Methods and systems for network connectivity

• US 10,425,304 B2
• Filed: 10/10/2014
• Issued: 09/24/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Labrador Diagnostics LLC (SoftBank Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Theranos IP Company, LLC
• Inventors: Balwani, Sunny
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Viet D
• Application Number:
  US14/511,861
• Publication Number:
  US 20150106514A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• Field of Search: 709217, 709219, 709227, 709228, 709250
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/00 Interconnection of, or transfer of information or other signals between, memories, input/output devices or central processing units interface circuits for specific input/output devices G06F3/00 ; multiprogram control therefor G06F9/46; multiprocessor systems G06F15/16
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 10/20 for electronic clinical trials or questionnaires
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/22 Alternate routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/28 using route fault recovery
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/728 for backup paths
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/746 Reaction triggered by a failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1023 based on a hash applied to IP addresses or costs
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/18 Management of setup rejection or failure

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for connecting an electronic device to a network. In some situations, the electronic device connects to a first network provider and pings a first server having a static internet protocol address and a second server having a dedicated uniform resource locator. If the electronic device receives a response from the first and second server, the electronic device maintains its connection to the first network provider. Otherwise, the electronic device connects to a second network provider and pings the first and second servers.

Claims

1. A network device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces wherein at least two of said interfaces use different communication protocols;

a programmable processor programmed to perform;

a) a first network connectivity request using one of said network connectivity interfaces of the network device connected to a first access point to ping a first server and to verify end-to-end connectivity to the first server;

b) a second network connectivity request using said one of said network connectivity interfaces of the network device connected to the first access point to ping a second server and to verify end-to-end connectivity to the second server;

c) a determination whether to establish network connectivity using another of said network connectivity interfaces based on whether a response was received from said first server and whether a response was received from said second server, wherein said another of said network connectivity interfaces operates using a communication protocol different from a communication protocol of said one of said network connectivity interface and wherein said determination is also based on a network connectivity rule referencing a predetermined level of bandwidth accessible to the network-enabled device and a remaining amount of data available or consumed from its predetermined level;

d) intermittently repeating said steps a, b, c, and d to determine if failed end-to-end connectivity is caused by an error with connection pathway, the first server, or the second server, and wherein connectivity to the first server or second server is maintained if a first predetermined data packet matches a first received data packet and a second predetermined data packet matches a second received data packet.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the programmable processor is configured to continue to sending connectivity requests until all network interfaces have been tested or at least one network pathway is confirmed for connectivity.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the programmable processor is configured, based on connectivity pathway testing, determining if any connectivity error is caused by the servers or the connectivity pathways, and ranking connectivity pathway.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein the programmable processor is configured to maintain connectivity with a network connectivity interface with a highest ranked connectivity pathway.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one of said network connectivity interface and said another network connectivity interface is a non-cellular, wireless data interface while the other is a cellular data interface.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein a data packet used for the connectivity request for said first server comprises a ping packet.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein a data packet used for the connectivity request for said second server comprises a ping packet.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein connectivity to a network provider is maintained if the first server responds to the network device in response to said pinging the first server and/or the second server responds to the network device in response to said pinging the second server.

9. The device of claim 1, further comprising connecting to another network provider if the first server does not respond to the network device in response to said pinging the first server and/or the second server does not respond to the network device in response to said pinging the second server.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein a network provider is selected from the group consisting of a wireless router, Bluetooth router, wired router, cellular network router, radiofrequency (RF) device and optoelectronic device.

11. The device of claim 1, further comprising:

connecting to an additional network provider;

pinging the first server with the aid of the additional network provider;

pinging the second server with the aid of the additional network provider; and

determining whether to maintain connectivity to the additional network provider based on whether a response was received by the network device from the first server and/or whether a response was received by the network device from the second server.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein determining whether to maintain connectivity to the additional network provider is based on whether a response was received by the network device from the first server and whether a response was received by the network device from the second server.

13. The device of claim 11, wherein connecting to said additional network provider comprises terminating connectivity to said network provider.

14. The device of claim 1, wherein a network provider is selected from the group consisting of a wireless router, Bluetooth router, wired router, cellular network router, radiofrequency (RF) device and optoelectronic device.

15. The device of claim 1, wherein the first and second servers are send connectivity requests simultaneously.

16. A network device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different communication protocols;

a programmable processor programmed to perform;

a) a first network connectivity request using one of said network connectivity interfaces of the network device connected to a first access point to ping a first server and to verify end-to-end connectivity to the first server;

b) a second network connectivity request using said one of said network connectivity interfaces of the network device connected to the first access point to ping a second server and to verify end-to-end connectivity to the second server;

c) a determination whether to establish network connectivity using another of said network connectivity interfaces based upon any one network termination condition selected from the group consisting of (a) a network cost of another network provider is lower than a network cost of said network provider wherein said network connectivity interface operates differently from said another network connectivity interface;

intermittently repeating said step to ping the first server and said determining step to verify network connectivity, wherein said another of said network connectivity interfaces operates using a communication protocol different from a communication protocol of said one of said network connectivity interface and wherein said determination is also based on a network connectivity rule referencing a predetermined level of bandwidth accessible to the network-enabled device and a remaining amount of data available or consumed from its predetermined level;

d) intermittently repeating said steps a, b, c, and d to determine if failed end-to-end connectivity is caused by an error with connection pathway, the first server, or the second server, and wherein connectivity to the network provider is maintained if a first predetermined data packet matches a first received data packet and a second predetermined data packet matches a second received data packet.

17. The device of claim 16, wherein the determining step is based upon at least any two network termination conditions selected from said group.

18. The device of claim 17, wherein the determining step is based upon at least any three network termination conditions selected from said group.

19. The device of claim 16, further comprising connecting to another network provider.

20. The device of claim 16, wherein connectivity between the network device and the network provider is via a wired or wireless network access point.