Back-up path for in-home diagnostics and other communications

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9210646-B2
Application number	US-201313939554-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2013
Priority date	Jul 11, 2013
Publication date	Dec 8, 2015
Grant date	Dec 8, 2015

Abstract

A local router for a home network pairs with a mobile device via a local network connection. The local router is also connected to a wide area network. The local router receives, from the mobile device and over the local network connection, configuration settings for a backup path for the wide area network. The backup path includes the local network connection and a mobile broadband connection using the mobile device. The local router detects an interruption with the local router's connection to the managed wide area network and forwards, based on the detecting, critical traffic from the home network via the backup path.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
initiating, by a mobile device and over a local network connection, a pairing with a local router for a home network, wherein the local router is also connected to a managed wide area network;
providing, by the mobile device and to the local router over the local network connection, configuration settings for a backup path for the managed wide area network, wherein the backup path includes the local network connection and a mobile broadband connection using the mobile device;
receiving, by the mobile device and from the local router over the local network connection, a signal indicating an interruption with the local router's connection to the managed wide area network;
presenting, based on receiving the signal indicating the interruption, a user interface to solicit user authorization of the backup path;
receiving, via the user interface, the user authorization of the backup path;
sending, by the mobile device and via the local network connection, a signal, responsive to the user authorization, to activate the backup path at the local router;
receiving, by the mobile device and from the local router over the local network connection, particular types of traffic from the home network to enable critical communications; and
forwarding, by the mobile device, the particular types of traffic from the home network over the mobile broadband connection.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the local network connection includes one or more of:
a wireless personal area network (WPAN) connection,
a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, or
a wired connection.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing the configuration settings further includes identifying the particular types of traffic to allow over the backup path.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein one of the particular types of traffic to allow over the backup path includes data conforming to Technical Report 069 (TR-069) protocols.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein identifying the particular types of traffic to allow over the backup path includes prioritizing particular types of data.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
storing, in a local memory of the mobile device, a backup mode configuration application;
launching the backup mode configuration application; and
presenting, to a user of the user device, a user interface to solicit the configuration settings for the backup path.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting, by the local router, the interruption with the local router's connection to the managed wide area network; and
sending, by the local router over the local network connection, the signal indicating the interruption.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mobile device includes one of:
a smart phone,
a tablet computer,
a laptop computer,
a wireless device,
a radiotelephone,
a personal digital assistant,
a global positioning system (GPS) device,
a gaming device, or
a mobile hot spot device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, by the mobile device and from the local router, a local IP address and listening port for a diagnostic module of the local router; and
sending, via the mobile broadband connection and to a diagnostic server, the local IP address and listening port for the diagnostic module.

10. A method, comprising:
pairing, by a local router for a home network, the local router with a mobile device via a local network connection, wherein the local router is also connected to a wide area network;
receiving, by the local router and from the mobile device over the local network connection, configuration settings for a backup path for the wide area network, wherein the backup path includes the local network connection and a mobile broadband connection using the mobile device;
detecting, by the local router, an interruption with the local router's connection to the wide area network;
sending, by the local router and over the local network connection, a signal, to the mobile device, that indicates the interrupted connection to the wide area network and requests user authorization from a user of the mobile device to use the backup path;
receiving, by the local router and over the local network connection, a user authorization signal from the mobile device; and
forwarding, by the local router and based on the detecting and the receiving the user authorization signal, critical traffic from the home network via the backup path.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the local network connection includes one or more of:
a wireless personal area network (WPAN) connection, or
a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein forwarding the critical traffic from the home network via the backup path further comprises:
filtering non-critical traffic from the backup path based on the configurations settings.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
sending, to a diagnostic server and via the backup path, a local IP address and listening port for a diagnostic module of the local router.

14. A system, comprising:
a local router for a home network, the local router including:
a wide area network (WAN) interface,
a backup interface for a local network connection with a mobile device, and
a first processor configured to:
detect an interrupted connection with a wide area network,
send, to the mobile device and over the local network connection, a signal indicating the interrupted connection with the wide area network,

switch to the local network connection with the mobile device, wherein the local network connection provides a first link of a backup path for the wide area network,
filter non-critical traffic from the backup path based on configurations settings, and
forward critical traffic over the first link of the backup path: and the mobile device, including:

a local communications interface for the local network connection, a mobile broadband interface, and
a second processor configured to:
present, based on receiving the signal indicating the interrupted connection, a user interface to solicit user authorization of the backup path, and
receive the critical traffic from the local router using the local communication interface and forward the critical traffic toward an external device using a connection via the mobile broadband interface, wherein the connection via the mobile broadband interface provides a second link of the backup path for the wide area network.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the mobile device further includes:
a backup mode configuration application to provide a user interface to solicit, from a user, the user authorization and the configuration settings for the backup path.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the backup interface for the local network connection includes an interface for one or more of:
a wireless personal area network (WPAN) connection,
a wireless local area network (WLAN) connection, or
a wired connection.

17. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first processor is further configured to send, to a diagnostic server and via the backup path, a local IP address and listening port for a diagnostic module of the local router, when the first processor switches to the local network connection with the mobile device.

18. The system of claim 14 , wherein, when forwarding the critical traffic over the first link of the backup path, the first processor is further configured to:
filter non-critical traffic from the backup path based on the c

Assignees

• Verizon Patent & Licensing Inc

Inventors

• Ruffini Michael P
• Chen Lily F
• Fragale Joseph G
• Fronsdahl Dwight W
• Subramanian Sankar
• Veeneman Dale E
• Wang Dongchen

Classifications

• H04L45/22

  Alternate routing · CPC title

• H04L45/28

  using route fault recovery · CPC title

• H04W40/28 Primary

  for reactive routing · CPC title