Patent ID: 8346275

Claim:
A wireless network system enabling communication between a terminal and a higher-level network by establishing a wireless connection with the terminal, said wireless network system comprising: a plurality of access points connected with the higher-level network, and that form wireless coverage areas, when connecting with the terminal within the coverage area, enable communication between the higher-level network and the terminal, and that transmit a connection notice which indicates that the terminal is requesting to establish a connection with a transmitting access point among the plurality of access points that transmits the connection notice, the connection notice indicating a quality of service (QoS) class of the connection; and a policy control apparatus connected with the plurality of access points that determines whether a total number of connections having the QoS class connected to the transmitting access point exceeds a threshold number of connections having the QoS class, and manages a load state of the transmitting access point based on a result of the determination, wherein the transmitting access point transmits the connection notice, that distinguishes a new call from an existing call, to the policy control apparatus, and wherein the policy control apparatus sets a first threshold for limiting connection of the new call and a second threshold for limiting connection of the existing call, determines the number of terminals connected to the transmitting access point based on the connection notice, instructs the transmitting access point to limit connection of the new call when the number of terminals reaches the first threshold, and instructs the transmitting access point to limit connection of the existing call when the number of terminals reaches the second threshold.