Host device coupled to a mobile phone and method of operating the same

Abstract

Some embodiments relate to a host-side surrogate tool configured to service mobile phones from a host device that is coupled to one or more peripheral cell phones. The presently-disclosed host-side surrogate tool executes on the host device concurrently with one or more software components of a vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool. In some embodiments, the concurrently-executing host-side surrogate tool may cause the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool to provide functionality for which it was not intended. In some embodiments, it may be said that the host-side surrogate tool provides a ‘semi-virtual’ environment under which host-side vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool operates. Related methods, devices and systems are disclosed herein.

1 . A method of operating a host device coupled to a multi-mode peripheral phone where a vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool thereof specific to the coupled phone executes on the host device, the multi-mode phone having first and second operating modes, the method comprising:
 a. at a time when the multi-mode peripheral mode is in a first of the operating modes, receiving a tool-phone-state-incompatible user tool command at the host device to modify the peripheral phone, the tool-phone-state-incompatible tool command being incompatible with the combination of the coupled phone in the first operating mode and the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool executing on the host device;   b. in response to the receiving of the user command at the host device:
 i. classifying the received user command to determine if the phone is required to be in the first operating mode in order to execute the user command; and 
 ii. contingent upon a positive classifying, blocking receipt or execution of the command by the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool and sending the peripheral phone a mode-transition command not via the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool to effect a mode transition from the first to the second operating mode so as to render the user command tool-phone-state-compatible; and 
 iii. after the sending of the mode-transition command, forwarding the user command to the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool or unblocking execution of the user command by the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the first operating mode is an emergency operating mode and the second operating mode is a normal operating mode. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the user tool command selected from the group consisting of: (I) a command for a host-side phone maintenance tool to flash the peripheral phone; (II) a command for a host-side phone maintenance tool to reset the peripheral phone. 
     
     
         4 . A method of operating a multi-user-account host device coupled to a peripheral phone where a vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool specific to the coupled phone executes on the host device, the method comprising:
 a. locally maintaining a cache of mobile phone ROM files that is accessible when   the host device operates under a first user account;   b. when the host device operates under the first user account, executing code of the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool so the tool generates a request to fetch a mobile phone ROM file from a local repository in a privileged location that is only accessible when the host device operates under a second user account having additional privileges not available when under the first user account;   c. responding to the request generated by the phone maintenance tool by:
 i. fetching the requested mobile phone ROM file from the first-user-account-accessible local cache; and 
 ii. providing, to the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool, a handle to the fetched requested mobile phone ROM file. 
   
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . A method of operating a host device coupled to a peripheral phone where a vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool specific to the coupled phone executes on the host device, the method comprising:
 a. receiving a tool-phone-state-incompatible user tool-command at the host device to modify the peripheral phone, the tool-phone-state-incompatible tool command being incompatible with the combination of the coupled phone in its current state and the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool executing on the host device;   b. in response to an attempted mode interrogation by the vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool executing on the host device of the peripheral phone, sending a falsified description of the peripheral phone state (e.g. indicating that the phone is in normal mode when, in fact, it is in emergency mode) to the executing vendor-compliant phone maintenance tool so that the user command is tool-phone-state compatible relative to the falsified description.