System and method for dynamic automatic communication path selection, distributed device synchronization and task delegation

Abstract

Systems, software, and apparatuses that provide wired and wireless telecommunications under conditions where signal strength is poor or intermittent, the coordination and synchronization of data and workflows across various communication links under such conditions, especially intermittent or unreliable communications links, and the management of wireless mobile applications in such environments. The present invention technology herein relates to the fields of computer science, telecommunications, and data management.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for communication between a plurality of wireless devices wherein each wireless device operates as a sender and as a receiver comprising:
 implementing a cooperative push mode transmission between the sender and one or more receivers by:
 transmitting a communication request command from the sender to one or more selected receivers reachable over a first wireless network pathway wherein the communication request command comprises a first portion of a node structure; 
 conducting a pull mode session between each of the one or more selected receivers and the sender wherein the pull mode session includes communicating signals representing at least a second portion the node structure from the sender to the receiver; 
   reconciling redundant information received by each receiver.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of transmitting the communication request comprises broadcasting the communication request over the first wireless network pathway. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the pull mode session is not conducted over the first wireless network pathway. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the receiver:
 selects a desired network pathway to establish the pull mode session over; and, 
 communicates characteristics of the desired network pathway to the sender. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the characteristics of the desired network pathway comprises a current IP address of the receiver. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the further comprising the steps of:
 maintaining a data catalog on each of the plurality of wireless devices for listing communication characteristics of other of the plurality of wireless devices; 
 updating the data catalog with the current IP address of the receiver. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of transmitting a communication request from the sender further comprises; simultaneously transmitting the communication request over a plurality of wireless network pathways. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising simultaneously transmitting the communication request command over a plurality of wireless network pathways. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  further comprising:
 determining whether each receiver can receive the communication request command over the communication request command over the first wireless network pathway and if not; 
 simultaneously transmitting the communication request command over a plurality of wireless network pathways. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the step of transmitting a communication request command from the sender to one or more selected receivers reachable over a first wireless network pathway comprises transmitting the communication request using one of a Short Message Service (SMS) a Multi-Media Message Service (MMS). 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the pull mode session between each of the one or more selected receivers and the sender is conducted over a network pathway that supports a TCP/IP data protocol. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the sender comprises a server device and each receiver comprises a mobile wireless device. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12  wherein each receiver relays the communication request command received thereby to other receivers reachable for a direct data exchange. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising only relaying the communication request command to the other receivers when the other receivers are not reachable by the sender. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13  further comprising:
 caching the communication request in each receiver; and, 
 relaying the communication request to one or more other receivers in response to the other receivers becoming reachable by a direct data exchange. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the sender further preforms the step of selecting the first wireless network pathway from a plurality of possible wireless pathways based on selection priority values assigned to each wireless pathway. 
     
     
         17 . A wireless communication system comprising:
 a plurality of mobile wireless devices operating in a wireless network environment wherein each wireless device comprises plurality of wireless network interface devices operating thereon to exchange first and second portions of a node structure with other of the plurality of mobile wireless devices over different wireless network pathways;   a session manager operating on each mobile wireless device for selecting which wireless network pathway to send each node structure portion over;   a non-volatile data store operating on each mobile wireless device for storing the node structure portions thereon;   a node processor operating on each mobile wireless device for reconciling redundant information conveyed over the different wireless network pathways;   wherein when the session manager further operates to implement a cooperative push mode transmission between by selecting a communication path that supports one of a Short Message Service (SMS) and a Multi-Media Message Service (MMS) to transmit communication request commands over wherein the communication request commands comprises a first portion of the node structure.   
     
     
         18 . The wireless communication system of  claim 16  wherein the session manager further operates to relay communication request commands stored in the non-volatile data store to other of the plurality of mobile wireless devices in response to any one of the other of the plurality of mobile wireless devices becoming reachable for a direct data exchange. 
     
     
         19 . The wireless communication system of  claim 15  wherein in response to receiving communication request commands the session manager operates to select an appropriate wireless communication path for a pull mode session, to initiate the pull mode session with the sender and to send updated device communication characteristics to the sender. 
     
     
         20 . The wireless communication system of  claim 15  wherein in response to receiving the communication request commands the session manager operates to initiate a pull mode session over a wireless communication path that supports a TCP/IP data protocol. 
     
     
         21 . A wireless communication system comprising:
 a plurality of mobile wireless devices operating in a wireless network environment wherein each wireless device comprises plurality of wireless network interface devices operating thereon;   a server device comprising plurality of wireless network interface devices operating thereon to exchange first and second portions of a node structure with other of the plurality of mobile wireless devices over different wireless network pathways using an appropriate wireless network interface and an appropriate wireless network communication protocol;   a sessions manager operating on each mobile wireless device and on the server for selecting one or more communication pathways to exchange the first and second portions of the node structure with other of the plurality of mobile wireless devices over different wireless network pathways between the server and each mobile wireless device and by direct data exchange between mobile wireless devices;   a non-volatile data store operating on each mobile wireless device and on the server for storing the first and second portions of the node structure received from one of the server and another mobile wireless network device;   wherein when the server operates as a sender the server session manager operates to select a communication path that supports one of a Short Message Service (SMS) and a Multi-Media Message Service (MMS) and thereafter to transmit a communication request command to one or more mobile wireless devices over the selected wireless communication path wherein the communication request command comprises the first portion of the node structure.   
     
     
         22 . The wireless communication system of  claim 21  wherein the sessions manager of each mobile wireless device that receives the communication request from the server operates to initiate a pull mode session over a wireless communication path that supports a TCP/IP data protocol. 
     
     
         23 . The wireless communication system of  claim 21  wherein the session manager of each mobile wireless device that receives the communication request from the server operates to relay the communication request received from the server to other mobile wireless device directly reachable thereby for a direct data exchange. 
     
     
         24 . The wireless communication system of  claim 21  wherein the session manager of each mobile wireless device that receives the communication request from the server operates to store the communication request received from the server in the non-volatile data store and thereafter to relay the communication request received from the server to other mobile wireless device that become directly reachable thereby for a direct data exchange.