Managing service user discovery and service launch object placement on a device

• US 10,715,342 B2
• Filed: 08/21/2017
• Issued: 07/14/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Original Assignee: Headwater Research LLC (Greg Raleigh)
• Inventors: Raleigh, Gregory G., Green, Jeffrey, Tellado, Jose
• Primary Examiner(s): Rudy, Andrew Joseph
• Application Number:
  US15/681,730
• Publication Number:
  US 20180097643A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,058 Days
• Field of Search: 705 16, 705 18, 705 28, 705 30, 709217-223, 4554141, 4554321, 4554561, 4554562
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/14 Charging , metering or billing arrangements for data wireline or wireless communications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/51 for resellers, retailers or service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/58 based on statistics of usage or network monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/80 Rating or billing plans; Tariff determination aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8022 Determining tariff or charge band
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8033 location-dependent, e.g. business or home
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8083 involving reduced rates or discounts, e.g. time-of-day reductions or volume discounts
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/8094 Trial service, i.e. free of charge service for trial purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• 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

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses to manage service user discovery and service launch object placement on a device. A method comprising: obtaining information to assist in identifying a portion of a user interface of a wireless device, the wireless device communicatively coupled to a network system over a wireless access network; determining a differentiating attribute of the identified portion of the user interface; obtaining one or more service launch objects for placement in the identified portion of the user interface; and sending configuration information to the wireless device over the wireless access network to assist the wireless device in placing the one or more service launch objects in the identified portion of the user interface.

Claims

1. For a network device management system associated with a group of wireless devices, each wireless device in the group comprising a user interface and a device-based user interface location manager, a method comprising the network device management system cooperating with each of the device-based user interface location managers to:

specify, for each wireless device in the group, a plurality of first service launch objects to appear in at least a first user interface service launch partition of a plurality of user interface service launch partitions on that wireless device;

specify, for each of the first service launch objects, an association between that service launch object, an associated application, and an associated particular network destination; and

enforce one or more policies on each wireless device to cause each application, when launched from an associated service launch object appearing in the first user interface service launch partition, to communicate only with the associated particular network destination.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for a wireless device in the group, providing a view, representing an appearance of the first user interface service launch partition on that wireless device, to a network system manager operating the network device management system.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each device in the group, accounting for first network service costs associated with applications launched from the first user interface service launch partition separately from other network service costs for that device.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising supplying the first network service costs to an entity that operates the network device management system, the entity responsible for subsidizing the first network service costs.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting, to a user of a wireless device in the group, a selection of additional service launch objects that the user can select to have the network device management system add to the first user interface service launch partition.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device management system operates from a corporate LAN, the associated particular network addresses located on the corporate LAN.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein enforcing one or more policies comprises conditioning the availability of a network service or device service associated with one or more of the first service launch objects on network state information for a wireless network to which a wireless device in the group is currently connected.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the network state information comprises the availability of access to a corporate LAN.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising modifying the appearance of one or more of the first service launch objects based on the availability of the network service or device service.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising monitoring usage of one or more services accessed through the first user interface service launch partition.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, for each wireless device in the group, storing the monitored usage in a device usage state log on the device, and providing information from the device usage state log to a network element.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising categorizing the first user interface service launch partition as only for enterprise and/or work services.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein, for each wireless device in the group, a second user interface service launch partition of the plurality of user interface service launch partitions is categorized for non-work services.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, for each wireless device in the group, the network device management system exclusively controls the first user interface service launch partition through communication with the device-based user interface location manager on that wireless device.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein exclusively controls comprises obtaining rules from an entity associated with each of the first service launch objects.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein exclusively controls comprises supplying configuration information to that wireless device to assist the wireless device in preventing modification of contents of the first user interface service launch partition.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein, for each wireless device in the group, the second user interface service launch partition is controllable by a user of that wireless device.