Secure reconfiguration of wireless communication devices

• US 8,463,239 B1
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Issued: 06/11/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Koller, Gary Duane, Peden, Mark Douglas, Youngs, Simon, Reeves, Raymond Emilio, Jethwa, Piyush
• Primary Examiner(s): Prez-Gutirrez, Rafael
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khan, Suhail
• Application Number:
  US13/025,247
• Time in Patent Office: 851 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/411
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2755 by optical scanning
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/67 by electronic means
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724 User interfaces specially adapted for cordless or mobile telephones
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

What is disclosed is a method of operating a communication system to reconfigure a wireless communication device. The method includes, in the wireless communication device, optically receiving image data. The method also includes processing the image data to display a configuration interface, and receiving an instruction into the configuration interface to reconfigure the wireless communication device.

Claims

1. A method of operating a communication system to reconfigure a wireless communication device, the method comprising:

in the wireless communication device, optically receiving image data;

the wireless communication device processing the image data to identify at least a device identifier and a timestamp encoded in the image data, processing the device identifier against an identifier of the wireless communication device, and transferring the timestamp for delivery to an authorization system;

the authorization system processing the timestamp against a present time to authorize display of a configuration interface by the wireless communication device; and

receiving an instruction into the configuration interface on the wireless communication device to reconfigure the wireless communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing a reconfiguration request for the wireless communication device to determine a digital graphic comprising authorization information for the wireless communication device; and

transferring the digital graphic for delivery to a display system configured to optically display the digital graphic to the wireless communication device for optical capture as the image data by the wireless communication device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transferring the digital graphic for delivery to the display system comprises generating a web page comprising the digital graphic for receipt by the display system.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein processing the reconfiguration request for the wireless communication device to determine the digital graphic comprising authorization information for the wireless communication device comprises encrypting the authorization information and generating a barcode representation of the encrypted authorization information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein processing the image data to identify at least the device identifier and the timestamp encoded in the image data comprises determining the barcode representation from the image data and decrypting the authorization information from the barcode representation to determine at least the device identifier and the timestamp.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction comprises changing the mobile device number (MDN) of the wireless communication device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the timestamp is correlated to a time of a reconfiguration request for the wireless communication device.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

processing the image data to further identify a master subsidy lock (MSL) identifier for the wireless communication device encoded in the image data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein processing the device identifier against the identifier of the wireless communication device comprises comparing the device identifier with the identifier of the wireless communication device to determine if the device identifier matches the identifier of the wireless communication device, and wherein processing the timestamp against the present time comprises comparing the timestamp against the present time to determine if the timestamp is within a threshold time of the present time.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

processing the image data to determine authorization information, wherein the authorization information comprises a static portion and a dynamic portion; and

further comprising;

comparing the static portion of the authorization information with an identifier stored on the wireless communication device and comparing the dynamic portion of the authorization information with a dynamic identifier.

11. A communication system, comprising:

an authorization system configured to receive a reconfiguration request for a wireless communication device;

the wireless communication device configured to optically receive image data associated with a response to the reconfiguration request, process the image data to identify at least a device identifier and a timestamp encoded in the image data, process the device identifier against an identifier of the wireless communication device, and transfer the timestamp for delivery to the authorization system;

the authorization system configured to process the timestamp against a present time to authorize display of a configuration interface by the wireless communication device; and

the wireless communication device configured to receive an instruction into the configuration interface to reconfigure the wireless communication device.

12. The communication system of claim 11, comprising:

the authorization system configured to process the reconfiguration request for the wireless communication device to determine a digital graphic comprising authorization information for the wireless communication device, and transfer the digital graphic for delivery to a display system configured to optically display the digital graphic to the wireless communication device for optical capture as the image data by the wireless communication device.

13. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the authorization system is configured to generate a web page comprising the digital graphic for receipt by the display system to transfer the digital graphic for delivery to the display system.

14. The communication system of claim 12, wherein the authorization system is configured to encrypt the authorization information and generate a barcode representation of the encrypted authorization information to determine the digital graphic comprising the authorization information.

15. The communication system of claim 14, comprising:

the wireless communication device configured to determine the barcode representation from the image data and decrypt the authorization information from the barcode representation to identify at least the device identifier and the timestamp encoded in the image data.

16. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the instruction comprises changing the mobile device number (MDN) of the wireless communication device.

17. The communication system of claim 11, wherein the timestamp is correlated to a time of a reconfiguration request for the wireless communication device.

18. The communication system of claim 17, comprising:

the wireless communication device configured to further process the image data to identify a master subsidy lock (MSL) identifier for the wireless communication device encoded in the image data.

19. The communication system of claim 11, comprising:

the wireless communication device configured to compare the device identifier with the identifier of the wireless communication device to determine if the device identifier matches the identifier of the wireless communication device; and

the authorization system configured to compare the timestamp with a present time to determine if the timestamp is within a threshold time of the present time.

20. The communication system of claim 11, comprising:

the wireless communication device configured to process the image data to determine authorization information, wherein the authorization information comprises a static portion and a dynamic portion, and compare the static portion of the authorization information with an identifier stored on the wireless communication device; and

the authorization system configured to compare the dynamic portion of the authorization information with a dynamic identifier.