Network connectivity methods and systems

• US 10,541,896 B2
• Filed: 02/10/2017
• Issued: 01/21/2020
• 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:
  US15/429,551
• Publication Number:
  US 20170317903A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,075 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity

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 device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform;

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the first connectivity test comprises running a command in a protocol in OSI layer three.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein the first connectivity test comprises running a command in a protocol in OSI layer seven.

4. The device of claim 1 further comprising a sample analyzer.

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 the programmable processor is programmed to establish connectivity based on at least one criterion selected from the group consisting of a bandwidth of the another network provider, cost to maintain connectivity to the another network provider, cost to transmit information with the aid of the another network provider, a download rate of the another network provider and an upload rate of the another network provider.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein the at least one criterion is location-based, time based or bandwidth-based.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the programmable processor is programmed to determine 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.

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the static Internet Protocol (IP) address of the first server is pre-loaded on the device and does not need to be downloaded through a network connection.

10. The device of claim 1, wherein the programmable processor is programmed to have a priority of connection to the static URL, static IP address, or other reliable, stable identifier based on information downloaded to set connection preferences.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the programmable processor is programmed wherein not all of the connections are checked simultaneously, but are instead check in groups having at least one or more connections.

12. A device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform;

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server;

wherein each the network connectivity interfaces is on the device.

13. A device comprising:

a plurality of network connectivity interfaces on one or more components in the device, wherein at least two of said network connectivity interfaces use different connectivity technologies;

a processor programmed to perform;

a) a first network connectivity test using a first of said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between the device and a first server reachable through a static Internet Protocol (IP) address and on another network;

b) a second network connectivity test using the first said network connectivity interfaces to verify end-to-end connectivity between said device and another server through a static uniform resource locator (URL) on another network;

wherein the network-enabled device is preset with default network connectivity rules and is configured to subsequently update the rules with location-based rules once network access has been established using the default rules;

wherein said network connectivity rules vary by time and determine a network connectivity factor based upon time taken to receive data packets from said first server and said another server;

at least one component that supports a plurality of network interfaces on one component.