Abstract:
A user sets up an account including radio identification, billing information, etc. via a web-based account creation device, or over the telephone with an account representative. An activation key is provided to the user that identifies the radio device and the users account. An activation screen is displayed to a user at the start of wireless activities. The activation screen requires the activation key before continuing with wireless services. Since the key identifies both the radio and user&#39;s account (which was approved prior to provision of the activation key), rejection traffic is eliminated and non-active account traffic is significantly reduced.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/850,940, filed May 8, 2001, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of Invention  
         [0003]     This invention relates generally to account activations. The invention is more particularly related to activation of wireless accounts, particularly for hand held computers, mobile phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) each having wireless capabilities.  
         [0004]     2. Discussion of Background  
         [0005]     Personal computer systems and their applications have become common tools in modern society. As organizational aids, many personal computer users use personal information management applications such as an address book and a daily organizer on their personal computers. Although such applications have proven useful for personal information management, their utility is limited by the fact that the person must be sitting at their personal computer system to access the information.  
         [0006]     To remedy this limitation, palmtop computers, electronic organizers and other handheld devices, commonly known as Personal Digital Assistants (PDA&#39;s), have been introduced. The PDA is a computer that is small enough to be handheld or placed in a pocket, and allows a user and run various applications including personal information management applications such as address books, daily organizers, etc. These applications make people&#39;s lives easier.  
         [0007]     A popular brand of PDA is the Palm™. However, the Palm™ is much more than a simple PDA. A basic configuration of the Palm™  100  is shown in  FIG. 1 . This small, slim, device, about the size of your wallet, can hold 6000 addresses, 5 years of appointments, 1500 to-do items, 1500 memos, 200 e-mail messages, and can run many different software applications.  
         [0008]     The front of the Palm™  100  is a large LCD screen  110  which is touch-sensitive and allows a user to enter and manipulate data. A stylus (not shown) is provided with the Palm™ to help in making touch screen inputs. By using the stylus (or another handheld pointer) to interact with a touch-sensitive screen, a palmtop user can easily navigate through a host of built-in programs, software, and other applications.  
         [0009]     Today, the Palm™, PDA and other handheld computing devices (Palm tops) offer Internet connectivity capabilities, as well as a vast array of hardware and software choices. Palmtops have evolved from simple organizers into a new kind of handheld that people use to instantly manage all kinds of information, from email, to medical data, to stock reports.  
         [0010]     Mobile telephones (cell phones, PCS, satellite phones, etc) are also common tools in today&#39;s world. Many cell phones include rudimentary functionality for maintaining telephone numbers and other functionality to help alleviate the burdens associated with making calls and tracking phone numbers. In addition, the modern cell phone also has options for personalizing the style of various phone operations.  
         [0011]     One trend in the PDA marketplace is the integration of radio based services into the PDA. One pioneering example is the Palm VIIx which includes RF capabilities to access a wireless network (palm.net) to provide email and web-clipping internet access to users.  
         [0012]     However, the networks that service the PDA marketplace have seen significant demand and increased traffic. Generally, costs are incurred for each of the messages transmitted or received. During activation of the PDA, significant amounts of traffic are produced to register the radio device within the PDA, collect billing information, and other data needed to activate a wireless account.  
         [0013]     Additional problems also occur when user&#39;s attempt to activate, but, for example might not have the needed information on hand, or incorrectly enter information. Resulting error messages and transactions tie up valuable air time and could result in unintended actions (system hangups, etc.).  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     The present inventors have realized the need to reduce network traffic associated with device activations, particularly for devices that utilize wireless networks. The present inventors have also realized the need to reduce unapprovable or aborted activations of wireless devices particularly when using the wireless network for activations. The present invention provides an account activation mechanism that pre-approves a wireless network user before attempting to activate on the wireless network. The account activation mechanism collects the relevant information identifying the user, the radio to be utilized in wireless communication on the network, and billing information of the user. Upon approval, the account activation mechanism provides an activation key to the user that identifies the user and radio to be activated. When activating the wireless device, a first screen prompts the user for the activation key before the device accesses the wireless network. The activation key is verified and allows access to the network. The network can then identify the user as a valid requester of activation by referencing a table identifying the activation key with the user and radio that transmitted the activation key.  
         [0015]     The present invention may be embodied as a device for servicing wireless accounts, comprising, means for pre-registering a user, means for producing an activation key associated with the user and a user&#39;s wireless device, means for recognizing the activation key and retrieving information related to the pre-registered user to grant access to a wireless network. The present invention includes a device for wireless access, comprising, means for retrieving an activation key that identifies a user&#39;s wireless account and an identification of the device, and means for sending the activation key and a wireless network access request to a service provider.  
         [0016]     The present invention may also be embodied as a method of pre-activating an account, comprising the steps of, identification of a user&#39;s device to be used with the account and billing information for charging account services provided, creating an account for the user, associating the account to a service and a device, producing an activation key, and providing the user with the activation key. The present invention also provides a method of activating a wireless device, comprising the steps of, pre-registering with a service provider, including the steps of, providing at least one of user identification, radio identification of the wireless device, and billing information to a service provider, and retrieving an activation code from the service provider; and providing the activation key to initiate a wireless transaction.  
         [0017]     The present invention also includes a method of activating a wireless account, comprising the steps of, initiating a wireless activation procedure on the wireless device, retrieving an activation key, and sending an activation message including the retrieved activation key over a wireless network to a service provider.  
         [0018]     Both the device and method may be conveniently implemented in programming on a general purpose computer, or networked computers, and the results may be displayed on an output device connected to any of the general purpose, networked computers, or transmitted to a remote device for output or display. In addition, any components of the present invention represented in a computer program, data sequences, and/or control signals may be embodied as an electronic signal broadcast (or transmitted) at any frequency in any medium including, but not limited to, wireless broadcasts, and transmissions over copper wire(s), fiber optic cable(s), and co-ax cable(s), etc. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a Palm™ handheld computer;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of selected components of an embodiment of a PDA device with radio frequency (rf) capabilities according to the present invention;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow for a conventional wireless device activation;  
         [0023]      FIG. 4A  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow for an account setup process according to the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 4B  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of an account registration process according to the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 5A  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow in an account activation process according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0026]      FIG. 5B  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of an account activation process according to the present invention; and  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  is a screen shot of an activation screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0028]     Referring again to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts, and more particularly to  FIG. 2  thereof, there is illustrated a block diagram of selected components of a handheld computer  200  that includes RF capabilities. The handheld computer  200  includes a processing unit  210 , for executing applications and an operating system of the computer  200 , a memory device  220  for storing the operating system, data, and the applications. A memory bus  225  is utilized to transfer programs and data from memory to the processing unit  210 .  
         [0029]     A display screen  230  is provided (preferably a touch sensitive screen) for display of Operating System prompts, buttons, icons, application screens, and other data, and for providing user inputs via tapping or touching (or drawing in the Graffiti™ area  120 ) via a stylus or other touch mechanism. Hardware interface  235  connects to physical hard buttons and switches located on a body of the computer  200  and provides signals to applications running on the processing unit  210 .  
         [0030]     An RF capable device  240  provides connectivity to a cellular telephone network (not shown) or other RF network. The RF capable device  240  may, for example, be a cellular telephone or a palm.net™ enabled radio device for wireless web-clipping, email, and other wireless connectivity communications. The RF capable device may also be a wireless Internet enabled radio device, such as Ricochet™, etc., pager, wireless e-mail device, Family Radio System (FRS), or any of different mobile telephones, including cellular, satellite, PCS, TDMA, GSM, etc. Although the RF capable device is shown as an internal component to the computer  200 , the RF device may be contained in sled or other configuration that attaches to an exterior of the computer  200 , or may be a separate device connected to the computer via a cable or other connection (wireless, IR, RS232, USB, Firewire, network connection, etc., for example) . Preferrably, the RF device is a Mobitrex enabled radio device.  
         [0031]     A system bus  255  carries data and commands to/from the processing unit  210  from/to other devices within or attached to the computer  200 . For example, user applications running on the computer  200  send application screens and other data outputs to display screen  230  for display via the system bus  255 . User inputs (Graffiti™ area drawing, or tap selection, for example) are detected by the screen  230  and sent to the processing unit  210  via the system bus  255 .  
         [0032]     In addition to the operating system and user selected applications, an RF application, which may be a phone or other device that uses the RF device  240 , having instructions stored in memory  220 , executes on the processing unit  210 . Alternatively, another hardware device may be included in computer  200  that utilizes RF device  240 .  
         [0033]     In one embodiment, the RF application is a phone device and the RF device is a wireless telephone. Phone calls from a network and directed toward the RF device  240  are detected by the RF device and sent, in the form of an incoming call notification, to the phone device executing on the processing unit  210 . The phone device processes the incoming call notification by notifying the user by an audio output such as ringing (not shown).  
         [0034]     The phone device also includes a method for the user to answer the incoming call. For example, tapping on a phone icon, or pressing a hard button designated or preprogrammed for answering a call signals the phone device to send instructions (via system bus  255 ) to the RF device  240  to answer the call.  
         [0035]     Outgoing calls are placed by a user by entering digits of the number to be dialed and pressing a call icon, for example. The dialed digits are sent to the RF device  240  along with instructions needed to configure the RF device  240  for an outgoing call. Alternatively, the RF application is a web, palm.net, e-mail, or other RF communication device, appropriate instructions are sent to the RF device  240  to instruct or otherwise administer the communication. The Administration of the communication may include, for example, communication of content and a destination address to send the content to the RF device  240 , or receiving an email and storing it in memory (memory  220 , for example) and/or displaying it to a user. Several examples of a configuration and details of devices for connecting or integrating voice function devices to a PDA are described in Maes et al., U.S. Pat. No. ______, application Ser. No. 09/709,225, attorney docket no. 24530.00100, entitled, “INTEGRATING VOICE FUNCTION INTO A PDA,” filed Sep. 29, 2000, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.  
         [0036]     In another embodiment, the RF device is a mobitex enabled radio device. The software programs stored in memory include a Mobitex protocol stack. Messages sent from the computer  200  are directed toward the Mobitex protocol stack which formats the messages and prepares them for transmission by the radio device. The messages may be, for example, any of e-mails, instant messages, voice over IP (or other protocol), web clippings, web clipping requests, HTTP, HTTP/IP, FTP, SNMP, general packet traffic, or other data message types.  
         [0037]     Preferably, the computer  200  is a PDA device having interactive hardware and software that perform functions such as maintaining calendars, phone lists, voice or audio related functions integrated or attachably integrated (via a connector device or sled, for example, not shown), and at least one of these configured for use with the RF capabilities of the PDA.  
         [0038]     The software, including a phone or other RF applications, operating system, and other general applications (word processors, spreadsheets, games, databases, etc.)  223  are stored in memory device  220  along with program data, graphics, and other data and executed on the processing unit  210 .  
         [0039]     Processing unit  210  executes the software, including the operating system (OS, including a User Interface (UI) of the OS), and other user applications as directed by user inputs. The user applications display outputs on the display screen  230  and receive inputs from taps, tap &amp; hold, and writing operations on the display screen and from programmed hard buttons attached to the hardware interface  235 .  
         [0040]     Memory device  220  is constructed of RAM memory or ROM memory, or a combination of both ROM and RAM, and may include flash memory components. In one embodiment, an operating system  222  resides on a ROM portion of the memory  220  and provides executable instructions to perform operating system functions of the handheld computer  200 . User applications  223  generally reside in a RAM portion of the memory  220 . The present invention is contained in a program stored on ROM. However, the invention may also be programmed within the operating system  222 , or may be a separate program contained in RAM or any other storage device (program  280 , for example). When the present invention is invoked, computer instructions from the operating system  222  or program  280  are executed on processing unit  210  which issue commands that control the RF device  240  (e.g., enable/disable), or save or implement a schedule for enabling/disabling the RF device  240 .  
         [0041]     The above describes a basic environment in which the present invention is practiced. However, it should be understood that many different electronic devices, including cell phones, PDA&#39;s of different configurations and various integrated or attached devices and/or RF capabilities are also suitable environments in which the present invention may also be practiced.  
         [0042]      FIG. 3  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow for a conventional wireless device activation. A wireless enabled device  300  (Palm computer, in this example) communicates via a wireless radio (RF device) to a wireless network  310 . The wireless network is, for example, a Mobitex network. Wireless communications  305  from the device  300  include, for example, registration and activation information, e-mails, voicemail, and web clipping.  
         [0043]     The registration and activation procedures include initial connection to the network (generally initiated by raising antenna  302 ), identification of the device (transmitting an HSN number of the RF device, for example), Querying the user for additional information including identification, billing information, etc., and, if an account is already established, determination of an account associated with the device. The communication are sent to/from the wireless device  300  via a wireless network  310 . The wireless network is built and maintained by a carrier (e.g. Mobitex).  
         [0044]     A number of nodes  320  (one node shown for simplicity), each pass the wireless communication until it reaches either the wireless device or a service provider  330 . The service provider  330  is responsible for registering a user, setting up accounts and verifying that the wireless network should carry communications originating from or provided to the wireless device  300 . Generally, the wireless network carrier bills the service provider for airtime and/or amount of message traffic carried for devices communicating with the service provider. The service provider then charges each wireless user on a flat rate, monthly charge+airtime, by the amount of data bytes transferred to/from the user&#39;s wireless device, or any combination of these or other billing techniques.  
         [0045]     In the registration process, a service provider contacts a billing entity  340  (e.g., any of a credit agency, credit card, bank, etc.) to arrange for automatic payment or determine the credit worthiness or financial ability of a user to pay his/her bill. If the user does not meet criteria required for setting up an account the user is notified by way of return message to the wireless device.  
         [0046]     If the service provider favorably evaluates the potential user, an account is set up for the user and activated. The account is set up using the user provided identification, billing information, and radio identification. The user is notified of successful account activation on the wireless device  300  and the user is logged on to the network and then able to access other devices coupled to the wireless network  310 .  
         [0047]     However, the process illustrated in  FIG. 3  requires a substantial amount of traffic to be generated before the account is fully set-up and significant costs are associated with that traffic, particularly if the registration process is not completed or if the user is rejected based on insufficient funds or lack of credit.  
         [0048]      FIG. 4A  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow for an account setup process according to an embodiment of the present invention. A user&#39;s wireless enabled device  400  is to be registered for access to a wireless network. The user uses a computer device  420  to log on to the internet  440  (flow  425 ) and access a service providers web site  450  (flow  445 ) which contains a web-registration procedure  455 . The web registration procedure collects all the information needed to create an account for the user, including user identification, radio identification, and billing information (credit card No., bank account, etc.). The web registration procedure communicates with a billing entity (flow  345 , “billing entity” may comprise one or more billing entities, e.g., credit card agency, bank, etc.) as needed to determine whether the user is qualified to activate an account. If qualified, the service provider creates an activation key that is sent back to the user for use in activating the account on the wireless network.  
         [0049]     In one embodiment, the transfer of information about the user and the user&#39;s wireless device is performed by web page interaction where the user fills out one or more web pages having input areas for collecting the user&#39;s information including an identification of the wireless device (the RF device HSN number, for example). However, preferably, at least part of the information collected by the service provider web site is transferred to the service provider web site via a hotsync™ operation between the user&#39;s wireless device  400  and the service provider web server  450  (combined flows  415 ,  425 , and  445 ). The hotsync™ operation is facilitated, for example, via a cradle  410  connected to the user&#39;s computer  420 , which is in turn coupled to the internet and the service provider&#39;s web server  450 . In yet another embodiment, all the necessary data is exchanged via a telephone call between the user and service provider, the data being exchanged via voice between the user for operator input, or by punching corresponding telephone dial pad digits in a touch pad automated entry system.  
         [0050]     After the user&#39;s information has been collected by the service provider ( 450 , for example), the service provider forwards required information to a billing entity ( 340 , for example) to determine creditworthiness of the user. If the user has acceptable credit, the service provider  450  registers an account in the users name and forwards an activation key to the user.  
         [0051]      FIG. 4B  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of an account registration process according to the present invention. At step  460 , the user contacts a service provider for account registration purposes. Preferably, the account registration is performed via a web registration site on the Internet.  
         [0052]     At step  465 , the user is queried for personal information, name, etc., or other information needed to establish an account. One example of a set of information needed to establish account is shown in Table 1 below:  
                     TABLE 1                       Personal And Radio Information                                Name:                                                                         Address:                                                                      Billing Address (if different from Address):                                                                                                                                             &lt;Mastercard&gt; &lt;Visa&gt; &lt;American Express&gt; &lt;Other&gt;       Credit Card No:                                                          Bank and Checking Account No.:                   Raido ID (HSN No.):                                                               
 
         [0053]     The personal and radio information may be collected by fill in boxes on the web registration web site, or, in the case of a telephone call activation procedure, the user may be prompted by a voice response, or telephone keypad response system. In another alternative, the user&#39;s information may be provided via snail mail or an e-mail to the service provider.  
         [0054]     Once collected, the user&#39;s information is forwarded to a billing agency, credit card company, or other credit institution for evaluation as the user&#39;s qualifications or financial ability to maintain an account in good standing (step  470 ). If the user is favorably evaluated, the process continues, if not, the user is sent a rejection message (step  475 ). The rejection message may take the form of a rejection page on the web registration site, an email, or a voice message, depending on how the user&#39;s information was collected, or via a standard rejection procedure (i.e, rejections always mailed, while acceptance may notified immediately if the evaluation also occurs while the user is online (web or telephone registrations, for example)).  
         [0055]     If the user is favorably evaluated for an account, an account is registered in the user&#39;s name and an activation key is assigned to the user (step  480 ). Preferably, the user&#39;s acceptance notification includes the activation key. In one embodiment, the user retains the activation key and uses it in an activation procedure. In another embodiment, the activation key is hotsynced to a file in the users handheld computer  400 .  
         [0056]      FIG. 5A  is a drawing illustrating components and data flow in an account activation process according to an embodiment of the present invention. The user initiates a device or program on a handheld computer (e.g., Palm VIIx™) that requires a network connection. The device/program may be any of the network enabled devices discussed herein, including cell phone, instant messenger, e-mail programs, etc.  
         [0057]     The device/program sends a message to a Mobitex protocol stack requesting network services. The protocol stack checks to see if the wireless account has been activated. If not activated, the protocol stack initiates an activation subroutine to collect the activation key. In one embodiment, the activation subroutine reads a file (e.g. activation key file) that was used to store the activation key. As discussed above, the activation key file may have been downloaded by the computer  420  and placed on the handheld computer  400 , or directly hotsynced from the service provider web site to the handheld.  
         [0058]     In another embodiment, the activation subroutine displays a display screen that prompts the user to input the activation key.  FIG. 6  is a screen shot of an activation screen  600  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The activation screen  600  includes instructional text  610  explaining what is needed, a key entry area  620  for verifying or displaying the entered activation key, a touch sensitive keypad for entering activation key digits, a next button  640 , and cancel button  650 . The next button  640  includes a designator  645  that identifies that the “next” transaction will proceed over the over-the-air. Specifically, the activation request is generated and transmitted to the activation agent on the network.  
         [0059]     The activation key provides a one-to-one code that identifies the users pre-registered account (billing information, etc.) and the Radio Identification (HSN, for example) of the RF device used in the handheld computer. Preferably, this activation key can be generated on the device to check validity before transmission. If the registration key is improperly entered and doesn&#39;t equal the key generated on the device, the registration is rejected without invoking any network traffic.  
         [0060]     The present inventors have used a hash of the HSN number to generate the activation key at both the pre-registration and for checking the activation key entered on the handheld. However, any algorithm that produces a unique value based on the HSN or other radio identifier may be utilized to generate the activation key.  
         [0061]     Once the activation key is read from the file or properly entered by the user, the activation key and a network connection request is forwarded to the network  500 . The network passes the activation key and connection request (including radio ID) to a network node (node  510 , for example) that evaluates the activation key and radio ID by searching a table of radio IDs (as entered by the web-based process), and matches the table retrieved radio ID to the user&#39;s handheld computer radio ID. If the radio IDs match, the connection is granted, and the user&#39;s handheld computer begins communicating with the service provider ( 520 , for example) over the wireless network  500  (and billing to the user&#39;s pre-registered account).  
         [0062]      FIG. 5B  is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of an account activation process according to the present invention At step  500 , the user initiates a program or device on the handheld computer ( 500 , for example) that requires a wireless network connection. The programming within the user&#39;s handheld computer retrieves (from the user) an activation key provided when the user&#39;s account was registered and provides the activation key along with a network connection request to the network (step  550 ).  
         [0063]     The network accesses the user&#39;s account to verify the account pre-registration (step  560 ). After verification, the network issues a grant providing the handheld device with a wireless network connection (step  570 ), and the handheld device begins communicating with the network as messages are sent or received (messages, e-mails, connection maintenance messages, etc., step  580 ).  
         [0064]     Although the present invention has been fully described with reference to a handheld computer, it is intended that the same processes and devices discussed herein may be applied to device other than handheld, including desktop devices/computers, vehicle mounted systems (automobile dash board, airplane instrument panel, for example). In addition, while the present invention has great advantages in RF based wireless devices, these same advantages will be realized in wireless systems of other mediums, including wireless IR. Furthermore, the present invention should not be limited to wireless systems as advantages will also be realized when practiced in landline or other wire-based systems (copper, twisted pair, cable, etc.).  
         [0065]     The present invention may be conveniently implemented using a conventional general purpose or a specialized digital computer or microprocessor programmed according to the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the computer art.  
         [0066]     Appropriate software coding can readily be prepared by skilled programmers based on the teachings of the present disclosure, as will be apparent to those skilled in the software art. The invention may also be implemented by the preparation of application specific integrated circuits or by interconnecting an appropriate network of conventional component circuits, as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.  
         [0067]     The present invention includes a computer program product which is a storage medium (media) having instructions stored thereon/in which can be used to control, or cause, a computer to perform any of the processes of the present invention. The storage medium can include, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, mini disks (MD&#39;s), optical discs, DVD, CD-ROMS, micro-drive, and magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMS, EPROMs, EEPROMs, DRAMs, VRAMs, flash memory devices (including flash cards), magnetic or optical cards, nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), RAID devices, remote data storage/archive/warehousing, or any type of media or device suitable for storing instructions and/or data.  
         [0068]     Stored on any one of the computer readable medium (media), the present invention includes software for controlling both the hardware of the general purpose/specialized computer or microprocessor, and for enabling the computer or microprocessor to interact with a human user or other mechanism utilizing the results of the present invention. Such software may include, but is not limited to, device drivers, operating systems, and user applications. Ultimately, such computer readable media further includes software for performing the present invention, as described above.  
         [0069]     Included in the programming (software) of the general/specialized computer or microprocessor are software modules for implementing the teachings of the present invention, including, but not limited to, collecting user information, approving accounts, generating (e.g., hashing) account information to produce an activation key, retrieving activation keys from users, requesting, approving, and maintaining wireless network connections, and the display, storage, or communication of results according to the processes of the present invention.  
         [0070]     Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.