System, apparatus, and method for effecting network connections via wireless devices using radio frequency identification

A method for communicating over a network via a mobile device equipped with a radio frequency (RF) reader, comprising:

• identifying at least one desired communication function among one or more visually-presented communication function identifiers, wherein each of the visually-presented communication function identifiers is associated with at least one transponder storing information thereon;
• selecting the desired communication function by positioning the RF reader proximate the corresponding visually-presented communication function identifier and consequently within a transmission range of the transponder associated with the desired communication function;
• receiving the stored information from the transponder at the mobile device via the RF reader;
• activating at least one local application on the mobile device in response to the stored information;
• and
• communicating with at least one destination network element over the network using a mobile service facilitated by the activated local application.

A method for initiating communications via a mobile terminal, comprising:

• providing one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags each associated with media identifying a function to be performed by each respective RFID tag;
• transmitting an RFID activation signal from the mobile terminal;
• activating at least one RFID tag in response to the RFID activation signal when the RFID tag is within a radio frequency (RF) transmission range of the mobile terminal;
• receiving at least an application identifier and content from the activated RFID tag at the mobile terminal when the mobile terminal is within a backscatter transmission range of the RFID tag;
• locating a local application on the mobile terminal using the application identifier;
• providing the content to the local application;
• and
• executing the local application using at least a portion of the content to perform the function associated with the activated RFID tag.

A system for facilitating communication over a network, the system comprising:

• one or more items each having a visual representation of an available communication function;
• one or more transponders each associated with one of the items;
• a mobile device operable by a user, comprising:
• a radio frequency reader module comprising a transceiver to send activation signals recognizable by the one or more transponders, and to receive at least an application identifier and content in response to one of the transponders being activated by the activation signals when the mobile device is positioned proximate the item associated with that transponder;
• a memory for storing one or more local applications and a reader application;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and the radio frequency reader module, wherein the processor is configured to invoke at least one of the local applications identified by the application identifier and to provide the content to the local application as directed by the reader application, thereby performing the communication function corresponding to the item associated with the activated transponder via the network.

A system for facilitating communications over a network, comprising:

• a mobile device comprising a radio frequency (RF) reader device, a transceiver to communicate over the network, and one or more application modules;
• one or more items each having a visual representation of an available communication function;
• one or more transponders each positioned proximate one of the items, each of the transponders comprising an antenna circuit to communicate at least an application identifier to the RF reader device in response to receipt of a triggering signal from the RF reader device when positioned proximate one of the items and within an RF transmission range of a corresponding one of the transponders;
• and
• wherein the RF reader device receives the communicated application identifier, and in response the mobile device activates the application module identified by the application identifier to perform the communication function.