SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION ASSOCIATED WITH A CELLULAR DEVICE ON A USER SPECIFIED DISPLAY UNIT

• US 20100130192A1
• Filed: 11/24/2008
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rooks, Kelsyn D.S., Sweeney, Jeffrey M.
• Granted Patent: US 8,630,683 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/424
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/10 Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention include a method for displaying information associated with a cellular device on a display unit. In one embodiment, the method includes monitoring for a signal transmitted by a cellular device. In response to detecting the signal from the cellular device, the method determines an identity and a call status of the cellular device from data associated with the signal. The method transmits the identity and the call status of the cellular device to a user specified device to display the identity and the call status on the display unit associated with the user specified device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for displaying information associated with a cellular device on a display unit, the method comprising:

monitoring for signals transmitted by a plurality of cellular devices operating within range of a femto cell that is configured to detect cellular signals within a specified range covering a residential location;

responsive to the femto cell detecting a signal from one of the plurality of cellular devices, determining an identity and a call status of the cellular device from data associated with the signal; and

transmitting the identity and the call status of the cellular device from the femto cell to a user specified device for displaying the identity and the call status on a display unit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the user specified device is a set-top box and the display unit is a television.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the user specified device is a personal computer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the user specified device is a communication device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a phone number associated with a communication device that is in communication with the cellular device; and

transmitting the phone number along with the identity and the call status of the cellular device to the user specified device to display the identity, the call status, and the phone number associated with the communication device that is in communication with the cellular device on the display unit.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log file that includes a time interval of when the cellular device is detected.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log file that includes calling activities associated with the cellular device, the calling activities including a call time, call duration, and a phone number associated with a communication device in communication with the cellular device.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

maintaining a log file that includes calling activities associated with the cellular device, the calling activities including a call time, call duration, and a phone number associated with a communication device in communication with the cellular device;

responsive to receiving a user request to display information associated with a log file, retrieving the log file associated with the cellular device; and

transmitting the information associated with log file to the user specified device to display the information associated with the log file on the display unit.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a user request to record audio, recording the audio associated with communications made with the cellular device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a user request to listen to an active call, playing audio associated with the active call on an audio output device associated with the user specified device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps of monitoring, determining, and transmitting are performed by a femto cell.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising registering with the femto cell an identifier associated with the cellular device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising registering with the femto cell an IP address associated with the user specified device.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a user request to block a detected cellular device; and

disallowing the detected cellular device from communicating over the femto cell.

15. A method for displaying information associated with a cellular device on a display unit, the method comprising:

receiving data from a femto cell, the data including an identity and a call status of a cellular device detected by the femto cell;

generating a user interface that includes the data; and

displaying the user interface on the display unit.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein displaying the user interface on the display unit comprise overlaying the user interface over an image depicted on the display unit.

17. A femto cell comprising:

memory in communication with a processing unit, the memory including computer usable program code, and

the processing unit configured to execute the computer usable program code to;

monitor for signals transmitted by a plurality of cellular devices operating within range of the femto cell;

responsive to the femto cell detecting a signal from one of the plurality of cellular devices, determine an identity and a call status of the cellular device from data associated with the signal; and

transmit the identity and the call status of the cellular device from the femto cell to a user specified device for displaying the identity and the call status on a display unit.

18. The femto cell of claim 17, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to register an identifier associated with the cellular device.

19. The femto cell of claim 17, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to register an IP address associated with the user specified device.

20. The femto cell of claim 17, wherein the processing unit further executes the computer usable program code to maintain a log file that includes calling activities associated with the cellular device, the calling activities including a call time, call duration, and a phone number associated with a communication device in communication with the cellular device.