System and method for improved band-channel scanning and network switching

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018227921-A1
Application number	US-201815942651-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 2, 2018
Priority date	Nov 24, 2014
Publication date	Aug 9, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system and method is disclosed that includes receiving connectivity information from a plurality of client devices connect to a network associated with a plurality of base stations; storing the connectivity information in one or more memories; determining a first location of a first device that desires to connect to a base station associated with the network; identifying a set of candidate bands and channels for connection to the base station based on the first location and the connectivity information; and transmitting the set of candidate bands and channels to the first device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method, comprising:
receiving, at a server, connectivity information from a plurality of client devices connected to one or more of a plurality of networks associated with one or more of a plurality of base stations; storing, at the server, the connectivity information in one or more memories; determining a first location and a currently connected network of a first device, the currently connected network being a first network of the plurality of networks; identifying, by the server, a set of candidate bands and channels for connection to a second network of the plurality of networks via a first base station of the plurality of base stations by the first device at the determined first location and based on the connectivity information; and transmitting for delivery, from the server, the identified set of candidate bands and channels to the first device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein, for a particular device connected to the one or more of the plurality of networks, the connectivity information includes one or more of: a location of the particular device, an identifier for a particular base station to which the particular device is connected, and a frequency band and channel of the connection between the particular device and the particular base station.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
aggregating the connectivity information stored in one or more memories based on location information.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device attempts to connect to the second network based on attempting to connect to bands and channels included in the identified set of candidate bands and channels.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein
the plurality of client devices comprises the first device, and identifying the set of candidate bands and channels comprises identifying one or more bands and channels to which other devices of the plurality of client devices are connected to the network at the determined first location.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the determined first location is a predicted future location of the first device.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the future location is based on aggregated GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates received by the server from the first device.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein identifying the set of candidate bands and channels is based on comparing GPS coordinates of the first device to GPS coordinates of base stations on the second network to determine which particular base station to which the first device may attempt to connect at the future location.

9 . A computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause a computer system to perform the steps of:
receiving connectivity information from a plurality of client devices connected to one or more of a plurality of networks associated with one or more of a plurality of base stations; storing the connectivity information in one or more memories; determining a first location and a currently connected network of a first device, the currently connected network being a first network of the plurality of networks; identifying a set of candidate bands and channels for connection to a second network of the plurality of networks via a first base station of the plurality of base stations by the first device at the determined first location and based on the connectivity information; and transmitting for delivery the identified set of candidate bands and channels to the first device.

10 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein, for a particular device connected to the one or more of the plurality of networks, the connectivity information includes one or more of: a location of the particular device, an identifier for a particular base station to which the particular device is connected, and a frequency band and channel of the connection between the particular device and the particular base station.

11 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , further comprising:
aggregating the connectivity information stored in one or more memories based on location information.

12 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the first device attempts to connect to the second network based on attempting to connect to bands and channels included in the identified set of candidate bands and channels.

13 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein
the plurality of client devices comprises the first device, and identifying the set of candidate bands and channels comprises identifying one or more bands and channels to which other devices of the plurality of client devices are connected to the network at the determined first location.

14 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the determined first location is a predicted future location of the first device.

15 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the future location is based on aggregated GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates received by the server from the first device.

16 . The computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein identifying the set of candidate bands and channels is based on comparing GPS coordinates of the first device to GPS coordinates of base stations on the second network to determine which particular base station to which the first device may attempt to connect at the future location.

17 . A client device configured to access a plurality of networks via one or more base stations, the client device comprising:
a radio access interface configured to access one or more base stations; a memory storing instructions; and a processor that executes the instruction to:
connect to a first network of the plurality of networks;
receiving, from a server via a wireless network, a set of candidate bands and channels for connection to a second network of the plurality of networks associated with a plurality of base stations of the one or more base stations, the set of candidate bands and channels having been identified by the server based on a location of the client device and connectivity information from a plurality of client devices connected to a cellular network associated with the plurality of base stations;
scan for an available base station of the plurality of base stations using the received set of candidate bands and channels; and
responsive to locating an available base station of the plurality of base stations, attempt to connect to the second network through the available base station.

18 . The client device of claim 17 , wherein the set of candidate bands and channels received from the server is based on a predicted future location of the client device.

19 . The client device of claim 17 , wherein the first network is operated by a first carrier and the second network is operated by a second carrier.

20 . The client device of claim 17 , wherein the first network and the second network are both operated by a first carrier.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Liu Junda
• Tan Weihua
• Agrawal Shishir Kumar

Classifications

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04W48/14

  using user query {or user detection} · CPC title

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title

• H04W64/00

  Locating users or terminals {or network equipment} for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management · CPC title

• H04W72/0453 Primary

  Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA · CPC title