Fragmented delivery of multimedia

• US 20030224773A1
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Published: 12/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Deeds, Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 7,200,388 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/419
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations

Abstract

A system and method for downloading fragmented mobile-station ring tones and multimedia presentations for promotional and entertainment purposes. One or more presentations are defined and stored in an electronic storage medium in communication with a fragmentation processor. Ideally, the fragmentation process involves in the first instance segmentation of the presentation according to a predetermined rule set. Whether segmented or not, upon receipt of a fragment delivery request the fragmentation processor reviews the delivery history with respect to the target mobile station or recipient and selects a previously undelivered fragment. The fragment is formatted according to the requirements of the target and transmitted. Preferably a confirmation of receipt is made following transmission. When a completion notification is received, the fragmentation processor initiates a verification algorithm to confirm the completion and, if valid, alerts the system operator.

Claims

1. A method of delivering fragmented media presentations to a mobile station in communication with a wireless communication network. Said method comprising the steps of:

defining the media presentation;

storing the media presentation in an electronic storage device

receiving a presentation—

fragment delivery request;

selecting a presentation fragment, the fragment including a portion of the media presentation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media presentation is a multimedia presentation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication network is capable of transmitting in any one or more of a variety of formats, and further comprising the steps of:

determining a format acceptable to the mobile station; and

formatting the selected presentation fragment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the presentation fragment.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of confirming that the mobile station has received the presentation fragment.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of maintaining a log of the presentation fragments that have been transmitted to the mobile station.

7. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of receiving a completion notice indicating that substantially the entire media presentation has been transmitted to the mobile station.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of verifying the accuracy of the completion notice.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of segmenting the defined media presentation prior to the step of selecting a presentation fragment.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the segments defined in the segmenting step are of a substantially uniform size.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the segmenting step is performed automatically.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the selected presentation fragment is one segment in length.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the number of segments selected for inclusion in the presentation fragment in the selecting step is determined according to a predefined rule.

14. A system for transmitting fragmented media presentations to mobile stations via a wireless communication network, said system comprising:

a database for storing in electronic form one or more media presentations;

a fragmentation server in communication with the database and with the wireless communication network, said fragmentation server comprising;

a fragmentation module for selecting a portion of the stored media presentation for transmission;

a communication module for handling communications to and from the fragmentation server; and

a processor for directing the operation of the fragmentation module and the communications module.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the fragmentation server further comprises a segmentation module for segmenting the media presentation prior to fragmentation.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the fragmentation sever further includes a formatter for formatting the preparation fragment prior to transmission to the mobile station.

17. A fragmentation sever for fragmenting a media presentation, said fragmentation server comprising:

a fragmentation module;

a segmentation module; and

a communication module;

wherein the segmentation module divides the media presentation into a number of discreet segments, the fragmentation module selects a number of the segments to form a presentation fragment, and the communication module transmits the presentation fragment.

18. The fragmentation server of claim 17, further comprising a verification module for verifying that substantially an entire media presentation has been transmitted to a mobile station.

19. The fragmentation server of claim 17, further comprising a security module for verifying that a media presentation received by the mobile station and retransmitted back to the fragmentation server is authentic.

20. The fragmentation server of claim 17, wherein the media presentation is a ring tone.