System and method to query settings on a mobile device

• US 20030018764A1
• Filed: 06/29/2001
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Shell, Scott R., Zhu, Yuhang, Peev, Igor B.
• Granted Patent: US 7,194,503 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/18 Negotiating wireless communication parameters

Abstract

Described is a provisioning system for receiving configuration changes to and queries of settings on a mobile device. One implementation includes a router component and a configuration manager component. The router component is responsible for receiving messages delivered to the mobile device and parsing the messages into requests for information. The messages may be delivered in document format, such as in the eXtensible Markup Language (XML) format. The requests may take the form of a request to respond with existing configuration settings. The configuration manager component is responsible for determining what configuration settings are affected by the message and for processing the requests within the message. For example, the configuration manager component may process a request to query a configuration setting by retrieving the requested information from a hardware register or a software registry. The configuration manager component may implement one or more configuration service providers to perform the actual request processing. The configuration manager component may additionally compose a response document to return in the event that a response has been requested in the message. In one implementation, the response may be created by modifying the original message received and returning that message to the router component.

Claims

1. A mobile device including a computer-readable medium having computer-executable components, comprising:

a router component configured to receive a query document including a query statement related to a setting stored on the computer-readable medium, the router component being further configured to pass at least a part of the query document to other components;

a configuration service provider component associated with the setting and configured to access the setting; and

a configuration manager component configured to receive the at least part of the query document and to identify the configuration service provider based on information within the query document, the configuration manager being further configured to pass the query statement to the configuration service provider for processing.

2. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the router component is configured to receive query documents from a plurality of push sources, each push source being configured to interact with an external initiator of the query document.

3. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the initiator includes a provisioning server in wireless communication with the mobile device.

4. The computer-readable medium of claim 2, wherein the initiator includes a provisioning server in wired communication with the mobile device.

5. The computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the configuration service provider is further configured to retrieve a current value of the setting from the computer-readable medium.

6. The computer-readable medium of claim 5, wherein the configuration manager is further configured to modify the query document based on the retrieved value of the setting.

7. The computer-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the query statement within the modified query document is modified to include the retrieved value of the setting.

8. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon, the data structure comprising:

a header field identifying a client application responsible for handling information within the data structure and identifying a response address to which a response document is transmitted; and

a setting field including a query statement identifying a particular setting, the particular setting being stored on the mobile device.

9. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the data structure is a payload within a configuration message.

10. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the query statement is operative to cause the setting field to be modified to include a current value of the particular setting.

11. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the query statement causes a new setting field to be created including a current value of the particular setting.

12. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, further including another query statement identifying another setting, wherein the other query statement causes a new setting field to be created including a current value of the other setting.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the setting field further includes a declarative statement identifying a value for the particular setting.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the header field further comprises a response type field identifying a type of response to be sent in reply to the query statement.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the query statement existed in the response document prior to being processed by the configuration component.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the query statement was replaced by the setting field upon being processed by the configuration component.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the data structure is returned to a configuration initiator upon completion of a provisioning transaction.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 18, wherein the data structure is returned to the configuration initiator in response to a request for the data structure by the configuration initiator.

15. A computer-readable medium having a data structure stored thereon, the data structure comprising:

a header field identifying the data structure as a response document; and

a setting field including a declaration that a particular setting has an identified value, the particular setting being stored on the mobile device, the identified value being provided by a configuration component in response to a query statement identifying the particular setting.

20. A mobile device including a computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing steps, including:

receiving a configuration message including a payload identifying a particular setting stored on the mobile device;

parsing the configuration message to identify the particular setting stored on the mobile device;

passing the payload to a configuration component responsible for maintaining the particular setting; and

retrieving, by the configuration component, a value associated with the particular setting stored on the mobile device.

21. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the computer-readable medium comprises further instructions for returning a response document to an initiator of the configuration message, the response document including the value for the particular setting.

22. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein passing the payload to the configuration component further comprises identifying which configuration component is responsible for maintaining the particular setting and passing the payload to the identified configuration component.

23. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the configuration component comprises a configuration manager programmed to manage a provisioning transaction.

24. The mobile device of claim 20, wherein the configuration component comprises a configuration service provider responsible for maintaining the particular setting.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein passing the payload to the configuration component further comprises identifying which configuration component of a plurality of configuration components is responsible for maintaining the particular setting and passing the payload to the identified configuration component.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein the configuration component comprises a configuration manager programmed to manage a provisioning transaction.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the configuration component comprises a configuration service provider responsible for maintaining the particular setting.

30. The system of claim 29, further comprising a configuration service provider component associated with the setting and configured to access the setting, and wherein the configuration manager is further configured to identify the configuration service provider based on information within the query document, and to pass the at least part of the query document to the configuration service provider for processing.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the configuration service provider is further configured to retrieve a current value of the setting from the mobile device.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the configuration manager is further configured to modify the query document based on the retrieved value of the setting.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the query statement within the modified query document is modified to include the retrieved value of the setting.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the router component is configured to receive query documents from a plurality of push sources, each push source being configured to interact with an external initiator of the query document.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the external initiator includes a provisioning server in wireless communication with the mobile device.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the external initiator includes a provisioning server in wired communication with the mobile device.

25. A computer-implemented method for querying a setting on a mobile device, comprising:

receiving a configuration message from an initiator, the configuration message including a payload identifying a particular setting stored on the mobile device;

passing at least the payload to a configuration component responsible for maintaining the particular setting;

retrieving, by the configuration component, a value associated with the particular setting stored on the mobile device; and

returning a response document to the initiator of the configuration message, the response document including the retrieved value for the particular setting.

29. A system for maintaining settings on a mobile device, the system comprising:

a router component configured to receive a query document including a query statement related to a setting stored on the mobile device, the router component being further configured to pass at least a part of the query document to other components on the mobile device; and

a configuration manager component configured to receive the at least part of the query document, to cause the setting to be queried based on the at least part of the query document, and to return results of the query of the setting to the router component.