Determining Transmission Parameters for Transmitting Beacon Framers

Abstract

A method includes dynamically determining transmission parameters for transmission of beacon frames corresponding to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) supported by an access point. The transmission parameters being based on zero or more client devices connected to the WLAN or monitored data indicative of a load at the access point.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, is configured to perform operations comprising:
 obtaining information associated with at least one client device currently connected to a wireless network supported by an access point comprising a hardware processor;   based on the information associated with the at least one client device currently connected to the wireless network, determining one or more transmission parameters for transmitting one or more beacon frames associated with the wireless network;   transmitting the one or more beacon frames based at least on the one or more transmission parameters.   
     
     
         2 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more transmission parameters comprise a data transmission rate. 
     
     
         3 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more transmission parameters comprise (a) a beacon interval indicating an amount of time between beacon frame transmissions or (b) a frequency indicating a number of beacon frames to be transmitted in a period of time. 
     
     
         4 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the at least one client device comprises a number of client devices connected to the WLAN supported by the access point. 
     
     
         5 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the at least one client device comprises an actual distance or estimated distance of the at least one device from the access point. 
     
     
         6 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the information associated with the at least one client device comprise a transmit power used by the at least one device for transmitting a data frame;   wherein the information associated with the at least one client device comprise a transmit power used by the at least one device for transmitting a management frame; or   wherein the one or more transmission parameters comprise a transmit power for transmitting beacon frames.   
     
     
         7 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more transmission parameters comprises determining a first data transmission rate for transmitting the one or more beacon frames based at least on a second data transmission rate used by a first client device connected to the WLAN and a third data transmission rate used by a second client device connected to the WLAN, wherein the second data transmission rate is different than the third data transmission rate. 
     
     
         8 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the information associated with the at least one client device comprises a channel utilization by the at least one client over a period of time. 
     
     
         9 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 1 , wherein the information is associated with a plurality of client devices. 
     
     
         10 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, is configured to perform operations comprising:
 transmitting, by an access point, one or more beacon frames associated with a first WLAN that is connected to by one or more client devices, the beacon frames being transmitted at a first transmit power, a first frequency, and a first data transmission rate;   subsequent to transmitting the one or more beacon frames, determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN;   responsive to determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN, performing one or more of:
 transmitting beacon frames, associated with the first WLAN, at a second frequency different than the first frequency; 
 transmitting beacon frames, associated with the first WLAN, at a second data transmission rate different than the first data transmission rate; 
 transmitting beacon frames, associated with the first WLAN, at a second transmit power different than the first transmit power; or 
 suspending transmission of beacon frames, associated with the first WLAN, until at least one client device connects to the first WLAN. 
   
     
     
         11 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the second frequency is lower than the first frequency. 
     
     
         12 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the second data transmission rate is higher than the first data transmission rate. 
     
     
         13 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein responsive to determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN, the transmission of beacon frames is suspended until the at least one client device connects to the first WLAN. 
     
     
         14 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN comprises determining that no client devices are associated with the first WLAN. 
     
     
         15 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN comprises determining that no client devices, other than client devices in a sleep mode or suspended mode, are associated with the first WLAN. 
     
     
         16 . The computer readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein determining that no client devices are connected to the first WLAN comprises determining that no client devices have an active session for communication with the access point via the first WLAN. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by one or more hardware processors, is configured to perform operations comprising:
 monitoring a channel utilization for a channel used by the access point;   based on the channel utilization, determining one or more transmission parameters for transmitting, by the access point, one or more beacon frames associated with a particular WLAN supported by the access point;   transmitting, by the access point, the one or more beacon frames associated with the particular WLAN.   
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more transmission parameters comprise a data transmission rate for transmitting the one or more beacon frames. 
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more transmission parameters comprise (a) a beacon interval indicating an amount of time between beacon frame transmissions or (b) a frequency indicating a number of beacon frames to be transmitted in a period of time. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the channel utilization is based on a utilization by a plurality of devices including the access point. 
     
     
         21 . The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more transmission parameters are dynamically updated based on the channel utilization.