Wi-Fi Intelligent Selection Engine

• US 20110286437A1
• Filed: 09/15/2010
• Published: 11/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huber, Kurt, Austin, Mark David, Meredith, Sheldon Kent, Salmon, Michael A., Tipton, Rick
• Granted Patent: US 8,570,993 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8271 Based on the number of used services, e.g. call forwarding or call barring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42017 Customized ring-back tones
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/322 by location data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/16 Involving different core network technologies, e.g. a packet-switched [PS] bearer in combination with a circuit-switched [CS] bearer
• 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

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed to offload the usage of a cellular network by intelligent selection of broadband network connections such as Wi-Fi access points. A Wi-Fi transceiver on a mobile device is activated when certain conditions are met, such as a time, location, recognition of a radiofrequency (RF) environment, etc. The conditions are correlated with a database of known locations in which a one or more Wi-Fi access points are determined to exist. The Wi-Fi transceiver on the mobile device is activated and commanded to connect to a particular Wi-Fi access point. Dynamic intelligence ensures that the appropriate connection method is used, and minimizes handovers to networks or access points that are unreliable or that are predicted to become inaccessible to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method for intelligent selection of a Wi-Fi access point from a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving a time of day from a network;

assessing a location of the mobile device;

determining availability of one or more Wi-Fi access points at the location, the determination including comparing the location of the wireless device with a database of known locations, each known location being associated with said one or more Wi-Fi access points;

activating a Wi-Fi transceiver in the mobile device in response to one or more of the time of day, the location, and the availability of said one or more Wi-Fi access points; and

triggering the mobile device to connect to a Wi-Fi access point.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the Wi-Fi transceiver and triggering the connection if the time falls within a predefined time block.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein assessing the location further comprises receiving location information from a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein assessing the location further comprises determining a radiofrequency (RF) fingerprint of one or more cell towers of the network, correlating the RF fingerprint with a location, and comparing the location with the database of known locations.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the RF fingerprint is a combination of signal strength, timing, and noise.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the Wi-Fi transceiver and triggering the Wi-Fi connection only when a bandwidth threshold is exceeded on a connection between the mobile device and the network.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the Wi-Fi transceiver and triggering the Wi-Fi connection only for a specific type of mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating the Wi-Fi transceiver and triggering the Wi-Fi connection in response to a cellular broadcast received from the network, wherein the content of the cellular broadcast depends in part on the location of the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein assessing the location further comprises locating the mobile device by determining a set of reference frames, each reference frame correlated to a pair of cell sites, and correlating the set of reference frames to a set of geographical bin grid framework frame locations having a predetermined granularity.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising grading a performance of the Wi-Fi access point and transmitting the graded performance in a report to the network, wherein the report includes at least a throughput and a latency for the Wi-Fi access point.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising prompting a user to grade the performance of the Wi-Fi access point.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving a plurality of reports from a plurality mobile devices, ranking the Wi-Fi access points based in part on the plurality of reports, and triggering the Wi-Fi transceiver to connect to the highest graded Wi-Fi access point.

13. A system for intelligent selection of a Wi-Fi access point from a mobile device, the system comprising:

a mobile device having a network interface and a Wi-Fi transceiver;

a plurality of cellular base stations, the signal of each of the plurality of cellular base stations forming a cell site, wherein the network interface of the mobile device access a network via the cell site;

a Wi-Fi access point in range of the mobile device; and

logic to determine a location of the mobile device and to compare the location of the wireless device with a database of known locations, each location being associated with one or more Wi-Fi access points;

wherein the Wi-Fi transceiver in the mobile device is activated in response to a determination that the Wi-Fi access point is in the location of the mobile device and available for use, and

wherein the logic triggers the Wi-Fi transceiver to connect to the Wi-Fi access point.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising a server on the network, the server including the database of known locations, and the logic to activate and trigger the Wi-Fi transceiver.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a plurality of Wi-Fi access points in the cell site, wherein the server receives a plurality of reports from a plurality of mobile devices, each report providing a performance grade of at least one of the plurality of Wi-Fi access points, and wherein the server ranks the plurality of Wi-Fi access points based in part on the plurality of reports, and wherein the logic triggers the Wi-Fi transceiver to connect to the highest ranked of the plurality of Wi-Fi access points.

16. The system of claim 13, further comprising logic to determine a radiofrequency (RF) fingerprint of the location within the cell site, and to correlate the RF fingerprint with the database of known locations to determine the availability of the Wi-Fi access point.

17. A device for intelligent selection of a Wi-Fi access point, the device comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor;

a network interface coupled to the processor;

a Wi-Fi transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the Wi-Fi transceiver is initially in a deactivated state; and

logic on the memory to receive a time of day from a network, assess a location of the mobile device, determining an availability of one or more Wi-Fi access points at the location, the determination including comparing the location of the mobile device with a database of known locations, each known location being associated with said one or more Wi-Fi access points, activate the Wi-Fi transceiver in response to one or more of the time of day, the location, and the availability of said one or more Wi-Fi access points, and trigger the mobile device to connect to a Wi-Fi access point.

18. The mobile device of claim 17, further comprising a high-bandwidth application on the memory, wherein launching the high-bandwidth application causes the logic to activate the Wi-Fi transceiver and trigger the connection to the Wi-Fi access point.

19. The mobile device of claim 17, further comprising a user interface enabling a user to grade the Wi-Fi access point based on performance, and transmit the grade in a report to a server on the network, wherein the report includes at least a throughput and a latency for the Wi-Fi access point.

20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the logic further enables the a user of the mobile device to communicate with the application server on the network via the cellular transceiver, receive a list of Wi-Fi access points ranked according to performance, and connect to the highest-ranked Wi-Fi access point.