Network-based content collection and distribution system

• US 20010027487A1
• Filed: 11/30/2000
• Published: 10/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1999
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Karl Ruping, Wei Shi, Xuejun Wang
• Original Assignee: Karl Ruping, Wei Shi, Xuejun Wang
• Inventors: Shi, Wei, Wang, Xuejun, Ruping, Karl
• Application Number:
  US09/728,221
• Publication Number:
  US 20010027487A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/229
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00024 Physical or organizational aspects of franking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 17/00435 Details specific to central, non-customer apparatus, e.g. servers at post office or vendor
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 2017/00072 Hybrid mail, i.e. mail delivered using different physical means along the mail delivery path, e.g. email and envelope
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/214 using selective forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area

Abstract

The invention collection of mail content in digital form and delivers of the mail content in hardcopy form over a distribution system that pushes the processing of the physical mail to a location close to the recipient'"'"'s geographical address. A sender composes a mail item in digital form and the invention then distributes the digital content through a three tier model. The first tier accepts the digital content from the sender, verifies the identity of the sender, and prepares the digital content for presentation to the next tier. The second tier is a management point on the transmission network that determines the closest available processing location based on the geographical address of the recipient. The third tier consists of two or more processing locations that accept the digital content from the earlier tier, processes the digital content into hardcopy form, and presents the hardcopy content to a physical delivery system such as a postal service or commercial courier. Unlike the prior art of mapping a network addresses to a network addresses or mapping geographical addresses to geographical addresses, the invention maps the recipient'"'"'s geographical address to a network address of a processing location. Thus, the physical delivery begins not from the digital content origin, which may be distant from the final destination, but from the available processing location that is closest to the recipient'"'"'s geographical address.

Claims

1. A method of distributing mail content over a network, comprising the steps of:

providing a Central Server connected to a communications medium capable of receiving digital content and identifying the geographical destination address in said digital content,

providing one or more Service Destination Agents each connected to a communications medium and capable of transforming said digital content into hardcopy content.

receiving digital content through the Central Server,

identifying the geographical destination address in said digital content,

determining the Service Destination Agent closest to the destination address,

receiving digital content through the Central Server,

transforming the digital content into hardcopy content by means of an output device, and

sending said hardcopy content to a physical delivery system;

whereby digital content sent by a sender will be transformed into hardcopy content and distributed to the destination address intended by said sender.

2. The method in

claim 1

further comprising the steps of:

providing a Service Access Point connected to a communications medium,

receiving digital content through the Service Access Point,

verifying the identity of said sender, and

sending said digital content to said Central Server.

3. A mail distribution apparatus comprising:

a Central Server connected to a communications medium, and

one or more Service Destination Agents each connected to a communications medium, having a means for receiving digital content at the Central Server, transmitting the digital content to a Service Destination Agent located closest to a destination address contained in the digital content, transforming the digital content into hardcopy form, and sending the hardcopy content to a physical distribution system;

whereby said digital content is transmitted to the destination address in physical form.

4. A routing table that maps a geographical address with a network address.

5. A network distribution method that maps a geographical address with a network address of a Service Destination Agent comprising the steps of:

providing the network address of one or more Service Destination Agents,

providing the geographical location of one or more Service Destination Agents,

providing the geographical location of a destination address, and

mapping the closest network address to the geographical address of the mail content;

whereby the closest Service Destination Agent to a destination address is determined.