| SPRINT SPECTRUM L.P. Patent applications |
| Patent application number | Title | Published |
|---|
| 20120071178 | Mobile Network Presence Service with Load-Based Notification Throttling - Methods and systems are described for providing a presence service that is useful for mobile telecommunications devices. A plurality of outgoing presence updates are sent to a presence client. The system monitors the level of network traffic and determines whether the client is in a region of high network load, and if so, the system throttles the outgoing presence updates during the condition of high network load. The level of throttling may depend at least in part on the amount of time that has elapsed since the presence client began a presence session, and/or the amount of time that has elapsed since an incoming presence update was received from the presence client. In determining the latter amount of elapsed time, the system may consider only the amount of time elapsed since an incoming non-automatic presence update was received from the presence client. | 03-22-2012 |
| 20120034914 | Off-Hook Triggered Cellular-Landline Conference Call - A method and system for conferencing a landline telephone into a cellular telephone call is disclosed. In response to a landline telephone going off-hook, a cellular telephone corresponding to the landline telephone is identified. When a determination is made that the corresponding cellular telephone is currently engaged in a call, the landline telephone is conferenced into the cellular call. If the cellular telephone is subsequently disengaged from the call, the original cellular call has been effectively transferred to the landline telephone. The inventive method and system may be linked to a cellular-landline conference call service. For example, a user may subscribe to such a service so that the user may automatically transfer a call from the user's cellular telephone to the user's home or office landline telephone when that landline telephone is taken off-hook. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20120027002 | Method and System for Selecting VPN Connections in Response to Wireless Network Identifiers - A method and system for providing connections from a wireless access point. The wireless access point has multiple VPN tunnels. The access point detects a wireless-network identifier (such as a service set identifier (SSID)) provided by a terminal via an air interface, and the access point uses the wireless-network identifier as a basis to select one of the VPN tunnels. The access point then sends communication from the terminal via the selected VPN tunnel. | 02-02-2012 |
| 20120009925 | Paging Success Rate Mechanism - A method for handling registration requests in a cellular wireless communication system. The method includes determining that a transmission-success rate of messages sent via the forward-link of an air interface is less than a threshold success rate. The method further includes, in response to the determination that the system has less than a threshold transmission success rate, increasing a frequency at which mobile stations register with the cellular wireless communication system via the air interface. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20120008611 | Method And System For Providing Wireless Service According To Multiple Wireless-Communication Protocols On A Single Radio-Frequency (RF) Carrier - Methods and systems are provided for providing wireless service using multiple protocols on a single radio-frequency (RF) carrier. According to an embodiment, a low-cost Internet base station (LCIB) provides wireless service on an RF carrier using a first wireless-communication protocol and provides wireless service on the RF carrier using a second wireless-communication protocol, where providing wireless service on the RF carrier using the first wireless-communication protocol and providing wireless service on the RF carrier using the second wireless-communication protocol occur at different times. The LCIB may alternate between providing wireless service using the first wireless-communication protocol and providing wireless service using the second wireless-communication protocol. | 01-12-2012 |
| 20110255628 | Method And Apparatus For Interference Mitigation By Removing A Portion Of The Transmit Signal - Elimination of intermodulation interference in a wireless communication system by removing a portion of the spectrum of transmitted signals. According to a received indication of an occurrence of intermodulation interference experienced by a narrowband receiver, mappings are performed between the predetermined narrowband channel frequency on which the narrowband receiver operates and the occupied channel frequencies of at least one broadband transmit signal. Narrowband candidate frequency ranges that linearly combine into frequencies that overlap the predetermined narrowband channel frequency are determined based on the mappings. The narrowband candidate frequency ranges that potentially contribute to the intermodulation interference are then selectively filtered by at least one notch filter until the intermodulation interference is substantially eliminated. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20110249649 | Methods and Systems for Transitioning a Communication Session from a Source Base Station to a Target Base Station without Terminating the Session - Methods and systems are provided for transitioning an active communication session of a mobile station from being conducted over a communication path that includes a source base station to being conducted over a communication path that includes a target base station, without terminating the communication session. A wireless communication device situated within a source coverage area of a source base station operates as a clone of the mobile station that is situated within a source coverage area of the source base station and also within a target coverage area of the target base station. The transition involves the clone relaying the communication session between the source base station and the mobile station; meanwhile, the target base station (i) establishes an air-interface connection with the mobile station and (ii) detects a handoff-completion trigger, and responsively serves the mobile station over the air-interface connection with respect to the communication session. | 10-13-2011 |
| 20110230191 | Methods and Systems for Causing a Mobile Station to Originate a Subsequent Call Via a Coverage Area Other than that Used for a First Call - Methods and systems are provided causing a mobile station to, after experiencing a dropped call, originate a subsequent call via a coverage area different than that used for the first call. In an embodiment, a mobile station detects that, when it was engaged in the first call at a first location via a first wireless coverage area, the mobile station experienced the first call being dropped. When the mobile station subsequently attempts to originate a second call, the mobile station determines that its current location is within a threshold distance of the first location, and responsively attempts to originate the second call via a second wireless coverage area different from the first. | 09-22-2011 |
| 20110211531 | Method and System for Selective Application of Cellular-PBX Integration Service - A method and system for selectively applying a cellular-PBX integration service. When a radio access network (RAN) receives a call request seeking to set up a call for a cellular wireless communication device (WCD) that is operating in the coverage area of the RAN, a determination is made as to whether the WCD is currently checked-into a cellular-PBX integration service. A service control point (SCP), for instance, may make the determination. If the determination is that the WCD is currently checked-in, then the call is set up to an IP PBX server that services the WCD, and the IP PBX server may then handle the call as it would handle a call placed to any IP PBX extension. Further, differential billing can be applied, charging an enterprise billing-account for the call if the WCD is checked-in, and charging a WCD billing-account for the call if the WCD is not checked-in. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110189975 | Method for Communicating Indoor Location to an Emergency Service System - A method for communicating location to an emergency service system. A wireless communication device (WCD) such as a cell phone attains a GPS location fix when outdoors and then uses a compass and pedometer to determine its direction(s) and distance(s) of travel reaching a position inside a building. When a user of the WCD places an emergency call, the WCD conveys an indication of its indoor location in a signaling message to an emergency service center, and an intermediation system such as an IMS system translates the indoor location indication to a textual description of a portion of the building (e.g., room, cubicle, zone, etc.) that encompasses the indicated location. An emergency service operator can thus receive the building portion description, to facilitate emergency service response. Further, a similar process can then be repeated during the call, to provide an updated building portion description to the operator. | 08-04-2011 |
| 20110103346 | Encapsulating Upper Layers of CDMA Signaling Between a Multi-mode Device and a Signaling Gateway - Methods and systems are provided for encapsulating upper layers of CDMA signaling messages between a multi-mode device and a signaling gateway. In an exemplary embodiment, a multi-mode device has a CDMA mode and a Wi-Fi mode. In Wi-Fi mode, the device generates an upper-layer portion of a CDMA signaling message. The device then encapsulates the first upper-layer portion in at least one packet-switched-protocol, such as SIP. The device then transmits the encapsulated upper-layer portion of the CDMA signaling message via a Wi-Fi network and a packet-switched network to a signaling gateway, which then translates the upper-layer portion into an SS7 message, and transmits the SS7 message over an SS7 network. | 05-05-2011 |
| 20110065439 | Method for Use of Azimuth and Bearing Data to Select a Serving Sector for a Mobile Station - A method for selecting a wireless coverage sector to serve a mobile station, such as in response to a handoff request that designates a sector-identifier that represents two or more possible sectors. A serving radio access network (RAN) may identify potential sectors in the region and may then select the sector whose azimuth is closest to the geographic bearing of the mobile station from the sector's base station. Further, in the event of a tie between two or more sectors or in other circumstances, the RAN may also take into consideration how close the mobile station is to various base stations, such as selecting the sector to whose base station the mobile station is closest. In a system that uses neighbor lists to govern handoff, the invention can help to facilitate handoff in a scenario where a mobile station requests handoff to a sector not listed in the mobile station's neighbor list. | 03-17-2011 |
| 20110034187 | Wireline Telephony Instrument for Wirelessly Receiving and Displaying Data Messages - A wireline telephony instrument for wirelessly receiving and displaying data messages allows a wireline telephone to wirelessly receive data messages, although the wireline telephony instrument does not wirelessly receive or transmit calls. The data messages may include text, images, and other types of multimedia data. Wireless receive-only capabilities may be integrated into the wireline telephony instrument by adding an integrated circuit, such as a CDMA chipset or a GSM chipset, to the wireline telephony instrument. Further, by integrating a display into the wireline telephony instrument, the wireline telephony instrument may display the data messages. Logic is also integrated into the wireline telephone for routing the data messages received by the wireline telephone to the display. | 02-10-2011 |
| 20100260275 | Method and system for frequency band allocation based on frequency band usage measurements - A method for selecting a frequency band, from among a plurality of frequency bands controllable by a radio network controller (RNC), to carry a data communication. The method may include obtaining frequency band usage measurements for a plurality of frequency bands, and using the frequency band usage measurements to select a particular frequency band of the plurality of frequency bands to carry the data communication. Frequency band usage measurements may be based on how many idle slots (and/or data channels) are carried through each of the plurality of frequency bands during a measurement time period. A comparison of the frequency band usage measurements can be used to determine which frequency band sent the greatest number of idle slots (or the fewest number of data channels). The method provides for selecting a frequency band best suited (e.g., has the most available capacity for carrying a data communication) for carrying the data communication. | 10-14-2010 |
| 20100246534 | Method and System for Managing Handoff in a Radio Access Network - Disclosed is a method and device for managing handoff of an access terminal in a radio access network (RAN). An access terminal may detect a handoff trigger, determine whether there is an ongoing data transfer in progress, determine an amount remaining in the data transfer, compare the amount remaining to a threshold amount, and delay or cancel the handoff if the amount remaining is below the threshold amount. Additionally, the access terminal may consider signal strength of the current (source) coverage area in determining whether to delay or cancel the handoff. | 09-30-2010 |
| 20100229100 | Methods and Systems for Storing and Accessing Application History - In a communication device, multiple instances of different applications may execute. Advantageously, at least one instance of an application records and stores a browsing history of data items accessed during its execution. This stored browsing history may be made available to later instances of applications. Furthermore, one or more such stored histories may be accessed via a global back or a global forward command, allowing the histories to be browsed according to the order in which they were recorded. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100223352 | Method and Apparatus for Dynamic Variation of Content-Download Depending on Foreground or Background Nature of Download - A method is disclosed for dynamically varying a content download depending on whether the download is a foreground-download or a background-download. When a server receives a content-request from a device, the server determines whether the content-request is foreground-generated or background-generated and accordingly selects a set of content to transmit in response to the device. If the content-request is background-generated, for instance, the server may select a smaller quantity of content, since the device user might not be actively involved with the download. On the other hand, if the content-request is foreground-generated, the server may select a larger quantity of content, since the user is involved at the time. Alternatively, the device itself may select a location from which to request content, based on whether the download is a foreground-download or a background-download. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100220842 | Method and System for Timed Interaction with an Interactive Voice Response System - Provided are methods and systems associated with interactive voice response (“IVR”) systems that control the amount of time a user interacts with the system. According to the invention, an IVR system utilizes a timer or series of timers to determine how long a user has been interacting with the IVR system. When threshold events occur, the IVR system will analyze the status of the call and may switch the user to a predefined destination, such as to an operator queue, directly to a live operator, or to another designated navigation point in the IVR navigation structure. In this manner increasing the efficiency of manner in which the IVR system interacts with a caller. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20100214989 | Dynamic Selection By A Mobile Station Of Its Home Agent Using Its Preferred Roaming List (PRL) - Methods and systems are provided for dynamic selection by a mobile station of its home agent using its preferred roaming list (PRL). A mobile station maintains a PRL comprising an association between (i) a first set of data identifying a first wireless wide area network (WWAN) and (ii) a first identifier of a first home agent. The mobile station detects a broadcast of the first set of data by the first WWAN. Responsive to detecting the broadcast of the first set of data by the first WWAN, the mobile station connects to the first WWAN. Responsive to connecting to the first WWAN, the mobile station uses the first identifier to register with the first home agent. | 08-26-2010 |
| 20100178875 | Interference Cancellation System and Method for Wireless Antenna Configuration - Presently disclosed is a method for reducing interference in a wireless distributed antenna systems. In an embodiment, interference is reduced by selectively placing a first wireless remote unit in a reduced signal interference mode. A controller sends a signal, such as a reverse link power-down signal, to the first remote unit after detecting less than a threshold incoming signal strength at the first remote unit. In an alternative embodiment, the controller requests that a given remote unit switch to the reduced signal interference mode when the controller is receiving signals from a mobile station through at least two different remote units. | 07-15-2010 |
| 20100113073 | Methods and Systems for Disabling Text Messaging while Driving - Methods and systems are provided for disabling text messaging while driving. In one embodiment, a mobile station makes a first determination that it is moving at greater than a threshold rate. The mobile station makes a second determination that, while it is moving at greater than the threshold rate, an outgoing text message reflects more than a threshold degradation in typing proficiency. In response to making the first and second determinations, the mobile station disables a text-message-sending capability. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100069105 | AUTOMATIC ROTATION THROUGH PLAY OUT OF AUDIO-CLIPS IN REPSONSE TO DETECTED ALERT EVENTS - A method and device for detecting alert events and responsively playing out audio-clips. The audio-clips may comprise data representing a sound recording. Playing out the audio-clips occurs in an order defined by a sequence. The audio-clips and the sequence are maintained in data storage. A processor executes program logic to detect a first alert event and responsively play out at least a first audio-clip of the sequence, and to detect a next alert event and responsively play out at least a next alert event of the sequence. After playing out all audio-clips in the sequence, play out of the audio-clips may then continue with the first audio-clip of the sequence. | 03-18-2010 |
| 20090327443 | Method and System for Aggregating Messages - Methods and systems are disclosed that support the aggregation of acknowledgement messages and control messages. Advantageously, acknowledgement and negative acknowledgement indications for multiple client nodes are combined into a single aggregated message which is broadcast or multicast to the multiple client nodes. Based on unique identifiers assigned to each client node, client nodes are grouped such that the aggregated acknowledgement messages can be efficiently encoded to conserve both network capacity when they are transmitted, as well as processing capacity when they are parsed by the client nodes. If code division multiple access (CDMA) technology is used, the aggregated acknowledgment message can be transmitted without CDMA spreading to effectively broadcast or multicast it to multiple client nodes. A similar technique can be employed for the efficient broadcast or multicast of aggregated control messages. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090325594 | Using Base-Station Location to Assist Mobile-Device system Acquisition - Methods and systems are provided for using base-station location to assist mobile-device system acquisition. A mobile station, which stores a network identifier, selects a carrier frequency. The mobile station receives, from a base station on a first carrier frequency, geographic coordinates of the base station and a base-station network identifier, and determines whether the base-station network identifier matches the mobile-station network identifier. If the base-station network identifier matches the mobile-station network identifier, the mobile station will scan the indicated home frequency bands and will connect to one of the home frequencies, and if the base-station network identifier does not match the mobile-station network identifier, the geographic coordinates of the base station are used to identify a market area and a most-preferred carrier frequency is selected from the identified market area. | 12-31-2009 |
| 20090061869 | Policy Based Mobile-IP Address Selection and Assignment - A method for imposing a communication policy for a mobile node. During Mobile-IP (MIP) registration for the mobile node, when a MIP home agent sends an access request to an authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) server, the AAA server will select a pool of IP addresses corresponding with a communication policy for the mobile node and will direct the home agent to assign an IP address selected from that pool. Thereafter, when the home agent receives a communication to or from the IP address, the home agent may then determine the applicable communication policy by determining the pool from which the IP address was selected, and the home agent may apply that communication policy. | 03-05-2009 |
| 20080212503 | Method and System for Tailoring WiMAX Device Provisioning Based on Device Capability Information Communicated to Network - Before a WiMAX-equipped device is distributed to an end-user, the manufacturer or distributor of the WiMAX-equipped device will record in the device a set of data that describes characteristics (e.g., type, features, capabilities, and limitations) of the device. When the end-user powers on the device or otherwise brings the device within the coverage of a service provider's WiMAX base station, the device will then acquire radio connectivity, typically with the service provider authenticating the device's WiMAX chipset. Thereafter, the device will engage in a first-time activation/service-provisioning session with a system operated by the service provider, and during that session, the device will provide the system with its device-characteristics data and the service provider will use that device-characteristics data as a basis to customize provisioning of service for the device based on the device's features and capabilities. | 09-04-2008 |
