Rural area network device

• US 10,397,357 B2
• Filed: 07/23/2014
• Issued: 08/27/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Meta Platforms, Inc. (f/k/a Facebook, Inc.)
• Inventors: Coglitore, Giovanni, Vijayrao, Narsing
• Primary Examiner(s): Ye, Zi
• Application Number:
  US14/339,002
• Publication Number:
  US 20160028830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,861 Days
• Field of Search: 709213, 709217, 709206, 711133, 370429, 4554261
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/59 Providing operational support to end devices by off-loading in the network or by emulation, e.g. when they are unavailable

Abstract

Some embodiments of this disclosure operate a network device in conjunction with a social networking system. The operations can include establishing a network island by providing network connectivity in a local region via the network device; connecting the network device to an intermittent network channel that is not continuously active; when the intermittent network channel is active, receiving a content item via the intermittent network channel, wherein the content items is not destined for a specific device in the network island; and caching the content item in a cache storage of the network device such that the content item is available to be accessed by any computing device within the network island.

Claims

1. A method of operating a network device, comprising:

establishing a network island by providing network connectivity to multiple computing devices in a local region via the network device;

connecting the network device to an intermittent network channel that is not continuously active, wherein the network device facilitates asynchronous communication between a computing device of the multiple computing devices within the network island and an external computer system outside of the network island when the intermittent network channel is inactive, wherein the network device enables a specified computing device of the multiple computing devices to communicate with any of the multiple computing devices within the network island;

receiving, at the network device, a message from the specified computing device for one of the multiple computing devices within the network island;

sending, by the network device, the message to the one of the multiple computing devices, wherein the sending includes uploading, by the network device that is separate from the specified computing device that provided the message and separate from the recipient one of the multiple computing devices and remote from the external computer system, a record entry of the message to the external computer system when the intermittent network channel is active, or when the intermittent network channel is inactive, scheduling the record entry of the message to be uploaded to the external computer system at a later time based on a connectivity availability schedule and associated network characteristics of the intermittent network channel stored in a network island profile;

when the intermittent network channel is active according to the connectivity availability schedule, receiving a content item via the intermittent network channel, wherein the content item has been selected as an item to be predictively cached based on one or more social interactions of one or more social networking accounts identified to be subject to an intermittent network connectivity of the network island; and

caching the content item in a cache storage of the network device such that the content item is available to be accessed by a computing device within the network island.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, when the intermittent network channel is inactive, the asynchronous communication is performed by:

queuing outgoing data, from a first computing device in the network island, to an outbound queue of the network device; and

in response to determining that the intermittent network channel is active, transmitting the outgoing data in the outbound queue.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein connecting the network device to the intermittent network channel includes establishing a communication with a mobile relay vehicle that is remote from the network device and the mobile relay vehicle increases a wireless range of a wireless communication system providing access to the external computer server that is to be provided the record entry of the message, and the mobile relay vehicle is a drone, a plane, a train or a ship.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the content item includes receiving the content item that is not associated with a specific destination device in the network island;

and further comprising operating a content service from the network device that provides real-time content from an external content distribution system when the intermittent network channel is active.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein operating the content service includes responding to a content request from a device within the network island by providing the content item in the cache storage to the device when the content request matches the content item.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein operating the content service includes queuing a content request from a device within the network island in an outbound queue when the content request does not match any content item in the cache storage and when the intermittent network channel is inactive.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising operating a social network service from the network device that provides real-time service from an external social networking system when the intermittent network channel is active and asynchronous service when the intermittent network channel is inactive.

8. A computer-readable storage memory storing computer-executable instructions for operating a predictive content distribution system, comprising:

instructions for maintaining, by a computer server system, a cache map that is associated with at least a network device that establishes a local network island by providing network connectivity to multiple computing devices, wherein the network device enables the multiple computing devices to communicate with one another within the local network island, the cache map including a user list that includes a subset of interconnected user profiles of a social graph that is active in the local network island, a cached content catalogue, and an active schedule of the network device, wherein the active schedule determines when the network device and thereby the local network island is active, wherein the network device facilitates asynchronous communication between a computing device of the multiple computing devices and an external computer system outside of the network island when an intermittent network channel between the network device and the computer server system is inactive, wherein the network device is configured to;

receive a message from a specified computing device of the multiple computing devices for one of the multiple computing devices within the network island, and

send the message to the one of the multiple computing devices, wherein the sending includes uploading, by the network device that is separate from the specified computing device that provided the message and separate from the recipient one of the multiple computing devices and remote from the external computer system, a record entry of the message to the external computer system when the intermittent network channel is active, or when the intermittent network channel is inactive, scheduling the record entry of the message to be uploaded to the external computer system at a later time based on the active schedule specifying a connectivity availability schedule and associated network characteristics of the intermittent network channel stored in a network island profile;

instructions for selecting, by the computer server system, a content item to push to the network device based on the user list and the cached content catalogue when the intermittent network channel is active according to the connectivity availability schedule, wherein the content item has been selected as an item to be predictively cached based on one or more social interactions of one or more social networking accounts identified to be subject to an intermittent network connectivity of the network island; and

instructions for scheduling, by the computer server system, a future time to communicate the content item to the network device based on the active schedule.

9. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, wherein determining the content item includes analyzing social connections of a user profile in the user list.

10. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, wherein maintaining the cache map includes monitoring user activity from the network device to update the user list.

11. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, further comprising instructions for updating the cached content catalogue after the content item is communicated to the network device.

12. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, wherein the cache map includes a device address of the network device for locating the network device via a network channel, and wherein determining the content item is based on the device address.

13. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, wherein the cache map includes an island geographical location of the local network island, and wherein determining the content item is based on the island geographical location.

14. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 8, wherein maintaining the cache map includes monitoring network activity from the network device to maintain an island activity log and compiling a regional content affinity profile based on the island activity log.

15. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 14, wherein compiling the regional content affinity profile is based on the user list and user activity history associated with the user list.

16. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 15, wherein compiling the regional content affinity profile includes selecting the content item based on another content item affiliated with a neighbor user of a first user in the user list, wherein the neighbor user is geographically, socially, or network-wise proximate to the first user.

17. The computer-readable storage memory of claim 15, wherein maintaining the cache map includes monitoring a cache storage status of the network device;

and further comprising generating a command to replace at least part of the cached content catalogue in the network device when the cache storage status indicates that a cache storage space of the network device is full.

18. A network device, comprising:

a local network hardware component configured to establish a network island by providing network access to multiple network-enabled devices within a geographical region;

a hardware relay interface configured to communicate, via an intermittent network channel, with a global core network;

a processor configured to provide at least a content or communication service for the network-enabled devices in the network island, wherein the content or communication service is associated with an external service system in the global core network, wherein the processor is configured to provide the content or communication service both synchronously and asynchronously with the external service system, wherein the processor is configured to provide the content asynchronously when the intermittent network channel is inactive, wherein the processor enables the multiple network-enabled devices to communicate with one another within the local network island, and wherein the processor is configured to;

receive a message from a specified network-enabled device of the multiple network-enabled devices for one of the multiple network-enabled devices within the network island;

send the message to the one of the multiple network-enabled devices, wherein the sending includes uploading, by the network device that is separate from the specified computing device that provided the message and separate from the recipient one of the multiple computing devices and remote from the external computer system, a record entry of the message to the external service system when the intermittent network channel is active, or when the intermittent network channel is inactive, scheduling the record entry of the message to be uploaded to the external service system at a later time based on a connectivity availability schedule and associated network characteristics of the intermittent network channel stored in a network island profile; and

a memory storage configured to provide content cache to store a content item received from the external service system when the intermittent network channel is active according to the connectivity availability schedule and to provide the content item when one of the network-enabled devices requests for the content item, wherein the content item has been selected as an item to be predictively cached based on one or more social interactions of one or more social networking accounts identified to be subject to an intermittent network connectivity of the network island.

19. The network device of claim 18, wherein the processor is further configured to queue in an outgoing queue a message destined to a device in the global core network when the intermittent network channel is inactive.

20. The network device of claim 18, further comprising a power source that provides power to the network device such that the network device can operate independent of a power grid.