Patent ID: 9635597
Date: 2017-04-25
CPC Classifications: H04B,H04L,H04W

Claim:
1. A computer-implemented method in an access point on a local area network for directing station roaming in a cloud-managed Wi-Fi communication network, the method comprising the steps of: receiving management messages from a controller that is located remotely from the Wi-Fi communication network wherein the access point is one of a plurality of access points each managed by a controller located external to the local area network; associating a station with the access point that serves as a controller access point for the station, wherein others of the plurality of access points serve as controller access points for other stations; detecting that an RSSI (received signal strength indication) value between the station and the access point falls below a threshold; responsive to falling below the threshold, interrogating at least one of the plurality of access points for a change in RSSI values between the station and the two or more of the plurality of access points, the change in RSSI values indicative of a direction of movement of the station; selecting one of the two or more of the plurality of access points for handing-off the station based on the combination of the change in RSSI values received from the interrogation and the management messages; and responsive to the selection, sending a message to the selected access point, the message instructing the one of the at least one of the plurality of access points to respond to messages from the station.