Dynamic carrier switching

• US 8,626,165 B1
• Filed: 02/18/2010
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Narasimhan, Subram, Bajaj, Girish Bansilal, Somayajula, Siva Rama Kumar, Liu, Clifton, Gopalakrishnan, Varadarajan
• Primary Examiner(s): Magloire, Vladimir
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mapa, Michael
• Application Number:
  US12/708,483
• Time in Patent Office: 1,419 Days
• Field of Search: 455/435.2, 455/436, 455418-420, 455/426.1, 455/423, 4554321-4521, 4554561-457, 4554041-4042, 455/552.1, 370/331, 370/338, 370/465, 370/252
• US Class Current: 455/435.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/751 Card based account, e.g. smart card, SIM card or USIM
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8044 Least cost routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8055 Selecting cheaper transport technology for a given service
• 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 36/14 Reselecting a network or an air interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

A rule server detects a condition pertaining to a switch of a user device to a preferred wireless carrier, and sends a message to the user device indicating a switch to the preferred wireless carrier.

Claims

1. A method, implemented by a server computing system, the method comprising:

detecting, by the server computing system, a condition associated with a switch of a home network from a current wireless carrier to a specified wireless carrier;

identifying, by the server computing system, a user device to which the condition applies; and

responsive to identifying the user device to which the condition applies,

sending, by the server computing system, a message to the user device while the user device is connected to the current wireless carrier, the message indicating the switch to the specified wireless carrier; and

sending, by the server computing system, a device profile for the specified wireless carrier to the user device, the device profile comprising a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile and a modem profile for the specified wireless carrier, the SIM profile defining a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the specified wireless carrier that will replace a current IMSI associated with the current wireless carrier.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the message includes the device profile for the specified wireless carrier.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the SIM profile defines settings for the specified wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication, ciphering information or a list of services accessible to users.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the modem profile defines connection parameters for the specified wireless carrier, the connection parameters comprising at least one of a frequency band or a format for presenting a name of the specified wireless carrier on the user device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the condition is defined by a rule that is based on at least one of a performance characteristic of the specified wireless carrier and a cost characteristic of the specified wireless carrier.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

recording the message in a message data store.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein detecting the condition associated with a switch to the specified wireless carrier comprises:

detecting a change in a location of the user device;

identifying one or more rules applicable to a new location of the user device; and

determining that one of the identified rules indicates the switch to the specified wireless carrier.

8. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a response of the user device to the message, the response indicating that the switch to the specified wireless carrier is undesirable;

determining whether any rule provides an alternative wireless carrier for switching;

if any rule provides the alternative wireless carrier for switching, sending a second message to the user device, the second message indicating a switch to the alternative wireless carrier; and

if no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching, sending a third message to the user device, the third message insisting that the switch to the specified wireless carrier be performed.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the user device comprises an electronic book reader device.

10. A method, implemented by a server computer system comprising:

collecting, by the server computer system, carrier-specific performance characteristics for each of a plurality of wireless carriers and carrier-specific cost characteristics for each of the plurality of wireless carriers;

collecting, by the server computer system, device-specific performance characteristics pertaining to wireless carrier usage by a user device, the device-specific performance characteristics comprising network characteristics at a plurality of prior locations of the user device;

creating, by the server computer system, a plurality of rules for the user device based on the carrier-specific performance characteristics, the device-specific performance characteristics, and the carrier-specific cost characteristics, each of the plurality of rules indicating a switch by the user device from a current wireless carrier to a different wireless carrier when one or more conditions of a corresponding rule are satisfied, wherein the switch causes a home network of the user device to change to the different wireless carrier based on a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile that defines a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the different wireless carrier; and

storing the plurality of rules in a rules data store, wherein the server computer system sends a message to the user device while the user device is connected to the current wireless carrier, the message indicating a switch to the different wireless carrier and comprising the SIM profile and a modem profile for the different wireless carrier.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the user device is an electronic book reader device.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the performance characteristics associated with the plurality of wireless carriers pertain to at least one of a throughput and a signal quality.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the cost characteristics pertain to a rate charged by a respective wireless carrier for providing network connection for the user device.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising periodically updating the plurality of rules based on newly collected performance and cost characteristics of the plurality of wireless carriers.

15. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

distributing the plurality of rules to a communication enabling system; and

distributing a subset of the plurality of rules to a plurality of user devices.

16. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:

detecting, by the processing system, a condition pertaining to a switch of a user device from a first wireless carrier to a second wireless carrier while the user device is connected to the first wireless carrier;

obtaining, by the processing system, a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile and a modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier, the SIM profile defining a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the second wireless carrier that will replace a current IMSI associated with the first wireless carrier;

reprogramming a modem of the user device using the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier, wherein the reprogramming causes a home network of the user device to switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier; and

establishing a network connection for the user device using the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the SIM profile defines settings for the second wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication, ciphering information or a list of services accessible to users.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the modem profile defines connection parameters for the second wireless carrier, the connection parameters comprising at least one of a frequency band or a format for presenting a name of the second wireless carrier on the user device.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the user device is an electronic book reader device.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein obtaining the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier comprises:

sending a request for the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier to a server; and

receiving the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier from the server.

21. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein obtaining the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier comprises:

retrieving the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier from secure memory on the modem.

22. The computer readable storage medium of claim 16 wherein the condition is any one of a change in a location of the user device, a message indicating that the user device is denied network access via the first wireless carrier, and a change in a network access performance characteristic.

23. A server computing system comprising:

a memory;

a processor, coupled to the memory; and

a rule server, executed from the memory by the processor, to;

detect a condition associated with a switch of a home network from a current wireless carrier to a specified wireless carrier, the condition pertaining to a user device; and

in response to detecting the condition associated with the switch,

send a message to the user device to indicate the switch to the specified wireless carrier while the user device is connected to the current wireless carrier; and

send a device profile for the specified wireless carrier to the user device, the device profile comprising a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile and a modem profile for the specified wireless carrier, the SIM profile defining a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the specified wireless carrier that will replace a current IMSI associated with the current wireless carrier.

24. The system of claim 23 wherein the message includes the device profile for the specified wireless carrier.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the SIM profile defines settings for the specified wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication, ciphering information or a list of services accessible to users.

26. The system of claim 23 wherein the condition is defined by a rule that is based on at least one of a performance characteristic of the specified wireless carrier and a cost characteristic of the specified wireless carrier.

27. The system of claim 23 wherein the rule server is to detect the condition associated with the switch to the specified wireless carrier by:

detecting a change in a location of the user device;

identifying one or more rules applicable to a new location of the user device; and

determining that one of the identified rules indicates a switch to the specified wireless carrier.

28. The system of claim 23 wherein the rule server is further to:

receive a response of the user device to the message, the response indicating that the switch to the specified wireless carrier is undesirable;

determine whether any rule provides an alternative wireless carrier for switching;

if any rule provides the alternative wireless carrier for switching, send a second message to the user device, the second message requesting a switch to the alternative wireless carrier; and

if no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching, send a third message to the user device, the third message insisting that the switch to the specified wireless carrier be performed.

29. The system method of claim 23 wherein the user device comprises an electronic book reader device.