Use of in-vehicle femtocell as basis to limit operation of in-vehicle wireless communication device
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- providing an in-vehicle femtocell for vehicular use;
receiving into a network a registration request from the in-vehicle femtocell to register a wireless communication device (WCD), wherein the registration request seeks registration of the WCD to be served with wireless communication service by the in-vehicle femtocell, the network including a network server;
the network server making a determination, based at least in part on the registration request being received from the in-vehicle femtocell, that the WCD is in a vehicle; and
based at least in part on the determination that the WCD is in a vehicle, the network server limiting operation of the WCD while the WCD is served by the in-vehicle femtocell.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and corresponding system for use of a femtocell in a vehicle (an “in-vehicle femtocell”) to help limit operation of a wireless communication device (WCD) positioned in the vehicle. In one implementation, registration (or registration attempts) of one or more WCDs with an in-vehicle femtocell may be used as a basis to trigger limitations on certain WCD functions in a vehicle, such as to prevent a WCD from providing text-messaging service for instance. In another implementation, a WCD may receive a signal from an in-vehicle femtocell and in response to the signal, the WCD may register with the femtocell to be served with wireless communication service by the femtocell. In addition to registering with the femtocell, the WCD may limit certain of its own functions while it is in the vehicle and being served with wireless communication service by the femtocell.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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providing an in-vehicle femtocell for vehicular use; receiving into a network a registration request from the in-vehicle femtocell to register a wireless communication device (WCD), wherein the registration request seeks registration of the WCD to be served with wireless communication service by the in-vehicle femtocell, the network including a network server; the network server making a determination, based at least in part on the registration request being received from the in-vehicle femtocell, that the WCD is in a vehicle; and based at least in part on the determination that the WCD is in a vehicle, the network server limiting operation of the WCD while the WCD is served by the in-vehicle femtocell. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A network server comprising:
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a network communication interface; one or more processors; data storage; and program logic executable by the one or more processors to carry out functions including;
(i) receiving a registration request from an in-vehicle femtocell to register a wireless communication device (WCD), wherein the registration request seeks registration of the WCD to be served with wireless communication service by the in-vehicle femtocell, (ii) making a determination, based at least in part on the registration request being received from the in-vehicle femtocell, that the WCD is in a vehicle, and (iii) based at least in part on the determination that the WCD is in a vehicle, limiting operation of the WCD while the WCD is served by the in-vehicle femtocell.
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Specification