Providing online connectivity across a range of electronic communications systems
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring and providing online connectivity sources, comprising;
- monitoring a connectivity status of one or more connectivity sources, the one or more connectivity sources comprising at least a first connectivity source and a second connectivity source;
selecting one of one or more available connectivity sources for use for online communications;
connecting a user'"'"'s computer to a remote computing system via the selected available connectivity source;
monitoring whether the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source has failed;
if the connection is detected as failed, then scheduling a poll on a background software thread;
if the poll fails, then generating a notification that the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source is disconnected, wherein the selected connectivity source comprises the first connectivity source;
attempting reconnection to the remote computing system;
if the selected connectivity source is lost, determining whether the second connectivity source is available;
if the second connectivity source is available, automatically connecting the user'"'"'s computer to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source without user action;
reducing an interval at which reconnection to the remote computing system is allowed from a first interval to a second interval after not being able to connect to the remote computing system using the first connectivity source for a given time period so that a connection attempt may be made to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source after the reduced interval;
resetting the time period upon detecting a network change, the network change comprising a hardware change at the user'"'"'s computer;
switching back to the first interval upon detecting the network change; and
marking the one or more connectivity sources as inoperable while the user'"'"'s computer is shutting down to prevent subsequent online communication events from adding to shutdown delays.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems allow an application capable of online communication to monitor the availability of different electronic communications sources and provide transition between online and offline operation and between different electronic communications sources. When a change occurs in connectivity source status, such as when the user disconnects from a wireline connection or goes offline or when a connection is otherwise lost due to mechanical failure or loss of wireline or wireless signal or when a reduction in bandwidth or connection speed is detected, the application is automatically transitioned between online and offline status and between different types of connectivity source without user action and without interruption of use of the application. If an online connection may not be obtained via TCP/IP connection, a determination is made as to whether the application and computer operating system are configured for RPC/HTTP connectivity. If the application and computer operating system are configured for RPC/HTTP connectivity, RPC/HTTP connection is attempted.
162 Citations
47 Claims
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1. A method of monitoring and providing online connectivity sources, comprising;
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monitoring a connectivity status of one or more connectivity sources, the one or more connectivity sources comprising at least a first connectivity source and a second connectivity source; selecting one of one or more available connectivity sources for use for online communications; connecting a user'"'"'s computer to a remote computing system via the selected available connectivity source; monitoring whether the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source has failed; if the connection is detected as failed, then scheduling a poll on a background software thread; if the poll fails, then generating a notification that the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source is disconnected, wherein the selected connectivity source comprises the first connectivity source; attempting reconnection to the remote computing system; if the selected connectivity source is lost, determining whether the second connectivity source is available; if the second connectivity source is available, automatically connecting the user'"'"'s computer to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source without user action; reducing an interval at which reconnection to the remote computing system is allowed from a first interval to a second interval after not being able to connect to the remote computing system using the first connectivity source for a given time period so that a connection attempt may be made to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source after the reduced interval; resetting the time period upon detecting a network change, the network change comprising a hardware change at the user'"'"'s computer; switching back to the first interval upon detecting the network change; and marking the one or more connectivity sources as inoperable while the user'"'"'s computer is shutting down to prevent subsequent online communication events from adding to shutdown delays. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for monitoring and providing online connectivity sources, comprising;
a connection manager module operative to monitor a connectivity status of one or more connectivity sources, the one or more connectivity sources comprising at least a first connectivity source and a second connectivity source; to select an available one of the one or more connectivity sources for use for online communications; to connect a client application to a remote application via the selected available connectivity source; to monitor whether the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source has failed; if the connection is detected as failed, then to schedule a poll on a background software thread; if the poll fails, then to generate a notification that the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source is disconnected, wherein the selected connectivity source comprises the first connectivity source; to attempt reconnection to the remote computing system; to determine whether the second connectivity source is available if the selected connectivity source is lost; to automatically connect the client application to the remote application via the second connectivity source without user action if the second connectivity source is available; to reduce an interval at which reconnection to the remote computing system is allowed from a first interval to a second interval after not being able to connect to the remote computing system using the first connectivity source for a given time period so that a connection attempt may be made to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source after the reduce interval; to reset the time period upon detecting a network change, the network change comprising a hardware change at a user'"'"'s computer for connecting to the remote computing system using the one or more connectivity sources; to switch back to the first interval upon detecting the network change;
connectivity sources; andto mark the one or more connectivity sources as inoperable while shutting down to prevent subsequent online communication events from adding to shutdown delays. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A computer readable medium containing instructions which when executed by a computer, perform a method of monitoring and providing online connectivity sources, comprising;
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monitoring a connectivity status of a plurality of connectivity sources, the plurality of connectivity sources comprising at least a first connectivity source and a second connectivity source; if more than one of the plurality of connectivity sources is available, then determining which of the plurality of available connectivity sources is a preferred connectivity source; selecting the preferred connectivity source for use for online communications; connecting a client application to a remote application via the selected connectivity source, wherein if the selected connectivity source has a low bandwidth, then providing a notification that the client application is operating in a low bandwidth mode and altering a quantity and speed of data transmission of the client application according to an alternative bandwidth profile to reflect a reduced bandwidth availability of the low bandwidth connectivity source; monitoring whether the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source has failed; if the connection is detected as failed, then scheduling a poll on a background software thread; if the poll fails, then generating a notification that the connection to the remote computing system via the selected connectivity source is disconnected, wherein the selected connectivity source comprises the first connectivity source; attempting reconnection to the remote computing system; if the selected connectivity source is lost, determining whether the second connectivity source is available; if the second connectivity source is available, automatically connecting the client application to the remote application via the second connectivity source without user action; communicating via the selected or the second connectivity source using a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) communication; if communication using the TCP/IP communication connection fails, determining whether the client application is configured to communicate over the selected or second connectivity source using remote procedure calls (RPC) over a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) communication connection; if the client application is configured to communicate over the selected or second connectivity sources using the RPC over the HTTP communication connection, connecting the client application to the remote application via the RPC over the HTTP communication connection via the selected or second connectivity source; reducing an interval at which reconnection to the remote computing system is allowed from a first interval to a second interval after not being able to connect to the remote computing system using the first connectivity source for a given time period so that a connection attempt may be made to the remote computing system via the second connectivity source after the reduced interval; resetting the time period upon detecting a network change, the network change comprising a hardware change at a client computer for executing the client application; switching back to the first interval upon detecting the hardware change at the client computer; and marking at least one of the plurality of connectivity sources as inoperable while shutting down to prevent RPC during shutdown from adding to shutdown delays. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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Specification