Method and apparatus for connecting to access point in portable terminal

Abstract

A method of connecting to an Access Point (AP) in a portable terminal is provided. The method includes scanning at least one first AP and at least one second AP that has a different connection scheme from a connection scheme of the first AP; and checking a connection setting and connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of connecting to an Access Point (AP) in a portable terminal, the method comprising:
 scanning at least one first AP and at least one second AP that has a different connection scheme from a connection scheme of the first AP; and   checking a connection setting and connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the first AP is an AP that does not support Hotspot 2.0 nor is connected to an information server while the second AP is an AP that supports Hotspot 2.0 and is connected to the information server. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting comprises:
 determining that the connection setting gives priority to connecting to the first AP; and   connecting to an AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs no matter whether there is any connectable AP among the scanned second APs.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting comprises:
 determining that the connection setting gives priority to connecting to the second AP; and   connecting to a connectable AP among the scanned second APs no matter whether there is any AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting comprises:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs; and   connecting to an AP that has the largest Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) value among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting comprises:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs ; and   connecting to an AP that has a predetermined Service Set IDentification (SSID) among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connecting to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting comprises:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs; and   connecting to an AP that has most recently been connected among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein if there is not an AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs and there is no connectable AP among the scanned second APs, displaying a list of the first and second APs. 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus for connecting to an Access Point (AP) in a portable terminal, the apparatus comprising:
 a short-range communication module configured to provide a short-range communication function; and   a controller configured to scan at least one first AP and at least one second AP that has a different connection scheme from a connection scheme of the first AP; and   check a connection setting and selectively connect to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the first AP is an AP that does not support Hotspot 2.0 nor is connected to an information server while the second AP is an AP that support Hotspot 2.0 and is connected to the information server. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller selectively connects to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting by:
 determining that the connection setting gives priority to connecting to the first AP; and   connecting to an AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs no matter whether there is any connectable AP among the scanned second APs, wherein the AP that has ever been previously connected is checked from AP profile information.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller selectively connects to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting by:
 determining that the connection setting gives priority to connecting to the second AP; and   controlling a connectable AP among the scanned second APs to be connected, no matter whether there is any AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller selectively connects to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting by:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs; and   connecting to an AP that has the largest Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) value among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller selectively connects to any of the first and second APs based on the connection setting by:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs; and   connecting to an AP that has a predetermined Service Set IDentification (SSID) among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller selectively connects to any of the first APs that do not support Hotspot 2.0 and the second APs that do support Hotspot 2.0 based on the connection setting by:
 determining that there are APs that have ever been previously connected among the first APs;   determining that there are connectable APs among the second APs; and   connecting to an AP that has most recently been connected among the APs that have ever been previously connected and the connectable APs.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , wherein the controller, if there is not an AP that has ever been previously connected among the scanned first APs and there is no connectable AP among the scanned second APs, displays a list of the first and second Aps in a display unit. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , further comprising a memory, wherein the connection setting is stored in the memory.