Network connection manager

• US 8,364,825 B2
• Filed: 02/04/2009
• Issued: 01/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Banga, Gaurav, Pemmasani, Giridhar, Rajendran, Vishwanathan
• Primary Examiner(s): SERRAO, RANODHI N
• Application Number:
  US12/322,670
• Publication Number:
  US 20100174820A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,455 Days
• Field of Search: 709/228, 709/249, 455/456.1, 718/1, 703/23
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/385 for adaptation of a particular data processing system to different peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

Methods, systems, apparatuses and program products are disclosed for managing connections to telecommunications networks, especially networks that deploy Internet Protocols and the like.

Provision is made for colligating a connectivity ruleset, interconverting status data to form a dataset of candidate communication links, and supplicating a network connection. Also for forming physical location profiles and selecting a network on that basis and upon a basis of a present physical location of the respective computer.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

colligating, by a computer, a connectivity ruleset comprising a plurality of connectivity rules;

evaluating, by the computer, status data for at least a first network data connection and a second network data connection with respective connectivity rules in the connectivity ruleset to select a communication link from a plurality of candidate communication links;

supplicating, by the computer, a network connection for the selected candidate communication link; and

updating the connectivity ruleset responsive to consequential data provided due to the supplicating.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

forming a physical location profile for at least one of the candidate communication links wherein

the selected one of the candidate communication links is selected according to the physical location profile.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein:

the selected one of the candidate communication links is selected dependent upon a present physical location of the computer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the colligating step comprises providing a graphical user interface for maintenance of connectivity data under user guidance.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the connectivity data comprises data to specify link type and link characteristics for the connectivity rules.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the connectivity data comprises data to specify a protocol and to specify an encryption technique for a respective communication link.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the connectivity data further includes access data to be re-propagated within the supplicating step.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein:

the data to be re-propagated within the supplicating step further includes an internet protocol address of a Domain Name System server.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein:

the connectivity data further includes data to specify IPv 6 (internet protocol version six) capabilities for selected ones of the connectivity rules.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the updated connectivity ruleset to select a communication link from another plurality of candidate communication links as the computer changes physical locations.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the colligating, the evaluating, the supplicating, and the updating are performed by a network connection manager in the computer, wherein the network connection manager has a component that is part of a domain zero associated with a hypervisor.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectivity rules specify preference of one of the candidate communication links over another of the candidate communication links.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the connectivity rules specify preference among the plurality of candidate communication links based on speeds and costs of the candidate communication links.

14. A computer program product comprising:

at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions encoded therein, the instructions when executed by at least one processor cause said at least one processor to

operate for context based virtualization by steps comprising;

colligating a connectivity ruleset comprising a plurality of connectivity rules;

interconverting status data for at least a first network data connection and a second network data connection with respective connectivity rules in the connectivity ruleset to form a dataset that represents a plurality of candidate communication links;

supplicating a network connection for a selected one of the candidate communication links; and

adaptively updating the ruleset responsive to a sequella of the supplicating step.

15. The computer program product of claim 14 wherein:

the selected one of the candidate communication links is selected according to contents of the dataset.

16. An electronic device comprising:

a controller; and

a memory having instructions encoded therein, the instructions when executed by the controller cause said controller to;

colligate a connectivity ruleset comprising a plurality of connectivity rules;

interconvert status data for at least a first network data connection and a second network data connection with respective connectivity rules in the connectivity ruleset to form a dataset that represents a plurality of candidate communication links;

supplicate a network connection for a selected one of the candidate communication links; and

adaptively update the ruleset responsive to a sequella of the supplicating step.

17. The electronic device of claim 16 wherein the selected one of the candidate communication links is selected according to contents of the dataset.

18. The electronic device of claim 16 wherein the memory is a non-volatile memory.

19. The electronic device of claim 16, further comprising:

a hypervisor;

a domain zero associated with the hypervisor;

wherein the instructions are part of a network connection manager, the network connection manager having a component in the domain zero.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that upon execution cause a computer to:

colligate a connectivity ruleset comprising a plurality of connectivity rules;

evaluate status data for at least a first network data connection and a second network data connection with respective connectivity rules in the connectivity ruleset to select a communication link from a plurality of candidate communication links;

supplicate a network connection for the selected one of the candidate communication links; and

update the connectivity ruleset responsive to consequential data provided due to the supplicating.