Method and apparatus for providing network access over different wireless networks

A gateway between a plurality of wireless network carriers and the Internet, each of the wireless network carriers providing wireless communication services to a plurality of wireless communication devices, said gateway comprising:

• a HTTP interface module coupled to the Internet, said HTTP interface module interconnects said gateway with the Internet;
• a push agent coupled to said HTTP interface module and including a network driver for each of the wireless network carriers, said push agent operates to receive notification messages for particular ones of the wireless communication devices, and to forward the notification messages to the particular ones of the wireless communication devices by the network driver associated with the wireless network carrier respectively used by the particular ones of the wireless communication devices;
• and
• a pull agent coupled to said HTTP interface module and including a network driver for each of the wireless network carriers, said pull agent operates to receive information requests for information from the Internet from particular ones of the wireless communication devices, to form HTTP requests to request the information from the Internet via said HTTP interface module, to thereafter receive HTTP responses from the Internet containing the information requested, to form information replies for the particular ones of the wireless communication devices based on the HTTP responses, and then to send the information replies to the particular ones of the wireless communication devices th at sent the information requests using the network driver associated with the wireless network carrier respectively used by the particular ones of the wireless communication devices.

A method for exchanging data between the Internet and wireless communication devices through a network gateway having a plurality of network drivers for use with different carrier networks that use different network types and protocols, said method comprising:

• (a) identifying an incoming request for data from the Internet from a first wireless communication device of a plurality of wireless communication devices, the incoming request being via a first carrier network of a plurality of carrier networks of different network types which use different protocols, the first carrier network having a first network type and using a first protocol;
• (b) associating the incoming request for data with a first network driver within the network gateway that is configured to receive requests for data from the first carrier network in accordance with the first network type and the first protocol, the first network driver being one of the plurality of network drivers;
• (c) receiving the incoming request for data at the first network driver;
• (d) forming an HTTP request for data based on the received request for data;
• and
• (e) forwarding the HTTP request for data to the Internet,
• wherein said associating (b) comprises:
• (b1) receiving a source identifier from the incoming request for data, the source identifier uniquely identifies the first wireless communication device;
• and
• (b2) determining the first network driver from a plurality of network drivers based on the source identifier.

A method for providing data from a wired network to wireless communication devices through a network gateway, said method comprising:

• (a) receiving a notification from the wired network that is to be directed to a first wireless communication device of a plurality of wireless communication devices via a first carrier network of a plurality of carrier networks of different network types which use different protocols, the first carrier network having a first network type and using a first protocol;
• (b) formulating a notification message to inform the first wireless communication device of the notification;
• (c) determining a first network driver within the network gateway that is associated with the first wireless communication device from a plurality of network drivers within the network gateway, the first network driver being configured to send notification messages to the first wireless communication device via the first carrier network in accordance with the first network type and the first protocol;
• and
• (d) sending the notification message to the first wireless communication device using the first network driver.

A computer readable medium containing program code for interactive data exchange between a wired network and wireless communication devices, said computer readable medium comprising:

• first program code for identifying an incoming request for data from the wired network from a first wireless communication device of a plurality of wireless communication devices, the incoming request being via a first carrier network of a plurality of carrier networks of different network types which use different protocols, the first carrier network having a first network type and using a first protocol;
• second program code for associating the incoming request for data with a first network driver configured to receive requests for data from the first carrier network in accordance with the first network type and the first protocol;
• third program code for receiving the incoming request for data at the first network driver;
• fourth program code for forming a wired network request for data based on the received request for data;
• and
• fifth program code for forwarding the wired network request for data to the wired network.

A computer readable medium containing program code for providing data from a wired network to wireless communication devices, said computer readable medium comprising:

• program code for receiving a notification from the wired network that is to be directed to a first wireless communication device of a plurality of wireless communication devices via a first carrier network of a plurality of carrier networks of different network types which use different protocols, the first carrier network having a first network type and using a first protocol;
• program code for formulating a notification message to inform the first wireless communication device of the notification;
• program code for determining a first network driver associated with the first wireless communication device from a plurality of network drivers, the first network driver being configured to send notification messages to the first wireless communication device via the first carrier network in accordance with the first network type and the first protocol;
• and
• program code for sending the notification message to the first wireless communication device using the first network driver.