Patent application number | Description | Published |
20120023523 | DATA DISTRIBUTION - A device may include a communication interface configured to receive programming information and index data associated with the programming information from a service provider multicast over a plurality of channels. The device may also include logic configured to request address information from the service provider, receive the address information, wherein the address information includes a first multicast address, and join a first multicast group corresponding to the first multicast address, wherein the first multicast group is associated with the index data. The logic may also be configured to receive, via the communication interface, the index data, identify a second multicast address associated with at least some of the programming information, join a second multicast group corresponding to the second multicast address, and receive, via the communication interface, at least some of the programming information. | 01-26-2012 |
20120081299 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING REMOTE CONTROL VIA A TOUCHABLE DISPLAY - An approach is provided for controlling a display of a set-top box from a remote control device having a touchable display. User input is received via the touchable display of the remote control device. A control signal is generated in response to the user input for controlling a set-top box coupled to a display. The set-top box is configured to present the content on the display concurrently with the touchable display. | 04-05-2012 |
20120089474 | AUTOMATED AUTOMOBILE MAINTENANCE USING A CENTRALIZED EXPERT SYSTEM - A system includes a database that stores an expert knowledgebase, and one or more servers configured to implement an expert system. The one or more servers receive sensor data associated with sensors from automobile maintenance systems associated with respective ones of multiple automobiles, and analyze the sensor data, using the expert system and the expert knowledgebase, to diagnose whether the multiple automobiles require maintenance and/or repair. The one or more servers send, via a network, results of the analysis of the sensor data to service stations for scheduling maintenance and/or repair of the multiple automobiles. | 04-12-2012 |
20120090007 | PERSONALIZED TELEVISION GUIDE - A system is configured to: receive identification information from a client device; identify a corresponding profile based on the identification information, where the corresponding profile is one of user profiles, device profiles, or generic profiles; generate a personalized television guide based on the corresponding profile, and transmit the personalized television guide to the client device. | 04-12-2012 |
20120157067 | CALL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A method, performed by a user device, may include detecting an incoming call; determining whether the incoming call is associated with a very important person contact; directing the incoming call to a voicemail system, when the incoming call is not associated with a very important person contact; and providing, when the incoming call is associated with the very important person contact, an instant response message to a device associated with the incoming call without answering the incoming call. The method may further include providing reminder, including a ranked callback list of missed calls, to the user at particular intervals. | 06-21-2012 |
20120158934 | QUEUE PROCESSING SYSTEM - A method, performed by a server device, may include receiving a request from a user device to place a user, associated with the user device, in a particular queue; determining whether the user meets one or more qualifications associated with the queue; placing the user in the particular queue, when the user meets the one or more qualifications; monitoring whether the user continues to meet the one or more qualifications, while the user is in the queue; and removing the user from the particular queue, when the user fails to meet the one or more qualifications. | 06-21-2012 |
20120162423 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR AUTOMOBILE SECURITY MONITORING - Systems and methods for providing an automobile security monitoring service are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method for monitoring the security of a plurality of automobiles includes monitoring, over a network, the security of the plurality of automobiles, receiving, from one of the plurality of automobiles over the network, a message indicating a potential security threat to the automobile, and sending, over a network to a terminal device associated with an owner of the automobile, an alert indicating the potential security threat to the automobile. The method further includes receiving, over the network from the terminal device and responsive to the alert, a request of the owner to stream video from a security camera onboard the automobile, issuing, to the automobile over the network and based on the request, a command to the automobile to stream video from the security camera onboard the automobile. The method further includes receiving, from the automobile over the network, video from the security camera onboard the automobile, and streaming received video over the network to the terminal device. | 06-28-2012 |
20120164989 | METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING A WIRELESS AUTOMOBILE KEY SERVICE - Systems and methods for providing a wireless automobile key service are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting whether the mobile device is connected to the automobile over a first network, launching a wireless automobile key service application on the mobile device when it is detected that the mobile device is connected to the automobile over the first network, and receiving, via the application from an operator of the automobile using the mobile device, a request to issue a command to the automobile. The method further includes determining whether the requested command is a first command or a second command. The method further includes when the requested command is a first command, sending, from the mobile device to a server over a second network, a request to issue the first command to the automobile. The method also includes when the requested command is a second command, sending, from the mobile device to the sever over the second network, a request to issue the second command to the automobile, and receiving, at the mobile device from the server over the second network, status information associated with the automobile. | 06-28-2012 |
20120278399 | PROFILE MESSAGE COMMUNICATIONS - A first user device receives user profile data from a user of the first user device, generates a user profile based on the user profile data, receives profile availability data from the user of the first user device, and designates a user profile availability status based on the profile availability data. A second user device receives target profile data from a user of the second user device, generates a profile message based on the target profile data, and communicates the profile message. The first user device receives the profile message, determines whether the target profile data corresponds to the user profile data of the first user device, generates a user alert when the target profile data corresponds to the user profile data, and enables the user of the first user device to respond to the profile message via a dynamic dashboard. | 11-01-2012 |
20120299749 | PARKING LOT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM - A parking lot management system determines a current parking space inventory for one or more parking lots using a parking database. The parking lot management system receives, via a network, a location associated with a parking customer, and identifies a parking lot of the one or more parking lots currently having available parking spaces based on the customer's location. The parking lot management system sends, via the network, at least one of a current occupancy, parking rates, or a location of the identified parking lot to the parking customer. The parking lot management system further receives a parking space reservation inquiry from the parking customer, and identifies a parking space from the identified parking lot based on the parking customer's location. | 11-29-2012 |
20120309424 | USER PROFILE-BASED ASSISTANCE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM - A method including providing a user profile-based assistance service; receiving an assistance request from a subscriber, wherein the assistance request includes geographic information pertaining to a destination of the subscriber; searching a user profiles repository storing user profiles of other subscribers, wherein each user profile includes information indicating a geographic location in which the other subscriber has at least one of lived or worked; selecting candidate user profiles to offer assistance to the subscriber seeking assistance based on a matching between the geographic information pertaining to the destination and a geographic location in which each of the one or more other subscribers at least one of currently lives or works; sending the one or more candidate user profiles to the subscriber; receiving a selection of one of the one or more candidate user profiles; and establishing a communication session between the subscribe and the other selected subscriber. | 12-06-2012 |
20120327812 | SYSTEM FOR AND METHOD OF CALL TRANSFER MANAGEMENT - A system for and method of call transfer management may include receiving a phone call over a landline, receiving, using a device connected to the landline, a wireless signal from a mobile device indicating a call transfer request, wherein the call transfer request contains a mobile device indicator, determining, using the device connected to the landline, that the phone call over the landline will be transferred to the mobile device, wherein the determination is made at least in part on the receipt of the call transfer request, sending, from the device connected to the landline, a call transfer request over the landline, wherein the call transfer request contains a mobile device indicator of the mobile device, and transferring the phone call from the landline to the mobile device. | 12-27-2012 |
20130007789 | SET-TOP BOX CHANNEL TUNING TIME MEASUREMENT - A network device receives, across a network, measurements of channel tuning times from multiple, different set-top boxes (STBs), where the channel tuning times are measured internally within each of the multiple, different STBs. The network device stores the measurements of the channel tuning times as data in a data structure and analyzes channel tuning behavior of at least one of the multiple, different STBs based on the data stored in the data structure. The network device generates a report of the channel tuning behavior of the at least one of the multiple, different STBs. | 01-03-2013 |
20130029650 | LIMITING MOBILE DEVICE SERVICES IN AN AUTOMOBILE - A method may include determining whether a mobile communication device is in a driver compartment of an automobile. The method may include determining whether the automobile is in motion or not in motion. Further, the method may include redirecting a call to the mobile communication device when the mobile communication device is in the driver compartment and the automobile is in motion. | 01-31-2013 |
20130031159 | SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ENFORCING APPLICATION ADOPTION - A method includes determining that a legacy application is executing on a client device. When the legacy application is open in the client device, an adoption rule is applied, wherein the adoption rule defines an instance in which a user is required to use a replacement application instead of the legacy application. When it is determined that the adoption rule is satisfied, the replacement application is executed and use of the legacy application is prevented. | 01-31-2013 |
20130084833 | DYNAMIC NAVIGATIONAL SYSTEM - A system and method for a dynamic navigational system may include a server configured to send event information associated with an event to a user device. The event information may include a general event location. The server may also be configured to receive a user response to the event information and send a focused event location to the user device in response to the user response selecting to attend the event. The focused event location may be located within the general event location. | 04-04-2013 |
20130097179 | CROWD-SOURCED PROBLEM SOLVING - A device includes an input device configured to receive a plurality of user inputs including a predetermined user input. A display device is configured to display a graphical user interface. A memory device is configured to store device information. A help application is in communication with the input device, the display device, and the memory device and is configured to detect the predetermined user input and, in response, populate the graphical user interface with a list of selectable solutions associated with the device information in accordance with a performance rank associated with each solution. | 04-18-2013 |
20140040036 | ADVERTISEMENT PLATFORM - Method, device, and storage medium for providing an advertisement platform that allows users to purchase advertisement space on user devices. The advertisement platform delivers the advertisements to the user devices. The advertisement platform uses information from the users of the user devices to identify the available advertisement space. The advertisement platform calculates credits to be applied to services associated with the users of the user devices based on the available advertisement space offered by the users of the user devices. | 02-06-2014 |
20140114753 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING BANDWIDTH BASED ON DEVICE USER RESPONSE - An approach for regulating the allocation of network bandwidth capacity based on user responsiveness to advertisement content is described. A bandwidth allocation platform determines, based on a metering of content delivered to a device via a network, the amount of content delivered is approaching a predetermined threshold of bandwidth allocated to the device by a provider of the network. The bandwidth allocation platform further determines, based on a monitoring of a duration or type of interaction or response of a user, an amount of additional bandwidth to be allocated to the device. | 04-24-2014 |
20140149562 | METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING USER-BASED BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT - An approach for enabling a user to adapt the usage of content by an application is described. An adaptation platform determines usage of content by an application satisfies a predetermined bandwidth threshold. The adaptation platform then initiates an adaptation of the usage of the content by the application based on the bandwidth configuration setting. | 05-29-2014 |
20150016241 | BACK-UP PATH FOR IN-HOME DIAGNOSTICS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS - A local router for a home network pairs with a mobile device via a local network connection. The local router is also connected to a wide area network. The local router receives, from the mobile device and over the local network connection, configuration settings for a backup path for the wide area network. The backup path includes the local network connection and a mobile broadband connection using the mobile device. The local router detects an interruption with the local router's connection to the managed wide area network and forwards, based on the detecting, critical traffic from the home network via the backup path. | 01-15-2015 |
20150044983 | PERSONAL EMERGENCY MESSAGE FRAMEWORK - A mobile device determines that a communications tower is unresponsive to non-emergency wireless signals, and receives user input to select a recipient for an emergency message from a group of pre-registered recipients. The mobile device presents a group of pre-configured status indicators and receives user input to select a particular status indicator. The mobile device generates a text-based emergency message based on the selected recipient, the selected status indicator, location information for the mobile device, and a time stamp. The mobile device sends, to a message server that is different than the message recipient, the text-based emergency message. To determine a status of the message originator without requiring a connection between mobile devices, the intended recipient initiates a fetch message request to retrieve the text-based emergency message from the message server. | 02-12-2015 |
20150071181 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SELECTIVELY ADAPTING BANDWIDTH CONSUMPTION - An approach for dynamically adapting bandwidth consumption is described. A token based access platform determines at least one tier of service of a network provider to associate with a request for the use of bandwidth of a wireless access network based on the assignment of a unique token to a user and/or a node associated with the user. The platform then generates, in real-time, an instruction to adapt the amount of bandwidth to be shared by the node associated with the user based on the determination. | 03-12-2015 |
20150084770 | ALERT SENSING AND MONITORING VIA A USER DEVICE - A device may configure recognition of a first alert. The device may store information associated with recognition of the first alert. The device may determine a response action to be associated with recognition of the first alert. The device may store information identifying an association between the first alert and the response action. The device may detect a second alert. The device may determine that the second alert matches the first alert based on the information associated with recognition of the first alert. The device may retrieve the stored information identifying the association between the first alert and the response action based on determining that the second alert matches the first alert. The device may perform the response action based on retrieving the stored information identifying the association between the first alert and the response action. | 03-26-2015 |
20150089517 | LA CARTE VIDEO PROGRAMMING AND SUGGESTION SYSTEM - A system may receive a first list of users of a provider network. For each of the first list of users, the system may obtain data pertaining to the user's categories of interest from a social media system; infer video programs based on the data; infer a list of one or more video channels based on the video programs; score the one or more video channels; rank the list of one or more video channels based on the scores; and recommend the ranked list of one or more video channels. | 03-26-2015 |
20150109903 | REDUNDANT COMMUNICATION FRAMEWORK - A device determines a communication failure associated with a first network, and selects, based on the communication failure, a failover device from a list of failover devices. The device and the failover devices communicate via short-range communications, and the selected failover device connects to a second network. The device provides, to the selected failover device, a request to receive a service from the first network, and determines whether the selected failover device accepts the request. When the selected failover device accepts the request, the device establishes a communication channel with the selected failover device, and receives the service from the first network via the selected failover device, the communication channel, and the second network. | 04-23-2015 |
20150121407 | CREDIT/PENALTY-BASED NETWORK-GUIDANCE OF BITRATES FOR CLIENTS - A method, a device, and a non-transitory storage medium having instructions to obtain network state information pertaining to at least a portion of a network that provides an adaptive bitrate streaming service; generate a recommended bitrate for delivery of a program based on the network state information; transmit the recommended bitrate to user devices; monitor a compliance and a non-compliance of the recommended bitrate by the user devices; and assign a credit commensurate with the compliance of the recommended bitrate to each of the user devices that complied with the recommended bitrate and a penalty commensurate with the non-compliance of the recommended bitrate to each of the user devices that did not comply with the recommended bitrate. | 04-30-2015 |
20150163187 | INTELLIGENT PRESENCE BASED MESSAGING - A method, performed by a computer device, may include receiving a request to send a message from a sender to a recipient. The method may further include obtaining a recipient status associated with the recipient, wherein in the recipient status includes an indication that the recipient is in motion; identifying a sender rule associated with the sender; selecting a notification type for the message based on the recipient status and the identified sender rule; and applying the selected notification type to the message. | 06-11-2015 |
20150180976 | MESSAGE CONTROLLED APPLIANCES - A method, performed by a computer device, may include receiving an event notification of an event type associated with a source device in an appliance network. The method may further include detecting an activity initiated by a user in connection with the event type associated with the source device; generating an activity rule that associates the event type with the detected activity; receiving another event notification for the event type associated with the source device; and executing another activity in response to the received other event notification, based on the generated activity rule. | 06-25-2015 |
20150181503 | TEMPORARY ACCESS TO WIRELESS NETWORKS - A server device may receive a first request for temporary access to a wireless network, the first request being associated with a first device, wherein the temporary access is based on a subscription for access to the wireless network, the subscription being associated with a second device; grant the first request for temporary access to the wireless network; subsequently determine that the temporary access to the wireless network has expired; receive, after the temporary access has expired, a second request for temporary access to the wireless network, the second request being associated with the first device; and reject the second request for temporary access to the wireless network, the rejecting being based on determining that temporary access has previously been granted to the first device. | 06-25-2015 |
20150339634 | HOME MAINTENANCE AUTOMATION - A network device receives customer registration information identifying a customer; receives first appliance registration information identifying a first appliance associated with the customer; and receives second appliance registration information identifying a second appliance associated with the customer. The first appliance registration information includes an initiation date and a service schedule of maintenance events for the first appliance, and the second appliance registration information includes an initiation date and a service schedule of maintenance events for the second appliance. The network device stores, in a data structure, the customer registration information, the first appliance registration information, and the second appliance registration information, and monitors the data structure for upcoming maintenance events for the first appliance or the second appliance. | 11-26-2015 |
20150358218 | STATISTICAL MONITORING OF CUSTOMER DEVICES - A network device receives configuration information for monitoring, via a network, control data for a monitored customer device. The configuration information includes business rules for responding to an event when the control data is outside baseline control limits. The network device identifies original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or service provider recommended limits for the control data and receives initial control data, associated with the monitored customer device, for a particular time period. The network device determines, based on the initial control data, baseline control limits related to the OEM or service provider recommended limits. The network device receives, an indication of an out-of-bounds event, wherein the out-of-bounds event includes at least one instance where subsequent control data is outside the baseline control limits and initiates, based on the business rules, an action responsive to the out-of-bounds event. | 12-10-2015 |
20160028899 | SELECTIVELY AND DYNAMICALLY PROVIDING TOLL-FREE DATA SERVICES - A device may determine a campaign rule for providing a toll-free data service to a mobile device associated with a user. The campaign rule may identify a condition for charging a service provider, associated with the toll-free data service, for data used by the mobile device in association with the toll-free data service. The device may determine an efficiency metric associated with the user. The efficiency metric may be determined based on providing toll-free data services to the user or a set of users associated with a demographic with which the user belongs. The device may analyze the efficiency metric based on the campaign rule. The device may selectively provide the toll-free data service to the mobile device, associated with the user, based on analyzing the efficiency metric. | 01-28-2016 |
20160034851 | VIRTUAL INTERVIEW VIA MOBILE DEVICE - A device executes a virtual interview application, and receives first user input, via the virtual interview application, to create multiple first media clips for a first virtual interview, with each of the first media clips including a different interview question. The device submits, from the device to a remote network device, the multiple first media clips for conducting the first virtual interview with a plurality of first interviewees. | 02-04-2016 |