Personal digital gateway

• US 7,379,464 B2
• Filed: 11/27/2002
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: IoT Innovations LLC (Empire IP LLC)
• Original Assignee: AT&T BLS Intelectual Property Inc (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Peterson, Jonathan M., Kreiner, Barrett Morris, Hodges, Donna K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chou, Albert T.
• Application Number:
  US10/306,504
• Publication Number:
  US 20040100974A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,008 Days
• Field of Search: 370/401, 725/77, 709/203, 709/218, 709/230, 709/238
• US Class Current: 370/401
• 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 12/2898 Subscriber equipments DSL modems H04M11/062; cable modems H04L12/2801
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4604 LAN interconnection over a backbone network, e.g. Internet, Frame Relay
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/328 in the presentation layer [OSI layer 6]
• 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: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatuses are disclosed for enabling a virtual personalized network. Communications are established with a personal digital gateway to control access, sharing, security, and/or management of up-to-date personalized data exchanged between or among a plurality of associated communications devices and/or communications networks. The associated communications devices are owned, operated, and/or accessed by a common user.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

selecting a user'"'"'s communications device from a plurality of communications devices to communicate data between a personal digital gateway and the selected communications device, the data associated with a common user of the personal digital gateway and of the selected communications device;

storing profiles for each of the user'"'"'s communications devices;

retrieving a profile associated with the selected communications device;

interpreting the data according to a rule-based engine to categorize the data as at least one of (1) data associated with an access agent, (2) data associated with a configuration agent, (3) data associated with a security agent, and (4) data associated with a management agent;

processing the data according to an edge side assembler; and

communicating the data and the profile to the selected communications device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the data according to the edge side assembler further comprises configuring the data for a presentation format compatible for the selected communications device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the format of the data is at least one of a text format, a voice data format, a video data format, a dual tone multi-frequency data format, an analog data format, and a digital data format.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprisinig determining whether an external network should be gueried for remote data.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising triggering the communications device to query for the remote data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a collection of bookmarks in the profile, each bookmark having a date stamp and indicating a specific version of the data.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving an undated profile from the communications device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected communications device is connected with at least one communications network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein processing the data comprises communicating with the at least one communications network to access remote data associated with at least one of an address, a filename, and file identifier of the data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein processing the data further comprises integrating the data and the remote data for a presentation format compatible with the selected conununications device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein communicating the data and the profile comprises communicating the integrated, formatted data and the remote data.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating with the communications devices based on a proximity of each communications device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the data comprises communicating the data via wired transmission.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the data comprises communicating the data via optical transmission.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating the data comprises communicating the data via wireless transmission.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the data further comprises at least one of (i) associating an application program to communicate with the data to the selected communications device, (ii) associating a network address to communicate with the data to the selected communications device, and (iii) integrating electronic communications from at least one network.

17. A system, comprising:

means for selecting a user'"'"'s communications device from a plurality of communications devices to communicate data between a personal digital gatewav and the selected communications device, the data associated with a common user of the personal digital gateway and of the seiected communications device;

means for storing profiles for each of the user'"'"'s communications devices;

means for retrieving a profile associated with the selected communications device;

means for interpretiun the data according to a rule-based engine to categorize the data as at least one of (1) data associated with an access agent, (2) data associated with a configuration agent, (3) data associated with a security agent, and (4) data associated with a manaaement agent;

means for processing the data according to an edge side assembler; and

means for communicatina the data and the profile to the selected communications device.

18. A computer readable medium storing processor executable instructions for performing a method, the method comprising:

selecting a user'"'"'s communications device from a plurality of communications devices to conimunicate data between a personal digital gateway and the selected communications device, the data associated with a common user of the personal digital gateway and of the selected communications device;

storing profiles for each of the user'"'"'s communications devices;

retrieving a profile associated with the selected communications device;

interpreting the data according to a rule-based engine to categorize the data as at least one of (1) data associated with an access aaent, (2) data associated with a confiuuration agent, (3) data associated with a security agent, and (4) data associated with a management agent;

processing the data according to an edge side assembler; and

communicating the data and the profile to the selected communications device.

19. A personal digital gateway for communicating data between different communications devices, the personal digital gateway comprising:

a rule-based application dataserver;

a rule-based engine that runs the rule-based application dataserver;

a plurality of stored profiles that drive the rule-based engine, each profile corresponding to one of the different communications devices, whereby the data is interpreted according to the rule-based engine and categorized as at least one of (1) data associated with an access agent, (2) data associated with a configuration agent, (3) data associated with a security agent, and (4) data associated with a management agent; and

an edge side assembler conimunicating the data and a profile to a selected communications device.

20. The personal digital gateway of claim 19, wherein the communications devices comprises at least one of a wireless communications device, a mobile phone, a wireless phone, a WAP phone, an IP phone, a satellite phone, a computer, a modem, a pager, a digital music device, a digital recording device, a personal digital recording device, a personal digital assistant, an interactive television, a digital signal processor, and a Global Positioning System device.

21. The personal digital gateway of claim 19, wherein the data communicated to a respective one of the communications devices by the edge side assemble further comprises remote data.