Patent ID: 7702775
Filing Date: 2010-04-20
Classification: H04L,H04W

Abstract:
1. A method of monitoring a wireless local area network (WLAN), the method comprising: receiving transmissions exchanged between one or more stations and an access point (AP) in the WLAN using a detector located in the WLAN; compiling a database including one or more individual node elements that are indexed by nodes in the WLAN, session elements, and channel elements that includes creating in the database a node element based on at least one of the received transmissions, wherein the node element in the database is identified as a node in the WLAN, wherein the node element includes a first set of statistics that tracks a number of the received transmissions that is sent into the node that is represented by the node element in the database and a second set of statistics that tracks the number of the received transmissions that is sent out of the node that is represented by the node element in the database; analyzing the received transmissions to determine state of a station, wherein a first state of the station is associated with a first set of transmissions, and wherein determining comprises: determining if the received transmission is one of the first set of transmissions; and identifying the state of the station as being the first state when the received transmission is determined to be one of the first set of transmissions, wherein a second state of the station is associated with a second set of transmissions, and wherein determining comprises: determining if the received transmission is one of the second set of transmissions; and identifying the state of the station as being the second state when the received transmission is determined to be one of the second set of transmissions, wherein a third state of the station is associated with a third set of transmissions, and wherein determining comprises determining if the received transmission is one of the third set of transmissions; and identifying the state of the station as being the third state when the received transmission is determined to be one of the third set of transmissions, wherein the first state indicates the station has not been authenticated or associated with the access point, the second state indicates that the station has authenticated but not associated with the access point, and the third state indicates that the station has authenticated and associated with the access point; and diagnosing connectivity problems of the station using the compiled database and the determined state of the station.