Patent ID: 8521158
Filing Date: 2013-08-27
Classification: H04W,Y02D

Abstract:
1. An automatic roaming method, comprising: scanning, at a wireless communication device, for base stations; each time the wireless communication device receives a transmission from any of the base stations: measuring, at the wireless communication device, a downlink received signal strength value for each particular base station that a beacon is received from; updating, at the wireless communication device, an effective radiated power information and other parameter for that particular base station based on information transmitted in the beacon, wherein the other parameter comprise a minimum uplink received strength for an automatic roaming, RSSauto-roam, threshold value required by the wireless communication device to stay associated with said each particular base station; computing, at the wireless communication device, an estimated uplink signal strength for the particular base station based on the effective radiated power information for that particular base station; computing, at the wireless communication device, a normalized received signal strength value for the particular base station by determining a difference between the estimated uplink signal strength for the particular base station and a minimum uplink RSSauto-roam threshold value required by the wireless communication device; and enabling automatic roaming at the wireless communication device when the estimated uplink signal strength is less than the minimum uplink RSSauto-roam threshold.