Method, system, and computer readable medium for gathering usage statistics

• US 8,650,277 B2
• Filed: 02/03/2011
• Issued: 02/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Gentile, Mark, Sullivan, Jim, Hanson, Mark, Wade, Mark
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN, FRANTZ B
• Application Number:
  US13/020,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20110208857A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/203, 709/223, 709/224, 709/217, 707/751
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

The present disclosure enables remote device management. A programmatic interface is associated with each application plug-in. A web server included with the on-device agent provides access to the programmatic interfaces according to open standards such as HTML or XML. The present disclosure enables access to remote devices through existing infrastructure without the need for proprietary systems. An IT administrator or other administrator may remotely access and update software and hardware, track device data plan usage statistics, provide live support, and track current and historical device locations. The phone and messaging feature enables an administrator to access information regarding data plan and usage statistics of devices. This allows organizations to optimize data plans based on messaging, e-mail, and other data plan statistics. Further, the present disclosure allows access to network connectivity details of devices and logs of emails, text messages, and the like.

Claims

1. A usage statistics gathering system for use with a mobile device, said system comprising:

an on-device agent on said mobile device, the on-device agent encoded with instructions to measure a plurality of usage statistics on said mobile device, said on-device agent comprising one or more application plug-ins and a web server;

said web server operable to provide, to a monitoring computer, access to the one or more application plug-ins;

said on-device agent operable to encode said plurality of usage statistics;

said on-device agent operable to store said encoded plurality of usage statistics in a secure storage location on said mobile device, said secure storage location being inaccessible to an ordinary user of said mobile device;

said on-device agent further operable to transmit said encoded plurality of usage statistics to a monitoring computer.

2. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 1, wherein said on-device agent is encoded with instructions to measure said plurality of usage statistics in essentially real time.

3. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 1, wherein said on-device agent is encoded with instructions to measure said plurality of usage statistics by waiting for notifications from said mobile device.

4. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 1, wherein said transmission of said plurality of usage statistics occurs periodically at predetermined intervals.

5. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 4, wherein said transmission of said plurality of usage statistics comprises encrypted, compressed transmission.

6. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 1, wherein said transmission occurs via an HTTPS connection.

7. The usage statistics gathering system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of usage statistics comprises:

a record of email messages sent from said mobile device or received by said mobile device;

a record of text messages sent from said device or received by said mobile device;

a record of data plan usage; and

a record of voice plan usage.

8. A computer readable storage device encoded with instructions comprising:

an on-device agent on a mobile device operable to measure a plurality of usage statistics on said mobile device, said on-device agent comprising one or more application plug-ins and a web server;

said web server operable to provide, to a monitoring computer, access to the one or more application plug-ins;

said on-device agent operable to encode said plurality of usage statistics;

said on-device agent operable to store said encoded plurality of usage statistics in a secure storage location on said mobile device, said secure storage location being inaccessible to an ordinary user of said mobile device;

said on-device agent further operable to transmit said plurality of usage statistics to said monitoring computer.

9. The computer readable storage device of claim 8, wherein said on-device agent is encoded with instructions to measure said plurality of usage statistics in essentially real time.

10. The computer readable storage device of claim 8, wherein said on-device agent is encoded with instructions to measure said plurality of usage statistics by waiting for notifications from said mobile device.

11. The computer readable storage device of claim 8, wherein said transmission of said plurality of usage statistics occurs periodically at predetermined intervals.

12. The computer readable storage device of claim 11, wherein said transmission of said plurality of usage statistics comprises encrypted, compressed transmission.

13. The computer readable storage device of claim 8, wherein said plurality of usage statistics comprises:

a record of email messages sent from said mobile device or received by said mobile device;

a record of text messages sent from said device or received by said mobile device;

a record of data plan usage; and

a record of voice plan usage.

14. A method for gathering usage statistics with a mobile device, the method comprising:

measuring, via an on-device agent on said mobile device, a plurality of usage statistics on said mobile device, said on-device agent comprising one or more application plug-ins and a web server, the web server providing, to a monitoring computer, access to the one or more application plug-ins;

encoding said plurality of usage statistics;

storing said encoded plurality of usage statistics in a secure storage location on said mobile device, said secure storage location being inaccessible to an ordinary user of said mobile device; and

transmitting said plurality of usage statistics to said monitoring computer.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising measuring said plurality of usage statistics in essentially real time.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising measuring said plurality of usage statistics by waiting for notifications from said mobile device.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein said transmitting said plurality of usage statistics occurs periodically at predetermined intervals.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said transmitting said plurality of usage statistics comprises encrypted, compressed transmission.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein said transmitting said plurality of usage statistics occurs via an HTTPS connection.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein said plurality of usage statistics comprises:

a record of email messages sent from said mobile device or received by said mobile device;

a record of text messages sent from said device or received by said mobile device;

a record of data plan usage; and

a record of voice plan usage.