Self-Identification of Brand and Branded Firmware Installation in a Generic Electronic Device

• US 20130303142A1
• Filed: 05/09/2012
• Published: 11/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Burcham, Robert H., Stone, M. Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 10,455,071 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/418
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7246 by connection of exchangeable housing parts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/04 including near field communication means, e.g. RFID
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

A mobile phone that is delivered by an original equipment manufacturer in an unbranded state. The mobile phone comprises a near-field-communication radio transceiver, a memory, a processor, and an application stored in the memory. When executed by the processor, the application reads brand information, using the near-field-communication radio transceiver, from a radio frequency identity (RFID) tag coupled to the mobile phone during an order fulfillment process in a distribution center of a communication service provider and, based on the brand information, loads brand firmware into the memory, whereby the mobile phone presents a branded look and feel.

Claims

1. A mobile phone that is delivered by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) in an unbranded state, comprising:

a near-field-communication (NFC) radio transceiver;

a memory;

a processor; and

an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor,

reads brand information, using the near-field-communication radio transceiver, from a radio frequency identity (RFID) tag coupled to the mobile phone during an order fulfillment process in a distribution center of a communication service provider and

based on the brand information, loads brand firmware into the memory, whereby the mobile phone presents a branded look and feel.

2. The mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the brand information read from the radio frequency identity tag comprises branding graphics firmware.

3. The mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the radio frequency identity tag is coupled to a branded battery cover that is attached to the mobile phone during the order fulfillment process.

4. The mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the brand information read from the radio frequency identity tag comprises links to branding content, and wherein the application further accesses the links to acquire at least some of the brand firmware.

5. The mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the brand firmware comprises at least one of a preferred roaming list (PRL) or executable application firmware.

6. The mobile phone of claim 1, wherein the application, based on the brand information read from the radio frequency identity tag, determines a brand identity, uses the brand identity to access a wireless network in the distribution center, and downloads brand firmware from the wireless network.

7. A method of providing branding firmware to a portable electronic device after manufacturing of the portable electronic device, comprising:

receiving the portable electronic device in a distribution center, wherein the distribution center is a different location from the location where the portable electronic device is manufactured;

providing a component comprising branding information to the portable electronic device in the distribution center;

scanning the component to determine a brand identification, wherein the scanning is performed by an electronic scanner in the distribution center;

selecting branding firmware based on the brand identification, wherein the selecting is performed by a computer; and

wirelessly transmitting the branding firmware to the portable electronic device in the distribution center.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the portable electronic device is one of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, or a media player.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the component has a branded graphic and scanning the component to determine the brand identification is performed by an optical scanner.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the component has a radio frequency identity (RFID) tag and scanning the component to determine the brand identification is performed by a near-field-communication (NFC) reader.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

when the branding firmware is not loaded into the portable electronic device in the distribution center, detecting that the branding firmware has not loaded into the portable electronic device; and

wirelessly transmitting branding firmware to the portable electronic device via a cellular wireless network.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

providing a different component having different branding information to the portable electronic device;

resetting a branded state flag in the portable electronic device;

receiving a request from the portable electronic device for different branding information based on the reset branded state flag in the portable electronic device; and

wirelessly transmitting different branding firmware to the portable electronic device, wherein the different branding firmware is identified by the request from the portable electronic device.

13. A mobile electronic device branded firmware provisioning system, comprising:

a data store comprising a plurality of different branded firmware, each branded firmware associated with a different communication service provider brand;

a wireless communication network; and

a server computer that receives a request from a mobile electronic device for one of the branded firmware, that retrieves a copy of the requested branded firmware from the data store, and that transmits the copy of the requested branded firmware to the mobile electronic device wirelessly via the wireless communication network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the branded firmware comprises branded graphics.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the branded graphics comprise a splash screen graphic.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the branded graphics comprises a background graphic.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein the branded firmware comprises branded applications.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein the branded firmware comprises a branded interface and applications pack, where the branded interface and applications pack comprises at least three of a branded media file, a branded application, a branded web widget, and a branded network service.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the branded firmware comprises a link to a branded on-line store.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the request from the mobile electronic device is a file transfer protocol (FTP) request that identifies the branded firmware.