US 9,179,446 B2Granted

Over the air programming via cellular broadcast

AssigneeAT&T Mobility II LLC

InventorsDeWayne Allan Sennett, Brian Kevin Daly

Life of this patent

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Abstract

In a communications system, one or more mobile devices may be programmed through the use of an assigned channel of a logical channel. For example, a broadcast control channel (BCCH) transmission may be received by one or more mobile devices, the transmission comprising a set of instructions to program the mobile devices. The BCCH transmission may be used to program certain mobile devices, such as a type or brand of device, or mobile devices having certain features, such as call waiting. The mobile device may be configured to accept a transmission, such as a packet in a GPRS network, on one channel while rejecting a transmission on other channels. Further, the mobile device may be reconfigured to accept additional channel transmissions or reject currently approved channel transmissions.

Claims11

Dependent claims

A apparatus comprising:

a processor;
and
memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to effectuate operations comprising:
generating a message packet comprising:
a header portion configured to identify a logical channel of a broadcast control channel of a cellular network;
and
a data portion comprising at least one instruction to configure a mobile device;
transmitting the message packet over the broadcast control channel, wherein an intended recipient of the transmitted message packet is a mobile device configured to:
receive the message packet over the broadcast control channel;
determine if the mobile device is configured to accept a message packet on the logical channel of the broadcast control channel over which the message packet is received;
and
accept the message packet if the mobile device is configured to accept the message packet received over the logical channel;
wherein the mobile device is further configured to reject the message packet if the mobile device is not configured to accept the message packet transmitted over the logical channel;
wherein:
the logical channel of the broadcast control channel over which the message packet is to be transmitted is selected from a list of logical channels;
a function is assigned to at least one of the list of logical channels;
and
the mobile device is configured to perform the assigned function upon acceptance of the message packet.

15 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 13/913,757Filed 10 Jun 2013 · continuation
Priority: 31 Mar 2008
Published: US 2013/0272242 A117 Oct 2013
Granted: 3 Nov 2015
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification9 codes

H04W 4/06
Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor: selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia…
H04M 1/72406
With means for local support of applications that increase the functionality: by software upgrading or downloading
H04M 3/42178
Administration or customisation of services: by downloading data to substation equipment
H04W 4/50
Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor: service provisioning or reconfiguring

Family

Application12/059,140Parent of this continuation · filed 31 Mar 2008
US 2013/0272242 A1Pre-grant publication · published 17 Oct 2013
US 8,489,084 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2009/0247138 A1Published application
US 9,179,446 B2This patent

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