Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8737260B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 06:37:14
Document Index: 15347290

Matched Legal Cases: ['arty 1', 'arty 2', 'arty 1', 'arty 2', 'arty 1', 'arty 2', 'arty 2']

US8737260B2 - Connecting communication-network end-users based on current network connectivity - Google Patents
Connecting communication-network end-users based on current network connectivity Download PDF
US8737260B2
US8737260B2 US12/466,508 US46650809A US8737260B2 US 8737260 B2 US8737260 B2 US 8737260B2 US 46650809 A US46650809 A US 46650809A US 8737260 B2 US8737260 B2 US 8737260B2
US12/466,508
US20100291905A1 (en
2009-05-15 Application filed by AT&T Intellectual Property I LP filed Critical AT&T Intellectual Property I LP
2009-05-15 Priority to US12/466,508 priority Critical patent/US8737260B2/en
2009-05-15 Assigned to AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P. reassignment AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: MALIK, DALE, MIKAN, JEFFREY, STANKEY, JOHN THOMAS
2010-11-18 Publication of US20100291905A1 publication Critical patent/US20100291905A1/en
2014-05-27 Publication of US8737260B2 publication Critical patent/US8737260B2/en
One embodiment of the disclosed technology involves determining a preferred communication connection between two parties that are communication-network end-users, at least one of which parties has access to at least two networks. A database contains information on the current connectivity of the two parties and a preferred communication connection is determined based on information from the database. The preferred connection may be used to exchange multimedia content that can be transmitted in real time, or, based on the connectivity information, can be sent to a multimedia relay from which it will be obtained by the recipient when the recipient has appropriate connectivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,251,696 discloses a “system and method for identifying communication channels and appropriate timing of communications that facilitate enhancing or maximizing the utility of a communication between communicating parties, based on the participants' preferences and capabilities. . . . The system and method implement policies for facilitating optimal communications between communicating parties based on deterministic and/or uncertain preferences, capabilities and context, both present and predicted, where a decision to employ an initially selected channel and timing of communication may be overridden by contactor or contractee based on user-configurable triggers. The system and method further provide for mixed/multi-initiative overriding of the identified optimal communication channel and indicated best time for a communication. The methods can be implemented on a wide scale communication system or within a single portable device.”
U.S. Patent Application Publication 20080126484 discloses “[a] method and system for determining and sharing a user's web presence. . . . According to one embodiment, a computer implemented method comprises providing web presence information associated with a first user from a first computer having a first software module. The web presence information is received at a second computer. The web presence information is used to dynamically inform a second user communicating with the second computer of a website that the first user is viewing.”
In a specific embodiment of the disclosed technology, when Party 1 wants to send multimedia content to Party 2, it notifies the MCE 108 of that desire. MCE 108, then queries database, 109, via network, 107, to determine the current parallel network connectivity of each of Party 1 and Party 2. (The term current in this context means at the time the query is made. It will be understood by those in the art that the “current parallel network connectivity” refers, for example, to the connectivity status for devices, such as cell phones, that need not be continuously connected to the network. The tracking of such connectivity may be updated with sufficient frequency to satisfy various needs of the network. While the “current parallel network connectivity” refers to the connectivity shown at the time the query is made, it will be understood that, based on the system, the “current parallel network connectivity” might not reflect the actual connectivity at the exact time the query is made, but rather the connectivity shown, at the time the query is made, by a system that is updated with appropriate frequency.) The determination may be that only one party has current network connectivity, or current parallel network connectivity. Based on that connectivity information, MCE 108, determines a “preferred” connection for communicating multimedia content between the parties. The preferred connection may be selected from among at least two connections between the parties that are possible at the time the network connectivity information is obtained, i.e., “currently possible connections”. The determined connection may be identified as “preferred” based, for example, on any appropriate criterion or criteria, including without limitation the needs of the MCE 108, the preferences of the party, the type and size of the content to be sent, the Quality of Service level (QOS) for which the parties have subscribed, the networks to which the parties are currently connected and cost or pricing considerations. For example, if both parties are on the same WiFi network, the preferred connection may be over that WiFi network. Thereafter, the multimedia content may be transmitted from Party 1 to Party 2 over the preferred connection. In alternative embodiments, the end-users may be given the option to select which, from among a plurality of available connection topologies should be used.
The preferred connection can involve one or more of networks 1 through N. It should be noted that while the N networks in FIG. 1 are shown as distinct from one another, some of the illustrated networks may be one and the same network (e.g., networks 1 and 4 could be one and the same network, networks 3 and N could be one and the same network, etc.) . . . . However, in this embodiment of the disclosed technology there must be at least two different networks to which Party 2 is capable of being connected. In this context the term networks refers to equipment and connections that can support communication between two parties. Different networks can be characterized by at least some equipment that differs from network to network. For example, different networks may have different nodes but share transmission resources. Networks may also be characterized by logical definitions that distinguish the networks. Different logical networks can share common equipment, but may be separated by, for example, the association of specific channels or packets with a specific logical network. Different networks may use different transmission or communication protocols, may be operated by different carriers or service providers, or may cover different overlapping or non-overlapping geographic regions. Other possibilities here will be apparent to those of skill in the art.
FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a communication device 400 that may be used in an embodiment of the disclosed technology. Communication device 400 can serve in whole or in part as an illustrative embodiment of the types of communication devices that can be used with the disclosed technology. The communication device 400 can comprise a wireline and/or wireless transceiver 402 (herein transceiver 402), a user interface (UI) 404, a power supply 414, a location receiver 416, and a controller 406 for managing operations thereof. The transceiver 402 can support short-range or long-range wireless access technologies such as Bluetooth, WiFi, Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT), or cellular communication technologies, just to mention a few. Cellular technologies can include, for example, CDMA, CDMA-1×, EVDO, W-CDMA/UMTS/HSDPA, GSM/GPRS/EDGE, TDMA, WiFi/802.11, WiMAX/802.16, LTE, and next generation cellular wireless communication technologies as they arise. The transceiver 402 can also be adapted to support circuit-switched wireline access technologies (such as PSTN), packet-switched wireline access technologies (such as TCPIP, VoIP, etc.), and combinations thereof.
over a first network, obtaining, from a computer database having information on parallel network connectivity of at least two end-user devices to a plurality of communication networks, the information describing the parallel network connectivity of a first end-user device to at least two communication networks of the plurality of communication networks and the information describing a current network connectivity of a second end-user device to at least one communication network of the plurality of communication networks;
determining by a processor and memory, based on the information, a preferred connection for communicating between the at least two end-user devices;
receiving content from the first end-user device for delivery to the second end-user device;
determining the second end-user device lacks the current network connectivity to the plurality of communications networks;
retrieving a social network of the second end-user device in response to the current network connectivity lacking;
routing the content for interim storage at a member device of the social network;
detecting the current network connectivity of the second end-user device to the at least one communication network of the plurality of communication networks; and
sending the content from the member device to the second end-user device responsive to detection of the current network connectivity.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the preferred connection is selected from among at least two currently possible connections between the two end-user devices.
3. The method of claim 2, further comprising establishing a communication connection between the two end-user devices using the preferred connection when the current network connectivity is determined.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the preferred connection is over a single network.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the preferred connection is over more than one network.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the preferred connection includes a connection to a multimedia relay.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving the information describing the current network connectivity of the second end-user device.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising selecting the member device of the social network.
9. The method of claim 8, further comprising sending the content to the member device of the social network for the interim storage.
10. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending the content from the member device to the second end-user device when the current network connectivity is detected.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a wireless network.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a cellular network.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a packet network.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the preferred connection is made over a WiFi network.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising notifying the second end-user device of the interim storage of the content.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the first end-user device desires to connect to the second end-user device.
17. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the first end-user device desires to exchange multimedia content with the second end-user device.
retrieving information from a computer database describing network connectivity of at least two end-user devices to a plurality of communication networks;
receiving content from a first end-user device for delivery to a second end-user device;
determining the second end-user device lacks the network connectivity to any one of the plurality of communications networks;
retrieving a social network in response to the second end-user device lacking the network connectivity;
detecting the network connectivity of the second end-user device to the any one of the plurality of communication networks; and
sending the content from the member device to the second end-user device in response to detection of the network connectivity.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing processor executable instructions for performing a method of communicating between end-user devices of communication networks, the method comprising:
over a wireless network, obtaining a request from a first end-user device to transmit content to a second end-user device;
storing in a database data describing parallel network connectivity to at least two communications networks for member devices of a social network;
receiving the content from the first end-user device for delivery to the second end-user device;
querying the database for the data describing the parallel network connectivity of the second end-user device;
determining the second end-user device lacks connectivity to any network of the plurality of communications networks;
querying the database for a member device from the social network;
forwarding the content for interim storage to the member device when the second end-user device lacks the connectivity;
detecting the connectivity of the second end-user device to at least one network of the plurality of communication networks; and
sending the content from the member device to the second end-user device when the connectivity is detected.
20. A memory storing instructions that when executed by a processor cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:
obtaining, from a wireless network, a request from a first end-user device to transmit content to a second end-user device;
retrieving information describing network connectivity of the second end-user device to a communication network;
receiving the content from the first end-user device;
determining the second end-user device currently lacks the network connectivity to the communication network;
retrieving a social network associated with the second end-user device;
routing the content for interim storage at a member device of the social network in response to the second end-user device lacking the network connectivity;
determining the network connectivity of the second end-user device to the communication network; and
sending the content from the member device to the second end-user device in response to determination of the network connectivity.
a memory that stores executable instructions that when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:
obtaining a request from a first end-user device to transmit content to a second end-user device;
determining the second end-user device lacks the network connectivity to the communication network;
retrieving a social network associated with the second end-user device; and
sending the content to a member device of the social network for interim storage in response to the second end-user device lacking the network connectivity.
receiving a request from a first end-user device to transmit multimedia content to a second end-user device;
storing parallel network connectivity to at least two communications networks for member devices of a social network;
receiving the multimedia content from the first end-user device for delivery to the second end-user device;
querying for the parallel network connectivity of the second end-user device;
forwarding the multimedia content for interim storage to a member device of the social network in response to the second end-user device lacking the connectivity;
detecting the connectivity of the second end-user device to any one of the plurality of communication networks; and
instructing the member device to send the multimedia content to the second end-user device in response to the connectivity is detected.
US12/466,508 2009-05-15 2009-05-15 Connecting communication-network end-users based on current network connectivity Expired - Fee Related US8737260B2 (en)
US12/466,508 US8737260B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2009-05-15 Connecting communication-network end-users based on current network connectivity
US14/255,025 US9203929B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2014-04-17 Social networking and network connectivity
US14/929,257 US9525732B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2015-10-31 Social networking and network connectivity
US15/355,089 US20170070472A1 (en) 2009-05-15 2016-11-18 Social Networking and Network Connectivity
US14/255,025 Continuation US9203929B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2014-04-17 Social networking and network connectivity
US20100291905A1 US20100291905A1 (en) 2010-11-18
US8737260B2 true US8737260B2 (en) 2014-05-27
US12/466,508 Expired - Fee Related US8737260B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2009-05-15 Connecting communication-network end-users based on current network connectivity
US14/255,025 Active US9203929B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2014-04-17 Social networking and network connectivity
US14/929,257 Active US9525732B2 (en) 2009-05-15 2015-10-31 Social networking and network connectivity
US15/355,089 Pending US20170070472A1 (en) 2009-05-15 2016-11-18 Social Networking and Network Connectivity
2009-05-15 US US12/466,508 patent/US8737260B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
2014-04-17 US US14/255,025 patent/US9203929B2/en active Active
2015-10-31 US US14/929,257 patent/US9525732B2/en active Active
2016-11-18 US US15/355,089 patent/US20170070472A1/en active Pending
US20140229535A1 (en) 2014-08-14
US20100291905A1 (en) 2010-11-18
US9525732B2 (en) 2016-12-20
US9203929B2 (en) 2015-12-01
US20170070472A1 (en) 2017-03-09
US20160057216A1 (en) 2016-02-25
US8683014B2 (en) 2014-03-25 Next generation social networking and content rating system and method
US20100137036A1 (en) 2010-06-03 Community networking using networked audio devices
Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNORS:STANKEY, JOHN THOMAS;MALIK, DALE;MIKAN, JEFFREY;SIGNING DATES FROM 20090513 TO 20090514;REEL/FRAME:022688/0636