Integrated mobile unit location services and cellular telephone services
First Claim
1. A method of sharing cellular phone identities among a plurality of mobile units in a mobile unit location system, comprising the steps of:
- (a) transmitting a request for a cellular phone identity from a mobile unit to a cellular phone identity service provider via the mobile unit location system;
(b) receiving the cellular phone identity from the cellular phone identity service provider via the mobile unit location system in response to the transmitted request; and
(c) programming a cellular phone connected to the mobile unit with the cellular phone identity received from the cellular phone identity service provider, said cellular phone not being required to have a permanent identity in a cellular phone network.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method for sharing cellular telephone subscriptions among a plurality of mobile units in a mobile unit location system. Requests for cellular service are transmitted from a mobile unit to a cellular phone identity service provider via the mobile unit location system. The service provider grants or denies the request. If the request is granted a cellular phone identity is provided to the mobile unit location service for downloading into the mobile unit. The cellular phone connected to the mobile unit is then programmed with the cellular phone identity so that cellular service can be initiated.
-
Citations
37 Claims
-
1. A method of sharing cellular phone identities among a plurality of mobile units in a mobile unit location system, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) transmitting a request for a cellular phone identity from a mobile unit to a cellular phone identity service provider via the mobile unit location system; (b) receiving the cellular phone identity from the cellular phone identity service provider via the mobile unit location system in response to the transmitted request; and (c) programming a cellular phone connected to the mobile unit with the cellular phone identity received from the cellular phone identity service provider, said cellular phone not being required to have a permanent identity in a cellular phone network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A method of sharing cellular phone identities among a plurality of mobile units in a mobile unit location system, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving a request for a cellular phone identity from a mobile unit via the mobile unit location system; and (b) transmitting the cellular phone identity to the mobile unit via the mobile unit location system in response to the received request, so that a cellular phone connected to the mobile unit can be programmed with the cellular phone identity, said cellular phone not being required to have a permanent identity in a cellular phone network. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A method of sharing cellular phone identities among a plurality of mobile units in a mobile unit location system, comprising the steps of:
-
(a) receiving a call request from a requester for a specific cellular phone connected to a specific mobile unit; (b) selecting and transmitting a cellular phone identity to the specific mobile unit via the mobile unit location system in response to the call request, so that the specific cellular phone connected to the mobile unit can be programmed with the cellular phone identity, the specific cellular phone not being required to have a permanent identity in a cellular phone network; and (c) responding to the call request in a manner that allows the requester to contact the specific cellular phone. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A system for allocating cellular phone identities to mobile units on a temporary basis comprising:
-
a mobile unit location system having a computer and a communication link between said computer and each of said mobile units; a cellular service provider computer connected to said computer in said mobile unit location system; a mobile unit location system transceiver located in each mobile unit for communicating with said computer; a cellular phone transceiver located in each mobile unit; and a processor in each of said mobile units, said processor being connected to said mobile unit location system transceiver and said cellular phone transceiver, said processor being programmable to operate said cellular phone transceiver in response to signals generated by and received from said mobile unit location system, said mobile unit location system being configured to establish a cellular call at one of said mobile units by communicating with said cellular service provider and transmitting a cellular phone identity selected by said cellular service provider to said mobile unit using a corresponding said communication link, said processor being programmable to receive said cellular phone identity via said mobile unit location system transceiver, to store said cellular phone identity in a memory device corresponding to said processor and to command said cellular phone transceiver to operate in accordance with said stored cellular phone identity. - View Dependent Claims (37)
-
Specification