US-20260129469-A1 - Floor-Level Allocation of Network Devices

Abstract

Devices and methods for floor-level allocation of network devices, for example, access points, are provided. A controller, coupled to multiple switches disposed across one or more floors in a space, receives discovery data and signal data. The discovery data, for example, connectivity discovery protocol data, indicates an association of the switches and multiple access points connected thereto and deployed across the floor(s). The signal data, for example, received signal strength indicator data, is associated with the set of access points. The controller classifies the access points into a set of clusters based on the discovery data and the signal data. The controller determines a sequence of the floors based on the clusters and allocates a floor-level identifier to the access points based on the sequence. The devices and methods optimize indoor localization, for example, in environments where environmental data such as air pressure data may be unreliable or unavailable.

Inventors

• Audrey Yazdan
• Brian Hart
• Peiman Amini
• Nick Schnorr
• Rabe Arshad

Assignees

• CISCO TECHNOLOGY, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260507

Application Date

20241107

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A device, comprising: a processor; a network interface controller configured to provide access to a network; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises an allocation logic that is configured to: receive discovery data and signal data, wherein: the discovery data indicates an association of a plurality of first network devices and a plurality of second network devices connected to the plurality of first network devices, the plurality of second network devices being deployed across one or more floors in a space; and the signal data is associated with a set of second network devices of the plurality of second network devices; classify the plurality of second network devices into a set of clusters based on the received discovery data and the received signal data; determine a sequence of the one or more floors based on the set of clusters; and allocate a floor-level identifier to at least one second network device of the plurality of second network devices based on the determined sequence.
2. 2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of first network devices comprises switches configured to implement at least one of a connectivity discovery protocol or a link layer discovery protocol.
3. 3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second network devices comprises access points deployed across the one or more floors.
4. 4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the discovery data comprises at least one of connectivity discovery protocol data or link layer discovery protocol data.
5. 5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the discovery data comprises at least one of: a device name or a location identifier, of a first network device of the plurality of first network devices and a second network device of the plurality of second network devices.
6. 6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the signal data comprises received signal strength indicator data.
7. 7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein a cluster of the set of clusters corresponds to a floor of the one or more floors.
8. 8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the allocation logic is further configured to determine a number of floors in the space based on a count of clusters in the set of clusters.
9. 9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the allocation logic is further configured to perform unsupervised machine learning to classify the plurality of second network devices into the set of clusters.
10. 10 . The device of claim 1 , wherein, prior to determining the sequence of the one or more floors, the allocation logic is further configured to validate the set of clusters.
11. 11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the set of clusters is validated based on a variance value between the set of clusters and a variance value within the set of clusters.
12. 12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the allocation logic is further configured to transmit an indication of the floor-level identifier allocated to the at least one second network device.
13. 13 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the set of clusters is connected by one or more weighted edges.
14. 14 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the sequence of the one or more floors is determined based on weights of the one or more weighted edges.
15. 15 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the allocation logic is further configured to: receive new discovery data and new signal data; update the set of clusters based on the new discovery data and the new signal data; determine that a first count of clusters in the updated set of clusters is different from a second count of clusters in the set of clusters; and update the sequence of the one or more floors based on the determination that the first count of clusters is different from the second count of clusters.
16. 16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the allocation logic is further configured to allocate a new floor-level identifier to the at least one second network device based on the updated sequence.
17. 17 . An access point, comprising: a processor; a network interface controller configured to provide access to a network; and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises an allocation logic that is configured to: transmit signal data and discovery data, wherein the discovery data indicates an association of a switch and the access point and a plurality of other access points that are deployed across one or more floors in a space; and receive a floor-level identifier allocation based on the transmitted signal data and the transmitted discovery data.
18. 18 . The access point of claim 17 , wherein the signal data comprises received signal strength indicator data associated with the plurality of other access points, and the discovery data comprises at least one of connectivity discovery protocol data or link layer discovery protocol data.
19. 19 . The access point of claim 17 , wherein the access point and the plurality of other access points are connected to a set of switches that provide the discovery data.
20. 20 . A method for floor-level allocation of network devices, the method comprising: receive discovery data and signal data, wherein: the discovery data indicates an association of a plurality of first network devices and a plurality of second network devices connected to the plurality of first network devices, the plurality of second network devices being deployed across one or more floors in a space; and the signal data is associated with a set of second network devices of the plurality of second network devices; classify the plurality of second network devices into a set of clusters based on the received discovery data and the received signal data; determine a sequence of the one or more floors based on the set of clusters; and allocate a floor-level identifier to at least one second network device of the plurality of second network devices based on the determined sequence.

Description

The present disclosure relates to wireless communication networks. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to floor-level allocation of network devices, for example, access points. BACKGROUND The proliferation of smartphones has spurred various location-based services, primarily aimed at positioning, for example, indoor positioning. Indoor positioning may involve determining the location of a user or a device within an indoor area or an enclosed space, for example, a building. Indoor positioning within buildings may have substantial applications across various sectors, for example, for emergency response and rescue operations, health management, disaster management, building management, surveillance, or the like. There may be an increasing demand for accurate and real-time indoor positioning, for example, for in-building navigation, asset and personnel tracking, message delivery, emergency support, or the like. While most indoor positioning studies may focus on determining a horizontal location of a user or a device within buildings, there may be a need for vertical positioning, for example, for floor-level localization in a multistory building with multiple floors. However, accurate identification of different floors in multistory buildings for precise indoor positioning in industrial and commercial applications remains a challenge. The precision of indoor positioning and floor-level localization may be required for various applications, particularly in a building with many network devices, for example, access points. Conventional methods of indoor positioning may utilize environmental data, for example, air pressure data, for estimating vertical positions within a building. However, these methods often fail in environments where the air pressure data is incomplete, inaccurate, unreliable, or unavailable for floor-level differentiation. Further, processing a massive number of access points in a building may increase computational load and lead to potential inaccuracies in location estimation. SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE Devices and methods for floor-level allocation of network devices, for example, access points, and localization in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure are described herein. In many embodiments, a device may include a processor, a network interface controller configured to provide access to a network, and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor. The memory may include an allocation logic that is configured to receive discovery data and signal data. The discovery data may indicate an association of a plurality of first network devices and a plurality of second network devices connected to the plurality of first network devices. The plurality of second network devices may be deployed across one or more floors in a space. The signal data may be associated with a set of second network devices of the plurality of second network devices. The allocation logic may further be configured to classify the plurality of second network devices into a set of clusters based on the received discovery data and the received signal data, determine a sequence of the one or more floors based on the set of clusters, and allocate a floor-level identifier to at least one second network device of the plurality of second network devices based on the determined sequence. In a number of embodiments, the plurality of first network devices may include switches configured to implement at least one of a Connectivity Discovery Protocol (CDP) or a Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). In a variety of embodiments, the plurality of second network devices may include access points deployed across the one or more floors. In various embodiments, the discovery data may include at least one of CDP data or LLDP data. The discovery data may include at least one of: a device name or a location identifier, of a first network device of the plurality of first network devices and a second network device of the plurality of second network devices. In more embodiments, the signal data may include Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) data. In additional embodiments, a cluster of the set of clusters may correspond to a floor of the one or more floors. In further embodiments, the allocation logic may further be configured to determine a number of floors in the space based on a count of clusters in the set of clusters. In still more embodiments, the allocation logic may further be configured to perform unsupervised machine learning to classify the plurality of second network devices into the set of clusters. In still further embodiments, prior to determining the sequence of the one or more floors, the allocation logic may further be configured to validate the set of clusters. In still additional embodiments, the set of clusters may be validated based on a variance value between the set of clusters and a variance value within the set of clusters. In some more embodiments, the allocation logic may further be configu