Patent ID: 8089939
Filing Date: 2012-01-03
Classification: H04W

Abstract:
1. A user equipment for use in a wireless computer network having a plurality of wireless access points, comprising: a wireless transceiver that is configured to communicate with the wireless computer network through a first selected wireless access point; a link quality assessor, coupled to the wireless transceiver, that is configured to assess the quality of a communication link between the wireless transceiver and the first selected wireless access point; a link quality forecaster, coupled to the link quality assessor, that is configured to forecast a predicted future quality of the communication link as a function of past quality of the communication link; and an access point switching module, coupled to the link quality forecaster, that is configured to initiate an access point scan to determine a second selected wireless access point for communication with the wireless computer network in response to the predicted future quality falling below a scanning threshold but greater than a roaming threshold, and that is configured to select a new access point when the predicted future quality is less than the roaming threshold.