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US 7,627,341 B2Granted
User authentication via a mobile telephone
AssigneeMicrosoft Corporation
InventorPeter Wu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mobile telephone automatically establishes communication with a system via a short-range wireless network. When communication is established, the mobile telephone user is automatically logged in to the system. The system can then apply personalized settings and/or provide access to personalized services based on the mobile telephone user's system account. Once communication between the mobile telephone and the system is established, the mobile telephone may be used as a remote control device to control operation of the system.
Claims16
A method to authenticate a user via a mobile phone, the method comprising:
- identifying a short-range wireless network associated with a television entertainment system, the television entertainment system comprising one or more user accounts;
- switching the mobile phone from a mobile phone mode to a television entertainment system mode, wherein:
- when in the mobile phone mode, commands submitted via the phone are interpreted as phone commands;
- and
- when in the television entertainment system mode, commands submitted via the phone are forwarded via the short-range wireless network to the television entertainment system;
- when an incoming call is detected, toggling from the television entertainment system mode to the mobile phone mode, wherein the mode of the mobile phone being customizable via a menu system at a user interface, wherein via the menu system the mobile phone is customizable to automatically direct incoming calls to a voicemail system and automatically switch the phone back to mobile phone mode after a predetermined amount of time;
- transmitting to the television entertainment system, via the short-range wireless network, an identifier associated with the mobile phone, thereby causing a particular one of the user accounts to be activated, wherein the one or more user accounts include user profile data, wherein the user profile data includes a usage pattern, a user preference, a user ID, and a password;
- tracking the user profile data, wherein the user profile data is communicated to a media content provider;
- storing additional user profile data associated with a personalized service;
- applying personalized settings based on the user profile data;
- providing access to personalized services based on the user profile data;
- displaying a message concerning an authentication status at the television entertainment system;
- and
- displaying the user interface at the television entertainment system for creating a new user account.
11 more elements
One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, direct a television entertainment system to perform acts comprising:
- publish a system identifier via a short-range wireless network;
- receive, from a mobile telephone, a security key and a mobile telephone identifier via the short-range wireless network;
- authenticate the security key;
- identify a user ID based on the mobile telephone identifier thereby causing a user account to be activated, wherein the user account includes user profile data, wherein the user profile data includes a usage pattern, a user preference, and a password;
- request authentication of the mobile telephone identifier from a telecommunications provider;
- receive confirmation data, from the telecommunications provider, indicating that there is an active subscription associated with the mobile telephone identifier, wherein the active subscription includes telecommunications service and support for television entertainment system control capabilities of the mobile telephone;
- responsive to the confirmation data from the telecommunications provider, perform a login process using the user ID to automatically login a user associated with the television entertainment system, the television entertainment system comprising one or more user accounts;
- switch the mobile telephone from a mobile telephone mode to a television entertainment system mode, wherein when in the television entertainment system mode commands submitted via the mobile telephone are forwarded via the short-range wireless network to the television entertainment system, wherein when an incoming call is detected when in the television entertainment system mode, toggling the mobile telephone from the television entertainment system mode to a mobile telephone mode, and wherein the mobile phone switches to automatically direct an incoming call to a voicemail system and automatically switches to the mobile telephone phone mode after a predetermined amount of time of no activity;
- track the user profile data, wherein the user profile data is communicated to a media content provider;
- store user profile data associated with a personalized service;
- apply a personalized setting based on the user profile data;
- provide access to a personalized service based on the user profile data;
- display a message concerning an authentication status at the television entertainment system;
- and
- display a user interface at the television entertainment system for creating a new user account.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.