Intelligent roaming system with over the air programming
First Claim
1. A mobile station used by one of a plurality of subscribers of a home area wireless service provider, comprising:
- a memory that stores a list of preferred wireless carrier identities for use by the mobile station when roaming, said list of preferred wireless carrier identities being stored based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner and assigned to the mobile station for a plurality of market areas; and
a selector that automatically selects a preferred wireless carrier from the list stored in said memory when the mobile station is roaming and enters one of the plurality of market areas.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile station is used by one of a plurality of subscribers of a home area wireless service provider. The mobile station includes a memory that stores a list of preferred wireless carrier identities for use by the mobile station when roaming. The list of preferred wireless carrier identities is stored based upon a national account assigned to the mobile station for a plurality of market areas. The mobile station also includes a selector that automatically selects a preferred wireless carrier from the list stored in the memory when the mobile station is roaming and enters one of the market areas of the plurality of market areas.
131 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A mobile station used by one of a plurality of subscribers of a home area wireless service provider, comprising:
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a memory that stores a list of preferred wireless carrier identities for use by the mobile station when roaming, said list of preferred wireless carrier identities being stored based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner and assigned to the mobile station for a plurality of market areas; and
a selector that automatically selects a preferred wireless carrier from the list stored in said memory when the mobile station is roaming and enters one of the plurality of market areas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for selecting a preferred wireless carrier for a mobile station to enable wireless communication when the mobile station is roaming outside of a home market area of the mobile station, a database of preferred wireless carriers for a plurality of market areas based upon predetermined national accounts being provided at a predetermined location remote from the mobile station, a list of preferred wireless carriers being generated based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner, the national account being assigned to the mobile station, the list being stored in a storage device associated with the mobile station designated with the national account to enable a selection of a preferred wireless carrier band, the method comprising:
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receiving, at the mobile station, a signal transmitted by a wireless carrier;
determining whether the received signal is transmitted by a wireless carrier in a home market area of the mobile station; and
switching, based on the list in the storage device of the mobile station, a communications band of the mobile station to a preferred wireless carrier band related to the roaming market area when it is determined that the received signal is not transmitted by a wireless carrier in the home market area of the mobile station.
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13. A method for downloading a list of preferred wireless communication bands stored in a database to a memory device of each of a plurality of mobile stations, the database containing the list of preferred wireless communication bands from which each mobile station may select a preferred wireless communication band when the mobile station is roaming outside of a home market area of the mobile station, the list being based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner, the database having a plurality of national account fields, and a plurality of home market area fields, each mobile station being assigned to a national account and a home market area, the method comprising:
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determining when the list of preferred wireless communication bands stored in the memory of each mobile stations is outdated;
determining, when the list is outdated, if each mobile station is registered with a home location register;
locating each mobile station and downloading an updated list to each mobile station when it is determined the mobile station is registered with the home location register, the updated list being based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner; and
notifying a message center when the mobile station is not registered with the home location register and, thereafter, downloading a new preferred wireless communication band list to each mobile station when it is determined that the mobile station later registers with the home location register, the new preferred wireless communication band list being based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner. - View Dependent Claims (14)
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15. A mobile station used by one of a plurality of subscribers of a home area wireless service provider, comprising:
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a memory that stores a list of preferred wireless carrier identities for use by the mobile station when roaming, said list of preferred wireless carrier identities being stored based upon a national account customized via input by an account owner and assigned to the mobile station for a plurality of market areas, each of the plurality of subscribers of the home area wireless service provider being assigned to a national account, each national account being one of a default mass market national account and at least one other national account; and
a selector that automatically selects a preferred wireless carrier from the list stored in said memory when the mobile station is roaming and enters one of the market areas of the plurality of market areas.
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Specification