Personal assistance service with instant messaging

• US 20030046273A1
• Filed: 08/28/2001
• Published: 03/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2001
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Deshpande, Nikhil M.
• Application Number:
  US09/940,755
• Publication Number:
  US 20030046273A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9537 Spatial or temporal dependent retrieval, e.g. spatiotemporal queries
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and signal-bearing media for communicating information relative to the location of a mobile device via an instant message. A mobile device may request information from an instant-messaging server, which personalizes the information to the location of the mobile device.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

sending a first immediate message from a location, wherein the first immediate message comprises a request for information; and

receiving a second immediate message, wherein the second instant message comprises a response to the request, wherein the response is dependent on the location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sending the first immediate message further comprises sending the first immediate message to a user name identified in a buddy list.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the user name identifies a program executing on an instant-messaging server.

4. A method, comprising:

receiving a first instant message from a sender;

determining a location of the sender; and

sending a second instant message to the sender, wherein contents of the second instant message are dependent on the location of the sender.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

parsing contents of the first instant message to determine a meaning of the contents, wherein the contents of the second instant message are further dependent on the meaning.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

finding information related to the meaning of the contents of the first instant message; and

building the contents of the second instant message based on the information.

7. A server, comprising:

data indicating a location of a mobile device; and

a personal-assistance controller to send information to the mobile device, wherein the information is based on the location of the mobile device.

8. The server of claim 7, wherein the mobile device is connected via a long-lived connection to the instant-messaging server.

9. The server of claim 7, wherein the personal-assistance controller is to send an instant message to the mobile device, wherein the instant message comprises the information.

10. The server of claim 7, further comprising:

a location database comprising the location of the mobile device and the information, wherein the information is specific to the location.

11. The server of claim 7, wherein the personal-assistance controller is further to:

parse a request from the mobile device to determine a meaning of the request, and

determine the information based on the location of the mobile device and the meaning of the request.

12. A mobile device, comprising:

a controller to contact a hotspot-access point, send a request for information to a server via the hotspot-access, and receive a response to the request, wherein the response comprises information dependent on a location of the hotspot-access point.

13. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the request and the response are both instant messages.

14. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the request is sent and the response is received over a long-lived connection.

15. The mobile device of claim 12, wherein the controller further is to send the request to a user name identified in a buddy list.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the user name identifies a program executing on an instant-messaging server.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

an instant-messaging server comprising

a personal-assistance controller,

presence data comprising reachability and location information regarding a plurality of mobile devices, and

information regarding services relative to a plurality of hotspot-access points; and

wherein one of the plurality of mobile devices comprises;

a controller to connect to one of the plurality of hotspot-access points, send a request to the personal-assistance controller, and receive a response to the request, wherein the response comprises information dependent on a location of the one of the plurality of hotspot-access points.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the personal-assistance controller is to determine the location of the one of the plurality of hotspot-access points via the presence data.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the request and response are both instant messages.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instant-messaging server further comprises a buddy list for a user of the mobile device.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the personal-assistance controller has an associated entry in the buddy list.

22. A signal-bearing media comprising instructions, wherein the instructions when read and executed by a processor comprise:

receiving a first instant message;

determining a location of a sender of the first instant message; and

sending a second instant message to the sender, wherein contents of the second instant message are dependent on the location of the sender.

23. The signal-bearing media of claim 22, wherein the instructions further comprise:

parsing contents of the first instant message to determine a meaning of the contents, wherein the contents of the second instant message are further dependent on the meaning.

24. The signal-bearing media of claim 22, wherein the instructions further comprise:

finding information related to the meaning of the contents of the first instant message; and

building the contents of the second instant message based on the information.

25. The signal-bearing media of claim 22, wherein the location of the sender comprises a location of a hotspot access point.