US 8,570,993 B2 · Wi-Fi intelligent selection engine

Abstract

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed to offload the usage of a cellular network by intelligent selection of broadband network connections such as Wi-Fi access points. A Wi-Fi transceiver on a mobile device is activated when certain conditions are met, such as a time, location, recognition of a radiofrequency (RF) environment, etc. The conditions are correlated with a database of known locations in which a one or more Wi-Fi access points are determined to exist. The Wi-Fi transceiver on the mobile device is activated and commanded to connect to a particular Wi-Fi access point. Dynamic intelligence ensures that the appropriate connection method is used, and minimizes handovers to networks or access points that are unreliable or that are predicted to become inaccessible to the mobile device.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method, comprising:

receiving, by a mobile device comprising a processor, a time and date;
determining, by the mobile device, a location of the mobile device;
determining, by the mobile device, an availability of a subset of a set of Wi-Fi access point devices comprising comparing the location of the mobile device with a set of known locations associated with the set of Wi-Fi access point devices;
determining, by the mobile device, a Wi-Fi access point device of the subset of Wi-Fi access point devices based on the availability of the Wi-Fi access point device, the time, the date, and a Wi-Fi preference schedule based on a configurable schedule of events;
activating a Wi-Fi transceiver in the mobile device in response to the Wi-Fi access point device being determined;
and
initiating an instruction for the mobile device to connect to the Wi-Fi access point device.

4 more elements

A mobile device comprising:

a memory to store instructions;
and
a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the instructions to perform operations, comprising:
determining a location of the mobile device;
comparing the location of the mobile device with a set of known locations, the set of known locations being associated with respective Wi-Fi access point devices of a set of Wi-Fi access point devices;
determining a proximity of the mobile device to a subset of the set of Wi-Fi access point devices;
activating a Wi-Fi transceiver of the mobile device in response to the proximity being determined to satisfy a defined proximity condition, a time and a date being determined to satisfy a temporal condition, a schedule condition being determined to be satisfied related to a Wi-Fi preference schedule determined from a configurable schedule of events, and the Wi-Fi access point device of the subset of Wi-Fi access point devices being determined to be available for use, and
directing the Wi-Fi transceiver to connect to a Wi-Fi access point device of the subset of Wi-Fi access point devices.

5 more elements

A mobile device comprising:

a memory to store instructions;
and
a processor, communicatively coupled to the memory, that facilitates execution of the instructions to perform operations, comprising:
receiving location information representing a location of the mobile device, the location information further comprising time stamp information;
determining a time and a date based on time stamp information;
receiving a Wi-Fi preference schedule based on a schedule of events that is updatable based on input received by the mobile device;
selecting a subset of a set of Wi-Fi access point devices based on the location information being determined to satisfy a condition related to the Wi-Fi preference schedule;
and
selecting a Wi-Fi access point device from the subset of Wi-Fi access point devices based on comparing the time with the Wi-Fi preference schedule, comparing the date with the Wi-Fi preference schedule, and a Wi-Fi access point device of the subset of Wi-Fi access point devices being available;
activating a Wi-Fi transceiver in response to selecting a Wi-Fi access point device;
and
initiating a connection to the Wi-Fi access point device.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Wi-Fi intelligent selection engine

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Wi-Fi intelligent selection engine

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Abstract

Claims20