rogue devices by collaboratively collecting information from neighboring devices and comparing the information to a database.
