SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING CARRIER-SPECIFIC CONFIGURATION OF A USER DEVICE BASED ON PRE-STORED INFORMATION FOR MULTIPLE CARRIERS

• US 20170353813A1
• Filed: 06/03/2016
• Published: 12/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apkudo, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apkudo, LLC
• Inventors: MATTHEWS, Joshua Scott, LESLIE, Ben, BLANKEN, Melissa
• Granted Patent: US 9,936,331 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• 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 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/00 Network data management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/265 for initial activation of new user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

In certain embodiments, carrier-specific configuration of a user device may be facilitated based on pre-stored information for multiple carriers. In some embodiments, a user device may store information for limited access (that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters from carrier networks). During activation, the user device may select one of the carrier networks on which the user device is to be configured to operate. Responsive to the selection, the user device may provide, to a carrier-side computer system on the selected carrier network, a request for limited access to the selected carrier network for configuring the user device, wherein the request comprises the stored access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters via the selected carrier network. Responsive to the limited access being granted, the user device may obtain a configuration package from the carrier-side computer system comprising parameters for configuring the user device.

Claims

1. A system for facilitating carrier-specific configuration of user devices based on pre-stored limited access information for multiple carriers, the system comprising a user device that includes one or more physical processors programmed to execute computer program instructions which, when executed, cause the user device to:

store information for limited access that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via carrier networks of different carriers, wherein the stored limited access information comprises a multi-carrier-recognized access point name that is recognized by the carrier networks of the different carriers for obtaining the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the carrier networks of the different carrier;

select, during activation of the user device, one of the carrier networks on which the user device is to be configured to operate, the selected carrier network being a carrier network of a first carrier;

responsive to the selection of the carrier network, provide, to a carrier-side computer system on the selected carrier network, a request for limited access to the selected carrier network for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network, wherein the limited access request comprises the multi-carrier-recognized access point name of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the selected carrier network and via a carrier network of a second carrier different from the first carrier;

responsive to the limited access being granted by the carrier-side computer system, obtain, from the carrier-side computer system, a configuration package comprising one or more of the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network; and

cause, based on the obtained configuration package, the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

responsive to configuring the user device for further access to the selected network carrier, cause at least part of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via one or more carrier networks other than the selected carrier network to be deleted from the user device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

responsive to configuring the user device for further access to the selected network carrier, cause at least part of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the selected carrier network to be deleted from the user device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

store, prior to the selection of one of the carrier networks, configuration packages comprising sets of carrier-specific parameters, wherein the sets of carrier-specific parameters comprises a set of carrier-specific parameters of one configuration package for configuring the user device for a carrier network of one carrier and a set of carrier-specific parameters of another configuration package for configuring the user device for a carrier network of another carrier;

determine whether the stored configuration packages comprises a set of carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network,

wherein the limited access request is provided to the carrier-side computer system responsive to the stored configuration packages not comprising the set of carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

provide, during the activation of the user device, a configuration request to the carrier-side computer system, wherein the configuration request comprises information indicating a location associated with the user device,

wherein the configuration package obtained from the carrier-side computer system is related to the location associated with the user device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein causing the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network comprises:

selecting, based on a location associated with the user device, at least one of the one or more carrier-specific parameters to be applied to configure the user device; and

responsive to the selection of the at least one carrier-specific parameter, causing the user device to be configured using the selected at least one carrier-specific parameter.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein causing the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network comprises:

selecting one or more subsets of the obtained configuration package that are supported by the user device to be used to configure the user device; and

responsive to the selection of the one or more configuration package subsets, causing the user device to be configured using the selected one or more configuration package subsets such that one or more subsets of the obtained configuration package that are not supported by the user device are not used to configure the user device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

provide an activation request to the carrier-side computer system, wherein the activation request comprises at least one of an identifier for the user device or an identifier for a smart card in the user device, and

wherein the configuration package is obtained responsive to the limited access being granted by the carrier-side computer system and responsive to an account associated with the user device being activated for the selected carrier network.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the selected carrier network comprises a cellular network.

31. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored limited access information further includes an identifier of the user device and an identifier of a smart card in the user device.

32. The system of claim 1, wherein the user device is caused to:

responsive to the selection of the carrier network, connect to one or more access points on the selected carrier network using the stored limited access information to obtain the configuration package.

33. The system of claim 1, wherein the stored limited access information is pre-stored by a manufacturer of the user device.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the stored limited access information is pre-stored by the manufacturer of the user device during the manufacturing process, prior to a delivery of the user device to a carrier, or prior to delivery of the user device to a user.

9. (canceled)

11. A method of facilitating carrier-specific configuration of user devices based on pre-stored limited access information for multiple carriers, the method implemented by a user device that includes one or more physical processors programmed to execute computer program instructions which, when executed, perform the method, the method comprising:

storing, by the user device, information for limited access that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via carrier networks of different carriers, wherein the stored limited access information comprises a multi-carrier-recognized access point name that is recognized by the carrier networks of the different carriers for obtaining the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the carrier networks of the different carriers;

selecting, by the user device, during activation of the user device, one of the carrier networks on which the user device is to be configured to operate, the selected carrier network being a carrier network of a first carrier;

responsive to the selection of the carrier network, providing, by the user device, to a carrier-side computer system on the selected carrier network, a request for limited access to the selected carrier network for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network, wherein the limited access request comprises the multi-carrier-recognized access point name of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the selected carrier network and via a carrier network of a second carrier different from the first carrier;

responsive to the limited access being granted by the carrier-side computer system, obtaining, by the user device, from the carrier-side computer system, a configuration package comprising one or more of the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network; and

causing, by the user device, based on the obtained configuration package, the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

responsive to configuring the user device for further access to the selected network carrier, causing, by the user device, at least part of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via one or more carrier networks other than the selected carrier network to be deleted from the user device.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

storing, by the user device, prior to the selection of one of the carrier networks, configuration packages comprising sets of carrier-specific parameters, wherein the sets of carrier-specific parameters comprises a set of carrier-specific parameters of one configuration package for configuring the user device for a carrier network of one carrier and a set of carrier-specific parameters of another configuration package for configuring the user device for a carrier network of another carrier;

determining, by the user device, whether the stored configuration packages comprises a set of carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network,

wherein the limited access request is provided to the carrier-side computer system responsive to the stored configuration packages not comprising the set of carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

providing, by the user device, during the activation of the user device, a configuration request to the carrier-side computer system, wherein the configuration request comprises information indicating a location associated with the user device,

wherein the configuration package obtained from the carrier-side computer system is related to the location associated with the user device.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein causing the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network comprises:

selecting, based on a location associated with the user device, at least one of the one or more carrier-specific parameters to be applied to configure the user device; and

responsive to the selection of the at least one carrier-specific parameter, causing the user device to be configured using the selected at least one carrier-specific parameter.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein causing the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network comprises:

selecting one or more subsets of the obtained configuration package that are supported by the user device to be used to configure the user device; and

responsive to the selection of the one or more configuration package subsets, causing the user device to be configured using the selected one or more configuration package subsets such that one or more subsets of the obtained configuration package that are not supported by the user device are not used to configure the user device.

17-30. -30. (canceled)

35. A system for facilitating carrier-specific configuration of user devices based on pre-stored limited access information for multiple carriers, the system comprising a user device that includes one or more physical processors programmed to execute computer program instructions which, when executed, cause the user device to:

store information for limited access that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via carrier networks of different carriers, wherein the stored limited access information comprises a multi-carrier-recognized access point name that is recognized by the carrier networks of the different carriers for obtaining the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the carrier networks of the different carriers;

select, during activation of the user device, one of the carrier networks on which the user device is to be configured to operate, the selected carrier network being a carrier network of a first carrier;

responsive to the selection of the carrier network, provide, to a carrier-side computer system on the selected carrier network, a request for limited access to the selected carrier network for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network, wherein the limited access request comprises the multi-carrier-recognized access point name of the stored limited access information that allows the user device to obtain carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device via the selected carrier network and via a carrier network of a second carrier different from the first carrier;

responsive to the limited access being granted by the carrier-side computer system, obtain, from the carrier-side computer system, a configuration package comprising one or more of the carrier-specific parameters for configuring the user device for the selected carrier network; and

cause, based on the obtained configuration package, the user device to be configured for further access to the selected carrier network,

wherein the stored limited access information is pre-stored by a manufacturer of the user device during a manufacturing process, prior to a delivery of the user device to a carrier, or prior to delivery of the user device to a user.