Efficient retrieval of 4g lte capabilities

Abstract

A mobile device executes a background process under an on demand model that queries a remote service exposed by a mobile broadband network to receive status updates as to the capabilities of devices, such as the ability to stream video, that are associated with contacts that are stored on the mobile device. When a mobile device user invokes an action like using a dialer application that causes a contact to be displayed on the device's user interface (UI) such as in a contact card or contact list format, the background process immediately retrieves status for that contact card or list. While waiting for the status retrieval to complete, the background process will trigger the display of a temporary UI on the mobile device which can show either unknown capabilities status or show the most recently retrieved status that is read out of a cache.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A method performed on a mobile device with a user interface (UI) and having access to a mobile broadband network, comprising:
 receiving a first input from a user of the mobile device for invoking display of a contact card or a contact list on the UI;   responsively to the first input, sending a first request to a remote service for current status of capabilities of devices respectively associated with each of the displayed contacts, the status describing capabilities of the devices to implement features or services supported by the mobile broadband network;   caching, at the mobile device, the current status received from the remote service responsively to the first request;   receiving a second input from the user for invoking display of the contact card or the contact list on the UI;   responsively to the second input, sending a second request to a remote service for current status of capabilities of devices respectively associated with each of the displayed contacts; and   while waiting for the service to respond to the second request, displaying a temporary UI to the user on the mobile device, the temporary UI showing the invoked contact card or contact list including the cached status for each of the displayed contacts.   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21  further including receiving the current status responsively to the second request from the remote service and updating the UI with the received current status for one or more of the displayed contacts. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 21  further including receiving the current status for a contact from the remote service, applying a timestamp to the received status, and throttling requests for status to the remote service using the timestamp. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23  in which the timestamp defines a start of a predetermined time interval and the throttling comprises limiting requests to the remote service for current status during the predetermined time interval to a maximum of one request for current status. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23  in which the timestamp is generated by the remote service. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23  in which the timestamp is generated by the mobile device. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 21  in which the first or second request for current status includes batched requests for status of capabilities for a plurality of devices respectively associated with each of the displayed contacts. 
     
     
         28 . A mobile device having connectivity to a mobile operator network, comprising:
 one or more processors;   a display that supports a user interface (UI) for conveying information to a user of the mobile device; and   one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the mobile device to:
 receive an input from the user that invokes display of a list of contacts on the UI, 
 show the list of contacts on a displayed screen on the UI responsively to the received input, the displayed screen showing a most recently cached status for each of the listed contacts, 
 send a request to a remote service for current status of capabilities of devices respectively associated with each of the listed contacts displayed on the displayed screen, 
 update the displayed screen with the current status for each of the listed contacts displayed on the displayed screen when the current status is received from the remote service, 
 pre-fetch status from the remote service for contacts in additional screens that are displayable on the UI, the contacts in the additional screens having a contextual relationship to the contacts shown in a current screen, 
 display one or more additional screens of contacts including the pre-fetched status responsively to user input to view additional screens; and 
 applying a timestamp to the received current status, and throttling requests for current status to the remote service using the timestamp,
 wherein the timestamp is utilized to enable a current status for a contact to automatically expire at the end of a predetermined time interval, and 
 wherein no more than one request is made to the remote service for current status during the predetermined time interval. 
 
   
     
     
         29 . The mobile device of  claim 28  in which the mobile operator network comprises a mobile broadband network. 
     
     
         30 . The mobile device of  claim 28  in which the user input is associated with utilization of a dialer application. 
     
     
         31 . The mobile device of  claim 28  in which the capabilities include at least availability of a device to render streaming video transmitted over an LTE (Long Term Evolution) mobile broadband network. 
     
     
         32 . The mobile device of  claim 28  in which the contextual relationship is one of visual proximity, relationship proximity, location, time, or associative property. 
     
     
         33 . The mobile device of  claim 32  in which the relationship proximity includes contacts in the current screen and contacts in the additional screens sharing membership in one of special contacts, frequently used contacts, most recently called contacts, contacts called before, or contacts having known capabilities. 
     
     
         34 . The mobile device of  claim 28  further including applying one or more heuristics to data included in the received status to make inferences as to capabilities of a device to which the received status is associated. 
     
     
         35 . A method for providing a service that returns capabilities status in response to a request from a mobile device, comprising:
 receiving one or more requests for current status made from a mobile device having connectivity to a mobile broadband network, wherein status specifies capabilities of one or more devices which are associated with a single contact shown in a contact card on a user interface (UI) supported by the mobile device or which are respectively associated with a plurality of contacts shown in a list on the UI; and   in response to the requests for current status, sending the current status to the mobile device,
 wherein the request for current status is throttled at the mobile device so that no more than one request for current status is made to the service during a time interval having a variable length, the time interval being relatively shorter for current status requests for a single contact shown in a contact card on the UI, and the time interval being relatively longer for current status requests for a plurality of contacts shown in a list on the UI. 
   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35  in which the service is exposed by a network element disposed in the mobile broadband network. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35  in which capabilities of the device include capabilities to implement features or services supported by the mobile broadband network, the features or services being related to video consumption or video rendering. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35  further including exposing an application programming interface configured for fulfilling status requests for a single contact per request. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35  further including exposing an application programming interface configured for fulfilling status requests on a batched request basis. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39  further including sending a notification when status responsive to the batched request is fulfilled.