HK1114476B - Systems and methods for distribution of wireless network access - Google Patents

Description

System and method for distributing wireless network access

Technical Field

The present invention relates to wireless network communications, and more particularly to allocation of wireless network access.

Background

With the continuous improvement of information utilization and value, individuals and enterprises are seeking new methods for processing and storing information. One existing option for users is information handling systems. Information handling systems generally process, compile, store, and/or communicate information or data for business, personal, or other purposes, thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because information processing requirements and techniques vary from user to user or from application to application, information systems also vary with the information being processed, the manner of processing, the amount of information being processed, the amount of storage, or the amount of traffic, and the speed and efficiency of information processing, storage, or communication. The differences in the information handling systems allow the information handling systems to be general or configured for a particular user or application, such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, an information handling system may include a wide variety of hardware and software components configured for processing, storage, and communication, and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and local area network systems.

Currently, the service portals of broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are based primarily on one of two architectures: cable modem or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) service. Typically, the broadband service ends with a stand-alone modem or a modem and router combination device that distributes local capacity to other connected devices or platforms over Ethernet or Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies.

Wireless metropolitan area network technology (WMAN) is emerging as an alternative to wired access networks, such as fiber optic links, coaxial systems using cable modems and DSL links. In the industry, the scientific and medical (ISM) band, Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) is emerging as a broadband service for customer and backhaul access to public hot spot websites. Broadband wireless access is standardized within the IEEE802.16a standard, which was introduced as a metropolitan area network linking 802.11 to the internet. This standard provides tens of megabits of traffic in the 20 kilometer range and can provide connectivity without a direct connection in view. Due to its wide range, 802.16a consumes more power than conventional WLAN applications and requires more advanced antenna systems, which affects the wide range of applications of the 802.16a standard in thin and lightweight user hardware.

The initial deployment of 802.16a technology in many enterprise/small business computing (SMB) environments is likely to be based on existing WLANs. Currently, WLAN Access Points (APs) are managed by Information Technology (IT) administrators using an Ethernet link to the AP. All updates to the firmware/firewall get downloaded seamlessly without the need for external internet routing. For an Ap supporting the ieee802.16a standard, its management must be over a wireless link from the relevant user to the Ap or internet service provider serving the 802.16a node (without actual wireless deployment of Ethernet). The first scheme is cumbersome and inefficient when configuring multiple APs. The second approach increases security and robustness due to routing outside the enterprise network.

Disclosure of Invention

Disclosed herein are systems and methods for allocating wireless network access (e.g., providing multiple network access to two or more networks of different protocols) using a common Medium Access Control (MAC) structure. In one embodiment, the disclosed system and method may be used to provide a platform structure for a high-speed Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) service terminal using a general MAC structure and router function. In this embodiment, the generic MAC architecture may be used, for example, to optimize traffic and performance between BWA wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP) data services and local area WLAN networks. In one exemplary embodiment, integrated router and firewall services may be provided to a local area WLAN network, providing a general Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) MAC architecture for the BWA and WLAN functions.

Advantages may be realized, but are not limited to, by implementing the disclosed systems and methods, further expansion for a common Physical (PHY) layer Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) can result in savings in MAC fabric cost. The scalability of the disclosed architecture and its routing feature capabilities may be advantageously exploited, for example, by ultra-wideband (UWB) technology for network environments ranging from data-based local area computing networks to Consumer Entertainment (CE) based networks (e.g., forming the key of digital home architectures).

In one exemplary embodiment, the disclosed systems and methods may provide one or more BWA (e.g., 802.16a) access points that serve WLAN (e.g., 802.11abgn WiFi) and/or WPAN (UWB, bluetooth) users. In this embodiment, a separate BWA access point may be configured that is capable of maintaining contact with existing legacy WLAN and/or WPAN APs in the vicinity. The disclosed systems and methods may further provide an additional network layer, located between the BWA (e.g., 802.16a) backend and the WLAN/WPAN (802.11/UWB/BT) frontend, that allows support for firmware updates and firewall configuration, and that can accept changes to the new network layer obtained through association with legacy WLAN APs. For example, a BWA (e.g., 802.16a) AP may be connected as a special user to an AP of an existing enterprise WLAN. Any service for updating the enterprise WLAN AP may be transmitted to the connected BWA AP. The BWA AP may use these updates to modify management features such as port transport, IP blocking, encryption keys, etc.

In an exemplary implementation of the above embodiments, an additional network layer may be provided between the BWA (e.g., 802.16a) backend and the WLAN/WPAN frontend (802.11/UWB/BT), which acts like an Ethernet user to the existing enterprise network. The additional network layer may be configured with an abstracted Ethernet address that may be maintained in the IT routing table, e.g., may allow administrators to add and delete BWA APs using existing network management tools, and at the same time allow secure and centralized management of BWA APs without any routing outside the enterprise network. In this way, management information (e.g., firmware updates, firewall configurations, changes to management features) may be provided over the front-end communication link between the WLAN AP to the BWA AP, rather than over the back-end communication link or from a management user connected to the BWA AP.

Examples of the features and/or benefits that may be obtained by combining the use of the disclosed systems and methods are, but are not limited to, seamless transmission between WMAN-to-WLAN; fidelity quality (QoS) of voice services, data and multimedia; an omnidirectional antenna for a Mesh network; multi-channel selection, assignment, and control; increasing network capacity by a mesh node; security and authorization; protocols that operate independently, such as Ethernet, internet protocol version 6(IPv6), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), point-to-point protocol for Ethernet (PPPoE), etc. Features and/or benefits of a universal firewall structure obtained by implementing the disclosed systems and methods include, but are not limited to, user and application authorization; configuration management; policies and characteristics; and the like. Additionally, scalability and expandability of the network is provided, e.g., for 802.11n, UWB, and/or other network protocols. Possible switching and routing operational characteristics include, but are not limited to, L2/L3+ non-blocking structures; linear velocity between WMAN/WLAN; a natural termination of a Virtual Private Network (VPN); virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) support for multi-phase applications and/or devices; mesh local node support and control, etc.

In one aspect, disclosed is a method of network communication that includes providing wireless communication between two or more wireless networks over their Media Access Control (MAC) software layers. In the method, a first of the two or more wireless networks may include a wireless network having a first network protocol, and a second of the two or more wireless networks may include a wireless network having a second network protocol, the first network protocol being different from the second network protocol.

In another aspect, disclosed herein is an information handling system comprising first network communication circuitry configured to communicate with a first wireless network having a first network protocol; a second network communication circuit configured to communicate with a second wireless network having a second network protocol, and a common Media Access Control (MAC) circuit coupled for communication with Physical (PHY) interfaces of the first and second network communication circuits. The second network protocol is different from the first network protocol.

In another aspect, a multi-network universal access point is disclosed that includes an information handling system configured to provide wireless communication between two or more wireless networks over a Medium Access Control (MAC) software layer. Wherein a first of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a first communication protocol and a second of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a second communication protocol, the communication protocol of the first network being different from the communication protocol of the second network.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a wireless network environment corresponding to one exemplary embodiment of the described systems and methods.

Fig. 2 is a simplified block diagram of an information handling system configured as a universal access point in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the described systems and methods.

Fig. 3 is a network communication architecture in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the described systems and methods.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless network environment 100 that may be implemented by implementing one embodiment of the system and method of the present invention to distribute network access among multiple separate networks having different network protocols. As shown, wireless network environment 100 includes an information handling system 106 configured as a multi-network universal access point for three exemplary different types of wireless networks 102, 104, and 105, it being understood that the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented in other embodiments as a universal access point for any two or more separate networks of any configuration and/or access control. Specific examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, those based on WLAN technologies such as 802.11WiFi (2.4GHz and 5.0 GHz); WLAN-based technologies such as Bluetooth (2.4GHz) and UWB (3.1-10.6 GHz); WWAN-based technologies such as GSM/EDGE, HSDPA, W-CDMA, CDMA-2000(800-900MHz, 1800-1900MHz, and 2.1 GHz); and WMAN-based technologies such as 802.16WiMax (2-11GHz), etc. In an exemplary embodiment, information handling system 106 may be a portable information handling system such as a notebook computer.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 1, network 102 represents a first wireless network (e.g., WWAN or WMAN) for relatively higher bandwidth and longer transmission range devices, network 104 represents a second wireless network (e.g., WLAN) for relatively lower bandwidth and shorter transmission range devices, and wireless network 105 represents a third wireless network (e.g., WPAN) for relatively higher frequency and shorter transmission range devices. In this embodiment, the wireless network 102 may be further defined as an external network (e.g., the external internet or other public area network), the wireless network 104 may be further defined as an internal network (e.g., a corporate or home internal network, or other network of controllable configuration and user access), and the wireless network 105 may be further defined as an external device connection network configured to connect external devices (e.g., video display devices, audio reproduction devices, projection devices, printing devices, displays, mice, keyboards, optical devices, external storage devices, webcams, etc.) to one or more network nodes of the wireless network 105.

As shown in FIG. 1, the information handling system 106 includes a first network communication circuit 120, a second network communication circuit 122, and a third network communication circuit 124, the first network communication circuit 120 configured to communicate with the first network 102, the second network communication circuit 122 configured to communicate with the second network 104, and the third network communication circuit 124 configured to communicate with the third network 105. In the depicted embodiment, information handling system 106 also includes a common MAC circuit 126 that is coupled to the Physical (PHY) interfaces of the respective network communication circuits 120, 122, 124 for communication, allowing direct communication between networks 102, 104, and/or 105 at the MAC software layer. As will be described later, such MAC layer communication capabilities may be implemented in a number of embodiments by coupling two or more network interfaces to the MAC software processing layer to thereby achieve one or more of the advantages of the disclosed systems and methods.

FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of the information handling system 106 of FIG. 1, which may be configured as a common connection point for multiple networks, such as networks 102, 104, and 105. As shown in fig. 2, the first network communication circuit 120 includes a first network radio 250 (e.g., a WWAN radio), the second network communication circuit 122 includes a second network radio 240 (e.g., a WLAN radio), and the third network communication circuit 124 includes a third network radio 260 (e.g., a WPAN radio) that receives and transmits wireless network radio frequency signals (RF) via respective antennas 258, 248, or 268, respectively. It should be understood that fig. 2 is for illustrative purposes only and that the information handling system may be configured in other embodiments as a two network universal access point or as a more than three network universal access point, the latter case being represented in fig. 2 by the point between the second network communication circuit 122 and the third network communication circuit 124.

As shown in fig. 2, each network communication circuit 120, 122, and 124 includes a respective network signal processing component 270, 272, and 274 coupled between each wireless receive circuit 250, 240, or 260 and the common MAC circuit 126. Each network signal processing component 270, 272 or 274 includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC)252, 242, or 262, a digital-to-analog converter (DAC)254, 244 or 264 and a baseband circuit 256, 246 or 266 that collectively function to receive the analog network communication signals from the wireless transceiver circuit 250, 240 or 260 and provide corresponding digital network communication signals to the common MAC circuit 126, and to receive the digital network communication signals from the common MAC circuit 126 and provide corresponding analog network communication signals to the corresponding wireless transceiver circuit 250, 240 or 260, in the manner shown. As such, each wireless transceiver circuit 250, 240 or 260 provides analog network communication signals to each network signal processing component 270, 272 or 274 based on network RF signals received by the corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268 and receives analog communication signals from the respective network signal processing component 270, 272 or 274 for transmission of the network RF signals via the corresponding antenna 258, 248, 268. Although the information processing system 106 is configured in this embodiment as a common access point with wireless transceiver circuitry and associated network signal processing circuitry for RF network communications, it is also possible to couple the common MAC circuitry of the common access point to common MAC circuitry adapted for wired network communications with one or more networks.

As further shown in FIG. 2, information handling system 106 also includes a network processor 273, which communicates between common MAC circuit 126 and external interface 275. External interface 275 may be coupled to any one or more external host devices 130 (e.g., microprocessors, microcontrollers, information handling systems, etc.) that are adapted to exchange (i.e., receive and/or provide) network communications with common MAC circuitry 126 through network processor 273. Tasks that the external host device 130 may perform, include, but are not limited to: an interface/control line interface is provided to the image user for configuration settings, a bus interface (e.g., USB, PCI express, etc.) is provided to connect external devices, scalability is provided to connect another example of a network interface (e.g., bluetooth), control access is provided to a lower-layer network interface, etc. It should be understood, however, that such communication may be established between any two or more of the first network 102, the second network 104, and/or the third network 105 via the network communication circuits 120, 122, and/or 124, with the network interfaces of such networks being linked directly to the MAC software processing layer via the MAC circuit 126, without further higher level software layer processing using the network processor 273.

In one embodiment, a network processor 273 may be provided and configured by network software stack processing circuitry adapted to process information flows through underlying network layers and/or network communications received by or provided to MAC circuitry 126. Also shown in fig. 2 is a memory 284, which may be coupled to common MAC circuitry 126 and network processor 273, for storing network software stack and/or configuration settings, etc. Also shown is an external Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM)212 which may be used to store BIOS information and/or firmware for the network device, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment, a multi-network universal access point, such as information handling system 106 shown in FIG. 2, may allocate wireless network access and communications between two or more networks, such as networks 102, 104, and 105 shown in FIG. 1, by using a common Media Access Control (MAC) structure provided by common MAC circuitry 126. For example, the information handling system 106 may be a router (with optional firewall functionality) to provide termination at the common MAC level for communications between the first network 102 and the second network 104 and/or the third network 105. In such embodiments, the generic MAC structure may be used to optimize performance and traffic between various networks by reducing software layer processing time and complexity.

Fig. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a network communication architecture 300, which can be implemented in accordance with one embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. As shown, network architecture 300 includes an information handling system 310 configured to provide wired access to an internal network (e.g., a home network or an enterprise local area network) that includes wireless access points 312a, 312b, and 312c (e.g., IEEE802.11 standard compilation devices from the same or different manufacturers). As such, information handling system 310 may be configured as, for example, a wired network server for an internal enterprise local area network, or a cable modem for an in-home network. In such an embodiment, information handling system 310 may be in wired communication with external internet 102 via wired link 320, and may also be registered with an Internet Service Provider (ISP) of external internet 102. As shown, information handling system 310 also communicates with wireless access points 312a, 312b, and 312c via wired links 322a, 322b, and 322c, respectively. The wired communication links 320, 322a, 322b, and 322c may be, for example, wired Ethernet communication links or other suitable wired network communication links. In addition to serving the intranet, information handling system 310 may be configured for other functions, such as being configured as a firewall for the intranet.

As shown, the intranet access points 312a, 312b, and 312c are configured to wirelessly communicate with one or more intranet wireless user devices via a wireless communication connection (e.g., an 802.11WLAN connection). Thus, FIG. 3 illustrates that the internal wireless network access point 312a is in wireless communication with the wireless user node 360a (e.g., the information handling system is configured as a desktop computing device) via the wireless communication link 340a, and the wireless network access point 312b is in wireless communication with the wireless user node 360b (e.g., the information handling system is configured as a laptop device) via the internal network wireless communication link 340 b.

The exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 3 also includes two information handling systems 106a and 106b configured as multi-network universal access points in direct wireless communication with external network 102 via respective backend wireless links 330a and 330 b. In this embodiment, each information handling system 106a and 106b is capable of communicating with any 802.11 standard compiling device, and thus is capable of communicating wirelessly with each network access point 312a, 312b and 312c when within suitable wireless communication range with such device.

As shown in fig. 3, the information handling system 106a may also communicate wirelessly with an internal network access point 312a of an internal network via a wireless link 332a (e.g., an 802.11abgn WiFi WLAN link), and the information handling system 106b may also communicate wirelessly with an internal network access point 312b of the same internal network via a wireless link 332b (e.g., an 802.11abgn WiFi WLAN link). In the illustrated embodiment, information handling system 106a is further in wireless communication with an audio reproduction external device 370 of an external device connection network via a wireless link 350a (e.g., a UWB WPAN link), and information handling system 106b is further in wireless communication with a widescreen display external device 380 of the external device connection network via a wireless link 350b (e.g., a UWB WPAN link). As such, each information handling system is configured to communicate with one or more nodes of the internal network (e.g., access points and/or other devices) while communicating directly with the external network via the backend connection.

As shown in fig. 3, the information handling systems 106a and 106b may be configured as multi-network universal access points for BWA (e.g., 802.16a) network access and serve WLAN (e.g., 802.11abgn WiFi) and/or WPAN (UWB, bluetooth) users. In the above embodiments, the respective information handling systems 106a and 106b may be configured to be able to maintain contact with existing legacy WLAN access points 312 and/or WPAN access points that may be nearby. Thus, it will be appreciated that the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is given by way of example only, and that the information handling systems 106a and/or 106b may communicate directly with wireless user nodes (e.g., wireless user nodes 360a and 360b) when within direct wireless communication range of the wireless user nodes. Similarly, for example, when these wireless external devices are located outside of direct WPAN communication range with information handling systems 106a and/or 106b, information handling systems 106a and/or 106b may communicate with wireless external devices (e.g., wireless external devices 370 and/or 380) via an external device network access point (e.g., a WPAN wireless access point not shown in FIG. 3).

In an exemplary embodiment of the system and method, a multi-network universal access point may be selectively configured with an additional network layer located between two or more independent network communication circuits to simplify and/or modify the communication characteristics between the multiple networks. As with the embodiment illustrated with reference to fig. 2, an additional network layer may be added to the network signal processing hardware components (e.g., 270, 272, or 274) or to the software of the information processing system 106 (e.g., in memory 248 or through the host interface 130) between the BWA back-end wireless link 330 provided by the first network communication circuit 120 and the WLAN and/or WPAN front-end wireless links 332 and 350 provided by the second network communication circuit 122 and/or the third network communication circuit 124, respectively. Such additional network layers may be configured to allow support for firmware updates and firewall configurations and have the ability to accept changes to the additional network layers, for example, through communications from other access points, such as access point 312 of the exemplary embodiment shown in fig. 3.

Still referring to fig. 3, access point 312 may comprise a conventional access point that forms part of an existing enterprise WLAN network and information handling system 106 may be configured as a BWA multi-network universal access point that connects with a legitimate access point 312. In the above-described embodiment, any updates provided to the legacy enterprise WLAN access point 312 may be passed to the connected BWA access point information processing system 106, which in turn may be configured to use these updates to modify management features such as port routing, IP locking, encryption keys, etc.

In one embodiment of the above embodiment, an additional layer may be provided between the BWA backend link 330 and the WLAN frontend link 332, which may optionally be configured as Ethernet users of existing enterprise networks. In such an embodiment, the additional network layer may be configured, for example, with an abstracted Ethernet address, which may be maintained in an IT routing table, thereby allowing an administrator to add and delete information handling systems 106 (configured as BWA multi-network universal access points) using existing network management tools via the front-end and back-end wireless links 332, while allowing for secure and centralized management of information handling systems 106 without any routing outside of the enterprise network.

For purposes of this disclosure, an information handling system may include any instrumentality or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information, intelligence, or data for business, scientific, control, entertainment, or other purposes. For example, an information handling system may be a personal computer, a PDA, a consumer electronic device, a network storage device, or other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing sources such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic. Additional components of the information handling system may include one or more storage devices, one or more communication interfaces for communicating with external devices, as well as multiple input and output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the different pieces of hardware.

The invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments of which have been described herein by way of example only. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. On the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, various aspects of the disclosed systems and methods may be variously combined or applied separately. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the combinations given herein, but also includes other combinations.

Claims (13)

1. A network communication method, comprising:

providing wireless communication between a plurality of separate wireless networks having different network protocols at a common media access control software layer of a multi-network common wireless access point by providing each of the plurality of separate wireless networks having different network protocols with network communication circuitry including baseband circuitry;

wherein a first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a first network protocol and a second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a second network protocol;

the first network protocol is a broadband wireless access network protocol, and the second network protocol is a wireless local area network protocol;

wherein said first one of said plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an external public range network and said second one of said plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an internal network for controllable configuration and user access; and

wherein the method further comprises communicating with the first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks over a back-end communication link from a multi-network universal wireless access point to the external public range network and communicating with the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks over a front-end communication link from the multi-network universal wireless access point to the controllably configured and user-accessible internal network; and

wherein the method further comprises: configuring an additional network layer on a multi-network universal wireless access point, the additional network layer being between the front-end communication link and the back-end communication link, the additional network layer configured with an abstracted Ethernet address maintained in an IT routing table; providing access for administrative communications from at least one wireless access point of the internal network of the controllable configuration and user access through the additional network layer of the multi-network universal wireless access point to the external public range network via the front-end communication link and not via the back-end communication link,

wherein the management communication comprises at least one of a firmware update, a firewall configuration, an alteration of a management feature, or a combination thereof.

2. The network communication method of claim 1, further comprising providing wireless communication between the plurality of separate wireless networks at a medium access control software layer using a common medium access control circuit.

3. The network communication method of claim 1, further comprising providing wireless communication between the plurality of separate wireless networks at a media access control software layer within an information handling system configured as a multi-network universal wireless access point.

4. The network communication method according to claim 1, wherein a communication bandwidth of the first network protocol is higher than a communication bandwidth of the second network protocol; and wherein the communication range of the first network protocol is greater than the communication range of the second network protocol.

5. The network communication method of claim 1, wherein the first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an external public range network; wherein the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a corporate or home local area network.

6. The network communication method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining contact with a wireless access point of the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks and receiving a management communication from the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks over the frontend communication link.

7. The network communication method of claim 1, further comprising updating firmware through the additional network layer.

8. A multi-network universal wireless access point, comprising:

an information processing system configured to provide wireless communication between a plurality of separate wireless networks having different network protocols at a common media access control software layer of a multi-network common wireless access point by providing each of the plurality of separate wireless networks having different network protocols with network communication circuitry including baseband circuitry;

wherein a first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a first network protocol and a second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a second network protocol;

the first network protocol is a broadband wireless access network protocol, and the second network protocol is a wireless local area network protocol;

wherein said first one of said plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an external public range network and said second one of said plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an internal network for controllable configuration and user access;

wherein the information handling system is configured to communicate with the first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks via a back-end communication link from the information handling system to the external public range network and to communicate with the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks via a front-end communication link from the information handling system to the controllable configuration and user-accessible internal network; and

wherein the multi-network universal wireless access point further comprises: an additional network layer located between the front-end communication link and the back-end communication link, the additional network layer configured with an abstracted Ethernet address maintained in an IT routing table to provide access for management communications from the at least one wireless access point of the internal network of the controllable configuration and user access by the additional network layer to the multi-network general purpose wireless access point of the external public range network via the front-end communication link and not via the back-end communication link,

wherein the management communication comprises at least one of a firmware update, a firewall configuration, an alteration of a management feature, or a combination thereof.

9. The multi-network universal wireless access point of claim 8, wherein the information handling system further comprises common medium access control circuitry configured to provide wireless communication between the plurality of separate wireless networks at a medium access control software layer.

10. The multi-network universal wireless access point of claim 8, wherein a communication bandwidth of the first network protocol is higher than a communication bandwidth of the second network protocol; and wherein the communication range of the first network protocol is greater than the communication range of the second network protocol.

11. The multi-network universal wireless access point of claim 8, wherein the first one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises an external public range network, wherein the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks comprises a corporate or home local area network.

12. The multi-network universal wireless access point of claim 8, wherein the information handling system is configured to receive management communications from the second one of the plurality of separate wireless networks over the frontend communication link.

13. The multi-network universal wireless access point of claim 8, wherein the additional network layer is configured to provide access for firmware updates.