Brokering of information acquisition by devices in a wireless network

• US 20020160793A1
• Filed: 04/27/2001
• Published: 10/31/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Pradhan, Salil, Macer, Peter J., Waters, John Deryk, Edward McDonnell, James Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 7,715,533 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

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 requests further details automatically 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). An ASP advertisement broker (48) is interposed between the advertiser phone (10) and the consumer phone (12) for the long range telecommunication link.

Claims

1. A method of advertising comprising:

broadcasting a short range advertisement from an advertiser telecommunications device;

receiving the broadcast advertisement on a 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.

2. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is broadcast to a man portable consumer device.

3. A method according to claim 2 in which the consumer telecommunications device is a hand-holdable portable and pocketable device.

4. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertisement is broadcast from a man portable advertiser device.

5. A method according to claim 4 in which the advertiser device is a hand-holdable portable device.

6. A method according to claim 1 in which the broker device modifies the message sent by the consumer device to the advertiser device, or modifies any follow-up message sent by the advertiser device, or a proxy or master advertising device, to the consumer device.

7. A method according to claim 1 in which the advertiser device does not include its own telecommunications address in its broadcast advertisement.

8. A method according to claim 7 in which the advertiser device includes the telecommunications address of the broker device in its advertisement.

9. 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.

10. A method according to claim 9 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.

11. A method according to claim 1 in which the consumer device replies to an advertisement via long range telecommunications.

12. 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 communicated with the advertisement broker device or with the advertising device.

13. A method according to claim 12 in which the second part of the advertisement is broadcast by the same advertiser device that broadcast the first part.

14. A method according to claim 1 comprising using a mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, or other small 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.

16. A device according to claim 15 comprising a long range telecommunications emitter.

17. A mobile telecommunications device according to claim 15 further comprising a reply trigger adapted in use to cause the controller to use an address from the memory to send a long-range telecommunications reply to a received message to the address associated with a relevant incoming message, and in which the device has both piconet and long range telecommunications emitters and receivers and the controller is adapted, in use, to assess the telecommunications address to determine whether the reply address is a short range piconet address or a long range telecommunications address and to cause the reply to be emitted by the appropriate long or short range emitter of the device.

18. A device according to claim 17 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 in which the device is adapted to contact a reply address via its long distance telecommunications channel.

19. A device according to claim 15 which has an advertisement store adapted to store the advertisement and which includes an advertisement reply, broker device, address store adapted to receive a telecommunications address for replying to the advertisement.

15. A portable telecommunications device comprising a short range piconet receiver, a memory, and a control processor, the control processor being adapted in use to accept at least some advertisements that have been received by the receiver and to send a long range telecommunications reply address obtained from the advertisement to the memory, and the memory being arranged to store long range broker device telecommunications addresses for advertisements that have been accepted by the device, and in which the device is arranged so as to be able to contact a remote broker device via long range telecommunications without the user having to key in the broker device address.

20. A server adapted to act as an advertisement broker device adapted to receive one of (i) an advertisement message or (ii) a reply message to an advertisement and to forward the received message to a remote telecommunications device;

the server being adapted to modify the received message so as to ensure, at least initially, that no telecommunications address of an advertiser or replier to an advertisement is passed with the message that is transmitted by the server.

21. A server according to claim 20 which is adapted to store the direct telecommunications address of the provider of the message and to recall that address and forward it to a remote telecommunications device if a release signal has been received by the server.

22. 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 an 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 memory or the processor having an advertisement receiver which, in use, is capable of receiving and storing an advertisement;

and an advertisement broker device contactable via wireless telecommunications by both the advertiser and consumer devices, the broker device being adapted to pass advertiser details to the consumer device, consumer details to the advertiser device, or both.

23. A network according to claim 22 in which the server is adapted to pass advertiser details to the consumer device, and/or consumer details to the advertiser device, provided that a details-release trigger has been triggered.

24. A network according to claim 22 in which the remote advertisement broker device is contactable via the long range emitter of the consumer device, and is capable of contacting the advertiser device by the long range receiver of the advertiser device.

25. A network according to claim 22 in which the broker device is connectable with the advertiser device and the consumer device via long range wireless telecommunications.