Techniques for contextual mobile data access

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9667808-B2
Application number	US-201414574524-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 18, 2014
Priority date	Dec 18, 2014
Publication date	May 30, 2017
Grant date	May 30, 2017

Abstract

Techniques for contextual mobile data access are described. In one embodiment, an apparatus may comprise a mobile device with a local gateway utility. The local gateway utility may be operative to receive a network request on a device, determine that the network request corresponds to a context-specific data plan for the device, the context-specific data plan authorizing performance of the network request through a zero-rated proxy server, and perform the network request for the application using the zero-rated proxy server as an intermediary. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving a network request at a local gateway utility on a device;
determining, using the local gateway utility on the device, that the network request corresponds to a context-specific data plan for the device, the context-specific data plan authorizing performance of the network request through a zero-rated proxy server; and
performing the network request using the zero-rated proxy server as an intermediary.

2. The method of claim 1 , the network request received from an application on the device, comprising:
retrieving a plurality of cached context-specific data plans from a data plan cache on the device; and
matching the application against the plurality of cached context-specific data plans to determine the context-specific data plan authorizing performance of the network request through the zero-rated proxy server.

3. The method of claim 1 , the network request received from an application on the device, comprising:
determining that the application has launched on the device;
determining that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to perform network requests for the application through the zero-rated proxy server;
offering a purchase of the context-specific data plan in response to the determination that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to perform network requests for the application through the zero-rated proxy server;
receiving an acceptance of the purchase of the context-specific data plan;
performing the purchase of the context-specific data plan; and
associating the context-specific data plan with the device based on the purchase of the context-specific data plan.

4. The method of claim 1 , the network request for a network resource, comprising:
determining that the device was previously accessing the network resource on a non-metered network;
determining that continued access to the network resource would use a metered network;
determining that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server;
offering a purchase of the context-specific data plan in response to the determination that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server;
receiving an acceptance of the purchase of the context-specific data plan;
performing the purchase of the context-specific data plan; and
associating the context-specific data plan with the device based on the purchase of the context-specific data plan.

5. The method of claim 1 , the network request corresponding to a network resource, the context-specific data plan defining a period of time for which the device is authorized to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server.

6. The method of claim 1 , the network request received from an application on the device, the context-specific data plan defining a period of time for which the device is authorized to perform network requests for the application through the zero-rated proxy server.

7. The method of claim 6 , the context-specific data plan associated with a price, the price determined according to a network usage history of a plurality of installations of the application on a plurality of devices, the network usage history generated at one or more proxy servers used by the plurality of devices.

8. The method of claim 6 , the context-specific data plan associated with a price, the price determined according to a predicted network usage of the application on the device, the predicted network usage generated according to a network usage history of the device, the network usage history generated at one or more proxy servers used by the device.

9. The method of claim 1 , comprising:
monitoring network traffic for the device at a proxy server to generate a network usage history of the device;
predicting user interest in the context-specific data plan based on the network usage history; and
offering the context-specific data plan for the device based on the predicted user interest.

10. An apparatus, comprising:
a processor circuit on a device;
a local gateway utility operative on the processor circuit to receive a network request on a device, determine at the device that the network request corresponds to a context-specific data plan for the device, the context-specific data plan authorizing performance of the network request through a zero-rated proxy server, and perform the network request for the application using the zero-rated proxy server as an intermediary.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , the network request for a network resource, the local gateway utility operative to determine that the device was previously accessing the network resource on a non-metered network, determine that continued access to the network resource would use a metered network, determine that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server, offer a purchase of the context-specific data plan in response to the determination that the device does not have any active context-specific data plan authorizing the device to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server, receive an acceptance of the purchase of the context-specific data plan, perform the purchase of the context-specific data plan, and associate the context-specific data plan with the device based on the purchase of the context-specific data plan.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , the network request corresponding to a network resource, the context-specific data plan defining a period of time for which the device is authorized to access the network resource through the zero-rated proxy server.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , the network request received from an application on the device, the context-specific data plan defining a period of time for which the device is authorized to perform network requests for the application through the zero-rated proxy server.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , the context-specific data plan associated with a price, the price determined according to a network usage history of a plurality of installations of the application on a plurality of devices, the network usage history generated at one or more proxy servers used by the plurality of devices.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , the local gateway utility operative to monitor network traffic for the device at a proxy server to generate a network usage history of the device, predict user interest in the context-specific data plan based on the network usage history, and offer the context-specific data plan for the device based on the predicted user interest.

16. At least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:
receive a network request at a local gateway utility on a device from an application on the device;
determine, using the local gateway utility on the device, that the network request corresponds to a context-specific data plan for the device, the context-specific data plan authorizing performance of the network request through a zero-rated proxy server; and
perform the network request using the zero-rated proxy server as an intermediary.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 16 , comprising further instructions that, when executed, cause a system to:
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Assignees

• Facebook Inc

Inventors

• Tiger Roi
• Karaman Erbil

Classifications

• H04L67/2866

  Architectures; Arrangements · CPC title

• H04M15/888

  severing connection after predetermined time or data · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title

• H04M15/58

  based on statistics of usage or network monitoring · CPC title

• H04L67/327

  Electricity · mapped topic