The Devicescape Curator Client is an intelligent network selection application for smartphones, tablets, and laptops. It goes beyond simple Wi-Fi offload, as it automatically connects devices to the best network at the best time, based on operator parameters and, as desired, user preferences.
The Curator Client can be downloaded as a simple application or preloaded onto the device. It works in the background as a system service application and requires no user interaction. Optionally, operators can add a branded UI to reinforce the performance and cost-savings benefits to their customers. The client also comes as an SDK that can be integrated into an operator’s existing Wi-Fi and/or intelligent connection manager.
When the Devicescape Curator Client is installed on a mobile device, everybody wins:
In essence, when there are more networks to choose from, everyone benefits. With customers and carriers aligned toward the same goals, intelligent network selection is one decision that's easy to make.
One critical purpose that the Client serves is measuring real-time quality of experience (QoE) and performing congestion detection at the device level—from the perspective of the end user—which leads to more accurate network selection than with network-only selection and QoE techniques. Most congestion detection measurements are estimates from base station load or RNC signaling analytics; however, the only way to really understand end-user performance is to measure what the user is actually experiencing on the device and in real time.
The Devicescape Curator Client differs from many of its competitors in that it is not an isolated app blindly trying to switch to any Wi-Fi access point that it finds. In fact, it is the edge component of a sophisticated cloud-based system—connected to the Curator Service Platform (CSP)—that manages and shepherds connectivity options.
The Devicescape CSP tracks public Wi-Fi hotspots that have, at a minimum, adequate quality, access rules, keys, bypass methods, and authentication. Devicescape also stores customized carrier policy control and preferences, analogous to a PRL in the mobile industry. With help from the CSP in the cloud, the Curator Client can validate a visible hotspot, check access methods, connect, and switch data traffic, with no user action required.
Like a skeleton key that unlocks any door, Devicescape's patented technology allows devices with the Curator Client to search cloud resources for access procedures for a particular locked hotspot even before gaining internet access on that hotspot. This capability is critically important for smartphones taken out of mobile network data range—which often happens indoors—and for devices without mobile radios for data.
The Curator Client works right out of the box. However, its parameters can be customized to the partners’ preferences. Mobile operators can define how the app behaves; for example:
When configured in a standard fashion, the Client software is always active and is open to the user with manual override. It can be configured to stimulate more Wi-Fi usage, more mobile usage, or both, depending on policy.
All of the policy controls can be implemented through the cloud-based Devicescape CSP as well. That means the policy can be changed or adjusted from the cloud, with no need to update the Client software. Policy changes that take place in the cloud are immediately reflected by the fleet of Devicescape-enabled devices in the field.
