Smart synchronization of computer system time clock based on network connection modes

A computer-implemented method of controlling synchronization of a time clock maintained by a computer system, the method being associated with a clock synchronization process of the computer system, the method comprising:

• determining whether a default network connection mode of the computer system requires a user-disruptive action;
• if the default network connection mode requires a user-disruptive action, then when the computer system does not have an active connection to a network used to synchronize the time clock, waiting until a process other than the clock synchronization process has established an active connection to the network for the computer system, before accessing a server on the network to synchronize the time clock;
• and
• if the default connection mode does not require a potentially user-disruptive action, then:
• immediately establishing an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock.

A computer-implemented method of synchronizing a time clock maintained by a computer system, the method comprising:

• when a synchronization of the time clock is to be performed, determining whether the computer system has an active connection to a network;
• if the computer system has an active connection to the network, then accessing a server on the network to synchronize the time clock;
• if the computer system does not have an active connection to the network, then:
• determining whether a default network connection mode of the computer system is user-disruptive;
• and
• if the default network connection mode is user-disruptive, then:
• waiting until the computer system has an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock only when the computer system has an active connection to the network;
• and
• if the default connection mode is not user-disruptive, then:
• immediately establishing an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock.

A computer-implemented method of synchronizing a time clock maintained by a computer system, the method comprising:

• determining whether the computer system has an active connection to a network each time a synchronization of the time clock is to be performed;
• if the computer system has an active connection to the network, then accessing a server on the network to synchronize the time clock;
• if the computer system does not have an active connection to the network, then:
• determining whether a default network connection mode of the computer system requires activation of a modem by querying a configuration database of the processing system;
• if the default network connection mode requires activation of a modem, then waiting until the computer system has an active connection to the network to access the server to synchronize the time clock;
• and
• if the default connection mode does not require activation of a modem, then:
• immediately establishing an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock.

A computer-implemented method of synchronizing a time clock maintained by a computer system, the method comprising:

• when a synchronization of the time clock is to be performed, determining whether the computer system has an active connection to a network;
• if the computer system has an active connection to the network, then accessing a server on the network to synchronize the time clock;
• if the computer system does not have an active connection to the network, then:
• determining whether a default network connection mode of the computer system is user-disruptive;
• and
• if the default network connection mode is user-disruptive, then:
• waiting until the computer system has an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock only when the computer system has an active connection to the network;
• and
• if the default connection mode is not user-disruptive, then:
• immediately establishing an active connection to the network;
• and
• accessing the server to synchronize the time clock.

A computer system comprising:

• a processor;
• a communication device coupled to the processor for enabling the computer system to communicate on a network;
• and
• a storage device coupled to the processor, the storage device having instructions stored therein which configure the processor to:
• determine whether a default network connection mode of the computer system is user-disruptive;
• if the default network connection mode is user-disruptive, then when the computer system does not have an active connection to the network, wait until the computer system has an active connection to the network to access the network to synchronize a time clock maintained by the computer system;
• and
• if the default connection mode is not user-disruptive, then:
• immediately establish an active connection to the network;
• and
• access the network to synchronize the time clock.

A device for use in a computer system for synchronizing a clock maintained by the computer system, the device comprising:

• means for determining whether a network connection mode of the computer system is user-disruptive;
• means for accessing the network to synchronize the clock only when the computer system has an active connection to the network if the network connection mode is user-disruptive;
• and
• means for immediately establishing an active connection to the network to synchronize the clock if the connection mode is not user-disruptive and the computer system does not have an active connection to the network.

A data signal embodied in a propagation medium, the data signal representing a plurality of instructions which, when executed on a computer system, cause the computer system to:

• determine whether the computer system has an active connection to a network when a synchronization of a time clock maintained by the computer system is to be performed;
• if the computer system has an active connection to the network, then access the network to synchronize the time clock;
• if the computer system does not have an active connection to the network, then:
• determine whether a default network connection mode of the computer system requires a user-disruptive action;
• if the default network connection mode requires a user-disruptive action, then wait until the computer system has an active connection to the network to access the network to synchronize the time clock;
• and
• if the default connection mode does not require a user-disruptive action, then:
• immediately establish an active connection to the network;
• and
• access the network to synchronize the time clock.

A method of controlling synchronization of a clock maintained by a processing system, the method comprising:

• synchronizing the clock at least twice, said synchronizing including:
• determining whether a network connection mode of the processing system is user transparent;
• if the network connection mode is determined not to be user transparent, then accessing a network to synchronize the clock only when the processing system has an active connection to the network;
• and
• if the connection mode is determined to be user transparent, then immediately establishing an active connection to the network to synchronize the clock when the processing system does not have an active connection to the network;
• computing a value corresponding to an amount of drift of the clock based on said synchronizing the clock at least twice;
• and
• determining when to resynchronize the clock based on the computed value.

A machine-readable storage medium tangibly embodying sequences of instructions executable by a processing system to perform operations for synchronizing a time clock maintained by the processing system, the operations comprising:

• determining whether a network connection mode of the processing system is user disruptive;
• accessing the network to synchronize the time clock only when the processing system has an active connection to the network if the network connection mode is user-disruptive;
• and
• immediately establishing an active connection to the network to synchronize the time clock if the connection mode is not user-disruptive and the processing system does not have an active connection to the network.