Managing actions of a network device

• US 9,219,646 B2
• Filed: 07/12/2012
• Issued: 12/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pismo Labs Technology Limited
• Original Assignee: Pismo Labs Technology Limited
• Inventors: Chan, Alex Wing Hong, Leung, Wan Chun, Chan, Ho Ming, Sung, Patrick Ho Wai
• Primary Examiner(s): BAROT, BHARAT
• Application Number:
  US13/979,375
• Publication Number:
  US 20140195681A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,258 Days
• Field of Search: 709223-226
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0809 Plug-and-play configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management

Abstract

A method and system for managing actions of a network device based on policy settings retrieved according to the identity of at least one connected removable wireless communications device. The decision to retrieve the policy settings from an authorized party is also based on whether the network device is able to use the at least one connected removable wireless communication device and whether the policy settings has already been stored in a storage medium of the network device according to the identity, wherein the policy settings correspond to the identity. When retrieving the policy settings from the authorized party, the request includes the identity. When the policy settings have been retrieved, the network device executes the policy settings. The removable wireless communications device provides communication between the network device and a network over a wireless network communication channel.

Claims

1. A method for managing actions of a network device based on policy settings retrieved according to the identity of at least one connected removable wireless communications device (RWCD), the method comprising:

determining the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, wherein the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is at least one of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or telephone number;

determining whether the network device is able to use the at least one connected RWCD;

determining whether to retrieve the policy settings from an authorized party or a storage medium of the network device according to the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, wherein the policy settings correspond to the identity of the at least one connected RWCD;

sending a request to the authorized party to retrieve the policy settings when determined to retrieve the policy settings from the authorized party, wherein the request includes authentication information and the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, and wherein policy settings are not received from the authorized party if the authentication information is incorrect;

if there are policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD;

receiving the policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD from the storage medium or from the authorized party through accessible networks using the at least one connected RWCD or using other network interfaces;

determining priority of policy settings when the network device has more one connected RWCD;

executing the policy settings of the network device, wherein the policy settings are determined to have highest priority, wherein the execution of the received policy settings is performed after the network device received a confirmation;

if identity of the at least one connected RWCD cannot be determined, or the network device is not able to use the at least one connected RWCD, or no policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD can be retrieved from the authorized party or from the storage medium;

using the RWCD according to policy settings determined by an administrator of the network device, or according to default policy settings;

wherein during receiving the policy settings through accessible networks using the at least one connected RWCD before executing the policy settings, not using the at least one connected RWCD for any other communication purposes other than receiving the policy settings;

wherein when policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD are executed successfully, the at least one connected RWCD providing communication between the network device and a network over a wireless network communication channel;

wherein when policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD are not executed successfully, the at least one connected RWCD is not used for providing communication between the network device and a network over a wireless network communication channel;

wherein the policy settings are retrieved from the authorized party if the policy settings are not found in the storage medium.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the priority is assigned to the policy settings based on at least one of the following:

information retrieved from the authorized party, physical positions of the RWCDs at the network device, pre-determined settings inputted into the storage medium, chronological order in which the more than one RWCDs were connected with the network device, and the identity of the one or more RWCDs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one connected RWCD can be plugged in or removed from the network device while the network device is in operation.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy settings include one or more of access policy settings, security policy settings, accounting policy settings, routing policy settings, wireless channel management policy settings, network traffic policy settings, Internet Protocol (IP) packet management policy settings, network address translation (NAT) policy settings, quality of service (QoS) policy settings, and virtual private network (VPN) policy settings.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy settings include settings for the network device to provide an IEEE 802.11 network interface with at least one service set identifier (SSID).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein when the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is an IMEI, the IMEI is determined using AT commands or by using device driver;

and wherein when the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is a telephone number, the telephone number is determined using AT commands or by using device driver.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one connected RWCD is an LTE modem, 3G modem, WiFi modem, WiMAX modem, Zigbee modem, or a Bluetooth Modem;

wherein the at least one connected RWCD provides network connectivity using a technology selected from a group consisting of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), HSPA+, Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, GPRS, EDGE, GSM, CDMA, WiFi, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, BlUETOOTH, and WiBRO.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the authentication information is a password, hashed password, digital certificate, public key or private key.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device is a router, and wherein the network device is used with other network apparatus including Ethernet switches, IP routers, network management and provisioning systems, and local personal computers (PCs).

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the policy settings retrieved from the authorized party are stored in the storage medium and the policy settings are removed from the storage medium after a pre-defined period of time, wherein a value of the pre-defined period of time may be included in the policy settings, entered by a manufacturer of the network device or inputted by a user of the network device.

11. A network device, comprising:

at least one device interface, which is used to connect to at least one removable wireless communications device (RWCD);

at least one network interface;

at least one processing units and storage medium comprising program instructions executable by the at least one processing units for;

determining the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, wherein the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is at least one of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) or telephone number;

determining whether the network device is able to use the at least one connected RWCD;

determining whether to retrieve the policy settings from an authorized party or a storage medium of the network device according to the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, wherein the policy settings correspond to the identity of the at least one connected RWCD;

sending a request to the authorized party to retrieve the policy settings when determined to retrieve the policy settings from the authorized party, wherein the request includes authentication information and the identity of the at least one connected RWCD, and wherein policy settings are not received from the authorized party if the authentication information is incorrect;

if there are policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD;

receiving the policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD from the storage medium or from the authorized party through accessible networks using the at least one connected RWCD or using other network interfaces;

determining priority of policy settings when the network device has more than one connected RWCD;

executing the policy settings of the network device, wherein the policy settings are determined to have highest priority, wherein the execution of the received policy settings is performed after the network device received a confirmation;

if identity of the at least one connected RWCD cannot be determined, or the network device is not able to use the at least one connected RWCD, or no policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD can be retrieved from the authorized party or from the storage medium;

using the RWCD according to policy settings determined by an administrator of the network device, or according to default policy settings;

wherein during receiving the policy settings through accessible networks using the at least one connected RWCD before executing the policy settings, not using the at least one connected RWCD for any other communication purposes other than receiving the policy settings;

wherein when policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD are executed successfully, the at least one connected RWCD providing communication between the network device and a network over a wireless network communication channel;

wherein when policy settings associated with the identity of the at least one connected RWCD are not executed successfully, the at least one connected RWCD is not used for providing communication between the network device and a network over a wireless network communication channel;

wherein the policy settings are retrieved from the authorized party if the policy settings are not found in the storage medium.

12. The network device of claim 11, wherein the priority is assigned based on at least one of the following:

information retrieved from the authorized party, physical positions of the more than one connected RWCDs at the network device, pre-determined settings inputted into the storage medium, chronological order in which the more than one connected RWCDswere connected with the network device, and the identity of the more than one connected RWCDs.

13. The network device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one connected RWCD can be plugged in or removed from the network device while the network device is in operation.

14. The network device of claim 11, wherein the policy settings include one or more of access policy settings, security policy settings, accounting policy settings, routing policy settings, wireless channel management policy settings, network traffic policy settings, Internet Protocol (IP) packet management policy settings, network address translation (NAT) policy settings, quality of service (QoS) policy settings, and virtual private network (VPN) policy settings.

15. The network device of claim 11, wherein the policy settings include settings for the network device to provide an IEEE 802.11 network interface with at least one service set identifier (SSID).

16. The network device of claim 11, wherein when the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is an IMEI, the IMEI is determined using AT commands or by using device driver;

and wherein when the identity of the at least one connected RWCD is a telephone number, the telephone number is determined using AT commands or by using device driver.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the at least one connected RWCD is an LTE modem, 3G modem, WiFi modem, WiMAX modem, Zigbee modem, or a Bluetooth Modem;

wherein the at least one connected RWCD provides network connectivity using a technology selected from a group consisting of High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), HSPA+, Long Term Evolution (LTE), WiMax, GPRS, EDGE, GSM, CDMA, WiFi, CDMA2000, WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, BLUETOOTH, and WiBRO.

18. The network device of claim 11, wherein the authentication information is a password, hashed password, digital certificate, public key or private key.

19. The network device of claim 11, wherein the network device is a router, and wherein the network device is used with other network apparatus including Ethernet switches, IP routers, network management and provisioning systems, and local personal computers (PCs).

20. The network device of claim 11, wherein the policy settings retrieved from the authorized party are stored in the storage medium and the policy settings are removed from the storage medium after a predefined period of time, wherein a value of the pre-defined period of time may be included in the policy settings, entered by a manufacturer of the network device or inputted by a user of the network device.