Predictive Caching of IP Data on Mobile Device

Abstract

Disclosed is a technique for caching IP content data for a mobile device. In the mobile device, a content request is sent to a server over an IP network, the content request indicative of IP content data of interest to the mobile device. The server retrieves the requested IP content data from content servers and queues the requested IP content data in a buffer associated with the mobile device. A notification message is sent to the mobile device indicating that the requested IP content is queued. The mobile device determines whether it is connected to a non-cellular IP network access point and automatically downloads the queued IP content data from the server when connected to a non-cellular IP network. The IP content data is stored in a cache memory in the mobile device. Other embodiments are disclosed.

1 . A mobile device comprising:
 a cellular transceiver;   at least one other RF transceiver communicable with at least one non-cellular IP network access point;   a data storage component; and   at least one processor operable with one or more software applications configured to:
 receive an Internet Protocol (IP) data request for IP data; 
 automatically bypass any cellular network connection and download the IP data to the mobile device using the at least one other RF transceiver over the at least one non-cellular IP network access point such that the stored IP data is not transported over a cellular network; 
 store the downloaded IP data in the data storage component; and 
 in response to a subsequent request for the IP data and when no non-cellular IP network access point connection is available to the mobile device:
 bypass an available cellular network connection; and 
 access the stored IP data from cache memory using an application on the mobile device associated with the stored IP data. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , the at least one processor operable with one or more software applications further configured to:
 collect non-cellular IP network connectivity information associated with the mobile device;   predict, based on the collected non-cellular IP network connectivity information, when the mobile device can be expected to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point; and   attempt to perform the automatically downloading the IP data step at a time when the mobile device is predicted to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point.   
     
     
         3 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , the at least one processor operable with one or more software applications further configured to:
 wait until the mobile device is connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point before automatically downloading the IP data.   
     
     
         4 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , the at least one processor operable with one or more software applications further configured to:
 store the downloaded IP data in cache memory on the mobile device wherein the cache memory is associated with an application on the mobile device that would have downloaded the IP data if the download had been manually initiated by a user.   
     
     
         5 . The mobile device of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one non-cellular IP network access point is one of a WiFi IP network access point, a WiMax IP network access point, and a whitespace IP network access point. 
     
     
         6 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a set of instructions that in response to being executed on a mobile computing device cause the mobile computing device to:
 receive an Internet Protocol (IP) data request for IP data;   automatically bypass any cellular network connection and download the IP data to the mobile device using the at least one other RF transceiver over the at least one non-cellular IP network access point such that the stored IP data is not transported over a cellular network;   store the downloaded IP data in the data storage component; and   in response to a subsequent request for the IP data and when no non-cellular IP network access point connection is available to the mobile device:
 bypass an available cellular network connection; and 
 access the stored IP data from cache memory using an application on the mobile device associated with the stored IP data. 
   
     
     
         7 . The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 6 , comprising instructions that in response to being executed on the mobile computing device cause the computing device to:
 collect non-cellular IP network connectivity information associated with the mobile device;   predict, based on the collected non-cellular IP network connectivity information, when the mobile device can be expected to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point; and   attempt to perform the automatically downloading the IP data step at a time when the mobile device is predicted to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point.   
     
     
         8 . The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 6 , comprising instructions that in response to being executed on the mobile computing device cause the computing device to:
 wait until the mobile device is connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point before automatically downloading the IP data.   
     
     
         9 . The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 6 , comprising instructions that in response to being executed on the mobile computing device cause the computing device to:
 store the downloaded IP data in cache memory on the mobile device wherein the cache memory is associated with an application on the mobile device that would have downloaded the IP data if the download had been manually initiated by a user.   
     
     
         10 . The at least one non-transitory machine-readable medium of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one non-cellular IP network access point is one of a WiFi IP network access point, a WiMax IP network access point, and a whitespace IP network access point. 
     
     
         11 . A method comprising:
 in a mobile device having both a cellular transceiver and at least one other RF transceiver communicable with at least one non-cellular IP network access point:   receiving an Internet Protocol (IP) data request for IP data;   automatically bypassing any cellular network connection and downloading the IP data to the mobile device using the at least one other RF transceiver over the at least one non-cellular IP network access point such that the stored IP data is not transported over a cellular network;   storing the downloaded IP data in the data storage component; and   in response to a subsequent request for the IP data and when no non-cellular IP network access point connection is available to the mobile device:
 bypassing an available cellular network connection; and 
 accessing the stored IP data from cache memory using an application on the mobile device associated with the stored IP data. 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising:
 collecting non-cellular IP network connectivity information associated with the mobile device; 
 predicting, based on the collected non-cellular IP network connectivity information, when the mobile device can be expected to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point; and 
 attempting to perform the automatically downloading the IP data step at a time when the mobile device is predicted to be connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising waiting until the mobile device is connected to the at least one non-cellular IP network access point before automatically downloading the IP data. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 11  further comprising storing the downloaded IP data in cache memory on the mobile device wherein the cache memory is associated with an application on the mobile device that would have downloaded the IP data if the download had been manually initiated by a user. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the at least one non-cellular IP network access point is one of a WiFi IP network access point, a WiMax IP network access point, and a whitespace IP network access point.