Abstract:
An alternative billing system for communication service, comprising a gateway comprising a processor and a memory, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, receives a text message from an originating electronic device, determines that an account balance associated with the originating electronic device lacks sufficient funds to pay for origination of the text message, sends a message to a terminating electronic device identified by the text message to inquire if the terminating electronic device wants to be billed for the origination of the text message, when a message accepting billing for the origination of the text message is received from the terminating electronic device, sends the text message to the terminating electronic device, and when a message rejecting billing for the origination of the text message is received from the terminating electronic device, does not send the text message to the terminating electronic device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     None. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not applicable. 
     REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX 
     Not applicable. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Mobile devices may pay for carrier service in several ways. Two common ways are to post-pay for service or pre-pay for service. Post-paying involves subscribers paying for services that have been rendered, for example, paying for mobile services consumed during a prior period of time. As long as the subscriber pays the periodic bill according to an agreement, services may continue. Pre-paying involves establishing an account balance with a service provider to then draft against as services are utilized by the mobile device. When prepaid service funds become exhausted, the subscriber may add funds to the account in order to continue using the mobile service for the mobile device. 
     SUMMARY 
     These and other features will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims. 
     In an embodiment, a system of alternative billing for communication service is disclosed. The system comprises a gateway comprising a processor and a memory, and an application stored in the memory of the gateway. When the application is executed by the processor of the gateway, it receives a text message from an originating electronic device, determines that an account balance associated with the originating electronic device lacks sufficient funds to pay for the origination of the text message, and sends a message to a terminating electronic device identified by the text message to inquire if the terminating electronic device wants to be billed for the origination of the text message. When a message accepting billing for the origination of the text message is received from the terminating electronic device, the application sends the text message to the terminating electronic device. When a message rejecting billing for the origination of the text message is received from the terminating electronic device, the application does not send the text message to the terminating electronic device. 
     A system providing alternative billing for communication service is disclosed. The system comprises a gateway comprising a processor and a memory, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, receives a text message from an originating electronic device. The text message is directed to a terminating electronic device and comprises an indication that the billing for a reply to the text message from the originating electronic device is to be billed to an account associated with the originating electronic device. The application receives the reply to the text message from the terminating electronic device, the reply directed to the originating electronic device, and sends a message to a billing server directing that the bill for the reply be added to the account associated with the originating electronic device. 
     A method of billing for text messaging is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a text message from an originating electronic device, the text message addressed to a terminating electronic device, determining that a pre-paid account associated with the originating electronic device lacks funds to pay for the origination of the text message, and sending a message to the terminating electronic device. The message comprises an indication that the originating electronic device has attempted to send a text message to the terminating electronic device but lacks funds to pay for originating the text and an invitation to the terminating electronic device to pay for originating the text, receiving a confirmation message that the terminating electronic device has agreed to pay for originating the text and, based on the confirmation message, adding a billing entry to an account associated with the terminating electronic device for the origination of the text message, and based on the confirmation message, sending the text message to the terminating electronic device. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       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  illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system and mobile device suitable for implementing one or more embodiments of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a message sequence according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a message sequence according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a mobile device suitable for implementing several embodiments of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of a software architecture of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an exemplary computer system suitable for implementing an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     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 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. 
     A system and method are taught that provide a means of alternative billing for sending and/or receiving messages between mobile devices. In an embodiment, a transmitter of a message between mobile devices is billed for transmitting the message and a receiver of the message is billed for receiving the message. Communication interruptions or delays may result when either the transmitter has insufficient funds in their communication service subscriber account to pay to originate the message or the receiver has insufficient funds in their communication service subscriber account to pay to receive the message. Further, if the transmitter of the message expects a reply, sufficient funds may need to be available in the service account of the transmitter to pay both for sending the original message and for receiving a reply message, and sufficient funds may need to be available in the service account of the receiver to pay both for receiving the original message and for transmitting the reply message. 
     In an embodiment, a mobile device may be prevented from sending and/or receiving messages due to insufficient funds. Insufficient funds may be the result of an insufficient balance on prepaid mobile service, failure to pay billed charges for postpaid mobile service, or other reasons for insufficient funding of mobile service for a mobile device. When a mobile device attempts to send a message to another mobile device, and one of the mobile devices has insufficient funds to complete the transaction, the mobile service provider may offer the mobile device that has funds the opportunity to pay the charges for the mobile device that has insufficient funds, in order to complete the transaction. The mobile device accepting the charges may be provided with a variety of options for accepting charges for the pending message transmission, as well as for subsequent reply message transmission. Options may include accepting charges for some number of message transmissions or accepting charges for some period of time. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a system  100  is described. The system  100  comprises a first mobile device  102 , a second mobile device  104 , a wireless access point  105 , a first base transceiver station (BTS)  106 , a system  108 , a second base transceiver station  110 , a network  112 , a server  114 , and a system  116 . Mobile devices  102 ,  104  may be a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, or other portable electronic device. For the purposes of this disclosure, though mobile devices  102  and  104  may differ in hardware, their functions may be considered to be the same or similar, unless otherwise specified. Likewise, as with mobile devices  102 ,  104  discussed above, BTS  106  and BTS  110  should be considered similar in function, unless otherwise noted. 
     In an embodiment, the first mobile device  102  may attempt to send a message to the second mobile device  104 . When the message transmission is initiated, it may be routed through the system  108  of a mobile service provider. System  108  may check to see if the first mobile device  102  and/or the second mobile device  104  have sufficient funds to complete the transaction of the message transmission. System  108  may be one of a gateway server, a billing server, or other system. If, for example, the system  108  finds that the first mobile device  102  has insufficient funds to allow transmission of the message, the system  108  may suspend delivery of the message, pending resolution of an alternative billing arrangement. 
     System  108  may notify the first mobile device  102  that it has insufficient funds to allow for delivery of the message to the second mobile device  104 , and may also notify the second mobile device  104  that the first mobile device  102  is attempting to send it a message. System  108  may further indicate that the second mobile device  104  may accept the charges for delivery of the message from the first mobile device  102 , and may offer the second mobile device  104  an option to accept or decline charges for delivery of the message. 
     System  108  may further offer the second mobile device  104  a variety of options for accepting the charges for transmission of the message or messages from the first mobile device  102 . These options may include accepting charges for the current message only, accepting charges for any/all messages between these two mobile devices, accepting charges for a given number of messages as specified by a type-in option, or accepting charges by selection from a list of numbers of messages, wherein the list of numbers may include accepting charges for one message, for five messages, for twelve messages, for all future messages between mobile devices  102  and  104 , or for some other number of messages. 
     In addition, the system  108  may offer input control options to the second mobile device  104  such as accepting charges for messages from the first mobile device  102  to the second mobile device  104 , for a period of time. These input control options may include, for example, specifying a period of time via a type-in option or selecting from a list of time periods. Time periods presented as options may be one of a number of minutes, a number of hours, a number of days, a number of weeks, or some other period of time that may include accepting charges from the first mobile device  102  to the second mobile device  104  indefinitely. 
     In an embodiment, when the second mobile device  104  indicates acceptance of the charges for transmission of the message from the first mobile device  102 , the system  108  may complete the transmission and delivery of the message to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may also communicate details of the transaction to the system  116 , wherein the system  116  may be, for example, a billing server of the mobile service provider. System  108  may also notify the second mobile device  104  that it has been charged for delivery of the message to the first mobile device  102 . Notification may be via text appended to the message delivered to the second mobile device  104  from the first mobile device  102 , or may be via a separate communication to the second mobile device  104 . 
     In an embodiment, when the first mobile device  102  sends a message to the second mobile device  104 , the message may pass through the system  108  of a mobile service provider. If the system  108  determines that the second mobile device  104  has insufficient funds to allow receipt of a message, the system  108  may suspend deliver of the message, pending resolution of an alternative billing arrangement. System  108  may notify the second mobile device  104  that the first mobile device  102  is attempting to send it a message, but that the message may not be delivered because the second mobile device  104  has insufficient funds to complete the transaction. 
     System  108  may notify the first mobile device  102  that the second mobile device  104  has insufficient funds to allow for completion of the transaction of delivering the message, and may offer the first mobile device  102  alternative billing options to allow for delivery of the message. System  108  may offer a variety of alternative billing options to the first mobile device  102 . In an embodiment, an additional option may be presented to allow the first mobile device  102  to accept charges for delivery of the present message to the second mobile device  104  and/or to accept charges for the second mobile device  104  transmitting a reply message to the first mobile device  102 . The reply message from the second mobile device  104  may facilitate receiving an answer to a question that may have been posed in the prior message. 
     In an embodiment, when the first mobile device  102  indicates a form of acceptance of the charges for delivery of the message from the first mobile device  102  to the second mobile device  104 , the system  108  may complete the delivery of the message to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may communicate details of the transaction to the system  116  of the mobile service provider, wherein the system  116  is, for example, a billing server. System  108  may also notify the first mobile device  102  that it has been charged for the delivery of the message in, for example, a subsequent communication. 
     In an embodiment, the roles of initiator and recipient of messages between mobile device  102  and mobile device  104  may be considered as interchangeable and should not be construed as permanently-assigned roles for either mobile device. Either mobile device may assume either role in a given situation. The terms originator, terminator, sender, receiver, and other similar terms may be used to describe the present role of a mobile device when describing message transmission scenarios. 
     In an embodiment, a message from the first mobile device  102  to the second mobile device  104  or from the second mobile device  104  to the first mobile device  102  may be one of a short messaging service (SMS) message, a voice mail message, an interconnect call, a premium short messaging service (PSMS) message, a multimedia messaging service (MMS) message, a unified communications (UC) message, a mobile instant message (MIM) message, an unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) message, an email message, or other form of electronic message between mobile devices. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , a message sequence  200  is described. In the message sequence  200 , the first mobile device  102  may send a message  206  to the second mobile device  104 . The message  206  may pass through the system  108 , en route to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may check  207  for sufficient funds for the mobile devices  102  and  104 . 
     If, for example, the first mobile device  102  has insufficient funds to send the message  206  to the second mobile device  104 , the system  108  may suspend delivery of the message  206 . The dotted line of the message  206  indicates that the message  206  was initiated, but that the system  108  suspended delivery of the message  206 . System  108  may then send appropriate messages to the mobile devices  102  and/or  104 . For example, the system  108  may send a message  208  to the first mobile device  102  informing the first mobile device  102  that it has insufficient funds to send the message  206 . 
     System  108  may also send a message  210  to the system  116 , informing the system  116  of a unique identifier for the message  206 . System  116  may associate the unique identifier for the message  206  with a location, such as a wireless access protocol hyperlink, or other location. System  116  may then send a message  212  to the second mobile device  104  indicating that the first mobile device  102  is attempting to send the message  206  to the second mobile device  104 , but that the message  206  cannot be delivered because the first mobile device  102  does not have sufficient funds to complete the transaction. 
     Message  212  may also indicate that the second mobile device  104  may receive the message  206  from the first mobile device  102 , if the second mobile device  104  will accept the charges associated with sending the message  206 . Message  212  may further provide options for the second mobile device  104  to accept or reject the charges for the message  206 . Options may include responses such as “I do not wish to accept the charges from mobile device  102 ,” “I will accept the charges from mobile device  102  this time, only,” “I will always accept charges from mobile device  102 ,” “I will accept charges from mobile device  102  for X period of time,” “I will accept a number Y of charges from mobile device  102 ,” “I will accept charges from mobile device  102  for the duration of a thread,” or other options. A thread may comprise a series of messages exchanged between the first mobile device  102  and the second mobile device  104  that address a common theme or subject. For example, messages associated with a common thread may contain the same subject line or otherwise indicate a continued conversation. An X period of time may be one of a selection of a number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, or other period of time. The second mobile device  104  may also be allowed to enter a time period of its own designation. The number Y of charges from the first mobile device  102  that the second mobile device  104  may indicate it will accept may be one message, two messages, five messages, twelve messages, or other number of messages. Alternatively, the second mobile device  104  may be permitted to enter a number of messages of its own designation, for which to accept charges for the first mobile device  102 . 
     The second mobile device  104  may then respond  214  to the system  116 . The response  214  may indicate a decision to, for example, accept the charge for the message  206  from the first mobile device  102  for this time, only. System  116  may respond with a message  216  containing terms and conditions for acceptance of the charge for the message  206  from the first mobile device  102 . System  116  may then transmit  218  the unique message identifier back to the system  108 , indicating that the second mobile device  104  will accept the charges for the message  206  from the first mobile device  102 . System  108  may then utilize the unique identifier to locate  219  the message  206  and then deliver  220  the message  206  to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may also append text to the message  206 , indicating that the second mobile device  104  was charged for delivery of the message  206  from the first mobile device  102 . Alternatively, the system  108  may notify the second mobile device  104  of the charges in a separate communication, not shown. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 3 , a message sequence  300  is described. In the message sequence  300 , the first mobile device  102  may send a message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . The message  306  may pass through the system  108  en route to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may check  307  the fund balances associated with mobile devices  102  and  104 . If, for example, the second mobile device  104  has insufficient funds to allow it to receive the message  306 , the system  108  may suspend delivery of the message  306 . The dotted line of the message  306  indicates that the message  306  was initiated, but that the system  108  suspended delivery of the message  306 . System  108  may then send appropriate messages to mobile devices  102  and/or  104 . For example, the system  108  may send a message  308  to the second mobile device  104  informing the second mobile device  104  that the first mobile device  102  is attempting to send the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 , but that the second mobile device  104  has insufficient funds to receive the message. 
     System  108  may send a message  310  containing a unique identifier for the message  306  to the system  116 . System  116  may associate the unique identifier to a location, for example to a wireless access protocol hyperlink or other location. System  116  may send a message  312  to the first mobile device  102  indicating that the message  306  cannot be delivered because the second mobile device  104  does not have sufficient funds to complete the transaction. 
     The message  312  may further indicate that the second mobile device  104  may receive the message  306  if the first mobile device  102  will accept the charges associated with delivery of the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . The message  312  may provide options for the first mobile device  102  to accept or reject the charges for the message  306 . Options may include responses such as “I do not wish to accept the charges from mobile device  104 ,” “I will accept the charges from mobile device  104  this time, only,” “I will always accept charges from mobile device  104 ,” “I will never accept charges from mobile device  104 ,” “I will accept charges from mobile device  104  for X period of time,” “I will accept a number Y of charges from mobile device  104 ,” “I will accept charges from mobile device  104  for the duration of a thread,” or other options. A thread may comprise a series of messages exchanged between the first mobile device  102  and the second mobile device  104  that address a common theme or subject. For example, messages associated with a common thread may contain the same subject line or otherwise indicate a continuous conversation. An X period of time may be one of a selection of a number of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, or the second mobile device  104  may be allowed to enter a time period of its own designation. The number Y of charges the first mobile device  102  will accept may be one of a selection of numbers of messages such as one message, two messages, five messages, twelve messages, all future messages, or other number of messages. In addition, the message  312  may permit the second mobile device  104  to enter a number of messages of its own designation for which to accept charges. 
     The first mobile device  102  may then respond  314  to the message  312  from the system  116 , indicating a decision to, for example, accept the charge for the message  306  to the second mobile device  104  this time only. System  116  may then send a message  316  to the first mobile device  102  containing terms and conditions for acceptance of the charge for delivery of the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . System  116  may then transmit  318  the unique identifier back to the system  108 , indicating that the first mobile device  102  will accept the charges for delivery of the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may then utilize the unique identifier to locate  319  the message  306  and then deliver  320  the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may also append text into the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 , indicating that the first mobile device  102  was charged for delivery of the message  306  to the second mobile device  104 . System  108  may also notify the first mobile device  102  that it was charged for delivery of the message  306  to the second mobile device  104  by means of a separate communication, not shown. The system  116  may optionally send a message  322  to the first mobile device  102  indicating that the message  306  has been delivered to the second mobile device  104 . 
     Now turning to  FIG. 4 , mobile device  102  is described. As mentioned above, for the sake of this disclosure, mobile device  102  and mobile device  104  may differ in terms of hardware, but should be considered the same or similar in function. For the purposes of the disclosure, the description of mobile device  102  presented herein may be considered the same as that for mobile device  104 . Mobile device  102  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, mobile device  102  may take various forms including a wireless handset, a pager, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a gaming device, an inventory control device, a media player, a portable computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, and/or other. 
     Many suitable handsets combine some or all of these functions. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the mobile device  102  is not a general purpose computing device like a portable, laptop or tablet computer, but rather is a special-purpose communications device such as a mobile phone, wireless handset, pager, or PDA. The mobile device  102  may support specialized activities such as gaming, inventory control, job control, and/or task management functions, and so on. 
     The mobile device  102  may include a display  402 , a button, set of buttons, or touch-sensitive surface  404  for cursor movement or such on the display  402 , and another touch-sensitive surface and/or keys  406  for input by a user. The mobile device  102  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  102  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  102  may further execute one or more software or firmware applications in response to user commands. These applications may configure the mobile device  102  to perform various customized functions in response to user interaction. Additionally, the mobile device  102  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  102 . 
     Mobile device  102  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 base transceiver station  106 . The web page may also be obtained via a wireless access point  105 , a server  114 , a peer mobile device  102  or any other wireless communication network or system. 
     The wireless communication system may comprise additional base transceiver stations. In some instances, the mobile device  102  may be in communication with multiple base transceiver stations  106  at the same time. The base transceiver station  106  (or wireless access point  105 ) is coupled to a network  112 , such as the Internet. Via the wireless link and the network, mobile device  102  may have access to information on various servers, such as a server  114 , system  108 , and/or system  116 . The server  114  may provide content that may be shown on the display  402 . Alternately, the mobile device  102  may access the base transceiver station  106  through a peer mobile device acting as an intermediary, in a relay type or hop type of connection. 
       FIG. 5  shows a block diagram of the mobile device  102 . While a variety of known components of handsets  102  are depicted, in an embodiment a subset of the listed components and/or additional components not listed may be included in the mobile device  102 . The mobile device  102  includes a digital signal processor (DSP)  502  and a memory  504 . As shown, the mobile device  102  may further include an antenna and front end unit  506 , a radio frequency (RF) transceiver  508 , an analog 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 charge-coupled device (CCD) camera  534 , a camera controller  536 , and a global positioning system (GPS) sensor  538 . In an embodiment, the mobile device  102  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 . 
     The DSP  502  or some other form of controller or central processing unit operates to control the various components of the mobile device  102  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 antenna and front end unit  506  may be provided to convert between wireless signals and electrical signals, enabling the mobile device  102  to send and receive information from a radio access network (RAN) or some other available wireless communications network or from a peer mobile device  102 . In an embodiment, the antenna and front end unit  506  may include multiple antennas to support beam forming and/or multiple input multiple output (MIMO) operations. As is known to those skilled in the art, MIMO operations may provide spatial diversity which can be used to overcome difficult channel conditions and/or increase channel throughput. The antenna and front end unit  506  may include antenna tuning and/or impedance matching components, RF power amplifiers, and/or low noise amplifiers. 
     The RF transceiver  508  provides frequency shifting, converting received RF signals to baseband and converting baseband transmit signals to RF. In some descriptions a radio transceiver or RF transceiver may be understood to include other signal processing functionality such as modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and other signal processing functions. For the purposes of clarity, the description here separates the description of this signal processing from the RF and/or radio stage and conceptually allocates that signal processing to the analog baseband processing unit  510  and/or the DSP  502  or other central processing unit. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver  508 , portions of the antenna and front end  506 , and the analog baseband processing unit  510  may be combined in one or more processing units and/or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). 
     The analog baseband processing unit  510  may provide various analog processing of inputs and outputs, for example analog processing of inputs from the microphone  512  and the headset port  516  and outputs to the earpiece speaker  514  and the headset port  516 . To that end, the analog baseband processing unit  510  may have ports for connecting to the built-in microphone  512  and the earpiece speaker  514  that enable the mobile device  102  to be used as a mobile phone. The analog baseband processing unit  510  may further include a port for connecting to a headset or other hands-free microphone and speaker configuration. The analog baseband processing unit  510  may provide digital-to-analog conversion in one signal direction and analog-to-digital conversion in the opposing signal direction. In some embodiments, at least some of the functionality of the analog baseband processing unit  510  may be provided by digital processing components, for example by the DSP  502  or by other central processing units. 
     The DSP  502  may perform modulation/demodulation, coding/decoding, interleaving/deinterleaving, spreading/despreading, inverse fast Fourier transforming (IFFT)/fast Fourier transforming (FFT), cyclic prefix appending/removal, and other signal processing functions associated with wireless communications. In an embodiment, for example in a code division multiple access (CDMA) technology application, for a transmitter function the DSP  502  may perform modulation, coding, interleaving, and spreading, and for a receiver function the DSP  502  may perform despreading, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. In another embodiment, for example in an orthogonal frequency division multiplex access (OFDMA) technology application, for the transmitter function the DSP  502  may perform modulation, coding, interleaving, inverse fast Fourier transforming, and cyclic prefix appending, and for a receiver function the DSP  502  may perform cyclic prefix removal, fast Fourier transforming, deinterleaving, decoding, and demodulation. In other wireless technology applications, yet other signal processing functions and combinations of signal processing functions may be performed by 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  102  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  102  to communicate wirelessly with other nearby handsets and/or wireless base stations. 
     The input/output interface  518  may further connect the DSP  502  to the vibrator  526  that, when triggered, causes the mobile device  102  to vibrate. The vibrator  526  may serve as a mechanism for silently alerting the user to any of various events such as an incoming call, a new text message, and an appointment reminder. 
     The keypad  528  couples to the DSP  502  via the interface  518  to provide one mechanism for the user to make selections, enter information, and otherwise provide input to the mobile device  102 . 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 CCD camera  534  enables the mobile device  102  to take digital pictures. The DSP  502  communicates with the CCD camera  534  via the camera controller  536 . The GPS sensor  538  is coupled to the DSP  502  to decode global positioning system signals, thereby enabling the mobile device  102  to determine its position. In another embodiment, a camera operating according to a technology other than charge coupled device cameras may be employed. Various other peripherals may also be included to provide additional functions, e.g., radio and television reception. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a software environment  602  that may be implemented by the DSP  502 . The DSP  502  executes operating system drivers  604  that provide a platform from which the rest of the software operates. The operating system drivers  604  provide drivers for the handset hardware with standardized interfaces that are accessible to application software. The operating system drivers  604  include application management services (“AMS”)  606  that transfer control between applications running on the mobile device  102 . Also shown in  FIG. 6  are a web browser application  608 , a media player application  610 , and JAVA applets  612 . The web browser application  608  configures the mobile device  102  to operate as a web browser, allowing a user to enter information into forms and select links to retrieve and view web pages. The media player application  610  configures the mobile device  102  to retrieve and play audio or audiovisual media. The JAVA applets  612  configure the mobile device  102  to provide games, utilities, and other functionality. 
       FIG. 7  illustrates a computer system  780  suitable for implementing one or more embodiments disclosed herein. The computer system  780  includes a processor  782  (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage  784 , read only memory (ROM)  786 , random access memory (RAM)  788 , input/output (I/O) devices  790 , and network connectivity devices  792 . The processor  782  may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. 
     It is understood that by programming and/or loading executable instructions onto the computer system  780 , at least one of the CPU  782 , the RAM  788 , and the ROM  786  are changed, transforming the computer system  780  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  784  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  788  is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage  784  may be used to store programs which are loaded into RAM  788  when such programs are selected for execution. The ROM  786  is used to store instructions and perhaps data which are read during program execution. ROM  786  is a non-volatile memory device which typically has a small memory capacity relative to the larger memory capacity of secondary storage  784 . The RAM  788  is used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM  786  and RAM  788  is typically faster than to secondary storage  784 . 
     I/O devices  790  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  792  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  792  may enable the processor  782  to communicate with an Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor  782  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  782 , 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  782  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 embodied in the carrier wave generated by the network connectivity devices  792  may propagate in or on the surface of electrical conductors, in coaxial cables, in waveguides, in an optical conduit, for example an optical fiber, or in the air or free space. The information contained in the baseband signal or signal embedded in the carrier wave may be ordered according to different sequences, as may be desirable for either processing or generating the information or transmitting or receiving the information. 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 processor  782  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  784 ), ROM  786 , RAM  788 , or the network connectivity devices  792 . While only one processor  782  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. 
     In an embodiment, the computer system  780  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  780  to provide the functionality of a number of servers that is not directly bound to the number of computers in the computer system  780 . 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 implementing the functionality disclosed above. The computer program product may comprise data, data structures, files, executable instructions, and other information. 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  780 , at least portions of the contents of the computer program product to the secondary storage  784 , to the ROM  786 , to the RAM  788 , and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system  780 . The processor  782  may process the executable instructions and/or data 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  780 . 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  784 , to the ROM  786 , to the RAM  788 , and/or to other non-volatile memory and volatile memory of the computer system  780 . 
     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.