WO2001026325A2

WO2001026325A2 - A system and method for initiating a network connection

Info

Publication number: WO2001026325A2
Application number: PCT/IB2000/001568
Authority: WO
Inventors: Frank Liebenow; David Anderson; Mark Rapaich
Original assignee: Gateway, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-10-05
Filing date: 2000-10-05
Publication date: 2001-04-12
Also published as: WO2001026325A3; AU7813000A

Abstract

In a first embodiment of the present invention, an exemplary method for initiating a network connection between a digital information appliance and a network includes commencing operation of the digital information appliance and loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network. Wherein the connection data is capable of loading before at least one of an operating system and network application is loaded. In a second aspect of the present invention, an exemplary method for determining availability of a network connection during a boot of a digital information appliance includes commencing operation of a digital information appliance. A basic input/output system (BIOS) capable of initiating a boot of the digital information appliance is initiated. The availability of a network connection is then determined, wherein the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined during a boot of the digital information appliance.

Description

A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INITIATING A NET ORK CONNECTION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention generally relates to the field of digital information appliances, and particularly to a system and method for initiating network connections during the boot-up of a digital information appliance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The efficient use of time is an important consideration in the design and use of digital information appliances. From the speed of the processor to the available bandwidth of a connection, the appliance that can perform tasks in the most time efficient manner will be the most successful. Accordingly, a manufacturer that can make the accessing of resources available to a user both quick and convenient will gain a significant advantage over competitors. One area of the operation of a digital information appliance that could benefit greatly from time savings is in the connection of the digital information appliance to a network.

Connecting to a network can take a considerable amount of time. For instance, a user employing a digital information appliance, such as an internet appliance, information handling system, convergence system, and the like may wish to connect to the Internet over a standard telephone line using a modem. Utilizing current telephony standards, such as Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a connection time may range from around 25 seconds and up to around 55 seconds.

Booting up the user's system may further increase the time requirement. Typically, booting up an appliance involves applying power to the system and initiating the basic input/output system (BIOS) to control the boot. Next, a power on self-test (POST) is initiated to determine if the components are functional, the BIOS functions are set-up and a table covering the BIOS programs is constructed. A disk bootstrap routine is initiated to call upon the operating system (OS), at which point the operating system is loaded and then takes over control of the system. It is not until the operating system is loaded that a user wishing to connect to a network may load a network application, such as a browser, modem software, and the like. The network application, once loaded, may then load a dialing program and begin the dialing procedure. Consequently, a user wishing to connect to a network must wait a considerable amount of time to even begin to connect to the network. For this reason, it would be desirable to overlap other operations of the system with the connection delay to efficiently connect to a network.

Additionally, if a network connection was not available, a user may be forced to wait until the digital information appliance is booted to receive an indication of the lack of a network connection. Thus, if the user wished to connect to a network, the user has wasted valuable time while the digital information appliance was booting. Therefore, it would also be desirable to determine availability of a network connection during the boot process and communicate the availability to a user so that the user may take appropriate action, such as connecting a phone line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a system and method for initiating a network connection. In a first aspect of the present invention, an exemplary method for initiating a network connection between a digital information appliance and a network includes commencing operation of the digital information appliance and loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network.

The connection data is capable of loading before at least one of an operating system and network application is loaded. In a second aspect of the present invention, a digital information appliance includes a processor for executing a program of instructions on digital information appliance and a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program of instructions executable by the processor. The digital information appliance further includes a network connection device coupled to the processor for coupling the digital information appliance to a network wherein the program of instructions configures the information handling system to commence operation of the digital information appliance and load connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network. The connection data is capable of loading before at least one of an operating system and network application is loaded. In a third aspect of the present invention, an exemplary method for determining availability of a network connection during a boot of a digital information appliance includes commencing operation of a digital information appliance. A basic input/output system (BIOS) capable of initiating a boot of the digital information appliance is initiated. The availability of a network connection is then determined, wherein the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined during a boot of the digital information appliance.

It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous advantages of the present invention may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of initiating a network connection wherein the connection may be overlapped with a system boot utilizing a basic input/output system (BIOS);

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of initiating a network connection wherein the basic input/output system (BIOS) boot sequence is ordered to give priority to loading connection data;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating an additional exemplary embodiment of the present invention wherein the loading of the operating system is ordered to give priority to loading the connection data so that a network connection may be performed in a time efficient manner;

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary method wherein a network connection is initiated in tandem with booting an appliance; FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment wherein an automatic network connection to a Web site is initiated in tandem with the set-up and boot of a digital information appliance;

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of the present invention wherein a basic input/output system (BIOS) is utilized to determine the availability of a network connection during the boot of a digital information appliance;

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an additional exemplary method of the present invention wherein a boot procedure of a digital information appliance capable of determining the availability of a network connection is shown; FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of the present invention wherein the availability of a network connection is communicated to a user; FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of the present invention wherein the availability of a network connection is determined utilizing a network connection device;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of the present invention wherein the availability of a network connection is capable of being determined in tandem with the boot of a digital information appliance;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method of the present invention wherein the availability of a network connection is determined and a network connection is initiated wherein the connection may be overlapped with the booting of the appliance; and

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of digital information appliance operable to embody the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

Referring generally now to FIGS. 1 through 12, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown. A user of a digital information appliance, such as an information handling system, Internet appliance, convergence system, or the like may wish to connect to a network. A network may include a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, and the like. In some instances, connecting to the network may involve using a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), digital satellite system (DSS), cable system, and the like, which may take a considerable amount of time to access and negotiate a connection. Therefore, it may be desirable to overlap other operations of the digital information appliance so as to disguise the connection delay. Exemplary methods for initiating a network connection are discussed. It is understood that the specific order, or hierarchy, are examples of exemplary approaches. Based upon user preferences, it is understood that the specific order, or hierarchy, can be rearranged while remaining within the scope of the present invention. The attached method claims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and are not meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented. Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary method 100 for initiating a network connection utilizing a basic input/output system (BIOS) is shown. An appliance commences operation 102, via a "warm" or "cold" boot. The basic input/output system (BIOS) is initiated 104 to control the start-up of the appliance. The BIOS begins a power on self-test (POST) 106 to determine if the components included with the appliance are functional. The BIOS then loads connection data 108 for connecting the digital information appliance to a network. The connection data may include device data such as drivers, protocols and device initialization information as well as network data, such as phone number for a modem and the like. The appliance begins a connection procedure 110 for connecting the appliance to the network, such as dialing a phone number by a modem. Therefore, while the connection data is loaded 108 and the connection process begun 110, the appliance may boot up the rest of the system. For example, the BIOS may initialize and test other hardware 112 included with the appliance and begin the disk bootstrap routine 114 to load the operating system 116. A network application may then be loaded 118 to utilize the network connection. A network application may include a browser, email application, file transfer protocol application or any other application capable of utilizing a network connection as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. The network connection may then be passed to the network application 120 to enable the application to access the network. The user may then utilize the network application 122. In a preferred embodiment, the network connection is passed to the network application so as not to disconnect the network connection in progress. For example, a BIOS application program interface (API), such as INT 21, may be utilized to pull the network connection into the operating system's API, such as a telephony application programming interface (TAPI), for the application to access the network connection. In this way, connecting to a network may be overlapped with the booting of the appliance enabling a user to quickly connect to the network. Further, loading connection data and initiating a connection may be done independently of the operating system and network application thereby allowing the connection to be initiated before the operating system and/or network application is loaded. It may be preferable to include the connection data as a part of the appliance's firmware, as well as be operating system independent, so the resulting network connection may be utilized by a wide variety of operating systems. Connection data may be stored on semiconductor based memory such as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM) erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM) to be accessible during the boot process or any other memory device as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a "jump" instruction may be stored on semiconductor based memory pointing to a specific address on a hard disk drive where the connection data is located.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an additional exemplary method 200 is shown wherein the BIOS boot sequence is ordered to give priority to loading connection data. First, the appliance is initiated 202. Initiating the appliance may include turning on the internal power supply. Since it may take some time until the power supply is capable of supplying reliable power for the appliance, a chipset may be used to generate a reset signal to the processor until it receives a "power good" signal from the power supply.

Next, the processor looks in BIOS ROM for the BIOS boot program 204. For example, the processor may be pre-programmed to look at location FFFFOh, at the end of the system memory. Since there are typically only 16 bytes left from there to the end of conventional memory, this location often contains a "jump" instruction telling the processor where to go to find the real BIOS startup program. The BIOS then begins a power-on self test (POST) 206. The POST is a set of routines that test various system components such as RAM, the disk drives, the keyboard, and the like to see if they are properly connected and operating. If problems are found, these routines typically alert the user by sounding a series of beeps or displaying a message, often accompanied by a diagnostic numeric value, to the standard output or standard error device.

In a preferred embodiment, the BIOS next searches for a network connection device 208. The network connection device may include a built in BIOS program, to initialize the network connection device 210. The network connection device program may be included as a part of the appliance firmware, system BIOS, and BIOS contained in the network connection device. Additionally, the network connection device program may be accessed through the use of a "jump" to the location of the actual location of the network connection device BIOS program. Initializing the network connection device may include loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to a network. In this way, the connection data is capable of being loaded before either the operating system or network application is loaded. The BIOS may then find and initialize other device BIOS. For instance, the BIOS may find a video card 212 and initiate video card BIOS to begin operation of the video card 214. Typically, the video card BIOS is found at location COOOh in memory. The BIOS may also look for other device ROMs to find BIOS 216 and then execute the BIOS if found. The BIOS then isplays the start-up screen 218. Typically, the BIOS will perform more tests on the system, including testing the memory 220. Next, the BIOS performs a system inventory to determine what sort of hardware is in the system 222. An exemplary modern BIOS includes automatic settings to determine memory timing based on the kind of memory, sets hard drive parameters and access modes, and performs other similar functions. The BIOS may also detect and configure Plug and Play standard devices 224. In some instances, the BIOS displays a summary screen about the system configuration 226 to enable a user to determine and diagnose setup problems.

At this point, the BIOS will typically begin the process of loading an operating system. In most systems, the operating system is stored on a drive, such as a hard drive, floppy drive, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), or the like. Therefore, the BIOS will first search for a drive 228 to find boot information 230. For example, in a hard disk, the BIOS searches for a master boot record at cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1. The BIOS then starts the boot process 232. The code in the boot sector will generally take over from the BIOS at this point to load the operating system 234. As shown in FIG. 2, the BIOS finds and loads connection data for utilizing the network connection device before initializing other components contained in the system.

Therefore, the network connection device may begin initiation of a network connection between the appliance and a network before the operating system and/or network application is loaded. In this way, the appliance may connect to a network in a time efficient manner by overlapping the time it takes to connect to a network with the boot up process. It should be apparent that the BIOS boot sequence may be ordered in a variety of ways to give priority to the loading of connection data without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the connection data may be loaded after the video BIOS to enable a video display of the connection process. Referring now to FIG. 3, an exemplary method 300 is shown wherein the loading of the operating system is ordered so as to give priority to loading the connection data. Typically, after the BIOS performs an initialization routine, including the power on self- test and the like, the BIOS looks for a boot program to load the operating system 302. For example, the appliance may look at drive A, which may be a floppy drive, and drive C, a hard disk drive, to locate the boot files. Once the BIOS identifies the boot file location, the BIOS next locates the boot record. Typically, the boot record is located at the first sector, a 512-byte area, of the disk. The boot record is then loaded to a specific address 308 in the RAM, such as hexadecimal address 7C00, to be available to the processor.

The boot record then assumes control of the appliance 310 from the BIOS. Next, the boot record loads the initial system file 312 into RAM. The system file may then load connection data for connecting the appliance to the network 314. For example, the connection data may enable the appliance to initialize and begin connecting to a network, such as dialing a telephone number with a modem. The connection data may be included with the operating system files, or at any other location as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, connecting to the network may begin while the appliance continues booting. The initial system file may then load the rest of the operating system 316 into RAM. Once loaded, the initial system file loads a system file capable of communicating and working with the BIOS 318.

Typically, one of the first operating system files loaded is a system configuration file 320. Information in the system configuration files informs the initial system file which specific operating system files need to be loaded 322, such as drivers and the like. Next, the user-specified applications meant to be included in the boot process are loaded 324. At this point, the operating system is given control of the computer 326.

Although the connection data is loaded at a specific point in this embodiment, it should be realized that the connection data may be loaded at a variety of points in the boot process and not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, a system configuration file may be ordered so as to load files relating to connecting to a network first. In this way, connection data may be loaded so as to overlap the connection process with the boot-up process of the appliance resulting in a time savings. Further, loading and connecting to the network may be performed independently of the booting of the operating system. Thus, the operating system may supply connection data to the network connection device to enable connection to a network even before the operating system has control of the appliance.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an additional exemplary method 400 of initiating a network connection is shown wherein a network connection is initiated in tandem with booting an appliance. First, a digital information appliance is initiated 402 to begin the boot process. Next, the processor looks to a specific address, typically located in the BIOS ROM, to initialize the BIOS and begin operation of the BIOS boot program 404. The BIOS then begins the power on self-test (POST) 406 to determine if the appliance's components are operational. In a preferred embodiment, the BIOS will first test the network connection device 408 to determine if it is operational 408. If the device is not operational, the BIOS may give an error message, such as a unique pattern of beeps, to indicate the inoperable status of the network connection device. If the network connection device is operational, the BIOS may initiate the network connection device BIOS 410.

Once the network connection device is initiated, the network connection device may initiate a network connection while the appliance continues the boot process in tandem. For example, the network connection device may load connection data 412 and initiate a network connection 416 while the BIOS looks for other device ROMS 422, tests the memory system of the appliance, and performs a system inventory 426. Thus, the two processes may be executed independently of each other, thereby maximizing the efficiency of the connection. For instance, while the network connection device negotiates a network connection 416, the appliance may detect and configure plug and play (PnP) devices 428, search for a boot drive 430, and begin booting the operating system 432. Therefore, the time delay generally encountered in establishing a network connection is utilized in the boot process of the appliance including the loading of the operating system 434. Once the network connection is established 418, the network connection may be passed to the network application 420 after the network application is loaded 436. Referring now to FIG. 5, an additional exemplary method 500 is shown wherein a user accesses a Web page automatically. Connecting to the Internet is one of the most popular uses for digital information appliances. However, some users are stymied by the difficulty in setting-up a digital information appliance and then accessing programming within the digital information appliance to access the network. Further, enabling a user to access the Internet within a short period of time of setting up the appliance increase the desirability of the appliance to prospective customers. For example, a user may receive a new digital information appliance 502 ordered from the Internet, by telephone, or the like. After receiving the appliance, the user generally must set-up the appliance 504. This may involve connecting peripheral devices, a phone line to the modem, power cables, and the like. Next, the user turns the appliance on 506, wherein the boot program

508 is automatically initiated. At this point, the appliance may access the modem automatically 510 and load connection data 512. The connection data may cause the appliance to dial a phone number stored in the connection data to connect to a network.

Therefore, as the modem negotiates the connection 516, the appliance may test and install other hardware 518 connected to the system, load the operating system, and load a browser for utilizing the network 522. In may be preferable to coordinate the initiation of the network connection with the booting of other devices and software on the appliance. For example, after initializing the modem, the appliance may initiate a display device to enable a user to view to status of the connection process. Alternatively, a series of beeps may be used to communicate the status of the connection before the display device is initiated.

After the browser is loaded, the BIOS may pass the telephone connection to the browser 524. The browser may then be programmed to access a specific site specified by the manufacturer 526 to register the appliance and to receive any relevant updates 528.

Thus, the manufacturer may provide automatic support service to the digital information appliance based on a registration number contained in the appliance, identified type of appliance, or the like. It may also be preferable to program the digital information appliance to anticipate a call for data packets needed by the anticipated site so that those packets may be loaded into memory to be transferred more quickly.

Referring generally now to FIGS. 6 through 12, additional exemplary embodiments of the present invention are shown. Determining the availability of a network connection during the boot process may further increase the time savings of a digital information appliance. For example, if a digital information apphance is capable of alerting a user that a network connection was unavailable, the user may then connect the digital information appliance to the network, thereby enabling the digital information appliance to connect to the network. Therefore, it may be desirable to determine the availability of a network connection before the loading of the operating system and/or network connection application so as to enable a digital information appliance to connect to the network more quickly.

Referring now to FIG. 6, an exemplary method 600 for determining the availability of a network connection utilizing a basic input/output system (BIOS) is shown. An appliance commences operation 602, via a "warm" or "cold" boot. The basic input/output system (BIOS) is initiated 604 to control the start-up of the appliance. The BIOS begins to perform a power on self-test (POST) 606 to determine if the components included with the appliance are functional. The appliance then determines the availability of a network connection 608. In this way, the appliance may test and notify a user of the availability of the network connection during the boot process. For example, the BIOS may initialize and test other hardware 610 included with the appliance and begin the disk bootstrap routine 612 to load the operating system 614. A network application may then be loaded 616 to utilize the network. Thus, the user may be notified of the availability of the network connection before the operating system loads and an application typically used to access a network is loaded.

Further, determining the availability of the network connection may be done independently of the operating system and network application thereby allowing the availability of the connection to be determined before the operating system and/or network application is loaded. It may be preferable to include the network connection availability program as a part of the appliance's firmware, as well as be operating system independent, so the program may be utilized by a wide variety of operating systems. The network connection availability program may be stored on semiconductor based memory such as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM) erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM) to be accessible during the boot process or any other memory device as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. For example, a "jump" instruction may be stored on semiconductor based memory pointing to a specific address on a hard disk drive where the network connection availability program is located. Further, the network connection availability program may be stored as a part of the connection data for initiating a network connection as shown in exemplary methods 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500.

Referring now to FIG. 7, an additional exemplary method 700 is shown wherein the BIOS boot sequence is utilized to determine the availability of a network connection. First, the appliance is initiated 702. Initiating the appliance may include turning on the internal power supply. Since it may take some time until the power supply is capable of supplying reliable power for the appliance, a chipset may be used to generate a reset signal to the processor until it receives a "power good" signal from the power supply. Next, the processor looks in BIOS ROM for the BIOS boot program 704. For example, the processor may be pre-programmed to look at location FFFFOh, at the end of the system memory. Since there are typically only 16 bytes left from there to the end of conventional memory, this location often contains a "jump" instruction telling the processor where to go to find the real BIOS startup program. The BIOS then begins performing a power-on self test (POST) 706. The POST is a set of routines that test various system components such as RAM, the disk drives, the keyboard, and the like to see if they are properly connected and operating. If problems are found, these routines typically alert the user by sounding a series of beeps or displaying a message, often accompanied by a diagnostic numeric value, to the standard output or standard error device.

In a preferred embodiment, the BIOS determines the availability of a network connection as a part of the power on self-test. For example, the BIOS may initiate a network connection availability program 708 included as a part of the BIOS boot program. The network connection availability program may be included as a part of the appliance firmware, system BIOS, and BIOS contained in a network connection device.

Additionally, the network connection availability program may be accessed through the use of a "jump" to the actual location of the network connection device BIOS program.

Additionally, initializing the network connection device may include loading the network connection availability program. In this way, the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined 710 before either the operating system or network application is loaded.

The BIOS may .then find and initialize other device BIOS. For instance, the

BIOS may find a video card 712 and initiate video card BIOS to begin operation of the video card 714. Typically, the video card BIOS is found at location COOOh in memory.

The BIOS may also look for other device ROMs to find BIOS 716 and then execute the

BIOS if found. The BIOS then displays the start-up screen 718.

Typically, the BIOS will perform more tests on the system, including testing the memory 720. Next, the BIOS performs a system inventory to determine what sort of hardware is in the system 722. An exemplary modern BIOS includes automatic settings to determine memory timing based on the kind of memory, sets hard drive parameters and access modes, and performs other similar functions. The BIOS may also detect and configure Plug and Play standard devices 724. In some instances, the BIOS displays a summary screen about the system configuration 726 to enable a user to determine and diagnose setup problems.

At this point, the BIOS will typically begin the process of loading an operating system. In most systems, the operating system is stored on a drive, such as a hard drive, floppy drive, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), or the like. Therefore, the BIOS will first search for a drive 728 to find boot information 730. For example, in a hard disk, the BIOS searches for a master boot record at cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1. The BIOS then starts the boot process 732. The code in the boot sector will generally take over from the BIOS at this point to load the operating system 734. As shown in FIG. 7, the BIOS determines the availability of the network connection before initializing other components contained in the system. Therefore, the user may be informed as to the status of the network connection before the operating system and/or network application is loaded. It should be apparent that the BIOS boot sequence may be ordered in a variety of ways to determine the availability of a network connection without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example, the availability of the network connection may be determined after the video BIOS is loaded to enable a video display of the availability of the network connection. Referring now to FIG. 8, an exemplary method 800 for communicating the availability of a network connection is shown. First, the appliance commences operation 802 and begins the boot procedure. Next, the BIOS is initiated 804 and the power on self-test (POST) is begun 806. The BIOS then initiates a network connection availability program 808. The network connection availability program then determines if the network connection is available 810. If the connection is available, the appliance continues the boot process 812. If the connection is not available, the appliance communicates the unavailability of the network connection 814. For example, a series of beeps may be used to communicate to a user before the video of the digital information appliance is even activated. Further, video, tactile, or other audio methods may be utilized to communicate the availability of the network connection to the user as contemplated by a person of ordinary skill in the art. Thus, the digital information appliance may inform the user that a network connection is not available early in the boot process to enable the user to connect the digital information appliance to a network while the digital information appliance continues booting.

Referring now to FIG. 9, an additional exemplary method 900 of determining the availability of a network connection utilizing a modem is shown. First, a digital information appliance is initiated 902 to begin the boot process. Next, the processor looks to a specific address, typically located in the BIOS ROM, to initialize the BIOS and begin operation of the BIOS boot program 904. The BIOS then begins the power on self- test (POST) 906 to determine if the appliance's components are operational. In a preferred embodiment, the BIOS will first test the network connection device, in this instance a modem, to determine if it is operational 908. If the modem is not operational, the BIOS may give an error message, such as a unique pattern of beeps, to indicate the inoperable status of the modem. If the modem is operational, the BIOS may initiate the modem BIOS 910.

Once the modem is initiated, the modem may initiate a network connection availability program 912. The network connection availability program causes the modem to determine if a telephone connection is available 914. For example, the network connection availability program may detect a dial tone in a typical telephone network. If the dial tone is present, then the telephone connection is available and the appliance continues the boot process 916. If the dial tone is not present, the appliance may communicate the unavailability of the telephone connection 918 so that a user may then connect the appliance to a telephone line to gain access to the network. In this way, a user is informed whether the appliance is connected to the telephone network before the operating system is even loaded. Although utilizing a dial tone to detect the availability of a network connection is discussed, a variety of other methods of detecting network availability may be utilized without departing from the spirit and scope, the foregoing merely an exemplary embodiment thereof.

Referring now to FIG. 10, an additional exemplary method 1000 is shown wherein the availability of a network connection is determined in tandem with the booting of a digital information appliance. A digital information appliance 1002 commences operation and initiates a basic input/output system (BIOS) 1004 to begin the boot of the digital information appliance. The basic input/output system (BIOS) then begins a power on self-test 1006 to test the appliance's components. At this point, the basic input/ouput system (BIOS) determines the availability of the network connection 1008. While the availability of the network connection is determined, the BIOS may initialize and test other hardware 1010, as well as begin a load of the operating system 1012. In this way, the availability of the network connection may be determined while the appliance continues the boot process. Thus, a user employing the use of a digital information appliance 1014 may determine the availability of the network connection and connect to a network if desired without having to wait for an operating system and/or a network application to load. Referring now to FIG. 11, an exemplary method 1100 of the present invention is shown wherein the availability of a network connection is determined and a network connection is initiated wherein the connection may be overlapped with a system boot. First, a digital information appliance is initiated 1102 to begin the boot process. Next, the processor looks to a specific address, typically located in the BIOS ROM, to initialize the BIOS and begin operation of the BIOS boot program 1104. The BIOS then begins the power on self-test (POST) 1106 to determine if the appliance's components are operational. In a preferred embodiment, the BIOS will first test the network connection device, in this instance a modem, to determine if it is operational 1108. If the modem is not operational, the BIOS may give an error message, such as a unique pattern of beeps, to indicate the inoperable status of the modem. If the modem is operational, the BIOS may initiate the modem BIOS 1110.

Next, the appliance loads connection data 1112 included as a part of the modem BIOS. In this instance, connection data includes a network connection availability program. The modem BIOS then initiates the network connection availability program 1114 to cause the modem to determine if a telephone connection is available 1116. For example, the network connection availability program may detect a dial tone in a typical telephone network. If the dial tone is present, then the telephone connection is available and the appliance continues the boot process. If the dial tone is not present, the appliance may communicate the unavailability of the telephone connection 1118 and continue with testing and installing other hardware contained in the appliance 1124. In an alternative embodiment, the BIOS will pause to enable the user to connect the network connection device to the network so as to enable initiation of the network connection during the boot process.

Then, the connection data may cause the appliance to dial a phone number stored in the connection data to connect to a network 1120. Therefore, as the modem negotiates the connection 1122, the appliance may test and install other hardware 1124 connected to the system, load the operating system 1126, and load a browser for utilizing the network 1128. After the browser is loaded, the appliance may pass the connection to the browser 1130 to enable the user to access the network. Thus, by determining the availability of a network connection and initiating the network connection during the boot process, a digital information appliance may connect to a network in a time efficient manner. Referring now to FIG. 12, a hardware system in accordance with the present invention is shown. The hardware system shown in FIG. 12 is generally representative of the hardware architecture of a digital information appliance of the present invention. A controller, for example, a processing system 1202, controls the digital information appliance 1200. The processing system 1202 includes a central processing unit such as a microprocessor or microcontroller for executing programs, performing data manipulations and controlling the tasks of the digital information appliance 1200. Communication with the processing system 1202 may be implemented through a system bus 1210 for transferring information among the components of the digital information appliance 1200. The system bus 1210 may include a data channel for facilitating information transfer between storage and other peripheral components of the digital information appliance 1200. The system bus 1210 further provides the set of signals required for communication with processing system 1202 including a data bus, address bus, and control bus. The system bus 1210 may comprise any state of the art bus architecture according to promulgated standards, for example industry standard architecture (ISA), extended industry standard architecture (EISA), Micro Channel Architecture (MCA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI) local bus, standards promulgated by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) including IEEE 488 general-purpose interface bus (GPIB), IEEE 696/S-600, and so on. Furthermore, the system bus 1210 may be compliant with any promulgated industry standard. For example, the system bus 1210 may be designed in compliance with any of the following bus architectures: Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA), Micro Channel Architecture, Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), Access bus, IEEE P6394, Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), Concentration Highway Interface (CHI), Fire Wire, Geo Port, or Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI), for example.

Additionally, the digital information appliance 1200 includes a memory 1204.

In one embodiment, memory 1204 is provided on SIMMs (Single In-line Memory

Modules), while in another embodiment, memory 1204 is provided on DIMMs (Dual In-line Memory Modules), each of which plugs into suitable sockets provided on a motherboard holding many of the other components shown in FIG. 12. Memory 1204 includes standard DRAM (Dynamic Random-Access Memory), EDO (Extended Data Out) DRAM, SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM), or other suitable memory technology. Memory 1204 may also include auxiliary memory to provide storage of instructions and data that are loaded into the memory 1204 before execution. Auxiliary memory may include semiconductor based memory such as read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM) erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable read-only memory (EEPROM), or flash memory (block oriented memory similar to EEPROM).

The digital information appliance 1200 further includes a network connection device 1206. The network connection device 1206 communicates between the digital information appliance 1200 and a remote device, such as external devices, networks, information sources, or host systems that administer a plurality of digital information appliances. For example, host systems such as a server or information handling system, may run software controlling the digital information appliance, serve as storage for a digital information appliance, or coordinate software running separately on each digital information appliance. The network connection device 1206 may provide or receive analog, digital, or radio frequency data. The network connection device 1206 preferably implements industry promulgated architecture standards, including Recommended

Standard 232 (RS-232) promulgated by the Electrical Industries Association, Infrared

Data Association (IrDA) standards, Ethernet IEEE 802 standards (e.g., IEEE 802.3 for broadband and baseband networks, IEEE 802.3z for Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.4 for token passing bus networks, IEEE 802.5 for token ring networks, IEEE 802.6 for metropolitan area networks, 802.66 for wireless networks, and so on), Fibre Channel, digital subscriber line (DSL), asymmetric digital subscriber line (ASDL), frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), integrated digital services network (ISDN), personal communications services (PCS), transmission control protocol/Internet protocol

(TCP/IP), serial line Internet protocol/point to point protocol (SLIP PPP), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and so on. For example, the network connection device 1206 may comprise a network adapter, a serial port, parallel port, printer adapter, modem, universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) port, and the like, or use various wireless technologies or links such as an infrared port, radio-frequency (RF) communications adapter, infrared transducers, or RF modem.

The digital information appliance 1200 further includes a display system 1212 for connecting to a display device 1214. The display system 1212 may comprise a video display adapter having all of the components for driving the display device, including video random access memory (VRAM), buffer, and graphics engine as desired. The display device 1214 may comprise a liquid-crystal display (LCD), or may comprise alternative type of display technologies, such as a light-emitting diode (LED) display, gas or plasma display, or employ flat-screen technology.

A digital information appliance 1200 may further include an input/output (I/O) system 1216 for connecting to one or more I/O devices Ϊ218, 1220 up to Nnumber of I/O devices 1222. Input/output system 1216 may comprise one or more controllers or adapters for providing interface functions between one ormore of I O devices 1218-1222.

For example, input/output system 1216 may comprise a serial port, parallel port, network adapter, printer adapter, radio-frequency (RF) communications adapter, universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART) port, and the like., for interfacing between corresponding I/O devices such as a mouse, joystick, trackball, trackpad, trackstick, infrared transducers, printer, modem, RF modem, bar code reader, charge-coupled device

(CCD) reader, scanner, compact disc (CD), compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), video capture device, touch screen, stylus, electroacoustic transducer, microphone, speaker, and the like. It should be appreciated that modification or reconfiguration of the digital information appliance 1200 of FIG. 12 by one having ordinary skill in the art would not depart from the scope or the spirit of the present invention.

Although the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. One of the embodiments of the invention can be implemented as sets of instructions resident in the memory 1204 of one or more digital information appliances configured generally as described in FIG. 12. Until required by the digital information appliance, the set of instructions may be stored in another readable memory device, for example in a hard disk drive or in a removable memory such as an optical disk for utilization in a CD-ROM drive, a floppy disk for utilization in a floppy disk drive, a floptical disk for utilization in a floptical drive, or a personal computer memory card for utilization in a personal computer card slot. Further, the set of instructions can be stored in the memory of an information handling system and transmitted over a local area network or a wide area network, such as the Internet, when desired by the user. Additionally, the instructions may be transmitted over a network in the form of an applet that is interpreted or compiled after transmission to the computer system rather than prior to transmission. One skilled in the art would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets of instructions or applets physically changes the medium upon which it is stored electrically, magnetically, chemically, physically, optically or holographically so that the medium carries computer readable information. It is believed that the system of method for initiating a network connection of the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the forgoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof. It is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method for initiating a network connection between a digital information appliance and a network, or a program of instructions storable on a medium readable by a digital information appliance for causing the digital information appliance to execute steps for initiating a network connection, the method or program steps comprising: commencing operation of the digital information appliance; and loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network; wherein the connection data is capable of loading before at least one of an operating system and network application is loaded.

2. The method or program as described in claim 1, or method in claim 28 further comprising initiating a network connection between the digital information appliance and the network wherein the connection is initiated before at least one of the operating system and network application is loaded.

3. The method or program as described in claim 2, wherein initiating the network connection by the digital information appliance includes utilizing a modem.

4. The method or program as described in claim 2 or appliance in claim 14, further comprising passing the network connection initiated by the digital information appliance to a network application.

5. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 4, wherein the network connection is passed to the network application without interrupting the network connection.

6. The method or program as described in claim 1 or appliance in claim 4, wherein loading of the connection data is capable of being performed in tandem with the loading of at least one of an operating system, Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) and network application.

7. The method or program as described in claim 1 or appliance in claim 13, wherein loading the connection data is initiated during a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) boot sequence.

8. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 7, wherein the BIOS boot sequence is ordered so as to give priority to loading the connection data.

9. The method or program as described in claim 1 or appliance in claim 13, wherein at least one of the connection data and location of the connection data is included with a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) .

10. The method or program as described in claim 1 or appliance in claim 13, wherein loading of the connection data is initiated during the loading of the operating system.

11. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 10, wherein the loading of the operating system is ordered so as to give priority to loading the connection data.

12. The method or program as described in claim 1 or appliance in claim 13, further comprising determining availability of a network connection.

13. A digital information appliance, comprising: a processor for executing a progrmam of instructions on digital information appliance; a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program of instructions executable by said processor; and a network connection device coupled to the processor for coupling the digital information appliance to a network wherein the program of instructions configures the digital information appliance to commence operation of the digital information appliance; and load connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network; wherein the connection data is capable of loading before at least one of an operating system and network application is loaded.

14. The digital information appliance as described in claim

13, wherein the program of instructions further configures the digital information appliance to initiate a network connection between the digital information appliance and the network wherein the connection is initiated before at least one of the operating system and network application is loaded.

15. The digital information appliance as described in claim

14, wherein at least one of the network connection device includes a modem for initiating a network connection and the memory device includes connection data.

16. The digital information appliance as described in claim 25, wherein the network includes at least one of a local area network (LAN) and wide area network (WAN) , and wherein the network application includes at least one of a browser, email application, and file transfer protocol (ftp) application.

17. The digital information appliance as described in claim 25, wherein the program of instructions further configures the digital information appliance to determine availability of a network connection.

18. A method for determining availability of a network connection during boot of a digital information appliance, or a program of instructions storable on a medium readable by a digital information appliance for causing the digital information appliance to execute steps for determining availability of a network connection, the method or program steps comprising: commencing operation of the digital information appliance; initiating a basic input/output system (BIOS) capable of initiating a boot of the digital information appliance; and determining availability of a network connection; wherein the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined during the boot of the digital information appliance.

19. The method or program as described in claim 18 or appliance in claim 27 or method in claim 28, further comprising communicating the availability of the network connection.

20. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 19, wherein communicating includes the use of at least one of audio and visual communication.

21. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 19, wherein determining the availability of the network connection is capable of being included in a power on self-test of the digital information appliance.

22. The method or program as described in claim 18 or appliance in claim 27, further comprising loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to a network.

23. The method or program as described in claim 18 or appliance in claim 27, wherein the availability of the network connection is determined by locating a basic input/output system (BIOS) containing a network connection availability program; and launching the network connection availability program.

24. The method or program or appliance as described in claim

23, wherein the network connection availability program is located in at least one of an appliance basic input/output system (BIOS) and a network connection device basic input/output system (BIOS) .

25. The method or program or appliance as described in claim

24, further comprising initializing a network connection device; and detecting a tone by the network connection device; wherein the tone indicates the availability of the network.

26. The method or program or appliance as described in claim 25, wherein the network connection device includes a modem.

27. A digital information appliance, comprising: a processor for executing a program of instructions on digital information appliance; a memory coupled to the processor for storing the program of instructions executable by said processor; and a network connection device coupled to the processor for coupling the digital information appliance to a network wherein the program of instructions configures the digital information appliance to commence operation of the digital information appliance; and initiate a basic input/output system (BIOS) capable of initiating a boot of the digital information appliance; and determine availability of a network connection; wherein the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined during a boot of the digital information appliance.

28. A method for initiating a network connection between a digital information appliance and a network, comprising: commencing operation of the digital information appliance; initiating a basic input/output system (BIOS) capable of initiating a boot of the digital information appliance; loading connection data for connecting the digital information appliance to the network; and determining availability of a network connection; wherein the availability of the network connection is capable of being determined during the boot of the digital information appliance and the connection data is capable of loading during the boot of the digital information appliance.

29. The method as described in claim 28, wherein the connection data includes a network connection availability program.