Patent ID: 7916708

Claim:
A method for partitioning access points (APs) deployed in a region into two or more network service layers (NSLs), the method comprising: computing, for each NSL, an assignment need value for each location of a desired set of locations in the region, the two or more NSLs comprising an overlay NSL and an underlay NSL, the overlay NSL corresponding to a first network service type provided by an overlay network, the underlay NSL corresponding to a second network service type provided by an underlay network, wherein said overlay network and said underlay network are separate and independent; determining, for each AP, a selection metric for each NSL based on the assignment need values corresponding to each NSL and an effective coverage area associated with the each AP; assigning the AP with the highest selection metric to the corresponding NSL; and repeating the computing, determining, and assigning steps.