System and method of efficient mobile device network brand customization

None.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Mobile telephones are electronic devices that are used for mobile voice and/or data communications based on wireless network connectivity, which can be provided by base stations known as cell towers or sites. Such electronic devices may be associated with an electronic serial number (ESN), a stock keeping unit (SKU) number, and other identifying information. Mobile telephones and similar electronic/communications devices may be packaged with operating manuals, warning documents, charging devices, and other accessories in a point-of-sale package suitable for distributing to end users. A plurality of point-of-sale packages, each containing an electronic device, may be shipped together to a retail store or business location. Electronic devices may be configured prior to shipping with unique packaging, hardware and software branding, features and functionality.

In an embodiment, a mobile communication device is disclosed. The device comprises a memory, a processor, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor at initial set-up of the mobile communication device, determines whether or not a dynamic portion of a network brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device based on a network brand identity of the mobile communication device, wherein a static portion of the network brand startup animation that is common to a plurality of network brands compatible with the mobile communication device is preloaded on the mobile communication device, wherein the static portion of the network brand startup animation comprises one frame of a static background of the animation. Responsive to no existing dynamic portion of the animation for the network brand identity, the application further downloads the dynamic portion of the animation from a server through an internet protocol (IP) address link stored in the memory, wherein the dynamic portion is in the form of scalable vector graphics (SVG) and comprises vector transformation information of changing portions of the animation from frame to frame, wherein the dynamic portion of the animation comprises network brand specific objects of the animation and configuration parameters to change the background of the static portion based on the network brand identity of the mobile communication device, whereby by superimposing the dynamic portion and the static portion, the animation is rebuilt at the mobile communication device.

In an embodiment, a method of updating a network brand startup animation on a mobile communication device is disclosed. The method comprises responsive to changing a first network brand identity of the mobile communication device to a second network brand identity, determining, by an application, whether or not a second dynamic portion of a second network brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device based on the second network brand identity of the mobile communication device. The method further comprises responsive to no existing second dynamic portion of the second network brand startup animation for the second network brand identity, downloading, by the application, the second dynamic portion of the animation from a data store through an internet protocol (IP) address link stored in a memory of the mobile communication device, wherein the dynamic portion is in the form of scalable vector graphics (SVG) and comprises vector transformation information of changing portions of the animation from frame to frame, wherein the dynamic portion of the animation comprises network brand specific objects of the animation and configuration parameters to change a background of a static portion of the animation based on the second network brand identity of the mobile communication device, whereby the updating of the network brand startup animation is realized without requiring the use of a maintenance release (MR).

In an embodiment, a method of initializing network brand startup animation on a mobile communication device is disclosed. The method comprises determining whether or not a dynamic portion of a network brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device based on a network brand identity of the mobile communication device at initial set-up of the mobile communication device, wherein a static portion of the network brand startup animation is preloaded on the mobile communication device, wherein the static portion of the network brand startup animation comprises one frame of a static background of the animation. The method further comprises responsive to no existing dynamic portion of the animation for the network brand identity, downloading the dynamic portion of the animation from a data store through a uniform resource locator (URL) link stored in the memory, wherein the dynamic portion is in a highly compressed format and comprises object transformation information and storing the dynamic portion of the animation.

These and other features will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating another method according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a mobile communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a mobile communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6A is a block diagram of a software architecture of a mobile communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram of another software architecture of a mobile communication device according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

It should be understood at the outset that although illustrative implementations of one or more embodiments are illustrated below, the disclosed systems and methods may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not yet in existence. The disclosure should in no way be limited to the illustrative implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.

Brand elements that support a plurality of different brands may be preloaded on a mobile communication device when the mobile communication device can change its brand to multiple brands. For example, visual elements, audio elements, widgets, and/or branded applications may be preloaded on the mobile communication device. The visual elements may comprise wallpapers/skins, interface controls, system startup visual effect, system turn off visual effect, videos, animations, or other visual content targeted for the mobile communication device. These brand elements, especially the visual elements, may be large in size. It may be space consuming to preload brand elements for multiple brands on the mobile communication device. The reason is that multiple versions of each of the plurality of brand elements may be preloaded on the mobile communication device, for example in a memory of the mobile communication device, with one version per brand.

Alternatively, selected brand elements associated with a specific brand may be downloaded by the mobile communication device at initial set-up or activation of the mobile communication device. It may then be bandwidth consuming to download the brand elements. For example, when no WiFi is available or when no high speed cellular data network is available to the mobile communication device, it may take hours or even up to days to download a large-sized video element. The present disclosure teaches a system and method for dividing each of a plurality of brand startup animations into a static portion and a network brand specific dynamic portion, preloading the static portion on the mobile communication device, and downloading a corresponding dynamic portion at initial set-up or activation of the mobile communication device based on the network brand identity of the mobile communication device.

For example, an application on a mobile communication device may determine whether or not a corresponding dynamic portion of a brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device based on a brand identity of the mobile communication device at initial set-up or activation of the mobile communication device. A static portion of the brand startup animation may already be preloaded on the mobile communication device. The static portion of the brand startup animation may be common to a plurality of brands of the mobile communication device. Said in other words, each of the brand startup animations of the mobile communication device may be divided into a common static portion and a dynamic portion that is specific to the brand. The static portion may comprise one frame of a static background of the animation, and the dynamic portion may comprise brand specific objects of the animation. For example, brand startup animations may share the same background, and the background is encapsulated in the static portion. The dynamic portion may comprise vector transformation information of changing objects of the animation from frame to frame, for example a logo that changes in shape, size, and/or position. The dynamic portion may be in a highly compressed format, for example in the form of scalable vector graphics (SVG). The dynamic portion may be a small increment from the static portion and thus may be only in a small size. The dynamic portion of the animation may comprise configuration parameters to change the background of the static portion based on the brand identity of the mobile communication device.

When the corresponding dynamic portion of the animation for the brand identity is found by the application, the dynamic portion of the animation may send a notification to a graphics processing application on the mobile communication device. The graphics processing application may rebuild the brand startup animation based on the static portion and the dynamic portion of the animation. On the other hand, when no corresponding dynamic portion of the animation for the brand identity is found by the application, the dynamic portion of the animation may be downloaded by the application, for example from a data store through an internet protocol (IP) address link stored in the memory. The graphics processing application on the mobile communication device may rebuild the animation based on the dynamic portion and the static portion of the brand startup animation after the dynamic portion is downloaded to the mobile communication device, for example by superimposing the dynamic portion and the static portion.

When a brand startup animation is updated at the data store or when the brand identity of the mobile communication device is changed, an updated dynamic portion of the brand startup animation may be downloaded in a way similar to how the dynamic portion is downloaded at initial set-up of the mobile communication device.

By dividing a brand startup animation into a static portion and a dynamic portion, time and internet resources that may otherwise be used for downloading a brand startup animation as a whole every time may be saved. Or, memory that may otherwise be used to preload brand startup animations before the initial set-up of the mobile communication device may be saved. This way of managing brand startup animations may also be used for other large-sized elements which at least part of may be downloaded at the time of or after initial set-up of the mobile communication device.

Turning now to FIG. 1 , a communication system 100 is described. In an embodiment, the communication system 100 comprises a plurality of mobile communication devices 114 , a data store 120 , and a server 102 . The mobile device 114 may comprise a processor 110 and a memory 108 . The memory 108 may comprise a preloaded static user interface (UI) 106 , an open mobile alliance (OMA) device management (DM) client application 112 , and an application 124 . The data store 120 may comprise a plurality of dynamic UIs 122 . The server 102 may comprise a server application 104 . The data store 120 may be managed or manipulated by the server application 104 . In an embodiment, the data store 120 may be a separate computer from the server computer 102 as shown in FIG. 1 . In another embodiment, the data store 120 and the server computer 102 may locate in one and the same computer. The mobile device 114 may be configured to use a radio transceiver to establish a wireless communication link with a base transceiver station (BTS) 118 , and the base transceiver station 118 may provide communications connectivity of the device 114 to a network 116 . The mobile device 114 may also be configured to establish a wireless communication link with the network 116 through a WiFi access point (AP), for example using a wireless local area network (WLAN) radio transceiver. The server 102 and the data store 120 may also have access to the network 116 . The network 116 may comprise any combination of private and public networks.

It is understood that the system 100 may comprise any number of mobile devices 114 and any number of servers 102 . The collectivity of base transceiver stations 118 may be said to comprise a radio access network, in that these base transceiver stations 118 may provide a radio communication link to the mobile devices 114 to provide access to the network 116 . The radio transceiver of the mobile communication device 114 may communicate with the base transceiver station 118 using any of a variety of wireless communication protocols including a code division multiple access (CDMA) wireless communication protocol, a global system for mobile communication (GSM) wireless communication protocol, a long-term evolution (LTE) wireless communication protocol, a world-wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) wireless communication protocol, or another wireless communication protocol. The mobile communication device 114 may be any of a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a notebook computer, a wearable computer, a headset computer, or another network/communications capable device. In an embodiment, the mobile communication device 114 may have other components (not shown) such as a near field communication (NFC) radio transceiver, a short range radio transceiver such as a wireless local area network radio transceiver, or other components.

In an embodiment, the application 124 may be stored in the memory 108 of the mobile communication device 114 . When executed by the processor 110 of the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may perform a variety of functionality to download dynamic portions of brand startup animations, for example at initial set-up or activation of the mobile communication device 114 , when a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 is changed, or under some other predefined circumstance. A brand startup animation may be an animation playing at startup and/or shutdown of a mobile communication device 114 . A brand startup animation may be divided into two portions: a static portion and a dynamic portion.

A static portion of the brand startup animation, a static UI 106 , may be preloaded on the mobile communication device 114 , for example in the memory 108 before initial power-up of the mobile communication device 114 . A static portion of a brand startup animation may be referred to as a static UI 106 hereinafter. The static UI 106 may be device specific but may be common to a plurality of brands compatible with the mobile communication device 114 . A mobile communication device 114 may be configured to be able to change into one of a selected plurality of brands under predefined circumstances, and so only the selected plurality of brands may be compatible with the mobile communication device 114 . For example, the device 114 may be configured to be able to change to any of a Sprint, Boost Mobile, and Virgin Mobile network brand but not to an AT&T network brand.

In an embodiment, a brand may refer to a wireless communication service provider or a mobile communication device 114 network brand. For example, network brands associated with a mobile communication device 114 may be wireless communication service provider brands (e.g. Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, or other). Network branding information may be presented on the mobile communication device 114 , for example in a display of the device. The mobile communication device 114 may be configured to change into a brand or a specific wireless communication service provider based on a location, signal strength, choice by the user, or another factor. Throughout the present disclosure, the terms brand and a network brand may be interchangeable, and a network brand may be shortened to a brand in some contexts. Similarly, a brand identity and a network brand identity may be used interchangeably, and a network brand identity may be shortened to a brand identity in some contexts. It is understood throughout that the sense of brand and changing brands and changing branding elements refers consistently to network brands and network branding elements and not to mobile communication device brand (e.g., Samsung, Apple, LG, etc.).

The static UI 106 may vary from one mobile communication device 114 to another mobile communication device 114 . However, the static UI 106 may stay the same for brands of the same mobile communication device 114 . Said in other words, one mobile communication device 114 may comprise only one static UI 106 . The background of a brand startup animation may stay unchanged from frame to frame. In an embodiment, the static UI 106 may comprise a static background of the brand startup animation. Thus, a brand startup animation may be divided into a static UI 106 and a dynamic UI 122 . The dynamic UI 122 of a brand startup animation may comprise portions of the brand startup animation that do not stay the same from frame to frame. The static UI 106 may comprise one frame.

In an embodiment, the application 124 may search for a specific dynamic portion 122 on the mobile communication device 114 based on a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 at initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 . The dynamic portion of a brand startup animation may be referred to as the dynamic UI 122 hereinafter. A specific dynamic UI 122 may be a dynamic UI 122 that is part of a brand startup animation corresponding to a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . For example, when a mobile communication device 114 is turned on for the first time at the user side, the mobile communication device 114 may register with a service provider to be able to connect to a radio access network. The information of the service provider that the mobile communication device 114 may register with may be stored in the mobile communication device 114 as part of brand configuration. Brand experience of a brand may comprise visual elements, audio elements, widgets, and/or branded applications. The visual elements may comprise wallpapers/skins, interface controls, system startup visual effect, system turn off visual effect, videos, animations, or other visual content targeted for the mobile communication device 114 . The system startup/turn off visual effect may comprise a startup/shutdown animation. Each brand of the mobile communication device 114 may have its own specific brand startup animation.

When the specific dynamic UI 122 is detected, the application 124 may send a notification to a graphics processing application, for example a graphics processing application executed by the processor 110 or a graphics processing application executed by a graphics processing unit (GPU). The graphics processing application may rebuild a brand startup animation based on the corresponding dynamic UI and the static UI. On the other hand, when the specific dynamic UI 122 is not detected on the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may download the specific dynamic UI 122 , for example from the data store 120 .

For example, at initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may determine whether or not a dynamic UI 122 of a brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device 114 based on a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . For example, a specific dynamic UI 122 of a corresponding brand startup animation may be denoted, marked, or labeled based on a corresponding brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 , for example with an identification number. Thus, the application 124 may search for the specific dynamic UI 122 based on the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 .

When no corresponding dynamic UI 122 of the brand startup animation for a specific brand identity is found, the application 124 may download the dynamic UI 122 of the brand startup animation from the data store 120 , for example through a link stored in the memory 108 that comprises an internet protocol (IP) address of the dynamic UI 122 . For example, a list of links comprising internet protocol addresses for dynamic UIs 122 corresponding to brand identities of the mobile communication device 114 may be stored in the memory 108 . Alternatively, the OMA DM client application 112 may download a link comprising an internet protocol address for a corresponding dynamic UI 122 to the mobile communication device 114 through an OMA DM payload at the initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 based on the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 .

The OMA DM payload may be stored in the memory 108 outside the OMA DM client application 112 or within the OMA DM client application 112 in the memory 108 . The application 124 may examine the memory 108 for the link comprising the internet protocol address for the dynamic UI 122 when no corresponding dynamic UI 122 is found in the memory 108 . When the application 124 locates the link comprising the internet protocol address for the dynamic UI 122 , the application 124 may download the dynamic UI 122 through the link comprising the internet protocol address or transmit a notification to the OMA DM client application 112 with the link comprising the internet protocol address included in the notification. The notification may request the OMA DM client application 112 to download the dynamic UI 122 through the corresponding link comprising the internet protocol address.

In an embodiment, the dynamic UI 122 may be in the form of scalable vector graphics (SVG). The dynamic UI 122 may vary from brand to brand on the same mobile communication device 114 . For example, the dynamic UI 122 may comprise brand specific objects of the brand startup animation. For example, the dynamic UI 122 may comprise a logo that changes in shape, size, and/or position. The logo may be specific to a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . The dynamic UI 122 may comprise vector transformation information of changing portions of the animation from frame to frame. For example, the dynamic UI 122 may comprise vector transformation information of the logo from frame to frame. The dynamic UI 122 may be a small increment from the static UI 106 and thus may be only in a small size. Additionally, the dynamic UI 122 may comprise configuration parameters to change the background of the static UI 106 based on the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . In an embodiment, the color of the background of the brand startup animation may stay the same for frames of the same brand startup animation but may vary from one brand startup animation to another brand startup animation. The dynamic UI 122 may comprise configuration parameters to change the color of the background, for example the static UI 106 , from brand to brand. The preloaded static UI 106 may also be in the form of scalable vector graphics. By superimposing the dynamic UI 122 and the static UI 106 , the brand startup animation may be rebuilt at the mobile communication device 114 .

When the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 changes, for example when the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 changes from a first brand identity to a second brand identity, the brand startup animation may be changed on the mobile communication device 114 . For example, the application 124 may first examine the mobile communication device 114 to determine whether or not a second dynamic UI 122 of a second brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device 114 based on the second brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 when the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 changes from a first brand identity to a second brand identity. When the second dynamic UI 122 is found on the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may transmit a notification to the graphics processing application so that the graphics processing application may rebuild the second brand startup animation based on the static UI 106 and the second dynamic UI 122 .

When the second dynamic UI 122 of the second brand startup animation for the second brand identity is not detected on the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may download the corresponding dynamic UI 122 from the data store 120 , for example by transmitting a notification of downloading the second dynamic UI 122 to the OMA DM client application 112 with a link comprising an internet protocol address of the second dynamic UI 122 included in the notification. In an embodiment, the second dynamic UI 122 may be downloaded in a similar way as how the dynamic UI 122 was downloaded at the initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 .

Additionally, when a brand startup animation is changed on the data store 120 , for example by the wireless communications service provider that maintains the wireless communications network supporting the mobile communication device 114 , the brand startup animation may be changed on the mobile communication device 114 . For example, when the static UI 106 is changed on the data store 120 , the data store 120 may transmit a notification of the update on the static UI 106 to the mobile communication device 114 , for example to the application 124 on the mobile communication device 114 . Alternatively, the application 124 may periodically examine the data store 120 for any update on the static UI 106 , for example every hour, every 12 hours, every 24 hours, or at some other periodic interval. When the static UI 106 is updated on the data store 120 , the corresponding static UI 106 may be changed on the mobile communication device 114 . For example, the application 124 may download the updated static UI 106 from the data store 120 , for example by downloading it directly from the data store 120 or by transmitting a notification of downloading the updated static UI 106 to the OMA DM client application 112 .

On the other hand, when the dynamic UI 122 of a brand startup animation is changed or updated by the server 102 , the dynamic UI 122 may be changed or updated on the data store 120 . The data store 120 may transmit a notification of the update on the dynamic UI 122 to the mobile communication device 114 , for example to the application 124 on the mobile communication device 114 . The application 124 may compare an identification number of the updated dynamic UI 122 on the data store 120 with the identification number of the dynamic UI 122 in use on the mobile communication device 114 , for example the dynamic UI 122 associated with the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . When the dynamic UI 122 with the same identification number is updated on the data store 120 as the dynamic UI 122 in use on the mobile communication device 114 , the application 124 may update the dynamic UI 122 on the mobile communication device 114 .

Alternatively, the application 124 may periodically examine the data store 120 for any update on the dynamic UI 122 with the same identification number as the dynamic UI 122 in use on the mobile communication device 114 , for example every hour, every 12 hours, every 24 hours, or at some other periodic interval.

When the dynamic UI 122 is updated on the data store 120 , the corresponding dynamic UI 122 may be changed on the mobile communication device 114 . For example, the application 124 may download the updated dynamic UI 122 from the data store 120 , for example by downloading it directly from the data store 120 through a link comprising an internet protocol address of the updated dynamic UI 122 or by transmitting a notification of downloading the updated dynamic UI 122 , with the link comprising the internet protocol address included in the notification, to the OMA DM client application 112 .

In an embodiment, the dynamic UI 122 of the brand startup animation may be stored on the mobile communication device 114 , for example in the memory 108 , after the dynamic UI 122 is downloaded to the mobile communication device 114 at the initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 , when the dynamic UI 122 is changed, or when the brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 is changed. Once the dynamic UI 122 associated with the suitable network brand is stored on the mobile communication device 114 , every time the mobile communication device 114 powers on or powers off, the brand startup animation may be played. It should be noted that the updating of the brand startup animation may be realized without requiring the use of a maintenance release (MR), but instead may be accomplished through a device management application, for example through the OMA DM application 112 .

Turning now to FIG. 2 , a method 200 is described. At block 202 , responsive to changing a first network brand identity of the mobile communication device to a second network brand identity, it is determined, by an application, whether or not a second dynamic portion of a second network brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device based on the second network brand identity of the mobile communication device. For example, when a brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 is changed from a first brand identity to a second brand identity, the application 124 may determine whether or not a second dynamic UI 122 of a second brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device 114 based on the second brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 .

At block 204 , responsive to no existing second dynamic portion 122 of the second network brand startup animation for the second network brand identity, the second dynamic portion 122 of the animation is downloaded by the application 124 from a data store 120 through an internet protocol (IP) address link stored in a memory 108 of the mobile communication device 114 , wherein the dynamic portion is in the form of scalable vector graphics (SVG) and comprises vector transformation information of changing portions of the animation from frame to frame, wherein the dynamic portion 122 of the animation comprises network brand specific objects of the animation and configuration parameters to change a background of a static portion 106 of the animation based on the second network brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 . At block 206 , the updating of the network brand startup animation is realized without requiring the use of a maintenance release (MR).

Turning now to FIG. 3 , a method 300 is described. At block 302 , it is determined whether or not a dynamic portion 122 of a network brand startup animation exists on the mobile communication device 114 based on a network brand identity of the mobile communication device 114 at initial set-up of the mobile communication device 114 , wherein a static portion 106 of the network brand startup animation is preloaded on the mobile communication device 114 , wherein the static portion 106 of the network brand startup animation comprises one frame of a static background of the animation.

At block 304 , responsive to no existing dynamic portion 122 of the animation for the network brand identity, the dynamic portion 122 of the animation is downloaded from a data store 120 through a uniform resource locator (URL) link stored in the memory 108 , wherein the dynamic portion 122 is in a highly compressed format and comprises object transformation information. At block 306 , the dynamic portion 122 of the animation is stored.

FIG. 4 depicts the mobile device 400 , which is operable for implementing aspects of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure should not be limited to these implementations. Though illustrated as a mobile phone, the mobile device 400 may take various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a gaming device, or a media player. The mobile device 400 includes a display 402 and a touch-sensitive surface and/or keys 404 for input by a user. The mobile device 400 may present options for the user to select, controls for the user to actuate, and/or cursors or other indicators for the user to direct. The mobile device 400 may further accept data entry from the user, including numbers to dial or various parameter values for configuring the operation of the handset. The mobile device 400 may further execute one or more software or firmware applications in response to user commands. These applications may configure the mobile device 400 to perform various customized functions in response to user interaction. Additionally, the mobile device 400 may be programmed and/or configured over-the-air, for example from a wireless base station, a wireless access point, or a peer mobile device 400 . The mobile device 400 may execute a web browser application which enables the display 402 to show a web page. The web page may be obtained via wireless communications with a base transceiver station, a wireless network access node, a peer mobile device 400 or any other wireless communication network or system.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of the mobile device 400 . While a variety of known components of handsets are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of the listed components and/or additional components not listed may be included in the mobile device 400 . The mobile device 400 includes a digital signal processor (DSP) 502 and a memory 504 . As shown, the mobile device 400 may further include an antenna and front end unit 506 , a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 508 , a baseband processing unit 510 , a microphone 512 , an earpiece speaker 514 , a headset port 516 , an input/output interface 518 , a removable memory card 520 , a universal serial bus (USB) port 522 , an infrared port 524 , a vibrator 526 , a keypad 528 , a touch screen liquid crystal display (LCD) with a touch sensitive surface 530 , a touch screen/LCD controller 532 , a camera 534 , a camera controller 536 , and a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 538 . In an embodiment, the mobile device 400 may include another kind of display that does not provide a touch sensitive screen. In an embodiment, the DSP 502 may communicate directly with the memory 504 without passing through the input/output interface 518 . Additionally, in an embodiment, the mobile device 400 may comprise other peripheral devices that provide other functionality.

The DSP 502 or some other form of controller or central processing unit operates to control the various components of the mobile device 400 in accordance with embedded software or firmware stored in memory 504 or stored in memory contained within the DSP 502 itself. In addition to the embedded software or firmware, the DSP 502 may execute other applications stored in the memory 504 or made available via information carrier media such as portable data storage media like the removable memory card 520 or via wired or wireless network communications. The application software may comprise a compiled set of machine-readable instructions that configure the DSP 502 to provide the desired functionality, or the application software may be high-level software instructions to be processed by an interpreter or compiler to indirectly configure the DSP 502 .

The DSP 502 may communicate with a wireless network via the analog baseband processing unit 510 . In some embodiments, the communication may provide Internet connectivity, enabling a user to gain access to content on the Internet and to send and receive e-mail or text messages. The input/output interface 518 interconnects the DSP 502 and various memories and interfaces. The memory 504 and the removable memory card 520 may provide software and data to configure the operation of the DSP 502 . Among the interfaces may be the USB port 522 and the infrared port 524 . The USB port 522 may enable the mobile device 400 to function as a peripheral device to exchange information with a personal computer or other computer system. The infrared port 524 and other optional ports such as a Bluetooth® interface or an IEEE 802.11 compliant wireless interface may enable the mobile device 400 to communicate wirelessly with other nearby handsets and/or wireless base stations.

The keypad 528 couples to the DSP 502 via the input/output interface 518 to provide one mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, and otherwise provide input to the mobile device 400 . Another input mechanism may be the touch screen LCD 530 , which may also display text and/or graphics to the user. The touch screen LCD controller 532 couples the DSP 502 to the touch screen LCD 530 . The GPS receiver 538 is coupled to the DSP 502 to decode global positioning system signals, thereby enabling the mobile device 400 to determine its position.

FIG. 6A illustrates a software environment 602 that may be implemented by the DSP 502 . The DSP 502 executes operating system software 604 that provides a platform from which the rest of the software operates. The operating system software 604 may provide a variety of drivers for the handset hardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to application software. The operating system software 604 may be coupled to and interact with application management services (AMS) 606 that transfer control between applications running on the mobile device 400 . Also shown in FIG. 6A are a web browser application 608 , a media player application 610 , and JAVA applets 612 . The web browser application 608 may be executed by the mobile device 400 to browse content and/or the Internet, for example when the mobile device 400 is coupled to a network via a wireless link. The web browser application 608 may permit a user to enter information into forms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media player application 610 may be executed by the mobile device 400 to play audio or audiovisual media. The JAVA applets 612 may be executed by the mobile device 400 to provide a variety of functionality including games, utilities, and other functionality.

FIG. 6B illustrates an alternative software environment 620 that may be implemented by the DSP 502 . The DSP 502 executes operating system kernel (OS kernel) 628 and an execution runtime 630 . The DSP 502 executes applications 622 that may execute in the execution runtime 630 and may rely upon services provided by the application framework 624 . Applications 622 and the application framework 624 may rely upon functionality provided via the libraries 626 .

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer system 380 suitable for implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. The computer system 380 includes a processor 382 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage 384 , read only memory (ROM) 386 , random access memory (RAM) 388 , input/output (I/O) devices 390 , and network connectivity devices 392 . The processor 382 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips.

It is understood that by programming and/or loading executable instructions onto the computer system 380 , at least one of the CPU 382 , the RAM 388 , and the ROM 386 are changed, transforming the computer system 380 in part into a particular machine or apparatus having the novel functionality taught by the present disclosure. It is fundamental to the electrical engineering and software engineering arts that functionality that can be implemented by loading executable software into a computer can be converted to a hardware implementation by well-known design rules. Decisions between implementing a concept in software versus hardware typically hinge on considerations of stability of the design and numbers of units to be produced rather than any issues involved in translating from the software domain to the hardware domain. Generally, a design that is still subject to frequent change may be preferred to be implemented in software, because re-spinning a hardware implementation is more expensive than re-spinning a software design. Generally, a design that is stable that will be produced in large volume may be preferred to be implemented in hardware, for example in an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), because for large production runs the hardware implementation may be less expensive than the software implementation. Often a design may be developed and tested in a software form and later transformed, by well-known design rules, to an equivalent hardware implementation in an application specific integrated circuit that hardwires the instructions of the software. In the same manner as a machine controlled by a new ASIC is a particular machine or apparatus, likewise a computer that has been programmed and/or loaded with executable instructions may be viewed as a particular machine or apparatus.

The secondary storage 384 is typically comprised of one or more disk drives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM 388 is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage 384 may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM 388 when such programs are selected for execution. The ROM 386 is used to store instructions and perhaps data which are read during program execution. ROM 386 is a non-volatile memory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative to the larger memory capacity of secondary storage 384 . The RAM 388 is used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM 386 and RAM 388 is typically faster than to secondary storage 384 . The secondary storage 384 , the RAM 388 , and/or the ROM 386 may be referred to in some contexts as computer readable storage media and/or non-transitory computer readable media.

I/O devices 390 may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known input devices.

The network connectivity devices 392 may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), and/or other air interface protocol radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network connectivity devices 392 may enable the processor 382 to communicate with the Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor 382 might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described method steps. Such information, which is often represented as a sequence of instructions to be executed using processor 382 , may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave.

Such information, which may include data or instructions to be executed using processor 382 for example, may be received from and outputted to the network, for example, in the form of a computer data baseband signal or signal embodied in a carrier wave. The baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave, or other types of signals currently used or hereafter developed, may be generated according to several methods well known to one skilled in the art. The baseband signal and/or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be referred to in some contexts as a transitory signal.

The processor 382 executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts which it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage 384 ), ROM 386 , RAM 388 , or the network connectivity devices 392 . While only one processor 382 is shown, multiple processors may be present. Thus, while instructions may be discussed as executed by a processor, the instructions may be executed simultaneously, serially, or otherwise executed by one or multiple processors. Instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts, and/or data that may be accessed from the secondary storage 384 , for example, hard drives, floppy disks, optical disks, and/or other device, the ROM 386 , and/or the RAM 388 may be referred to in some contexts as non-transitory instructions and/or non-transitory information.

In an embodiment, the computer system 380 may comprise two or more computers in communication with each other that collaborate to perform a task. For example, but not by way of limitation, an application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of the instructions of the application. Alternatively, the data processed by the application may be partitioned in such a way as to permit concurrent and/or parallel processing of different portions of a data set by the two or more computers. In an embodiment, virtualization software may be employed by the computer system 380 to provide the functionality of a number of servers that is not directly bound to the number of computers in the computer system 380 . For example, virtualization software may provide twenty virtual servers on four physical computers. In an embodiment, the functionality disclosed above may be provided by executing the application and/or applications in a cloud computing environment. Cloud computing may comprise providing computing services via a network connection using dynamically scalable computing resources. Cloud computing may be supported, at least in part, by virtualization software. A cloud computing environment may be established by an enterprise and/or may be hired on an as-needed basis from a third party provider. Some cloud computing environments may comprise cloud computing resources owned and operated by the enterprise as well as cloud computing resources hired and/or leased from a third party provider.

In an embodiment, some or all of the functionality disclosed above may be provided as a computer program product. The computer program product may comprise one or more computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therein to implement the functionality disclosed above. The computer program product may comprise data structures, executable instructions, and other computer usable program code. The computer program product may be embodied in removable computer storage media and/or non-removable computer storage media. The removable computer readable storage medium may comprise, without limitation, a paper tape, a magnetic tape, magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid state memory chip, for example analog magnetic tape, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM) disks, floppy disks, jump drives, digital cards, multimedia cards, and others. The computer program product may be suitable for loading, by the computer system 380 , at least portions of the contents of the computer program product to the secondary storage 384 , to the ROM 386 , to the RAM 388 , and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system 380 . The processor 382 may process the executable instructions and/or data structures in part by directly accessing the computer program product, for example by reading from a CD-ROM disk inserted into a disk drive peripheral of the computer system 380 . Alternatively, the processor 382 may process the executable instructions and/or data structures by remotely accessing the computer program product, for example by downloading the executable instructions and/or data structures from a remote server through the network connectivity devices 392 . The computer program product may comprise instructions that promote the loading and/or copying of data, data structures, files, and/or executable instructions to the secondary storage 384 , to the ROM 386 , to the RAM 388 , and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system 380 .

In some contexts, the secondary storage 384 , the ROM 386 , and the RAM 388 may be referred to as a non-transitory computer readable medium or a computer readable storage media. A dynamic RAM embodiment of the RAM 388 , likewise, may be referred to as a non-transitory computer readable medium in that while the dynamic RAM receives electrical power and is operated in accordance with its design, for example during a period of time during which the computer system 380 is turned on and operational, the dynamic RAM stores information that is written to it. Similarly, the processor 382 may comprise an internal RAM, an internal ROM, a cache memory, and/or other internal non-transitory storage blocks, sections, or components that may be referred to in some contexts as non-transitory computer readable media or computer readable storage media.

While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods may be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted or not implemented.

Also, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other items shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating with each other may be indirectly coupled or communicating through some interface, device, or intermediate component, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein.