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US 10,477,503 B2Granted
Democratized cellular network connectivity through small cells
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsDutt Kalapatapu, Ankur Jain, Hassan Sipra, Mitchell Trott
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method provide for connectivity to multiple network operators at a given time, and sorting outgoing traffic based on criteria associated with the data and the network operators. Available networks are identified, and a mobile device attaches to a first network for communication through a first application, and also attaches to a second network for communication through a second application, without requiring detachment from the first network. Accordingly, traffic for the first application is steered through the selected first network, and traffic for the second application is steered through the second network.
Claims24
A system, comprising:
- a memory;
- one or more processors in communication with the memory, the one or more processors configured to:
- request periodically a list of available networks;
- receive periodically the list of available networks, the available networks being geo-tagged;
- select a first cellular network for communication through a first application, the first cellular network supported by a first evolved packet core (EPC), the first cellular network is a mobile network operator (MNO) operating with a first set of cell-selection policies set by a first owner;
- attach to the selected first cellular network;
- set up a first interface for directing traffic through the first cellular network, the first interface being dedicated to a first IP address resulting from the attachment to the first cellular network;
- select a second cellular network for communication through a second application, the second cellular network being different from the first cellular network, the second cellular network supported by a second EPC different from the first EPC, the first cellular network and the second cellular network being disjoint networks, the second cellular network is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating with a second set of cell-selection policies set by a second owner;
- attach to the selected second cellular network, without requiring detachment from the selected first cellular network;
- set up a second interface for directing traffic through the second cellular network, the second interface being dedicated to a second IP address resulting from the attachment to the second cellular network;
- sort traffic for the first application and the second application using a flow selector, the flow selector configured to sort traffic based on criteria for sorting traffic between disjoint networks, wherein the criteria are determined based on a plurality of rules for steering traffic to disjoint networks included in a policy engine;
- steer, according to the sorting by the flow selector, a first traffic for the first application through the selected first cellular network using the first interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- and
- steer, according to the sorting by the flow selector, a second traffic for the second application through the selected second cellular network using the second interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- wherein the first traffic is different from the second traffic;
- and
- wherein at least one of the selection of the first cellular network overrides the first set of cell-selection policies or the selection of the second cellular network overrides the second set of cell-selection policies.
14 more elements
A method, comprising:
- requesting periodically, with one or more processors, a list of available networks;
- receiving periodically, with the one or more processors, the list of available networks, the available networks being geo-tagged;
- selecting, with the one or more processors, a first cellular network for communication through a first application, the first cellular network supported by a first evolved packet core (EPC), the first cellular network is a mobile network operator (MNO) operating with a first set of cell-selection policies set by a first owner;
- attaching to the selected first cellular network;
- setting up, with the one or more processors, a first interface for directing traffic through the first cellular network, the first interface being dedicated to a first IP address resulting from the attachment to the first cellular network;
- selecting, with the one or more processors, a second cellular network for communication through a second application, the second cellular network being different from the first cellular network, the second cellular network supported by a second EPC different from the first EPC, the first cellular network and the second cellular network being disjoint networks, the second cellular network is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating with a second set of cell-selection policies set by a second owner;
- attaching to the selected second cellular network, without requiring detachment from the selected first cellular network;
- setting up, with the one or more processors, a second interface for directing traffic through the second cellular network, the second interface being dedicated to a second IP address resulting from the attachment to the second cellular network;
- sorting traffic for the first application and the second application using a flow selector, the flow selector configured to sort traffic based on criteria for sorting traffic between disjoint networks, wherein the criteria are determined based on a plurality of rules for steering traffic to disjoint networks included in a policy engine;
- steering, with the one or more processors according to the sorting by the flow selector, a first traffic for the first application through the selected first cellular network using the first interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- and
- steering, with the one or more processors according to the sorting by the flow selector, a second traffic for the second application through the selected second cellular network using the second interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- wherein the first traffic is different from the second traffic;
- and
- wherein at least one of the selection of the first cellular network overrides the first set of cell-selection policies or the selection of the second cellular network overrides the second set of cell-selection policies.
12 more elements
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by a processor to perform a method, comprising:
- requesting periodically a list of available networks;
- receiving periodically the list of available networks, the available networks being geo-tagged;
- selecting a first cellular network for communication through a first application, the first cellular network supported by a first evolved packet core (EPC), the first cellular network is a mobile network operator (MNO) operating with a first set of cell-selection policies set by a first owner;
- attaching to the selected first cellular network;
- setting up a first interface for directing traffic through the first cellular network, the first interface being dedicated to a first IP address resulting from the attachment to the first cellular network;
- selecting a second cellular network for communication through a second application, the second cellular network being different from the first cellular network, the cellular second network supported by a second EPC different from the first EPC, the first cellular network and the second cellular network being disjoint networks, the second cellular network is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) operating with a second set of cell-selection policies set by a second owner;
- attaching to the selected second cellular network, without requiring detachment from the selected first cellular network;
- setting up a second interface for directing traffic through the second cellular network, the second interface being dedicated to a second IP address resulting from the attachment to the second cellular network;
- sorting traffic for the first application and the second application using a flow selector, the flow selector configured to sort traffic based on criteria for sorting traffic between disjoint networks, wherein the criteria are determined based on a plurality of rules for steering traffic to disjoint networks included in a policy engine;
- steering, according to the sorting by the flow selector, a first traffic for the first application through the selected first cellular network using the first interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- and
- steering, according to the sorting by the flow selector, a second traffic for the second application through the selected second cellular network using the second interface while remaining attached to the first cellular network and the second cellular network;
- wherein the first traffic is different from the second traffic;
- and
- wherein at least one of the selection of the first cellular network overrides the first set of cell-selection policies or the selection of the second cellular network overrides the second set of cell-selection policies.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.