Mobile device inhibitor

• US 9,819,787 B2
• Filed: 08/05/2014
• Issued: 11/14/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Reese, Kevin, Jones, Alfonso, McDonald, Steven L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mushambo, Martin
• Application Number:
  US14/451,739
• Publication Number:
  US 20160044155A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,197 Days
• Field of Search: 455418
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10

Abstract

To block calls and other mobile device network activities in a vehicle while the vehicle is being operated, a vehicle cellphone inhibitor system is provided. A femtocell device can be provided to reroute communications between a cellular network and the mobile device through the femtocell device. The vehicle cellphone inhibitor system can selectively block calls or other network operations on the mobile device that are routed through the femtocell device on the mobile device while leaving the mobile device otherwise operational. The blocking can be activated whenever the vehicle is moving, which can be determined via GPS, accelerometers, or a connection via the vehicle'"'"'s electronic control unit (“ECU”) utilizing vehicle data to determine whether the vehicle is in motion or being operated.

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 mobile device is within range of a femtocell device that is associated with a vehicle;

initiating routing of a communication between the mobile device and a network device of a cellular network via the femtocell device; and

inhibiting a network operation of the mobile device in response to determining that the network operation is to be blocked based on an operational status of the vehicle determined in response to receiving data, from an electronic control unit associated with the vehicle, regarding an ignition status of the vehicle and based on a defined time duration threshold having been exceeded in response to the network operation having been initially unblocked.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that the mobile device is to be inhibited based on history data representative of an activity history of the mobile device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining that an incoming or an outgoing call to or from the mobile device is to be inhibited based on the history data.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the history data comprises first data representing call duration, second data representing a number of calls received or placed, and third data representing data usage of the mobile device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

notwithstanding the inhibiting, enabling an outgoing call to be made in response to determining that the outgoing call is an emergency call.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

determining the operational status of the vehicle based on location information representing a location associated with the femtocell device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the operational status of the vehicle comprises information representing a speed of the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the inhibiting comprises inhibiting the network operation of the mobile device in response to the speed of the vehicle being determined to be non-zero.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the electronic control unit is communicatively coupled to the system via a port associated with the electronic control unit.

10. A method, comprising:

determining, by a device comprising a processor, that a network operation of a mobile device within range of a femtocell device is to be rerouted via the femtocell device;

facilitating, by the device, routing of a communication between the mobile device and a cellular network device via the femtocell device;

determining, by the device, that the network operation of the mobile device is to be inhibited based on an activity of a vehicle in which the vehicle is determined to be engaged and based on a defined period of time having expired during which the network operation was not initially inhibited, wherein the vehicle is configured to couple to the femtocell device and wherein the activity of the vehicle is based on engine data representing engine revolutions per minute received from an electronic control unit associated with the vehicle; and

blocking, by the device, call functionality and data usage of the mobile device in response to determining that the network operation of the mobile device is to be inhibited.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

allowing, by the device, an emergency call from the mobile device to connect.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the determining that the network operation of the mobile device is to be inhibited is based on log data representative of a call log of the mobile device.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, by the device, that an incoming or an outgoing call to or from the mobile device, respectively, is to be inhibited based on a phone number associated with the incoming or outgoing call.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

determining, by the device, the activity of the vehicle based on location information comprising a location associated with the femtocell device.

20. The method of claim 10, further comprising facilitating, by the device, wireless transmission of the engine data from the electronic control unit.

15. A femtocell device, comprising:

a processor; and

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

routing a communication between a network device of a cellular network and a mobile device, wherein the femtocell device is associated with a vehicle; and

determining that a network operation of the mobile device is to be blocked in response to determining that the vehicle is moving based on information received via an electronic control port associated with the vehicle and based on an elapse of time exceeding a defined threshold period of time during which the network operation has initially been unblocked, and the femtocell device receiving an indication to block the communications between the network device and the mobile device.

16. The femtocell device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise determining that the vehicle is moving.

17. The femtocell device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise allowing emergency calls to be made to the mobile device.

18. The femtocell device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise determining that the network operation of the mobile device is to be blocked based on a length of time that the mobile device is within range of the femtocell device.

19. The femtocell device of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise facilitating broadcast of the information from the electronic control port and the information represents an ignition state of an engine associated with the vehicle.