Method and apparatus for provisioning a device

• US 20060229027A1
• Filed: 03/30/2005
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Liu, Huitao, Wang, Feng
• Granted Patent: US 8,442,433 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/73
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

An article (100) has a device (122), and a radio frequency identification (RFID) module (102) coupled to the device. The RFID module is programmed to receive (210) provisioning instructions from a wireless source (142), and transfer (212) to the device the provisioning instructions when said device is enabled.

Claims

1. An article, comprising:

a device; and

a radio frequency identification (RFID) module coupled to the device, wherein the RFID module is programmed to;

receive provisioning instructions from a wireless source; and

transfer to the device the provisioning instructions when said device is enabled.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the RFID module is further programmed to transmit in response to a request from the wireless source current provisioning information of the device so that the wireless source can determine whether the provision information requires updating.

3. The article of claim 1, wherein the RFID module is further programmed to transmit to the wireless source an acknowledgment indicating that the provisioning instructions have been received.

4. The article of claim 1, wherein the RFID module comprises a controller, wireless transceiver, and a memory, and wherein the RFID module is powered by radio frequency (RF) energy emitted by the wireless source.

5. The article of claim 1, wherein the device is at least one among a group of devices comprising a computing device, a wireless access point, and a portable device.

6. The article of claim 1, wherein the provisioning instructions include at least one among a group of items comprising updated software version, updated software instructions, updated operating parameters, and updated customer settings.

7. The article of claim 1, wherein the device is programmed to:

receive the provisioning instructions from the RFID module; and

provision itself according to the provisioning instructions.

8. The article of claim 7, wherein the device is further programmed to:

request a software update from a provisioning source according to the provisioning instructions; and

replace a portion of software operating on the device with the software update.

9. A method operating in portions of a radio frequency identification (RFID) module, a device coupled to the RFID module, and a wireless source, comprising the steps of:

receiving at the RFID module provisioning instructions from the wireless source; and

transferring from the RFID module to the device the provisioning instructions when said device is enabled.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

transmitting from the RFID module in response to a request from the wireless source current provisioning information of the device;

determining at the wireless source whether the provision information requires updating; and

transmitting from the wireless source to the RFID module the provisioning instructions if the provisioning information requires updating.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of transmitting from the RFID module to the wireless source an acknowledgment indicating that the provisioning instructions have been received.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the RFID module is powered by radio frequency (RF) energy emitted by the wireless source.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the device is at least one among a group of devices comprising a computing device, a wireless access point, and a portable device.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the provisioning instructions include at least one among a group of items comprising updated software version, updated software instructions, updated operating parameters, and updated customer settings.

15. The method of claim 9, further comprising the step of provisioning the device according to the provisioning instructions.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of:

requesting a software update from a provisioning source according to the provisioning instructions; and

replacing a portion of software operating on the device with the software update.

17. Portions of a computer-readable storage medium operating in a radio frequency identification (RFID) module, a device coupled to the RFID module, and a wireless source, comprise computer instructions for:

receiving at the RFID module provisioning instructions from the wireless source; and

transferring from the RFID module to the device the provisioning instructions when said device is enabled.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions for:

transmitting from the RFID module in response to a request from the wireless source current provisioning information of the device;

determining at the wireless source whether the provision information requires updating; and

transmitting from the wireless source to the RFID module the provisioning instructions if the provisioning information requires updating.

19. The storage medium of claim 17, further comprising computer instructions for:

receiving at the device the provisioning instructions from the RFID module; and

provisioning the device according to the provisioning instructions.

20. The storage medium of claim 19, further comprising computer instructions for:

requesting from the device a software update from a provisioning source according to the provisioning instructions; and

replacing a portion of software operating on the device with the software update.