Patent ID: 7474894

Claim:
A system for storing information relating to mobile communications devices, the system comprising: a mobile communications network; a plurality of communication devices communicable with the mobile communications network, each communication device of the plurality of communication devices having an international mobile equipment identity (IMEI), a subscriber identity module (SIM) having SIM data identifying a subscriber, and a plurality of functional capabilities; a database for storing subscriber/device data, comprising for each communication device of the plurality of communication devices, the IMEI, the SIM data associated with the IMEI, and functional capability data associated with the IMEI that identifies at least a portion of the plurality of functional capabilities of the respective communication device; a first programmed routine operable within the mobile communications network, the first programmed routine being configured to: after receiving an IMEI and SIM data identifying a subscriber from a communication device, initiate communication with the subscriber/device database, determine whether the received IMEI is associated with the received SIM data in the subscriber/device database, and if the received IMEI is not associated with the received SIM data in the subscriber/device database, the first programmed routine is further configured to determine whether the functional capability data associated the received IMEI identifies at least one new functional capability not identified by the functional capability data associated with the IMEI associated with the received SIM data in the database; and a second programmed routine operable within the mobile communications network, if the received IMEI is not associated with the received SIM data in the subscriber/device database, the second programmed routine is configured to: notify one or more entities or applications that the received IMEI is not associated with the received SIM data in the subscriber/device database, and if it is determined that the functional capability data associated the received IMEI identifies at least one new functional capability, initiate configuration of the communication device to support the at least one new functional capability.