Over-the-air device services and management

• US 8,135,798 B2
• Filed: 11/15/2006
• Issued: 03/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/15/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Welingkar, Bharat, Prasad, Srikiran, Eisner, William, Wu, Kevin T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Ashok
• Assistant Examiner(s): GOLDBERG, ANDREW C
• Application Number:
  US11/560,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20080114855A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,945 Days
• Field of Search: 713/191
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/12 specially adapted for electronic shopping systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/123 Shopping for digital content
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3552 Downloading or loading of personalisation data
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 17/0014 for vending, access and use of specific services not covered anywhere else in G07F17/00 meter-controlled dispensing of liquid, gas or electricity G07F15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/1008 Active credit-cards provided with means to personalise their use, e.g. with PIN-introduction/comparison system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• 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: H04L 67/62 Establishing a time schedule for servicing the requests

Abstract

An over-the-air device services and management system includes a web applications server for providing a software download service, an account management server for providing an account maintenance service, and a synchronization server for providing a data management service. The suite of services offered by these servers may be wirelessly accessed from a client device.

Claims

1. A system for servicing a client device, comprising:

a web applications server to provide a software download service;

an account management server to track a state of an account for the client device, the account being registered with the account management server, wherein the account comprises a phone number and personal information associated with a user of the client device comprising an e-mail address and password, the account management server to track at least two different states of the account for the client device based on a verification status of at least one of the phone number or the e-mail address, and wherein, in a state of the at least two different states in which at least one of the phone number or the email address has not been verified, the account management server to disable a plurality of functions which are allowed in another of the states;

a backup and restore server to provide a data management service, wherein the data management service is to restore user data comprising calendar data and contact data to the client device, the backup and restore server to detect and remove redundant data instances in user data;

wherein said services are available to the client device over a wireless communications network operatively connecting the client device to the web applications server, the account management server, and the backup and restore server;

wherein the web applications server issues a lock command to the client device over the wireless communications network to lock the client device by causing the client device to restrict access to user data on the client device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the web applications server is further to issue a resource update to the client device over the wireless communications network.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the web applications server is further to issue a command to the client device over the wireless communications network to delete user data from the client device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the account management server is further to issue a command to the client device over the wireless communications network to control a heartbeat of the client device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the account management server is further to track the state of the account for the client device based on verification information transmitted to the account management server from the client device over the wireless communications network.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein a communication between the web applications server and the client device over the wireless communications network is dependent on the state of the account.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein a communication between the backup and restore server and the client device over the wireless communications network is dependent on the state of the account.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device is anyone of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable e-mail device, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communications network is at least in part anyone of a wide area network, a local area network, a cellular network, a radio network, a wireless mesh network, and an Internet-based network.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the web applications server is further to host a website accessible to the client device over the wireless communications network.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device is to wirelessly communicate with at least one of the web applications server, the account management server, and the backup and restore server via at least one of an HTTP request, an SMS message, a voice channel, and a data channel.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the account management server is to set up the account completely through use of the client device.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the personal information further comprises a telephone number and an identification card number.

29. The system of claim 28, the web application server further to convey to the client device information regarding products offered by the system.

12. A method of providing a plurality of services to a client side computing device, the method comprising:

supporting a software download service on a server side;

supporting a centralized account maintenance service on the server side, including tracking a state of an account for the client side device, the account being registered with the account maintenance service, wherein the account is associated with a user of the client side device and comprises a phone number and personal information for the user, the centralized account maintenance service to associate the account with a replacement client device, the personal information comprising an e-mail address and password, the centralized account maintenance service to track at least two different states of the account for the client device based on a verification status of at least one of the phone number and the e-mail address, and wherein, in a state of the at least two different states in which at least one of the phone number and the email address has not been verified, the account maintenance service to disable a plurality of functions which are allowed in another of the states;

supporting a data management service on the server side, wherein the data management service is to restore user data comprising calendar data and contact data to the client device; and

providing said services in relation to each other to the client side computing device over a wireless communications network, including (i) providing at least one of the software download service and data management service to the client side computing device based on the state of the account, (ii) delivering a command to the client side computing device over the wireless communications network to lock the client side computing device by causing the client device to restrict access to user data on the client device, and (iii) detecting and removing redundant data instance in user data stored on the server side.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

delivering a resource update to the client side computing device over the wireless communications network.

14. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

delivering a command to the client side computing device over the wireless communications network to delete user data from the client side computing device.

15. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

delivering a command to the client side computing device over the wireless communications network to control a heartbeat of the client side computing device.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving verification information from the client side computing device over the wireless communications network; and

transitioning the state of the account for the client side computing device dependent on the received verification information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the software download service is dependent on the state of the account.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the data management service is dependent on the state of the account.

19. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

retrieving and storing data over the wireless communications network from the client side computing device.

20. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

restoring stored data to the client side computing device over the wireless communications network.

21. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

detecting and removing redundant data instances in user data stored on the client side computing device.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the client side computing device is anyone of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable e-mail device, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer.

23. A mobile computing device, comprising:

an application program interface arranged to wirelessly communicate with a plurality of servers arranged to collectively provide a suite of services for the mobile computing device, the plurality of servers to provide services including detect and remove redundant data instances in user data stored in at least one of the plurality of servers;

a first module to request a software download via the application program interface;

a second module to provide personal information for a user of the mobile computing device to the plurality of servers via the application program interface, the personal information for creating a user account with the plurality of servers, the personal information comprising an e-mail address and password, wherein the user account comprises a phone number, the account management server to track at least two different states of the account for the client device based on a verification status of at least one of the phone number and the e-mail address, and wherein, in a state of the at least two different states in which at least one of the phone number and the email address has not been verified, the account management server to disable a plurality of functions which are allowed in another of the states;

a third module to backup data from and restore data to the mobile computing device via the application program interface, wherein the third module is to restore user data comprising calendar data and contact data to the client device; and

a fourth module to lock the mobile computing device by causing the client device to restrict access to user data on the client device in response to a command received via the application program interface;

wherein functionality of at least one of the software download and the data backup is based on the state of the account, the states comprising at least two different states of the account for the client device, in one of the states a plurality of functions are disabled which are allowed in another of the states.

24. The mobile computing device of claim 23, wherein the mobile computing device is anyone of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, a portable e-mail device, and a laptop computer.

25. The mobile computing device of claim 23, further comprising:

a module to delete user data on the mobile computing device in response to a command received via the application program interface.

26. The mobile computing device of claim 23, further comprising:

a module to issue a heartbeat in response to a command received via the application program interface.