System and method for wireless network offloading

• US 9,532,261 B2
• Filed: 01/15/2014
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Partners I LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory G., Raissinia, Alireza, Lavine, James
• Primary Examiner(s): RUDY, ANDREW J
• Application Number:
  US14/156,428
• Publication Number:
  US 20140133297A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,077 Days
• Field of Search: 455/405, 455/406, 455/411, 455/414.1, 455/422.1, 455/432.1, 455/436, 455/450, 455/456.1, 370/331
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0247 based on conditions of the access network or the infrastructure network central resource management H04W28/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/0846 between network providers, e.g. operators selecting a network or a communication service H04W40/18
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/008375 based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1446 wherein at least one of the networks is unlicensed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/22 for handling the traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information

Abstract

A method comprising obtaining, by a server, wireless-network performance data from a plurality of end user devices; generating, by the server, a prioritized network list from the wireless-network performance data; and provisioning, by the server, the prioritized network list to an end user device comprising a radio interface for receiving the prioritized network list from the server, the radio interface being identified to receive the prioritized network list based on a characteristic associated with the end user device; a radio configured to identify available wireless networks, the available wireless networks being different than a current wireless network to which the end user device is currently connected; a prioritized network selection engine for using the prioritized network list to select one of the available wireless networks; and a network connection engine configured to initiate disconnection from the current wireless network and connection to the selected wireless network.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless end-user device, comprising:

receiving a prioritized network list from a remote server, the end user device being identified to receive the prioritized network list based on a characteristic associated with the end user device;

identifying available wireless networks, the available wireless networks being different than a current wireless network to which the end user device is currently connected;

using the prioritized network list to select one of the available wireless networks;

connecting through the selected available wireless network to a network element in a second network reachable through the first wireless network;

conducting an upload and/or download sequence between the wireless end-user device and the network element;

characterizing the performance of the selected available wireless network based on the conducted upload and/or download sequence; and

determining, based at least in part on the characterized performance, to communicate network data for the wireless end-user device through the selected available wireless network instead of the current wireless network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is based on current device-specific data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is based on historical device-specific data.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is based on account-specific data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying information based on the characterized performance to an access network characterization server that collects such information from a plurality of wireless end-user devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the connecting to the selected available wireless network occurs automatically.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the connecting to the selected available wireless network occurs in response to a user selection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the connecting to the selected available wireless network occurs based on user preferences.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a user of the end user device a notification including an incentive offer to incent the user to connect to one of the available wireless networks.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the incentive offer includes a network-performance incentive.