Patent ID: 8023426

Claim:
A method for selecting an access point in a wireless network, said method comprising: initializing a channel index; recording a received signal power and information contained in one of a beacon message and a probe request response message, wherein said information contained in said beacon or said probe response message includes a path cost metric, an indication of the transmission power, an access point load, a sum of expected transmission times of all end devices currently connected to said candidate access point, a throughput bound for all of said end devices currently connected to said candidate access point, wherein said above information is one of measured and estimated by said candidate access point; calculating an access link cost for each candidate access point, said access link cost being between an end device and each candidate access point on a channel indexed by said channel index, responsive to said received signal power and said information; receiving a path cost between each said candidate access point and a gateway; estimating a cost function using said access link cost and said path cost; selecting one of said candidate access points based on said cost function; and establishing a connection with said selected access point.