Dynamic carrier switching

• US 9,271,208 B2
• Filed: 12/16/2013
• Issued: 02/23/2016
• 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): MAPA, MICHAEL Y
• Application Number:
  US14/108,098
• Publication Number:
  US 20140106753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 799 Days
• Field of Search: 455418-420, 455/426.1, 455/423, 4554321-4521, 4554561-457, 4554041-4042, 370/331, 370/338, 370/252, 370/465
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:

detecting, by the processing system, a condition associated with a switch from a current wireless carrier to a specified wireless carrier;

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

responsive to identifying the user device to which the condition applies, performing the following comprising;

sending, by the processing 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 processing system, at least one of a device profile for the specified wireless carrier or an identifier for the device profile, the device profile comprising data 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;

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;

when 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

when 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.

2. The non-transitory computer readable storage of claim 1, wherein:

the device profile comprises subscriber identity module (SIM) data that defines the new unique IMSI, the new unique IMSI comprising a mobile country code (MCC), a mobile network code (MNC) and a mobile station identification number (MSIN) associated with the specified wireless carrier; and

the SIM data further defines settings for the specified wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication information, ciphering information or a list of services.

3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 2, wherein the device profile further comprises a modem profile that 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.

4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium 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 or a cost characteristic of the specified wireless carrier.

5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium 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.

6. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing unit of a user device, cause the processing unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the processing unit, while the user device is connected to a first wireless carrier, a message comprising an indication that a switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to a second wireless carrier is to be performed;

sending, by the processing unit, a response to the message, the response indicating that the switch to the second wireless carrier is undesirable;

in response to the sending the response to the message,

receiving, by the processing unit, a second message indicating a switch to an alternative wireless carrier when a rule provides the alternative wireless carrier for switching; and

receiving, by the processing unit, a third message insisting that the switch to the second wireless carrier be performed when no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching;

when no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching, obtaining, by the processing unit, a device profile associated with the second wireless carrier, the device profile comprising data 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 device profile associated with the second wireless carrier, wherein the reprogramming causes 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 device profile associated with the second wireless carrier.

7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein:

the device profile comprises subscriber identity module (SIM) data that defines the new unique IMSI, the new unique IMSI comprising a mobile country code (MCC), a mobile network code (MNC) and a mobile station identification number (MSIN) associated with the second wireless carrier; and

the SIM data further defines settings for the second wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication information, ciphering information or a list of services.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the device profile further comprises a modem profile that 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.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein obtaining the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier comprises at least one of a) receiving the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier from a server or b) retrieving the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier from secure memory.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein the receiving comprises receiving the indication in response to a condition associated with the switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier, 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 or a change in a network access performance characteristic.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 6, wherein receiving the indication that the switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier is to be performed comprises at least one of a) detecting that a condition pertaining to the switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier has been satisfied or b) receiving a command to perform the switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier.

12. A user device comprising:

a wireless modem; and

a processing unit coupled to the wireless modem, the processing unit to;

receive, while the user device is connected to a first wireless carrier, a message comprising an indication that a switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to a second wireless carrier is to be performed;

send a response to the message, the response indicating that the switch to the second wireless carrier is undesirable;

in response to the sending the response to the message,

receive a second message indicating a switch to an alternative wireless carrier when a rule provides the alternative wireless carrier for switching; and

receive a third message insisting that the switch to the second wireless carrier be performed when no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching;

when no rules provide the alternative wireless carrier for switching, obtain a device profile associated with the second wireless carrier, the device profile comprising data 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;

reprogram the wireless modem using the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier, wherein the reprogramming causes the user device to switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier;

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

13. The user device of claim 12, wherein the user device is an electronic book reader.

14. The user device of claim 12, wherein the device profile comprises subscriber identity module (SIM) data that defines the new unique IMSI, the new unique IMSI comprising a mobile country code (MCC), a mobile network code (MNC) and a mobile station identification number (MSIN) associated with the second wireless carrier.

15. The user device of claim 14, wherein the SIM data further defines settings for the second wireless carrier, the settings comprising at least one of security authentication information, ciphering information or a list of services.

16. The user device of claim 14, wherein the device profile further comprises a modem profile that 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.

17. The user device of claim 12, wherein obtaining the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier comprises at least one of a) receiving the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier from a server or b) retrieving the device profile associated with the second wireless carrier from secure memory on the modem.

18. The user device of claim 12, wherein the indication is received in response to a condition associated with the switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier, 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.

19. The user device of claim 12, wherein receiving the indication that the switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier is to be performed comprises at least one of a) detecting that a condition pertaining to the switch of the user device from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier has been satisfied or b) receiving a command to perform the switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier.