Enforcement of permitted cell phone usage
First Claim
1. A communications protocol for enforcing usage rules upon a wireless device, comprising:
- establishing at least one rule relating to an action to be forcibly initiated by said wireless device; and
wirelessly transmitting said at least one rule to said wireless device when said wireless device enters a physical area to which said usage rule applies;
wherein said at least one rule relates to an operational parameter of said wireless device without allowing a user of said wireless device to override said at least one rule.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A set of usage rules are implemented to disable particular features of a wireless device (e.g., audible ringing, use of camera, etc.), or to forcibly power down the device, based upon it'"'"'s presence in an area with restricted usage rules. A number of BLUETOOTH™ enabled or other suitably enabled devices such as a cell phones, personal digital assistant (PDA), pager, and email device such as a BLACKBERRY™ or SMARTPHONE™ device, may be automatically instructed to enact one or more rules provided by a Rules Enforcer Transceiver. A “Rules Enabled” cell phone or other wireless device thus may be taken into sensitive areas such as hospitals, movie theatres, etc. For instance, audible ringing may be disabled (or, alternatively, silent ringing such as vibration may be forcibly enabled.) Similarly, camera functionality may be disabled when entering given establishments that prohibit use of such devices, e.g., health clubs, spas, or corporate offices to prevent industrial espionage, etc.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A communications protocol for enforcing usage rules upon a wireless device, comprising:
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establishing at least one rule relating to an action to be forcibly initiated by said wireless device; and
wirelessly transmitting said at least one rule to said wireless device when said wireless device enters a physical area to which said usage rule applies;
wherein said at least one rule relates to an operational parameter of said wireless device without allowing a user of said wireless device to override said at least one rule. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of implementing a mandatory usage rule for operation of a wireless device, comprising:
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establishing a wireless link to receive at least one rule relating to operation of at least one feature of said wireless device when said wireless device enters a physical area to which said usage rule applies; and
automatically implementing an instruction contained by said at least one rule in said wireless device;
wherein said at least one rule relates to an operational parameter of said wireless device without allowing a user of said wireless device to override said at least one rule. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Apparatus for enforcing usage rules of a wireless device, comprising:
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means for establishing at least one rule relating to an action to be forcibly initiated by said wireless device; and
means for wirelessly transmitting said at least one rule to said wireless device when said wireless device enters a physical area to which said usage rule applies;
wherein said at least one rule relates to an operational parameter of said wireless device without allowing a user of said wireless device to override said at least one rule.
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20. Apparatus for implementing a mandatory usage rule for operation of a wireless device, comprising:
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means for establishing a wireless link to receive at least one rule relating to operation of at least one feature of said wireless device when said wireless device enters a physical area to which said usage rule applies; and
means for automatically implementing an instruction contained by said at least one rule in said wireless device;
wherein said at least one rule relates to an operational parameter of said wireless device without allowing a user of said wireless device to override said at least one rule.
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Specification
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- Resources
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Current AssigneeAgere Systems Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
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Original AssigneeAgere Systems Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
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InventorsAzimi, Kouros, Michejda, John, Fetterman, H. Scott
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Application NumberUS10/893,986Publication NumberTime in Patent OfficeDaysField of SearchUS Class Current455/419CPC Class CodesH04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range w...H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionali...H04W 48/02 Access restriction performe...Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication n...
