System, apparatus, and method for effecting network connections via wireless devices using radio frequency identification
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- activating at least one transponder having information associated therewith via a wireless interrogation signal with a reader device, wherein the at least one transponder is associated with a visual representation for a user of the device that identifies at least one user application to be invoked at the device upon machine-reading the associated at least one transponder to perform a function identified by the visual representation;
receiving the associated information from the activated transponder in response to the wireless interrogation signal;
invoking the user application at the device, identified at least in part by the information received from the activated transponder; and
performing the function identified by the visual representation associated with the activated transponder in response to execution of the invoked user application.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system, apparatus, and method for facilitating the initiation/execution of mobile services using radio frequency transponders. Transponders or “tags” having information associated therewith are provided at a location accessible to a mobile device user. A visual representation is associated with each of the transponders, where each visual representation corresponds to a communication function to be performed. A transponder is activated via a wireless signal transmitted by the mobile device in response to the mobile device being positioned proximate the visual representation associated with the transponder. The information from the activated transponder is received at the mobile device, which in turn invokes a mobile device application identified at least in part by the information received by the mobile device. The function corresponding to the visual representation is performed in response to invoking the mobile device application.
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Citations
50 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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activating at least one transponder having information associated therewith via a wireless interrogation signal with a reader device, wherein the at least one transponder is associated with a visual representation for a user of the device that identifies at least one user application to be invoked at the device upon machine-reading the associated at least one transponder to perform a function identified by the visual representation; receiving the associated information from the activated transponder in response to the wireless interrogation signal; invoking the user application at the device, identified at least in part by the information received from the activated transponder; and performing the function identified by the visual representation associated with the activated transponder in response to execution of the invoked user application. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method comprising:
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associating a visual representation for a user with one or more transponders having information associated therewith, wherein each visual representation identifies a targeted recipient of at least one person-to-person, communication function to be performed by a device upon machine-reading the associated transponder; activating at least one of the transponders via a wireless interrogation signal; receiving the associated information from the activated transponder in response to the wireless interrogation signal; invoking an application, identified at least in part by the information received from the activated transponder, wherein the application relates to the visual representation associated with the activated transponder; performing the communication function identified the visual representation associated with the activated transponder in response to execution of the invoked application; and establishing, in response to the invoked mobile application, an over-the-air (OTA) connection to a network. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method comprising:
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identifying at least one desired communication function among one or more visually-presented communication function identifiers for a user that visually communicate a targeted recipient of the communication function, wherein each of the visually-presented communication function identifiers is associated with at least one transponder storing information thereon; selecting the desired communication function in response to positioning an RF reader proximate the corresponding visually-presented communication function identifier and consequently within a transmission range of the transponder associated with the desired communication function; receiving the stored information from the transponder at a device via the RF reader; activating at least one local application on the device in response to the stored information, wherein the local application performs a communication function relating to the visually-presented communication function identifier; and communicating with at least one destination network element over the network using a mobile service facilitated by the activated local application. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A method comprising:
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providing one or more radio frequency identification (RFID) tags each associated with media having a visual representation for a user identifying a user application to be invoked on a device upon machine-reading the respective RFID tag to perform a function identified by the visual representation; activating at least one RFID tag in response to an RFID activation signal; receiving at least an application identifier and content from the activated RFID tag at the device when the device is within a backscatter transmission range of the RFID tag; locating a local application on the device using the application identifier, wherein the local application corresponds to the user application identified by the media and associated with its respective RFID tag; providing the content to the local application; and executing the local application using at least a portion of the content to perform the function identified by the media associated with the activated RFID tag. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A system comprising:
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one or more transponders associated with one or more items, each item having a visual representation for a user identifying a user application to be invoked on a device upon machine-reading the associated transponder to perform a function identified by the visual representation; a device configured to be operable by a user, comprising; a radio frequency reader module comprising a transceiver configured to send activation signals recognizable by the one or more transponders, and to receive at least an application identifier and content in response to one of the transponders being activated by the activation signals when the device is positioned proximate the item associated with that transponder; a memory configured for storing one or more local applications and a reader application; and a processor coupled to the memory and the radio frequency reader module, wherein the processor is configured to invoke at least one of the local applications corresponding to the user application visually represented by the transponder and identified by the application identifier received from the transponder and to provide the content to the identified local application as directed by the reader application, thereby performing the function identified by the visual representation associated with the activated transponder via the network. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A transponder device comprising:
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a visual identifier for a user configured to visually depict a targeted recipient of a person-to-person communication function to be performed by a device upon machine-reading the transponder device; a memory configured to store information including at least an application identifier relating to the visually depicted communication function; an antenna circuit configured to receive a carrier signal from an RF reader device when the RF reader device is positioned proximate the visual identifier such that the RF reader device is within an RF communication range of the transponder device, and to transmit at least the application identifier via a backscattered signal to the RF reader device to enable an application identified by the application identifier to perform the visually depicted communication function. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 45)
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42. An apparatus comprising:
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a radio frequency reader configured to transmit an interrogation signal, and in response to the signal, to receive a radio frequency signal including information to invoke a specific application when the apparatus is positioned within a signal range of a transponder associated with a visual representation for a user identifying a targeted recipient of at least one person-to-person communication function to be performed by the apparatus upon reading the associated transponder; a processor configured to invoke the identified application upon receiving the information from the transponder, and to perform the at least one communication function identified by the visual representation upon execution of the invoked application.
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43. Computer-readable media having instructions stored thereon which are executable by a processing system by performing:
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receiving a radio frequency signal and obtaining therefrom application identification information; invoking at least one application identified by the received application identification information, wherein the application relates to a visual representation for a user of that identifies a targeted recipient of a type of over-the-air connection for person-to-person communications, wherein the visual representation is associated with a device that originates the radio frequency signal; and establishing the over-the-air connection to a network in response to invoking the at least one application, and performing a function identified by the visual representation associated with a source of the radio frequency signal and involving the type of over-the-air connection to the network. - View Dependent Claims (44)
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46. An apparatus comprising:
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a transponder having information associated therewith and a visual representation for a user of a device, wherein the visual representation identifies a user application to be invoked at the device to perform a function identified by the visual representation upon machine-reading the transponder, wherein the transponder is configured to be activated via a wireless interrogation signal sent from the device, and wherein the associated information comprises an application identifier to identify the user application to be invoked, and content for use by the identified user application in performing the function, and wherein the transponder sends the associated information to the device in response to the wireless interrogation signal to invoke a local application at the device corresponding to the user application and identified by the application identifier to perform the function identified by the visual representation. - View Dependent Claims (47, 48, 49, 50)
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Specification