System and method for providing seamless roaming

• US 20050238047A1
• Filed: 10/05/2004
• Published: 10/27/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Intermec IP Corporation (Honeywell International Inc.)
• Inventors: Holland, Joshua Harold, Greve, Douglas Martin, Putnam, Joe Gene
• Granted Patent: US 7,564,799 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/465
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A communication system is provided in which a client device can communicate with a server via any one of plural communication networks, such as a WWAN, a WLAN, a wired LAN, a personal area network (e.g., Bluetooth), and any other networking architecture. More specifically, the communication client comprises a connection manager that is adapted to determine availability of each the plural communication networks to communicate data between the client and the server, select one of the communication networks from the available ones of the plural communication networks in accordance with predetermined preferences, and establish a connection with the selected one of the communication networks. The client may further comprise a client application. The connection manager provides a notification message to the client application upon establishment of the communication link. The client application then communicates data to and from the server via the selected one of the communication networks. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the communication system further includes an intelligent queuing system, comprising a client-side queue on the communication client and a server-side queue on the server. The connection manager is further adapted to determine cost associated with communicating the data on available ones of the plural communication networks and provide that information to the client-side queue. The client-side queue determines whether to communicate the data via the selected one of the communication networks based in part on the determined cost.

Claims

1. A communication system for use with plural communication networks, the communication system comprising:

a server;

at least one portable communication client adapted to communicate with said server via said communication networks, said communication client comprising a connection manager adapted to;

determine availability of each said plural communication networks to communicate data between said communication client and said server;

select one of said communication networks from available ones of said plural communication networks in accordance with predetermined preferences; and

establish a connection with said selected one of said communication networks.

2. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said at least one communication client further comprises a client application, said connection manager providing a message to said client application upon establishment of said connection with said selected one of said communication networks.

3. The communication system of claim 2, wherein said client application establishes a communication link with said server via said selected one of said communication networks.

4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said predetermined preferences further comprise a desired preference order among said plural communication networks.

5. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said predetermined preferences further comprise power usage data associated with each of said plural communication networks, said connection manager excluding certain ones of said plural communication networks from consideration during low power conditions of said communication client based on said power usage data.

6. The communication system of claim 2, wherein said at least one communication client further comprises a client queue coupled to said connection manager, wherein said data is placed in said queue prior to being communicated to said server.

7. The communication system of claim 6, wherein said connection manager is further adapted to determine cost associated with communicating said data on said available ones of said plural communication networks, and informs said client queue of said determined cost.

8. The communication system of claim 7, wherein said client queue determines whether to communicate said data based in part on consideration of said determined cost.

9. The communication system of claim 6, wherein said data is temporarily stored in said client queue when none of said communication networks is available to communicate said data between said communication client and said server.

10. The communication system of claim 6, wherein said server further comprises a server queue in communication with said client queue via said communication link.

11. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said communication client further comprises plural network adapters associated with respective ones of said plural communication networks, and wherein said connection manager determines availability of said communication networks by periodically powering on said network adapters to poll said communication networks.

12. The communication system of claim 6, wherein said client application is further adapted to assign a Time-to-Live (TTL) variable to said data, and said client queue is adapted to delete said TTL assigned data when said TTL variable has expired.

13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein said client queue is further adapted to:

send said queued data to said server via said selected one of said communication networks if said TTL variable has not expired; and

remove said data from said client queue after said data has been sent to said server.

14. The communication system of claim 1, wherein said plural communication networks comprise at least one of a wired local area network (LAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), and a wireless wide area network (WWAN).

15. In a communication system including a server and a plurality of communication networks, at least one communication client adapted to communicate with said server via said communication networks, the at least one communication client having a connection manager adapted to perform the functions of:

determining availability of each said plural communication networks to communicate data between said communication client and said server;

selecting one of said communication networks from available ones of said plural communication networks in accordance with predetermined preferences; and

establishing a connection with said selected one of said communication networks.

16. The communication client of claim 15, further comprising a client application, said connection manager providing a message to said client application upon establishment of said communication link.

17. The communication client of claim 16, wherein said client application establishes a communication link with said server via said selected one of said communication networks.

18. The communication client of claim 15, wherein said predetermined preferences further comprise a desired preference order among said plural communication networks.

19. The communication client of claim 15, wherein said predetermined preferences further comprise power usage data associated with each of said plural communication networks, said connection manager excluding certain ones of said plural communication networks from consideration during low power conditions of said communication client based on said power usage data.

20. The communication client of claim 17, further comprising a client queue coupled to said connection manager, wherein said data is placed in said client queue prior to being communicated to said server.

21. The communication client of claim 20, wherein said connection manager is further adapted to determine cost associated with communicating said data on said available ones of said plural communication networks, and informs said client queue of said determined cost.

22. The communication system of claim 21, wherein said client queue determines whether to communicate said data based in part on consideration of said determined cost.

23. The communication client of claim 21, wherein said data is temporarily stored in said client queue when none of said communication networks is available to communicate said data between said communication client and said server.

24. The communication client of claim 15, further comprising plural network adapters associated with respective ones of said plural communication networks, and wherein said connection manager determines availability of said communication networks by periodically powering on said network adapters to poll said communication networks.

25. The communication client of claim 21, wherein said client application is further adapted to assign a Time-to-Live (TTL) variable to said data, and said client queue is further adapted to delete said TTL assigned data when said TTL variable has expired.

26. The communication client of claim 25, wherein said client queue is further adapted to:

send said queued data to said server via said selected one of said communication networks if said TTL variable has not expired; and

remove said data from said client queue after said data has been sent to said server.