US 12,375,414 B2Granted

Intelligent router bonding 5G telephony and digital subscriber line services

AssigneeDISH Wireless L.L.C.

InventorGeorge Gevargis

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Abstract

A hybrid 5G/DSL service provides an on-premises router device that monitors both wireless and wired data connections to provide optimized service using both connections. A 5G/DSL router can make use of “always available” bandwidth of a DSL connection to avoid overuse of more limited wireless bandwidth while augmenting and/or substituting with wireless bandwidth as needed. A hybrid 5G/DSL service may be especially convenient for rural customers who may not have access to fiber or cable-based data services. Moreover, the 5G/DSL hybrid service may provide a cost effective option for customers who simply want to augment DSL service in limited situations (e.g., for occasional media streaming) rather than paying for “always-available” higher bandwidth connections that remain largely underutilized much of the time.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An automated process executed by a router device to allocate a user data traffic between a digital subscriber line (DSL) connection from the router device to a network and a 5G wireless connection from the router device to the network, the automated process comprising:

evaluating a current state of the DSL connection between the router device and the network;
evaluating a current state of the 5G wireless connection between the router device and the network, wherein the current state of the DSL connection comprises a first measurement of a performance-related condition of the DSL connection and wherein the current state of the 5G wireless connection comprises a second measurement of the performance-related condition of the 5G wireless connection;
receiving the user data traffic via a local area network connection;
selecting at least one of the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection for the received user data traffic based upon the current state of the DSL connection and the current state of the 5G wireless connection, wherein the selecting comprises:
determining, based on a characteristic of a packet of the user data traffic, the received user data traffic is sensitive to the performance-related condition;
determining, after the steps of evaluating the current state of the DSL connection and evaluating the current state of the 5G wireless connection, which of the DSL connection and the 5G wireless connection has a better performance-related condition based on the first measurement and the second measurement;
and
assigning the user data traffic to the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection having the better performance-related condition;
and
transmitting the received user data traffic to the network via the selected at least one of the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection.

7 more elements

A router device, comprising:

a digital processor;
a first interface to a DSL connection to a network;
a second interface to a 5G wireless connection to the network;
a third interface to a local area network;
and
a non-transitory digital storage configured to store computer executable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform an automated process comprising:
evaluating a current state of the DSL connection between the router device and the network;
evaluating a current state of the 5G wireless connection between the router device and the network, wherein the current state of the DSL connection comprises a first measurement of a performance-related condition of the DSL connection and wherein the current state of the 5G wireless connection comprises a second measurement of the performance-related condition of the 5G wireless connection;
receiving a user data traffic via the third interface to the local area network;
selecting at least one of the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection for the received user data traffic based upon the current state of the DSL connection and the current state of the 5G wireless connection, wherein the selecting comprises:
determining, based on a characteristic of a packet of the user data traffic, the received user data traffic is sensitive to the performance-related condition;
determining, after the steps of evaluating the current state of the DSL connection and evaluating the current state of the 5G wireless connection, which of the DSL connection and the 5G wireless connection has a better performance-related condition based on the first measurement and the second measurement;
and
assigning the user data traffic to the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection having the better performance-related condition;
and
transmitting the received user data traffic to the network via the selected at least one of the DSL connection or the 5G wireless connection.

13 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 18/404,442Filed 4 Jan 2024 · continuation
Priority: 18 Dec 2020
Published: US 2024/0154913 A19 May 2024
Granted: 29 Jul 2025
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

H04L 47/2491
Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS: mapping quality of service [QoS] requirements between different networks
H04L 12/2856
Wide area networks, e.g. public data networks: access arrangements, e.g. Internet access
H04L 12/5692
Access to open networks; Ingress point selection, e.g. ISP selection: selection among different networks
H04L 41/0896
Configuration management of networks or network elements: bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities

Family

Application17/126,931Parent of this continuation · filed 18 Dec 2020
US 2024/0154913 A1Pre-grant publication · published 9 May 2024
US 11,936,566 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2022/0200916 A1Published application
US 12,375,414 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.