Patents by Inventor Thomas Edward Hines, III

Thomas Edward Hines, III has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8818324
    Abstract: A provisioning system for processing data structures to determine if location capabilities indicated in records are correct for each of the different ranges indicated in each of the records, transferring the data structure to a location determination system if each of the location capabilities are correct, and generating an error response if each of the location capabilities are not correct.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 26, 2014
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventor: Thomas Edward Hines, III
  • Patent number: 8761719
    Abstract: New location information that is different from the old location information being used by location determination system is received by a provisioning system. A location change metric is determined from the old and new location information. The location determination system is provisioned by the provisioning system with the new location information if the location change metric meets certain criteria.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2008
    Date of Patent: June 24, 2014
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Hines, III, Larry S. Meyers
  • Patent number: 8451987
    Abstract: Service disruptions in a 911 system are detected by receiving reports from mobile positioning centers that detail certain activities of the 911 system. These reports are compiled into a log. Parts of this log are then searched for conditions that would indicate a service disruption. For example, a certain number of errors appearing in the log in the last six hours may indicate a service disruption. If a condition that would indicate a service disruption is found, a notice is generated so that action may be taken.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 13, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 28, 2013
    Assignee: Sprint Communcations Company L.P.
    Inventors: Hilah A. Rozier, Thomas Edward Hines, III
  • Patent number: 8422989
    Abstract: A computer system comprises a communication interface and a processing system. The user interface is configured to receive a plurality of communications requesting location information for a plurality of mobile devices engaged in communication sessions with a communication network. The processing system is configured to generate a plurality of records associated with the plurality of communications wherein the plurality of records comprises user information expressed in an initial format, process the plurality of records with a plurality of keys to encode the user information to generate encoded user information, and process the encoded user information to verify that the encoded user information satisfies the initial format. Upon determining that the encoded user information satisfies the initial format, the communication interface is configured to transfer the encoded user information for analysis.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 2008
    Date of Patent: April 16, 2013
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Hines, III, Victoria L. Zeller, Hilah A. Rozier, Steven I. Zweifach
  • Patent number: 8244206
    Abstract: A method of operating a communication system to process emergency service calls is disclosed. A call request for an emergency service call from a mobile communication device is received. The call request includes a device identifier for the mobile communication device. A location capability database is queried using the device identifier to determine if the device identifier is in the location capability database. A default location capability is assigned if the device identifier is not in the location capability database. A location of the mobile communication device is determined using the default location capability if the device identifier is not in the location capability database.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2008
    Date of Patent: August 14, 2012
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Hines, III, Victoria L. Zeller, Kevin D. Bowles, Larry R. Dreiling
  • Patent number: 8060056
    Abstract: A communication network comprises a device configured to place a call for an emergency service, a call processing system in communication with the device and configured to receive and process the call to route the call to a public service answering point (PSAP), initiate a location determination process, and terminate the call, and a location provisioning system configured to execute the location determination process to determine the location of the device, wherein the location provisioning system comprises a plurality of sub systems, and wherein the call processing system communicates with only a first sub system of the plurality of sub systems to initiate the location determination process and communicates with the first sub system and a second sub system of the plurality of sub systems to terminate the call.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: November 15, 2011
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Hines, III, Hilah A. Rozier, Sharon K. Walker, Mark S. Freiermuth, Victoria L. Zeller
  • Patent number: 7950051
    Abstract: A password management system generates passwords for users. The system registers the passwords with applications in network elements in a communication network. The system indicates the passwords to the users who use the passwords to access the applications. The system generates new passwords before the old passwords expire. The system registers the new passwords with the applications and indicates the new passwords to the users before the old passwords expire. The users use the new passwords to access the applications. The system may also register network addresses with the applications for the users.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 30, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 24, 2011
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company L.P.
    Inventors: Sean T. Spitz, Trey A. Hilyard, Thomas Edward Hines, III
  • Patent number: 7535994
    Abstract: A Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) administration system is provided for safely modifying data in a PSAP database. The system includes a GUI, a storage system, and a processing system. The processing system logs changes to a data portion and defines modified data fields and unmodified data fields. The processing system reads out and stores a safe copy of the data portion from the PSAP database. The processing system writes the data portion to the PSAP database after reading the safe copy. The processing system reads out a verification copy of the data portion written to the PSAP database and compares the unmodified data fields of the safe copy to the unmodified data fields of the verification copy. The processing system generates an alarm if the unmodified data fields of the safe copy are not identical to the unmodified data fields of the verification copy.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2005
    Date of Patent: May 19, 2009
    Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP
    Inventors: Thomas Edward Hines, III, Hilah A. Rozier