US 10,455,071 B2Granted

Self-identification of brand and branded firmware installation in a generic electronic device

AssigneeSprint Communications Company L.P.

InventorsRobert H. Burcham, M. Jeffrey Stone

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A mobile phone that is delivered by an original equipment manufacturer in an unbranded state. The mobile phone comprises a near-field-communication radio transceiver, a memory, a processor, and an application stored in the memory. When executed by the processor, the application reads brand information, using the near-field-communication radio transceiver, from a radio frequency identity (RFID) tag coupled to the mobile phone during an order fulfillment process in a distribution center of a communication service provider and, based on the brand information, loads brand firmware into the memory, whereby the mobile phone presents a branded look and feel.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A mobile phone that is delivered by an original equipment manufacturer in an unbranded state, comprising:

a near-field-communication (NFC) radio transceiver;
a non-transitory memory;
at least one processor;
and
a self-branding application stored in the non-transitory memory that, when executed by the at least one processor while the mobile phone is at a distribution center and prior to the mobile phone being provided to a retail store or an end user,
reads a state of a branding flag stored in the non-transitory memory,
determines that the state of the branding flag is an unbranded state,
in response to determining that the branding flag is in the unbranded state, reads an identification of a brand that is associated with a communication service provider, using the NFC radio transceiver, from a radio frequency identity (RFID) tag, the RFID tag with the identification of the brand being coupled to the mobile phone in the distribution center, where the communication service provider is different from the original equipment manufacturer,
based on the identification of the brand, selects and loads brand firmware into the non-transitory memory,
activates the brand firmware that configures the mobile phone to a branded state, and
after activating the brand firmware, sets the state of the branding flag to a branded state.

8 more elements

A method of providing branding firmware to a portable electronic device after manufacturing of the portable electronic device, comprising:

receiving, in a distribution center, the portable electronic device that is in an unbranded state, wherein the distribution center is a different location from a location where the portable electronic device is manufactured;
providing a component to the portable electronic device in the distribution center, wherein the component comprises a brand identification, where the brand is associated with a communication service provider and the communication service provider is different from an original equipment manufacturer that manufactured the portable electronic device;
while the portable electronic device is at the distribution center and prior to the portable electronic device being provided to a retail store or an end user:
scanning the component to determine the brand identification, wherein the scanning is performed by an electronic scanner in the distribution center;
determining, via the component, the brand identification in response to the scanning;
selecting, from a data store, branding firmware based on determining the brand identification from the component, wherein the selecting is performed by the computer communicatively coupled to the electronic scanner;
and
responsive to the selection, wirelessly transmitting the branding firmware from the data store to the portable electronic device in the distribution center, wherein in response to the portable electronic device receiving the wireless transmission, the branding firmware configures the portable electronic device from the unbranded state into a branded state associated with the communication service provider.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/468,028Filed 9 May 2012
Published: US 2013/0303142 A114 Nov 2013
Granted: 22 Oct 2019
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification10 codes

H04M 1/72406
With means for local support of applications that increase the functionality: by software upgrading or downloading
H04M 1/7246
With means for adapting the functionality of the device according to specific conditions: by connection of exchangeable housing parts
H04W 4/80
Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor: services using short range communication, e.g. near-field…
H04M 2250/04
Details of telephonic subscriber devices: including near field communication means, e.g. RFID

Family

US 2013/0303142 A1Pre-grant publication · published 14 Nov 2013
US 10,455,071 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

Citations

Open elsewhere

Building an agent or pulling many patents? Use the API or MCP server instead of scraping pages. Get an API key