Apparatus and methods for operation of a wireless server

• US 8,626,867 B2
• Filed: 07/11/2008
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Boudreau, Jesse
• Primary Examiner(s): DINH, KHANH Q
• Application Number:
  US12/171,887
• Publication Number:
  US 20090138547A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,006 Days
• Field of Search: 709/217, 709/220, 709/228, 707/10, 702/178
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/40 Support for services or applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/08 User group management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/186 Processing of subscriber group data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Apparatus and methods for wireless systems provide a mechanism to enhance the communication capabilities of wireless users. In an embodiment, a wireless server downloads media content to a mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria for the mobile wireless client, where the one or more criteria are identified in the wireless server.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, in a wireless server, availability of media content to copy the media content to a mobile wireless client, the mobile wireless client registered with the wireless server such that modes of operation of the mobile wireless client are controlled by the wireless server, including correlating the media content with one or more preferences attributed to the mobile wireless client or to a user of the mobile wireless client identified in the wireless server as being associated with the registered mobile wireless client;

transmitting instructions to the mobile wireless client to cause the modes of operation of the mobile wireless client to be controlled by the wireless server, wherein the modes of operation include email communication, calendar content sharing, and content synchronization; and

downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria to download to the mobile wireless client, the one or more criteria identified in the wireless server, the one or more criteria and the one or more preferences being accessible to the wireless server, the one or more criteria selected from operation of a controller and an agent within the wireless server evaluating one or more of a stored rule set to select a transport medium from a plurality of available transmission media to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set for data transfer within a selected data plan from comparing data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content including a data streaming option to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, or a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to a specified amount of battery life of the mobile wireless client for download to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes establishing a secure communication channel between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client such that essentially all communications between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client are over the secure communication channel, wherein the instructions provided to the mobile wireless client to cause the modes of operation of the mobile wireless client to be controlled by the wireless server include regulating functions of the mobile wireless client according to a stored policy selected based on the wireless server being a primary server for the mobile wireless client among a group of wireless servers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes transcoding the media content to a format correlated to the mobile wireless client such that the format is supported by the mobile wireless client to use the media content on the mobile wireless client, wherein the modes of operation include call functionality, internet access, and messaging.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content includes automatically downloading the media content from the wireless server on satisfying the one or more criteria, wherein the modes of operation include usage monitoring of the mobile wireless client.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of a transport medium from a plurality of available transmission media according to the rule set to select the transport medium in the wireless server, wherein the modes of operation include content access blocking.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the transport medium from the plurality of available transmission media includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on transport cost according to the rule set, and wherein the transmitting of the instructions to the mobile wireless client to cause the modes of operation of the mobile wireless client to be controlled by the wireless server includes determining administration parameters for configuring the mobile wireless client to operate according to a desired mode of operation among the modes of operation responsive to the wireless server receiving a request for the desired mode of operation.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the rule set for data transfer within the selected data plan from comparison of the data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the rule set to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on determination of battery life of the mobile wireless client with respect to a specified amount of battery of life for download.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein correlating the media content with one or more preferences includes using one or more rule sets to categorize the media content as private to a specific wireless client, accessible among wireless clients in a share group with the wireless server, or accessible by entities outside a share group of the wireless server.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the method includes:

scaling down the media content to generate a sample of the media content; and

sending the sample from the wireless server to the mobile wireless client before downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client includes downloading the media content, after sending the sample, on establishment of a local connection between the mobile wireless client and the wireless server.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client includes downloading the media content using a Wi-Fi interface and/or using a USB interface.

14. A non-transitory machine-readable memory that stores instructions, which, when performed by a wireless server, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

determining, in the wireless server, availability of media content to copy the media content to a mobile wireless client, the mobile wireless client registered with the wireless server such that modes of operation of the mobile wireless client are controlled by the wireless server, including correlating the media content with one or more preferences attributed to the mobile wireless client or to a user of the mobile wireless client identified in the wireless server as being associated with the registered mobile wireless client;

transmitting instructions to the mobile wireless client to cause the modes of operation of the mobile wireless client to be controlled by the wireless server, wherein the transmitting of the instructions includes regulating functions of the mobile wireless client according to a stored policy selected based on the wireless server being a primary server for the mobile wireless client among a group of wireless servers; and

downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria to download to the mobile wireless client, the one or more criteria identified in the wireless server, the one or more criteria and the one or more preferences being accessible to the wireless server, the one or more criteria selected from operation of a controller and an agent within the wireless server evaluating one or more of a stored rule set to select a transport medium from a plurality of available transmission media to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set for data transfer within a selected data plan from comparing data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content including a data streaming option to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, or a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to a specified amount of battery life of the mobile wireless client for download to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein the instructions include one or more instructions to establish a secure communication channel between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client such that essentially all communications between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client are over the secure communication channel, and wherein the transmitting of the instructions to the mobile wireless client includes determining administration parameters for configuring the mobile wireless client to operate according to a desired mode of operation among the modes of operation responsive to the wireless server receiving a request for the desired mode of operation.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein the instructions include transcoding the media content to a format correlated to the mobile wireless client such that the format is supported by the mobile wireless client to use the media content on the mobile wireless client, and wherein the modes of operation include call functionality, internet access, and messaging.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of a transport medium from a group of available transmission media according to the rule set to select the transport medium in the wireless server, and wherein the modes of operation include usage monitoring of the mobile wireless client.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 17, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the transport medium from the group of available transmission media includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on transport cost according to the rule set, and wherein the modes of operation include content access blocking.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the rule set for data transfer within the selected data plan from comparison of the data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on selection of the rule set in the wireless server to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content.

21. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria identified in the wireless server includes downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on determination of battery life of the mobile wireless client with respect to a specified amount of battery of life for download.

22. The non-transitory machine-readable memory of claim 14, wherein correlating the media content with one or more preferences includes using one or more rule sets to categorize the media content as private to a specific wireless client, accessible among wireless clients in a share group with the wireless server, or accessible by entities outside a share group of the wireless server.

23. A wireless server comprising:

a controller;

an agent operable with the controller to identify a mobile wireless client as registered with the wireless server such that modes of operation of the mobile wireless client are controlled by the wireless server, the agent operable with the controller to determine availability of media content to copy the media content to the mobile wireless client such that the determination of the availability of media content includes the media content being correlated with one or more preferences attributable to the mobile wireless client or to a user of the mobile wireless client identified in the wireless server as being associated with the registered mobile wireless client, and the agent operable with the controller to download the media content to the mobile wireless client based on one or more criteria to download to the mobile wireless client, the one or more criteria identified in the wireless server, the one or more criteria operatively selected from operation of the controller and the agent evaluating one or more of a stored rule set to select a transport medium from a plurality of available transmission media to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set for data transfer within a selected data plan from comparison of data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content including a data streaming option to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, or a stored rule set to transfer the media content according to a specified amount of battery life of the mobile wireless client for download to download the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server, the wireless server operable to access the one or more criteria and the one or more preferences, wherein the controller provides instructions to the mobile wireless client to cause the modes of operation of the mobile wireless client to be controlled by the wireless server, wherein the modes of operation include email communication, calendar content sharing, and content synchronization; and

an interface to download the media content to a mobile wireless client.

24. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the wireless server is configured to establish a secure communication channel between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client such that essentially all communications between the wireless server and the mobile wireless client are over the secure communication channel, and wherein the transmitting of the instructions to the mobile wireless client includes determining administration parameters for configuring the mobile wireless client to operate according to a desired mode of operation among the modes of operation responsive to the wireless server receiving a request for the desired mode of operation.

25. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the interface includes a Wi-Fi interface.

26. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the interface includes a USB interface.

27. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the one or more criteria includes transport costs.

28. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the one or more criteria selected includes the rule set for data transfer within the selected data plan from comparison of data plans to which the mobile wireless client corresponds, and wherein the transmitting of the instructions includes regulating functions of the mobile wireless client according to a stored policy selected based on the wireless server being a primary server for the mobile wireless client among a group of wireless servers.

29. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the one or more criteria selected includes the rule set to transfer the media content according to file size of the media content.

30. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the one or more criteria selected includes the specified amount of battery life of the mobile wireless client for download.

31. The wireless server of claim 23, wherein the agent is arranged in a machine-readable medium, the machine-readable medium communicatively coupled to the controller, the machine-readable configured to store instructions, which, when performed by the wireless server, cause the wireless server to perform operations including:

determining availability of the media content to copy the media content to the mobile wireless client; and

downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client based on the one or more criteria for the mobile wireless client.

32. The wireless server of claim 31, wherein the instructions include one or more instructions to:

scale down the media content to generate a sample of the media content;

send the sample from the wireless server to the mobile wireless client before downloading the media content to the mobile wireless client from the wireless server; and

download the media content, after sending the sample, on establishment of a local connection between the mobile wireless client and the wireless server.