Unified Network Interface Manager for Connectivity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional networking techniques require users to manage individual network interfaces, leading to complexity and confusion, especially with the increasing variety of connectivity options and security requirements, deterring users from fully utilizing available networking technologies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a method where network interfaces are identified and managed based on the destination network they provide access to, allowing users to connect and manage policies without needing to specify individual interfaces, using a common API to simplify connectivity and policy management across multiple interfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If network interfaces are managed individually by type, then each interface can be configured with specific parameters, but user complexity and confusion increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple network interfaces of the same type into a single logical interface. Instead of presenting users with separate Ethernet, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth interfaces, the system combines them into unified network connections, allowing users to manage networks rather than individual interfaces. This reduces the number of interface objects from multiple to one per network type, directly resolving the contradiction between operational ease and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a network interface manager as an intermediary layer between the user and the physical network interfaces. This mediator translates user-friendly network-based commands into interface-specific configurations, shielding users from the underlying complexity of multiple interface types while maintaining precise control over each interface's parameters and behavior.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple network interfaces are supported, then connectivity options increase, but the time required to establish connections increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring and pre-managing network interfaces through the unified network interface manager. Connection parameters, security settings, and interface configurations are established in advance at the network level, so when a user initiates a connection, the system can quickly activate the appropriate pre-configured interface without requiring real-time configuration decisions, thus reducing connection establishment time while maintaining multiple connectivity options.
3Reliability
If connection parameters are set for each network interface individually, then precise control is achieved, but user confusion and management difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal network interface manager that handles all network interface types through a single unified interface. This universal manager can configure parameters for Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and other interfaces through the same user-friendly mechanism, allowing precise control over connection parameters while eliminating the need for users to learn different management methods for each interface type, thus resolving the contradiction between control precision and operational ease.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and systems which identify and interact with network interfaces based on the network to which they provide access. A computing device operating in accordance with one or more of the principles described herein may examine available network interfaces and identify the network to which the network interfaces provide access, and perform networking tasks on interfaces based on the network identified. For example, a user may instruct a computing device to connect to a specified network, and the computing device will select a particular network interface by which to connect from the one or more available network interfaces that are able to connect to that network. Alternatively, a user may manage policies (e.g., security, connection, and application policies) based on the network to which a network interface provides access and thereby manage a network regardless of which of multiple network interfaces is used to access the network.