Cellular telephone credit management
First Claim
1. In a cellular telephone network user terminal (UT), a method for controlling a cellular telephone account, the method comprising:
- registering a UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party;
selecting an account from the plurality of accounts;
uploading a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service;
converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account;
accessing the cellular telephone network service;
creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account;
sending the notification to the cellular telephone network; and
debiting the account balance associated with the selected account.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system and method are provided for controlling a cellular telephone account User Terminal (UT). The method includes: registering a UT with an account in a cellular telephone network; uploading a credit for cellular telephone network services to the UT from a second party; and, converting the credit to an account balance. When the UT accesses a cellular telephone network service (i.e., makes a call), then the account balance is debited. In one aspect, the method accesses a credit server funded by the second party. Then, the credit is uploaded in response to accessing the credit server. For example, the credit server may be a module embedded in the UT. Alternately, the credit server is accessed via the cellular telephone network. For example, an Internet Protocol (IP) network-connected credit server may be accessed via the cellular network.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. In a cellular telephone network user terminal (UT), a method for controlling a cellular telephone account, the method comprising:
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registering a UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party; selecting an account from the plurality of accounts; uploading a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service; converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account; accessing the cellular telephone network service; creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account; sending the notification to the cellular telephone network; and debiting the account balance associated with the selected account. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A user terminal (UT) with a managed cellular telephone network account, the UT comprising a processor and a memory, the UT comprising:
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a cellular subsystem executable by the processor having a wireless interface for registering the UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party; and
,an account module, executable by the processor having an interface for; selecting an account from the plurality of accounts; receiving a credit for a cellular network service; converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account; accessing the cellular telephone network service; creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account; sending the notification to the cellular telephone network; and debiting the account balance associated with the selected account. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for managing a cellular telephone network user terminal (UT) account, the system comprising:
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a UT comprising; a cellular subsystem having a wireless interface for registering the UT having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party; an account module having an interface for; selecting an account from the plurality of accounts; receiving a credit for a cellular network service; converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account; an interface connected to the cellular subsystem for authorizing the cellular network service in response to the account balance; and
,the account module further having an interface for; accessing the cellular telephone network service; creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account; sending the notification to the cellular telephone network; and debiting the account balance associated with the selected account; and a credit server having an Internet Protocol (IP) network interface operatively connected to the UT account module to supply the credit. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An apparatus comprising:
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means for registering a user terminal (UT) having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network, wherein the UT is associated with a first party; means for selecting an account from the plurality of accounts; means for uploading a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service; means for converting the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account; means for accessing the cellular telephone network service; means for creating a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account; means for sending the notification to the cellular telephone network; and means for debiting the account balance associated with the selected account. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program, the computer readable medium comprising:
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code for causing at least one computer to register a user terminal (UT) having a plurality of accounts in a cellular telephone network; code for causing at least one computer to select an account from the plurality of accounts; code for causing at least one computer to upload a credit to the selected account for a cellular telephone network service; code for causing at least one computer to convert the credit to an account balance associated with the selected account; code for causing at least one computer to access the cellular telephone network service; code for causing at least one computer to create a notification associating the cellular telephone network service with the selected account; code for causing at least one computer to send the notification to the cellular telephone network; and code for causing at least one computer to debit the account balance associated with the selected account. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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Specification