Systems and methods for facilitating identification of communication originators

• US 20080222293A1
• Filed: 03/08/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l. (f/k/a Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l.) (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Original Assignee: 2011 Intellectual Property Asset Trust (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Cui, Yanqing
• Granted Patent: US 8,285,266 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4594 Address books, i.e. directories containing contact information about correspondents telephone directories in user terminals H04M1/27453
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

Systems, apparatuses and methods for facilitating identification of the originator of a communication. A communication is received from a sending device. Sending device identification information is requested from a distributed contact database fashioned from the contact databases of the communication devices in a group of communication devices. If the sending device identification information is available at a given communication device, it is received from the communication device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving a communication from a sending device;

requesting sending device identification information from a distributed contact database fashioned from the contact databases of the communication devices in a group of communication devices; and

receiving the requested sending device identification information from at least one of the communication devices in the group.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising consulting a local contacts database for the sending device identification information and requesting the sending device identification information from the distributed contact database if the sending device identification information is not available in the local contacts database.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein only a portion of the contact database of a given one of the communication devices is made available for use in the distributed contact database.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving a communication comprises receiving a voice call or a message from the sending device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving a notification from one or more of the communication devices indicating that the requested sending device identification information will not be provided by the respective one of the communication devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting sending device identification information comprises requesting information at least identifying a user of the sending device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting sending device identification information comprises requesting information more specifically identifying a user of the sending device than the information received in connection with the communication from the sending device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information received in connection with the communication from the sending device comprises information obtained in connection with a calling line identity technology.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the information received in connection with the communication from the sending device comprises a phone number.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the information received in connection with the communication from the sending device comprises at least a messaging address associated with the sending device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the information received in connection with the communication from the sending device comprises at least a messaging address associated with a user of the sending device.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting sending device identification information comprises requesting the sending device identification information from each participating communication device in the group.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting sending device identification information comprises sending at least one request for the sending device identification information to each of the communication devices of the group.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting the received sending device identification information.

15. A method comprising:

associating with a plurality of communication devices to collectively formulate a distributed contact database;

receiving a request from a requesting one of the plurality of communication devices for identification information based on partial identification information provided via the request; and

providing the requested identification information to the requesting communication device if the local contact database includes the requested identification information.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising applying participation rules, and providing the requested identification information to the requesting communication device if the local contact database includes the requested identification information and if the participation rules allow it.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining whether the requested identification information is approved for sharing, and if approved, providing the requested identification information to the requesting communication device if the local contact database includes the requested identification information.

18. The method of claim 15, further comprising notifying the requesting communication device that the requested identification information will not be provided to the requesting communication device.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising providing an option to respond to the request within a time period, and performing a default operation if no action is taken by the expiration of the time period.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising determining whether the requesting communication device is associated with an authenticated user having permission to obtain the identification information.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising notifying the requesting communication device that the requested communication device is available, if the requesting communication device is associated with an authenticated user.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising receiving, in response to the notification, a request for the identification information from the requesting communication device that is associated with the authenticated user.

23. The method of claim 15, further comprising making at least a portion of the local contact database ineligible for inclusion in the distributed contact database.

24. A method comprising:

a first device receiving a communication from a sending device;

the first device requesting sending device identification information from a distributed contact database fashioned from the contact databases of one or more second devices; and

each of the second devices searching their respective contact databases to locate the requested sending device identification information, and if found providing the sending device identification information to the first device.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising affiliating the first device and the one or more second devices as a first tier group of the distributed contact database, and wherein requesting sending device identification information from a distributed contact database comprises requesting sending device identification information from the first tier group of the distributed contact database.

26. The method of claim 25, further comprising affiliating at least one of the second devices with one or more third devices as a second tier group of the distributed contact database, and wherein sending the sending device identification information to the first device comprises receiving the sending device identification information from the second tier group and forwarding the sending device identification information to the first device.

27. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver to receive a communication from a sending device;

a processor configured to create a request for identification information of the user associated with the sending device;

a transmitter to transmit the request to a group of communication devices whose individual contact databases collectively form a distributed contact database; and

wherein the receiver is configured to receive the requested identification information from at least one of the communication devices of the group.

28. The apparatus as in claim 27, further comprising a local contacts database, and wherein the processor is further configured to search the local contacts database for the identification information of the user before directing the transmitter to transmit the request to the group of communication devices.

29. The apparatus as in claim 28, wherein the processor is further configured to direct the transmitter to transmit the request to the group of communication devices only if the identification information could not be located in the local contacts database.

30. The apparatus as in claim 27, wherein the receiver is further configured to receive a notification from one or more of the communication devices indicating that the requested identification information will not be provided by the respective one of the communication devices.

31. The apparatus as in claim 27, further comprising a display to present a visual representation of the requested identification information.

32. The apparatus as in claim 27, further comprising a speaker to present an audio representation of the requested identification information.

33. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a communication from a sending device;

means for requesting sending device identification information from a distributed contact database fashioned from the contact databases of the communication devices in a group of communication devices; and

means for receiving the requested sending device identification information 7 from at least one of the communication devices in the group.

34. An apparatus comprising:

a receiver configured to receive a contact item request;

a local contact database representing a subset of a distributed contact database;

a processor configured to search the local contact database to determine whether the requested contact item is stored in the local contact database of the distributed contact database; and

a transmitter configured to transmit the requested contact item if the requested contact item is stored in the local contact database of the distributed contact database.

35. The apparatus as in claim 34, wherein:

the receiver is configured to receive the contact item request from a requesting device; and

the transmitter is configured to transmit the requested contact item to the requesting device if the requested contact item is stored in the local contact database of the distributed contact database.

36. A system comprising a plurality of the apparatuses as in claim 34, wherein the local contact databases of the plurality of apparatuses collectively represent the distributed contact database.