US-12621130-B2 - Base station state detection for client computing devices

Abstract

A method in a computing device includes: establishing an association with a base station; initiating a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; prior to transmitting content data associated with an application executing at the computing device, transmitting a test message to the base station, the test message containing a payload distinct from the content data; determining, based on a message received from the base station after transmission of the test message, whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key; and in response to determining that the base station has completed installation of the encryption key, transmitting the content data to the base station using the encryption key.

Inventors

• Venkata Aneel Kumar Inuganti
• Mahesh Kumar Edar
• Darpan Majumder

Assignees

• ZEBRA TECHNOLOGIES CORPORATION

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20230814

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method in a computing device, comprising: establishing an association with a base station; initiating a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; prior to transmitting content data associated with an application executing at the computing device, transmitting a test message to the base station, the test message containing a payload distinct from the content data; determining, based on a message received from the base station after transmission of the test message, whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key; and in response to determining that the base station has completed installation of the encryption key, transmitting the content data to the base station using the encryption key.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the test message is encrypted using the encryption key.
3. 3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to obtaining the encryption key and prior to transmitting the test message, installing the encryption key at the computing device.
4. 4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to determining that the base station has not completed installation of the encryption key, sending a further test message, and repeating the determination.
5. 5 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: in response to determining that the base station has not completed installation of the encryption key, determining whether a timeout period has expired.
6. 6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising: when the timeout period has expired, transmitting the content data to the base station using the encryption key.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key includes determining whether the message received from the base station contains a response to the test message payload.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key includes determining whether the message received from the base station contains payload data associated with the application.
9. 9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the test message is selected from the group consisting of: an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) message; an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) message; and a non-content message associated with the application, the non-content message containing a predetermined indicator.
10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the base station includes at least one of a Wi-Fi access point, and a cellular base station.
11. 11 . A computing device, comprising: a wireless communications interface; and a controller configured to: establish an association with a base station; initiate a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; prior to transmitting content data associated with an application executing at the computing device, transmit a test message to the base station, the test message containing a payload distinct from the content data; determine, based on a message received from the base station after transmission of the test message, whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key; and in response to determining that the base station has completed installation of the encryption key, transmit the content data to the base station using the encryption key.
12. 12 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the test message is encrypted using the encryption key.
13. 13 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to: in response to obtaining the encryption key and prior to transmitting the test message, install the encryption key at the computing device.
14. 14 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to: in response to determining that the base station has not completed installation of the encryption key, send a further test message, and repeating the determination.
15. 15 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is further configured to: in response to determining that the base station has not completed installation of the encryption key, determine whether a timeout period has expired.
16. 16 . The computing device of claim 15 , wherein the controller is further configured to: when the timeout period has expired, transmit the content data to the base station using the encryption key.
17. 17 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key by determining whether the message received from the base station contains a response to the test message payload.
18. 18 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key by determining whether the message received from the base station contains payload data associated with the application.
19. 19 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the test message is selected from the group consisting of: an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) message; an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) message; and a non-content message associated with the application, the non-content message containing a predetermined indicator.
20. 20 . The computing device of claim 11 , wherein the base station includes at least one of a Wi-Fi access point, and a cellular base station.

Description

BACKGROUND Initiating wireless communications between a client computing device and a base station, e.g., within a wireless local area network (WLAN), can include generating one or more encryption keys used to encrypt subsequent communications between the client device and the base station. A delay between generation of the encryption key(s) and installation of the encryption keys, however, can affect communications performance between the client device and the base station. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments. FIG. 1 is a diagram of a wireless communications system. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a roaming process in the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method of base station state detection. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example performance of the method of FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating another example performance of the method of FIG. 3. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION Examples disclosed herein are directed to a method in a computing device, comprising: establishing an association with a base station; initiating a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; prior to transmitting content data associated with an application executing at the computing device, transmitting a test message to the base station, the test message containing a payload distinct from the content data; determining, based on a message received from the base station after transmission of the test message, whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key; and in response to determining that the base station has completed installation of the encryption key, transmitting the content data to the base station using the encryption key. Additional examples disclosed herein are directed to a computing device, comprising: a wireless communications interface; and a controller configured to: establish an association with a base station; initiate a handshake with the base station to obtain an encryption key; prior to transmitting content data associated with an application executing at the computing device, transmit a test message to the base station, the test message containing a payload distinct from the content data; determine, based on a message received from the base station after transmission of the test message, whether the base station has completed installation of the encryption key; and in response to determining that the base station has completed installation of the encryption key, transmit the content data to the base station using the encryption key. FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communications system 100, deploying one or more wireless networks, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards (e.g., one or more Wi-Fi™ networks). The system 100 can also deploy one or more wide-area wireless networks (WWAN), such as a cellular network or the like, in addition to or instead of one or more WLAN. The system 100 includes at least one base station, such as a WLAN base station, a cellular base station, or the like. As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes base stations 104-1 and 104-2. In this example, the base stations 104-1 and 104-2 implement one or more WLANs, e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 standards, and are therefore also referred to herein as access points 104-1 and 104-2. The access points 104-1 and 104-2 are referred to collectively below as the access points 104, and generically as an access point 104 (similar nomenclature may also be used for other numbered components with dashed suffixes). The system 100 can include more than two access points 104 in other examples, or only one access point 104. Each AP 104 can include an enclosure housing one or more controllers, transceivers, antenna assemblies, and the like. A given