System and method for monitoring and maintaining a wireless device
View Patent ↗A system is disclosed in which a wireless device is monitored and maintained over a network. One embodiment of the system comprises a wireless device including: a service to maintain data objects, provide messaging capability, and provide data access capability on behalf of a user of the wireless device; and a rules engine communicatively coupled to the service to execute a set of rules transmitted to the wireless device from a server, the set of rules to instruct the rules engine to gather information related to the wireless device and to take action on the wireless device based on the gathered information.
1. A server for maintaining over a network a mobile device comprising a mobile device rule definition file, the server comprising:
a data store comprising executable software and a server rule definition file;
a processor in data communication with the data store, the processor configured to execute the software and cause the server to:
receive a request from the mobile device to determine whether the mobile device rule definition file needs to be updated;
determine whether the server rule definition file is updated compared to the mobile device rule definition file;
generate rule definition update data if it is determined that the server rule definition file is updated compared to the mobile device rule definition file;
transmit the rule definition update data to the mobile device; and
transmit rule definition authenticity data to the mobile device,
wherein the rule definition authenticity data is configured to be used by the mobile device to verify the authenticity of the rule definition update data.
2. The server of claim 1 , wherein the rule definition update data comprises an updated mobile device rule definition file.
3. The server of claim 1 , wherein the rule definition update data is configured to be used by the mobile device to synchronize the mobile device rule definition file with the server rule definition file.
4. The server of claim 1 , further comprising:
a service,
wherein the service comprises one of: an e-mail service, an instant messaging service, or a calendar service.
5. The server of claim 4 , wherein the service is configured to forward server data objects to the mobile device.
6. The server of claim 5 , wherein the service is further configured to synchronize the server data objects with mobile device data objects on the mobile device.
7. The server of claim 6 , wherein the server data objects are one of e-mail data, instant message data, or calendar data.
8. The server of claim 1 , wherein the server rule definition file comprises one of an XML file, native script, executable module, or a URL.
9. The server of claim 1 , further comprising:
a policy editor,
wherein the policy editor is configured to create the server rule definition file.
10. The server of claim 1 , wherein the server rule definition file is configured to cause the wireless device to do one of: allow a mobile application to exist on the wireless device, not allow a mobile application to exist on the wireless device, configure a setting of a mobile application on the wireless device, update a mobile application on the wireless device, or prevent a peripheral device from associating with the wireless device.
11. A method of maintaining over a network a mobile device comprising a mobile rule definition file, the method comprising:
receiving a request from the mobile device to determine whether the mobile device rule definition file needs to be updated;
determining whether a server rule definition file stored on a server is updated compared to the mobile device rule definition file;
generating rule definition update data if it is determined that the server rule definition file is updated compared to the mobile device rule definition file;
transmitting the rule definition update data to the mobile device; and
transmitting rule definition authenticity data to the mobile device,
wherein the rule definition authenticity data is configured to be used by the mobile device to verify the authenticity of the rule definition update data.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the rule definition update data comprises an updated mobile device rule definition file.
13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the rule definition update data is configured to be used by the mobile device to synchronize the mobile device rule definition file with the server rule definition file.
14. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
executing a service,
wherein the service comprises one of: an e-mail service, an instant messaging service, or a calendar service.
15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the service is configured to forward server data objects to the mobile device.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the service is further configured to synchronize the server data objects with mobile device data objects on the mobile device.
17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the server data objects are one of e-mail data, instant message data, or calendar data.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the server rule definition file comprises one of an XML file, native script, executable module, or a URL.
19. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:
executing a policy editor,
wherein the policy editor is configured to create the server rule definition file.
20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the server rule definition file is configured to cause the wireless device to do one of: allow a mobile application to exist on the wireless device, not allow a mobile application to exist on the wireless device, configure a setting of a mobile application on the wireless device, update a mobile application on the wireless device, or prevent a peripheral device from associating with the wireless device.