Wireless intelligent switch engine

• US 8,929,944 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2012
• Issued: 01/06/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Electronics Inc. (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yam, Eric
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUYNH, NAM TRUNG
• Application Number:
  US13/626,839
• Publication Number:
  US 20130016644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 370331-334, 370/338, 370/339, 370/328
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1446 wherein at least one of the networks is unlicensed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

A wireless intelligent switch engine (WISE) is described. The wireless intelligent switch engine provides for automatic switching between different physical wireless interfaces in mobile devices while roaming to maintain a wireless network connection. WISE functions as a bridge between a mobile device and multiple wireless network interfaces to provide automatic and seamless switching among networks while roaming. The mobile device sees WISE as a LAN interface and communicates with WISE using the TCP/IP protocol stack, thus providing a PPP-less configuration that uses the TCP/IP protocol stack regardless of the wireless interface.

Claims

1. An apparatus for switching between network interfaces, comprising:

a switch engine configured for operating at the data link layer of a protocol stack for a given interconnection model configured for operation with multiple network interfaces;

said switch engine configured to automatically select, based on a priority criterion communicated at the data link layer, and establish a network connection session for a mobile device through an active interface, within the multiple network interfaces; and

a bridge formed at the data link layer by said switch engine between at least two wireless network interfaces within said multiple network interfaces without closing and restarting the network connection session which has been established;

wherein said switch engine communicates said priority criterion at the data link layer with said wireless interfaces through a priority field.

2. The apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein said protocol stack comprises the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for a TCP/IP protocol.

3. The apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein said switch engine communicates said priority field within a packet header using tag control information.

4. The apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein said priority criteria is a priority field selected from the group of fields consisting of frame quality, receive frame CRC error, and signal strength.

5. The apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein said switch engine performs quality of service priority queuing in determining selection of the network interface from the multiple network interfaces.

6. The apparatus recited in claim 5, wherein said quality of service priority queuing is performed based on one or more parameters selected from the group of parameters consisting of priority, bandwidth, signal strength, frame quality, frame error rate (FER), receive frame CRC error.

7. The apparatus recited in claim 1, wherein said switch engine utilizes bandwidth tagging with a tag control information field to control which network interface is selected.

8. The apparatus recited in claim 7, wherein said tag control information field maps to a switching/packet management table as a switching criteria.

9. The apparatus recited in claim 1, further comprising power management within said switch engine which shuts down, or places into standby mode, network interfaces, within the multiple interface devices, which it determines are not the active interface device to reduce power consumption.

10. The apparatus for multiple-network communications, comprising:

a mobile device configured for establishing a network connection session for communicating with different types of wireless networks through multiple network interfaces;

a switch engine, configured for operation within a data link layer of a protocol stack of said mobile device; and

a bridge created automatically by said switch engine, based on a priority criterion communicated at the data link layer, to connect between said mobile device and at least one of said multiple network interfaces without closing and restarting the network connection session;

wherein said switch engine communicates said priority criterion at the data link layer with said wireless interfaces through a priority field.

11. The apparatus recited in claim 10, wherein said protocol stack comprises an Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for a TCP/IP protocol.

12. The apparatus recited in claim 10, wherein said switch engine communicates said priority field within a packet header using tag control information.

13. The apparatus recited in claim 10, wherein said priority field is selected from the group of fields consisting of frame quality, receive frame CRC error, and signal strength.

14. A method of mobile device communication and switching between multiple network interfaces, comprising:

selecting a network interface for a network connection session, from multiple network interfaces available to a mobile device;

communicating a priority criterion at the data link layer of a protocol stack for a given interconnection model configured for operation with multiple network interfaces; and

bridging at the data link layer between the mobile device and a network interface of said multiple network interfaces in response to said priority criterion, and automatically switching between network interfaces at the data link layer, without closing and restarting the network connection session, as the mobile device moves between multiple networks;

wherein said switch engine communicates said priority criterion at the data link layer with said wireless interfaces through a priority field.

15. The method recited in claim 14, wherein said protocol stack comprises the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for a TCP/IP protocol.

16. The method recited in claim 14, wherein said switch engine communicates said priority field within a packet header using tag control information.

17. The method recited in claim 14, wherein said priority field is selected from the group of fields consisting essentially of frame quality, receive frame CRC error, and signal strength.

18. The apparatus recited in claim 14, wherein said switch engine performs quality of service priority queuing in determining selection of the network interface from the multiple network interfaces.

19. The apparatus recited in claim 18, wherein said quality of service priority queuing is performed based on one or more parameters selected from the group of parameters consisting of priority, bandwidth, signal strength, frame quality, frame error rate (FER), receive frame CRC error.

20. The apparatus recited in claim 14, wherein said switch engine utilizes bandwidth tagging with a tag control information field to control which network interface is selected.

21. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein said tag control information field maps to a switching/packet management table as a switching criteria.

22. An apparatus for switching between network interfaces, comprising:

a switch engine configured for operating at the data link layer of a protocol stack for a given interconnection model configured for operation with multiple network interfaces;

said switch engine configured to automatically select, based on a priority criterion communicated at the data link layer, and establish a network connection session for a mobile device through an active interface, within the multiple network interfaces; and

a bridge formed at the data link layer by said switch engine between at least two wireless network interfaces within said multiple network interfaces without closing and restarting the network connection session which has been established;

wherein said switch engine performs quality of service priority queuing in determining selection of the network interface from the multiple network interfaces.

23. The apparatus recited in claim 22, wherein said quality of service priority queuing is performed based on one or more parameters selected from the group of parameters consisting of priority, bandwidth, signal strength, frame quality, frame error rate (FER), receive frame CRC error.

24. An apparatus for switching between network interfaces, comprising:

a switch engine configured for operating at the data link layer of a protocol stack for a given interconnection model configured for operation with multiple network interfaces;

said switch engine configured to automatically select, based on a priority criterion communicated at the data link layer, and establish a network connection session for a mobile device through an active interface, within the multiple network interfaces; and

a bridge formed at the data link layer by said switch engine between at least two wireless network interfaces within said multiple network interfaces without closing and restarting the network connection session which has been established;

wherein said switch engine utilizes bandwidth tagging with a tag control information field to control which network interface is selected.

25. The apparatus recited in claim 24, wherein said tag control information field maps to a switching/packet management table as a switching criteria.

26. The apparatus recited in claim 24, wherein said protocol stack comprises the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for a TCP/IP protocol.

27. The apparatus recited in claim 24, wherein said switch engine communicates said priority criterion at the data link layer with said wireless interfaces through a priority field.

28. The apparatus recited in claim 27, wherein said switch engine communicates said priority field within a packet header using tag control information.

29. The apparatus recited in claim 24, wherein said priority criteria is a priority field selected from the group of fields consisting of frame quality, receive frame CRC error, and signal strength.