Method and apparatus for provisioning a communications client on a host device

• US 7,620,705 B2
• Filed: 07/26/2005
• Issued: 11/17/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Plestid, Thomas Leonard Trevor, Hodgson, John S., Emery, Jeffrey K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen; Phuoc
• Application Number:
  US11/188,756
• Publication Number:
  US 20060026335A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,575 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/220, 709/227, 709/228
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/02 Arrangements for optimising operational condition
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/18 Service support devices; Network management devices

Abstract

An apparatus for provisioning a data communications client on a host communications device, the host communications device adapted to operate on a communications network, the apparatus comprising: a first data store adapted to store variant configuration information; a second data store adapted to store provisioning information; a provisioning module adapted to select the provisioning information stored in said second data store as a function of the variant configuration information stored in said first data store and apply the selected provisioning information to provision the data communications client; and a user interface interacting with said provisioning module to enable a user of the host communications device to provision the data communications client.

Claims

1. A host communications device certified for operation in a wireless network, the host communications device comprising:

a host platform;

a platform independent data communications client comprising a virtual machine executing a number of client applications using a client operating system;

an abstraction layer for translating between the host platform and the data communications client;

a first data store on the host platform configured to store variant configuration information;

a second data store on the host platform configured to store provisioning information, the provisioning information for selection among various service types for said data communications client;

a provisioning module on the data communications client configured to select among various service types stored in said second data store as a function of the variant configuration information stored in said first data store, utilizing the abstraction layer, and apply the selected provisioning information to provision the data communications client; and

a notification module to inform the host platform when the data communications client is provisioned, comprising one of a listener, an application to receive a notification to receive a notification from the data communication client or a polling application on the host platform to check a flag in the first data store or the second data store.

2. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the variant configuration information includes a parameter selected from the group consisting of a device variant parameter, a lock parameter, and a default language parameter.

3. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the variant configuration information includes one of a current variant and a change flag.

4. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the provisioning configuration information includes text that appears in the data communications client during a first time staff of the host communications device.

5. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the provisioning configuration information includes data communications client provisioning configuration information.

6. The device as recited in claim 5, wherein the data communications client provisioning information is set by the manufacturer of the data communications client and the operator of the communication network.

7. The device as recited in claim 5, wherein the first data store is further adapted to read information to control application functionality of the data communications client.

8. The device as recited in claim 7, wherein the first data store is further adapted to store the information to control application functionality of the data communications client.

9. The device as recited in claim 8, wherein the first data store is further adapted to set a change service flag.

10. The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the first data store is further adapted to store read-only operator settings.

11. The device as recited in claim 10, wherein the data communications client retrieves the read-only operator settings from said first data store.

12. A method for provisioning a platform independent data communications client on a host communications device certified for operation in a wireless network, the method comprising:

enabling a user of the host communications device to select an option for the provisioning of the data communications client, the data communications client comprising a virtual machine executing a number of client applications using a client operating system;

storing variant configuration information in a first data store on said host communications device;

storing provisioning information in a second data store on said host communications device, the provisioning information configured for selection among various service types for said data communications client;

selecting, through an abstraction layer for translating between a host platform on the host communications device and the data communications client, among various service types stored in said second data store as a function of the variant configuration information stored in said first data store based on said option selected in said enabling step;

applying a selected service type to provision the data communications client; and

notifying the host platform.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein prior to said applying step the method further comprises clearing one of

said data communications client of data, and

data from host native applications on said host communications device using a clear data store.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein said storing provisioning information step is performed during one of a manufacturing process and a configuration process.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the selecting step is performed through a native interface and abstraction layer on the data communications client.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the storing variant configuration information at first data store step further stores information to control application functionality of the data communications client.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising the step of setting a change service flag at the first data store.

13. The method of claim , wherein said variant configuration information is also applied to native host applications.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the applying step for host native applications is performed based on one of

a command to receive from said data communications client at said native host applications;

and

a listener module finding a change in provisioning on said data communications client and alerting said native host applications.