Control of machine-to-machine devices

A apparatus for a communication device configured to establish a packet-switched communication link over a wireless cellular network, the apparatus comprising:

• a control circuit configured to control a deregistration of the device from a first cellular network and a registration of the device with a second cellular network based on a determination that the first cellular network cannot provide the packet-switched communication link;
• one or more packet circuits configured to execute one or more commands for establishing a packet-switched communications link;
• an identification circuit configured to identify that a quality measurement for the first cellular network fails to meet a predetermined level;
• and
• a registration circuit, configured to maintain an indication of the number of times that the device has deregistered from the first cellular network and to prevent further registrations of the device with the second cellular network for at least a predetermined period of time when the number of times that the device has deregistered from cellular networks including the first and second cellular networks reaches a threshold value.

A method of controlling a communication device configured to store subscription information for registering with a plurality of available cellular networks, wherein the subscription information identifies more than one cellular network of the plurality of available cellular networks with which the device may register and configures the device to operate on the more than one cellular network, and to execute an application, the method comprising:

• selecting a first cellular network from the plurality of available cellular networks;
• registering the device with the selected first cellular network;
• determining whether the selected first cellular network is able to provide a packet-switched communication link to the device;
• deregistering the device from the selected first cellular network and registering the device with a second cellular network from the plurality of available cellular networks based on the determination that the packet-switched communication link cannot be provided by the selected first cellular network;
• executing one or more commands for establishing a packet-switched communications link;
• maintaining an indication of a number of times that the device has deregistered from the selected first cellular network;
• and
• preventing further registrations of the device with the second cellular network for at least a predetermined period of time when the number of times that the device has deregistered from cellular networks including the plurality of available cellular networks is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

A method of controlling a communication device that has established a communication link over a first cellular network, the method comprising:

• identifying that a quality measurement for the communication link fails to meet a predetermined level, wherein the predetermined level is based upon a quality of service level defined by the application;
• deregistering the device from the first cellular network based on a determination that the first cellular network cannot provide a packet-switched communication link;
• registering the device with a second cellular network based on the determination that the first cellular network cannot provide the packet-switched communication link;
• executing one or more commands for establishing the packet-switched communications link;
• identifying that a quality measurement for the first cellular network fails to meet a predetermined level;
• and
• maintaining an indication of the number of times that the device has deregistered from the first cellular network and to prevent further registrations of the device with the second cellular network for at least a predetermined period of time when the number of times that the device has deregistered from cellular networks including the first and second cellular networks is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software for controlling a communication device configured to store subscription information for registering with more than one of a plurality of available cellular networks, wherein the subscription information identifies more than one cellular network of the plurality of available cellular networks with which the device may register and configures the device to operate on the more than one cellular network, and to execute an application, the software comprising:

• executable code that selects a first cellular network from the plurality of available cellular networks;
• executable code that registers the device with the selected first cellular network;
• executable code that determines whether the selected first cellular network is able to provide a packet-switched communication link to the device;
• executable code that deregisters the device from the selected first cellular network and registers the device with a second cellular network from the plurality of available cellular networks based on the configuration circuit determining that the packet-switched communication link cannot be provided by the selected first cellular network;
• executable code that establishes a packet-switched communications link;
• executable code that maintains an indication of a number of times that the device has deregistered from the selected first cellular network;
• and
• executable code that prevents further registrations of the device with the second cellular network for at least a predetermined period of time when the number of times that the device has deregistered from cellular networks including the plurality of available cellular networks is greater than or equal to a threshold value.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software for controlling a communication device that has established a communication link over a first cellular network, the software comprising:

• executable code that deregisters the device from the first cellular network based on a determination that the first cellular network cannot provide a packet-switched communication link;
• executable code that registers the device with a second cellular network based on the determination that the first cellular network cannot provide the packet-switched communication link;
• executable code that executes one or more commands for establishing a the packet-switched communications link;
• executable code that identifies that a quality measurement for the first cellular network fails to meet a predetermined level;
• and
• executable code that maintains an indication of the number of times that the device has deregistered from the first cellular network and to prevent further registrations of the device with the second cellular network for at least a predetermined period of time when the number of times that the device has deregistered from cellular networks including the first and second cellular networks is greater than or equal to a threshold value.