IE85209B1

IE85209B1 - Systems and methods for distribution of wireless network access

Info

Publication number: IE85209B1
Application number: IE2006/0480A
Authority: IE
Inventors: B Quinn Liam; B Pirzada Fahd
Original assignee: Dell Products Lp
Filing date: 2006-06-27
Publication date: 2009-04-29

Abstract

abstract Ethernet address that may be maintained in IT routing tables, e.g., so as to allow administrators to add and delete BWA APs using existing network management tools, and at the same time allowing secure and centralized management of BWA APs without any routing outside the corporate network. Thus, management communications (e.g., firmware updates, firewall configurations, changes to administrative features, etc) may be provided over a front end communication like to a BWA AP from a WLAN AP, rather than over a back end communication link or from a management client associated with the BWA AP. Examples of features and/or benefits that may be implemented in combination using the disclosed system and methods include, but are not limited to, seamless WMAN-to-WLAN translation; native quality of service (QoS) for voice, data and multimedia; omni- directional antennas for Mesh Networking; multi-channel selection, allocation and control; increased network capacity with meshed nodes; security and authentication; and protocol independent operations, e.g., Ethernet, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), point to point protocol over Ethernet (PPPOE), etc. and/or benefits may also be realized or implemented in the practice Common firewall architecture features of the disclosed systems and method including, but not limited to, client and application authentication; configuration management; policies and profiles; etc. In addition, network scalability and extensibility may be provided, e.g., for 802.l1n. Switch and routing operations features that may be realized include, but are not limited to, L2/L3+ non-blocking architecture; WLAN; native termination for virtual private networks (VPNs); virtual local area network (VLAN) wire speed between support for heterogeneous applications and/or devices; mesh local node support and control, etc. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Figure l is a simplified block diagram of a wireless networking environment according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of an information handling system configured as a common access point according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods. Figure 3 illustrates a network communications architecture according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless networking environment 100 as it may be implemented according to one embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods to distribute network access among multiple separate networks having different networking protocols. As shown, wireless networking environment 100 includes an information handling system 106 configured as a multi-network common access point for three exemplary different types of wireless networks 102, 104 and 105, although it will be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented in other embodiments as a common access point for any two or more separate networks of any configuration and/or access control. In accordance with the present invention, one of the wireless networks has a broadband wireless access networking protocol, and another one of the wireless networks had a wireless local area network networking protocol. Additional wireless networks can be provided. Specific examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, WLAN based technologies such as 802.11 WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz); WPAN based technologies such as Bluetooth (2.4 GHz) and UWB (3.1-10.6 GHz); WWAN based technologies such as GSM/EDGE, HSDPA, W-CDMA, CDMA-2000 (800-900 MHz, 1800-1900 MHz and 2.1 GHz); and WMAN based technologies such as 802.16 WiMax (2-llGHz), etc. In one exemplary embodiment, information handling system 106 may be a portable information handling system such as a notebook computer. In the illustrated exemplary embodiment of Figure 1, network 102 represents a first wireless network, having a broadband wireless access high networking protocol of devices capable of relatively bandwidth and relatively long range communication, wireless network 104 represents a second network (e.g., WLAN) of devices capable of relatively low bandwidth and relatively short range communication, and wireless network 105 a third network (e.g., WPAN) of devices capable of relatively high bandwidth and relatively short range communication. In this embodiment, wireless network 102 may be further characterized as an external network (e.g., external Internet or other public domain network), wireless network 104 may be further characterized as an internal network (e.g., corporate or home Internet or other network and and wireless of managed configuration user access), network 105 may be further characterized as a peripheral connection network conﬁgured to connect peripherals (e.g., video display devices, audio reproduction devices, projection devices, printer devices, displays, mice, keyboards, optical drives, external storage devices, webcams, etc.) to one or more network nodes of wireless network 105. As shown in Figure 1, information handling system 106 includes first network communication circuitry 120 conﬁgured to communicate with first network 102, second network communication circuitry 122 configured to communicate with second network 104 and third network communication circuitry 124 conﬁgured to communicate with third network 105. In the illustrated embodiment, information handling system 106 also includes shared MAC circuitry 126 coupled to communicate with physical (PHY) interfaces of each of network communication circuitries I20, l22 124 in a manner that allows direct communication at the MAC software layer between networks 102, 104 and/or I05. As will be described further herein, this MAC layer communication capability may be implemented in a variety of embodiments to realize one or more beneﬁts of the disclosed systems and methods by bridging two or more network interfaces at the MAC software processing layer. Figure 2 is a simpliﬁed block diagram of information handling system 106 of Figure 1, as it may be conﬁgured as a common access point for multiple networks, e.g., networks 102, 104 and l05. As illustrated in Figure 2, first network communication circuitry 120 includes first network radio transceiver circuitry 250 (e.g., WWAN radio transceiver circuitry), second network communication circuitry 122 includes second network radio transceiver circuitry 240 (e.g., WLAN radio transceiver circuitry) and third network communication circuitry 124 includes third network radio transceiver circuitry 260 (eg, WPAN radio transceiver circuitry) that are coupled to receive and transmit wireless network radio frequency (RF) signals using a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268, respectively. it will be understood that Figure 2 is exemplary only, and that an information handling system may be conﬁgured in other embodiments as a common access point for two networks, or as common access point for more than three networks, the latter case being represented by the dots between second network communication circuitry 122 and third network communication circuitry 124 in Figure 2. As shown in Figure 2, each of network communication circuitries 120, 122 and 124 includes a respective network signal processing component 270, 272 or 274 that is coupled between a respective radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 and shared MAC circuitry 126. Each of network signal processing components 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 baseband circuitry 256, 246 or 266 that are together provided to receive analog network communication signals from radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 and to provide corresponding digital network communication signals to shared MAC circuitry 126, and to receive digital network communication signals from shared MAC circuitry 126 and to provide corresponding analog network communication signals to radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 in the manner illustrated. In this regard, each of radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 provides analog network communication signals to one of network signal processing components 270, 272 or 274 that is based on network RF signals received by a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268, and receives analog communication signals from one of network signal processing components 270, 272 or 274 for transmission as network RF signals by a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268. Although information handling system 106 is conﬁgured in this embodiment as a common access point having radio transceiver circuitry and associated network signal processing circuitry for RF network communications, it is also possible that shared MAC circuitry of a common access point may also be coupled to shared MAC‘ circuitry suitable for wired network communication with one or more networks. As further illustrated in Figure 2, infonnation handling system 106 also includes network processor 273 that communicates between shared MAC circuitry 126 and external interfaces 275. External interfaces 275 may be coupled to any one or more external host devices-130 (e. g., microprocessor, microcontroller, information handling system, etc.) that are suitable for exchanging (i.e.. receiving and/or providing) network communications with shared MAC circuitry 126 via network processor 273. Examples of tasks that may be performed by external host device/s 130 include, but are not limited to, providing graphical user interface/command-line interface for configuration settings, providing bus interface (e.g. USB, PCI Express, etc.) to connect external devices, providing scalability to attach another instance of a network interface (e.g., Bluetooth) and providing administrative access to the underlying network interfaces, etc. It will be understood, however, that communications may be established between any two or more of first network 102, second network l04 and/or third network 105 via network communication circuitries l20, 122 and/or l24 directly through MAC circuitry I26 to bridge network interfaces of these networks at the MAC software processing layer without any further processing of higher software layers using network processor 273. In one embodiment, network processor 273 may be provided and conﬁgured with network software stack processing circuitry that is suitable for processing infonnation flow through underlying network layers and/or network communications received or provided to MAC circuitry l26. Figure 2 also illustrates memory 284 that may be coupled to shared MAC circuitry I26 and to network processor 273 for purposes of storing networking software stack and/or conﬁguration settings, etc. Also shown is extemal electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) 212 that may be present for purposes of storing BIOS information and/or ﬁrmware for the networking devices, etc. In one exemplary embodiment a multi-network common access point, such as information handling system 106 of Figure 2, may be implemented to distribute wireless network access and communication between two or more networks (e.g., networks 102,104 and 105 of Figure 1) using the common media access control (MAC) architecture provided by shared MAC circuitry 126. information handling system l06 may be implemented as a router (with optional For example, firewall capability) to provide termination for communications between first network 102 and second network 104 and/or third network I05 at the shared MAC level. In such an embodiment, the common MAC architecture may be so employed to optimize the performance and throughput between the individual networks by reducing software layer processing time and complexity. Figure 3 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a network communications architecture 300 that may be implemented according to one embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. As shown, network architecture 300 includes an information handling system 310 conﬁgured to provide wired access for an internal network (e.g., home network or corporate Intranet) that includes wireless access points 312a, 3l2b and 3l2c (e. g., IEEE 802.11 standard compliant devices from the same or different manufacturer/s). In this regard, information handling system 310 may be conﬁgured, for example, as a wired network server to an internal corporate Intranet network or as a cable modem that serves an internal home network. In such an embodiment, information handling system 310 may be in wired communication via wired link 320 with external Internet network 102 and be registered with an internet service provider (ISP) of external Internet network 102. As shown, information handling system 310 is also in communication via wired links 322a, 322b and 322c with wireless access points 312a, 3l2b and 312e, respectively. Wired communication links 320, 322a, 322b and 322c may be, for example, wired Ethernet communication links or other suitable wired network communication links. Besides serving the internal network, infonnation handling system 310 may also be configured to perform other functions, for example, conﬁgured as a ﬁrewall for the internal network. As shown, internal network access points 3123, 312b and 3 1 2c are conﬁgured to wirelessly communicate via wireless communication links (e.g,, 802.11 WLAN links) with one or more wireless client device nodes of the internal network. In this regard, Figure 3 shows internal wireless network access point 312a in wireless communication with wireless client node 360a (e.g., information handling system configured as a desktop computing device) via wireless communication link 340a. and wireless network access point 3l2b in wireless communication with wireless client node 360b (e.g., information handling system conﬁgured as a portable notebook computing device) via wireless communication link 340b of the internal network. The exemplary embodiment of Figure 3 also includes two information handling systems 106a and 106b that are conﬁgured in the form of multi-network common access points that are in direct wireless communication via respective backend wireless links 330a and 33% (e.g., 802.16a BWA links) to external network 102. In this embodiment, each of information handling systems 106a and 106b are capable of communication with any 802.11 standard compliant device, and are thus capable of wireless communication with each of network access points 3l2a, 3l2b and 312e, when in suitable wireless communication range with these devices. As shown in Figure 3, information handling system 106a is also in wireless communication via wireless link 332a (e.g., 802.llabgn WiFi WLAN link) with internal network access point 3l2a of the internal network, and information handling‘ system lO6b is also in wireless communication via wireless link 332b (e.g.. 802.llabgn WiFi WLAN link) with internal network access point 3l2b of the same internal network. In the illustrated embodiment, information handling system 106a is further in wireless communication via wireless link 350a (e.g., UWB WPAN link) with audio reproduction peripheral 370 of a peripheral connection network, and information handling system lO6b is further in wireless communication via wireless link 350b (e.g., UWB WPAN link) with wide screen display peripheral 380 of the peripheral connection network. Thus, each of information handling systems are conﬁgured to communicate with one or more nodes (e.g., access points and/or other devices) of an internal network, while at the same time directly communicating via backend connection with an external network. As illustrated in Figure 3, information handling systems 106a and lO6b may be confirmed as multi-network common access points for BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) network access, an that service WLAN (e.g., 802.11 abgn WiFi) and, optionally, WPAN (UWB, blue tooth) clients. In such an embodiment, individual infonnation handling systems 106a and lO6b may be configured with the ability to maintain association with existing legacy WLAN access points 312 and, optionally, WPAN access points that may be in the vicinity. In this regard, it will be understood that the illustrated embodiment of Figure 3 is exemplary only, and that information handling systems 106a and/or lO6b may communicate directly with wireless client nodes (e.g., wireless client nodes 3603 and/or 360b) when in direct wireless (e.g., WLAN) communication range with such wireless client nodes. Similarly, information handling systems l06a and/or lO6b may communicate with wireless peripheral devices (e.g., wireless peripherals 370 and/or 380) via peripheral network access points (e.g., WPAN wireless access points not shown in Figure 3), for example, when these wireless peripheral devices are outside of direct WPAN communication range with information handling systems 106a and/or l06b. in one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods, a multi- network common access point may be optionally conﬁgured with an additional network layer implemented between two or more individual network communication circuitries in order to facilitate and/or modify characteristics of communications between the multiple networks. For example, referring to the embodiment of Figure 2, an additional network layer may be implemented in network signal processing hardware components (eg, 270, 272 or 274) or software (eg., in the memory 248 or through host interface 130) of an information handling system 106 between a BWA backend wireless link 330 provided by first network communication circuitry I20 and WLAN and, optionally, WPAN front end wireless links 332 and 350 provided by second network communication circuitry 122 and/or third network communication circuitry 124, respectively. Such an additional network layer may be configured to allow support for ﬁrmware updates and ﬁrewall deployment, with the ability to accept changes to this additional network layer, for example, through communication from other access points, e.g., such as access points 312 of the exemplary embodiment of Figure 3. Still referring to Figure 3, access points 312 may comprise legacy access points that form a part of an existing corporate WLAN network, and information handling systems 106 may be conﬁgured as BWA multi-network common access points that are associated with legacy access points 312. In such an embodiment, any updates being serviced to the legacy corporate WLAN access points 312 may be routed to the associated BWA access point information handling systems 106, which in tum may be conﬁgured to use these updates to modify administrative features, e.g., port forwarding, [P blocking, encryption keys, etc. In one example implementation of the above-described embodiment, an additional network layer between the BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) backcnd links 330 and WLAN front end wireless links 332 may be provided that is optionally conﬁgured to appear like an Ethernet client to the existing corporate network. In such an exemplary embodiment, this additional network layer may be configured, for example, to have an abstract Ethernet address that may be maintained in [T routing tables, e.g., so as to allow administrators to add and delete information handling systems 106 (conﬁgured as BWA multi-network common access points) through front end wireless links 332 using existing network management tools, and at the same time allowing secure and centralized management of information handling systems 106 without any routing outside the corporate 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 any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, perfonnance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources 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 communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (l/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components. While the invention may be adaptable to various modiﬁcations and alternative forms, speciﬁc embodiments have been shown by way of example and described herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as deﬁned by the appended claims. Moreover, the different aspects of the disclosed systems and methods may be utilized in various combinations and/or independently. Thus the invention is not limited to only those combinations shown herein, but rather may include other combinations.

Description

Systems and Methods for Distribution of Wireless Network Access Dell Products LP SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DISTRIBUTION OF WIRELESS NETWORK ACCESS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION . Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to wireless network communications, and more particularly to distribution of wireless network access.

Description of the Related Art As the value and use of information continues toincrease, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An infonnation handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and infonnation handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated.

The variations in information handling systems allow for information‘ handling systems to be general or conﬁgured for a speciﬁc user or speciﬁc use such as ﬁnancial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be conﬁgured to process, store, and communicate information and, may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.

Currently, broadband intemet service provider (ISP) service access is primarily based on one of two architectures: cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) service. Typically, the broadband service is terminated in a standalone modem device or a combination modem-router device with local content distribution over Ethernet or wireless local area network (WLAN) network technologies to other attached devices and platforms.

Wireless metropolitan area network technology (WMAN) is emerging as an alternative to cabled access networks such as ﬁber optic links, coaxial systems using cable niodeins and DSL links. In the industry, scientiﬁc and medical (ISM) band, broadband wireless access (BWA) is emerging as a broadband service for consumers and backhaul access for public hot spots. Broadband Wireless Access has been standardized within the IEEE 802.16a standard, which has been introduced as a metropolitan area network to link 802.11 hotspots to the internet. This standard offers tens of megabits of throughput over distance of up to 20 kilometers, and the ability to make connections without having a direct line of sight. Because of its extended range, 802.16a systems should consume more power and require more advanced antenna systems than typical WLAN applications, potentially interfering with wide scale adoption of the 802.16a standard in thin and light client hardware.

The initial deployment of 802.16a technology in many corporate/small business computing (SMB) environments will likely be over existing WLAN infrastructure. Currently, WLAN access points (APS) are managed by information technology (IT) administrators using an‘ Ethernet link to the AP. Any updates to firmware/ﬁrewall are loaded seamlessly without routing over the external Internet.

With IEEE 802.16a enabled APs, the management would have to be over wireless link from either a client associated to the AP or the lntemet Service Provider servicing the 802.16a node (for true wireless deployment without Ethernet). The first scenario is cumbersome and inefficient if multiple AP: are deployed. The second scenario raises security and robustness issues because of routing outside the corporate network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network communication method providing communication at the media access control software layer between a first wireless network having a broadband wireless access networking protocol and a second wireless network having a wireless local area networking protocol.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information handling system comprising ﬁrst and second network communication circuitry to communicate with first and second wireless networks having a broadband wireless access networking protocol and a wireless local area networking protocol respectively, and a shared media access control circuit coupled to communicate with both network communication circuitry.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-network common access point including an information handling system conﬁgured to provide communication at the media access control software layer between a ﬁrst wireless network having a broadband wireless access networking protocol and a second wireless network having a wireless local area networking protocol.

In one exemplary embodiment, an integrated router and ﬁrewall service may be provided to a local WLAN network, leveraging a common orchogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) — based MAC architecture for both the BWA and WLAN functionality.

Beneﬁts that may be realized from the implementation of the disclosed systems and methods include, but not limited to, cost beneﬁts of the MAC architecture with further extensions for shared physical layer (PHY) application speciﬁc integrated circuits (ASICs).

The extensibility and routing feature capabilities of the disclosed architecture may be advantageously implemented, for example, with ultra wide band (UWB) technology for network environments ranging from local area data-based computing networks to consumer entertainment (CE) based networks, e.g., forming a key to the Digital Home architecture.

In one exemplary embodiment, the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented to provide one or more BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) access points that service WLAN (e.g., 802.ll abgn WiFi) clients. In such an embodiment, an individual BWA access point may be conﬁgured with the ability to maintain association with existing legacy WLAN APs in the vicinity. The disclosed systems and methods may be further implements to provide additional network layer between the BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) backend and the WLAN (802.11 front end that allows support for ﬁrmware updates and ﬁrewall deployment, with the ability to accept changes to this new network layer through association with legacy WLAN APs. For example, a BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) AP may be associated with APS from an existing corporate WLAN as a special client. Any updates being services to the corporate WLAN APs may be routed to the associated BWA AP. The BWA AP may be enabled to use these updates to modify administrative features e.g., port forwarding, IP blocking, encryption keys etc.

In one example implementation of the above-described embodiment, an additional network layer between the BWA (e.g., 802.16a) backend and the WLAN (802.1) front end may be provided that appears like an Ethernet client to the existing corporate network. The additional network layer may be configured to have an abstract Ethernet address that may be maintained in IT routing tables, e.g., so as to allow administrators to add and delete BWA APs using existing network management tools, and at the same time allowing secure and centralized management of BWA APs without any routing outside the corporate network. Thus, management communications (e.g., firmware updates, firewall configurations, changes to administrative features, etc) may be provided over a front end communication like to a BWA AP from a WLAN AP, rather than over a back end communication link or from a management client associated with the BWA AP.

Examples of features and/or benefits that may be implemented in combination using the disclosed system and methods include, but are not limited to, seamless WMAN-to-WLAN translation; native quality of service (QoS) for voice, data and multimedia; omni- directional antennas for Mesh Networking; multi-channel selection, allocation and control; increased network capacity with meshed nodes; security and authentication; and protocol independent operations, e.g., Ethernet, Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6), asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), point to point protocol over Ethernet (PPPOE), etc. and/or benefits may also be realized or implemented in the practice Common firewall architecture features of the disclosed systems and method including, but not limited to, client and application authentication; configuration management; policies and profiles; etc. In addition, network scalability and extensibility may be provided, e.g., for 802.l1n. Switch and routing operations features that may be realized include, but are not limited to, L2/L3+ non-blocking architecture; WLAN; native termination for virtual private networks (VPNs); virtual local area network (VLAN) wire speed between support for heterogeneous applications and/or devices; mesh local node support and control, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS Figure l is a simplified block diagram of a wireless networking environment according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods.

Figure 2 is a simplified block diagram of an information handling system configured as a common access point according to one exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods.

Figure 3 illustrates a network communications architecture according to one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless networking environment 100 as it may be implemented according to one embodiment ofthe disclosed systems and methods to distribute network access among multiple separate networks having different networking protocols. As shown, wireless networking environment 100 includes an information handling system 106 configured as a multi-network common access point for three exemplary different types of wireless networks 102, 104 and 105, although it will be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented in other embodiments as a common access point for any two or more separate networks of any configuration and/or access control. In accordance with the present invention, one of the wireless networks has a broadband wireless access networking protocol, and another one of the wireless networks had a wireless local area network networking protocol. Additional wireless networks can be provided. Specific examples of such networks include, but are not limited to, WLAN based technologies such as 802.11 WiFi (2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz); WPAN based technologies such as Bluetooth (2.4 GHz) and UWB (3.1-10.6 GHz); WWAN based technologies such as GSM/EDGE, HSDPA, W-CDMA, CDMA-2000 (800-900 MHz, 1800-1900 MHz and 2.1 GHz); and WMAN based technologies such as 802.16 WiMax (2-llGHz), etc.

In one exemplary embodiment, information handling system 106 may be a portable information handling system such as a notebook computer.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment of Figure 1, network 102 represents a first wireless network, having a broadband wireless access high networking protocol of devices capable of relatively bandwidth and relatively long range communication, wireless network 104 represents a second network (e.g., WLAN) of devices capable of relatively low bandwidth and relatively short range communication, and wireless network 105 a third network (e.g., WPAN) of devices capable of relatively high bandwidth and relatively short range communication. In this embodiment, wireless network 102 may be further characterized as an external network (e.g., external Internet or other public domain network), wireless network 104 may be further characterized as an internal network (e.g., corporate or home Internet or other network and and wireless of managed configuration user access), network 105 may be further characterized as a peripheral connection network conﬁgured to connect peripherals (e.g., video display devices, audio reproduction devices, projection devices, printer devices, displays, mice, keyboards, optical drives, external storage devices, webcams, etc.) to one or more network nodes of wireless network 105.

As shown in Figure 1, information handling system 106 includes first network communication circuitry 120 conﬁgured to communicate with first network 102, second network communication circuitry 122 configured to communicate with second network 104 and third network communication circuitry 124 conﬁgured to communicate with third network 105. In the illustrated embodiment, information handling system 106 also includes shared MAC circuitry 126 coupled to communicate with physical (PHY) interfaces of each of network communication circuitries I20, l22 124 in a manner that allows direct communication at the MAC software layer between networks 102, 104 and/or I05. As will be described further herein, this MAC layer communication capability may be implemented in a variety of embodiments to realize one or more beneﬁts of the disclosed systems and methods by bridging two or more network interfaces at the MAC software processing layer.

Figure 2 is a simpliﬁed block diagram of information handling system 106 of Figure 1, as it may be conﬁgured as a common access point for multiple networks, e.g., networks 102, 104 and l05. As illustrated in Figure 2, first network communication circuitry 120 includes first network radio transceiver circuitry 250 (e.g., WWAN radio transceiver circuitry), second network communication circuitry 122 includes second network radio transceiver circuitry 240 (e.g., WLAN radio transceiver circuitry) and third network communication circuitry 124 includes third network radio transceiver circuitry 260 (eg, WPAN radio transceiver circuitry) that are coupled to receive and transmit wireless network radio frequency (RF) signals using a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268, respectively. it will be understood that Figure 2 is exemplary only, and that an information handling system may be conﬁgured in other embodiments as a common access point for two networks, or as common access point for more than three networks, the latter case being represented by the dots between second network communication circuitry 122 and third network communication circuitry 124 in Figure 2.

As shown in Figure 2, each of network communication circuitries 120, 122 and 124 includes a respective network signal processing component 270, 272 or 274 that is coupled between a respective radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 and shared MAC circuitry 126. Each of network signal processing components 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 baseband circuitry 256, 246 or 266 that are together provided to receive analog network communication signals from radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 and to provide corresponding digital network communication signals to shared MAC circuitry 126, and to receive digital network communication signals from shared MAC circuitry 126 and to provide corresponding analog network communication signals to radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 in the manner illustrated. In this regard, each of radio transceiver circuitry 250, 240 or 260 provides analog network communication signals to one of network signal processing components 270, 272 or 274 that is based on network RF signals received by a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268, and receives analog communication signals from one of network signal processing components 270, 272 or 274 for transmission as network RF signals by a corresponding antenna 258, 248 or 268.

Although information handling system 106 is conﬁgured in this embodiment as a common access point having radio transceiver circuitry and associated network signal processing circuitry for RF network communications, it is also possible that shared MAC circuitry of a common access point may also be coupled to shared MAC‘ circuitry suitable for wired network communication with one or more networks.

As further illustrated in Figure 2, infonnation handling system 106 also includes network processor 273 that communicates between shared MAC circuitry 126 and external interfaces 275. External interfaces 275 may be coupled to any one or more external host devices-130 (e. g., microprocessor, microcontroller, information handling system, etc.) that are suitable for exchanging (i.e.. receiving and/or providing) network communications with shared MAC circuitry 126 via network processor 273. Examples of tasks that may be performed by external host device/s 130 include, but are not limited to, providing graphical user interface/command-line interface for configuration settings, providing bus interface (e.g. USB, PCI Express, etc.) to connect external devices, providing scalability to attach another instance of a network interface (e.g., Bluetooth) and providing administrative access to the underlying network interfaces, etc. It will be understood, however, that communications may be established between any two or more of first network 102, second network l04 and/or third network 105 via network communication circuitries l20, 122 and/or l24 directly through MAC circuitry I26 to bridge network interfaces of these networks at the MAC software processing layer without any further processing of higher software layers using network processor 273.

In one embodiment, network processor 273 may be provided and conﬁgured with network software stack processing circuitry that is suitable for processing infonnation flow through underlying network layers and/or network communications received or provided to MAC circuitry l26. Figure 2 also illustrates memory 284 that may be coupled to shared MAC circuitry I26 and to network processor 273 for purposes of storing networking software stack and/or conﬁguration settings, etc. Also shown is extemal electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) 212 that may be present for purposes of storing BIOS information and/or ﬁrmware for the networking devices, etc.

In one exemplary embodiment a multi-network common access point, such as information handling system 106 of Figure 2, may be implemented to distribute wireless network access and communication between two or more networks (e.g., networks 102,104 and 105 of Figure 1) using the common media access control (MAC) architecture provided by shared MAC circuitry 126. information handling system l06 may be implemented as a router (with optional For example, firewall capability) to provide termination for communications between first network 102 and second network 104 and/or third network I05 at the shared MAC level. In such an embodiment, the common MAC architecture may be so employed to optimize the performance and throughput between the individual networks by reducing software layer processing time and complexity.

Figure 3 illustrates one exemplary embodiment of a network communications architecture 300 that may be implemented according to one embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods. As shown, network architecture 300 includes an information handling system 310 conﬁgured to provide wired access for an internal network (e.g., home network or corporate Intranet) that includes wireless access points 312a, 3l2b and 3l2c (e. g., IEEE 802.11 standard compliant devices from the same or different manufacturer/s). In this regard, information handling system 310 may be conﬁgured, for example, as a wired network server to an internal corporate Intranet network or as a cable modem that serves an internal home network. In such an embodiment, information handling system 310 may be in wired communication via wired link 320 with external Internet network 102 and be registered with an internet service provider (ISP) of external Internet network 102. As shown, information handling system 310 is also in communication via wired links 322a, 322b and 322c with wireless access points 312a, 3l2b and 312e, respectively. Wired communication links 320, 322a, 322b and 322c may be, for example, wired Ethernet communication links or other suitable wired network communication links. Besides serving the internal network, infonnation handling system 310 may also be configured to perform other functions, for example, conﬁgured as a ﬁrewall for the internal network.

As shown, internal network access points 3123, 312b and 3 1 2c are conﬁgured to wirelessly communicate via wireless communication links (e.g,, 802.11 WLAN links) with one or more wireless client device nodes of the internal network. In this regard, Figure 3 shows internal wireless network access point 312a in wireless communication with wireless client node 360a (e.g., information handling system configured as a desktop computing device) via wireless communication link 340a. and wireless network access point 3l2b in wireless communication with wireless client node 360b (e.g., information handling system conﬁgured as a portable notebook computing device) via wireless communication link 340b of the internal network.

The exemplary embodiment of Figure 3 also includes two information handling systems 106a and 106b that are conﬁgured in the form of multi-network common access points that are in direct wireless communication via respective backend wireless links 330a and 33% (e.g., 802.16a BWA links) to external network 102. In this embodiment, each of information handling systems 106a and 106b are capable of communication with any 802.11 standard compliant device, and are thus capable of wireless communication with each of network access points 3l2a, 3l2b and 312e, when in suitable wireless communication range with these devices.

As shown in Figure 3, information handling system 106a is also in wireless communication via wireless link 332a (e.g., 802.llabgn WiFi WLAN link) with internal network access point 3l2a of the internal network, and information handling‘ system lO6b is also in wireless communication via wireless link 332b (e.g.. 802.llabgn WiFi WLAN link) with internal network access point 3l2b of the same internal network. In the illustrated embodiment, information handling system 106a is further in wireless communication via wireless link 350a (e.g., UWB WPAN link) with audio reproduction peripheral 370 of a peripheral connection network, and information handling system lO6b is further in wireless communication via wireless link 350b (e.g., UWB WPAN link) with wide screen display peripheral 380 of the peripheral connection network. Thus, each of information handling systems are conﬁgured to communicate with one or more nodes (e.g., access points and/or other devices) of an internal network, while at the same time directly communicating via backend connection with an external network.

As illustrated in Figure 3, information handling systems 106a and lO6b may be confirmed as multi-network common access points for BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) network access, an that service WLAN (e.g., 802.11 abgn WiFi) and, optionally, WPAN (UWB, blue tooth) clients. In such an embodiment, individual infonnation handling systems 106a and lO6b may be configured with the ability to maintain association with existing legacy WLAN access points 312 and, optionally, WPAN access points that may be in the vicinity. In this regard, it will be understood that the illustrated embodiment of Figure 3 is exemplary only, and that information handling systems 106a and/or lO6b may communicate directly with wireless client nodes (e.g., wireless client nodes 3603 and/or 360b) when in direct wireless (e.g., WLAN) communication range with such wireless client nodes. Similarly, information handling systems l06a and/or lO6b may communicate with wireless peripheral devices (e.g., wireless peripherals 370 and/or 380) via peripheral network access points (e.g., WPAN wireless access points not shown in Figure 3), for example, when these wireless peripheral devices are outside of direct WPAN communication range with information handling systems 106a and/or l06b. in one exemplary embodiment of the disclosed systems and methods, a multi- network common access point may be optionally conﬁgured with an additional network layer implemented between two or more individual network communication circuitries in order to facilitate and/or modify characteristics of communications between the multiple networks. For example, referring to the embodiment of Figure 2, an additional network layer may be implemented in network signal processing hardware components (eg, 270, 272 or 274) or software (eg., in the memory 248 or through host interface 130) of an information handling system 106 between a BWA backend wireless link 330 provided by first network communication circuitry I20 and WLAN and, optionally, WPAN front end wireless links 332 and 350 provided by second network communication circuitry 122 and/or third network communication circuitry 124, respectively. Such an additional network layer may be configured to allow support for ﬁrmware updates and ﬁrewall deployment, with the ability to accept changes to this additional network layer, for example, through communication from other access points, e.g., such as access points 312 of the exemplary embodiment of Figure 3.

Still referring to Figure 3, access points 312 may comprise legacy access points that form a part of an existing corporate WLAN network, and information handling systems 106 may be conﬁgured as BWA multi-network common access points that are associated with legacy access points 312. In such an embodiment, any updates being serviced to the legacy corporate WLAN access points 312 may be routed to the associated BWA access point information handling systems 106, which in tum may be conﬁgured to use these updates to modify administrative features, e.g., port forwarding, [P blocking, encryption keys, etc.

In one example implementation of the above-described embodiment, an additional network layer between the BWA (e.g., 802.l6a) backcnd links 330 and WLAN front end wireless links 332 may be provided that is optionally conﬁgured to appear like an Ethernet client to the existing corporate network. In such an exemplary embodiment, this additional network layer may be configured, for example, to have an abstract Ethernet address that may be maintained in [T routing tables, e.g., so as to allow administrators to add and delete information handling systems 106 (conﬁgured as BWA multi-network common access points) through front end wireless links 332 using existing network management tools, and at the same time allowing secure and centralized management of information handling systems 106 without any routing outside the corporate 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 any other suitable device and may vary in size, shape, perfonnance, functionality, and price. The information handling system may include memory, one or more processing resources 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 communications ports for communicating with external devices as well as various input and output (l/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video display. The information handling system may also include one or more buses operable to transmit communications between the various hardware components.

While the invention may be adaptable to various modiﬁcations and alternative forms, speciﬁc embodiments have been shown by way of example and described herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as deﬁned by the appended claims. Moreover, the different aspects of the disclosed systems and methods may be utilized in various combinations and/or independently. Thus the invention is not limited to only those combinations shown herein, but rather may include other combinations.

Claims

l. A network communication method, comprising providing communication between two or more wireless networks at the media access control (MAC) software layer, wherein a first one of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a broadband wireless access (BWA) networking protocol, and a second one of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a wireless local area network (WLAN) networking protocol.
2. The network communication method of claim 1, wherein the communication between the two or more wireless networks at the media access control (MAC) software layer is provided using shared MAC circuitry.
3. The network communication method of claim 1, wherein the communication between two or more wireless networks at the media access control (MAC) soﬁware layer is provided within an information handling system conﬁgured as a multi- network common wireless access point.
4. The network communication method of any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first networking protocol has a higher communication bandwidth than a communication bandwidth of the second networking protocol; and wherein the first networking protocol has a greater communication range than a communication range of the second networking protocol.
5. The network communication method of any one of the preceding claims, including communicating with the first network via a back end communication link and communicating with the second network via a front end communication link with a wireless access point for the second network.
6. The network communication method of claim 5, including maintaining association with the at least one wireless access point for the second network and receiving management communications over the front end communication link from the at least one second network wireless access point.
7. The network communication method of any one of the preceding claims, wheteiri the ﬁrst network comprises the Internet and wherein the second network comprises a corporate or home local area network.
8. An information handling system, comprising: first network communication circuitry conﬁgured to communicate with a first wireless network having a broadband wireless access (BWA) networking protocol; second network communication circuitry conﬁgured to communicate with a second wireless network having a wireless local area network (WLAN) networking protocol; and shared media access control (MAC) circuitry coupled to communicate with physical (PHY) interfaces of each of the ﬁrst network communication circuitry and the second network communication circuitry.
9. The information handling system of claim 8, wherein the first network communication circuitry comprises first radio transceiver circuitry and a ﬁrst network signal processing component, the first network signal processing circuitry being coupled between the ﬁrst radio transceiver and the shared MAC circuitry; and wherein the second network communication circuitry comprises second radio transceiver circuitry and a second network signal processing component, the second network signal processing circuitry being coupled between the second radio transceiver and the shared MAC circuitry.
l0. The infomiation handling system of claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the ﬁrst networking protocol has a higher communication bandwidth than a communication bandwidth of the second networking protocol; and wherein the ﬁrst networking protocol has a greater communication range than a communication range of the second networking protocol.
ll. The information handling system of any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the first network comprises the Internet; and wherein the second network comprises a corporate or home local area network.
12. A multi-network common access point, comprising an infomiation handling system conﬁgured to provide communication between two or more wireless networks at the media access control (MAC) software layer; wherein a first one of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a broadband wireless access (BWA) networking protocol, and a second one of the two or more wireless networks comprises a wireless network having a wireless local area network (W LAN) networking protocol, the first networking protocol.
13. The multi-network common access point of claim I2, wherein the infonnation handling system includes shared media access control (MAC) circuitry conﬁgured to provide the communication between the two or more wireless networks at the MAC software layer.
14. The multi-network common access point of claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the ﬁrst networking protocol has a higher communication bandwidth than a communication bandwidth of the second networking protocol; and wherein the first networking protocol has a greater communication range than a communication range of the second networking protocol.
15. The multi-network common access point of any one of claims 12 to 14, wherein the information handling system is configured to communicate with the first network via a back end communication link; and to communicate with the second network via a front end communication link.
16. The multi-network common access point of claim 15, wherein the information handling system is conﬁgured to receive management communications over the front end communication link from the at least one second network.
17. The multi-network common access point of any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the first network comprises the Internet; and wherein the second network comprises a corporate or home local area network.
18. A network communication method, substantially as described vn'th respect to any of the accompanying drawings.
19. An information handling system, substantially as shown in or as described with respect to any of the accompanying drawings.
20. A multi-network common access point substantially as shown in or as described with respect to any of the accompanying drawings.