USOO6982962B1
`
`12
`
`United States Patent
`
`10 Patent N0.:
`
`,
`,
`US 6 982 962 B1
`
`
`Lunsford et al.
`(45) Date of Patent:
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`(54) SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTING A
`NETWORK ACCESS PROVIDER USING A
`PORTABLE INFORMATION DEVICE
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Eric Michael Lunsford, San Carlos,
`CA (US); Steve Parker, Centerville,
`UT (US); David Kammer, Seattle, WA
`(US); David Moore, Riverton, UT (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: 3Com Corporation, Marlborough, MA
`(US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U'S'C' 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`.
`(21) Appl. No.. 09/546,887
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Apr. 10, 2000
`
`Int. CL
`(51)
`(2006.01)
`H04B 7/005
`(52) US. Cl.
`....................................... 370/278; 455/557
`_
`_
`_
`(58) Field of Clasmficatlon Search ................ 370/278,
`.379/282’ 461’ 463’ 455/426’ 556} 557’ 575
`See apphcation file for complete search hlstory.
`.
`References Clted
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`(56)
`
`.................... 705/1
`1/2000 Maes et al.
`6,016,476 A *
`
`6,134,453 A * 10/2000 Sainton et al.
`..
`..... 455/553
`
`.............. 455/428
`6,208,857 B1 *
`3/2001 Agre et al.
`.............. 715/708
`6,232,970 B1 *
`5/2001 Bodnar et al.
`
`7/2001 Stewart et al.
`.............. 342/457
`6,259,405 B1 *
`
`4/2003 Kuhn et al. ............. 704/275
`6,553,345 B1 *
`5/2003 Stewart et al.
`................ 705/52
`6,571,221 B1 *
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Specification of the Bluetooth System, “Wireless Connec-
`ti0ns Made Easy”, Specification vol. 1, Dec. 1, 1999, pp.
`1-1082.
`Specification of the Bluetooth System, “Wireless Connec-
`ti0ns Made Easy”, Specification vol. 2, Dec. 1, 1999, pp.
`1-440.
`
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner—Man U. Phan
`Assistant Examiner—Toan Nguyen
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—McDonnell Boehnen
`Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A system and method for selecting a network access pro-
`.
`.
`.
`.
`.
`.
`v1der usmg a portable mformatlon dev1ce (PID) includes
`.
`.
`,
`con51dermg the user 5 pre-stated preferences. The pre-stated
`preferences may include, but are not limited to, reliability,
`security, signal strength, cost or appropriateness of service
`provider. The network access providers may be chosen from,
`but not limited to, a network access server at a corporate
`office or a cellular telephone. A score is calculated for each
`available network access provider and a connection is made
`based on the optimum provider that fits with the preferences
`of the user.
`
`5 Claims, 7 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`NETWORK
`ACCESS
`SERVER
`
`PREFERENCES
`
`1
`
`Exhibit 1030
`
`Apple, et al. v. Uniloc
`|PR2019—00251
`
`Exhibit 1030
`Apple, et al. v. Uniloc
`IPR2019-00251
`
`1
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet170f7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
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`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`SheetZ 0f7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
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`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet 3 0f 7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
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`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet 4 0f 7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`8N\
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`Q1%>2;
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`

`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet 5 0f 7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`START
`
`310
`
`300
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`EVALUATE ACCESS
`PROVIDERS AGAINST
`USER PREFERENCES
`
`340
`
`
`
`
`
`IS AUTO
`
`CONNECT FLAG
`SET ?
`
`
`
`NO
`
`OUTPUT SORTED
`
`PROVIDERS TO USER
`
`LIST OF ACCESS
`
`DETECT AVAILABLE
`ACCESS PROVIDERS
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`320
`
`330
`
`YES
`
`350
`
`360
`
`USER SELECTS
`PROVIDER FROM
`SORTED LIST
`
`
`J K. 370
`
`CONNECT WITH
`PROVIDER
`
`END
`
`380
`
`FIG. 5
`
`6
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet 6 0f 7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`START
`
`410
`
` 330
`
`
`
`USER LISTS DIFFERENT
`PREFERENCES (RELIABILITY,
`
`COST, SIGNAL STRENGTH ...... )
`
`/ 4
`
`20
`
`430
`
`440
`
`450
`
`460
`
`470
`
`FOR EACH PREFERENCE THE
`USER INDICATES AN IMPORTANCE
`
`LEVEL (WEIGHT) Wp OR A LIMIT
`
`FOR EACH PREFERENCE A
`HEURISTIC ROUTINE hp() IS RUN TO
`GATHER INFORMATION OR MAKE
`MEASUREMENTS TO EVALUATE
`EACH ACCESS PROVIDER
`
`NETWORK ACCESS PROVIDER
`
`A NORMALIZED VALUE
`
`np(hp()) IS CALCULATED
`FOR EACH PREFERENCE
`
`CALCULATE SCORE FOR EACH
`
`SORT LIST OF ACCESS PROVIDERS
`
`BASED ON CALCULATED SCORE
`
`END
`
`480
`
`FIG. 6
`
`7
`
`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Jan. 3, 2006
`
`Sheet 7 0f 7
`
`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`float device_score[ num_devices_discovered() ];
`
`for (int i = O,
`{
`
`i < num_devices_discovered(), i++)
`
`device_score[i] = 0;
`
`for( intj = 0;j < num_properties(); j++)
`{
`
`int prop_score = test_property__of__device(j /*property number*/, i
`/*device number*l)
`float normalized_score = normalizer(j /*property number*l,
`prop_score);
`float weighted_score = normalized_score * get_weight_for_property(j
`/*property number*l);
`device_score[i] = device_score[i] + weighted_score;
`
`}
`
`} i
`
`nt prefered_device_number = 0;
`float prefered_device_score = device_score[O]
`for (int k = 1; k < num_devices__discovered(), k++)
`{
`
`if( prefered_device_score < device_score[k] )
`{
`
`prefered_device_number = k;
`prefered_device_score < device_score[k];
`
`}
`
`}
`
`FIG. 7
`
`8
`
`

`

`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SELECTING A
`NETWORK ACCESS PROVIDER USING A
`PORTABLE INFORMATION DEVICE
`
`COPYRIGHT AUTHORIZATION
`
`A portion of the disclosure of this patent document
`contains material, which is subject to copyright protection.
`The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile
`reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent
`disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office
`patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright
`rights whatsoever.
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`to portable
`invention relates in general
`This present
`information devices. More specifically, it relates to a system
`and method for selecting a network access provider using a
`portable information device.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`(PID)
`the use of portable information devices
`As
`increases, reliance on PID’s to provide optimum function-
`ality does too. An example of a PID is a personal digital
`assistant (PDA), such as one of the PalmTM series of PDA’s
`offered by Palm, Inc. The PID’s include a variety of func-
`tionality, such as wireless phone or two-way radio function-
`ality.
`Typically the PID can access a data network, such as, for
`example, a local area network (LAN), a wide area network
`(WAN), or more typically, a collection of interconnected
`LANs and WANs, also known as the Internet using a
`network access provider. The network access provider can
`be accessed through a cellular telephone or through a
`computer network which essentially function as nodes to
`connect with a data network. The user of the PID typically
`has to choose between the network access providers prior to
`accessing the data network.
`There is a need to simplify the user’s experience of
`choosing a suitable connection to an optimum network
`access provider using a PID.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention includes a system and a method for
`selecting a network access provider using a portable infor-
`mation device (PID). The system and the method of the
`present invention simplifies the user’s experience by auto-
`mating the selection process and in addition may be the
`connection process to a network access provider. The selec-
`tion and perhaps eventual connection to a network access
`provider is based upon a user’s pre-stated preferences such
`as, for example, security, reliability, signal strength, cost or
`appropriateness of service provider. The relative importance
`of the preferences to each user are also considered when
`selecting the network access provider. The service providers
`may be chosen from, but not limited to, a network access
`server at a corporate office or a cellular telephone.
`In a preferred embodiment, the method of the present
`invention includes the user indicating a level of importance
`for each preference or criterion. The preferences or criteria
`as described before include, but are not limited to, security,
`reliability, signal level, cost and ownership. The level of
`importance represents a weight for each preference and may
`be stored as a value between 0 and 1. For certain criteria that
`
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`2
`cannot be normalized, such as, for example, cost, the user
`inputs minimum or maximum limit values that are used to
`define a normalization range. The method further includes a
`routine for evaluating each criteria, such as, for example, for
`the criterion cost, the routine first makes necessary mea-
`surements by getting cost estimates for the different network
`access providers and then evaluating the importance of the
`criterion.
`
`The method further includes a PID performing an inquiry
`to find available devices that provide network access. The
`PID may follow the short-range radio link guidelines speci-
`fied in the Bluetooth specification to perform an inquiry
`using the discovery protocol. The PID makes a connection
`with the devices to learn the device’s user friendly name.
`The method of the present invention then includes the PID
`computing a value or a score for each device by first running
`the heuristic routines for all the preferences and then mul-
`tiplying the weight of the preferences with the normalized
`value output by the heuristic routine.
`The method then includes sorting the list of the devices
`based upon the scores. If the user has configured the PID to
`auto-connect to the best available device for the user, the
`PID then attempts to connect to the best available device
`(device with the highest score, for example) automatically.
`The PID moves down the list of the devices if it were unable
`
`to reach the first device or network access provider.
`In an alternate embodiment, the PID may show the list of
`available devices to the user in a ranked order according to
`the calculated score. The user then selects which device to
`
`connect to using the rankings.
`The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages
`of the system and method for selecting a network access
`provider using a PID will be apparent from the following
`more particular description of preferred embodiments of the
`system and method as illustrated in the accompanying
`drawings in which like reference characters refer to the same
`parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not to
`scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the
`principles of the invention.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`inventions are
`Preferred embodiments of the present
`described with reference
`to the
`following drawings,
`wherein:
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a preferred embodi-
`ment of the system of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a PID according to
`an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 3 is a stack layer diagram illustrating the layers of an
`RF protocol stack according to a preferred embodiment of
`the system of the present invention;
`FIG. 4 is a stack layer diagram illustrating the layers of an
`infrared protocol stack according to a preferred embodiment
`of the system of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating the method of a
`preferred embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 6 shows a flowchart
`illustrating the method for
`evaluating the access providers in accordance with a pre-
`ferred embodiment of the present invention; and
`FIG. 7 is a listing of an exemplary functional code for
`calculating a score for different access providers in accor-
`dance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
`
`9
`
`

`

`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`3
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`The present invention is directed to a system and a method
`for selecting a network access provider using a PID.
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary embodi-
`ment of the system of the present invention. A PID 10 is able
`to interface with different network access providers such as,
`for example, a cellular telephone 12 and a network access
`server 14. The PID 10 and related devices may use a link,
`such as, for example, an RF link 15, 17 which may be
`implemented using all or parts of a specialized protocol,
`such as the Bluetooth system protocol stack. The PID 10
`includes a list of user preferences 16 that the PID 10 uses to
`evaluate the different network access providers.
`FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an exem-
`plary embodiment of the PID 10 that can communicate with
`network access providers. The link interface or data inter-
`face circuitry 20 illustrates, but
`is not
`limited to,
`two
`alternative link interfaces for establishing a wireless link to
`the network access providers. The wireless link 15, 17 is
`preferably an RF link as defined by the Bluetooth commu-
`nications specification. However, the wireless link 15, 17
`can take on other forms, such as, an infrared communica-
`tions link as defined by the Infrared Data Association
`(IrDA). The PID 10 includes a processor 50 that is capable
`of executing an RF stack 150, and an IrDA stack 120 that
`communicate with a data interface circuitry 20 through bus
`110. Processor 50 is also connected through bus 110 to user
`interface circuitry 40, data storage 90 and memory 100. The
`processor 50 also includes a heuristic application 130 which
`assists in calculating the scoring function 140 to determine
`the optimum network access provider.
`in this exemplary
`Data interface circuitry 20 includes,
`embodiment, a first and second port, such as, an infrared and
`RF interface ports. The first wireless link interface, the RF
`link interface, may include a first connection 22 which
`includes radio-frequency (RF) circuitry 24 for converting
`signals into radio-frequency output and for accepting radio-
`frequency input. The RF circuitry 24 can send and receive
`RF data communications via a transceiver that establishes
`
`communication port 26. RF communication signals received
`by the RF circuitry 24 are converted to electrical signals and
`relayed to the RF stack 150 in processor 50 via bus 110. The
`radio interface 24, 26, and links 15, 17 between a PID and
`access provider devices may be implemented according to
`the Bluetooth specifications, described at www.bluetooth-
`.com, and incorporated in its entirety herein.
`The second alternative wireless link interface may include
`a second connection 28, which further includes infrared
`circuitry 30 for converting signals into infrared output and
`for accepting infrared input. An infrared communication
`port 32 may also be included within the second alternative
`link interface. The infrared circuitry 30 can send and receive
`infrared data communications via a transceiver that estab-
`
`lishes communication port 32. Infrared communication sig-
`nals received by infrared circuitry 30 are converted into
`electrical signals that are relayed to the IrDA stack 120 in
`controller 50 via bus 110. The infrared circuitry 30 operates
`according
`to
`the
`IrDA specifications
`available
`at
`www.IrDA.org.
`The two alternative link interfaces described above are
`
`merely exemplary, and additional means for implementing
`the interface between a PID and an access provider device
`may also be utilized. Although two link interfaces are shown
`in FIG. 2, there may be only one such interface in the PID
`
`4
`10. More than one link interface may be included to improve
`flexibility and to provide redundancy in case of failure of
`one of the link interfaces.
`
`A user interface circuitry 40 includes hardware and soft-
`ware components that provide user
`input and output
`resources for functions in the processor 50. The user inter-
`face circuitry 40 includes a display output 60, a display input
`70, and an additional input/output interface 80.
`The display output 60 preferably receives digital infor-
`mation representing graphical data from the processor 50
`and converts the information to a graphical display, such as
`text and or/images, for display on a display screen, for
`example.
`The display input 70 may receive data inputs, such as
`graphical data inputs, from a user of the PID 10. The
`graphical data inputs are preferably entered by the user with
`a stylus on a pressure-sensitive display screen, and may
`include text, drawings, or other objects that are capable of
`being graphically presented.
`The additional input/output interface 80 allows the user to
`enter other types of data besides graphical data into the PID
`10. For example, audio data, additional graphical data, or
`additional input, such as video camera input for example,
`may be entered through the additional input/output interface
`80. The data may also include data formatted for operation
`with particular applications on the PID 10. For example,
`email data, calendar data, contact data, database data,
`spreadsheets, notes, game data, etc may also be entered.
`Touch-sensitive screen buttons are an exemplary method for
`a user to enter control data into the PID 10.
`
`The processor 50 may include an operating system, as
`well as application and communication software, to imple-
`ment the functions of the PID 10. The operating system may
`be any suitable commercially available operating system, or
`any proprietary operating system. The operating system and
`software may be stored in the data storage 90, in the memory
`100, or may be embedded in the processor 50. Although the
`processor 50 is shown connected to the data storage 90
`through a bus 110, other configurations may also be used.
`Similarly, the memory 100 may be configured other than as
`shown in FIG. 2, and may be embedded within the processor
`50.
`
`Bluetooth is a short-range radio link intended to replace
`the cable(s) connecting portable and/or fixed electronic
`devices. Bluetooth technology features low power, robust-
`ness, low complexity and low cost. It operates in the 2.4 Ghz
`unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) band.
`Devices equipped with Bluetooth are capable of exchanging
`data at speeds up to 720 kbps at ranges up to 10 meters. It
`should be noted that higher power devices than typical
`Bluetooth enabled PIDs, such as, for example, a Network
`Access Point, may communicate via Bluetooth with an RF
`enabled PID over a greater range, such as, for example,
`approximately 100 meters.
`A frequency hop transceiver is used to combat interfer-
`ence and fading. A shaped, binary FM modulation is applied
`to minimize transceiver complexity. A slotted channel is
`applied with a nominal slot length of 625 us. For full duplex
`transmission, a Time-Division Duplex (TDD) scheme is
`used. On the channel, information is exchanged through
`packets. Each packet
`is transmitted on a different hop
`frequency. Apacket nominally covers a single slot, but can
`be extended to cover up to five slots.
`The Bluetooth protocol uses a combination of circuit and
`packet switching. Slots can be reserved for synchronous
`packets. Bluetooth can support an asynchronous data chan-
`nel, up to three simultaneous synchronous voice channels, or
`
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`

`

`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`5
`a channel which simultaneously supports asynchronous data
`and synchronous voice. Each voice channel supports a 64
`kb/s synchronous (voice) channel in each direction. The
`asynchronous channel can support maximal 723.2 kb/s
`asymmetric, or 433.9 kb/s symmetric.
`The Bluetooth system consists of a radio unit, a link
`control unit, and a support unit for link management and
`host terminal interface functions. The link controller carries
`
`out the baseband protocols and other low-level link routines.
`The Bluetooth system provides a point-to-point connec-
`tion (only two Bluetooth units involved), or a point-to-
`multipoint connection. In the point-to-multipoint connec-
`tion, the channel is shared among several Bluetooth units.
`Two or more units sharing the same channel form a piconet.
`One Bluetooth unit acts as the master of the piconet, whereas
`the other units act as slaves. Upto seven slaves can be active
`in a piconet.
`The Bluetooth link controller has two major states:
`STANDBY and CONNECTION, in addition, there are seven
`substates, page, page scan, inquiry,
`inquiry scan, master
`response, slave response, and inquiry response. The sub-
`states are interim states that are used to add new slaves to a
`
`piconet.
`The STANDBY state is the default state in the Bluetooth
`
`unit. In this state, the Bluetooth unit is in a low-power mode.
`The controller may leave the STANDBY state to scan for
`page or inquiry messages, or to page or inquiry itself. When
`responding to a page message, the unit enters the CON-
`NECTION state as a slave. When carrying out a successful
`page attempt, the unit enters the CONNECTION state as a
`master.
`
`In order to establish new connections the procedures
`inquiry and paging are used. The inquiry procedure enables
`a unit to discover which units are in range, and what their
`device addresses and clocks are. During an inquiry substate,
`the discovering unit collects the Bluetooth device addresses
`and clocks of all units that respond to the inquiry message.
`It can then, if desired, make a connection to any one of them.
`The inquiry message broadcasted by the source does not
`contain any information about the source. However, it may
`indicate which class of devices should respond. There is one
`general
`inquiry access code (GIAC) to inquire for any
`Bluetooth device, and a number of dedicated inquiry access
`codes (DIAC) that only inquire for a certain type of devices.
`Aunit that wants to discover other Bluetooth units enters an
`
`inquiry substate. In this substate, it continuously transmits
`the inquiry message (which is an ID packet) at different hop
`frequencies. A unit
`that allows itself to be discovered,
`regularly enters the inquiry scan substate to respond to
`inquiry messages.
`FIG. 3 is a protocol diagram 200 illustrating the layers of
`the Bluetooth (RF) protocol stack 150 that may be used in
`a preferred embodiment of the present invention. An RF
`protocol stack is implemented at each of the connection
`endpoints of an RF link. For example, a PID 10 and network
`access providers or devices as shown in FIG. 1, could each
`implement an RF stack to enable a link. The required layers
`of the RF link using the Bluetooth system are the Baseband
`layer 210, the Link Manager Protocol layer (LMP) 220, the
`Logical Link Control and Adaptation Protocol (L2CAP)
`layer 230, Telephony Control Protocol (TCS) layer 240,
`RFCOMM layer 250, Service Discovery Protocol layer 260
`and Object Exchange Protocol (OBEX) layer 270.
`FIG. 4 is a protocol diagram 280, illustrating the layers of
`the IrDA protocol stack 120 shown in FIG. 2. For example,
`the PID 10 and the cellular telephone 12 each implement an
`IrDA protocol stack to enable the link 15.
`
`6
`The required layers of an IrDA protocol stack 120 are the
`physical layers 282, the IrLAP layer 284, the IrLMP layer
`286 and the IAS layer 290. The physical layer 282 specifies
`optical characteristics of the link, encoding of the data, and
`framing for various speeds. The IrLAP (Link Access Pro-
`tocol) layer 284 establishes the basic reliable connection
`between the two ends of the link. The IrLMP (Link Man-
`agement Protocol) layer 286 multiplexes services and appli-
`cations on the IrLAP connection. The IAS (Information
`Access Service) layer 290 provides a directory of services
`on an IrDA device.
`
`The IrDA protocol also specifies a number of optional
`protocol layers, these protocol layers being Tiny TP 288,
`IrOBEX 294, IrCOMM 296 and IrLAN 292. Tiny TP (Tiny
`Transport Protocol) 288 adds per-channel flow control to
`keep traffic over the IrDA link moving smoothly. IrOBEX
`(Infrared Object Exchange Protocol) 294 provides for the
`easy transfer of files and other data objects between the IrDA
`devices at each end of the link. IrCOMM 296 is a serial and
`
`parallel port emulation that enables existing applications that
`use serial and parallel communications to use IrDA without
`change. IrLAN (Infrared Local Area Network) 292 enables
`walk-up infrared LAN access for laptops and other devices.
`The use of the optional layers depends upon the particular
`application in the IrDA device. The IrDA protocol stack 120
`is defined by such standard documents as “IrDA Serial
`Infrared Physical Layer Link Specification”,
`“IrDA
`‘IrCOMM’: Serial and Parallel Port Emulation over IR (wire
`replacement)”, “IrDA Serial Infrared Link Access Protocol
`(IrLAP)”, “IrDA Infrared Link Management Protocol
`(IrLMP)”, and “IrDA ‘Tiny TP’: A Flow-Control Mecha-
`nism for use with IrLMP”, and related specifications pub-
`lished by the IrDA and available at www.irda.org/standards/
`specifications.asp and is incorporated in it’s entirely by
`reference herein.
`
`Typically, PIDs, such as, the Palm Pilot, and the cellular
`telephone, already have an IrDA stack implemented in them
`to support their infrared link to other devices and the benefits
`of the IrDA stack are already available. Similarly, many
`personal computers and laptops are equipped with an IrDA
`stack and infrared port
`to communicate with peripheral
`devices, such as, printers. Therefore,
`it may be simply a
`matter of implementing the method of the present invention
`in order to obtain the benefits of the present invention.
`FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of a preferred
`embodiment in accordance with the present invention. The
`process 300 to connect to a network access provider starts at
`step 310. At step 320, the PID detects available network
`access providers. The PID may use the Bluetooth discovery
`protocol to perform an inquiry to find available devices of a
`given class. The PID may have to connect to each discovered
`device in order to learn the device’s user friendly name.
`The process then proceeds to step 330 at which step the
`PID evaluates the network access providers against a user’s
`preferences. The evaluation process is described in detail
`with respect to FIG. 6. The evaluation process calculates a
`score for each device or network access provider and sorts
`the list of devices based upon the score.
`At step 340, if the auto-connect flag is set, by which the
`user has configured the device to attempt to auto-connect to
`the best available device, then the process proceeds to step
`370. At step 370, the PID attempts to connect to the best
`device available to use the services. If the connection fails,
`the PID then moves through the list in order and attempts to
`connect to the optimum device per the user’s preferences.
`However, at step 340, if the auto-connect flag is not set
`and the user does not want the PID to attempt to auto-
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`US 6,982,962 B1
`
`7
`connect, then the PID displays the sorted list of network
`access providers to the user per step 350. In the alternative,
`the rank order of the devices is displayed as a percentage.
`Further, in an alternate embodiment, the user may have the
`ability to select a given device to see the rankings of the
`individual heuristic, expressed, but not limited to, percent-
`ages. At step 360, the user then selects the device the PID
`needs to connect. The PID then connects with the selected
`
`provider at step 370. If disabled by the user, the process to
`connect to an appropriate provider ends at step 380 else it
`iterates to keep connecting to an optimum provider.
`FIG. 6 illustrates the process 330 to evaluate the access
`providers against a user’s preferences for an optimum con-
`nection to a network access provider. The process 330
`begins at step 410. The user inputs preferences or criteria
`that the PID processes to determine the optimum network
`access provider for the particular user, per step 420. The
`preferences include, but are not limited to, security, reliabil-
`ity of access, signal level, cost and ownership. The user
`additionally rates the importance of the preferences at step
`430. For each preference, the user may, in a user interface
`implementation, configure a slider, for example, to indicate
`how important a particular preference is to the user. This
`assigned importance level is analogous to a weight and may
`be stored as a value between 0 and 1 and is referred to as the
`
`weight for the preference Wp. For preferences that cannot be
`normalized, for example, the criterion of cost that cannot be
`assured to fall within a certain range, the user inputs limit
`conditions. Thus, a minimum and maximum limit value can
`be used to define a normalization range. For example, the
`most amount
`the user is willing to pay per minute for
`Internet access.
`
`At step 440, each preference or criteria has an associated
`heuristic routine or application as referred to in FIG. 2,
`which is a function for evaluating the preference and
`referred to as hp( ) for each preference p. The heuristic
`application makes any measurements necessary to perform
`the evaluation. The measurements may include, but are not
`limited to, getting the cost from the devices or providers or
`radio signal strength. At step 450, each heuristic routine
`calculates a normalized value of hp() which is referred to as
`np(hp( )). In the case when the value is non-normalizable, the
`routine uses the range specified by the limits input by the
`user as the normalization range. A value above and below
`the range is returned as, for example, infinity or negative
`infinity. At step 460, a score is calculated for each network
`access provider or device. The score for each device is
`calculated by summing the weighted score of each property.
`FIG. 7 is an exemplary listing of functional code to
`calculate the device score. For each property or preference
`of a device, a normalized score or value (np(hp( ))) is first
`calculated. A weighted score for each property is then
`calculated by multiplying each normalized score of a prop-
`erty (np(hp( ))) with the weight of the property (WP). The
`device score (Sd) in turn,
`is calculated by summing the
`weighted score for each of the properties (preferences) of the
`particular device.
`Referring back to FIG. 6, at step 470, after computing
`score (Sd) for each device,
`the PID sorts the list of the
`devices based upon the value of the device score,
`for
`example, the first device on the list has the highest score. If
`the device score of two or more devices is the same, the first
`one in the list is selected. The process 330 ends at step 480.
`It should be understood that
`the programs, processes,
`methods and systems described herein are not related or
`
`8
`limited to any particular type of computer or network system
`(hardware or software), unless indicated otherwise. Various
`types of general purpose or specialized computer systems
`may be used with or perform operations in accordance with
`the teachings described herein.
`In view of the wide variety of embodiments to which the
`principles of the present invention can be applied, it should
`be understood that the illustrated embodiments are exem-
`
`plary only, and should not be taken as limiting the scope of
`the present invention. For example, the steps of the flow
`diagrams may be taken in sequences other than those
`described, and more or fewer elements may be used in the
`block diagrams. In addition, protocols of various types are
`referenced throughout. While preferred and alternate
`embodiments may implement selected protocols, any suit-
`able replacement protocol not mentioned, or any function
`not part of a protocol used to replace a corresponding
`function from a protocol may be implemented without
`departing from the scope of the invention. While various
`elements of the preferred embodiments have been described
`as being implemented in software, in other embodiments
`hardware or firmware implementations may alternatively be
`used, and vice-versa.
`The claims should not be read as limited to the described
`order or elements unless stated to that effect. Therefore, all
`embodiments that come within the scope and spirit of the
`following claims and equivalents thereto are claimed as the
`invention.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. A method for connecting to a data network access
`provider comprising:
`a portable information device wirelessly detecting and
`communicating with a plurality of available data net-
`work access provider devices;
`the portable information device evaluating the plurality of
`available data network access provider devices against
`a user’s pre-stated preferences; and
`the portable information device connecting with at least
`one of the plurality of data network access provider
`devices based upon the user’s preferences,
`wherein the step of the portable information device evalu-
`ating the plurality of available data network access
`provider devices further comprises:
`the user indicating an importance level for each pre-stated
`preference;
`the portable information device implementing a routine to
`gather the information about each pre-stated prefer-
`ence;
`the portable information device calcula