Patents Assigned to Vodafone Group, PLC
  • Patent number: 9971612
    Abstract: A method of controlling a widget execution device configured for use with a television includes: using a control application on a mobile terminal to wirelessly identify one or more widgets in a data network environment, such that the one or more widgets are suitable for download to the widget execution device; and using the control application to cause the download of the one or more widgets to the widget execution device. The method may involve identifying the one or more widgets on a remote server, the remote server being in communicable relation with the widget execution device; and causing the download of the one or more widgets by selecting the one or more widgets.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 7, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 15, 2018
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC.
    Inventors: James Irwin, David Pollington
  • Patent number: 9743344
    Abstract: Providing a mobile terminal with system information which enables the terminal to access one of the cells of a cellular telecommunications system includes transmitting from the telecommunications system to all terminals within the cell, including the terminal, a system information indicator that makes available to the terminal system information to provide access to the system. The system information indicator is transmitted on the broadcast channel (BCH). The system information indicator may be a sub-set of the system information conventionally transmitted on the BCH but which is sufficient to allow the mobile terminal to access the network and obtain in the downlink further system information. Alternatively, the information transmitted in the BCH may be a profile index value which directs the mobile terminal to retrieve from a store of the mobile terminal system information pre-stored on the mobile terminal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: David Andrew Fox, Timothy Frost
  • Patent number: 9485249
    Abstract: A computer, such as a Windows-based PC (10), has associated with it a Subscriber Identity Module (or SIM) (12), such as of the type used in a GSM cellular telephone system. The SIM (12) can be authenticated by the telephone network (16), in the same way as for authenticating SIMs of telephone handset users in the network, and can in this way authenticate the user of the PC (10) or the PC (10) itself. Such authentication can, for example, permit use of the PC (10) in relation to a particular application (22) which is released to the PC (10) after the authentication is satisfactorily completed. The application may be released to the PC (10) by a third party after and in response to the satisfactory completion of the authentication process. A charge for the session can be debited to the user by the telecommunications network and then passed on to the third party.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: David Jeal, George Stronach Mudie, Charles William Debney
  • Patent number: 9480011
    Abstract: A method and system for routing a voice connection over a cellular network to a mobile station is disclosed. The cellular network comprises a plurality of base stations, some of which have capability to provide the voice connection to the mobile station using Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). A voice connection for the mobile station is identified at an Application Server of the cellular network. A request message is sent from the Application Server to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), or Home Location Register (HLR), of the cellular network. The request message requests an indication ds to whether the mobile station is being served by a base station having capability to provide a voice connection using VoIP.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2010
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: Nick Russell, Christopher David Pudney, Gavin Wong
  • Patent number: 9397863
    Abstract: A cellular telecommunications network for facilitating communication connections for terminals having token identification modules, the network including: a location register for receiving requests to access the network and, if the requests are associated with a token identification module, redirecting the requests; a token register which receives redirected requests, generates connection identification data and transmits the connection identification data to the location register to identify the terminal to the location register; a network gateway component for establishing a communication between the network and the terminal in accordance with the connection identification data; and a network monitoring component for performing service management, such as a session authentication check. A network implementing the invention is capable of providing data communication sessions to terminals having identification modules that are not associated with MSISDN numbers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 31, 2013
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: Richard Gumbrell, Tony Smith, Yakeen Prabdial, Edmund Wontner
  • Patent number: 9398461
    Abstract: A communication method, for use with a telecommunications system, enables special communications to be routed to respective devices in a group of the devices by addressing the devices with a respective special identifier. The telecommunications system includes a network core and a plurality of subscriber devices registered with the network core. The core enables communications to be routed to the devices by a respective ID allocated to each device. The method further includes maintaining a store of the special identifier of each device in the group and a corresponding value derived from the ID. The method enables the special identifier of a device in the group to be obtained from the store by providing the store with the corresponding value derived from that device's ID.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: July 19, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventor: Peter Thompson
  • Patent number: 9363680
    Abstract: In order to transmit data packets in multi-RAT networks, a method and system of network controllers are provided including simultaneous establishment of radio connections over multiple different Radio Access Technologies or RATs, with User Equipment or UE 13, being one radio connection firstly established over one primary RAT under a single PDP context and one or more radio connections established over at least one secondary RAT, different from the primary RAT, and under the same single PDP context; simultaneous transmission of data packets over the different RATs towards the UE 13 and combination of the transmitted data by higher layer protocols at the UE 13. In the present method/system, a connection is established for user plane transmission on the same PDP context between a primary network controller 11 of the primary RAT and the secondary network controller 12 of a secondary RAT. More than one secondary RAT may be involved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 13, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 7, 2016
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: Andrea De Pasquale, Francisco Javier Dominguez Romero, Yannick Le Pezennec
  • Patent number: 9357375
    Abstract: In a telecommunications system including a plurality of different networks, terminals and smart cards, each terminal is usable in a particular network in association with one of the smart cards when that smart card is registered with that network. Each smart card carries secret information specific to its registered home network and with which the network can authenticate the smart card and allow use of the terminal with which that smart card is associated. Each smart card may be registered with one of the networks as its home network, selectively de-registered from its home network, and re-registered with a different one of the networks as its home network by obtaining data including an International Mobile Subscriber Identifier for use with that network. The Identifier is transmitted to the smart card, and the secret information relating to a particular network activated when registering or re-registering the smart card with that network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2009
    Date of Patent: May 31, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventor: Peter Howard
  • Patent number: 9326010
    Abstract: A method and network entity for downloading detected video packets. A minimum bit rate MinBR equals ViBR+M, where M?0 is a configurable bit rate margin from an estimated video bit rate ViBR. A specific bit rate SBR is greater than MinBR. The method uses MinBR and SBR as a minimum bit rate limit and a maximum bit rate limit respectively between which the bit rate for delivering video in case of congestion is defined. The method can further compare the predefined specific bit rate with a real throughput of the user requesting video download with a QoS profile, and if there is congestion and if the throughput is larger than or equal to SBR, the priority value of a QoS profile to be used for downloading video in case of congestion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2012
    Date of Patent: April 26, 2016
    Assignees: Vodafone Group PLC, Vodafone Espana, S.A.U.
    Inventors: Francisco Javier Dominguez Romero, Andrea De Pasquale
  • Patent number: 9319972
    Abstract: This disclosure concerns systems and methods for implementing location based services in communications networks. In one example, when the GMLC of a telecommunications network receives a request for the location of a mobile terminal, an SMLC is interrogated to obtain therefrom, if available, data indicative of the location of the relevant mobile terminal. The mobile terminal may be caused to selectively switch between a GSM radio access network and another access network if no location information is derivable from one of the access networks currently used by the device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 13, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 19, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: David Andrew Fox, Gavin Wong, Christopher David Pudney
  • Patent number: 9298845
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and system for detecting the display of objects inserted in web pages. The method comprises downloading (12) a web page from a web server (2) to a web browser of a customer, said web page including information regarding a detection function for detecting the display on the screen of the web browser of the objects inserted in the web page; downloading (14) the objects to be inserted in the web page from an inserted object provider server (3) to the customer's web browser; inserting said objects in the web page; associating the detection function with the inserted objects; the web browser sending (15) a message with the identifier of the displayed object to a hit measurement server (4) each time the detection function detects that an object has been correctly displayed; monitoring the displays of said objects in the hit measurement server (4).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2008
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventor: Pedro Almenar Belenguer
  • Patent number: 9282499
    Abstract: In a telecommunications network including one or more mobile terminals in communicable relation to a mobile network and a data network such that data from the mobile terminals is transmitted towards the data network via the mobile network, a method of directing data from the mobile terminals towards the data network includes: providing an alternative data route towards the data network which bypasses at least a portion of the mobile network; comparing the data from the mobile terminals with selection criteria; and using the result of the comparison to selectively redirecting at least a portion of the data generated by the mobile terminals onto the alternative data route. The alternative data route may be configured to bypass at least a portion of the core component of the mobile network, and data that is redirected is data which is not required to be processed by the bypassed core network component.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: Youssef Chami, Rhys Davies
  • Patent number: 9253188
    Abstract: An end-to-end client server system and related method for use in conjunction with mobile terminals. A client application on a mobile terminal is configured to remotely access a backend server via a gateway system. The mobile terminal includes a client application configured to generate a one time password using secret information and a password library, both known only to the client application and a verification component of the gateway system. The one time password provides an additional level of security, which is user dependent and not network dependent.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2009
    Date of Patent: February 2, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: Jyoti Bhasin, Greg Reeve
  • Publication number: 20160026991
    Abstract: In a wireless communications network, a system is provided for securely executing the transfer of rights between holders of accounts. The secure transfer of messages may represent the exchange of title to monetary assets. Each title holder is provided with a SIM card containing a transaction application that can interpret menu messages, accept user inputs and generate transaction messages for processing by the system. Each of the menu and transaction messages is delivered as a short messaging service message. The holder inserts his SIM into a mobile handset, and (after authentication with the system) is permitted to interact with the system to conduct rights transfer transactions. Since the transactions are in the form of simple text messages, the mobile handset need not conform to a high specification (i.e. may not support GPRS).
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 20, 2010
    Publication date: January 28, 2016
    Applicant: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: Timothy Norton Sherard MURDOCH, Christopher BOWLEY, Lesley-Ann VAUGHAN, Warren Douglas CAREW, Nick HUGHES, Susie LONIE
  • Patent number: 9247560
    Abstract: Controlling data transfer between a mobile device and a data telecommunications network includes receiving a service request requiring a data transfer, determining at least one parameter requirement relating to the service request from a predefined profile, determining a network/user condition relating to one or more of the at least one parameters, comparing the one or more parameter requirements with the relevant network/user condition, and using the comparison to determine whether or not to proceed with the service request. Data transfer to and/or from a mobile device may be managed so that the network conditions, such as available signal strength and bearer type, are taken into consideration before proceeding with the data transfer. Accordingly, if the network conditions are not suitable for the service request requiring a data transfer, it is possible to not proceed with the request, such as by delaying it until network conditions become suitable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 26, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: Matthew Vizor, Graeme Hardy, Chris Jones, Christine Rickard
  • Patent number: 9237443
    Abstract: A subscriber of a mobile telecommunications system has a home network and is able to roam in a visited network. A Roaming Record is generated when a subscriber uses telecommunication services in the visited network. Call Detail Records (CDRs) are generated when a call is terminated or originated by the home network. The system includes an analyzer for analysing Roaming Records and CDRs to identify mis-routed telephone calls. In the embodiments, mis-routed telephone calls that are diverted from the fixed International carrier line to a SIM box via a voice over IP connection are detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2009
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2016
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventor: Tamas Kocsis
  • Patent number: 9201469
    Abstract: A mobile communication terminal is disclosed that is capable of utilizing detection result data obtained by detection means for detecting position, direction, attitude and/or movement in a platform-independent application program that can be registered and used by users. When downloading an application program to a mobile communication terminal and executing it, first, the application execution environment is activated and the application program is executed under the environment. The started application program sends an acquisition request for acceleration data to the phone platform. When the phone platform accepts the acquisition request, it passes acceleration data detected by an acceleration sensor to the application program. Accordingly, the application program can perform a process utilizing the acceleration data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 14, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 1, 2015
    Assignee: Vodafone Group PLC
    Inventors: Naomi Nishikata, Takahisa Mizuno, Hideyuki Ikeda, Hirohisa Kusuda
  • Patent number: 9172582
    Abstract: Management of a call between a calling party that is a mobile terminal in a first cellular network and a called party that is a mobile terminal in a second cellular network is provided by: receiving at an Application Server, AS, of the first cellular network a request to establish a call with the called party from the calling party, the called party being identified in the indication by a circuit-switched identifier; identifying a registration for the called party in the first cellular network using the circuit-switched identifier for the called party, the registration providing a packet-switched identifier for the called party; and setting up a call between the calling party and the called party of the first cellular network by initiating a packet-switched connection from the AS in the first cellular network to the called party in the second cellular network using the packet-switched identifier for the called party.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 27, 2015
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: Juan Miguel Santos, Rogelio Martinez, Fernando Laloma
  • Patent number: 9106278
    Abstract: A method for data transmission in a wide area mobile network supporting both MIMO User Equipments and non MIMO User Equipments includes allocating in a first signal the traffic of non MIMO user Equipments, a first MIMO data stream and a primary pilot channel, allocating in a second signal a second MIMO data stream and a secondary pilot channel, and transmitting the first signal and the second signal with two orthogonal circular polarizations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 27, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 11, 2015
    Assignee: VODAFONE GROUP PLC
    Inventors: Andrea De Pasquale, Kyriakos Exadaktylos, Esperanza Alcazar Viguera, Maria Diaz Mateos, Beatriz Garriga Muñiz, Francisco Javier Dominguez Romero, Brendan McWilliams, Julio Urbano Ruiz, Clara Serrano Solsona, Javier López Roman, Aitor García Viñas, Santiago Tenorio Sanz, Yannick Le Pezennec
  • Patent number: 9094370
    Abstract: The invention relates to a method and system for managing information stored and/or services configured in a mobile terminal from a remote terminal, wherein the mobile terminal is configured to connect to a mobile communications network and comprises a web server having an API defined for each piece of information and for each service provided by the mobile terminal, and wherein said remote terminal has access to a data network.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 7, 2008
    Date of Patent: July 28, 2015
    Assignees: VODAFONE GROUP PLC, VODAFONE ESPANA, S.A.
    Inventors: Hector Berna Fornies, Guillermo Caudevilla Laliena