Adaptive on-demand tethering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016295622-A1
Application number	US-201514678872-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 3, 2015
Priority date	Apr 3, 2015
Publication date	Oct 6, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A device that implements adaptive on-demand tethering may include at least one processor circuit. The at least one processor circuit may be configured to monitor at least a first connection quality value associated with a first network connection of the device to a network. The at least one processor circuit may be further configured to receive information regarding a second connection quality value associated with a second network connection of another device. The at least one processor circuit may be further configured to initiate a tethering connection with the another device based at least in part on a comparison of the first connection quality value and the second connection quality value. The at least one processor circuit may be further configured to connect to the network through the second network connection of the another device via the tethering connection based at least in part on the comparison.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for adaptive on-demand tethering, the method comprising:
connecting to a network via a first network connection; monitoring at least a first attribute of the first network connection; initiating a tethering connection with a proximal device based at least in part on the monitoring of the first attribute; and connecting to the network through a second network connection of the proximal device via the tethering connection based at least in part on the monitoring of the first attribute.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the tethering connection with the proximal device based at least in part on the monitoring of the first attribute comprises initiating the tethering connection with the proximal device over a local wireless connection when the first attribute of the first network connection fails to satisfy one or more criteria.

3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
exchanging authentication information and connection configuration information for the tethering connection with the proximal device over the local wireless connection prior to monitoring the first attribute of the first network connection.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising:
authenticating with a service provider via the network; and receiving the authentication information from the service provider prior to the exchanging.

5 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the local wireless connection comprises a Bluetooth connection that is separate from the first network connection and the network comprises an Internet.

6 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
receiving, from the proximal device via the local wireless connection, a second attribute of the second network connection; and initiating the tethering connection with the proximal device when the first attribute of the first network connection fails to satisfy the one or more criteria and the second attribute of the second network connection satisfies the one or more criteria.

7 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising:
monitoring the first attribute of the first network connection while connected to the network through the second network connection of the proximal device via the tethering connection; terminating the tethering connection when the first attribute of the first network connection satisfies the criteria; and reconnecting to the network via the first network connection when the first attribute of the first network connection satisfies the criteria.

8 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the first attribute of the first network connection comprises at least one of: a signal strength, a data rate, a bit error rate, a data usage, or a billing amount associated with the first network connection, and the one or more criteria comprises at least one of a minimum signal strength, a minimum data rate, a minimum bit error rate, a maximum data usage, or a maximum billing amount.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating the tethering connection with the proximal device further comprises:
determining, in conjunction with the proximal device, whether the proximal device will operate as a host device or a client device for the tethering connection.

10 . A device comprising:
at least one processor circuit configured to:
monitor at least a first connection quality value associated with a first network connection of the device to a network;
receive information regarding a second connection quality value associated with a second network connection of another device;
initiate a tethering connection with the another device based at least in part on a comparison of the first connection quality value and the second connection quality value; and
connect to the network through the second network connection of the another device via the tethering connection based at least in part on the comparison.

11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
maintain the first network connection while connected to the network through the second network connection; monitor the first connection quality value associated with the first network connection and the second connection quality value associated with the second network connection; terminate the tethering connection with the another device based at least in part on another comparison of the first connection quality value and the second connection quality value; and reconnect to the network through the first network connection.

12 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to, during initiation of the tethering connection:
exchange pre-authenticated security tokens; and determine roles of the device and the another device for the tethering connection.

13 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the first network connection is established utilizing a first communication protocol and the information regarding the second connection quality value is received utilizing a second communication protocol.

14 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
broadcast the first connection quality value utilizing the second communication protocol.

15 . The device of claim 14 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
receive, in response to the broadcast, a request to initiate another tethering connection from an additional device; and connect the additional device to the network through the first network connection via the another tethering connection.

16 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to route network traffic to the network through the second network connection of the another device via the tethering connection.

17 . The device of claim 10 , further wherein the at least one processor circuit is further configured to:
initiate the tethering connection with the another device when the second connection quality value exceeds the first connection quality value.

18 . A non-transitory machine readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to perform a method comprising:
monitoring at least a connection quality value associated with a network connection to a network, wherein the network connection utilizes a first communication protocol; broadcasting, utilizing a second communication protocol, information regarding the connection quality value; receiving, in response to the broadcasting and via the second communication protocol, a request to initiate a tethering connection from a device; establishing the tethering connection with the device; and connecting the device to the network through the network connection via the tethering connection.

19 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the tethering connection utilizes the second communication protocol.

20 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving information regarding another connection quality value associated with another network connection of another device; initiating another tethering connection with the another device based at least in part on a comparison of the connection quality value and the another connection quality value; connecting to the network through the another network connection of the another device via the another tethering connection; and connecting the device to the networ

Assignees

• Google Inc

Inventors

• Huang Jonathan
• Stewart Paul

Classifications

• H04L43/08

  Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters · CPC title

• H04W4/008

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W76/06

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W24/10

  Scheduling measurement reports {; Arrangements for measurement reports} · CPC title