Smart connection manager

• US 9,591,558 B2
• Filed: 07/24/2015
• Issued: 03/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: T-Mobile USA, Inc. (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Chow, Paulo, Drovdahl, Mark, Temple, Sinclair M., Kuncl, Parker Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Brian D
• Application Number:
  US14/808,756
• Publication Number:
  US 20150334640A1
• Time in Patent Office: 592 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/08 Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery signalling during connection H04W76/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• 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 telecommunication device configured to perform at least one of adjusting a network polling frequency, prompting a user to select one of a plurality of networks, automatically connecting to one of the networks, or automatically disconnecting from one of the networks is described herein. The telecommunication device performs the adjusting, prompting, or connecting based at least on received device data or network data that is associated with the networks.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a telecommunication device, at least one of device data, the device data being associated with a plurality of networks; and

based at least on the received device data, prompting a user to select one of the networks,

wherein the device data includes at least one of a pattern of user behavior, a time of day, an indication that a user is roaming, a use of the telecommunication device, or a battery power level.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of networks include at least one of a 2G network, a 3G network, a 4G network, a GSM network, a HSPA network, a HSPA+ network, a Wi-Fi network, a Wi-Max network, a network associated with a femto, a Bluetooth network, a CDMA network, a UMTS network, or a ZigBee network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the prompting is further based on network data, and the network data includes inferences or patterns based on behavior of users of a plurality of telecommunication devices, subscription plan information, a location of the telecommunication device, settings or preferences, a cost associated with a network, or policies for offloading or network balancing.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying one or more rules, profiles, or models to the received device data and determining, based on the applying, whether to perform the prompting.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a threshold amount of time since a network was detected has been met and, responsive to the threshold amount of time being met, prompting the user to connect to the detected network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising recognizing that one of the networks requires a login and providing an indication to the user that the network requires the login.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the network data indicates costs associated with the networks and the telecommunication device automatically connects to one of the networks having the lowest cost.

8. A telecommunication device comprising:

a processor;

a memory communicatively coupled to the processor and storing at least one of rules, profiles, or models associated with connections to a plurality of networks; and

a smart connection manager configured to be operated by the processor to perform operations including;

receiving at least network data,

analyzing the network data based on the at least one of the rules, profiles, or models, and

based on the analyzing, prompting a user to select one of the networks,

wherein the network data includes inferences or patterns based on behavior of users of a plurality of telecommunication devices, subscription plan information, a cost associated with a network, or policies for offloading or network balancing.

9. The telecommunication device of claim 8, wherein the rules, profiles, or models are a local version of rules, profiles, or models received from a service provider.

10. The telecommunication device of claim 8, wherein the rules, profiles, or models are specific to a location, a time of day, an event, or a type of individual or aggregate user behavior or activity.

11. The telecommunication device of claim 8, wherein the rules, profiles, or models are learned based on individual or aggregate user activities, behaviors, or responses to prompts.

12. The telecommunication device of claim 8, wherein the operations further include determining a threshold amount of time since a network was detected has been met and, responsive to the threshold amount of time being met, prompting the user to connect to the detected network.

13. The telecommunication device of claim 8, wherein the network data indicates costs associated with the networks and the telecommunication device automatically connects to one of the networks having the lowest cost.

14. One or more non-transitory computer storage media comprising computer executable instructions stored thereon and configured to instruct one or more computing devices to perform operations including:

receiving device data associated with at least one of network connections or user behavior of a plurality of telecommunication devices;

building one or more rules, profiles, or models based on the received device data for governing network connection behavior of the telecommunication devices, wherein the rules, profiles, or models are learned based on individual or aggregate user activities, behaviors, or responses to prompts; and

providing the rules, profiles, or models to at least one of the telecommunication devices to enable the telecommunication device to perform, based on the rules, profiles, or models, prompting a user to select one of a plurality of networks.

15. The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the building comprises building rules, profiles, or models for each subscriber associated with one of the telecommunication devices.

16. The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the operations further include receiving data from a third party source and performing the building of the one or more rules, profiles, or models based on the data from the third party source.

17. The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the operations further include determining a threshold amount of time since a network was detected has been met and, responsive to the threshold amount of time being met, prompting the user to connect to the detected network.

18. The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the network data indicates costs associated with the networks and the telecommunication device automatically connects to one of the networks having the lowest cost.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer storage media of claim 14, wherein the rules, profiles, or models are specific to a location, a time of day, an event, or a type of individual or aggregate user behavior or activity.