Operating system customization

• US 8,875,127 B2
• Filed: 02/05/2014
• Issued: 10/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Razer (Asia-Pacific) Pte. Ltd. (Razer Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Nextbit Systems, Inc. (Razer Incorporated)
• Inventors: Chan, Michael A., Moss, Tom, Quan, Justin
• Primary Examiner(s): Bullock, Jr., Lewis A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Dang, Christine
• Application Number:
  US14/173,750
• Publication Number:
  US 20140157255A1
• Time in Patent Office: 265 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/61 for supporting one-way streaming services, e.g. Internet radio
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/60 Subscription-based services using application servers or record carriers, e.g. SIM application toolkits
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

Technology disclosed herein includes a method for loading a carrier specific operating system (OS) onto a computing device depending on any corporation the computing device is associated with and the network the computing device is connected to. The computing device detects any corporation the computing device is associated with based on the subscriber number of the computing device. The computing device detects an identity of a network by examining a subscriber identification module (SIM) card electronically connected to the device. The device then sends a request including the identity of the corporation and the network to a remote registration service. In turn the device receives an instruction from the remote registration service identifying a distribution of an OS specific for the corporation and the network. After retrieving the OS distribution, the device loads the distribution of the OS on the computing device.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, from a computing device connected to a first network and executing a first distribution of an operating system corresponding to the first network, an identity of a corporate account of a user associated with the computing device, the identity of the corporate account being identified based on a subscriber number of the computing device, the subscriber number being one of the one or more subscriber numbers associated with the corporate account, wherein the computing device is configured to connect to a plurality of networks simultaneously;

detecting that the computing device is connected to a second network;

upon detecting that the computing device is connected to the second network, receiving, from the computing device, an identity of the second network the computing device is connected to, wherein the computing device is connected to the second network while still being connected to the first network;

determining, based on predefined policies, whether to install a second distribution of the operating system on the computing device, wherein the determining based on predefined policies includes determining whether the second network has a higher priority than the first network; and

if the second network has a higher priority than the first network, the second distribution of the operating system is determined to be installed, wherein the second distribution of the operating system is customized based on the identified corporate account associated with the user and the identity of the second network, the identified corporate account being utilized to customize the operating system by applying user interface settings or installing applications specific to the identified corporate account, wherein the computing device includes no more than one distribution of the operating system at a given instance;

if the second network has a lower priority than the first network, the second distribution of the operating system is determined to not be installed;

responsive to the determination to install the second distribution of the operating system on the computing device, transmitting the customized second distribution of the operating system to the computing device;

causing the computing device to be updated with the second distribution of the operating system; and

causing the computing device to execute the second distribution of the operating system.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the second network is owned by a corporation where the user works, the second network being a WiFi network of the corporation, wherein the identity of a given corporate account includes a name of a given corporation or an incorporation number associated with the given corporation.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein identifying the corporate account for the user is further based on a user identity, or a network connection of the computing device.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the predefined policies includes policies for determining a particular distribution of the operating system to be installed on the computing device when the computing device is connected to more than one network.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the predefined policies includes policies for determining when the computing device is considered to disconnected from a particular network to uninstall a distribution of the operating system corresponding to the particular network.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the computing device is considered to be disconnected from the particular network when the Wi-Fi network is not reachable by the computing device for a predefined period of time.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein the computing device is considered to be disconnected from the particular network when a profile of the Wi-Fi network is deleted from the computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting that the computing device disconnected from the second network but still connected to the first network; and

causing the computing device to uninstall the second distribution of the operating system from the computing device.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein causing the computing device to uninstall the second distribution of the operating system from the computing device includes:

restoring the first distribution of the operating system on the computing device if the second distribution of the operating system is installed as an update image over the first distribution of the operating system, the restoring including deleting the update image of the second distribution of the operating system.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein causing the computing device to uninstall the second distribution of the operating system from the computing device includes:

if the second distribution of the operating system is installed as a full image, transmitting the first distribution of the operating system to the computing device, and

causing the computing device to install the first distribution of the operating system.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first network is a wireless carrier network or a wireless local area network.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein receiving the identity of the second network includes:

receiving a service set identification (SSID) of the Wi-Fi network or a media access control (MAC) address of a gateway of the second network.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the second distribution of the operating system to the computing device includes:

transmitting the second distribution of the operating system as a full installation image or an update image, the update image being a difference between the first distribution of the operating system and the second distribution operating system.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein receiving an identity of the Wi-Fi network is triggered by an event of the computing device changing its location, an event of the computing device booting up, an event of a subscriber module of the computing device being replaced, or a scheduled network detecting event.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein causing the computing device to install the second distribution of the operating system includes:

causing the computing device to install and execute the second distribution of the operating system on the computing device without restarting the computing device.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

sending, from a computing device connected to a first wireless carrier network, an identity of a corporate account of a user associated with the computing device to a remote registration service, the identity of the corporate account being identified based on a subscriber number of the computing device, the subscriber number being one of the one or more subscriber numbers associated with the corporate account;

sending, from the computing device, an identity of the first wireless carrier network to the remote registration service, the computing device executing a first distribution of an operating system corresponding to the first wireless carrier network, wherein the computing device includes no more than one distribution of the operating system at a given instance;

detecting that the computing device is connected to a second wireless carrier network;

upon detecting that the computing device is connected to the second wireless carrier network, sending an identity of the second wireless carrier network to the remote registration service, wherein the remote registration service determines whether the computing device is to be updated with a different distribution of the operating system, and if yes, the remote registration service determines a specific distribution of the operating system to be installed;

responsive to a determination by the remote registration service that a different distribution of the operating system is to be installed, receiving a location of a cloud storage service that contains the specific distribution of the operating system from the remote registration service, the specific distribution of the operating system customized for the second wireless carrier network, wherein the specific distribution of the operating system is customized based on the identity of the corporate account associated with the user, the identity of the corporate account being utilized to customize the specific distribution of the operating system by applying user interface settings or installing applications specific to the corporate account;

retrieving the specific distribution of the operating system and a usage profile of the user from the cloud storage service using the location, the usage profile specifying files that are likely to be accessed in the future by the user when the electronic device is in the geographical location that caused the electronic device to connect to the second wireless carrier network;

updating the computing device with the specific distribution of the operating system; and

executing the specific distribution of the operating system in the computing device.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein retrieving the specific distribution of the operating system in the computing device further includes:

installing the usage profile on the computing device, the installing including retrieving the files from the cloud storage service and storing the retrieved files in a local storage of the computing device.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the remote registration service and the cloud storage service are managed by different entities.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein detecting that the computing device connected to a second wireless carrier network includes detecting that the computing device connected to the second wireless carrier network due to a change in a geographical location of the computing device.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein detecting that the computing device connected to a second wireless carrier network includes:

detecting the identity of the second wireless carrier network to which the computing device is connected by examining a subscriber module electronically connected to the computing device or by identifying a radio frequency of the second wireless carrier network.

21. An electronic device comprising:

a processor;

a network component configured to communicate with a remote registration service and a cloud storage service, wherein the electronic device, the remote registration service and the cloud storage service are independent processing systems; and

a memory component storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the electronic device to perform a process including;

in response to a connection to a second network due to a change in a geographical location of the electronic device, sending, from the electronic device executing a distribution of an operating system corresponding to being connected to a first network, an identity of a corporate account of a user associated with the electronic device and an identity of the second network to the remote registration service, the identity of the corporate account being identified based on a subscriber number of the electronic device, the subscriber number being one of the one or more subscriber numbers associated with the corporate account,

wherein the remote registration service is configured to determine whether the electronic device is to be updated with a different distribution of the operating system, and if it is determined that a different distribution of the operating system is to be installed, identify a specific distribution of the operating system that is customized for the second network, wherein the electronic device includes no more than one distribution of the operating system at a given instance,

wherein the specific distribution of the operating system is customized based on the identity of the corporate account associated with the user, the identity of the corporate account being utilized to customize the specific distribution of the operating system by applying user interface settings or installing applications specific to the corporate account,

receiving a location of the cloud storage service that contains the specific distribution of the operating system from the remote registration service,

retrieving the specific distribution of the operating system and a usage profile of the user from the cloud storage service, the usage profile specifying files that are likely to be accessed in the future by the user when the electronic device is in the geographical location that caused the electronic device to connect to the second network, and

updating the electronic device with the specific distribution of the operating system; and

executing the specific distribution of the operating system in the electronic device.

22. The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the memory component further stores instructions for retrieving the files from the cloud storage service and storing the retrieved files in a local storage of the electronic device.