Information acquisition decision making by devices in a wireless network

• US 20020160758A1
• Filed: 04/27/2001
• Published: 10/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Pradhan, Salil, McDonnell, James Thomas Edward, Macer, Peter J., Waters, John Deryk
• Granted Patent: US 6,950,646 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/652 Call initiation triggered by text message
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages

Abstract

A mobile telephone (10), an advertiser, broadcasts an advertisement over a wireless short range piconet link to another mobile telephone (12), a consumer. The advertisement is broadcast with a predetermined set of classification tags and the consumer phone (12) has a filter set to accept only certain advertisements. When an advertisement of interest is received by the consumer phone (12) it assesses whether to obtain further details via the piconet link and the advertiser phone (10) provides then automatically via the piconet link. When the consumer wishes to reply to the advertisement they contact the advertiser phone (10), or an advertiser device, via a long range cellular link (16).

Claims

1. A method of advertising to a consumer device comprising broadcasting a short range piconet advertisement;

making an assessment as to whether a response or reply to the advertisement is required, and if so replying to the advertisement via telecommunications.

2. A method according to claim 1 comprising requesting further or fuller details of the advertisement via long range wireless telecommunications.

3. A method according to claim 1 comprising replying to the advertisement via short range piconet wireless telecommunications.

4. A method according to claim 1 comprising broadcasting a short form advertisement and requesting further or fuller details of the advertisement.

5. A method according to claim 4 in which the request for further or fuller details is made via short range telecommunications, and upon failing to make contact with an advertising device then trying to make contact with the advertising device via long range telecommunications.

6. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is broadcast by a hand-portable mobile wireless telecommunications device.

7. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is assessed using a hand portable consumer mobile wireless telecommunications consumer device.

8. A method according to claim 1 in which receipt of the short form advertisement prompts the consumer device to request more information via the short range telecommunications automatically if the short form advertisement triggers a trigger to do so.

9. A method according to claim 1 comprising using short range telecommunications to communicate a short-form advertisement to the consumer device, and short range telecommunications to communicate a request for a fuller advertisement from the consumer device to an advertiser device, and short range telecommunications to communicate fuller details from the advertiser device to the consumer device, all taking place within the order of a second or a few seconds;

and using long range telecommunications to carry a reply to the advertisement to an advertisement reply device which is a different device to that from which the advertisement was broadcast.

10. A method according to claim 1 comprising storing the telecommunications address with which the consumer device is to communicate the reply to the advertisement in the consumer device for display, for automatic dial or for semi-automatic dialling, or both.

11. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is received by a portable telephone, personal digital assistant or other handheld portable electronic device, and in which the assessment as to whether a reply to the advertisement is required is at least in part made by the portable consumer device.

12. A method according to claim 11 in which the advertisement received by the mobile device is screened against an advertisement profile filter by the device before being presented to the user of the device, and is only presented to the user if the advertisement passes the screening operation.

13. A method according to claim 1 comprising:

broadcasting a short range advertisement from an advertiser telecommunications device;

receiving the broadcast advertisement on the consumer telecommunications device; and

replying to the advertisement via a broker device interposed in the telecommunications link between the advertiser device and the consumer device.

14. A method according to claim 13 in which the broker device modifies the message sent by the consumer device to the advertiser device, and/or modifies any follow-up message sent by the advertiser device, or a proxy or master advertising device, to the consumer device.

15. A method according to claim 13, in which the advertiser device does not include its own telecommunications address in its broadcast advert, but does include the telecommunications address of the broker device.

16. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement includes one or more advertisement classification codes which are compared with allowable advertisement codes in an advertisement screening operation by the consumer device.

17. A method according to claim 16 in which the consumer device stores or brings to the attention of user only those advertisements which are passed by the screening operation that it performs on the broadcast advertisements that it receives.

18. A method according to claim 1 in which the consumer device is used to reply to an advertisement via long range telecommunications.

19. A method according to claim 1 comprising sending a first part of an advertisement via the short range telecommunications, and a second, longer or larger, part of the advertisement via short range telecommunications, the second part of the advertisement being transmitted after the consumer device has screened the first part of the advertisement and has requested the second part of the advertisement.

20. A method according to claim 19 in which the second part of the advertisement is broadcast by the same advertiser device that broadcast the first part.

21. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is broadcast from a hand-holdable portable, pocketable, wireless advertiser device.

22. A method according to claim 1 comprising using portable electronic devices for both the advertiser device and the consumer device, the devices both having both piconet short range and long range telecommunication capabilities.

24. A device according to claim 23 comprising a piconet emitter, and being configured so as to emit via its piconet emitter a request for more information about an advertisement upon an advertisement being assessed as being of interest.

25. A device according to claim 23 comprising a display screen adapted to display the advertisement.

27. A device according to claim 26 in which the reply trigger comprises the output of a comparator adapted to compare characteristics of the message with a predetermined set of screening characteristics and to cause a reply to be transmitted if predetermined conditions are met.

28. A device according to claim 23 which has a long range telecommunications wireless emitter and which is adapted to reply to a received message via its long range emitter.

29. A device according to claim 23 which has both piconet and long range telecommunications emitters and receivers and the controller is adapted, in use, to assess the telecommunications reply address associated with a received message to determine whether the reply address is a long range telecommunications address and to cause the reply to be emitted by the appropriate long or short range emitter of the device.

23. A telecommunications advertisement receiving device comprising a short range piconet receiver and an advertisement filter or assessor, and a long range telecommunications emitter.

30. A device according to claims 23 in which the controller of the device is adapted to assess a received message to determine whether the message is of a category of interest, and if so request further details or a fuller message via its piconet channel and in which the device is adapted to receive requested further details of a fuller message via its piconet channel;

and the device is adapted to contact a reply address via its long distance telecommunications channel.

26. A mobile telecommunications device having a memory a short range piconet receiver an emitter, and a controller, the controller controlling the device in use to assess messages received by the receiver for a reply telecommunications address and to store any such reply address in the memory, and the device also having a reply trigger adapted in use to cause the controller to use an address from the memory to send a reply to a received message to the address associated with the relevant incoming message.

31. A mobile telephone or other mobile telecommunications device having both a long range telecommunications transmitter and receiver, and a piconet telecommunications transmitter and receiver, a control processor, and a memory storage medium;

wherein the memory storage medium contains an advertisement to be transmitted via the piconet transmitter, the control processor being adapted to broadcast the advertisement over the piconet transmitter and being adapted to monitor piconet signals that are received by the piconet receiver for a reply.

32. A device according to claim 31, in which the control processor is preferably adapted to recognise a piconet received request for further information or a fuller advertisement and to cause such further information or fuller advertisement to be emitted automatically via its piconet emitter upon receipt of a request for said further information.

33. A device according to claim 31 in which the control processor is adapted to provide a reply telecommunications address in the advertisement or in the further details or fuller advertisement.

34. A device according to claim 33 in which the reply telecommunications address is not the address of the device.

35. A device according to claim 33 adapted to provide in the advertisement or further detail or fuller advertisement both a long range, non-piconet, reply address and a piconet reply address.

37. A network according to claim 36 also including a remote advertisement broker or advertisement reply device contactable via the long range emitter of the consumer device, and capable of contacting the advertiser device by the long range receiver of the advertiser device.

36. A network comprising an advertiser device comprising a hybrid mobile telephone, or other telecommunications device, having both a short range transmitter and receiver, and also a long range telecommunications transmitter and receiver, a memory, and a control processor;

the memory containing both a short-form advertisement and a longer more detailed advertisement related to the short-form advertisement;

a consumer device comprising a hybrid mobile telephone, or other telecommunications device, having both a short range, piconet, transmitter and receiver, and also a long range telecommunications transmitter and receiver, a memory and a control processor, the consumer device being adapted to request the longer advertisement for the advertiser device following receipt of that short-form advertisement of interest.