METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING NETWORK CONNECTIONS BASED ON DESTINATION LOCATIONS

• US 20030055912A1
• Filed: 08/17/1998
• Published: 03/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: KING, PETER F., BOYLE, STEPHEN S., MARTIN, BRUCE K. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 7,010,603 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

Techniques for controlling a network connection in accordance with connection information associated with a destination location on a network are disclosed. Controlling of the network connection in accordance with connection information associated with the destination location can be achieved in a variety of ways. One way is in the selection of a network transport (e.g., bearer selection). Another way is in the configuration of parameters associated with the connection (i.e., connection parameters). In either case, the connection information includes information with which the selection of the network transport and/or connection parameters can be made. The controlling of the network connection impacts quality of service provided to a requestor that is requesting use of the connection.

Claims

1. A method for providing a network connection between a network browser and a network, said method comprising:

(a) selecting a particular network address to access a server machine coupled to the network, the server machine being identified by the particular network address;

(b) subsequently providing a network connection between the network browser and the server machine in accordance with connection information associated with the particular network address; and

(c) accessing the server machine located at the particular network address using the network connection.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said providing (b) of the network connection includes establishing the network connection.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said providing (b) of the network connection includes configuring the network connection.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the network browser is provided on a mobile device, and wherein at least a portion of the network connection is over a wireless network.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said providing (b) of the network connection operates to select one of a plurality of available bearer networks over which the network connection is to be made, wherein the selection of the one of the plurality of available bearer networks is based on the connection information associated with the particular network address.

6. A method as recited in claim 5, wherein the network browser is provided on a mobile device, the available bearer networks are associated with wireless networks, and at least a portion of the network connection is from the selected one of the available bearer networks.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said providing (b) of the network connection operates to set at least one configuration parameter of a protocol stack associated with the network connection, wherein the at least one configuration parameter is associated with the particular network address.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein said providing (b) of the network connection comprises:

obtaining connection information associated with the particular network address; and

providing the network connection in accordance with the connection information associated with the particular network address.

9. A method as recited in claim 8, wherein said obtaining of the connection information comprises:

accessing a configuration table; and

locating the connection information in the configuration table based on at least a part of the particular network address.

10. A method for retrieving a resource from a remote server on a network, said method comprising:

receiving a universal resource locator for a resource to be obtained from a remote server on a network;

obtaining connection information associated with the universal resource locator;

providing a network connection to the network in accordance with the obtained connection information that is associated with the universal resource locator; and

retrieving, over the network connection, the resource from the remote server on the network at a location identified by the universal resource locator.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said method further comprises:

subsequently processing the retrieved resource.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein, for each resource being requested from the network, the connection information is obtained in accordance with a universal resource locator.

13. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said obtaining of the connection information comprises:

accessing a configuration table; and

locating the connection information in the configuration table based on at least a part of the universal resource locator.

14. A method as recited in claim 13, wherein the connection information is obtained for each resource being requested from the network by a universal resource locator.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the connection information includes at least information on one of (i) available network transports and (ii) connection parameters.

16. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said providing of the network connection to the network operates to establish a network connection in accordance with the connection information associated with the universal resource locator.

17. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein said providing of the network connection to the network operates to configure a network connection in accordance with the connection information associated with the universal resource locator.

18. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the network is one of (i) the Internet, (ii) a private network and (iii) a wireless network.

19. A method as recited in claim 18,

wherein the resource is a page in a markup language, and

wherein said method is performed by a network browser.

20. A method as recited in claim 19, wherein the network browser is operating on a wireless computing device.

21. A computer readable medium including computer program code for retrieving a resource from a remote server on a network, said computer readable medium comprising:

computer program code for receiving a destination identity for a resource to be obtained from a remote server on a network;

computer program code for obtaining connection information associated with the destination identity;

computer program code for providing a network connection to the network in accordance with the obtained connection information that is associated with the destination identity; and

computer program code for retrieving, over the network connection, the resource from the remote server on the network at a location identified by the destination identity.

22. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 21, wherein the connection information is obtained for each resource being requested from the network by a destination identity.

23. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein said computer readable medium further comprises:

computer program code for processing the retrieved resource.

24. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein said computer code for obtaining of the connection information comprises:

computer code for accessing a configuration table; and

computer code for locating the connection information in the configuration table based on the destination identity.

25. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 24, wherein the connection information includes at least information on one of (i) available network transports and (ii) connection parameters.

26. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein the network is one of the Internet, a private network and a wireless network;

the resource is a page in a markup language, and the destination identity is a Universal Resource Locator.

27. A computer readable medium as recited in claim 22, wherein the destination identity is one of a string derived from a domain name, a Universal Resource Locator, a network address, an alphanumeric text string and a phone number.

28. A wireless communication system, comprising:

a wired network having a plurality of server computers;

a first network transport operatively connectable to said wired network;

a second network transport operatively connectable to said wired network;

a plurality of wireless mobile devices, each of said wireless mobile devices including a network browser, a display and a configuration table,

wherein when a particular one of the network browsers desires to access a resource from one of the server computers of said wired network using a universal resource locator for the resource, the particular wireless browser operates to obtain connection information associated with the universal resource locator from the configuration table, establish or adjust a network connection to the wired network in accordance with the obtained connection information associated with the universal resource locator from the configuration table, thereafter retrieve the resource from the one of the remote server computers on said wired network at a location identified by the universal resource locator via the network connection, and then display the retrieved resource on the display of the particular network browser.

29. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the network connection is formed either through said first network transport or said second network transport based on the connection information.

30. A system as recited in claim 29, wherein said first network transport has a high data transmission rate and said second network transport has a low data transmission rate.

31. A system as recited in claim 30, wherein said first network transport is packet-switched and said second network transport is circuit switched.

32. A system as recited in claim 29, wherein said first wireless carrier network pertains to a first type bearer, and said second wireless carrier network pertains to a second type bearer.

33. A system as recited in claim 32, wherein the connection information obtained from the configuration table that is associated with the universal resource locator includes a permitted bearers list, and

wherein the network connection is provided through a selected one of the first network transport and the second network transport based on at least the permitted bearers list.

34. A system as recited in claim 33, wherein each of said wireless mobile devices further include an accessible bearers list, and

wherein the selection of one of the first network transport and the second network transport is based on the permitted bearers list and the accessible bearers list.

35. A system as recited in claim 29, wherein the network connection has connection characteristics at least in part determined by the connection information.

36. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the connection information stored in the configuration table can be updated dynamically from a manager server computer on said wired network.

37. A system as recited in claim 36, wherein the manager server computer is a network gateway that is coupled between said wired network and said first and second network transports.

38. A mobile device capable of connecting to a network of computers through a wireless link, said mobile device comprising:

a display screen that displays graphics and text;

an application that requests and receives information from the network of computers;

a configuration table containing connection information stored with relation to network addresses associated with the network of computers; and

a connection controller that receives a request to access a resource from one of the computers of the network of computers using a network resource locator, retrieve connection information associated with the network resource locator from said configuration table, establish or adjust a network connection to the network of computers in accordance with the retrieved connection information from said configuration table, and thereafter retrieve the resource from the one of the computers of the network of computers via the network connection.

39. A mobile device as recited in claim 38, wherein said connection controller further displays the retrieved resource on said display screen.

40. A mobile device as recited in claim 39, wherein said connection controller controls a quality of service of the network connection using the retrieved connection information.

41. A mobile device as recited in claim 40, wherein said application is a browser application that permits a user to retrieve resources from the computers on the network of computers.