Universal short code administration facility

• US 20040165569A1
• Filed: 12/23/2003
• Published: 08/26/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 02/07/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sybase 365 Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Original Assignee: Sybase 365 Incorporated (SAP SE)
• Inventors: Sweatman, Phillip J., Zimmern, Christian, Lovell, Robert, Chava, Venkatesh (Ven)
• Granted Patent: US 8,019,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/349
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/184 Messaging devices, e.g. message centre

Abstract

Systems and methods for assigning a short codes to provide uniformity among wireless carriers. In the systems and methods, a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator maintains a list of short codes and their lease status so that SMS messages sent to a particular short code may be routed to the proper holder of the short code. A network facilitator is in communication with both the USC Administrator and at least one wireless carrier to route the SMS message to the proper holder of the short code. The short code may be leased for a specified period of time so that the short code can be reassigned after expiration of the lease.

Claims

1. A Universal Short Code Administrator (UA) comprising:

a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, the centralized database further including information with respect to a temporary assignment of a selected short code from the list to an Application Provider (AP) and not to any wireless carrier (WC);

an interface configured to allow communication between the UA and a network facilitator (NF) and an AP; and

a server configured to communicate with the centralized database and the interface.

2. The UA according to claim 1, further comprising a lease status file that includes information with respect to the status of every temporarily assigned short code from the list.

3. The UA according to claim 1, further comprising a history archive file that includes information with respect each short code on the list.

4. A system for facilitating the use of short message service (SMS) short codes, comprising:

a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, the centralized database further including information with respect to a temporary assignment of a selected short code from the list to an Application Provider (AP) and not to any wireless carrier (WC);

the UA being in communication with a network facilitator (NF) via which an SMS message addressed to the selected short code is routed to the UA irrespective of a wireless carrier (WC) from which the SMS message was initiated such that the SMS message is routed to the AP to which the short code is temporarily assigned.

5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the selected short code is leased from the UA by the AP for a specified period of time.

6. The system according to claim 5, wherein, prior to leasing the selected short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the selected short code.

7. The system according to claim 5, wherein, prior to leasing the selected short code to the AP, the UA coordinates the availability of the selected short code with at least one wireless carrier.

8. The system according to claim 5, wherein the selected short code is unassigned from the AP after the specified period of time.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the selected short code is thereafter assigned to a second AP.

10. The system according to claim 4, wherein a single entity controls both the UA and the NF.

11. The system according to claim 4, further comprising at least a second NF selectably connectable to the UA.

12. The system according to claim 4, further comprising at least a second WC selectably connectable to the NF.

13. A system for transmitting a message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to an application provider (AP) using a predetermined short code, the system comprising:

a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, wherein the predetermined short code is temporarily assigned to the AP;

a network facilitator (NF) selectably connectable to the UA;

a plurality of wireless carriers (WCs) selectably connectable to the NF; and

a MS associated with one of the plurality of WCs, wherein said one of the plurality of WCs connects to the NF when receiving the message from the MS addressed to the predetermined short code and the NF communicates with the UA to deliver the message to the AP.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the predetermined short code is leased from the UA by the AP for a specified period of time.

15. The system according to claim 14, wherein, prior to leasing the predetermined short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the predetermined short code with the NF.

16. The system according to claim 15, wherein, prior to leasing the predetermined short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the predetermined short code with the plurality of WCs.

17. The system according to claim 15 wherein the predetermined short code is unassigned from the AP after the specified period of time.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the predetermined short code is thereafter assigned to a second AP.

19. The system according to claim 13, wherein a single entity controls both the UA and the NF.

20. A system for transmitting a message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to an application provider (AP) using a predetermined short code, the system comprising:

a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) including a centralized database configured to store a list of one or more short codes, wherein the predetermined short code is temporarily assigned to the AP;

a plurality of network facilitators (NFs) selectably connectable to the UA and logically operating as a single NF;

a plurality of wireless carriers (WCs), each being selectably connectable to and associated with at least one of the plurality of NFs; and

a MS associated with one of the plurality of WCs, wherein said one of the plurality of WCs connects to the associated NF when receiving the message from the MS addressed to the predetermined short code and the associated NF communicates with the UA to deliver the message to the AP.

21. The system according to claim 20, wherein the predetermined short code is leased from the UA by the AP for a specified period of time.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein, prior to leasing the predetermined short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the predetermined short code with the plurality of NFs.

23. The system according to claim 21, wherein, prior to leasing the predetermined short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the predetermined short code with the plurality of WCs.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein, prior to leasing the predetermined short code to the AP, the UA verifies the availability of the predetermined short code with the plurality of WCs and the plurality of NFs.

25. The system according to claim 21, wherein the predetermined short code is unassigned from the AP after the specified period of time.

26. The system according to claim 25, wherein the predetermined short code is thereafter assigned to a second AP.

27. The system according to claim 20, wherein a single entity controls both the UA and one of the plurality of NFs.

28. A method of assigning a short code to an application provider (AP), the method comprising:

receiving at a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) a request for a specific short code;

verifying the availability of the specific short code via at least a database lookup;

temporarily assigning the specific short code to the AP; and

notifying the AP of the assignment of the specific short code.

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the request includes a specified period of time and the step of assigning the specific short code includes recording the specified period of time.

30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step of verifying the availability of the specific short code includes contacting one or more wireless carriers (WCs) to determine if the specific short code is available.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the step of verifying the availability of the specific short code further includes contacting one or more network facilitators (NFs) to determine if the specific short code is available.

32. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step of verifying the availability of the specific short code includes contacting one or more network facilitators (NFs) to determine if the specific short code is available.

33. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step of verifying the availability of the specific short code further includes comparing the specific short code to a file on a centralized database listing the status of a plurality of short codes.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the step of assigning the specific short code to the AP includes updating the file on the centralized database to include the status of the specific short code.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the status includes the AP to which the specific short code is assigned.

36. The method according to claim 35, wherein the status further includes a specified period of time during which the short code is assigned to the AP.

37. The method according to claim 36, wherein the request includes the specified period of time.

38. The method according to claim 28, wherein the step of assigning the specific short code to the AP includes updating a file on a centralized database to include the status of the specific short code.

39. A method of using a short code to send a message to an application provider (AP), the method comprising:

sending a Short Message Service (SMS) message from a mobile subscriber (MS) to a specific short code assigned to the AP;

processing the SMS message by a wireless carrier (WC) and forwarding the SMS message to a network facilitator (NF) that is in communication with with the WC;

communicating with a Universal Short Code (USC) Administrator (UA) to identify the AP assigned to the short code; and

delivering the SMS message to the AP via the NF.

40. The method according to claim 39, wherein processing the SMS message by the WC includes determining that the message is addressed to a specific short code.

41. The method according to claim 39, wherein communicating with the UA includes the NF sending a routing request to the UA for the specific short code and the UA returning a routing response to the NF identifying the AP.

42. The method according to claim 41, wherein the UA includes a file having a list of short codes in a centralized database and, prior to returning a routing response to the NF, reading the file to determine the AP associated with the specific short code.