throbber
UNITED STATES 
`LWAPP brings harmony to WLANs
`By Pat Calhoun and Jeff Aaron, special to Network World
`Network World |
`DEC 1, 2003 12:00 AM PST
`
`Lightweight Access Point Protocol's goal is to provide consistent behavior across WLAN devices,
`ensure multi-vendor WLAN interoperability, protect WLAN hardware investments and create a
`foundation for delivering advanced WLAN functionality in enterprise environments.
`
`Centralized security and management of wireless LANs is a rapidly growing trend in which a WLAN
`device such as a switch, appliance, or router is used to create and enforce policies across many
`streamlined, or lightweight, radio access points.
`
`As is the case with any network technology, standardization is key to widespread adoption. More
`specifically, a standardized protocol is required that governs how WLAN system devices
`communicate with lightweight access points to ensure interoperability and to avoid having to buy
`from only one vendor.
`
`This is the role of the Lightweight Access Point Protocol (LWAPP), a dra standard the Internet
`Engineering Task Force is considering as part of the Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access
`Points (CAPWAP), which is in the preliminary stages of becoming an IETF working group.
`
`Traditional WLANs function on a stand-alone basis. As such, they are based on a device known as a
`fat access point, which contains all wireless processing capabilities. This traditional architecture
`doesn't let dierent vendors' equipment interoperate. The new, hierarchical WLAN architecture
`departs from this model.
`
`LWAPP's goal is to provide consistent behavior across WLAN devices, ensure multi-vendor WLAN
`interoperability, protect WLAN hardware investments and create a foundation for delivering
`advanced WLAN functionality in enterprise environments. LWAPP helps companies simplify WLAN
`deployment and management, and build large-scale wireless networks.
`
`Exhibit 1007
`Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company v. Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC
`Page 000001
`
`

`

`An LWAPP-managed network consists of multiple access points connected via Layer 2 (Ethernet) or
`Layer 3 (IP) to an access controller. Access controllers typically are WLAN appliances or WLAN
`switches. With LWAPP, access points are essentially remote radio frequency interfaces that no
`longer house all the mandatory wireless processing capabilities and are controlled by the access
`controller.
`
`LWAPP governs how access points and access controllers communicate with each other by defining
`the following activities:
`
`SponsoredPost Sponsored by Aruba
`Why SASE requires a exible platform for integrated or
`unied choice
`
`Access point device discovery and authentication - When an access point is plugged into a
`wireless network, it uses LWAPP to discover available access controllers. Aer the access point is
`certified as a valid network device, it associates with the best available WLAN switch/appliance.
`
`Access point information exchange, configuration and soware control - The access point is
`updated with the most recent soware load and configured with appropriate WLAN system
`information, such as Service Set Identifiers, channel assignments and security parameters.
`
`Communications control and management between access point and wireless system devices
`- LWAPP handles packet encapsulation, fragmentation and formatting of data being transferred
`between access points and access controllers.
`
`LWAPP has several practical benefits for enterprise environments. By reducing the amount of
`processing within an access point, the LWAPP specification lets the limited computing resources on
`the access point focus on wireless access, rather than filtering and policy enforcement. The
`protocol centralizes traic handling, authentication, encryption and policy enforcement (quality of
`service and security) capabilities within the access controller, improving the eectiveness of WLAN
`management.
`
`SponsoredPost Sponsored by Broadcom
`
`Exhibit 1007
`Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company v. Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC
`Page 000002
`
`

`

`Taking the risk out of the semiconductor supply chain
`
`LWAPP also improves WLAN security because it provides a generic and secure encapsulation and
`transport mechanism for multi-vendor access-point interoperability, either by means of a Layer 2
`infrastructure or an IP-routed network.
`
`Finally, LWAPP lets network administrators use an array of interoperable access points and wireless
`system devices from multiple vendors. As a result, they can make purchasing decisions based on
`the functionalities of individual access points and access controllers rather than simply buying gear
`from the same product line as a matter of necessity. This is also expected to drive down access
`point pricing.
`
`LWAPP is expected to move to a working group within the IETF in the first half of next year.
`Standardization is projected to take approximately 18 to 24 months, but early vendor
`implementations exist today.
`
`Aaron is senior manager of product marketing at Airespace. Calhoun is CTO of Airespace and one of
`the co-authors of the LWAPP protocol. They can be reached at jaaron@airespace.com and
`pcalhoun@airespace.com, respectively.
`
`Next read this:
`
`9 career-boosting Wi-Fi certifications
`
`What is MPLS, and why isn't it dead yet?
`
`11 ways to list and sort files on Linux
`
`5 free network-vulnerability scanners
`
`How-to measure enterprise Wi-Fi speeds
`
`Copyright © 2003 IDG Communications, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1007
`Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company v. Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC
`Page 000003
`
`

`

`▻ The 10 most powerful companies in enterprise networking 2022
`
`SPONSORED LINKS
`dtSearch® - INSTANTLY SEARCH TERABYTES of files, emails, databases, web data. 25+ search types;
`Win/Lin/Mac SDK; hundreds of reviews; full evaluations
`
`There's a new hybrid cloud agenda. HPE has the playbook for success. Learn more here.
`
`Copyright © 2023 IDG Communications, Inc.
`
`Exhibit 1007
`Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company v. Sovereign Peak Ventures, LLC
`Page 000004
`
`

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket