HK1101948A - System and method for allowing user based application licensing across multiple wireless communications devices - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and method for a wireless service provider to provide activation of an application by a subscriber who has a plurality of wireless communications devices in a single subscription account. The subscriber can access the application from any one of the wireless communications devices, but only one activation at a time is allowed for each subscription account.

Description

System and method for allowing user-based application licensing among multiple wireless communication devices

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to wireless telecommunications and computer networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for providing an infrastructure for a service provider to deliver a service to a user having a plurality of wireless communication devices.

Background

Technological advances have made mobile phones or wireless communication devices inexpensive and affordable to almost everyone. It is not uncommon for a family to have several wireless communication devices, one for each family member. Wireless service providers also make it easier for a plurality of wireless communication devices to bill individual subscription accounts. Some wireless service providers allow different wireless communication devices to share the time allocation assigned to individual user accounts. For example, a user may apply for a schedule that allows 500 minutes of airtime and have that 500 minutes shared by different wireless communication devices used by family members.

In the above scenario, multiple wireless communication devices used by different family members do not compete for the 500 minute time allocation. In fact, the wireless service provider records the airtime used by each wireless communication device and aggregates the time used by all wireless communication devices into the same user account. The aggregate time is then compared to the 500 minute time allocation. There is no limit to the amount of time each individual wireless communication device can use.

However, the situation changes when the wireless service provider charges a monthly subscription or access fee per user per wireless device application. For some applications, the wireless service provider may charge a fixed subscription fee per wireless communication device, and the user needs to subscribe to the application and pay a monthly subscription fee before access to the application from the wireless communication device is permitted. However, if a user wishes to access the same application through different wireless communication devices, such as in the case of several wireless communication devices in a home, it becomes expensive to pay a subscription fee per wireless communication device. It also becomes expensive to pay a subscription fee per wireless communication device if the user wishes to implement an application (e.g., wireless network-based yellow pages service) that is typically accessed sporadically for all family members. It is unlikely that all family members will simultaneously access the wireless network-based yellow page service, and therefore paying a subscription fee per wireless communication device will become cost-prohibitive to the user.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide a system and method that allows a wireless service provider to grant access to an application from any wireless communication device registered in a user account. It is to such a system and method that the present invention is primarily directed.

Disclosure of Invention

A system and method for allowing a wireless service provider to charge a separate subscription fee to each subscription account accessing a wireless application, where there are a plurality of wireless communication devices associated with the separate subscription account. The present invention allows a wireless service provider to control access to wireless applications so that only one wireless communication device can activate the wireless application at a time. Thus, simultaneous access requests from different wireless communication devices associated with the separate subscription accounts are denied.

A method according to one embodiment of the present invention allows a wireless service provider to support users having a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless service provider charges a separate subscription fee to each user for a service and allows the service to be invoked separately through the plurality of wireless communication devices. The method may comprise the steps of: receiving a selection of a selected application from the plurality of wireless communication devices; sending the selected application to the plurality of wireless communication devices; recording information of the selected application and the plurality of wireless communication devices in a subscription table; receiving an activation request for the selected application from a requesting wireless communication device; checking the subscription table for availability of the selected application; and if the selected application is available, marking the selected application as unavailable and sending an activation to the requesting wireless communication device.

A system according to one embodiment of the present invention allows a wireless service provider to support a subscriber having a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless service provider charges a single subscription fee for a service and allows the service to be invoked individually through the plurality of wireless communication devices. The system may include: a mobile switching center in communication with a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices have the same subscriber information; and a server in communication with the mobile switching center, the server having a subscription table with a plurality of entries. Each entry of the subscription table may have a user identification field, an application identification field, and a plurality of device identification fields, where each device identification field stores information about one wireless communication device.

Drawings

Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent after review of the hereinafter set forth brief description of the drawings, detailed description of the invention, and the claims:

fig. 1 is a system block diagram depicting an embodiment of a telecommunications system supporting control application access by a plurality of wireless devices.

Fig. 2 illustrates a subscription table.

Fig. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a user subscription process.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a wireless service provider subscription process.

Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a user application activation process.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a wireless service provider application activation process.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a user application activation process according to an alternative embodiment.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a wireless service provider application activation process according to an alternative embodiment.

Fig. 9 illustrates a subscription table according to an alternative embodiment.

Detailed Description

In describing the terms "communication device," "wireless device," "handheld phone," "wireless communication device," and "handset" are used interchangeably, the term "application" as used herein is intended to include executable and non-executable software files, raw data, aggregated data, patches, and other code segments. Moreover, like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the several views. With the advent of third generation (3G) wireless communication technology, more bandwidth is available for wireless communication, and handsets and wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, pagers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), have increased wireless capabilities. Currently, wireless service providers may provide a variety of applications that may provide different services to their users. These applications allow users to view weather, view stock quotes, view recent news announcements, receive email, receive paging messages, browse the internet, and play interactive games with a remote party all the time through the user's wireless handset, in addition to using the user to maintain audio communication with another party. Many of these applications are used sporadically by users, i.e., the user may invoke the application for a short period of time each day and not run the application for hours, but the user is still charged a full monthly subscription fee. For this reason, users may be reluctant to apply for services. However, if a user can pay a separate subscription fee per application and be able to share access to the application with their family members using different wireless communication devices, the user may be more inclined to apply for the service. The present invention thus provides support for wireless service providers to obtain more revenue by allowing users to pay individual subscriptions for applications and access applications from a plurality of wireless communication devices, as further described herein.

Fig. 1 depicts a communication network 100 used in accordance with the present invention. Communication network 100 includes one or more communication towers 106, each of which is connected to a Base Station (BS)110 and provides service to a user with communication device 102. The communication device 106 may be a cellular telephone, pager, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), notebook computer, or other handheld, fixed, or portable communication device that uses wireless and cellular telecommunication networks. The commands and data entered by each user are transmitted as digital data to the communication tower 106. Communication between a user using a communication device 102 and a communication tower 106 may be based on different technologies, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), or other protocols that may be used in a wireless communication network or a data communication network. Data from each user is sent from a communication tower 106 to a Base Station (BS)110 and forwarded to a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)114, which mobile switching center 114 may be connected to a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)118 and the internet 120.

MSC 113 may be connected to a server 116 that supports different applications available to a user using wireless communication device 102. The server 116 may be part of the MSC 113, as desired.

The server 116 may be operated by a wireless service provider or a third party. The server 116 provides applications that may be invoked by wireless users. The server 116 also maintains a user table 200 as shown in fig. 2. The user table 200 records the identity of the user account subscribing to the application, the identification 204 of the subscribed application, the identity 206, 208 of the wireless device authorized to access the application, the identity 210 of the wireless communication device currently invoking the application, and the password 211 associated with the application. Preferably, there is one entry 212 per application. When a user subscribes to more than one application, the user's account information will appear in more than one entry 212.

When a user subscribes to an application, an entry is created for the account. The entry lists user account information 202, which may be used as user identification information, and an application 204. Alternatively, the user may use a login name or a user name as the identification information of the user. If there are many wireless devices listed in the account, such as in a family situation where each family member has a wireless device, the user may list the identity of the wireless device authorized to use the application. The user may authorize all or only a portion of the devices to use the application. The user may also assign a password to this application. After the wireless service provider creates the entry, the wireless service provider can forward the user information to a billing system so the user can be billed.

Fig. 3 illustrates a user subscription process 300. The user subscribes to the application by providing the service provider with its account information (step 302). The service provider of the application may be the same wireless service provider that provides wireless service to the user, or an independent third party. The subscriber account information is associated with its Mobile Identification Number (MIN) or the Electronic Identification Number (EIN) of its wireless device. The wireless service provider can easily retrieve the subscriber's account information from its database using MIN/EIN and forward to a third party service provider if needed. The user requests a menu of applications (step 304) and receives the menu (step 306). The requests and menus are transmitted wirelessly between the wireless handset 102 and the communication tower 106. A menu is displayed on the wireless handset 102 from which the user can make selections. After selecting the application, the wireless handset 102 sends the selection to the wireless service provider (step 308) and receives the application from the wireless service provider (step 310). The received application may be a full application running on the wireless handset 102 or a remote user interface for the application running on the server 116.

The user may also enter information for other wireless handsets 102 that are permitted to access the application. This may be done by entering information for each wireless handset, or by selecting from a list received from the wireless service provider.

Fig. 4 illustrates a wireless service provider subscription process 400. The wireless service provider receives user information when the user registers with the wireless service provider (step 402). The wireless service provider receives the menu request, step 404, and transmits the menu to the user's wireless communication device 102, step 406. After the wireless service provider receives the selection, step 408, the wireless service provider creates an entry 212 in the subscription table 200 and registers the user account information 202, the selected application 204, and the devices permitted to access the application, step 410. After registering the selected application, the wireless service provider sends the selected application to the user (step 412). If desired, the user may set a password for the application, and this password will also be entered into entry 212.

In an alternative embodiment, the user may repeat the subscription process from different wireless communication devices, so applications may be downloaded to those wireless communication devices. However, in this case, no new entry is created in the subscription table, and the wireless service provider will simply add the identification of the wireless communication device to the appropriate entry.

Fig. 5 illustrates a user activation process 500. When the wireless communication device 102 registers with the wireless service provider, the user sends its information to the wireless service provider, step 502. After the wireless communication device 102 communicates with the wireless service provider, the user may activate the application by sending an application activation request to the wireless service provider, step 504. If a failure message is not received, step 505, the wireless communication device will receive an activation for the selected application, step 506. The activation may be an authorization from the wireless service provider that allows the wireless communication device to run the remote user interface. The activation may also be the entire application received by the wireless communication device. If the wireless communication device receives a failure message instead of an activation, the wireless communication device displays a failure message, step 508.

Fig. 6 illustrates a wireless service provider subscription process 600. The wireless service provider receives user information during a registration procedure (step 602) and an activation request for an application (step 604). The user information may also be a user name provided by the user. The wireless service provider checks the subscription table 200 to see if the user is a subscriber (step 606). If the user is not the user, the wireless service provider sends a failure message to the user (step 610). If this user is a user, the wireless service provider checks to see if the selected application is being used by other wireless communication devices, step 608. If the application is being used by another wireless communication device in the user's account, such as by a spouse, the wireless service provider sends a failure message to the user, step 610. If the selected application is not in use, the wireless service provider sets an "in use" flag in an entry in the subscription table for that application (step 612) and sends the selected application activation to the user (step 614). Setting the "in use" flag may be accomplished by entering the identification of the wireless communication device into the current device identification field 210.

Fig. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment for a user activation process 700. Process 700 is similar to process 500 except for password submission. When the wireless communication device 102 registers with the wireless service provider, the user sends its information to the wireless service provider, step 702. After the wireless communication device 102 communicates with the wireless service provider, the user may activate the application by sending an application activation request (step 704) and a password (step 706) to the wireless service provider. If a failure message is not received, step 708, the wireless communication device will receive an activation for the selected application, step 712. If the wireless communication device receives a failure message instead of an activation, the wireless communication device displays the failure message, step 710.

Fig. 8 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a user activation process 800. Process 800 is similar to process 600 except that a password is received. The wireless service provider receives user information during a registration procedure (step 802) and an activation request for an application (step 804). The wireless service provider also receives a password from the user (step 806). The wireless service provider checks the subscription table 200 to see if the user is a subscriber (step 807) and if the password provided is correct. If the user is not a subscriber or an authorized subscriber, the wireless service provider sends a failure message to the user (step 810). If this user is a user, the wireless service provider checks to see if the selected application is being used by other wireless communication devices, step 808. If the application is being used by another wireless communication device in the user's account (e.g., by its spouse), the wireless service provider sends a failure message to the user, step 810. If the selected application is not in use, the wireless service provider sets an "in use" flag in an entry in the subscription table for that application (step 812) and sends the selected application activation to the user (step 814).

In an alternative embodiment, the wireless service provider may allow a user to access applications not only from wireless communication devices affiliated with their user account, but also from any wireless communication device. Fig. 9 illustrates a subscription table 900 for this alternative embodiment. The wireless service provider records user account information 902 and application identification 904 in an entry 910 in the subscription table 900. In the same entry 910, the wireless service provider may also record the password 908 used to invoke the application and the identification 906 of the wireless communication device currently using the application. According to this embodiment, the user or a member of his family may invoke an application from any wireless communication device. When a user connects to a wireless service provider, it may issue a request for an application. The wireless service provider prompts the user for his user account information (e.g., his username) and password. If the entered user account information and password are correct, the wireless service provider sends the application or its activation to the user when none of the people from the user account are using the application.

In yet another embodiment, the wireless service provider may allow the user to subscribe to a certain number of licenses for personal or family members. In this embodiment, an entry in the subscription table will have an active user number field and a subscription user number field. The user may choose to subscribe to, for example, two licenses for a particular application, and the wireless service provider will allow that application to be invoked by up to two wireless communication devices associated with the user account at the same time. A third simultaneous activation of the same application will fail.

The following is a description of one use case according to one embodiment of the invention. Users may purchase wireless devices with device resident operating systems, such as from the Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)^TM) An enabled device and subscribes to wireless communication services with the provider. The user also subscribes to a Global Positioning System (GPS) based navigation service from their wireless service provider and registers with the wireless service provider a plurality of wireless communication devices used by their family members. The wireless service provider allows the user to download applications to wireless communication devices owned by the user and his family members. The wireless service provider creates an entry for the user in the subscription table and lists the application in the entry. The wireless service provider also records the identification of each wireless communication device in a subscription table. Wireless service providers for security purposesThe vendor may allow the user to set a password for the application.

The user may invoke an application to assist him in driving from his office to his customer premises. The user calls the wireless service provider to activate the application. The wireless service provider obtains identification information for the user's wireless communication device when the user's device registers with the wireless service provider and retrieves user account information from its record. The wireless service provider uses the user account information and the application information to retrieve entries from the subscription table. If the entry has a password, the wireless service provider prompts the user for the password. After verifying the password, the wireless service provider checks to see if the application is in use. If the application is not in use, the wireless service provider enters the identification of the user's wireless communication device into an entry and sends an activation to the user. After the user finishes using the application, the user releases the application, which may be sending a hang-up signal to the wireless service provider, and the wireless service provider clears the user's device from the entry. If another family member calls the wireless service provider to activate the same application while the user is using the application, the wireless service provider sends an "in use" message to the calling device.

In an alternative embodiment, the present invention may be implemented in a manner that increases revenue for the service provider. For example, for a user using a wireless device equipped with a Removable User Identity Module (RUIM), a service provider may allow the user to download applications to different devices if the device is equipped with the user's RUIM. In general, a user is identified using a RUIM sequence number or a user identification number (SID), and the RUIM sequence number and SID are stored in a server. When a user inserts his RUIM into a wireless device and requests that an application be downloaded to this wireless device, the server checks the RUIM serial number received from the wireless device against the user database. Upon identifying that the RUIM belongs to the user, the server begins downloading the application to the wireless device. The service provider may choose to charge a fee for downloading the application to this additional wireless device.

The following is a use case of the above embodiment. A user of a video game downloads the video game to his primary cell phone and uses that cell phone to play the video game. However, if a user does not carry his primary handset but carries his RUIM, the user can still play a video game by using a different handset. The user can insert his RUIM into the handset and start downloading the application to the handset. The mobile phone transmits the sequence number of the RUIM together with the mobile phone information to the server, and the server checks the subscription of the user through the RUIM sequence number. After confirming its subscription, the server sends the video game to the handset and records the fee for this download. As described above, the service provider may charge additional fees for downloading applications to handsets other than the user's primary handset.

From BREW^TMThe enabled wireless device provides the service provider with the option of billing for or billing only for application downloads per SID/RUIM per device. From BREW^TMThe enabled device provides device and/or application information to the server, which enables the service provider to charge the user per application download or per device per application download.

In view of the method being executable on a wireless service provider's computer device or wireless communication device, the present invention includes a program resident in a computer readable medium, where the program directs a server or other computer device having a computer platform to perform the steps of the method. The computer readable medium may be the memory of a server or may be in a connected database. Additionally, the computer readable medium can be in a secondary storage media that is loadable onto a wireless communications device computer platform, such as a magnetic disk or tape, optical disk, hard disk, flash memory, or other storage media as is known in the art.

In the context of fig. 3-8, the method may be implemented, for example, by operating one or more portions of the wireless network, such as a wireless communication device or a server, to execute a sequence of machine-readable instructions. The instructions may reside in various types of signal-bearing or data storage primary, secondary, or tertiary media. The media may comprise, for example, RAM (not shown) accessible by, or residing within, the components of the wireless network. Whether contained in RAM, a diskette, or other secondary storage media, the instructions may be stored on a variety of machine-readable data storage media, such as DASD storage (e.g., a conventional "hard drive" or a RAID array), magnetic tape, electronic read-only memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM), flash memory cards, an optical storage device (e.g., CD-ROM, WORM, DVD, digital optical tape), paper "punch" cards, or other suitable data storage media including digital and analog transmission media.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims (41)

1. A method for a wireless service provider to support a user having a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless service provider charges a separate subscription fee for an application and allows the application to be invoked separately through a plurality of wireless communication devices, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a selection of a selected application from at least one of the plurality of wireless communication devices;

sending the selected application to at least one of the plurality of wireless communication devices;

recording information of the selected application and information of the plurality of wireless communication devices;

receiving an activation request for the selected application from a requesting wireless communication device;

checking the availability of the selected application; and

if the selected application is available, the selected application is marked as unavailable to other wireless communication devices of the plurality of wireless communication devices and an activation is sent to the requesting wireless communication device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: associating user information with the selected application and the information of the plurality of wireless communication devices in a subscription table.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: verifying that the requesting wireless communication device belongs to the user.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: if the selected application is not available, a failure message is sent to the requesting wireless communication device.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: a subscription table is provided in a server.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the server is a remote server.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: an application menu is sent to the plurality of wireless communication devices.

8. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of: user information is received from the requesting wireless communication device.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of: the user information is checked against the information in the subscription table.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: information is received about the requesting wireless communication device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: a password is received from the requesting wireless communication device.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising the steps of: the password is checked against information in the subscription table.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: a username is received.

14. A system for a wireless service provider to support a user having a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the wireless service provider charges a single subscription fee for a service and allows the service to be invoked individually through a plurality of wireless communication devices, the system comprising:

a mobile switching center in communication with a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices have the same subscriber information;

a server in communication with the mobile switching center, the server having a subscription table, wherein the subscription table has a plurality of entries, each entry having

A field for identifying a user, wherein the user is a user identification field,

an application identification field, and

a plurality of device identification fields, wherein each device identification field stores information about one wireless communication device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the subscription table further comprises a current device field.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the subscription table further comprises a password field.

17. An apparatus for supporting access to an application by a wireless service user from a plurality of wireless communication devices, comprising a server in communication with a wireless service provider, wherein the server receives an application selection, user information and wireless communication device information from the user, wherein the server receives a request to access the application from a requesting wireless communication device, and the server provides access to the requesting wireless communication device and prevents access to other wireless communication devices of the plurality of wireless communication devices until the requesting wireless communication device relinquishes access to the application.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the server comprises a subscription table having a plurality of entries, wherein an entry has

A field for identifying a user, wherein the user is a user identification field,

an application identification field, and

a current device identification field.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the entry further has a password field.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the entry further has at least one wireless communication device identification field.

21. A method of accessing an application from a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the application can be invoked individually, the method comprising:

a receiving step for receiving a selection of a selected application from a requesting wireless communication device, wherein the wireless communication device belongs to a separate user account;

a determining step for determining whether the selected application is associated with the individual user account;

if the selected application associated with the selected user in the subscription table is being used by another wireless communication device, then performing a sending step for sending a failure message to the wireless communication device; and

if the selected application associated with the selected user in the subscription table is not being used by another wireless communication device, an activation step is performed for activating the selected application for the requesting wireless communication device.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

a receiving step for receiving a password from each of the wireless communication devices; and

and a verification step for verifying the password.

23. An apparatus for supporting a wireless service subscriber to access an application from a plurality of wireless communication devices, comprising:

providing means for providing an application to a plurality of wireless communication devices;

receiving means for receiving a request to access a subscribed application from at least one of the plurality of wireless communication devices; and

means for allowing only one of the plurality of wireless communication devices to access a subscribed application at any one time.

24. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising an authentication means for authenticating the identity of a user requesting access to the reservation application.

25. The apparatus of claim 23, further comprising means for identifying the wireless communication device requesting access to the subscribing application.

26. An apparatus for supporting a user access to an application from a plurality of wireless communication devices, comprising a server in communication with a wireless service provider, wherein the server receives an application selection, user information and wireless communication device information from the user, wherein the server has a subscription table having a plurality of entries, wherein an entry has a plurality of entries

A field for identifying a user, wherein the user is a user identification field,

an application identification field, and

a nonce field.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the entry further has a password field.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the entry further has at least one wireless communication device identification field.

29. A method of accessing an application from a plurality of wireless communication devices, wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices can invoke the application, the method comprising:

a setting step for setting a predetermined user number of a selected application program in a reservation table of a reservation account;

a receiving step for receiving a selection of the selected application from a wireless communication device, wherein the wireless communication device is associated with the subscription account;

a comparing step, for comparing a current user number of the selected application program with the predetermined user number; and

if the active user number of the selected application is less than the predetermined user number, an activation step is performed for activating the selected application in the wireless communication device and incrementing the active user number.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

a receiving step for receiving a password from the wireless communication device; and

and a verification step for verifying the password.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising: if the active user number is greater than the predetermined user number, then a sending step is performed for sending a failure message to the wireless communication device.

32. A computer program stored in a computer readable memory, which when executed by a computer device performs the steps of:

receiving a request for a subscribed application from a requesting wireless communication device;

determining whether the subscribed application is being used by another wireless communication device;

if the subscribing application is not in use, blocking access to the subscribing application by other wireless communication devices and activating the subscribing application for the requesting wireless communication device; and

if the subscribing application is in use, a failure message is sent to the requesting wireless communication device.

33. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of:

receiving a password from the requesting wireless communication device; and

the password is verified.

34. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: an entry is created in a subscription table for the subscribing application.

35. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: an application menu is sent to the requesting wireless communication device.

36. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: verifying that the requesting wireless communication device belongs to a user.

37. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: if the subscribing application is not available, a failure message is sent to the requesting wireless communication device.

38. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: user information is received from the requesting wireless communication device.

39. The computer program of claim 38, further performing the steps of: the user information is checked.

40. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: information is received about the requesting wireless communication device.

41. The computer program of claim 32, further performing the steps of: a username is received.