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1. display 222 of the personal computing device 101 The user interface of FIG 3 is generated based in part based on a response received from the personal wireless network device 103 in response to a STR command sent from the personal computing device 101 In particular the user interface con tains visual elements 301 302 and 303 generated based by the daemon 210 based in part on the response Visual element 301 is signal strength bars indicating a current radio signal strength between the personal wireless network device 103 and the radio network 104 Visual element 302 is a character string indicating the current radio network mode ie AT amp T Visual element 303 is a character string indicating the generation of the current radio network service i e 3G 0070 In the foregoing specification embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to numerous specific details that may vary from implementation to implementation Thus the sole and exclusive indicator of what is the invention and is intended by the Applicants to be the invention is the set of claims that issue from this appli cation in the specific form in which such claims issue includ ing any subsequent correction Any definitions expressly set forth herein for terms contained in such claims shall govern the meaning of such terms as used in the claims Hence no limitation element property feature advantage or attribute that is not e2. 201 receives the configuration network address from the personal wireless network device 103 via serial communications port 218 and the driver 214 0058 In one embodiment the daemon 210 upon receiv ing the configuration network device stores the received con figuration network device in a storage 206 of the personal computing device 101 for later use 0059 In one embodiment the daemon 210 provides a user interface displayed on the display 222 that allows a user of the personal computing device 101 to command the daemon 210 to launch a web browser 208 window directed to retrieve the web page indicated by the configuration network address For this the daemon 210 may retrieve a previously stored con figuration network address from a storage 106 and provide the retrieved configuration network address to the web browser 208 via an Application Programming Interface API or ona command line Alternatively in response to receiving the command to launch the web browser window the daemon 210 may send the CNAR command to the personal wireless network device 103 and launch the window using the con figuration network address returned by the personal wireless network device 103 in response to the CNAR command In both cases the user need not know guess locate or enter the configuration network address used of the personal wireless network device 103 configuration web server 0060 In one embodiment the daemon 210 upon receiv ing the co
3. 208 and or some or all ofthe daemon 210 may be implemented as one or more components of the operating system 212 Similarly while the driver 214 is shown as a component of the operating system 212 the driver 214 may be a component separate from the operating system 212 0053 The device 101 further comprises one or more user interface components 220 coupled to the bus 202 These components 220 enable the device 100 to receive input from and provide output to a user On the input side the user interface components 220 may include for example a key board keypad having alphanumeric keys a cursor control device e g mouse trackball touchpad etc a touch sensi tive screen a microphone for receiving audio input etc On the output side the components 220 may include a graphical interface e g a graphics card and an audio interface e g sound card for providing visual and audio content The user interface components 220 may further include a display 222 a set of speakers etc for presenting the audio and visual content to a user In one embodiment the operating system 212 and the daemon 210 executed by the processor s 204 may provide a software user interface that takes advantage of and interacts with the user interface components 220 to receive input from and provide output to a user This software user interface may for example provide a menu that the user can navigate using one of the user input devices mentioned above
4. etc 0005 Often the web server in a personal wireless network device is accessed by a web browser executing on the per sonal computing device to which the personal wireless net work device is coupled via the serial communications mecha nism To access the web server the user of the personal computing device typically must know beforehand the net work address e g domain name Internet Protocol IP address Uniform Resource Locator URL etc to which the user should direct the web browser to access the web server Typically this network address is pre determined by the manufacturer of the personal wireless network device and is specified in a user manual accompanying the personal wire Feb 28 2013 less network device For example the network address may be a private IP address such as 192 168 1 1 If the user knows the network address the user may direct the web browser to access the web server at the network address by for example entering the network address in the address bar of the web browser 0006 Unfortunately there is no standard network address at which all configuration web servers of personal wireless network devices can be reached This is unfortunate because if the user manual is lost or otherwise unavailable the user may be unable to access the configuration web server and thus may not be able to configure the personal wireless network device The user may attempt to guess the network address However the
5. from a radio network such as a cellular network The radio network in turn may be connected to a data network such as the Internet Data sent from the personal computing device des tined for the data network may be sent to the personal wireless network device via the serial communications mechanism and then sent by the personal wireless network device to the data network via the radio network Data sent from the data network destined for the personal computing device may be received by the personal wireless network device from the radio network and then sent by the personal wireless network device to the personal computing device over the serial com munications mechanism In this way a user of the personal computing device can perform various online functions such as browsing the web checking e mail etc 0004 Many personal wireless network devices include a web server for configuration purposes Typically the web server in a personal wireless network device is capable of presenting a user interface in a web browsing application that accesses the web server A user of the web browser may configure the personal wireless network device by providing configuration information to the web server through the user interface Through the user interface the user may configure various possible features of the personal wireless network device such as for example wireless connectivity Internet connectivity firewalling hotspot setup port forwarding
6. not limited to Global Feb 28 2013 System for Mobile Communications GSM General Packet Radio Service GPRS Code Division Multiple Access CDMA Evolution Data Optimized EV DO Enhanced Data Rates for GSEM Evolution EDGE 3GSM Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications DECT Digital AMPS Integrated Digital Enhanced Network iDen and others 0034 Radio network 104 may be operatively coupled to another data network 105 such as the Internet a Wide Area network WAN a Local Area Network LAN etc 0035 In operation personal computing device 101 sends one or more of the three data commands to the personal wireless network device 103 over the serial communications mechanism 102 The personal computing device 101 receives responses to the commands from the personal wireless net work device 103 over the serial communications mechanism 102 0036 In operation personal wireless network device 103 receives one or more of the three data commands from the personal computing device 101 over the serial communica tions mechanism 102 The personal wireless network device 103 sends responses to the commands to the personal com puting device 101 over the serial communications mechanism 102 0037 In one embodiment a control channel of the serial communications mechanism 102 separate from one or more data channels of the serial communications mechanism 102 is used for transmitting command data and response data betwee
7. ranging from 0 to 5 with 0 indicating low signal strength up to 5 indicating high signal strength 2 a character string indicating the current radio network mode e g UMTS HSPA HSPA LTE etc and 3 a character string indicating the generation ofthe current radio network service e g 2G 3G 4G etc 0067 In one embodiment the daemon 210 upon receiv ing the service type information stores the received service type information in a storage 106 of the personal computing device 101 for later use 0068 In one embodiment the daemon 210 provides a user interface displayed on the display 222 that visually represents the latest service type information received from the personal wireless network device 103 For example the user interface Feb 28 2013 may depict the radio signal strength as indicated by the ser vice type information with graphical signal strength bars in which the number of bars or the number of colored or high lighted bars correspond to signal strength Other service type information such as the current radio network mode and the generation of the current radio network service may be pre sented on the user interface for information purposes 0069 One example of a possible user interface that pre sents service type information obtained using the STR com mand is shown in FIG 3 which is a screenshot of a user interface generated by the daemon 210 as presented on the
8. receiving a request command from the personal computing device via the serial communications mechanism and sending the information via the serial communications mechanism in response to receiving the request com mand wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command 14 The method of claim 13 wherein the request command is a configuration network address request command and the information comprises data representing the character string CONFIGURL 15 The method of claim 13 wherein the request command is a billing network address request command and the infor mation comprises data representing the character string BIL LINGURL 16 The method of claim 13 wherein the request command is a service type request command and the information com prises data representing the character string SERVICETYPE 17 The method of claim 13 wherein the personal wireless network device is a wireless routing device or a wireless wide area network WW AN device Feb 28 2013 18 A non transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by one or more proces sors causes a personal computing device operatively coupled to a personal wireless network device by a serial communications mechanism to perform a method compris ing sending a request command to the personal wireless net work device via the
9. 0054 In addition to the components set forth above the device 101 further comprises one or more communication interfaces 216 coupled to the bus 218 These interfaces 216 enable the device 101 to communicate with other components such as a personal wireless network device 103 The commu nication interfaces 216 may include for example a network interface wired or wireless for enabling the device 101 to send messages to and receive messages from a network The communications interfaces 216 may further include a wire less interface e g Bluetooth for communicating wirelessly with nearby devices and a wired interface for direct coupling with a compatible local device These and other interfaces may be included in the device 101 0055 One of the communication interfaces 216 may be a serial communications port 218 Serial communications port 218 may be operatively and communicatively coupled to a personal wireless network device 103 via the serial commu nications mechanism 102 For example serial communica tions port 218 may be an Ethernet a Fire Wire USB infrared or other suitable serial communications port Feb 28 2013 Sample Operation 0056 With the above description in mind and with refer ence to FIG 2 operations of personal computing device 101 and personal wireless network device 103 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention will now be described The operations occur in the context of executing oper
10. 13 0054738 A1 Feb 28 2013 Sheet 2 of 3 Patent Application Publication 902 sjees FOZ s sJosseord zoz sng 87 YO SUONEIIUNWWOS Zeg Ap eos Org s aoepayuy suOHeIIUNWWOSD gzz s ueuodwog aveau Jesh Z ou or Patent Application Publication Feb 28 2013 Sheet 3 of 3 US 2013 0054738 Al 303 FIG 3 301 CN om US 2013 0054738 Al DATA COMMANDS FOR PERSONAL WIRELESS NETWORK DEVICES CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BENEFIT CLAIM 0001 This application claims the benefit of Provisional Appln 61 526 180 filed Aug 22 2011 the entire contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein under 35 U S C 119 e FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0002 The present invention relates to data commands for obtaining certain information from personal wireless network devices BACKGROUND 0003 Personal wireless network devices are an increas ingly popular way to connect a personal computing device such as laptop computer a desktop computer a tablet com puter or a smart phone to a data network such as the Internet In some configurations the personal wireless network device is communicatively coupled to the personal computing device by a serial communications mechanism e g Ether net FireWire Universal Serial Bus USB etc The per sonal wireless network device may include a radio transmitter and receiver for sending and receiving data to and
11. AND AT Command Possible Response SERVICETYPE SERVICETYPE lt signal__bars gt lt network_ _mode_string gt lt service__generation _string gt 0043 In one embodiment the STR AT command causes the personal wireless network device 103 to return the current service type expressed in three parameters that allows the personal computing device 101 to determine current relevant radio network 104 service information from a single AT com mand 0044 In one embodiment lt signal_bars gt is an integer ranging from 0 to 5 indicating to the personal computing device 101 the number of signal bars to display when visually representing the radio signal strength between the personal wireless network device 103 and the radio network 104 0045 In one embodiment lt network_mode_string gt is a text string contained within quotes indicating to the personal computing device 101 the current cellular radio network mode e g UMTS HSPA HSPA LTE etc in use by personal wireless network device 103 for communicating with the radio network 104 0046 In one embodiment lt service_generation_string gt is atext string contained within quotes indicating to the personal computing device 101 the generation eg 2G 3G 4G etc of the current cellular radio network service in use by personal wireless network device 103 for communicating with the radio network 104 Feb 28 2013 0047 The above are just some examples of ho
12. AR command capability in the personal computing device and the personal wireless network device the personal computing device can obtain for the user the configuration network address of the configuration web server from the personal wireless network device without the user having to know guess lookup or enter the network address 0016 In one embodiment the returned configuration net work address is either a complete URL or a partial URL that indicates where a web page served by the configuration web server of the personal wireless network device can be obtained by the personal computing device and a mechanism for retrieving the web page A complete URL is a data char acter string that contains a specification of at least a protocol scheme and a domain name or IP address An example of a complete URL is http 192 168 1 1 A complete URL may also specify among other URL components a port number anda path A partial URL is data character string that contains a specification of at least a domain name or IP address An example of a partial URL is 192 168 1 1 A partial URL may also specify among other URL components a port num ber and a path 0017 In one embodiment the web page indentified by the complete or partial URL is the initial or main web page of the web interface for configuring the personal wireless network device However the complete or partial URL may refer to another web page served by the configuration we
13. ESS REQUEST AT COMMAND AT Command Possible Response CONFIGURL CONFIGURL lt url_string gt US 2013 0054738 Al 0041 Inoneembodiment the CNAR AT command causes the personal wireless network device 103 to return a single line of text formatted as a complete or partial URL between double quotes that indicates a configuration network address of a web page served by a configuration web server of the personal wireless network device 103 In one embodiment the total number of characters including line terminators of the lt url string gt does not exceed 1024 characters and does not contain the characters sequences 0 lt CR gt or OK lt CR gt where lt CR gt stands for carriage return BILLING NETWORK ADDRESS REQUEST AT COMMAND AT Command Possible Response BILLINGURL BILLINGURL lt url_string gt 0042 Inoneembodiment the BNAR AT command causes the personal wireless network device 103 to return a single line of text formatted as a complete or partial URL between double quotes that indicates a billing network address of a web page containing billing and or service usage information served by an Internet web site of the radio network 104 carrier In one embodiment the total number of characters including line terminators of the lt url_string gt does not exceed 1024 characters and does not contain the characters sequences 0 lt CR gt or OK lt CR gt where lt CR gt stands for car riage return SERVICE TYPE REQUEST AT COMM
14. US 20130054738 A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2013 0054738 A1 Borges et al 43 Pub Date Feb 28 2013 54 75 73 21 22 60 DATA COMMANDS FOR PERSONAL WIRELESS NETWORK DEVICES Inventors Daniel R Borges San Francisco CA US Abuzar Amini San Jose CA US Jim Wilcox Sunnyvale CA US Assignee APPLE INC Cupertino CA US Appl No 13 282 275 Filed Oct 26 2011 Related U S Application Data Provisional application No 61 526 180 filed on Aug 22 2011 PERSONAL COMPUTING DEVICE 101 PERSONAL WIRELESS NETWORK DEVICE 103 Publication Classification 51 Int Cl GO6F 15 16 2006 01 GI USO se eae 709 217 57 ABSTRACT Data commands for a personal wireless network device are described herein to improve usability of such devices and to enhance the overall user experience with such devices According to one embodiment the commands are sent from a personal computing device via a serial communications mechanism to the personal wireless network device At least three different commands are contemplated a Configuration Network Address Request command a Billing Network Address Request command and a Service Type Request command 104 US 2013 0054738 A1 Feb 28 2013 Sheet 1 of 3 Patent Application Publication vol 001 L OI EOL a040 MHOMLAN SSTIIUIM TVNOSUAd AOAC US 20
15. ating system 212 and in which the serial communications port 218 is operatively and communicatively coupled to a personal wireless network device 103 via a serial communi cations mechanism 102 For example the personal wireless network device 103 may be connected to the serial commu nications port 218 via a USB cable or dongle The operations further occur in the context of executing personal wireless network device configuration daemon 210 The daemon 210 may execute continuously or periodically while the operating system 212 is executing For example an execution of the daemon 210 may be initiated in response to the establishment of the serial communications mechanism 102 between the serial communications port 218 and the personal wireless network device 103 The serial communications mechanism 102 may be established when the serial communications port 218 is operatively coupled to the personal wireless network device 103 by for example a cable connector sensor etc As an alternative example the daemon 210 may be launched by the operating system 212 in conjunction with the operating system 212 boot initialization or startup sequence Thereaf ter the daemon 210 may run continuously as a background service or process Sample CNAR Command Operation 0057 In one embodiment the daemon 210 sends the CNAR command via the driver 214 and serial communica tions port 218 to the personal wireless network device 103 In response the daemon
16. b server and is not limited to referring to just the initial or main web page 0018 In one embodiment the mechanism for retrieving the web page is either the HyperText Transfer Protocol HTTP or the Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol HTTPS However other mechanisms such as for example the File Transfer Protocol FTP may be specified in the complete or partial URL 0019 In one embodiment the personal computing device in response to receiving a configuration network address from the personal wireless network device automatically opens a web browser window that is directed to the configuration network address thereby causing the web browser window to display to a user of the personal computing device the web page served by the configuration web server of the personal wireless network device corresponding to the configuration network address Usability of the personal wireless network device is enhanced because the user is not required to know guess lookup or enter the configuration network address Instead the personal computing device by sending the CNAR command to the personal wireless network device may obtain the configuration network address for the user and automatically open a web browser window directed to the configuration network address A beneficial effect of the CNAR command is that the user can configure the personal wireless network device using the web interface provided by the configuration web server of the pers
17. e billing network address request command comprises data representing the character string BILLINGURL 6 The method of claim 4 wherein the Internet web page provides billing information pertaining to the radio network carrier 7 The method of claim 1 wherein the request command a service type request command and the information comprises service type information pertaining to current radio connec tivity between the personal wireless network device and a radio network 8 The method of claim 7 wherein the service type infor mation comprises a number reflecting a current radio signal strength a character string indicating a current radio network mode and a character string indicating a generation ofa current radio network service 9 The method of claim 7 wherein service type request command comprises data representing the character string SERVICETYPE 10 The method of claim 1 wherein the personal comput ing device is a desktop computer a laptop computer a tablet computer or a smart phone 11 The method of claim 1 wherein the serial communi cations mechanism is Universal Serial Bus USB based 12 The method of claim 1 wherein the request command is an AT command 13 A computer implemented method for providing infor mation to a personal computing device the method compris ing at a personal wireless network device operatively coupled to the personal computing device by a serial communi cations mechanism
18. e network address 0022 In one embodiment the returned billing network address is either a complete Uniform Resource Locator URL or a partial URL that indicates where a web page served by radio network carrier s web site can be obtained on the Internet 0023 Inone embodiment the personal computing device in response to receiving the billing network address from the personal wireless network device automatically opens a web browser window that is directed to the billing network address thereby causing the web browser window to display to a user of the personal computing device a billing informa tion web page served the radio network carrier s Internet web site 0024 Embodiments are not limited by what information is presented on the billing information web page Some possible billing information web pages are 1 a login page by which the user can provide credentials for accessing the user s per sonal service billing and or usage information 2 general billing and or service usage information and 3 the user s personal service billing and or usage information 0025 Usability of the personal wireless network device and the radio network carrier s service may be enhanced because the user is not required to know guess lookup or enter the billing network address Instead the personal com puting device by sending the BNAR command to the per sonal wireless network device may obtain the billing net work address fo
19. equestor As an alternative the data command requestor may be hardware implemented using a device e g a program mable logic array having an array of elements including logic elements wherein the elements are programmed con figured to implement techniques described herein in the per sonal computing device 101 As a further alternative the data command requestor may be hardware implemented by way of another device such as an application specific integrated cir cuit ASIC having elements including logic elements that are constructed configured to implement techniques US 2013 0054738 Al described herein in the personal computing device 101 Over all the data command requestor may be hardware imple mented using any number ofdevices with elements including logic elements that are constructed configured to implement techniques described herein in the personal computing device 101 These and other implementations ofthe data command requestor are possible All such implementations are within the scope of the present invention 0052 The processor s 204 may execute the operating system 212 to provide a platform on which other sets of software e g browser 208 daemon 210 and driver 214 may operate and to execute the other software to provide additional specific functionality While in FIG 2 browser 208 and daemon 210 are shown as components separate from the operating system 212 In some embodiments some or all ofthe browser
20. ing device and the personal wireless network device the personal computing device can obtain relevant service information pertaining to the radio communications between the personal wireless net work device and the radio network in a single command Example System 0028 Referring to FIG 1 it is a block diagram ofa system that is configured to use one or more of the three data com mands In the example illustrated in FIG 1 a personal com puting device 101 is operatively and communicatively coupled to a personal wireless network device 103 viaa serial communications mechanism 102 0029 The personal computing device 101 may for example be a desktop computing device a workstation com puter a laptop computing device a tablet computing device a smart phone a cell phone etc 0030 The personal wireless network device 103 may for example be a wireless routing device a Wireless Wide Area Network WWAN device or any other wireless networking device that is configured to use radio signals for sending and receiving data to and from a radio network 0031 The serial communications mechanism 102 may be any mechanism suitable for serial data communications between the personal computing device 101 and the personal wireless network device 103 In one embodiment the serial communications mechanism 102 is a Universal Serial Bus USB based mechanism However other types of serial communications mechanisms are possible and embodimen
21. iving information via the serial communications mechanism in response to sending the request com mand wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command 21 A device comprising a serial communications port capable of operatively cou pling to a personal computing device via a serial com munications mechanism and one or more logic elements configured to receive arequest command from the personal computing device via the serial communications mechanism and send information via the serial communications mecha nism in response to receiving the request command wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command
22. n the personal computing device 101 and the personal wireless network device 103 In another embodiment one or more data channels are used to transmit both command and response data and other data 0038 Logic instructions or programs for sending com mands and receiving responses in the personal computing device 101 may be implemented in software hardware firm ware or some combination of software hardware and firm ware 0039 Logic instructions or programs for receiving com mands and sending responses in the personal wireless net work device 103 may be implemented in software hardware firmware or some combination of software hardware and firmware For example techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware by way of another device such as an application specific integrated circuit ASIC having ele ments including logic elements that are constructed config ured to implement techniques described herein in the per sonal wireless network device 103 Overall the personal wireless network device 103 may be hardware implemented using any number of devices with elements including logic elements that are constructed configured to implement tech niques described herein in the personal wireless network device 103 At Commands 0040 Inone embodiment each of the three commands are formatted and transmitted by the personal computing device 101 as ATtention command lines as follows CONFIGURATION NETWORK ADDR
23. nfiguration network address from the personal wire less network device 103 automatically launches a web browser 208 window directed to retrieve the web page indi cated by the configuration network address For example the US 2013 0054738 Al daemon 210 may automatically launch the web browser 208 window after the driver 214 and or the daemon 210 are ini tially installed on the personal computing device 101 as part of an initial installation and configuration procedure of the personal wireless network device 103 Sample BNAR Command Operation 0061 In one embodiment the daemon 210 sends the BNAR command via the driver 214 and serial communica tions port 218 to the personal wireless network device 103 In response the daemon 201 receives the billing network address from the personal wireless network device 103 via serial communications port 218 and the driver 214 0062 In one embodiment the daemon 210 upon receiv ing the billing network device stores the received billing network address in a storage 106 of the personal computing device 101 for later use 0063 Inone embodiment the daemon 210 provides a user interface displayed on the display 222 that allows a user of the personal computing device 101 to command the daemon 210 to launch a web browser 208 window directed to retrieve the web page indicated by the billing network address For this the daemon 210 may retrieve a previously stored billing net work address from a s
24. onal wireless network device without having to know guess lookup or enter the configuration network address Feb 28 2013 Billing Network Address Request Command 0020 A second of the three commands is referred to herein as the Billing Network Address Request command or just BNAR command for short According to one embodiment the personal wireless network device in response to receiving a BNAR command from the personal computing device returns to the personal computing device a network address at which the personal computing device can obtain the radio network carrier s billing information web page This network address is referred to herein as the billing network address 0021 The radio network carrier may be a radio network service provider such as a cellular network carrier for example that provides and facilitates for a fee connectivity and data transfer between the personal wireless network device and a data network connected to the radio network The radio network carrier may maintain service billing and usage information for the user accessible through the carrier s Internet web site With the BNAR command capability in the personal computing device and the personal wireless network device the personal computing device can obtain for the user the billing network address of the radio network carrier from the personal wireless network device without the user having to know guess lookup or enter th
25. r the user and automatically open a web browser window directed to the billing network address A beneficial effect of the BNAR command is that the user can access billing and or service usage information from the radio network carrier s Internet web site without having to know guess lookup or enter the billing network address Service Type Request Command 0026 Thethird of the three commands is referred to herein as the Service Type Request command orjust STR com mand for short According to one embodiment the personal wireless network device in response to receiving a STR command from the personal computing device returns to the personal computing device current radio network service US 2013 0054738 Al type information pertaining to the radio communications between the personal wireless network device and the radio network 0027 In one embodiment the service type information includes 1 a number indicating radio signal strength between the personal wireless network device and the radio network e g anumber ranging from 0 to 5 with 0 indicating low signal strength up to 5 indicating high signal strength 2 a character string indicating the current radio network mode e g UMTS HSPA HSPA LTE etc and 3 a character string indicating the generation of the current radio network service e g 2G 3G 4G etc With the STR command capability in the personal comput
26. read only memory ROM perma nent storage e g one or more magnetic disks or optical disks flash storage etc as well as other types of storage The various storages 206 may be volatile or non volatile Com mon forms of computer readable storage media include for example a floppy disk a flexible disk hard disk magnetic tape or any other magnetic medium a CD ROM DVD or any other optical storage medium punchcards papertape or any other physical medium with patterns of holes a RAM a PROM an EPROM a FLASH EPROM or any other type of flash memory any memory chip or cartridge and any other storage medium from which a computer can read 0050 As shown in FIG 2 storage s 206 store at least several sets of executable instructions including an operating system 212 a web browser application 208 a personal wire less network device configuration daemon 210 and a serial communications port driver 214 0051 Inthe embodiment shown in FIG 2 the processor s 204 and the executable instructions 212 210 and or 214 may be thought of as forming a data command requestor that implements techniques described herein in the personal com puting device 101 In such an implementation the processors s 204 may be thought of as being configured by the executable instructions 212 208 210 and or 214 to carry out the techniques in the personal computing device 101 This is just one possible implementation for the data command r
27. serial communications mechanism and receiving information via the serial communications mechanism in response to sending the request com mand wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command 19 A non transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by one or more proces sors causes a personal wireless network device operatively coupled to a personal computing device by a serial commu nications mechanism to perform a method comprising receiving a request command from the personal computing device via the serial communications mechanism and sending information via the serial communications mecha nism in response to receiving the request command wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command 20 A device comprising a serial communications port capable of operatively cou pling to a personal wireless network device via a serial communications mechanism one or more processors one or more non transitory computer readable media stor ing instructions which when executed by the one or more processors causes the device to perform a method comprising sending a request command to the personal wireless network device via the serial communications mecha nism and rece
28. that is config ured to use one or more of the three data commands described herein 0012 FIG 2 is a block diagram of a personal computing device configured to use one or more of three data commands described herein 0013 FIG 3isascreenshot of a user interface generated in part based on a response to one of the three data command described herein DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0014 In the following description for the purposes of explanation numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention It will be apparent however that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details In other instances well known structures and devices are shown in block dia gram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the present invention US 2013 0054738 Al Configuration Network Address Request Command 0015 A first of the three commands is referred to herein as the Configuration Network Address Request command or just CNAR command for short According to one embodi ment the personal wireless network device in response to receiving a CNAR command from the personal computing device returns to the personal computing device a network address at which the personal computing device can reach a configuration web server of the personal wireless network device This network address is referred to herein as the configuration network address With the CN
29. torage 106 and provide the retrieved billing network address to the web browser 208 via an Appli cation Programming Interface API or on a command line Alternatively in response to receiving the command to launch the web browser window the daemon 210 may send the BNAR command to the personal wireless network device 103 and launch the window using the billing network address returned by the personal wireless network device 103 in response to the BNAR command In both cases the user need not know guess locate or enter the billing network address used by the radio network carrier to provide billing informa tion 0064 Like with the configuration network address the daemon 210 may generate a complete URL from a partial URL representing the billing network address that is received from the personal wireless network device 103 or pass the partial URL as received to the web browser 208 Sample STR Command Operation 0065 Inone embodiment the daemon 210 sends the STR command via the driver 214 and serial communications port 218 to the personal wireless network device 103 In response the daemon 201 receives the radio service type information from the personal wireless network device 103 via serial communications port 218 and the driver 214 0066 Inone embodiment the radio service type informa tion includes 1 a number indicating radio signal strength between the personal wireless network device and the radio network e g a number
30. ts are not limited to USB based mechanisms For example serial communications mechanism 102 may be a FireWire based Ethernet based PCI Express based etc In one embodiment the interface between the personal computing device 101 and the personal wireless network device 103 provided by the serial communications mechanism 102 is intended to operate over existing serial e g ITU T Recom mendation V 24 USB FireWire Ethernet etc cables infra red link or any other serial link type suitable for implement ing one or more of three data commands described herein 0032 Personal wireless network device 103 may be com municatively coupled to a radio network 104 For this pur pose personal wireless network device 103 includes a radio transmitter and receiver for sending and receiving radio sig nals to and from the radio network 104 The radio network 104 may be any network in which data is transmitted between the personal wireless network device 103 and the radio net work 104 using radio waves 0033 In one embodiment the radio network 104 is a mobile cellular network containing a number of fixed loca tion radio transceivers cell towers or base stations joined together to provide radio coverage over a geographic area In this case the radio network 104 may use any one or multiple of a number of different digital cellular technologies for send ing and receiving data to and from the personal wireless network device 103 including but
31. user may become frustrated if unable to cor rectly guess the network address on the first attempt or after many attempts 0007 Accordingly there is a need for a technique that allows a user to gain access to the web interface provided by a configuration web server of a personal wireless network device that does not require the user to know the network address of the web server 0008 The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued Therefore unless otherwise indicated it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 0009 Data commands for personal wireless network devices are described herein to improve usability of such devices and to enhance the overall user experience with such devices According to one embodiment the commands are sent from a personal computing device via a serial commu nications mechanism to the personal wireless network device At least three different commands are contemplated BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0010 The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numer als may refer to similar elements and in which 0011 FIG 1 is a block diagram of a system
32. w the three commands may be formatted as AT commands However other AT command formats are possible and embodiments of the invention are not limited to the example formats above Further embodiments are not limited to an AT command format and in alternative embodiments different data formats e g eXtensible Markup Language XML may be used Thus the above are merely examples of the various ways in which the three data commands and response thereto may be formatted Sample Personal Computing Device 0048 With reference to FIG 2 there is shown a block diagram of a sample personal computing device 101 in which one embodiment of the present invention may be imple mented As shown device 101 includes a bus 202 for facili tating information exchange and one or more processors 204 coupled to bus 202 for executing instructions and processing information Device 101 also includes one or more storage s 206 also referred to herein as non transitory computer read able media coupled to the bus 202 Storage s 206 may be used to store executable programs permanent data tempo rary data that is generated during program execution and any other information needed to carry out computer processing 0049 Storage s 206 may include any and all types of storages that may be used to carry out computer processing For example storage s 206 may include main memory e g random access memory RAM or other dynamic storage device cache memory
33. xpressly recited in a claim should limit the scope of such claim in any way The specification and drawings are accordingly to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense 1 A computer implemented method for obtaining infor mation from a personal wireless network device the method comprising at a personal computing device operatively coupled to the personal wireless network device by a serial communi cations mechanism sending a request command to the personal wireless net work device via the serial communications mechanism and receiving the information via the serial communications mechanism in response to sending the request com mand wherein the request command is one of a configuration network address request command a billing network address request command or a service type request command 2 The method of claim 1 wherein the request command is a configuration network address request command and the information comprises a network address of a web server of the personal wireless network device 3 The method of claim 2 wherein the configuration net work address request command comprises data representing the character string CONFIGURL US 2013 0054738 Al 4 The method of claim 1 wherein the request command is a billing network address request command and the informa tion comprises a network address of an Internet web site ofa radio network carrier 5 The method of claim 4 wherein th
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