Method and apparatus for providing a location based appliance personality

• US 6,957,075 B1
• Filed: 02/01/1999
• Issued: 10/18/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/01/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Iverson, Vaughn S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, John J.
• Application Number:
  US09/241,834
• Time in Patent Office: 2,451 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.3, 455/457, 455/418, 455/419, 455/412.1, 455/422.1, 455/434, 455/464, 455/566, 455/557, 455/432.3, 455/556.1, 455/558, 455/12.1, 455/556.2, 455/13.1, 455/427, 455/405, 455/414.1, 455/414.2, 455/552.1, 455/553.8, 455/3.03, 455/456.1, 455/41.2, 455/41.1, 455/553.1
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location

Abstract

A method for providing an appliance personality is presented comprising ascertaining a current location/location type for the electronic appliance, selecting a suitable electronic appliance personality based, at least in part, on the ascertained location/location type of the electronic appliance and provisioning the selected appliance personality on the electronic appliance.

Claims

1. An electronic appliance implemented method comprising:

receiving one or more signals containing information from a corresponding one or more sources;

extracting information embedded within the received one or more signals;

ascertaining the current location/location type of the electronic appliance from the information associated with the received one or more signals;

identifying an appliance personality from a plurality of available personalities based, at least in part, on the ascertained current location/location type of the electronic appliance;

provisioning the identified appliance personality on the electronic appliance but allowing access to all appliance personalities in any location; and

selecting and providing a user interface and an application set from a plurality of available user interfaces and application sets to reflect the identified appliance personality.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more sources are satellites designed to provide a global positioning system (GPS) signal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein one or more sources are cellular communication transmitters designed to provide a plurality of control signals containing information regarding a location of the transmitters and a timestamp of when the received signal(s) were transmitted.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location/location type of the electronic appliance is calculated using a triangulation technique.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the current location/location type of the electronic appliance is determined by cross referencing a calculated relative position against a database of locations.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of appliance personalities are pre-programmed in the appliance and reside in an interface database.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of appliance personalities are stored in one or more memory cards which are removably coupled to the electronic appliance.

8. An electronic appliance comprising:

a receiver, coupled to an antenna, to receive signals including information;

a processor, coupled to the receiver, to determine a location of the electronic appliance from the received signals;

a storage medium having stored therein a plurality of processor executable instructions for selectively implementing a plurality of appliance personalities for the electronic appliance, wherein an appropriate appliance personality is selected and provisioned by the processor based, at least in part, on the determined location of the electronic appliance, but access to all appliance personalities in any location is allowed; and

the storage medium having stored therein a plurality of instructions for a plurality of user interfaces and application sets which are selectively executed by the processor to provision appliance personalities.

9. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the storage medium is removably coupled to the electronic appliance.

10. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the antenna is a global positioning system (GPS) antenna.

11. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the antenna is a radio frequency (RF) antenna.

12. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the antenna is a photovoltaic cell operative to receive infrared (IR) signals.

13. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the plurality of appliance personalities includes a personality unique to a home environment.

14. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the plurality of appliance personalities includes a personality unique to an office operating environment.

15. The electronic appliance of claim 8, wherein the plurality of appliance personalities includes a personality tailored for a mobile operating environment.