WO2022150041A1

WO2022150041A1 - Data communications via tethered connections

Info

Publication number: WO2022150041A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/012640
Authority: WO
Inventors: Issac LAGNADO; Richard E. Hodges
Original assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
Priority date: 2021-01-08
Filing date: 2021-01-08
Publication date: 2022-07-14

Abstract

An example electronic device includes a wireless communication device and a processor. The processor is to: transmit first data of a first application and second data of a second application through a first network via the wireless communication device; in response to detecting a network congestion of the first network, establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device to a second network via the wireless communication device; and transmit the second data via the second network while the first data continues to be transmitted via the first network

Description

DATA COMMUNICATIONS VIA TETHERED CONNECTIONS

BACKGROUND

[0001] An electronic device, such as a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, etc. may include a wireless communication device so that the electronic device is able to communicate with another electronic device via a wireless connection.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0002] Some examples of the present application are described with respect to the following figures;

[0003] FIG. 1 illustrates a system to communicate data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to an example;

[0004] FIG. 2 illustrates a method of communicating data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to an example;

[0005] FIG. 3 illustrates a method of communicating data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to another example;

[0006] FIG. 4 illustrates an electronic device to communicate data via a tethered connection with another electronic device, according to an example; and

[0007] FIG. 5 illustrates an electronic device to communicate data via a tethered connection with another electronic device, according to another example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0008] A residential internet connection may have a bandwidth between 25 megabits per second (Mbps) to 1000 Mbps depending on the type of connection (e.g., cable connection, fiber connection), in a typical home, several electronic devices, such as laptop computers, tablet computers, may be consuming the available bandwidth of a single Internet connection at the same time. Some activities, such as video streaming, may consume particularly large amount of the available bandwidth. The available bandwidth may not be able support all the demands. Thus, some data associated with a particular application may not be able to be transmitted or received in time due to tack of bandwidth. Examples described herein provide an approach to enable an electronic device to offload data communication of a particular application from a network connection to a tethered connection to reduce the likelihood of data loss due to a lack of bandwidth in the network connection.

[0009] In another example, an electronic device may include a wireless communication device and a processor. The processor may communicate first data of a first application and second data of a second application through a first network via the wireless communication device; In response to detecting a network congestion of the first network, establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device to a second network via the wireless communication device; and communicate the second data via the second network while the first data continues to be communicated via the first network.

[0010] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that when executed cause a processor of an electronic device to: monitor a performance parameter of a first network; and in response to a determination that the performance parameter exceeds a threshold: communicate data of a background application through the first network; establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device; and communicate data of a foreground application through a second network via the tethered connection,

[0011] In another example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium includes instructions that when executed cause a processor of an electronic device to; establish a connection with a first network: in response to a determination that the first network is an open network; establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device; communicate first data of a first application via the tethered connection; and communicate second data of a second application via the first network. [0012] Turning to FIG. 1, FSG. 1 illustrates a system 100 to communicate data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to an example. System 100 may include a first electronic device 102 and a second e!ectronic device 104. First electronic device 102 may be, for example, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, an all-in-one system, a tablet computing device, a mobile phone, an electronic book reader, a wearable computing device (e.g., a smart watch), etc. Second electronic device 104 may be similar to first electronic device 102.

[0013] First electronic device 102 may include a processor 106, a memory 108, and a communication device 110. Processor 106 may be a central processing unit (CPU), a semiconductor-based microprocessor, an integrated circuit (e.g,, a field- programmable gate array, an application-specific integrated circuit), a chipset, and/or other hardware devices suitable for retrieval and execution of instructions stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Memory 108 may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that contains or stores executable instructions. Thus, memory 108 may be, for example,

Random Access Memory (RAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a hard disk drive, a solid-state drive, a storage device, an optical disc, etc. Communication device 110 may be a wireless transceiver that transmits and receives radio signals, In some examples, communication device 110 may be implemented as a Wi-Fi transceiver.

[0014] Second electronic device 104 may include a processor 126, a memory 128, and a communication device 130. Processor 126 may be similar to processor 106, memory 128 may be similar to memory 108, and communication device 130 may be similar to communication device 110.

[0015] During operation, first electronic device 102 may be executing a first application 112 and a second application 114. First application 112 and second application 114 may be implemented using processor executable instructions. First application 112 and second application 114 may be stored in memory 108. [0016] First electronic device 102 may be connected to a first network 116 via communication device 110 through a connection 118. First network 116 may be connected to Internet 120 via a connection 122. in some examples, first network 116 may be a private iocai area network (LAN) and may be a wireless network or wired network.

[0017] First application 112 may be communicating first data 138 to a first corresponding application (not shown in the FIGs.) accessible via the Internet, Second application 114 may be communicating second data 140 to a second corresponding application (not shown in the FIGs.) accessible via the Internet, First data 138 may include information generated and/or information received by first application 112, The information generated by first application 112 may be transmitted to the first corresponding application and the information received may be received from the first corresponding application. Second data 140 may include information generated and/or received by second application 114, The information generated by second application may be transmitted to the second corresponding application and the information received may be received from the second corresponding application. First data 138 and second data 140 may be formatted as data packets, such as user datagram protocol (UDP) packet, transmission control protocol (TCP) packets.

[0018] First electronic device 102 may detect a network congestion of first network 116, For example, first electronic device 102 may detect the network congestion by monitoring a performance parameter of first network 116. When the performance parameter exceeds a threshold (i.e., above or below a threshold depending on the particular performance parameter), first electronic device 102 may determine that a network congestion has occurred. In some examples, the performance parameter may be a metric associated with first network 116, such as a packet loss count of first network 116, a round-trip time of first network 116, a latency of first network 116, an available bandwidth of first network 116, a bandwidth usage of first network 116, a throughput of first network 116, or a combination thereof. Thus, a network congestion may be detected when the packet loss count is above a threshold, the round-trip time is above a threshold, the available bandwidth is below a threshold, the bandwidth usage is above a threshold, the throughput is below a threshold, or a combination thereof. In some examples, first electronic device 102 may receive an indication that first network 116 is congested from first network 116.

[0019] In response to detecting the network congestion, first electronic device

102 may determine whether another electronic device, such as second electronic device 104, is in proximity to provide a tethered connection. As used herein, “tether" refers to a connection from a first electronic device (tethered device”) to a second electronic device (“host device” to enable the second electronic device to provide network and/or wireless connectivity to the first electronic device. A “tethered connection” refers to a network connection that transports data between the tethered device and the host device.

[0020] In some examples, first electronic device 102 may scan for a presence of second electronic device 104. In some examples, first electronic device 102 may listen for an advertisement beacon from second electronic device 104. In response to detecting second electronic device 104 is in proximity of first electronic device 102, first electronic device 102 may establish a tethered connection with second electronic device 104. In some examples, first electronic device 102 may store a fist of electronic devices that may provide a tethered connection. The list may include a unique identifier, such as an Internet protocol (IP) address, a media access control (MAC) address, of each electronic device. Thus, first electronic device 102 may establish tethered connection 124 with second electronic device 104 using the unique identifier associated with second electronic device 104.

[0021] In some examples, tethered connection 124 may be a peer-to-peer connection established using a wireless technology, such as Wi-Fi Direct®, Bluetooth®, in some examples, tethered connection 124 may be established using a wired connection, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) cable.

[0022] When tethered connection 124 is established, first electronic device 102 may offload data communication of a particular application from first network 116 to a second network 132 that is also connected to Internet 120. In some examples, second network 132 may be connected to second electronic device 104 via a connection 134. Second network 132 may be connected to Internet 120 via a connection 136. in some examples, second network 132 may be a different type of network than first network 116. Second network 132 may be a cellular network and first network 116 may be an Ethernet network.

[0023] As used herein, using first application 112 as an example, “offload" means first electronic device 102 may use a new a communication path of communicate first data 138 (i.e., second network 132 via connections 124, 134) and stop using the previous communication path (i.e,, first network 116 via connections 134, 136) when tethered connection 124 is established.

[0024] In some examples, first electronic device 102 may determine which application's data communication is to be offloaded based on a priority associated with the application. Each application executing on first electronic device 102 may be assigned a unique priority. For example, first application 112 may have a first priority and second application 114 may have a second priority that is Sower than the first priority .

[0025] Each priority may be assigned based on the type of application, in some examples, first application 112 may be a communication application where a user may use first application 112 to conduct video conferencing, calls, remote collaboration, etc. Second application 114 may be a video streaming application where the user may watch streamed video and/or listen to streamed audio,

[0026] In some examples, first application 112 may be a foreground application and second application 114 may be a background application. In some examples, a foreground application may be an application that has an associated graphical user interface (GUI) maximized on desktop environment running on first electronic device 102. A background application may be an application that is not a foreground application. In some examples, foreground application may be an application that receives active user interactions, such as having an associated GUI selected by a user of first electronic device 102. A background application may be an application that is not receiving active user interactions.

[0027] in some examples, an application in which the application's data communication may be offloaded may be specifically designated so first electronic device 102 may identify the application and offload the data communication when tethered connection 124 is established, in some examples, communication applications may be designated for data communication offloading while other types of applications are not designated.

[0028] In some examples, first electronic device 102 may offload communication of first data 138 to second network via tethered connection 124 and through second electronic device 104. Thus, first electronic device 102 may stop communicating first data 138 via first network 116 and start communicating first data 138 via second network 132 (through second electronic device 104). First electronic device 102 may continue to communicate second data 140 via first network 118. By offloading first data 138 to second network 132, the likelihood that communication of first data 138 is negatively affected by the network congestion of first network 116 is reduced or avoided.

[0029] When first electronic device 102 detects that absence of the network congestion at first network 116 or when the performance parameter no longer exceeds the threshold, first electronic device 102 may disconnect tethered connection 124 from second electronic device 104 and resume communicating first data 138 via first network 116.

[0030] FIG. 2 illustrates a method 200 of communicating data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to an example. Method 200 may be implemented by system 100 of FIG. 1. Method 200 may include monitoring a performance parameter of a network, at step 202. For example, first electronic device 102 may monitor a performance parameter of first network 116 that is connected to first electronic device 102 via communication device 110. The performance parameter may be an indicator for network congestion of first network 116.

[0031] Method 200 may also include determining whether there is a network congestion at the network based on the performance parameter, at step 204.

For example, first electronic device 102 may determine whether first network 116 is congested based on a value or a state of the performance parameter. When the performance parameter exceeds a threshold, first electronic device 102 may determine that first network 116 is congested.

[0032] Method 200 may further include determining whether another electronic device is available for tethering, at step 206. For example, first electronic device 102 may determine whether second electronic device 104 is in proximity for tethering. First electronic device 102 may use active (e.g., scanning) or passive (e.g., listening) mechanisms to determine whether second electronic device 104 is in proximity of first electronic device 102.

[0033] Method 200 may further include establishing a tethered connection, at step 208. For example, first electronic device 102 may establish tethered connection 124 with second electronic device 104. First electronic device 102 may use different communication standards to establish tethered connection 124, such as Wi-Fi Direct®, Bluetooth®, USB_: etc.

[0034] Method 200 may further include communicating data of a particular application via the tethered connection, at step 210. For example, when tethered connection 124 is established, first electronic device 102 may communicate first data 138 via tethered connection to second electronic device 104. Second electronic device 104 may forward first data 138 to Internet 120 via second network 132. Method 200 may further include disconnecting the tethered connection, at step 212. For example, in response to a determination that first network 116 is no longer congested, first electronic device 102 may disconnect tethered connection 124 and resume communicating first data 138 via first network 116.

[0035] FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 of communicating data via a tethered connection with an electronic device, according to another example. Method 300 may be implemented by system 100 of FIG. 1. Method 300 may include monitoring a network security parameter, at step 302. For example, first electronic device 102 may monitor a network security parameter of first network 116 when first electronic device 102 is connected to first network 116 to communicate first data 138 and second data 140. [0036] The network security parameter may indicate whether first network 118 is a secure network, in some examples, the network security parameter may be whether first network 116 employs an authentication mechanism to control access to first network 116, whether first network 116 employs an encryption mechanism to protect data communicated over first network 116, or a combination thereof. Examples of a network security parameter may include wired equivalent privacy, Wi-Fi protected access, Wi-Fi protected access 2, Wi-Fi protected access 3.

[0037] Method 300 may further include determining whether the network is secure, at step 304. For example, first electronic device 102 may determine whether first network 116 is secure based on the network security parameter. Method 300 may further include determining whether another electronic device is available for tethering, at step 306. For example, in response to a determination that first network 116 is an open network, that is, a network that is not secure, first electronic device 102 may determine whether second electronic device 104 is in proximity for tethering as described above.

[0038] Method 300 may further include establishing a tethered connection, at step 308. For example, first electronic device 102 may establish tethered connection 124 with second electronic device 104. Method 300 may further include communicating data of a particular application via the tethered connection, at step 310.

[0039] For example, first electronic device 102 may select one of first network 116 and tethered connection 124 to communicate particular data of an application based on whether the particular data includes sensitive data. As an example, first application 112 may foe an Email application where data generated by first application 112 may include sensitive data, such as personal identification information, confidential information, banking information, etc. Second application 114 may be a video streaming application and data generated by second application 114 may include publicly available data. Thus, first electronic device 102 may offload first data 138 to second network 132 via tethered connection 124 while continue to communicate second data 140 via first network 116. In some examples, whether a particular application may communicate sensitive data may be designated by a user and/or configured after installation. Thus, when tethered connection 124 is established, first electronic device 102 may communicate first data 138 via tethered connection to second electronic device 104. Second electronic device 104 may forward first data 138 to Internet 120 via second network 132.

[0040] Method 300 may further include disconnecting the tethered connection, at step 312. For example, in response to a determination that first network 116 is secure, first electronic device 102 may disconnect tethered connection 124 and resume communicating first data 138 via first network 116. [0041] FIG. 4 illustrates an electronic device 400 to communicate data via a tethered connection with another electronic device, according to an example. Electronic device 400 may implement first electronic device 102 of FIG. 1 and may implement method 200 of FIG. 2. Electronic device 400 may include a processor 402 and a computer-readable storage medium 404. Processor 402 may be similar to processor 106 of FIG. 1. Processor 402 may fetch, decode, and execute Instructions 406, 408, and 410 to control operations of electronic device 400. Computer-readable storage medium 404 may be any electronic, magnetic, optical, or other physical storage device that contains or stores executable instructions. Thus, computer-readable storage medium 404 may be, for example, Random Access Memory (RAM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a storage device, an optical disc, etc, in some examples, computer-readable storage medium 404 may be a non-transitory storage medium, where the term “non-transitory” does not encompass transitory propagating signals. Computer-readable storage medium 404 may be encoded with a series of processor executable instructions 406, 408, and 410.

[0042] Performance parameter monitoring instructions 406 may monitor a performance parameter of a network. For example, referring to FIG. 1, first electronic device 102 may monitor a performance parameter of first network 116. Tethered connection establishing instructions 408 may establish a tethered connection with another electronic device. For example, referring to FIG. 1 , first electronic device 102 may establish tethered connection 124 with second electronic device 104. Application data communication instructions 410 may communicate data of an application. For example, referring to FIG, 1, first electronic device 102 may communicate first data 138 and second data 140 via first network 116. in response to establishing tethered connection 124, first electronic device may communicate first data 138 via second network 132 while continuing to communicate second data 140 via first network 116.

[0043] FIG. 5 i!lustrates an electronic device 500 to communicate data via a tethered connection with another electronic device, according to another example. Electronic device 500 may implement first electronic device 102 and may implement method 300 of FIG. 3. Electronic device 500 may include a processor 502 that is similar to processor 402 of FIG. 4. Electronic device 500 may also include a computer-readable storage medium 504 that is similar to computer-readable storage medium 404 of FIG. 4. Computer-readable storage medium 504 may be encoded with a series of processor executable instructions 506, 508, 510, and 512.

[0044] Network connection establishing instructions 506 may establish a network connection with a network. For example, referring to FIG. 1 , first electronic device 102 may establish connection 118 to join first network 116. Open network determining instructions 508 may determining whether a wireless network is an open network. For example, first electronic device 102 may determine whether first network 116 is an open network. Tethered connection establishing instructions 510 may establish a tethered connection with another electronic device. For example, referring to FIG. 1, first electronic device 102 may establish tethered connection 124 with second electronic device 104. Application data communication instructions 512 may communicate data of an application. For example, referring to FIG. 1 , first electronic device 102 may communicate first data 138 and second data 140 via first network 116. In response to establishing tethered connection 124, first electronic device may communicate first data 138 via second network 132 while continuing to communicate second data 140 via first network 116.

[0045] The use of "comprising", "including" or "having" are synonymous and variations thereof herein are meant to be inclusive or open-ended and do not exclude additional unrecited elements or method steps.

Claims

Claims What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising: a wireless communication device; and a processor to: communicate first data of a first application and second data of a second application through a first network via the wireless communication device; in response to detecting a network congestion of the first network, establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device to a second network via the wireless communication device; and communicate the second data via the second network while the first data continues to be communicated via the first network.

2. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first application is a different type of application than the second application.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first network is a local network and the second network is a cellular network.

4. The electronic device of ciaim 1, wherein the processor is further to: in response to detecting an absence of the network congestion, disconnect the wireless communication device from the tethered connection; and communicate the second data through the first network.

5. A noil-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor of an electronic device to: monitor a performance parameter of a first network; and in response to a determination that the performance parameter exceeds a threshold: communicate data of a background application through the first network; establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device; and communicate data of a foreground application through a second network via the tethered connection.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the performance parameter is a metric associated with the first network, wherein the metric includes a packet loss count, a round-trip time, a latency, an available bandwidth, a bandwidth usage, a throughput, or a combination thereof.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the foreground application includes a maximized graphical user interface.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the tethered connection is a peer-to-peer connection.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the foreground application is to receive active user interactions.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a processor of an electronic device to: establish a connection with a first network; in response to a determination that the first network is an open network: establish a tethered connection with a second electronic device; communicate first data of a first application via the tethered connection' and communicate second data of a second application via the first network.

11 The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of ciaim 10, wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to: in response to detecting that the first network is a secure network, disconnect the tethered connection and communicate the first data via the first network.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the first network is the secure network when the first network employs an authentication mechanism, an encryption mechanism, or a combination thereof.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of ciaim 10, wherein the tethered connection is connected to a second network different from the first network.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the second electronic device is a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, or a combination thereof.

15. The non -transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions when executed further cause the processor to select one of the first network and the tethered connection to communicate particular data of an application based on whether the particular data includes sensitive data.