Methods, systems and apparatus to prevent unauthorized modem use
AssigneeThe Nielsen Company (US), LLC
InventorsIgor Sotosek, Bostjan Valencic
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and apparatus to prevent unauthorized modem use are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a locking circuit; and a host authorizer to, when a received attention (AT) command pattern from a host device matches an AT command pattern, transmit a first voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to enable modem functionality and, when the received AT command pattern does not match the AT command pattern, transmit a second voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to disable modem functionality.
Claims21
An apparatus comprising:
- a locking circuit;
- and
- a host authorizer to:
- in response to detecting a match between a received attention (AT) command pattern from a host device and an AT command pattern, transmit a first voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to enable modem functionality;
- and
- when the received AT command pattern does not match the AT command pattern, transmit a second voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to at least one of partially disable or completely disable the modem functionality, the modem functionality not returning until (A) the host authorizer is powered up and (B) a subsequent AT command pattern that matches the AT command pattern is detected.
A method comprising:
- in response to detecting a match between a received attention (AT) command pattern from a host device and an AT command pattern, transmitting, by executing an instruction with a processor, a first voltage to a locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to enable modem functionality of a modem;
- and
- when the received AT command pattern does not match the AT command pattern, transmitting, by executing an instruction with the processor, a second voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to at least one of partially disable or completely disable the modem functionality, the modem functionality not returning until (A) the modem is powered up and (B) a subsequent AT command pattern that matches the AT command pattern is detected.
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least:
- in response to detecting a match between a received attention (AT) command pattern from a host device and an AT command pattern, transmit a first voltage to a locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to enable modem functionality of a modem;
- and
- when the received AT command pattern does not match the AT command pattern, transmit a second voltage to the locking circuit to cause the locking circuit to at least one of partially disable or completely disable the modem functionality, the modem functionality not returning until (A) the modem is powered up and (B) a subsequent AT command pattern that matches the AT command pattern is detected.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.