Administration of access lists for femtocell service

• US 10,499,247 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2016
• Issued: 12/03/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2008
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Huber, Kurt Donald, Mansfield, William Gordon, Lott, Robert Wayne, Flynn, Judson John, Brisebois, Arthur, Seymour, Jefferey Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Chirag R
• Application Number:
  US15/354,954
• Publication Number:
  US 20170070889A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,111 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/088 using filters or firewalls
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0083 Determination of parameters used for hand-off, e.g. generation or modification of neighbour cell lists
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/32 by location or mobility data, e.g. speed data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/20 based on geographic position or location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/12 Setup of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/205 Transfer to or from user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B

Abstract

A subscriber account associated with a femtocell can be managed and access can be provided thereto. The account service management can be accessed through a broadband network and comprises two operational layers deployed within respective demarcation zones. A first layer includes a web tier that provides landing webpage and a legacy account manager that enables account management for mobility subscribers. A second layer includes an application layer associated with femtocell service, an application layer for legacy accounts, and a middleware component that provides functional connectivity application layers and backend service component. Account management service allows secure login to femtocell account and redirection amongst femtocell and legacy service components, and enables manipulation of access list(s) that regulate access to femto service. A femtocell database retains account profile(s) that include access list(s). Access list(s) and updates thereof can be supplied to macrocell network.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

determining that a user equipment has been authorized to access a femto access point device; and

in response to the determining, facilitating a transmission of a data signal indicative of display data to the user equipment, wherein the display data represents the femto access point device and distinguishes the femto access point device from macro access point devices, wherein the display data is employable to update a network indicator display to generate an updated network indicator display that is presented via the user equipment in response to a determination that the user equipment has coupled to the femto access point device, and wherein the updated network indicator display depicts that an access point device, to which the user equipment is coupled, belongs to a femto access network.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the facilitating comprises facilitating the transmission via a text message.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the display data comprises identifier data indicative of an identifier of the femto access point device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the display data comprises tag data representing an alphanumeric network display indicator associated with the femto access point device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the display data is enabled to be presented in response to determining that a first fee associated with directing communication data between the user equipment and the femto access point device is different from a second fee associated with directing the communication data between the user equipment and a macro access point device of the macro access point device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from a second user equipment, provisioning data that comprises identifier data indicative of the first user equipment, wherein the provisioning data is employable to configure an access control data structure that is employable to control access to the femto access point device, and wherein the determining that the first user equipment has been authorized to access the femto access point device comprises determining that the first user equipment has been authorized to access the femto access point device in response to the receiving.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the receiving comprises receiving the provisioning data via a web portal presented via a network device.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the web portal comprises a first demarcation zone representing a first online account management web tier for management of a femtocell account and a second demarcation zone representing a second online account management web tier for management of a macrocell account.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the identifier data is first identifier data, and wherein the operations further comprise:

mapping the first identifier data to second identifier data employable by network devices; and

storing the second identifier data in the access control data structure.

10. A method, comprising:

configuring, by a system comprising a processor, an access control data structure that is employable to control access to a femto access point device, wherein the configuring comprises storing, within the access control data structure, identifier data indicative of a user equipment that is authorized to access the femto access point device; and

in response to the configuring, directing, by the system, a data signal indicative of display data to the user equipment, wherein the display data represents the femto access point device and differentiates the femto access point device from macro access point devices, wherein the directing facilitates an update to network indicator display data to generate an updated network indicator display data that is presentable via the user equipment in response to a determination that the user equipment has coupled to the femto access point device, and wherein the updated network indicator display illustrates that the femto access point device, to which the user equipment is coupled, belongs to a femto network category.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the directing comprises directing identifier data indicative of an identifier of the femto access point device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the directing comprises directing tag data representing an alphanumeric network display indicator associated with the femto access point device.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the directing comprises directing a text message.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuring comprises configuring the access control data structure based on input data received from a device that is determined to have been authorized to configure the access control data structure.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, the input data from a customer care platform device.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the user equipment is a first user equipment, and wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, by the system, the input data from a second user equipment.

17. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

determining that a user equipment has been authorized to access a femto access point device; and

in response to the determining, instructing, via a transmission of a data signal, the user equipment to update, in response to being coupled to the femto access point device, a network indicator display, presentable via the user equipment, with identification data associated with the femto access point device to generate an updated network indicator display that is employable to indicate that an access point device, to which the user equipment is coupled, belongs to a femto access network.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructing comprises facilitating a transfer of the identification data to the user equipment.

19. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 18, wherein the facilitating the transfer comprises facilitating a transfer of the identification data via a text message.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the identification data comprises an alphanumeric network display indicator associated with the femto access point device.