Network with broker for device management

• US 9,323,515 B1
• Filed: 01/18/2005
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Daley, Robert C., Marolia, Sunil, Kapadekar, Vivek, Rao, Bindu R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Viet
• Application Number:
  US11/039,000
• Time in Patent Office: 4,116 Days
• Field of Search: 709/221, 709/219, 717/171, 717/172, 717/176
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A network having a device management server to execute Sync ML device management (DM) commands and manage associated mobile devices. The network may employ a broker to execute bundles comprising device management and provisioning activities, provisioning parameters etc. The broker may determine the sequence in which these device management and provisioning activities are executed and may employ the device management server to conduct the DM operations to interact with the associated mobile devices.

Claims

1. A network that facilitates managing associated electronic devices, the network comprising:

a management server that manages the electronic devices in the network;

a first manager that creates template bundles of actions for the electronic devices; and

a broker that;

retrieves, from a subscriber server, subscriber-specific information for the electronic devices, wherein the subscriber-specific information includes user identifications and user passwords;

selects an appropriate template bundle of actions from the template bundles;

determines a sequence of execution of the actions of the appropriate template bundle of actions in the electronic devices, wherein the broker utilizes the management server to interact with the electronic devices;

inserts the subscriber-specific information into placeholders in the template bundle of actions;

determines the sequence of execution of the actions; and

transforms the appropriate template bundle of actions into a final bundle of actions, based on the information retrieved.

2. The network according to claim 1 wherein the actions comprise electronic device management and provisioning activities.

3. The network according to claim 1 wherein the broker determines the sequence in which the electronic devices receive the bundles of actions for execution.

4. The network according to claim 1 wherein the final bundle of actions comprises an extensible markup language (XML) document that specifies a sequence of operations to be executed by recipient electronic devices.

5. The network according to claim 1 wherein the broker receives a signal from each electronic device upon completion of execution of the actions in the electronic device.

6. The network according to claim 5 wherein the broker signals to the management server the completion of execution of actions in the electronic devices.

7. The network according to claim 1 wherein an electronic device comprises at least one of a mobile handset, a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal computer, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

8. A method that facilitates managing associated plurality of electronic devices, the method comprising:

creating template bundles of actions for the plurality of electronic devices to perform;

receiving a request to update at least one of the plurality of electronic devices;

retrieving, from a subscriber server, information about the plurality of electronic devices and subscriber-specific information for the plurality of electronic devices, wherein the subscriber-specific information includes user identifications and user passwords;

selecting an appropriate template bundle of actions from the template bundles based on the retrieved information;

substituting the subscriber-specific information for placeholder tokens in the template bundles;

determining a sequence of execution of the actions in each of the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices, using the retrieved information;

transforming the selected appropriate template bundle of actions into a final bundle of actions, based on the retrieved information;

reporting an intermediate status of the execution of the actions from the final bundle of actions in each of the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices; and

signaling completion of the execution of the actions from the final bundle of actions in each of the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices.

9. The method according to claim 8 wherein the actions comprise updating firmware in the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices.

10. The method according to claim 8 comprising utilizing information retrieved from the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices to determine the sequence of execution of the actions.

11. The method according to claim 8 comprising determining the sequence in which the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices receive the final bundles of actions for execution.

12. The method according to claim 8 wherein the final bundle of actions comprises an extensible markup language (XML) document that specifies a sequence of operations to be executed by recipient electronic devices.

13. The method according to claim 8 wherein an electronic device comprises at least one of a mobile handset, a cellular telephone, a pager, a personal computer, and a personal digital assistant (PDA).

14. The method according to claim 8 wherein the subscriber-specific information includes email user identifications and applicable user settings for the at least one of the plurality of electronic devices.

15. The network according to claim 1 wherein:

the broker receives a list of mobile phone numbers associated with the electronic devices, and

the broker provides a mobile phone number to the subscriber server to retrieve the subscriber-specific information from the subscriber server.

16. The method according to claim 8 further comprising:

receiving a list of mobile phone numbers associated with the electronic devices, and

providing a mobile phone number to the subscriber server to retrieve the subscriber-specific information from the subscriber server.