	US 12,414,040 B2
	Switching between physical access points sharing the same virtual access point identifier
Jean-Philippe Javaudin, Chatillon (FR); Jean-Michel Bonnamy, Chatillon (FR); José Saldana, Chatillon (FR); José Ruiz Mas, Chatillon (FR); and Julian Fernandez Navajas, Chatillon (FR)
Assigned to Orange, Issy-les-Moulineaux (FR)
Appl. No. 17/786,895
Filed by Orange, Issy-les-Moulineaux (FR)
PCT Filed Dec. 14, 2020, PCT No. PCT/FR2020/052405 § 371(c)(1), (2) Date Jun. 17, 2022, PCT Pub. No. WO2021/123582, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 24, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 1915206 (FR), filed on Dec. 20, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0034345 A1, Feb. 2, 2023
Int. Cl. H04W 36/18 (2009.01); H04W 8/22 (2009.01); H04W 48/18 (2009.01)

CPC H04W 48/18 (2013.01) [H04W 8/22 (2013.01)]

13 Claims

1. A managing method for managing handover of a terminal between a plurality of physical points of access to a Wi-Fi network, a virtual-access-point identifier dedicated to the terminal being assigned by a controller to a first physical access point, the terminal associating itself with the first physical access point via a first connection using the virtual-access-point identifier, the method comprising in the first access point:

transmitting, from the first physical access point to the controller, information relating to capabilities of the terminal;

receiving an order to hand over from the first connection to a second connection set up between the terminal and a second physical access point of the plurality using the same virtual-access-point identifier, the first and second connections being tailored to the capabilities of the terminal; and

performing:

reconfiguring the first connection prior to the handover in response to capabilities of the second physical access point being inferior to those of the first physical access point; or

reconfiguring the second connection following the handover in response to capabilities of the second physical access point being superior to those of the first physical access point.