Communication terminal apparatus and method of performing communication by using plurality of network interfaces mounted on the communication terminal apparatus

• US 10,439,942 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2017
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Lee, Min-ho, Park, Soo-hong, Hwang, Cheol-ju, Kim, Pyoung-yun
• Primary Examiner(s): Grey, Christopher P
• Application Number:
  US15/403,816
• Publication Number:
  US 20170126570A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,000 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/677 Multiple interfaces, e.g. multihomed nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/125 by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/24 Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2475 for supporting traffic characterised by the type of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols

Abstract

A method of performing communication by using a plurality of network interfaces mounted on a communication terminal apparatus and a communication terminal apparatus are provided. The method includes allocating different Internet protocol (IP) addresses corresponding to the plurality of network interfaces to a plurality of applications of the communication terminal apparatus, relaying data transmitted or received between the plurality of applications and the plurality of network interfaces based on the allocated IP addresses, and simultaneously performing communication with an external network by the plurality of network interfaces through the relaying of the data.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting data by a communication terminal apparatus using a plurality of network interfaces of the communication terminal apparatus, the method comprising:

determining whether a total amount of data to be transmitted is a fixed amount of data or a variable amount of data;

when the total amount of data is the fixed amount of data in the determining, dividing the fixed amount of data into a plurality of first data parts, each of the plurality of first data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively,

when the total amount of data is the variable amount of data in the determining;

determining a size of a portion of the variable amount of data to be allocated between the plurality of network interfaces, and

dividing successive portions of the variable amount of data into a plurality of second data parts, each of the plurality of second data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively;

relaying the data based on the allocated plurality of first data parts or the allocated plurality of second data parts; and

transmitting the relayed data simultaneously by the plurality of network interfaces to communicate with an external network connectable with the communication terminal apparatus.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

allocating an Internet protocol (IP) address corresponding to a network interface of the plurality of network interfaces to an application executable by the communication terminal apparatus based on a characteristic of the network interface,

transceiving the data between the application and the network interface based on the allocated IP address.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising allocating an IP address corresponding to a stable network interface to an application configured to execute a function of stably transmitting or receiving data from among a plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising allocating an IP address corresponding to a high-security network interface to an application configured to execute a function of transmitting or receiving secured data from among the plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising allocating an IP address corresponding to a network interface configured to support a wide bandwidth to an application configured to execute a function of transmitting or receiving data of a large size from among the plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the dividing the successive portions of the variable amount of data into the plurality of second data parts is based on a bandwidth of a respective network interface of the plurality of network interfaces.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the dividing of the successive portions of the variable amount of data into the plurality of second data parts comprises determining a position for starting the dividing and a position for finishing the dividing in the variable amount of data based on the bandwidth of the plurality of network interfaces respectively.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network interfaces are different types of network interfaces.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of different types of network interfaces include a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface and a wired universal serial bus (USB) interface.

10. A communication terminal apparatus comprising:

a plurality of network interfaces configured to communicate with an external network; and

at least one processor configured to;

determine whether a total amount of data to be transmitted by the communication terminal apparatus is a fixed amount of data or a variable amount of data,

when the total amount of data to be transmitted is the fixed amount of data in the determining, divide the fixed amount of data into a plurality of first data parts, each of the plurality of first data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively,

when the total amount of data to be transmitted is the variable amount of data in the determining;

determine a size of a portion of the variable amount of data to be allocated between the plurality of network interfaces, and

divide successive portions of the variable amount of data into a plurality of second data parts, each of the plurality of second data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively, and

relay the allocated data based on the allocated plurality of first data parts or the allocated plurality of second data parts,

wherein the plurality of network interfaces are configured to simultaneously communicate with the external network through the relaying performed by the at least one processor.

11. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to allocate an Internet protocol (IP) address of a network interface of the plurality of network interfaces to an application from among a plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus based on a characteristic of the network interface, and

transceive the data between the application and the network interface based on the allocated IP address.

12. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to allocate an IP address corresponding to a stable network interface to an application configured to execute a function of stably transmitting or receiving data from among the plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

13. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to allocate an IP address corresponding to a high-security network interface to an application configured to execute a function of transmitting or receiving secured data from among the plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

14. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to allocate an IP address corresponding to a network interface configured to support a wide bandwidth to an application configured to execute a function of transmitting or receiving data of a large size from among the plurality of applications executable by the communication terminal apparatus.

15. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 10, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to divide the successive portions of the variable amount of data into the plurality of second data parts based on a bandwidth of a respective network interface of the plurality of network interfaces.

16. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine a position for starting the dividing of the successive portions of the variable amount of data and a position for finishing the dividing of the successive portions of the variable amount of data based on a bandwidth of the plurality of network interfaces respectively.

17. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 10, wherein the plurality of network interfaces are different types of network interfaces.

18. The communication terminal apparatus of claim 17, wherein the plurality of different types of network interfaces include a wireless local area network (WLAN) interface and a wired universal serial bus (USB) interface.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for executing a method of transmitting data by using a plurality of network interfaces of a communication terminal apparatus, the method comprising:

determining whether a total amount of data to be transmitted is a fixed amount of data or a variable amount of data;

when the total amount of data is the fixed amount of data in the determining, dividing the fixed amount of data into a plurality of first data parts, each of the plurality of first data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively,

when the total amount of data is the variable amount of data in the determining;

determining a size of a portion of the variable amount of data to be allocated between the plurality of network interfaces, and

dividing successive portions of the variable amount of data into a plurality of second data parts, each of the plurality of second data parts allocated to the plurality of network interfaces respectively;

relaying the data based on the allocated plurality of first data parts or the allocated plurality of second data parts; and

transmitting the relayed data simultaneously by the plurality of network interfaces to communicate with an external network connectable with the communication terminal apparatus.