Mobile device sharing facilitation methods and systems in a context of plural communication records

• US 9,774,728 B2
• Filed: 05/08/2014
• Issued: 09/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Jung, Edward K. Y., Levien, Royce A., Lord, Richard T., Lord, Robert W., Malamud, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Diaby, Moustapha
• Application Number:
  US14/272,753
• Publication Number:
  US 20150094039A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,237 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6218 to a system of files or objects, e.g. local or distributed file system or database
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2141 Access rights, e.g. capability lists, access control lists, access tables, access matrices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2149 Restricted operating environment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42102 Making use of the called party identifier
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42238 in systems with telephone lines with multiple users

Abstract

Structures and protocols are presented for using or otherwise relating to a first mobile device (a smartphone or tablet computer or wearable device, e.g.) configured to be shared by two or more parties such that a subset of the parties may be addressed selectively (in content directed to such parties, e.g.) in a cost-effective manner.

Claims

1. A communication system comprising:

one or more electronic devices including at least

circuitry configured for receiving a first communication from a first device configured to be shared by two or more parties that include at least a first party and a second party;

circuitry configured for determining at least a first reference value indicative of an identifier associated with the first device in a first record of the first communication and a second reference value indicative of a communication history associated with the first communication in a second record of the first communication responsive to the first communication;

circuitry configured for storing two or more records including at least the first record associated with the first reference value and the second record associated with the second reference value in one or more data-handling media for facilitating a second communication from a second device to the first device;

circuitry configured for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device; and

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device.

2. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured deciding either to include a third party identifier in the second communication if the first communication indicates a third party or to exclude the third party identifier from the second communication if the first communication does not indicate the third party, the third party being one of the two or more parties.

3. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting a bidirectional communication to the first device.

4. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication that identifies a first subset of the two or more parties to whom the second communication is directed as a subset of the two or more parties from whom the first communication is received.

5. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication responsive to a determination whether the first communication lacks a party indication tag.

6. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for posting a charge for a component of the second communication to a first account associated with one or more members of a first subset, the first account not associated with a remainder of the two or more parties.

7. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for requesting that a remote entity provide a user subset identification tag that corresponds with a virtual device identifier, the user subset identification tag identifying a first subset of the two or more parties.

8. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for receiving a device-executable code segment as a component of the first communication, the device-executable code segment being executable by a processor of the second device.

9. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for configuring a wireless transmission to include a channel establishment request as a component of the second communication.

10. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for applying one or more charges associated with the second communication to a current balance in an active account associated with a first subset of the two or more parties, the active account not being associated with a remainder of the two or more parties.

11. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for obtaining a first component of the first communication.

12. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

an integrated circuit (IC) chip-having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion of the IC chip being a circuitry configured for determining whether to include a reference value in the first record of a first communication, the second portion of the IC chip being the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on the indication of the user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device.

13. The communication system of claim 1 further comprising:

circuitry configured for receiving, from a third device, an indication of the reference value in the second record of the first communication, the third device being remote from the first device and from the second device.

14. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication responsive to whether any one of the two or more parties has been designated as a default user of the first device configured to be shared by the two or more parties.

15. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting a unidirectional communication to the first device.

16. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication that includes an account-specific header that identifies a first subset of the two or more parties to whom the second communication is directed.

17. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for transmitting the second communication that identifies a first subset of the two or more parties indicated in the first communication.

18. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device, wherein the first record includes at least one of one or more sender identifiers, one or more service identifiers, one or more timestamps, or one or more parameters indexed by one or more values.

19. The communication system of claim 1, wherein the circuitry configured for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device includes:

circuitry configured for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device, wherein the second record includes at least one or more indexes and one or more data fields of a communication history.

20. The communication system of claim 1, further comprising:

circuitry configured for obtaining at least one authorization code, downloading from at least one remote server information associated with the first device including identifiers of the two or more parties based at least partly on the at least one authorization code, and updating at least one of party identifiers or service identifiers based at least partly on the downloading.

21. A communication system comprising:

at least one computing device; and

one or more instructions that, when implemented in the at least one computing device, program the at least one computing device to perform operations including at least;

receiving a first communication from a first device configured to be shared by two or more parties that include at least a first party and a second party;

determining at least a first reference value indicative of an identifier associated with the first device in a first record of the first communication and a second reference value indicative of a communication history associated with the first communication in a second record of the first communication responsive to the first communication;

storing two or more records including at least the first record associated with the first reference value and the second record associated with the second reference value in one or more data-handling media for facilitating a second communication from a second device to the first device;

storing, at a third device, the reference value in the second record as a result of the first communication from the first device;

determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device; and

transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device.

22. A communication system comprising:

one or more electronic devices including at least;

means for receiving a first communication from a first device configured to be shared by two or more parties that include at least a first party and a second party;

means for determining at least a first reference value indicative of an identifier associated with the first device in a first record of the first communication and a second reference value indicative of a communication history associated with the first communication in a second record of the first communication responsive to the first communication;

means for storing two or more records including at least the first record associated with the first reference value and the second record associated with the second reference value in one or more data-handling media for facilitating a second communication from a second device to the first device;

means for determining whether the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches an index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device;

means for storing, at a third device, the reference value in the second record of the first communication from the first device; and

means for transmitting the second communication from the second device to the first device at least partly based on an indication of user action initiating the second communication and at least partly based on the determination that the reference value in the first record of the first communication from the first device matches the index of the second record stored as a result of the first communication from the first device.

23. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for posting a charge for a component of the second communication to a first account associated with one or more members of a first subset.

24. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

at least one of

means for requesting that a remote entity provide a user subset identification tag that corresponds with a virtual device identifier, the user subset identification tag identifying a first subset of the two or more parties;

or

means for requesting a retrieval of a particular tag by invoking a remote lookup operation, the particular tag being a component of the second communication that identifies the first device.

25. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for mapping a response protocol comprising an operational parameter to a specific recipient party identifier and to a context of a specific communication having an identified initiator, the specific communication being the first communication.

26. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

at least one of

means for configuring a particular routing tag as a telephone number, the particular routing tag being associated with the two or more parties that include the first party and the second party;

means for configuring a wireless transmission to include an interpersonal text message as a first component of the second communication;

or

means for configuring a wireless transmission to include a channel establishment request as a component of the second communication.

27. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for associating a handset with a specific routing tag in the second device, the handset being the first device configured to be shared by the two or more parties.

28. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for initiating an investigation protocol effective to determine whether a physical destination corresponding to a digital identifier can be found, the physical destination comprising the first device configured to be shared by the two or more parties.

29. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for identifying the first party with a first virtual mobile number that corresponds to a single real mobile number that uniquely identifies a portable device; and

means for identifying the second party with a second virtual mobile number that corresponds to the single real mobile number that uniquely identifies the portable device, the portable device being the first device configured to be shared by the two or more parties.

30. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for mapping a response protocol comprising an operational parameter to a specific recipient party identifier and to a specific anonymous communication context, the specific recipient party identifier identifying a sender of or an initiator of the first communication.

31. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for configuring a component of one or more processors in the third device with a specific voltage configuration that manifests a device-executable response protocol to trigger the second communication.

32. The communication system of claim 22 further comprising:

means for terminating a temporary virtual guest privilege before a guest period previously assigned to a particular device expires automatically, the particular device being the first device configured to be shared by the two or more parties.