Granted Patent B2

US 8,078,165 · App. 11/640,503 · Granted Dec 13, 2011

Abstract

Claims (126)

1. A method performed on a portable access terminal, comprising:

receiving information identifying a first geographic location of the portable access terminal;

identifying a first access point as a preferred access point by comparing, in the portable access terminal, the first geographic location with a second geographic location of the first access point, the second geographic location being stored in the access terminal in a list of preferred access points; and

accessing a radio access network through the preferred access point if the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of the second geographic location.

2. The method of claim 1 , in which the access terminal receives an instruction to add the first access point to the list of preferred access points.

3. The method of claim 2 further comprising receiving the information identifying the first geographic location information of the first access point as part of the instruction to add the first access point to the list of preferred access points.

4. The method of claim 2 in which the instruction is received from an over-the-air parameter administration (OTAPA) server or an over-the-air service provisioning (OTASP) server.

5. The method of claim 1 in which the information identifying the first geographic location of the portable access terminal comprises GPS coordinates of the portable access terminal.

6. The method of claim 1 in which receiving the information identifying the first geographic location of the portable access terminal comprises receiving longitude and latitude coordinates from a GPS satellite or beacon.

7. The method of claim 1 in which receiving the information identifying the first geographic location of the portable access terminal comprises determining longitude and latitude coordinates from a second access point.

8. The method of claim 1 in which receiving the information identifying the first geographic location of the portable access terminal comprises receiving identifying information from a transmitting device and correlating the identifying information to a geographic location.

9. A method performed on an access point, comprising:

receiving information identifying a first geographic location of the access point;

communicating the information to a configuration server;

receiving access information from the configuration server;

receiving, from a portable access terminal, an indication that the portable access terminal has determined that the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of a second geographic location of the portable access terminal, the indication being based at least in part on comparing, in the access terminal, the second geographic location of the portable access terminal with the first geographic location of the access point; and

after receiving the indication, providing the portable access terminal access to a radio access network using the access information;

wherein the first geographic location of the access point is stored in the portable access terminal in a list of access points.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising receiving access terminal authentication information from the configuration server to identify the access terminal as an authorized access terminal.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising, after the access point moves to a third geographic location:

receiving information identifying the third geographic location;

communicating the third geographic location information to the configuration server;

receiving new access information from the configuration server; and

providing the portable access terminal access to the radio access network using the new access information.

12. The method of claim 11 in which the configuration server comprises a plurality of servers.

13. A method comprising:

receiving geographic location information identifying a geographic location of an access point in a radio access network;

assigning access information to the access point;

communicating the access information to the access point; and

communicating the access information and the geographic location information to a portable access terminal configured to:

update a list of preferred access points, the list being stored on the portable access terminal and the list comprising geographic locations of preferred access points; and

compare, in the portable access terminal, the geographic location information of the access point to the geographic location information of the portable access terminal.

14. The method of claim 13 in which a configuration server communicates the access information to the portable access terminal using a backhaul network.

15. The method of claim 13 in which an OTAPA server or an OTASP server communicates the access information and the geographic location information to the portable access terminal using the radio access network.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:

receiving geographic location information identifying a second geographic location of the access point;

assigning new access information to the access point;

communicating the new access information to the access point; and

communicating the new access information and the second geographic location information to the portable access terminal.

17. An apparatus comprising:

a portable access terminal for accessing a radio access network, the portable access terminal being configured to:

store, in a memory, a definition of a first access point as a preferred access point;

in the memory, associate a first geographic location with the preferred access point;

receive information identifying a second geographic location of the access terminal;

compare, in the portable access terminal, the second geographic location of the portable access terminal with the first geographic location of the first access point, the first geographic location of the first access point being stored in the portable access terminal in a list of preferred access points; and

access a radio access network through the preferred access point if the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of the second geographic location.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 in which the portable access terminal is configured to store the definition of the first access point as a preferred access point in response to receiving an instruction to add the first access point to a list of preferred access points.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 in which the portable access terminal is configured to associate the first geographic location with the preferred access point in response to receiving information identifying the first geographic location of the preferred access point as part of the instruction to add the access point to the list of preferred access points.

20. An apparatus comprising:

an access point for providing access to a radio access network, the access point being configured to:

receive information identifying a first geographic location of the access point;

communicate the first geographic location information to a configuration server;

receive access information from the configuration server;

receive, from a portable access terminal, an indication that the portable access terminal has determined that the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of a second geographic location of the portable access terminal by comparing, in the portable access terminal, the second geographic location of the portable access terminal with the first geographic location of the access point; and

after receiving the indication, provide a portable access terminal access to a radio access network using the access information;

wherein the first geographic location of the access point is stored in the portable access terminal in a list of access points.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the access point is further configured to receive access terminal authentication information from the configuration server to identify the access terminal as an authorized access terminal.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 in which the access point is further configured to, after the access point moves to a third geographic location:

receive information identifying the third geographic location;

communicate the third geographic location information to the configuration server;

receive new access information from the configuration server; and

provide the portable access terminal access to the radio access network using the new access information.

23. An apparatus comprising:

a configuration server for use in a radio access network, the configuration server being configured to:

receive information identifying a geographic location of an access point in the radio access network;

assign access information to the access point;

communicate the access information to the access point; and

communicate the access information and the geographic location information to a portable access terminal configured to:

update a list of preferred access points, the list being stored on the portable access terminal and the list comprising geographic locations of preferred access points; and

compare, in the portable access terminal, the geographic location information of the access point to the geographic location information of the portable access terminal.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 in which the configuration server is configured to:

communicate the access information to the portable access terminal using a backhaul network.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 in which the configuration server is configured to:

cause an OTAPA server or an OTASP server to communicate the access information and the geographic location information to the portable access terminal using the radio access network.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 in which the configuration server is further configured to:

receive information identifying a new geographic location of the access point;

assign new access information to the access point;

communicate the new access information to the access point; and

communicate the new access information and the new geographic location information to the portable access terminal.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoding instructions to cause a portable access terminal in a radio access network to:

store, in a memory, a definition of a first access point as a preferred access point;

in the memory, associate a first geographic location with the preferred access point;

receive information identifying a second geographic location of the portable access terminal;

compare, in the portable access terminal, the second geographic location of the portable access terminal with the first geographic location of the first access point, the first geographic location of the first access point being stored in the portable access terminal in a list of preferred access points; and

access a radio access network through the preferred access point if the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of the second geographic location.

28. The non-transitory medium of claim 27 in which the instructions cause the portable access terminal to:

store the identification of the first access point as a preferred access point in response to receiving an instruction to add the first access point to a list of preferred access points.

29. The non-transitory apparatus of claim 28 in which the instructions cause the portable access terminal to:

associate the first geographic location with the preferred access point in response to receiving information identifying the first geographic location of the preferred access point as part of the instruction to add the first access point to the list of preferred access points.

30. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoding instructions to cause an access point for providing access to a radio access network to:

receive information identifying a first geographic location of the access point;

communicate the first geographic location information to a configuration server;

receive access information from the configuration server;

receive, from a portable access terminal, an indication that the portable access terminal has determined that the first geographic location is within a predetermined range of a second geographic location of the portable access terminal by comparing, in the portable access terminal, the second geographic location of the portable access terminal with the first geographic location of the access point; and

after receiving the indication:

provide a portable access terminal access to a radio access network using the access information;

wherein the first geographic location of the access is stored in the portable access terminal in a list of access points.

31. The non-transitory apparatus of claim 30 in which the instructions further cause the access point to receive access terminal authentication information from the configuration server to identify the access terminal as an authorized access terminal.

32. The non-transitory apparatus of claim 30 in which the instructions further cause the access point to, after the access point moves to a new geographic location:

receive information identifying the new geographic location;

communicate the new geographic location information to the configuration server;

receive new access information from the configuration server; and

provide the portable access terminal access to the radio access network using the new access information.

33. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoding instructions to cause a configuration server in a radio access network to:

receive information identifying a geographic location of an access point in the radio access network;

assign access information to the access point;

communicate the access information to the access point; and

communicate the access information and the geographic location information to a portable access terminal configured to:

update a list of preferred access points, the list being stored on the portable access terminal and the list comprising geographic locations of preferred access points; and

compare, in the portable access terminal, the geographic location information of the access point to a geographic location information of the portable access terminal.

34. The non-transitory medium of claim 33 in which the instructions cause the configuration server to:

communicate the access information to the access point by causing a configuration server to communicate the access information to the portable access terminal using a backhaul network.

35. The non-transitory medium of claim 33 in which the instructions cause the configuration server to:

communicate the access information and the geographic location information to the portable access terminal by causing an OTAPA server or an OTASP server to communicate the access information and the geographic location information to the portable access terminal using the radio access network.

36. The non-transitory medium of claim 33 in which the instructions cause the configuration server to:

receive information identifying a new geographic location of the access point;

assign new access information to the access point;

communicate the new access information to the access point; and communicate the new access information and the new geographic location information to the portable access terminal.

37. A method performed on a portable access terminal, comprising:

determine a first global positioning system (GPS) location of the portable access terminal;

identifying a first private access point as a preferred private access point, the first private access point providing access to a communications network;

determining that the portable access terminal will access the communications network through the first private access point, the determining comprising:

accessing a list stored on the portable access terminal, the list specifying the first private access point as a preferred private access point, wherein the list comprises a second GPS location of the first private access point;

comparing, in the portable access terminal, the first GPS location with the second GPS location; and

determining, based at least in part on the comparing, that the first GPS location is within a threshold range of the second GPS location; and

accessing the communications network through the first access point based at least in part on determining that the first GPS location is within a threshold range of the second GPS location.

Assignments (15)