Context based connectivity for mobile devices

Abstract

A system for automatically creating a preferred wireless connection medium order in a wireless communication device (WCD) for connecting to a network. A server on the network detects when a new device has entered a designated space, identifies the device, determines its capabilities and creates a wireless connection medium order for the device. The preferred connection medium order may be determined in view of a device profile corresponding to the WCD. The server may then set the preferred medium order in the WCD. The server may also control further information synchronization once the WCD is connected to the network.

Description

PRIORITY INFORMATION [0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10 / 954,197, filed Oct. 1, 2004, which is incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of Invention [0003] The present invention relates to wireless communications. More particularly, the present invention relates to the automatic prioritization of available wireless communication mediums in a wireless communication device facilitated by an external server. [0004] 2. Description of Prior Art [0005] A wireless communication device (WCD) may communicate over a multitude of networks. Cellular networks facilitate WCD communications over large geographic areas. For example, the Global System for Mobile Telecommunications (GSM) is a widely employed cellular network that communicates in the 900 MHZ-1.8 GHZ band in Europe and at 1.9 GHZ in the United States. This system provides a multitude of features including audio (voice), video and textual data communication. For ex...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

While cellular networks like GSM provide a global means for transmitting and receiving data, due to cost, traffic and legislative concerns, a cellular network may not be appropriate for all data applications.

While having business related information contained conveniently in a wireless communication device may aid productivity, its benefits are diminished if the data is not regularly updated.

Despite these advances, problems still exist in the art.

Cellular communication does allow for continuous Internet and / or remote WAN connections, however, there is also considerable expense and complexity involved in this architecture.

Airtime charges from national cellular service providers and various governmental regulations have burdened this system with a large overhead cost.

There is also the question of which cellular provider / technology to adopt, limiting the ability for a company to alter their strategy at a later time due to the expense of replacing contracts, equipment, etc.

Ideally, this would work fine at a small company with only one location and stable technology, but the problems multiply with the size of a business.

A WCD scanning for every possible short range communication configuration would quickly deplete its battery power, rendering the device useless.

Traffic, security and configuration issues would necessitate the manual WCD configuration by the user, negating the benefits of the system.

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