Method and system for controlling software loads on a third-party mobile station
View Patent ↗A system and method for allowing a licensee having mobile station hardware to support its own set of carriers and software demands of these carriers, the software including licensor software, the method comprising the steps of: assigning a unique third party identifier to the licensee; assigning a range of carrier identifiers for the licensee; allowing the licensee to create a unique identifier by combining the unique third party identifier with an identifier chosen from the range of carrier identifiers; and associating, in a gateway program, the unique identifier with one or more software versions acceptable by a carrier for download onto the mobile station hardware.
1. A method for provisioning a mobile device comprising:
receiving a contractual agreement identifier and a model identifier, the contractual agreement identifier including a licensee identifier field configured to uniquely identify a licensee from a plurality of licenses, and a carrier identifier field storing one of a plurality of carrier identifiers;
comparing the contractual agreement identifier and model identifier against a software version identifier in a file; and
responsive to the comparing, provisioning the mobile device with software having the software version identifier.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning is done over the air.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein a gatekeeper program on a network server performs the method.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the gatekeeper program is unique for each licensee.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the gatekeeper program is provided for a single licensee identifier.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the provisioning is done from a personal computer.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the provisioning is done over a serial interface.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the serial interface is selected from the group consisting of: a universal serial bus interface, an IrDA interface, and a Bluetooth™ interface.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the licensee identifier identifies a manufacturer of a mobile device.