DATA MANAGEMENT

• US 20110004600A1
• Filed: 01/19/2009
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Original Assignee: British Telecommunications PLC (BT Group PLC)
• Inventors: Walker, Matthew D., Turnbull, Rory S., Sim, Nicholas J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,306,955 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/748
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/611 for multicast or broadcast systems for broadcast or conference H04L12/18; arrangements for broadcast or distribution combined with broadcast H04H20/00; arrangements for broadcast applications with a direct linkage to broadcast information or to broadcast space-time H04H60/00; selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS], H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests

Abstract

There is proposed a method of side-loading content onto a mobile device, preferably using a WiFi connection, from a network content store and storing it on the device for viewing later. The method automatically determines when to delete stored content, and more importantly, what content should be transferred over the network in the first instance. The system comprises a content manager which takes into account various parameters to determine what should be transferred and, if required, what should be deleted from the device. The parameters used include user profiles, size of a potential download, as well as available storage space on the device and the predicted duration the device will be in range of a wireless hotspot or broadcast network.

Claims

1. A method of data management between a mobile device and a network data store in a wireless network, said method comprising:

(I) establishing a connection between the mobile device and the network data store by way of a wireless access point;

(ii) estimating a connection duration between the mobile device and the wireless access point, and the bandwidth of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless network;

(iii) determining if the mobile device has sufficient available storage for storing a network file selected from the network data store, said network file having an interest value based on a user profile, and the mobile device comprising a plurality of device files ranked in order of the interest value, wherein if it is determined that the mobile device does not have sufficient available storage for the selected network file, then deleting one or more device files starting with the device file with lowest ranked interest parameter until the mobile device has sufficient available storage for the network file;

(iv) determining if there is sufficient time to load the selected network file from the network data store to the mobile device in dependence on the estimated connection duration and the estimated bandwidth; and

(v) loading the selected network file from the network data store to the mobile device by way of the access point if it is determined that there is sufficient available storage and sufficient time to transfer the selected network file.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the estimated connection duration is dependent on prior connection history between the mobile device and said wireless access point.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1, or the network content store comprises a plurality of data files, and the selected network file is selected from the plurality of data files.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of data files are ranked in order of an interest parameter value, said interest parameter value based on a user profile, and wherein the network file selected is the data file with the highest ranked interest parameter value.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, wherein after the selected file is transferred, the data file with the next highest ranked interest parameter value is selected.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein only the device files having an interest parameter value lower than that of the selected network file are deleted from the mobile device.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the data files are multimedia files.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the network files transferred to the mobile device are stored on the mobile device for later use.

9. A system for data management between a mobile device and a network data store in a wireless network, said system comprising:

a connection means for establishing a connection between the mobile device and the network data store by way of a wireless access point;

a connection duration estimator for estimating a connection duration between the mobile device and the wireless access point;

a bandwidth estimator for estimating the bandwidth of the connection between the mobile device and the wireless network;

a content manager for determining if the mobile device has sufficient available storage for storing a network file selected from the network data store, said

network file having an interest value based on a user profile, and the mobile device comprising a plurality of device files ranked in order of the interest value, wherein if it is determined that the mobile device does not have sufficient available storage for the selected network file, then deleting one or more device files starting with the device file with lowest ranked interest parameter until the mobile device has sufficient

available storage for the selected network file, and for determining if there is sufficient time to load the selected network file from the network data store to the mobile device in dependence on the estimated connection duration and the estimated bandwidth; and

means for transferring the selected network file from the network data store to the mobile device by way of the access point if it is determined that there is sufficient available storage and sufficient time to load the selected network file.