ACCESSING DATA SERVICES WHILE ROAMING

• US 20170118577A1
• Filed: 03/21/2014
• Published: 04/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: SKOG, Robert, HUBER, Michael, KLHI, Johan, LJUNGGREN, Andreas, STROMBERG, Bjorn
• Granted Patent: US 9,832,593 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A method, in a user equipment device, for managing use of applications installed on the user equipment device is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a request from a user to launch an application, checking whether the user equipment device is roaming, and, if the user equipment device is roaming, consulting a user roaming profile and preventing launch of the application if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming. Also disclosed are a computer program product for carrying out the above method and a user equipment device configured to carry out the above method.

Claims

1. A method, in a user equipment device, for managing use of applications installed on the user equipment device, the method comprising:

receiving a request from a user to launch an application;

checking whether the user equipment device is roaming; and

if the user equipment device is roaming, consulting a user roaming profile and preventing launch of the application if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising launching the application if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is permitted while roaming.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein preventing launch of the application comprises preventing any traffic relating to the application from leaving the user equipment device.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein preventing launch of the application comprises preventing the establishing of a Packet Data Protocol context for the application.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising informing the user that the requested application is not permitted to start if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising, if the user equipment device is not roaming, launching the application without consulting the user roaming profile.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user roaming profile comprises a list of at least one application and an associated indication of whether or not launch of the application is permitted while roaming.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user roaming profile is stored in a memory of the user equipment device.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the user roaming profile is configurable by the user of the user equipment device.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method is configured to run within an operating system of the user equipment device.

11. A computer program product configured, when run on a computer, to carry out a method as claimed in claim 1.

12. A user equipment device configured for managing use of applications installed on the user equipment device, the user equipment device comprising:

a receiving unit configured to receive a request from a user to launch an application;

a roaming unit configured to check whether the user equipment device is roaming; and

an application management unit configured, if the user equipment device is roaming, to consult a user roaming profile and to prevent launch of the application if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming.

13. The user equipment device as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a memory configured to store a user roaming profile.

14. The user equipment device as claimed in claim 12, further comprising a display unit configured to inform the user that the requested application is not permitted to start if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming.

15. A user equipment device configured for managing use of applications installed on the user equipment device, the user equipment device comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the processor is operative to:

receive a request from a user to launch an application;

check whether the user equipment device is roaming; and

if the user equipment device is roaming, consult a user roaming profile and prevent launch of the application if the user roaming profile indicates that launch of the application is not permitted while roaming.