Remotely requesting an alert from a lost or stolen wireless device

• US 8,073,427 B2
• Filed: 08/10/2006
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rakuten Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Koch, Robert, Bishop, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUA, QUAN M
• Application Number:
  US11/502,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20060274683A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,944 Days
• Field of Search: 455/414, 455/556, 455/411, 455/404.1, 455/418, 455/456.1, 455/414.1, 340/568.1
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/082 using revocation of authorisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/126 Anti-theft arrangements, e.g. protection against subscriber identity module [SIM] cloning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration

Abstract

A wireless device may be alerted. For example, a message may be received from an invoking party and parsed for request data. Then a determination may be made as to whether identification data in the received message matches identification data resident in the wireless device. Next, the wireless device may be alerted when the received identification data matches the identification data resident in the wireless device and when the request data includes a request to alert the wireless device. A return message may be sent to the invoking party when the request data includes the request to alert the wireless device. The return message may indicate that the wireless device as been alerted. Alerting the wireless device may comprise causing the wireless device to perform a function configured to indicate to a subject that the wireless device has been lost.

Claims

1. A method for alerting a wireless device, the method comprising:

receiving an alert request message from an invoking party at a network node;

parsing the alert request message for request data;

determining a type of alert being indicated by the request data;

and, in response to the determined type of alert, providing an alert performance message corresponding to the determined type to the wireless device,

causing the wireless device using the alert performance message to execute an application on the wireless device to indicate to a subject that the wireless device has been lost or stolen,

upon executing the application, displaying a visible alert on the screen of the wireless device and emitting an audible message from the wireless device,

wherein displaying the visible alert by flashing a visible alert on a screen of the wireless device indicating the wireless device is lost or stolen,

and emitting the audible message by audibly stating in a verbal message that the wireless device is lost or stolen,

wherein emitting the audible message further comprises receiving the audible message at the wireless device from the network node after the alert performance message, and

delivering the audible message to the wireless device in the form of one of a recorded audio file and a text message, and

converting the text message to the audible message using a text-to speech translation of the text message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to indicate an audible alert.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the audible alert further comprises a motion alert produced by the wireless device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to displaying a message.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to display a message, the message being one of the following:

pre-established on the wireless device prior to providing the alert performance message, provided to the wireless device when the wireless is provided with the alert performance message, and provided to the wireless device after providing the alert performance message.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to transmit location information corresponding to a location of the wireless device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to be operable to initiate a communication to a limited number of communication addresses and to provide a prompt to initiate a communication to at least one of the limited number of communication addresses.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the invoking party initiates the request message by making a voice call to a voice node in a network.

9. A method for alerting a wireless device, the method comprising:

receiving an alert performance message at the wireless device, wherein receiving the alert performance massage is in response to an alert type received at a network node,

causing the wireless device using the alert performance message to perform a function to indicate to a subject that the wireless device has been lost,

performing the function further includes displaying a visible alert on the screen of the wireless device and emitting an audible message from the wireless device,

wherein displaying the visible alert by flashing a visible alert on a screen of the wireless device indicating the wireless device is lost or stolen,

and emitting the audible message by stating in a verbal message that the wireless device is lost or stolen,

wherein emitting the audible message further comprises receiving the audible message by the wireless device after receiving the alert performance message, and

delivering the audible message to the wireless device in the form of one of a recorded audio file and a text message, and converting the text message to the audible message using a text-to speech translation of the text message.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to perform the function to indicate to the subject that the wireless device has been lost wherein the function to indicate further comprises the wireless device emitting an audible tone from the wireless device based upon the received alert performance message.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the alert performance message causes the wireless device to perform the function to indicate to the subject that the wireless device has been lost wherein the function to indicate further comprises the wireless device displaying a message on the wireless device based upon the received alert performance message.

12. A tangible computer-readable medium which stores a set of instructions which when executed performs a method for alerting a wireless device, the method executed by the set of instructions comprising:

receiving an alert performance message at the wireless device, wherein receiving the alert performance massage is in response to an alert type received at a network node, causing the wireless device using the alert performance message to perform a function to indicate to a subject that the wireless device has been lost,

performing the function further includes displaying a visible alert on the screen of the wireless device and emitting an audible message from the wireless device,

wherein displaying the visible alert by flashing a visible alert on a screen of the wireless device indicating the wireless device is lost or stolen,

and emitting the audible message by stating in a verbal message that the wireless device is lost or stolen,

wherein emitting the audible message further comprises receiving the audible message by the wireless device after receiving the alert performance message, and

delivering the audible message to the wireless device in the form of one of a recorded audio file and a text message, and

converting the text message to the audible message using a text-to speech translation of the text message.

13. The tangible computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the function to indicate further comprises the wireless device emitting an audible tone from the wireless device based upon the received alert performance message.