International Business Machines Corporation

Brian David McManus

Andrew Thomas Thorstensen

Benjamin R Garbers

Dale Arthur Peterson

A mobile wireless device connects to a network of multiple wireless transceiver stations using a protocol in which a connection is established with a particular transceiver station. If the mobile device moves out of range of the original station, the connection is passed to another station, which then impersonates the original station, without dropping the connection. Preferably, the original station provides a virtual Media Access Control (MAC) address to identify itself when the connection is established, and this virtual MAC address is passed to any successor station. Preferably, the station monitors signal strength and automatically passes the connection by polling its neighbors upon determining that signal strength is getting weak.

Method and apparatus for maintaining communications connections over a distributed wireless network

The present invention monitors usage of an operating system at an application program interface ('API') level and monitors changes in API functionality associated with an upcoming release to manage the version change process. A computer system is configured to track a collection of API functions associated with a first version operating system currently installed and to record the subset of API functions that have been called by applications during operation of the first version operating system. The computer system is further configured to manage the subset of API functions and generate a comparison between the subset and a list of API functions that have changed between a second version and the first version operating system. Finally, the computer system is configured to report the result of the comparison back to the user.

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Rochester, MN, United States of America

Brian David McManus