Cellular radiotelephone system with remotely programmed mobile stations
First Claim
1. A method of activation and operation of a cellular mobile station, said method comprising:
- placing said mobile station proximate a sales kiosk coupled to a communication network;
imparting station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to a customer activation system coupled to said communication network;
formulating said station data into an invalid mobile identification number (MIN) in said customer activation system, said invalid MIN being a MIN having an invalid format;
communicating said invalid MIN to said mobile station from said customer activation system via a control channel of a cellular network; and
activating said mobile station in response to receipt of said invalid MIN at said mobile station.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A cellular radiotelephone system (10) includes mobile stations (28) which may be remotely programmed from a customer activation system (12) to effect activation and other programming needs. Mobile stations (28) are manufactured in a blank form that causes them to operate only in an inactive state. During activation, information describing the mobile station'"'"'s electronic serial number (ESN) is collected along with area of use information. A mobile identification number (MIN) is assigned in response to the area of use information. A page message is directed to the mobile station operating in its inactive state, but the page message references the mobile station'"'"'s ESN. While inactive, the mobile station (28) detects pages directed to its ESN. A remote programming session is then performed wherein digital user-specific programming data, including the newly assigned MIN, are transferred to the mobile station (28) over a voice channel using a control channel protocol (80).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of activation and operation of a cellular mobile station, said method comprising:
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placing said mobile station proximate a sales kiosk coupled to a communication network; imparting station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to a customer activation system coupled to said communication network; formulating said station data into an invalid mobile identification number (MIN) in said customer activation system, said invalid MIN being a MIN having an invalid format; communicating said invalid MIN to said mobile station from said customer activation system via a control channel of a cellular network; and activating said mobile station in response to receipt of said invalid MIN at said mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A telecommunications system comprising:
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a customer activation system coupled to a communications network; a sales kiosk of a cellular network remotely located from said customer activation system and coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) of said cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile station coupled to said MTSO through an RF link; and an additional telecommunications device coupled to said communications network; wherein said sales kiosk is configured to communicate station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to said customer activation system and said customer activation system is configured to communicate activation data to said mobile station through said MTSO. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 18)
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16. A telecommunications system comprising:
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a customer activation system coupled to a communications network; a sales kiosk of a cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) of said cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile station coupled to said MTSO through an RF link; and an additional telecommunications device coupled to said PSTN; wherein said mobile station is in an inactive state prior to activation, said sales kiosk is configured to communicate station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to said customer activation system, said customer activation system is configured to communicate activation data to said mobile station through said MTSO, said mobile station is in an active state following activation, and when said mobile station is in said active state, said mobile station is configured to communicate with said additional communication device in response to a MIN unique to said mobile station. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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19. A telecommunications system comprising:
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a customer activation system coupled to a communications network; a sales kiosk of a cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) of said cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile station coupled to said MTSO through an RF link; and an additional telecommunications device coupled to said PSTN; wherein said mobile station is configured to effect a data communication originating with said customer activation system and passing through said MTSO prior to activation of said mobile station, said sales kiosk is configured to communicate station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to said customer activation system, said customer activation system is configured to communicate activation data to said mobile station through said MTSO, and said mobile station is configured to effect one of data and voice communications with said additional telecommunications device after activation of said mobile station.
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20. A telecommunications system comprising:
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a customer activation system coupled to a communications network; a sales kiosk of a cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) of said cellular network coupled to said customer activation system through said communications network; a mobile station coupled to said MTSO through an RF link; and an additional telecommunications device coupled to said PSTN; wherein; said mobile station is in an inactive state prior to activation, when said mobile station is in said inactive state, said mobile station is configured to communicate with said customer activation system through response to an electronic serial number unique to said mobile station, and said mobile station is inhibited from communicating with said additional communication device, said sales kiosk is configured to communicate station data peculiar to said mobile station from said sales kiosk to said customer activation system, said customer activation system is configured to communicate activation data to said motile station through said MTSO, and said mobile station is in an active state following activation.
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Specification