MANAGEMENT OF NETWORK ACCESS REQUESTS

• US 20120185577A1
• Filed: 11/03/2011
• Published: 07/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Giaretta, Gerardo, Sundararajan, Jay Kumar, Meylan, Arnaud, Sahu, Debesh Kumar, Payyappilly, Ajith Tom, Goel, Satashu, Jain, Sachin
• Granted Patent: US 9,264,868 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/542 Intercept
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/564 Enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are described for intercepting requests from applications installed on a mobile device. The requests are system calls that establish communication channels for the mobile device. The requests are captured and held from reaching TCP/IP stack of an operating system executing on the mobile device. An intercepted request is aggregated with other intercepted requests. The aggregated requests are bundled together and released to the operating system upon the detection of a triggering event. The capture, holding, and aggregation of requests from applications occur when the mobile device is in a background mode.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication in a mobile device, comprising:

intercepting a request from a first application on the mobile device, the request being a request to perform a communication for the mobile device;

holding the request from reaching a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack of an operating system executing on the mobile device; and

releasing the request to the operating system upon detecting a triggering event.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the holding occurs during a period when the mobile device is in a background mode.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

aggregating the request with other intercepted requests to perform a communication for the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the intercepting the request from the application and the intercepting the other requests occur at different times.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

executing instructions for a wrapper, wherein the executed wrapper performs the intercepting of the request from the first application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the wrapper is located between an application layer and a socket layer of the operating system of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the first application as a class of application from which requests are held.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

identifying an application as a critical application or a non-critical application; and

holding only requests from non-critical applications.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the triggering event comprises at least one of an expiry of a timer, a status change of a display, a status change of a microphone, a status change of a speaker, a status change of a global positioning system (GPS) sensor of the mobile device, an indication that a universal serial bus port is in use, an indication that an audio equipment is connected to the mobile device, an indication that a video equipment is connected to the mobile device, an indication that a connection to a Wi-Fi type of network is available, or an indication that a radio connection to a cellular type of network is open.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a delay tolerance of the first application; and

providing a callback function to the first application based on the determined delay tolerance, wherein the callback function instructs the first application to connect to the communication resources.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining an expiration time of a first timer associated with the first application;

determining a tolerance and expiration time of a second timer associated with a second application;

causing the second timer to expire based on the expiration time of the first timer, the tolerance, and the expiration time of the second timer; and

releasing the request from the first application and an intercepted request from the second application to perform a communication for the mobile device.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a deadline from the application;

holding the request until before the deadline; and

releasing the request to connect to the communications resources prior to the deadline.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein, the request comprises a system call to establish a communications channel for the mobile device.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

releasing the request to a socket layer of the operating system upon detecting the triggering event.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication for an interval pertaining to how often the releasing of the request occurs.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the interval is less than a timeout value in a stateful Internet Protocol (IP) middlebox in a network.

17. A mobile device configured for wireless communication, comprising:

a processor;

memory in electronic communication with the processor, the memory comprising an operating system;

the processor comprising a connectivity engine , the engine configured to execute instructions to;

intercept a request from a first application on the mobile device, the request being a request to perform a communication for the mobile device;

hold the request from reaching a TCP/IP stack of an operating system executing on the mobile device; and

release the request to the operating system upon detecting a triggering event.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the holding occurs during a period when the mobile device is in a background mode.

19. The mobile device of claim 17, further comprising:

aggregating the request with other intercepted requests to perform a communication for the mobile device.

20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the intercepting the request from the first application and the intercepting the other requests occur at different times.

21. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the memory further comprises:

a wrapper, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions on the wrapper, wherein when the instructions are executed, the wrapper is configured to intercept the request from the application.

22. The mobile device of claim 21, wherein the wrapper is located between an application layer and a socket layer of the operating system of the mobile device.

23. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

identify the first application as a class of application from which requests are held.

24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

identify an application as a critical application or a non-critical application; and

hold only requests from non-critical applications.

25. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the triggering event comprises at least one of an expiry of a timer, a status change of a display, a status change of a microphone, a status change of a speaker, a status change of a global positioning system (GPS) sensor of the mobile device, an indication that a universal serial bus port is in use, an indication that an audio equipment is connected to the mobile device, an indication that a video equipment is connected to the mobile device, an indication that a connection to a Wi-Fi type of network is available, or an indication that a radio connection to a cellular type of network is open.

26. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

determine a delay tolerance of the first application; and

provide a callback function to the first application based on the determined delay tolerance, wherein the callback function instructs the first application to connect to the communication resources.

27. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

determine an expiration time of a first timer associated with the first application;

determine a tolerance and expiration time of a second timer associated with a second application;

cause the second timer to expire based on the expiration time of the first timer, the tolerance, and the expiration time of the second timer; and

release the request from the first application and an intercepted request from the second application to perform a communication for the mobile device.

28. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

receive a deadline from the application;

hold the request until before the deadline; and

release the request to connect to the communications resources prior to the deadline.

29. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the request comprises a system call to establish a communications channel.

30. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

release the request to a socket layer of the operating system upon detecting the triggering event.

31. The mobile device of claim 17, wherein the connectivity engine is further configured to execute instructions to:

receive an indication for an interval pertaining to how often the releasing of the request occurs.

32. The mobile device of claim 31, wherein the interval is less than a timeout value in a stateful Internet Protocol (IP) box in a network.

33. An apparatus configured to manage requests for network access from applications on a mobile device, comprising:

means for intercepting a request from an application on the mobile device, the request being a request to perform a communication for the mobile device;

means for holding the request from reaching a TCP/IP stack of an operating system executing on the mobile device; and

means for releasing the request to the operating system upon detecting a triggering event.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the holding occurs during a period when the mobile device is in a background mode.

35. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising:

means for aggregating the request with other intercepted requests to perform a communication for the mobile device.

36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the intercepting the request from the application and the intercepting the other requests occur at different times.

37. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising:

means for executing a wrapper, the executed wrapper configured to intercept the request from the first application.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the wrapper is located between an application layer and a socket layer of the operating system of the mobile device.

39. The apparatus of claim 33, further comprising:

means for identifying the application as a class of application from which requests are held.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, further comprising:

means for identifying an application as a critical application or a non-critical application; and

means for holding only requests from non-critical applications.

41. A computer program product configured to manage requests for network access from applications on a mobile device, the product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium, the medium comprising:

code to intercept a request from an application on the mobile device, the request being a request to perform a communication for the mobile device;

code to hold the request from reaching a TCP/IP stack of an operating system executing on the mobile device; and

code to release the request to the operating system upon detecting a triggering event.