Method and apparatus for dynamically displaying brand information in a user interface

• US 6,753,887 B2
• Filed: 03/20/2001
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Carolan, Sean E., Garrett, John W., Kalmanek, Jr., Charles Robert, Nguyen, Han Q., Ramakrishnan, Kadangode K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cabeca, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): DETWILER, BRIAN J
• Application Number:
  US09/812,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20020036658A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,190 Days
• Field of Search: 345/962, 345/733, 345/738, 345/739, 345/764, 345/866, 705/1, 705/500, 709/217-219, 709/223-225, 709/227-229
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2801 Broadband local area networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2856 Access arrangements, e.g. Internet access asynchronous transfer mode networks H04L12/5601; broadband local area networks H04L12/2801; optical access or distribution networks H04Q11/0067; access to open networks H04L12/5691; digital subscriber line end-user equipment and bit-level processing of data on a PSTN-based network H04M11/00; home network gateways H04L12/2834; wireless access networks H04W
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/2874 Processing of data for distribution to the subscribers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/10 of different types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5084 Providing for device mobility network addressing or numbering for mobility support in wireless networks H04W8/26; mobile IP H04W80/04
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/58 Caching of addresses or names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/962 Operator interface for marketing or sales

Abstract

Client software may be used in conjunction with services offered by several entities such as network service providers. A user interface of the client software presents brand indicia relating to the network service provider that is currently being used by the software. The software is configured by selecting entities with which the software will be used. Once the entities are selected, an instruction server is queried to determine the location of branding data to be presented to the user, and a branding data server is queried to retrieve the branding data. The brand indicia are presented to the user according to the branding data each time the corresponding entity is accessed.

Claims

1. A method of causing brand indicia of a selected network access provider to be presented through a user interface associated with client software, the software being configurable to be used in conjunction with one of a plurality of network access providers, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an identification of a plurality of network access providers for configuration of the client software;

retrieving branding data containing brand indicia for the identified network access providers from at least one branding data server;

receiving a selection of one of the identified network access providers for use in a session; and

causing the brand indicia of the selected network access provider to be presented through the user interface of the client software according to the branding data.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of retrieving a location of the at least one branding data server from an instruction server.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the instruction server and the branding data server are separate servers.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the branding data includes a screen location in the user interface where brand indicia are to be displayed.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the brand indicia comprise multimedia information.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of retrieving branding data is performed by a network access device.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of retrieving branding data is performed by a service activation system.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of storing the branding data in a branding database, and wherein the step of causing the brand indicia to be presented includes retrieving the branding data from the branding database.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the client software runs on a network access device, and further comprising the step of assigning the network access device a network address allocated by the selected one of the identified network access providers.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the steps of receiving a selection of a second one of the identified network access providers, and causing the brand indicia of the second selected network access provider to be presented through the user interface of the client software according to the branding data.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the branding data is retrieved as HTML data.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of retrieving a location of the at least one branding data server from an instruction server.

15. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the branding data is retrieved as HTML data.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising the step of storing the branding data in a branding database, and wherein the step of presenting the brand indicia includes retrieving the branding data from the branding database.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the branding data includes a screen location in the user interface where brand indicia are to be displayed.

18. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the brand indicia comprise multimedia information.

12. A method of configuring a network access device having a first network address allocated to a subscriber of services of a first service provider provided by a first service network, with a new network address allocated to a subscriber of services of a second service provider provided by a second service network, wherein the network access device is connected to an access network connected to a plurality of service networks and wherein the network access device has a user interface for displaying brand indicia of a service network, comprising the steps of:

retrieving from at least one branding data server, branding data containing brand indicia for the plurality of service networks;

sending a request from the network access device to the access network requesting a change to a second service provider;

receiving a response from the access network;

initiating a network address change request using a DHCP configuration protocol, whereby a second network address allocated to the subscriber of services of the second service provider is assigned to the network access device, the second network address being utilized by the network access device to communicate data packets to the service network providing the selected service, and

presenting through the user interface brand indicia of the second service provider.

14. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the instruction server and the branding data server are separate servers.