Method and apparatus for a centralized facility for administering and performing connectivity and information management tasks for a mobile user

• US 6,615,276 B1
• Filed: 02/09/2000
• Issued: 09/02/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Shea, Dennis G., Mohindra, Ajay, Mastrianni, Steven J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason D.
• Application Number:
  US09/500,923
• Time in Patent Office: 1,301 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/250, 709/220, 709/221, 709/248, 345/840, 345/810, 345/747, 345/748, 370/350
• US Class Current: 709/250
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters

Abstract

A software facility for administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, includes a module for selectively adding, deleting, and editing a location object, and a module for selectively initiating a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization, based on the location object. The location object represents all location-specific information for the portable device and includes an information object including information management tasks that must be performed for a specific location for the portable device to connect to a remote network.

Claims

1. A method for creating a new location in a software system for a portable device to allow said device to connect to a physically remote network, said method comprising:

presenting a user of said portable device with a series of user input interfaces to allow the user to configure a new location with all of the relevant configuration information for said new location, the information specified by the user being stored under a user-specified name;

when an information synchronization is initiated either by an automatic process or by the user, determining whether the portable device is connected to the network;

if the computer is not connected, then establishing a network connection using a dial-up modem or a local area network (LAN); and

after the connection has been established, synchronizing file data, sending and receiving electronic mail and caching web pages as specified by the user for a current default location.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing the user with an interface to specify the geographic information relevant to the new location.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

providing an interface for the user to specify a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and dial-up related information for the new location;

specifying by said user an IP Address, a subnet mask, and a default gateway address for use with the new location;

specifying by said user a Windows Internet Naming Service (WINS) server address; and

specifying by said user whether to use the domain name server for the new location, and if so specifying a Host Name, domain name, dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) server name, and Domain Name Server (DNS) Search Order and Domain Name suffix order.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising:

if the new location is being configured to use a dial-up modem connection, then specifying, by the user, information including a telephone number to dial, a number of retries, and information related to an account of the user.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising:

designating information about an identity of a computer of said portable device when said portable device is connected to the network, including a computer name and a name of a workgroup or domain name if the computer belongs thereto.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

designating information about a set of network drives for being mapped onto the portable device when the network connectivity is established,

wherein said set of drives specified by the user is automatically mapped on the portable device when the network connection is established.

7. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

specifying by the user any of a local drive and a folder of said portable device for sharing with other computers on the network; and

configuring by said user a set of hardware devices for the new location, wherein after being configured by the user, said set of hardware devices is automatically configured when a user connects using a specific location.

8. The method according to claim 7, further comprising:

providing an input screen to said user which allows the user to configure any set of applications for being automatically started when a network connection is established.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising:

providing a configuration screen that allows the user to specify an information task for being performed when the network connection is established,

wherein said information task includes any of synchronizing file data, caching a web page, and synchronizing electronic mail using a mail exchange protocol.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the user can further specify details about each information task by highlighting an entry and selecting a settings button on the configuration screen,

when a user selects a “

Synchronize Files”

option, the user selectively specifies a set of files names or types, their location and destination directories, and

wherein the set of currently configured files is displayed, and the user selectively specifies a synchronization policy.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a priority for processing items and displaying said processed items on said GUI is set up in advance.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein when a user selects to cache web pages, the user is presented with an input screen shown to allow the user to specify a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) along with a depth for each URL.

13. The method according to claim 9, wherein when a user selects an option for synchronizing mail option, the user is presented with an input screen to allow said user to enter relevant information for synchronizing said mail.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein when a user selects a predetermined option, the user is presented with an input screen to allow said user to specify an Internet Mail Server, an account name, a password and a name of the client profile.

15. The method according to claim 9, wherein when a user selects a predetermined mail option, the user is presented with an input screen which allows said user to specify a name of a client to use for reading mail, a name of a server, a name of a Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) Server, a Mailbox account name and the user'"'"'s password.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein after the user has entered configuration information for the newly created location, the information is stored internally in a location object data structure.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein said location object data structure includes at least one of a geographic object, a connectivity object, a resource object, and a synchronization object.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the geographic object contains information about physical attributes of the new location, the connectivity object contains information about a communication subsystem, the resource object contains information about network resources that are specific to the new location, and the synchronization object contains information about location-specific synchronizing information.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising:

after configuring all desired locations, configuring a computer system of the portable device by selecting a desired location as a default location, and

when a user designates a particular location as the default location, said stored information is used to configure the system according to preferences specified by the user.

20. A system for administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

a first unit for selectively performing at least one of adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

a second unit for selectively initiating a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization, based on the location object,

wherein said second unit comprises a connection manager for providing connectivity functionality to establish a network connection using any a modem, a token-ring card and an Ethernet card,

wherein said connection manager includes a graphical user interface (GUI) to enable a user to initiate synchronization, and

wherein said connection manager presents the user with a Connect button, a Synchronize button, a Location Manager button, an Exit and Close button, a Details button, and a View Log button.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the Connect button instructs the connection manager to establish a connection to the network,

wherein the synchronize button instructs the connection manager to initiate synchronization,

wherein the Location Manager button instructs the connection manager to start a program for launching the location manager, the location manager allowing a user to manage all location-specific information.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the Details button enables a user to view progress of the connection manager in a status area defined by a status window, and

wherein the View Log button allows a user to view the log file associated with the connection manager, the log file capturing details about progress of the connection manager session.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein when a user selects the Location Manager button, the user is presented with the GUI and wherein locations that have already been created and managed by the location manager are displayed with user-supplied names, and

wherein the location manager allows a user to create and add a new location using an add location icon.

24. The system according to claim 23, wherein said user provides said location manager with information to create a new location.

25. A system for administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

a first unit for selectively performing at least one of adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

a second unit for selectively initiating a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization, based on the location object, and

wherein said second unit comprises a synchronization manager, said synchronization manager including;

a mail sub-module for sending and receiving electronic mail;

a file sub-module for synchronizing file data; and

a Web page sub-module for retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device,

wherein said mail sub-module retrieves mail selectively using a mail exchange protocol.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein said first unit comprises a location manager.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein said location manager provides functionality for administering and managing location-specific information, said location-specific information being stored in a registry of said portable device.

28. The system according to claim 25, wherein said second unit comprises a connection manager for providing connectivity functionality to establish a network connection using any of a modem, a token-ring card and an Ethernet card, and

wherein said connection manager includes a graphical user interface (GUI) to enable a user to initiate synchronization.

29. A software facility for administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

a first module for selectively performing any of adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

a second module for selectively initiating a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization, based on said location object,

wherein said second module comprises a synchronization manager, said synchronization manager including;

a mail sub-module for sending and receiving electronic mail.

30. The software facility according to claim 29, wherein said synchronization manager further comprises:

a file sub-module for synchronizing file data.

31. The software facility according to claim 29, wherein said synchronization manager further comprises:

a Web page sub-module for retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device.

32. The software facility according to claim 29, wherein said second module comprises a synchronization manager, said synchronization manager including:

a file sub-module for synchronizing file data; and

a Web page sub-module for retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device.

33. A software facility for administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

a first module for selectively performing any of adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

a second module for selectively initiating a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization, based on said location object,

wherein said second module comprises a synchronization manager, said synchronization manager including;

a mail sub-module for sending and receiving electronic mail;

a file sub-module for synchronizing file data; and

a Web page sub-module for retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device.

34. The software facility according to claim 33, wherein said mail sub-module retrieves mail selectively using a mail exchange protocol.

35. A programmable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method for computer-implemented administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

selectively adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

based on a user input, causing said portable device to selectively initiate a request for any of a connection, a disconnection, and an information synchronization, based on the location object,

wherein said request is followed by any one of sending and receiving electronic mail, synchronizing file data, and retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device.

36. A programmable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of machine-readable instructions executable by a digital processing apparatus to perform a method for computer-implemented administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

presenting a user of said portable device with a series of user input interfaces to allow the user to configure a new location with all of the relevant configuration information for said new location, the information specified by the user being stored under a user-specified name,

wherein said user input interfaces comprise a Connect button, a Synchronize button, a Location Manager button, an Exit and Close button, a Details button, and a View Log button.

37. A method of administering and executing connectivity and information management tasks for a portable device, comprising:

selectively performing at least one of adding, deleting, and editing a location object; and

selectively initiating, by a user of said portable device, a request for a connection, disconnection, and information synchronization based on the location object,

wherein said selectively initiating by the user includes at least one of sending and receiving electronic mail, synchronizing file data, and retrieving and storing Web pages for off-line browsing by a user of said portable device.