Automatically installing operating system specific to a detected network

• US 9,038,060 B2
• Filed: 01/17/2014
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd. (Razer Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Nextbit Systems, Inc. (Razer Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chan, Michael A., Moss, Tom, Quan, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Xi D
• Application Number:
  US14/158,724
• Publication Number:
  US 20140137101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 487 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/176
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

Technology disclosed herein includes a method for loading a network specific operating system (OS) onto a computing device depending on a specific network the computing device is connected to. The computing device can connect to multiple networks, e.g., different networks at different times or multiple networks simultaneously. When the computing device switches from a first network to a second network, an OS specific to the second network is automatically installed on the computing device. When the computing device connects to more than one network simultaneously policies may be defined to determine which specific OS distribution is to be installed on the computing device.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting a distribution of an operating system (OS) customized for a network provider to a computing device from a cloud storage server of the network provider, the method comprising:

receiving, at the cloud storage server when the computing device connected to a first network of a different network provider connects to a second network of the network provider while still being connected to the first network, a request for transmitting the distribution of the OS, the request received from a remote registration service that facilitates installation of a customized distribution of the OS on the computing device, the network provider managing the cloud storage server being distinct from an entity managing the remote registration service;

determining, based on predefined policies, whether a user of the computing device is authorized to access the customized distribution of the OS; and

responsive to a determination that the user is authorized to access the customized distribution of the OS, transmitting the customized distribution of the OS to the computing device, wherein the customized distribution of the OS is transmitted to the computing device automatically, wherein the computing device installs the received customized distribution of the OS on the computing device,

wherein the computing device includes instructions for installing the received customized distribution of the OS on the computing device, wherein the instructions for installing the received customized distribution of the OS on the computing device includes;

instruction for determining whether an existing distribution of the OS is installed as either a full image or an update image over the customized distribution of the operating system;

instruction for receiving the customized distribution of the OS from the remote registration service when the existing distribution of the OS is installed as a full image;

instruction for installing the customized distribution of the OS on the computing device when the existing distribution of the OS is installed as a full image; and

instruction for restoring the customized distribution of the operating system on the computing device when the existing distribution of the operating system is installed as an update image over the customized distribution of the operating system, the restoring including deleting the update image of the existing distribution of the operating system.

2. A subscriber identity module (SIM) card comprising instructions which, when executed by a computing device in which the SIM card is installed, perform a method of:

connecting, upon booting the computing device, the computing device to a first network of a plurality of networks;

receiving, using a remote registration service and in response to connecting to the first network, a first distribution of an operating system (OS) to be installed on the computing device, the first distribution of the OS customized for the first network, the remote registration service configured to determine a specific distribution of the OS to be installed on the computing device based on the networks the computing device is connected to;

installing the first distribution of the OS on the computing device, the receiving and installing of the first distribution performed automatically upon the computing device connecting to the first network;

detecting, during a network connection process, that the computing device is connected to a second network of the networks while still being connected to the first network;

receiving, using the remote registration service and in response to connecting to the second network, a second distribution of the OS customized for the second network;

installing the second distribution of the OS on the computing device, the receiving and installing of the second distribution performed automatically upon the computing device connecting to the second network;

detecting, during the network connection process, that the computing device disconnected from the second network but is still connected to the first network; and

restoring, in response to the disconnection to the second network, the first distribution of the OS on the computing device, the restoring including uninstalling the second distribution of the OS on the computing device, wherein the uninstalling the second distribution of the OS from the computing device includes;

determining whether the second distribution of the OS is installed as either a full image or an update image over the first distribution of the operating system;

receiving the first distribution of the OS from the remote registration service when the second distribution of the OS is determined to be installed as a full image, and

installing the received first distribution of the OS on the computing device when the second distribution of the OS is determined to be installed as a full image; and

restoring the first distribution of the operating system on the computing device when the second distribution of the operation system is determined to be installed as an update image over the first distribution of the operating system, the restoring including deleting the update image of the second distribution of the operating system.

3. The SIM card of claim 2, wherein the remote registration service determining a specific distribution of the OS to be installed on the computing device based on the networks the computing device is connected to includes:

determining, using predefined policies, a specific network of the networks that has a highest priority, and

identifying a distribution of the OS corresponding to the specific network, as the specific distribution of the OS to be installed on the computing device.

4. The SIM card of claim 3, wherein the first network is a wireless carrier network, the second network is a corporate Wi-Fi network of a corporation where a user of the computing device is employed, and the second network has a higher priority than the first network.

5. The SIM card of claim 4, wherein instructions for receiving the first distribution of the OS using the remote registration service includes:

instructions for receiving a location of a cloud storage service that contains the first distribution of the OS, the cloud storage service managed by a provider of the wireless carrier network, the cloud storage service and the remote registration service managed by distinct entities, and

instructions for retrieving the first distribution of the OS from the cloud storage service.

6. The SIM card of claim 4, wherein instructions for receiving the second distribution of the OS using the remote registration service includes:

instructions for receiving a location of a cloud storage service that contains the second distribution of the OS, the cloud storage service being managed by the corporation, the corporation managing the cloud storage service and an entity managing the remote registration service being distinct entities, and

instructions for retrieving the second distribution of the OS from the cloud storage service.

7. The SIM card of claim 4, wherein the second distribution of the OS is customized for the corporation and includes any of pre-defined applications or user interface settings specific for the corporation.

8. The SIM card of claim 2, wherein the network connection process is triggered by at least one of the computing device changing its location, a scheduled network detecting event, when the networks become available for connecting, or when the networks become unavailable.

9. The SIM card of claim 3, wherein the predefined policies includes policies for determining the specific distribution of the operating system to be installed on the computing device based on user preferences for a particular distribution of the OS.

10. The SIM card of claim 2 further comprising:

instructions for receiving user preferences, at least in part, containing user selection of a particular distribution of the OS when the computing device is connected to the one more networks; and

instructions for transmitting the user preferences to the remote registration service.

11. The SIM card of claim 2, wherein the instructions for detecting that the computing device disconnected from the second network includes:

instructions for determining that the computing device is considered to be disconnected from the second network when the second network is not reachable by the computing device for a predefined period of time.

12. The SIM card of claim 2, wherein the instructions for detecting that the computing device disconnected from the second network includes:

instructions for determining that the computing device is considered to be disconnected from the second network when a profile of the second network is deleted from the computing device.

13. The SIM card of claim 2, wherein instructions for receiving the specific distribution of the OS includes:

instructions for transmitting identities of the networks to which the computing device is connected to the remote registration service.

14. The SIM card of claim 13, wherein instructions for transmitting identities of the networks includes:

instructions for transmitting at least one of a service set identification (SSID) of the networks, a media access control (MAC) address of a gateway of the networks or a radio frequency of the networks.

15. An apparatus for facilitating installation of a customized distribution of an operating system (OS) on a computing device, the apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a network component configured to communicate with multiple cloud storage servers containing multiple distributions of the OS and with the computing device to facilitate installation of the customized distribution of the OS; and

a memory component storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to perform a process including;

receiving, from the computing device and upon booting of the computing device, an indication that the computing device connected to a wireless carrier network, the indication including an identity of the wireless carrier network,

identifying a first distribution of the OS that is customized to the wireless carrier network, the identifying including determining a first cloud storage server of the cloud storage servers that contains the first distribution of the OS, the first cloud storage server managed by a provider of the wireless carrier network,

requesting the first cloud storage server to transmit the first distribution of the OS to the computing device for installation at the computing device, the requesting including causing the first cloud storage server to transmit the first distribution of the OS to the computing device automatically,

receiving, from the computing device, an indication that the computing device connected to a corporate Wi-Fi network of a corporation where a user of the computing device is employed, the indication including an identity of the corporate Wi-Fi network,

determining, using the identity of the corporate Wi-Fi network and based on predefined policies, that the computing device is to be updated with a second distribution of the OS customized to the corporate Wi-Fi network,

identifying the second distribution of the OS that is customized to the corporate Wi-Fi network, the identifying including determining a second cloud storage server of the cloud storage servers that contains the second distribution of the OS, the second cloud storage server managed by the corporation,

requesting the second cloud storage server to transmit the second distribution of the OS to the computing device for installation at the computing device, the requesting including causing the second cloud storage server to transmit the second distribution of the OS automatically,

receiving, from the computing device, an indication that the computing device disconnected from the corporate Wi-Fi network but is still connected to the wireless carrier network, and

causing, in response to the disconnection to the corporate Wi-Fi network, the computing device to restore the first distribution of the OS by uninstalling the second distribution of the OS, wherein the uninstalling the second distribution of the OS from the computing device includes;

determining whether the second distribution of the OS is installed as either a full image or an update image over the first distribution of the operating system;

receiving the first distribution of the OS from the remote registration service when the second distribution of the OS is determined to be installed as a full image, and

installing the received first distribution of the OS on the computing device when the second distribution of the OS is determined to be installed as a full image, and

restoring the first distribution of the operating system on the computing device when the second distribution of the operating system is determinined to be installed as an update image over the first distribution of the operating system, the restoring including deleting the update image of the distribution of the operating system.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein determining, based on predefined policies, that the computing device is to be updated with a second distribution of the OS includes:

determining, using the predefined policies, that the corporate Wi-Fi network has a higher priority than that of the wireless carrier network, and

identifying the second distribution of the OS corresponding to the corporate Wi-Fi network as a specific distribution of the OS to be installed on the computing device.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory component further comprises instructions for setting default priority levels to the corporate Wi-Fi network and the wireless carrier network, the corporate Wi-Fi network having a higher priority than that of the wireless carrier network.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory component further comprises instructions for receiving a priority level of the corporate Wi-Fi network from the corporation and a priority level of the wireless carrier network from the provider of the wireless carrier network.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory component further comprises instructions for:

receiving user preferences containing a user selection of a particular distribution of the OS when the computing device is connected to both the wireless carrier network and the corporate Wi-Fi network, and

storing the user preferences as part of the predefined policies.