Short-range wireless architecture

• US 20030017826A1
• Filed: 09/10/2001
• Published: 01/23/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: BEA Systems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Mukherjea, Sougata, Paclat, Charles, Fishman, Dan, Wolters, Hans, Buzzard, Greg
• Application Number:
  US09/949,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20030017826A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A short-range wireless architecture is presented that allows a wireless user device, such as a personal digital assistant, to communicate and enter into transactions with an application server or back-end device. A wireless tier is utilized, which may provide services for the wireless user device such as security and authentication, session and context management, proxy services, service aggregation and home page/portal services. The wireless tier may store context and/or session information for the wireless user device, and may be used to filter information sent to a wireless device from an application server. The wireless tier may login/logout the user device to an application server automatically, and may provide user and/or personalization information to the application server. The wireless server may also pre-stage information to enhance the user experience, and may maintain state information in the event of a temporary loss of wireless communication.

Claims

1. A wireless tier for communicating between a wireless user device and an application device, comprising:

a base station adapted to establish a wireless connection to the wireless user device; and

a wireless application server adapted to communicate with the wireless user device through said base station, said wireless application server being further adapted to communicate with the application device;

wherein the wireless application server is adapted to authenticate the wireless user device and store session information for the wireless user device;

wherein the wireless application device is further adapted to query the application server in response to a request from the wireless device and receive a response from the application server; and

wherein the wireless application server is further adapted to format the response from the application server and forward the response to the wireless user device.

2. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to communicate with a middleware server, the middleware server adapted to translate the communication between the wireless application server and the application device.

3. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to filter the response received from the application device before forwarding the response to the wireless user device.

4. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to format the response received from the application device so that it may be displayed in the browser on the wireless user device.

5. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein the wireless tier is further adapted to automatically start a dialog with a middleware tier upon receiving information from the user device, the middleware tier comprising a middleware server adapted to translate the communication between the wireless application server and the application device.

6. A wireless tier according to claim 1, further comprising a back-end server adapted to communicate with the wireless application server.

7. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server provides authentication for the wireless user device.

8. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server acts as a proxy to the application device.

9. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to provide location information based upon the base station with which the user device is communicating.

10. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to implicitly establish a wireless connection with the wireless user device when the wireless user device comes within range of the base station.

11. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to query the application device for user information when a wireless connection is established between the wireless user device and the wireless application server.

12. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to maintain state information such that if a wireless connection is temporarily dropped, the wireless user device may reconnect to the wireless application server without losing information or status during that session.

13. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to assign an IP address to the wireless user device in order to associate user information and session information with that user device.

14. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein the wireless application server is adapted to communicate with wireless user device comprising a Personal Digital Assistant with a wireless modem.

15. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further includes a filtering module adapted to filter information from the request being forwarded from the application device to the wireless user device.

16. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further includes filtering criteria and a filtering module adapted to filter information from the request being forwarded from the application device to the wireless user device, the filtering criteria being selected by a user of the wireless user device.

17. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further includes filtering criteria and a filtering module adapted to filter information from the request being forwarded from the application device to the wireless user device, the filtering criteria selected from the group consisting of subject matter, keyword, IP address, and wireless tiers.

18. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein the wireless application server is embedded into a small server appliance.

19. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server acts as a proxy for the wireless user device so the wireless user device may communicate with an application device that requires functionality not handled by the wireless user device.

20. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to provide functionality not provided by the wireless user device.

21. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server provides functionality for the wireless user device selected from the group consisting of SSL, cookies, advanced HTTP, asynchronous page download, overflow prevention, transcoding, gateway services, routing services, and caching.

22. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to gather and report statistics and usage patterns for the wireless user device.

23. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further comprises an event servlet adapted to handle event requests.

24. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to provide a personalized welcome page to the wireless user device based on the session information.

25. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further comprises a context servlet adapted to store user location information and recent activity information.

26. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further comprises a session cache to cache cookies and user information for the wireless user device by session.

27. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server further comprises an access policy enforcement module adapted to store system privileges for different classes of users.

28. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to query and receive information from a Personal Information Database stored on the wireless user device.

29. A wireless tier according to claim 1, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to query and receive information from a Personal Information Database stored on the wireless user device, wherein the wireless user device comprises a micro-server adapted to send user information stored in the Personal Information Database to only certain wireless tiers.

30. A system for communicating between a wireless user device and a back-end device, comprising:

a wireless tier comprising;

a base station for establishing a wireless connection to a wireless user device;

a wireless server adapted to communicate with the wireless user device through the base station; and

a middleware tier comprising a middleware server adapted to communicate with the wireless server and the back-end device in order to transfer information between the wireless user device and the back-end device.

31. A system according to claim 30, wherein the wireless server is further adapted to authenticate the wireless user device.

32. A system according to claim 30, wherein the wireless server is further adapted to store session information for the wireless user device.

33. A system according to claim 30, wherein the wireless server is further adapted to query the back-end device in response to a request from the wireless user device and receive a response from the application server, the wireless application server being further adapted to format the response for viewing on the wireless user device and forward the response to the wireless user device.

35. A system according to claim 34, further comprising a base station in communication with said wireless application server, the base station adapted to establish wireless communication with the wireless user device.

36. A system according to claim 34, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to store cookies for the wireless user device.

37. A system according to claim 34, wherein said wireless application server is further adapted to proxy HTTP requests for the wireless user device.

34. A system for allowing a wireless user device to communicate with an application server, the system comprising:

a wireless application server being adapted to engage in wireless communication with a wireless user device and communicate with an application server;

wherein the wireless application server is further adapted to authenticate the wireless user device and store session information for the wireless user device;

wherein the wireless application device is further adapted to query the application server in response to a request from the wireless device and receive a response from the application server; and

wherein the wireless application server is further adapted to filter the response received from the application server and format the response so it may be viewed on the wireless user device.

38. A wireless user device for displaying information from an application server, the wireless user device being adapted to:

establish a wireless connection with a wireless tier when coming within range of an access point of the wireless tier;

push personalization information and a browser request from the wireless user device to the wireless tier;

allow the wireless tier to proxy the request to the application server and format the response from the application server for the wireless user device; and

receiving the filtered response to a display on the wireless user device.

39. A personal digital assistant for wireless communication with an application server, the personal digital assistant being adapted to:

establish a wireless connection with a wireless tier when coming within range of an access point of the wireless tier;

push personalization information and a browser request from the personal digital assistant to the wireless tier;

allow the wireless tier to proxy the request to the application server and format the response from the application server for a browser on the personal digital assistant; and

receiving the filtered response to a display on the personal digital assistant.

40. A system for allowing wireless communication with an application server, comprising:

a wireless user device comprising a browser and a storage space for storing personalization information relating to a user of the wireless user device, the wireless user device further comprising a wireless communication device adapted to send and receive wireless communications; and

a wireless application server comprising a wireless communication device adapted to send and receive wireless communications, said wireless application server being adapted to engage in wireless communication with the wireless user device and engage in communication with an application server;

wherein the wireless application server is adapted to authenticate the wireless user device and store session information for the wireless user device;

wherein the wireless application device is further adapted to query the application server in response to a request from the wireless device and receive a response from the application server; and

wherein the wireless application server is further adapted to filter the response received from the application server and format the response so it may be displayed in the browser on the wireless user device.

41. A method for communicating information between a wireless user device and a back-end device, comprising:

implicitly logging a user of a wireless user device into a wireless tier when the wireless user device comes within range of a base station contained in the wireless tier;

generating an IP address for the wireless user device to be used in tracking information and communicating with a back-end device; and

providing proxy services through the wireless tier to allow the wireless user device to communicate with the back-end device.

42. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of authenticating a user of the wireless user device.

43. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of storing context information while the user is logged into the wireless tier.

44. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of automatically logging the user into the back-end device.

45. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of querying the back-end device for personalization information to be used by the wireless tier.

46. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of caching information related to the user while the user is logged into the wireless tier.

47. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of caching cookies in the wireless tier that are sent to the wireless user device from the back-end device.

48. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of maintaining state information for the user by associating state information with a unique IP address.

49. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of filtering information sent to the wireless user device by the back-end device.

50. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of storing location information for the wireless user device based upon the base station to which the user is connected.

51. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of providing SSL capability for the wireless user device.

52. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of gathering and reporting statistics and usage patterns for the wireless user device.

53. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of generating a personalized welcome screen for a user of the wireless user device.

54. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of adapting content sent to the wireless user device based on preferences set by a user of the wireless user device.

55. A method according to claim 41, further comprising the step of pre2 staging information to be sent to the wireless user device.

58. A method according to claim 57, wherein the step of establishing a wireless connection between a wireless application server and a wireless user device is accomplished automatically when the wireless user device comes within range of a wireless antenna in communication with the wireless application server.

59. A method according to claim 57, further comprising the step of automatically displaying the personalization information on the wireless user device when the personalization information is received on the wireless user device.

56. A method for communicating information between a wireless user device and a back-end device, comprising:

implicitly logging a user of a wireless user device into a wireless tier when the wireless user device comes within range of a base station contained in the wireless tier;

generating an IP address for the wireless user device to be used in tracking information and communicating with a back-end device; and

providing proxy services through the wireless tier to allow the wireless user device to communicate with the back-end device through a middleware tier.

57. A method for pushing information to a wireless user device, comprising:

establishing a wireless connection between a wireless application server and a wireless user device, the establishing of the wireless connection including receiving identification information from the wireless user device to the wireless application server;

querying a back-end device in order to receive personalization information for the wireless user device to the wireless application server; and

formatting the personalization information to be viewed by on the wireless user device; and

sending the formatted personalization information to the wireless user device.

60. A method for receiving information from an application server to a wireless user device, comprising:

establishing a wireless connection between a wireless tier and a wireless user device when the wireless user device comes within range of an access point of the wireless tier;

determining the identity of the wireless user device and forwarding the identity information to an application server;

receiving personalized information for that identity to the wireless tier from the application server; and

sending the personalized information from the wireless tier to the wireless user device.

61. A method according to claim 60, further comprising the step of filtering the personalized information received for that identity at the wireless tier.

62. A method according to claim 60, further comprising the step of storing session information for the wireless user device.

63. A method according to claim 60, further comprising the step of storing context information for the wireless user device.

64. A method for receiving information from an application server to a wireless user device, comprising:

coming within range of an access point of a wireless tier;

pushing personalization information and a browser request from the wireless user device to a wireless tier;

allowing the wireless tier to proxy the request to the application server and format the response from the application server for the wireless user device; and

receiving the filtered response to the wireless user device.