Network presence and location agent
First Claim
1. A server-based network presence and location agent which acquires presence and location information about a plurality of mobile devices operating on a wireless network from an entity on the wireless network other than the mobile devices, and which provides the acquired presence and location information to remote applications which use said information on a computer network.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A mobile network presence and location (NPL) agent detects and gathers user presence and location information and provides a generic interface to applications which require the information. The NPL agent comprises a pull agent, a push agent, or both. The pull agent receives requests for presence or location information about mobile devices on a wireless network from remote applications over a computer network. In response, the pull agent sends corresponding requests to a remote entity, such as a Short Message Service Center (SMSC) associated with the wireless network, which queries the Home Location Register (HLR) of the wireless network for the requested information. The remote entity returns the requested information to the pull agent, which decodes it and subsequently provides the information to the remote applications. The push agent publishes presence or location information to applications without requiring applications to request the information.
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Citations
57 Claims
- 1. A server-based network presence and location agent which acquires presence and location information about a plurality of mobile devices operating on a wireless network from an entity on the wireless network other than the mobile devices, and which provides the acquired presence and location information to remote applications which use said information on a computer network.
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7. A mobile network presence and location agent comprising:
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a pull agent to receive a request from a remote application for presence or location information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, and to send a corresponding request for the presence or location information to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), such that the SMSC responds by querying a Home Location Register (HLR) of the wireless network to obtain the requested presence or location information, wherein the SMSC responds by providing the presence or location information to the pull agent, and wherein the pull agent subsequently provides the presence or location information to the remote application; and
a push agent to receive location or presence information about a mobile device operating on the wireless network from the HLR, wherein the presence or location information received by the push agent is not in response to a specific request for said information, and wherein the push agent subsequently provides the presence or location information to a remote application. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21)
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16. A mobile network presence and location agent comprising:
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a pull agent to receive a request for presence or location information about a mobile device from a remote application over a computer network, and to send a corresponding request for the presence or location information to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), such that the SMSC responds by querying a Home Location Register (HLR) of a wireless network on which the mobile device operates to obtain the requested presence or location information, wherein the SMSC provides the presence or location information to the pull agent in extensible markup language (XML) format using Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP), and wherein the pull agent subsequently provides the presence or location information to the remote application in extensible markup language (XML) format over the computer network using Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP), the presence or location information for use by the remote application; and
a push agent to receive location or presence information about a mobile device operating on the wireless network from the HLR, wherein the presence or location information received by the push agent is not in response to a specific request for said information, and wherein the push agent subsequently provides the presence or location information to a remote application over the computer network in XML format using HTTP.
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19. A processing system comprising:
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a processor;
a communications interface by which to communicate on a computer network;
a communications interface by which to communicate with a Short Message Service Center (SMSC); and
a storage facility storing instructions for execution by the processor, which instructions configure the processing system to;
receive a request for presence or location information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network from a remote application over a computer network;
send a corresponding request for the presence or location information to the SMSC, to cause the SMSC to query a Home Location Register (HLR) of the wireless network to obtain the requested presence or location information, wherein the presence or location information is received from the SMSC in extensible markup language (XML) format using Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP); and
provide the received presence or location information to the remote application in XML format using Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP) over the computer network, the presence or location information for use by the remote application.
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22. A gateway server comprising:
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a processor;
a communications interface by which to communicate with a packet-based computer network;
a communications interface by which to communicate with a wireless network;
means for providing hypermedia content from the servers to the mobile devices in response to requests from the mobile devices; and
a pull agent to receive a request from a remote application for presence or location information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, and to send a corresponding request for the presence or location information to a remote entity on the wireless network, wherein the remote entity is not any of the mobile devices, wherein the remote entity responds by providing the presence or location information to the pull agent, and wherein the pull agent subsequently provides the presence or location information to the remote application. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An apparatus for providing an application with location and presence information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, the method comprising:
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means for receiving presence or location information about the mobile device from a remote entity; and
means for sending the received presence or location information to a remote application in extensible markup language (XML) format using Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). - View Dependent Claims (34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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43. A method of providing an application with location and presence information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving presence or location information about the mobile device from a remote entity; and
in response to receiving the presence or location information, sending the presence or location information to a remote application in extensible markup language (XML) format using Hypertext Transport Protocol (HTTP). - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A method of providing an application on a computer network with location and presence information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving a first request for presence or location information from an application over the computer network;
in response to the request, sending a second request corresponding to the first request to a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), the SMSC obtaining the requested information in response to the second request by querying a Home Location Register (HLR) of the wireless network;
receiving the requested information from the SMSC;
in response to receiving the requested information from the SMSC, sending the requested information to the application over the computer network. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 57)
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56. A method of providing an application on a computer network with location and presence information about a mobile device operating on a wireless network, the method comprising:
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receiving a first request for presence or location information from an application over the computer network;
in response to the request, sending a second request corresponding to the first request to a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) server by using SIP, the SIP server obtaining the requested information in response to the second request by using SIP to query a SIP user agent of the processing device;
receiving the requested information from the SIP server by using SIP;
in response to receiving the requested information from the SIP server, sending the requested information to the application over the computer network.
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Specification