IP Library Granted Patent US 10,021,230
Granted Patent B2
US 10,021,230 · App. 15/291,802 · Granted Jul 10, 2018

Contact synchronization between related devices of a subscriber account

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,021,230
App. No.
15/291,802
Granted
Jul 10, 2018
Kind
B2
Abstract

Synchronization between related devices is described. A group of related devices includes devices that are associated with the same subscriber account, share the same cellular telephone line, and so forth. In an example, a related device that is a browser-enabled device may register with a service that enables the browser-enabled device to share a same account and/or same line with other related device(s). Based partly on the browser-enabled device registering with the service, the browser-enabled device may retrieve data associated with contacts (i.e., contact data) that is associated with at least one other related device that is a cellular communication device. Additionally, a user associated with the browser-enabled device and/or a user associated with the at least one other related device may make modifications to the contact data and techniques described herein may enable synchronization of such modifications between the related devices.

Claims (67)

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by one or more serving devices, a first indication of a registration of a browser-enabled device with a network to utilize a communication address for sending and receiving communications via the network;

retrieving, by the one or more serving devices and based at least in part on receiving the first indication, data associated with a plurality of contacts associated with a cellular communication device, the cellular communication device utilizing a same communication address for sending and receiving at least communications via the network as the browser-enabled device or being associated with a same subscriber account as the browser-enabled device;

storing the data associated with the plurality of contacts in a database associated with the one or more serving devices;

providing, by the one or more serving devices, the data associated with the plurality of contacts to the browser-enabled device; and

enabling selection of a first contact of the plurality of contacts to enable the browser-enabled device to send at least a communication to a device associated with the first contact.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more serving devices, a second indication from the browser-enabled device of a modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts;

updating, by the one or more serving devices, the data associated with the plurality of contacts in the database based on the modification; and

sending, by the one or more serving devices, instructions to the cellular communication device to update the data associated with the plurality of contacts in a local database associated with the cellular communication device.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising prior to updating the data associated with the plurality of contacts:

accessing, by the one or more serving devices, a modification policy that identifies one or more related devices that are permitted to modify the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

determining, by the one or more serving devices and based at least in part on the modification policy, that the browser-enabled device is permitted to modify the data associated with the plurality of contacts.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising, prior to sending the instructions to the cellular communication device:

accessing, by the one or more serving devices, at least one of presence information or capabilities information associated with the cellular communication device; and

determining, by the one or more serving devices and based at least in part on the at least one of the presence information or the capabilities information, that the cellular communication device is at least one of online or capable of receiving the instructions.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts comprises an addition of one or more data items associated with a new contact.

6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts comprises a deletion of one or more data items of the data associated with a second contact of the plurality of contacts.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts comprises an update to one or more data items of the data associated with a second contact of the plurality of contacts.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the one or more serving devices, a second indication from the cellular communication device of a modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts;

updating, by the one or more serving devices, the data associated with the plurality of contacts in the database based on the modification; and

sending, by the one or more serving devices, instructions to the browser-enabled device to update the data associated with the plurality of contacts in a local database associated with the browser-enabled device.

9. A browser-enabled device comprising:

a display;

a database configured to store data associated with a plurality of contacts;

one or more processors;

memory; and

a plurality of programming instructions stored on the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

via a browser associated with the browser-enabled device, registering with a network to utilize a communication address for sending and receiving communications via the network, the communication address shared by at least one related device for sending and receiving communications via the network, the at least one related device being a cellular communication device;

retrieving, based at least in part on registering with the network and from one or more serving devices, the data associated with a plurality of contacts associated with the at least one related device;

causing the data associated with the plurality of contacts to be stored in the database;

presenting, via the display, a user interface having functionality to present representations of at least some contacts of the plurality of contacts;

determining a selection of a first contact of the at least some contacts via the user interface; and

sending at least a communication to a device associated with the first contact via the browser.

10. The browser-enabled device of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:

determining a modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

providing an indication of the modification to the one or more serving devices.

11. The browser-enabled device of claim 10 , wherein the modification comprises at least one of an addition of a new data item corresponding to a new contact, a deletion of a first data item of the data associated with a second contact of the plurality of contacts, or an update to a second data item of the data associated with a third contact of the plurality of contacts.

12. The browser-enabled device of claim 9 , the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the one or more serving devices, instructions associated with a modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

updating the data associated with the plurality of contacts to reflect the modification.

13. The browser-enabled device of claim 12 , the operations further comprising presenting a notification via the user interface indicating that the data associated with the plurality of contacts has been updated.

14. The browser-enabled device of claim 13 , wherein the notification specifies a particular contact of the plurality of contacts corresponding to the modification.

15. A cellular communication device comprising:

a database storing data associated with a plurality of contacts;

one or more processors;

memory; and

a plurality of programming instructions stored on the memory and executable by the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving an indication that a browser-enabled device related to the cellular communication device registered with a network associated with the cellular communication device, the browser-enabled device being associated with a same communication address as the cellular communication device for sending and receiving at least communications via the network or being associated with a same subscriber account as the cellular communication device; and

providing, based at least in part on receiving the indication, the data associated with the plurality of contacts to one or more serving devices.

16. The cellular communication device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the one or more serving devices, a request for the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

providing the data associated with the plurality of contacts in response to the request.

17. The cellular communication device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

determining a modification policy identifying particular related devices that are permitted to modify the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

providing the modification policy to the one or more serving devices.

18. The cellular communication device of claim 17 , wherein the modification policy identifies whether the browser-enabled device has permission to modify the data associated with the plurality of contacts by at least one of:

adding a new data item corresponding to a new contact;

deleting one or more data items of the data associated with a first contact of the plurality of contacts; or

updating at least one data item of the data associated with a second contact of the plurality of contacts.

19. The cellular communication device of claim 15 , the operations further comprising:

receiving, from the one or more serving devices, instructions associated with a modification to the data associated with the plurality of contacts; and

updating the data associated with the plurality of contacts to reflect the modification.

20. The cellular communication device of claim 19 , further comprising a display, wherein the operations further comprise:

presenting, via the display, representations of at least some of the contacts via a user interface; and

presenting a notification via the user interface indicating that the data associated with the plurality of contacts has been updated.

Assignments (5)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 23, 2022
From: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS
To: IBSV LLC; LAYER3 TV, LLC; PUSHSPRING, LLC; T-MOBILE CENTRAL LLC; T-MOBILE USA, INC.; ASSURANCE WIRELESS USA, L.P.; BOOST WORLDWIDE, LLC; CLEARWIRE COMMUNICATIONS LLC; CLEARWIRE IP HOLDINGS LLC; SPRINTCOM LLC; SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P.; SPRINT INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED; SPRINT SPECTRUM LLC
Reel/Frame 062595/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 2, 2020
From: T-MOBILE USA, INC.; ISBV LLC; T-MOBILE CENTRAL LLC; LAYER3 TV, INC.; PUSHSPRING, INC.; BOOST WORLDWIDE, LLC; CLEARWIRE COMMUNICATIONS LLC; CLEARWIRE IP HOLDINGS LLC; CLEARWIRE LEGACY LLC; SPRINT COMMUNICATIONS COMPANY L.P.; SPRINT INTERNATIONAL INCORPORATED; SPRINT SPECTRUM L.P.; ASSURANCE WIRELESS USA, L.P.
To: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS
Reel/Frame 053182/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Apr 1, 2020
From: DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG
To: T-MOBILE USA, INC.; IBSV LLC
Reel/Frame 052969/0381 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 30, 2016
From: T-MOBILE USA, INC.
To: DEUTSCHE TELEKOM AG
Reel/Frame 041225/0910 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 12, 2016
From: REDDY, RAVIKIRAN
To: T-MOBILE USA, INC.
Reel/Frame 040000/0177 →