NETWORK NODES COOPERATIVELY ROUTING TRAFFIC FLOW AMONGST WIRED AND WIRELESS NETWORKS
First Claim
1. An access point comprising:
- at least one communication interface that services communications between an end point device and a plurality of networks; and
at least one processor that controls communication between the end point device and the plurality of networks via the at least one communication interface, wherein the at least one processor;
determines a plurality of distinct communication pathways between the end point device and the plurality of networks;
establishes a first link combination of the plurality of distinct communication pathways to service communications between the end point device and the plurality of networks;
periodically, determines the sufficiency of the first link combination for servicing the communications;
when the first link combination is insufficient for servicing the communications, establishes a second link combination between the end point device and the plurality of networks without notifying the end point device, the second link combination differing from the first link combination.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
End-point devices, access points and other types of network nodes each employ multi-path management software to manage communication via multiple possible paths to the Internet backbone from communication applications that run on an end-point device. The multi-path management software on an end-point device may operate independently and/or cooperate with the local communication applications and the multi-path management software located on the access points or other network nodes to select one or more pathways for the local communication applications. The multi-path management software depending on data types and data requirements also supports selection and maintenance of two or more paths that simultaneously serve a single communication application. The multi-path management software of an end-point device may pass all or a portion of multi-path management responsibility to a local communication application and/or to multi-path management software of another network node. In addition to managing the selection of one or more pathways, the multi-path management software seamlessly switches pathways as may become necessary to meet changing network conditions or bandwidth demands.
197 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An access point comprising:
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at least one communication interface that services communications between an end point device and a plurality of networks; and at least one processor that controls communication between the end point device and the plurality of networks via the at least one communication interface, wherein the at least one processor; determines a plurality of distinct communication pathways between the end point device and the plurality of networks; establishes a first link combination of the plurality of distinct communication pathways to service communications between the end point device and the plurality of networks; periodically, determines the sufficiency of the first link combination for servicing the communications; when the first link combination is insufficient for servicing the communications, establishes a second link combination between the end point device and the plurality of networks without notifying the end point device, the second link combination differing from the first link combination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for operating an access point having at least one communication interface that services communications between an end point device and a plurality of networks, the method comprising:
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determining a plurality of distinct communication pathways between the end point device and the plurality of networks; establishing a first link combination of the plurality of distinct communication pathways to service communications between the end point device and the plurality of networks; periodically determining the sufficiency of the first link combination for servicing the communications; when the first link combination is insufficient for servicing the communications, establishing a second link combination between the end point device and the plurality of networks without notifying the end point device, the second link combination differing from the first link combination. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification