Generic broadband application and plug-ins

Abstract

A network device may include one or more devices to select, upon receiving a broadband card at the network device, a first vendor-specific plug-in provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card; one or more devices to determine that the first vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card; and one or more devices to select, when the first vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card, a second vendor-specific plug-in provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card, the first vendor-specific plug-in being associated with a first vendor, and the second vendor-specific plug-in being associated with a different, second vendor.

1 . A device comprising:
 a hardware port to connect to a broadband card; and   a processor configured to:
 access or load a non-generic plug-in, provided in the device, to detect the broadband card; 
 determine that the non-generic plug-in fails to detect the broadband card; 
 use a generic plug-in, provided in the device, when the non-generic plug-in fails to detect the broadband card; 
 use the generic plug-in to apply a certification test, via a set of predetermined interfaces of the device, to the broadband card; 
 use a plurality of particular commands to control the broadband card via the generic plug-in, upon successful completion of the certification test, for a particular subset of interfaces, of the set of predetermined interfaces, determined using the generic plug-in; and 
 disable a plurality of other commands associated with another subset of interfaces, of the set of predetermined interfaces, for which the certification test is not successfully completed. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to:
 identify a command port of the broadband card to receive the particular commands; and   identify a data port of the broadband card to receive data using the generic plug-in.   
     
     
         3 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the hardware port is further configured to connect to at least one of:
 a Evolution Data Optimized (EVDO) card; or   a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) card.   
     
     
         4 . The device of  claim 1 , wherein the non-generic plug-in comprises a plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins associated with a plurality of different vendors. 
     
     
         5 . A computer-readable storage device configured to store computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions, comprising:
 instructions to access or load a model specific plug-in, provided in a device, in response to a broadband card being connected to the device;   instructions to access or load a vendor specific plug-in, provided in the device, when the model specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card;   instructions to access or load a generic plug-in, provided in the device, when the vendor specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card;   instructions to use the generic plug-in to detect the broadband card;   instructions to perform, using the generic plug-in, testing of the broadband card with respect to support for a plurality of commands;   instructions to determine, based on results the test, that the broadband card supports particular commands, of the plurality of commands, and does not support other commands of the plurality of commands;   instructions to certify, based on the particular commands, the broadband card for use with the generic plug-in; and   instructions to use the broadband card to establish a broadband communication session after the broadband card is certified.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions to perform testing comprise:
 instructions to issue, via a set of interfaces of the device, the plurality of commands to the broadband card; and   instructions to determine a subset of interfaces, of the set of interfaces, for which the broadband card returns a valid response to each of the plurality of commands.   
     
     
         7 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the plurality of commands include at least one of:
 a command to request a model number associated with the broadband card;   a command to request a manufacturer name associated with the broadband card;   a command to obtain a firmware version associated with the broadband card;   a command to obtain power status associated with the broadband card;   a command to obtain a subscriber identifier associated with the broadband card;   a command to obtain an access port name (APN) associated with the broadband card; or   a command to set an access port name (APN) associated with the broadband card.   
     
     
         8 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the instructions to use the broadband card comprise:
 instructions to configure the broadband card by issuing a command to set parameters that are associated with the broadband communication session, and   instructions to obtain information related to the broadband communication session.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 5 , wherein the vendor specific plug-in comprises a plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins associated with a plurality of vendors. 
     
     
         10 . A network device comprising:
 one or more devices to select, upon receiving a broadband card at the network device, a first vendor-specific plug-in provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card;   one or more devices to determine that the first vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card; and   one or more devices to select, when the first vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card, a second vendor-specific plug-in provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card, wherein the first vendor-specific plug-in is associated with a first vendor, and the second vendor-specific plug-in is associated with a different, second vendor.   
     
     
         11 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 one or more devices to determine that the second vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card;   one or more devices to determine that at least one other vendor-specific plug-in is provided in the network device; and   one or more devices to select, when the second vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card, the at least one other vendor-specific plug-in to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         12 . The network device of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one other vendor-specific plug-in is associated with a third vendor that differs from the first and second vendors. 
     
     
         13 . The network device of  claim 11 , wherein the at least one other vendor-specific plug-in is associated with the first vendor. 
     
     
         14 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 one or more devices to determine that the second vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card;   one or more devices to determine that no other vendor-specific plug-ins are provided in the network device; and   one or more devices to select, when the second vendor-specific plug-in fails to detect the broadband card, at least one of a vendor-specific generic plug-in or a generic plug-in, provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         15 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 one or more devices to determine that a plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins, including the first and second vendor-specific plug-ins, are provided in the network device; and   one or more devices to sequentially select each of the plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins until:   the broadband card is detected, or   each of the plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins fails to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         16 . The network device of  claim 15 , wherein, when each of the plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins fails to detect the broadband card, the network device further comprises:
 one or more devices to select at least one of a vendor-specific generic plug-in or a generic plug-in, provided in the network device, to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         17 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a plurality of non-generic plug-ins, including the first and second vendor-specific plug-ins and a plurality of model-specific plug-ins; and   one or more devices to sequentially select each of the plurality of model-specific plug-ins to detect the broadband card before selecting the first and second vendor-specific plug-ins to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         18 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 one or more devices to determine that plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins, including the first and second plug-ins, are provided in the network device, wherein the plurality of vendor-specific plug-ins are associated with a plurality of different vendors; and   one or more devices to sequentially select each vendor-specific plug-in associated with the respective different vendors to detect the broadband card.   
     
     
         19 . The network device of  claim 10 , wherein the second vendor-specific plug-in is further configured to query a supporting system of the network device, to determine if the second vendor-specific plug-in supports the broadband card. 
     
     
         20 . The network device of  claim 10 , further comprising:
 a supporting system to notify a broadband card detector of the network device, that a broadband card has been received at the network device.