Inventors:
Abhishek Abhishek - Woodinville WA, US
Yue Chen - Bellevue WA, US
Hui Shen - Issaquah WA, US
Jiandong Ruan - Sammamish WA, US
Taroon Mandhana - Redmond WA, US
Yi Lu - Bellevue WA, US
Assignee:
Microsoft Corporation - Redmond WA
International Classification:
H04W 4/00
US Classification:
370331, 370328, 370352, 370465, 370363, 370349, 370313, 370227, 370338, 370347, 455457, 4554561, 455436, 4554042, 455434, 455432, 4555521
Abstract:
Systems and methods for handling a transition of a roaming mobile user device (i. e. , a roaming client) from one access point (AP) to a target AP, referred to herein as soft inter-AP handoff. This technique involves a second mobile user device that is already connected with the target AP, called a roaming coordinator, assisting in handoff coordination between the APs. This coordination includes assisting the roaming client in establishing a client-to-client connection to relay data traffic during the handoff, while the roaming client establishes a connection with the target AP using traditional techniques. Soft inter-AP handoff allows a faster hand-off between APs than traditional techniques, and may reduce jitter in communications with the roaming device during the transition.
