Method, a Device and a System for Transferring Data

• US 20070280109A1
• Filed: 03/03/2004
• Published: 12/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Jaatinen, Jussi
• Granted Patent: US 7,796,531 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/06 Optimizing the usage of the radio link, e.g. header compression, information sizing , discarding information system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

A method, a device and a system for transferring data from a data source (212) over both a wireless communications (210) and a fixed communications (208) network to a destination device (204) such that at least one portion of a data aggregate is transmitted through the wireless communications network (210) via a wireless communications device (202) and at least one another portion is transmitted through the fixed communications network (208). The destination device (204) may reconstruct the data aggregate by joining the received data portions together.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

enabling a destination device to connect to a data source through a first connection utilizing a fixed communications network

establishing at a destination device a second connection to the data source via a wireless communications device operable in a wireless communications network,

receiving portions of a data aggregate through both first and second connections, and

joining said portions together to reconstruct said data aggregate.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing analysis on the basis of at least one of the following:

a connection maximum speed, a connection current speed, an estimated future speed of a connection, amount of data to be transferred, estimated transfer time, and estimated transfer costs.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising adapting a connection parameter on the basis of said analysis.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein said second connection is established conditionally at need due to the analysis result.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a point in said data aggregate determining a beginning of said portion to be transferred through the second connection is established.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said point is established on the basis of connection speed of one or more connections and the size of said data aggregate.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein data transfer from said determined point is initiated by utilizing substantially a data transfer resume functionality.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein connection between the wireless communications device and the destination device is wireless or wire-based.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein data transfer resources are allocated or released dynamically during a data transfer connection.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein prior to establishing said second connection an approval thereto is requested from the user of said destination device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing or releasing said second connection is transparent to the user of said destination device.

31. A computer program product comprising code stored on a readable medium for execution by a processor so as to execute the method of claim 1.

32. A carrier medium carrying the computer executable program product of claim 31.

12. An electronic device operable in a fixed communications network, comprising:

a processor for processing instructions,

a memory for storing data, and

a data transfer module for communicating with a wireless communications device operable in a wireless communications network,

wherein the device is also configured for managing transfer of a data aggregate from a data source through said fixed communications network and said wireless communications network via said wireless communications device, said data aggregate divided into at least two portions, one of said at least two portions received through said fixed communications network and the other through said wireless communications network.

13. The device of claim 12, configured to join said at least two portions together to reconstruct said data aggregate.

14. The device of claim 12, configured to check what wireless communications devices or connections are available for data transfer.

15. The device of claim 12, configured to perform analysis on the basis of at least one of the following:

a connection maximum speed, a connection current speed, estimated future speed of a data transfer connection, amount of data to be transferred, estimated transfer time, and estimated transfer costs.

16. The device of claim 15, configured to adapt a connection parameter on the basis of said analysis.

17. The device of claim 15, configured to establish a connection conditionally at need due to the analysis result.

18. The device of claim 12, configured to establish a point in said data aggregate determining a beginning of said portion to be transferred through the fixed or wireless communications network.

19. The device of claim 18, configured to established said point on the basis of connection speed of one or more connections and the size of said data aggregate.

20. The device of claim 18, configured to initiate data transfer from said determined point by utilizing substantially a data transfer resume functionality.

21. The device of claim 12, wherein connection to the wireless communications device is wireless or wire-based.

22. The device of claim 12, wherein connection to the fixed communications network is wireless or wire-based.

23. The device of claim 12, configured to allocate or release data transfer resources dynamically during a data transfer connection.

24. The device of claim 12, configured to request for confirmation from the user of the device prior to establishing said connection through the wireless communications network via the wireless communications device.

25. The device of any of claim 12, configured to allocate or release a connection substantially transparently from the user.

26. The device of claim 12 that is substantially a mobile terminal, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a computer.

27. The device of claim 15, configured to allocate the capacity of the connection through the wireless communications network according to the analysis result.

28. The device of claim 26 that supports at least one of the following technologies:

Global System for Mobile Communications, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, or a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access.

29. The device of claim 12, wherein said data aggregate is substantially a computer file or a combination of multiple files.

30. A system comprising:

an electronic device operable in a fixed communications network, said electronic device comprising a processor for processing instructions and a memory for storing data, and

a wireless communications device operable in a wireless communications network,

said electronic device further comprising a data transfer module for communicating with said wireless communications device, the electronic device configured for managing transfer of a data aggregate from a data source through said fixed communications network and said wireless communications network via said wireless communications device, said data aggregate divided into at least two portions, one of said at least two portions received through said fixed communications network and the other through said wireless communications network, and

said wireless communications device configured for receiving instructions from said electronic device in order to establish a connection to the data source, and for forwarding data from the data source to said electronic device.

33. An electronic device operable in a fixed communications network, comprising:

processing means for processing instructions,

memory means for storing data,

data transfer means for communicating with a wireless communications device operable in a wireless communications network, and

means for managing transfer of a data aggregate from a data source through said fixed communications network and said wireless communications network via said wireless communications device, said data aggregate divided into at least two portions, one of said at least two portions received through said fixed communications network and the other through said wireless communications network.

34. The device of claim 33, configured to join said at least two portions together to reconstruct said data aggregate.