Registration notification for mobile device management

• US 8,204,968 B2
• Filed: 12/03/2008
• Issued: 06/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/03/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lewis, John, Payne, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lai, Michael C
• Application Number:
  US12/327,498
• Publication Number:
  US 20100135201A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/221, 709/224, 717/172, 717/173, 370/254, 370/328, 455/406, 455/418, 455/419, 705/317
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/018 Certifying business or products
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/35 Protecting application or service provisioning, e.g. securing SIM application provisioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/04 Reselecting a cell layer in multi-layered cells
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

System(s) and method(s) are provided for notification of registration of a mobile device with femto coverage for firmware content management. An attachment component that administers location of mobile devices or a femto access point (AP) conveys a notification to a network platform that manages firmware content updates when a mobile device for which firmware update is available hands off from wireless macro coverage onto femto coverage through the femto AP. The notification is triggered in response to firmware update notification received by the attachment component, or an update flag received by the femto AP. Upon reception of the notification, to exploit wireline bandwidth, the network platform delivers firmware content(s) update through backhaul link to the femto AP to which the mobile device is registered. Femto APs not provisioned to serve a mobile device can be incentivized to authorize the mobile device for coverage and thus facilitate firmware updates.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

conveying a first notification to a mobile device indicating that a firmware update is available for the mobile device and indicating an available femto access point located near the mobile device and initiating a prompt to hand off the mobile device from a wireless network to a femto cell network through the femto cell access point including indicating an offer of a monetized incentive;

receiving a second notification from the femto access point indicating that the mobile device is under coverage of the femto cell network through the femto access point;

enabling the monetized incentive in response to receiving the second notification; and

transmitting the firmware update for the mobile device to the femto access point through a femto cell backhaul pipe associated with the femto access point in response to receiving the second notification.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving information regarding a subscription type for the mobile device related to the femto cell and retaining the information in a memory.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising delaying the firmware update until the second notification is conveyed.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the conveying further comprises conveying a set of one or more bits that flag the mobile device for update.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitting further comprises conveying a light-weight file that flags the mobile device for update.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the initiating further comprises sending a visual indicia to the mobile device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the tracking component accesses a subscriber database that includes an access list linked to the femto access point to determine that the mobile device has access to the femto cell network through the femto access point.

7. A system comprising:

a memory that stores a plurality of computer-executable components, the computer-executable components comprising;

a notification component that generates a first notification that indicates that a firmware update is available for a mobile device;

a tracking component that receives the first notification, determines that the mobile device has access to a femto cell network through a femto access point and generates a second notification that the mobile device has access to the femto cell network through the femto access point;

an attachment component that receives the second notification and facilitates attachment of the mobile device to the femto cell network through the femto access point by offering a monetized incentive for hand off from a wireless network to the femto access point, and generates a third notification that the mobile device has attached to the femto cell network through the femto access point;

a mobile device manager platform that sends the firmware update to the femto access point through a femto cell backhaul pipe associated with the femto access point in response to the third notification; and

a processor that facilitates execution of at least one of the plurality of computer-executable components.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the mobile device manager platform delays the firmware update until the third notification is received.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the second notification comprises a unique identifier for the mobile device, and a set of one or more bits that flag the mobile device for update.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the second notification comprises a light weight file.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising an incentive component that credits the subscriber with the monetized incentive when the firmware update is successfully delivered to the mobile device.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the incentive component retains a credit for the monetized incentive.

14. The system of claim 7, wherein the monetized incentive includes a preferred rating for a service for a time interval.