Dynamic connection management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9603188-B2
Application number	US-35277909-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 13, 2009
Priority date	Jan 13, 2009
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

Dynamic connection management of a network connection at an electronic communications device is disclosed. In an example, one or more connection criteria associated with connection establishment at the electronic communications device is determined at the electronic communications device. The electronic communications device determines a connection acquisition priority list based on current values of the one or more connection criteria, the connection acquisition priority list being a prioritized order of connection types. The electronic communications device attempts to establish a network connection based on the connection acquisition priority list.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of establishing a network connection at an electronic communications device, comprising:
determining a location of the electronic communications device;
determining current values of one or more connection criteria associated with connection establishment at the electronic communications device, wherein the one or more connection criteria includes at least one of a current time of day, calendar date or security levels associated with available connection types;
determining which network connections are currently available to provide network access to the electronic communications device at the location of the electronic communications device;
generating a connection acquisition priority list at the electronic communications device based on the currently available network connections and the current values of the one or more connection criteria, wherein the connection acquisition priority list comprises a list of connection types of the currently available network connections supported by the electronic communications device ordered according to priorities of the listed connection types, each connection type of the list of connection types having an associated priority, wherein a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection type gets higher priority than a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection type when the electronic communication device is roaming and a lower priority than the WAN connection type when the electronic communication device is not roaming;
obtaining a connection type from the connection acquisition priority list; and
attempting to establish the network connection having the connection type obtained from the connection acquisition priority list.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connection criteria are established at the electronic communications device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more connection criteria are received from an external source.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attempting attempts to establish the network connection iteratively from a highest-ordered connection type within the connection acquisition priority list to a lowest-ordered connection type within the connection acquisition priority list until a successful connection is established.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the attempting returns to the highest-ordered connection type from the lowest-ordered connection type, based on no connection being established after the lowest-ordered connection type is attempted.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location is determined by at least one of which access points (APs) are observable to the electronic communications device, a satellite positioning system location estimate, network trilateration or a subnet associated with an internet protocol (IP) address of an observable gateway.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the connection acquisition priority list is limited to network connections determined to be currently available at the electronic communications device.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
repeating the determining, the generating and the attempting.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the repeating is performed in response to a triggering event.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the triggering event is one of losing an established network connection, entering a new geographic region or receiving a manual trigger at the electronic communications device.

11. An electronic communications device, comprising:
means for determining a location of the electronic communications device;
means for determining current values of one or more connection criteria associated with connection establishment at the electronic communications device, wherein the one or more connection criteria includes at least one of a current time of day, calendar date, or security levels associated with available connection types;
means for determining which network connections are currently available to provide network access to the electronic communications device at the location of the electronic communications device;
means for generating a connection acquisition priority list based on the currently available network connections and the current values of the one or more connection criteria, wherein the connection acquisition priority list comprises a list of connection types of the currently available network connections supported by the electronic communications device ordered according to priorities of the listed connection types, each connection type of the list of connection types having an associated priority, wherein a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) connection type gets higher priority than a Wide Area Network (WAN) connection type when the electronic communication device is roaming and a lower priority than the WAN connection type when the electronic communication device is not roaming;
means for obtaining a connection type from the connection acquisition priority list; and
means for attempting to establish a network connection having the connection type obtained from the connection acquisition priority list.

12. The electronic communications device of claim 11 , wherein the means for attempting attempts to establish the network connection iteratively from a highest-ordered connection type within the connection acquisition priority list to a lowest-ordered connection type within the connection acquisition priority list until a successful connection is established.

13. The electronic communications device of claim 12 , wherein the means for attempting returns to the highest-ordered connection type from the lowest-ordered connection type, based on no connection being established after the lowest-ordered connection type is attempted.

14. The electronic communications device of claim 11 , wherein the location is determined by at least one of which access points (APs) are observable to the electronic communications device, a satellite positioning system location estimate, network trilateration, or a subnet associated with an internet protocol (IP) address of an observable gateway.

15. The electronic communications device of claim 11 , wherein the means for generating the connection acquisition priority list limits the connection acquisition priority list to the network connections determined to be currently available at the electronic communications device.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions, which, when executed by an electronic communications device within a wireless communications system, cause the electronic communications device to perform operations, the instructions comprising:
program code to determine a location of the electronic communications device;
program code to determine current values of one or more connection criteria associated with connection establishment at the electronic communications device, wherein the one or more connection criteria includes at least one of a current time of day, calendar date, or security levels associated with available connection types; program code to determine which network connections are currently available to provide network access to the electronic communications device at the location of the electronic communications device;
program code to generate a connection acquisition priority list based on the currently available network connections and the current values of the one or more connection criteria, wherein the connection acquisition priority list comprises a list of connection types of the currently available network connections supported by the electronic communications device ordered accordi

Assignees

• Gum Arnold Jason
• Qualcomm Inc

Inventors

• Gum Arnold Jason

Classifications

• H04W88/06 Primary

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04W48/18 Primary

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title