US-12621229-B2 - Device connectivity management

US12621229B2US 12621229 B2US12621229 B2US 12621229B2US-12621229-B2

Abstract

The disclosed technology is directed towards managing the establishment and maintenance of communication connectivity between a device and service. Condition data can indicate when to initiate a state change of a connection between a device and a server. Current device conditions associated with the device are evaluated to determine whether to initiate a state change, e.g., from a connected state to a paused state, or vice-versa. The connectivity may be managed per connection type, e.g., cellular versus Wi-Fi, and on a per-application basis, e.g., turned on for a social media application, off for mail and messaging applications. Settings can be used to manage connectivity for an application, e.g., sometimes connected, sometimes paused based on information specific to that application. Trends, user practices and schedule data can be used to predict and manage connectivity, as well as to notify the user to take some action.

Inventors

Nigel Bradley
Eric Zavesky
James Pratt
Ari Craine
Robert Koch

Assignees

AT&T INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY I, L.P.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20240624

Claims (20)

1 . A system comprising: a processor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor of the system when deployed in a communication network, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: obtaining condition data that indicates when to initiate a state change of a first connection between a device and a first server associated with a first type of network via which the device is capable of communicating, wherein the first connection between the device and the first server is via the system, wherein the first connection is one of a plurality of connections between the device and a plurality of servers via the system for a plurality of types of network via which the device is capable of communicating, and wherein the condition data comprises at least one connectivity management setting associated with the first type of network; monitoring current device conditions associated with the device; determining, based on the current device conditions, whether the current device conditions satisfy the condition data; and in response to determining that the current device conditions satisfy the condition data, initiating the state change of the first connection.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the condition data comprises at least one of: percentage data representative of a percentage of time the device is connected, duration data representative of duration of time the device is connected, count data representative of a number of times the device is connected, frequency data representative of how often the device is connected, location data representative of a location of the device, time data representative of a current time value, shape of network traffic, or frequency of network traffic.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection between the device and the first server corresponds to a first state of connection, wherein the initiating of the state change changes the first state to a second state of connection between the device and the first server, and wherein the operations further comprise obtaining reconnection data that indicates when to restore the state of connection from the second state of connection to the first state of connection, and restoring the state of connection to the first state of connection based on the reconnection data.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the reconnection data comprises at least one of: a time duration, or a completion of data transfer between the device and the first server.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection between the device and the first server corresponds to a first state of connection, wherein the initiating of the state change changes the first state to a second state of connection between the device and the first server, and wherein the operations further comprise receiving a communication from the first server to restore the state of connection from the second state of connection to the first state of connection, and restoring the state of connection to the first state of connection in response to the receiving of the communication.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the condition data further comprises first condition data associated with the first type of network via which the device is capable of communicating, and second condition data associated with a second type of network via which the device is capable of communicating.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the first connection between the device and the first server corresponds to a first state of connection between the device and the first server, wherein the initiating of the state change changes the first state to a second state of connection between the device and the first server.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the operations further comprise: modifying a representation of a first application program displayed on the device to indicate the second state of connection between the device and the first server.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the representation of the first application program displayed on the device is a first representation, and wherein the operations further comprise: detecting interaction with the representation of the first application program displayed on the device, and, in response to the detecting, restoring the state of connection from the second state of connection to the first state of connection, and modifying the first representation to a second representation that no longer indicates the second state of connection between the device and the first server.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the initiating of the state change comprises pausing the first connection between the device and the first server.
11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the initiating of the state change comprises throttling communications over the first connection between the device and the first server.
12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the initiating of the state change comprises completing a communication between the device and the first server, and pausing the first connection between the device and the first server after the completing of the communication.
13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the condition data is maintained on at least one of: a storage of the device, or a remote service communicatively coupled to the device.
14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the operations further comprise presenting, via an output device of the device, a representation of a benefit of the initiating of the state change.
15 . A method comprising: obtaining, by a service executed by a system comprising a processor deployed in a communication network from a device, condition data for the device coupled to the service, the condition data indicating when to initiate a state change of a first device and server connection with a first server via the system from a first state of connection to a second state of connection, in which the second state of connection conserves usage of resources relative to the first state of connection, wherein the first server is associated with a first type of network via which the device is capable of communicating, wherein the first device and server connection is one of a plurality of device and server connections between the device and a plurality of servers via the system for a plurality of types of network via which the device is capable of communicating, and wherein the condition data comprises at least one connectivity management setting associated with the first type of network; obtaining, by the service, current device conditions of the device; determining, by the service based on the current device conditions, whether the current device conditions satisfy the condition data; and in response to determining that the current device conditions satisfy the condition data, facilitating, by the service, the state change of the first device and server connection, comprising communicating with the device to perform the state change.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising communicating with the device to restore the state of connection from the second state of connection to the first state of connection.
17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising receiving, by the service from the first server, a request to restore the first device and server connection between the device and the first server, and, in response to the request, communicating with the device to restore the state of connection from the second state of connection to the first state of connection.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the communicating with the device to perform the state change comprises instructing the device to pause the first device and server connection, and wherein the communicating with the device to restore the state of connection comprises instructing the device to reinitiate the first device and server connection.
19 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor of a device, facilitate performance of operations, the operations comprising: obtaining settings data that indicate condition data describing when to initiate a pause of a first connection between the device and a first server via a system deployed in a communication network, wherein the first server is associated with a first type of network via which the device is capable of communicating, wherein the first connection is one of a plurality of connections between the device and a plurality of servers via the system for a plurality of types of network via which the device is capable of communicating, and wherein the condition data comprises at least one connectivity management setting associated with the first type of network; determining that current conditions satisfy the condition of the settings data; in response to the determining, initiating the pause, wherein the initiating of the pause comprises a communication to the system, and in response to a reconnection condition being satisfied, facilitating a reconnection between the device and the first server via the system.
20 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise: monitoring operation of the device to obtain learned information, the learned information comprising at least one of: practice data, schedule data or trend data; and determining at least one of: the settings data or the reconnection condition based on the learned information.

Description

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/662,689, filed on May 10, 2022, now U.S. Pat. No. 12,021,717, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD The subject application relates to device communication in general, e.g., to managing the establishing and maintaining of device connectivity for the purpose of communication, and related embodiments. BACKGROUND Contemporary users of device such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and other mobile devices are generally connected to networks and the like including via Wi-Fi, cellular, or BLUETOOTH technologies. This consumes significant resources, particularly cellular communications because of the resources cellular consumes. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Non-limiting and non-exhaustive embodiments of the subject disclosure are described with reference to the following figures, wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout the various views unless otherwise specified. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system that facilitates device connectivity management, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 2 is an example representation of a system and device with an interactive user interface that facilitates device connectivity pauses, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 3 is an example representation of a system and device with an interactive user interface that facilitates per-application connectivity pauses, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 4 is an example representation of a system and device with an interactive user interface that facilitates connectivity pauses based on application-specific connectivity settings, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 5 is an example representation of a device with an interactive user interface that displays connectivity pause state data for a connectivity-pause application program, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 6 is an example representation of a device with a user interface that displays an alert based on predicted connectivity needs, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram representing example operations related to initiating a state change based on monitored conditions, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 8 is a flow diagram representing example operations related to determining, at a service, that a connectivity state change is to be performed, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 9 is a flow diagram representing example operations related to pausing a connection between a server and device and facilitating a reconnection, in accordance with various aspects and embodiments of the subject disclosure. FIG. 10 illustrates an example block diagram of an example mobile handset operable to engage in a system architecture that facilitates wireless communications according to one or more embodiments described herein. FIG. 11 illustrates an example block diagram of an example computer/machine system operable to engage in a system architecture that facilitates wireless communications according to one or more embodiments described herein. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The technology described herein is generally directed towards the management of when a user's communication device establishes and maintains connectivity for the purpose of communication. By managing connectivity, including in what is generally a dynamic approach, devices need not be connected pervasively and therefore may be more efficient in terms of their power and/or other resource consumption. Furthermore, by managing connectivity state, including enabling devices to (in general) connect only when needed, a collective benefit is gained by decreasing the aggregate demands on networks, server capacity, and global power consumption demands. As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms “component,” “system” and the like are intended to refer to, or include, a computer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatus with one or more specific functionalities, wherein the entity can be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. As an example, a component may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, computer-executable instructions, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration and not limitation, both an application running on a server and the server can be a component. One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component may be localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or more computers