US7076255B2 — Context-aware and location-aware cellular phones …

Claim 1

Independent Claim 101 words

A cellular phone comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; determine the current context based on the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes, wherein each node of the data structure is capable of corresponding to a physical or logical context; modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party; and an application program interface that is configured to wirelessly receive information that is associated with the phone's context.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 101 words

A cellular phone comprising: one or more processors configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; determine the current context based on the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes, wherein each node of the data structure is capable of corresponding to a physical or logical context; modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party; and an application program interface that is configured to wirelessly receive information that is associated with the phone's context.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 23 words

The cellular phone of claim 1 further comprising a context service module that is configured to receive information from multiple different context providers.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 27 words

The cellular phone of claim 1 the processors being further configured to automatically determine the current context by traversing at least one node of the data structure.

Claim 5

Independent Claim 109 words

A method of operating a cellular phone comprising: wirelessly receiving, with the cellular phone, information that pertains to either a physical or logical context of the cellular phone, the cellular phone being configured to receive said information from different types of context providers that provide different forms of information; responsive to said receiving and using only the cellular phone and its associated on-board componentry, determining a current context based upon the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes; and modifying at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 6

Independent Claim 109 words

A method of operating a cellular phone comprising: wirelessly receiving, with the cellular phone, information that pertains to either a physical or logical context of the cellular phone, the cellular phone being configured to receive said information from different types of context providers that provide different forms of information; responsive to said receiving and using only the cellular phone and its associated on-board componentry, determining a current context based upon the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes; and modifying at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 18 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the behavior pertains to whether the phone is on or off.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 17 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the behavior pertains to operation of a cellular phone ringer.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 20 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the behavior pertains to whether the cellular phone is in a vibration mode.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 14 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the behavior pertains to a ringer pitch.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 13 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the behavior pertains to forwarding calls.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 30 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein said modifying comprises using one or more cellular phone settings that are resident on the cellular phone to modify the cellular phone's settings.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein said receiving comprises receiving cellular phone setting information that is to be used to modify the cellular phone's behavior.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 12 words

A cellular phone programmed to implement the method of claim 4 .

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 53 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the information comprises one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of GPS specific information, a longitude, a latitude, internet protocol specific information, a cell identifier, a user entry, a city, a street, a building, network metadata, subnet and site information and a location type.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 44 words

The method of claim 4 , wherein the hierarchy data structure of attributes comprises: a plurality of nodes, wherein each node is linked to one or more other nodes; and a plurality of attributes, wherein each attribute is associated with at least one node.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 51 words

The method of claim 14 , wherein the nodes are arranged in one or more plurality of classes selected from a group of abstractions consisting of a political abstraction, an administrative abstraction, a geographical abstraction, an infrastructure abstraction, a public place abstraction, a physical location abstraction and a logical location abstraction.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 26 words

The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the current context comprises mapping the information to a given node in the hierarchy data structure of attributes.

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 27 words

The method of claim 16 , wherein each node is linked to one or more other nodes to form a plurality of branches having a root node.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 36 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the current context further comprises: traversing multiple nodes in a particular branch containing the given node; and ascertaining one or more of the attributes of the traversed nodes.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 37 words

The method of claim 17 , wherein determining the current context further comprises: determining a proximity of nodes in other braches to the given node; and ascertaining one or more of the attributes of the proximate nodes.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 81 words

The method of claim 14 , wherein the attributes are one or more parameters selected from a group consisting of a unique identifier, a name, a geographic entity, a latitude, a longitude, a relative importance, a contextual parent an entity unique identifier, a location unique identifier, a uniform resource locator, a source, a start date, an end date, a modification date, a status date, a resource, a service, a time, a time zone, a privacy level and a cellular phone setting.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 110 words

One or more readable media having readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a cellular phone, cause the cellular phone to: wirelessly receive information from different context source information types that provide different forms of information that pertains to a context of the cellular phone; responsive to receiving the information, determine the cellular phone context and modify at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone based on the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party and wherein each node of the data structure being capable of corresponding to either a physical or logical context.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 110 words

One or more readable media having readable instructions thereon which, when executed by a cellular phone, cause the cellular phone to: wirelessly receive information from different context source information types that provide different forms of information that pertains to a context of the cellular phone; responsive to receiving the information, determine the cellular phone context and modify at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone based on the information and a hierarchy data structure of attributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party and wherein each node of the data structure being capable of corresponding to either a physical or logical context.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 11 words

A cellular phone embodying the computer-readable media of claim 21 .

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 94 words

A cellular phone comprising: multiple different types of location providers which collectively are configured to receive different forms of location information that can be used by the cellular phone to ascertain its location; and one or more processors configured to: receive information associated with a current location of the cellular phone; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the information and a hierarchy tree structure associating physical or logical locations to a plurality of atributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 94 words

A cellular phone comprising: multiple different types of location providers which collectively are configured to receive different forms of location information that can be used by the cellular phone to ascertain its location; and one or more processors configured to: receive information associated with a current location of the cellular phone; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the information and a hierarchy tree structure associating physical or logical locations to a plurality of atributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 14 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the information comprises cellular phone settings.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 27 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the one behavior by turning the phone on or off.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 28 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the one behavior by adjusting a ringer pitch on the phone.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 29 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the one behavior by turning a cellular phone ringer on or off.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 28 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the one behavior by placing the phone in a vibration mode.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 31 words

The cellular phone of claim 23 , wherein the one or more processors are configured to modify the one behavior by forwarding one or more calls to a user-provided telephone number.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 85 words

A cellular phone comprising: receiving means configured to wirelessly receive multiple different forms of information that pertains to a current location of a cellular phone and use said multiple different forms of information to ascertain the current location; and means to modify at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the current location and a hierarchy data structure associating physical or logical locations to a plurality of attributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 85 words

A cellular phone comprising: receiving means configured to wirelessly receive multiple different forms of information that pertains to a current location of a cellular phone and use said multiple different forms of information to ascertain the current location; and means to modify at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the current location and a hierarchy data structure associating physical or logical locations to a plurality of attributes, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 22 words

The cellular phone of claim 30 , wherein said information pertains to cellular phone settings that are associated with the current location.

Claim 37

Dependent Claim 28 words

The cellular phone of claim 30 , wherein said information pertains to a defined location type associated with multiple different locations, of which the location is an instance.

Claim 38

Dependent Claim 29 words

The cellular phone of claim 30 , wherein said means to modify comprises means to change the cellular phone's behavior when it is no longer at the current location.

Claim 39

Independent Claim 74 words

A method of operating a cellular phone comprising: providing a cellular phone; and determining, with the cellular phone, a present cellular phone location wherein said determining comprises: receiving location information; accessing one or more hierarchical tree structures having nodes, each node being capable of corresponding to either a physical or logical location; and using the location information to traverse at least portions of the one or more tree structures to ascertain the present location.

Claim 40

Independent Claim 74 words

A method of operating a cellular phone comprising: providing a cellular phone; and determining, with the cellular phone, a present cellular phone location wherein said determining comprises: receiving location information; accessing one or more hierarchical tree structures having nodes, each node being capable of corresponding to either a physical or logical location; and using the location information to traverse at least portions of the one or more tree structures to ascertain the present location.

Claim 41

Dependent Claim 97 words

A cellular phone comprising: one or more computer-readable media; one or more hierarchical traversable tree structures resident on the computer-readable media, the tree structures comprising individual nodes, each of which is capable of being associated with either a physical or logical phone context; and one or more processors configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; automatically determine the current context based on the information by traversing at least one node on one of the trees; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context.

Claim 42

Dependent Claim 97 words

A cellular phone comprising: one or more computer-readable media; one or more hierarchical traversable tree structures resident on the computer-readable media, the tree structures comprising individual nodes, each of which is capable of being associated with either a physical or logical phone context; and one or more processors configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; automatically determine the current context based on the information by traversing at least one node on one of the trees; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context.

Claim 43

Dependent Claim 23 words

The cellular phone of claim 35 further comprising a context service module that is configured to receive information from multiple different context providers.

Claim 44

Dependent Claim 139 words

A cellular phone comprising: a context service module that is configured to receive different forms of information from multiple different types of context providers; and one or more processors associated with the context service module and configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; determine the current context based on the information and a hierarchy data tree of attributes, wherein levels of the hierarchy tree of attributes are arranged in one or more classes selected from a group consisting of a political abstraction, an administrative abstraction, and organization abstraction, a geographical abstraction, an infrastructure abstraction, a public place abstraction and a private entity abstraction; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 45

Dependent Claim 139 words

A cellular phone comprising: a context service module that is configured to receive different forms of information from multiple different types of context providers; and one or more processors associated with the context service module and configured to: receive information that pertains to a current context of the cellular phone; determine the current context based on the information and a hierarchy data tree of attributes, wherein levels of the hierarchy tree of attributes are arranged in one or more classes selected from a group consisting of a political abstraction, an administrative abstraction, and organization abstraction, a geographical abstraction, an infrastructure abstraction, a public place abstraction and a private entity abstraction; and modify at least one behavior of the cellular phone responsive to the current context, wherein at least one of said one behavior is defined by a third party.

Claim 46

Dependent Claim 30 words

The cellular phone of claim 37 further comprising the processors being configured to automatically determine the context by traversing at least one node of the hierarchy data tree of attributes.

Claim 47

Dependent Claim 26 words

The cellular phone of claim 37 further comprising an application program interface that is configured to wirelessly receive information that is associated with the phone's context.

Claim 48

Dependent Claim 101 words

A cellular phone comprising: location provider means for receiving different forms of location information; means for ascertaining a current location from the different forms of location information; means for determining a context from the current location and a hierarchy tree structure, wherein the hierarchy tree structure comprises: a plurality of nodes, wherein each node is linked to one or more other nodes; a plurality of attributes corresponding to either a physical or logical context wherein each attribute is associated with at least one node; and means for modifying at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the context.

Claim 49

Dependent Claim 101 words

A cellular phone comprising: location provider means for receiving different forms of location information; means for ascertaining a current location from the different forms of location information; means for determining a context from the current location and a hierarchy tree structure, wherein the hierarchy tree structure comprises: a plurality of nodes, wherein each node is linked to one or more other nodes; a plurality of attributes corresponding to either a physical or logical context wherein each attribute is associated with at least one node; and means for modifying at least one behavior associated with the cellular phone responsive to the context.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	2009-07-10	2010-01-09	2010-07-11	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	2013-07-10	2014-01-09	2014-07-11	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	2017-07-10	2018-01-09	2018-07-11	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Context-aware and location-aware cellular phones and methods

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