Method and apparatus for providing enhanced services at a mobile communication device
AssigneeCingular Wireless II, LLC
InventorsWilliam Coan, Michael Luna
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method and apparatus provide for enhancing personal information management (PIM) services available through a mobile communication device. A PIM service is designed with a full set of features. The mobile communication device is programmed to be able to execute a subset of said full set of features on a stand-alone basis. The device is further programmed to access network resident features when a user initiated command requests a feature not available to the mobile communication device in its stand alone state.
Claims21
A method for providing enhanced features at a mobile communication device, the device including a first feature having a first set of sub-features, comprising:
- receiving, from a user, at the mobile communication device, a request for one of the sub-features;
- searching the mobile communication device for the requested sub-feature;
- searching one of an enhanced local services server and a private web site for the requested sub-feature, if the requested sub-feature is not resident on the mobile communication device;
- accessing, via a wireless digital control channel, the requested sub-feature from the one of the enhanced local services server and the private web site;
- and
- receiving the requested sub-feature at the mobile communication device, wherein said first feature defines a calendar service and wherein said first set of sub-features defines a portion of a user defined calendar to be stored at the mobile communication device.
A method for provisioning services to a mobile communication device, comprising:
- programming the mobile communication device to provide a first set of features defining an aspect of a first service;
- programming a wireless network server to provide a second set of features, supplementing said first set, to fully define said first service;
- receiving, at the mobile communication device, a command to access said first service;
- responsive to said command, determining whether said first set of features can satisfy said command;
- and
- if it is determined that said first set of features cannot satisfy said command then automatically transmitting a request to satisfy said command to said wireless network server, wherein the request to satisfy said command is transmitted via a wireless digital control channel, and wherein said first service comprises a calendar service having a plurality of scheduling options.
A system for providing service features to a mobile communication subscriber, comprising:
- a mobile communication network;
- a mobile network services server coupled to said mobile communication network;
- and
- a mobile communication device coupled to said mobile communication network via an over-the-air transmission path, said mobile communication device including,
- a processor;
- and
- a memory coupled to said processor and storing therein a program to perform the operations of,
- generating a command for a first communication service based on a subscriber inputs;
- determining whether said first communication service can be satisfied by the mobile communication device as a stand alone device, and
- if it is determined that said mobile communication device cannot satisfy said first communication service, then automatically transmitting a service request to said mobile network services server via said over-the-air transmission path, wherein said over-the-air transmission path comprises a wireless digital control channel, and wherein said first communication service relates to a calendar service.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.