System and method for providing Web services for wireless communication devices

• US 20080172496A1
• Filed: 01/12/2007
• Published: 07/17/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Danger Incorporated (Microsoft Corporation)
• Inventors: Ranous, Alex, Middleton, Justin
• Granted Patent: US 7,693,953 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• 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 67/54 Presence management, e.g. monitoring or registration for receipt of user log-on information, or the connection status of the users
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/567 Integrating service provisioning from a plurality of service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2203/655 Combination of telephone service and social networking messaging within social networks H04L51/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42365 Presence services providing information on the willingness to communicate or the ability to communicate in terms of media capability or network connectivity
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/21 for social networking applications

Abstract

A system and method are described for interfacing a wireless device with a plurality of web services including social networking web services. For example, a system according to one embodiment of the invention comprises a system for interfacing a wireless device with a plurality of web services comprising a web service proxy having an API to allow other modules to interface with the web service proxy; a plurality of web services adapters interfaced with the web services proxy through the API, each one of the web services adapters configured to communicate with a particular web service using the specific communication formats required by that web service; wherein the web services adapters and the web services proxy convert between the communication formats employed to communicate with each of the web services and a wireless communication format, the wireless communication format being a different format than the communication formats required by each of the web services, thereby enabling bidirectional communication between the wireless device and the plurality of web services.

Claims

1. A system for interfacing a wireless device with a plurality of web services comprising

a web service proxy having an API to allow other modules to interface with the web service proxy;

a plurality of web services adapters interfaced with the web services proxy through the API, each one of the web services adapters configured to communicate with a particular web service using the specific communication formats required by that web service;

wherein the web services adapters and the web services proxy convert between the communication formats employed to communicate with each of the web services and the wireless communication format, the wireless communication format being a different format than the communication formats required by each of the web services, thereby enabling bidirectional communication between the wireless device and the plurality of web services.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

an authentication proxy to collect authentication data for each of the web services, the authentication data usable by the web services adapters and/or the web services proxy to transparently log a user of the wireless communication device into each of the Web Services.

3. The system as in claim 2 further comprising:

a user database for storing the authentication data for each of the web services.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein converting comprises expanding a first request from the wireless communication device into an at least two requests for the Web Service and/or collapsing at least two responses from the Web Service into one response for the wireless communication device.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the web services adapters communicate with the web services using the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP).

6. The system of claim 1 wherein at least one of the adapters comprises a global web services adapter configured to communicate with a standard Web Service using standard web service communication formats.

7. A method for communicating between a Web Service and a wireless communication device, comprising:

communicating between an application on the wireless communication device and a service in a first format;

communicating between an Application Program Interface (API) of a Web Service and the service in a second format, the service including a pluggable adapter to communicate with the API of the Web Service; and

converting at the service, communications in the first format to the second format and/or communications in the second format to the first format;

wherein if the API is modified such that the second format is modified and the application on the wireless communication device is not modified;

plugging in or modifying the pluggable adapter to enable communication between the service and the API in the modified second format;

communicating between the wireless communication device and the service in the first format; and

converting communications in the first format to the modified second format and/or communications in the modified second format to the first format.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

converting communications to/from the second format or the modified second format from/to a third format; and

converting communications to/from the third format from/to the first format.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising transparently logging in a user of the wireless communication device into the Web Service.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein converting communications from the first format to the second format or the modified second format includes expanding a one request from the wireless communication device into an at least two requests for the Web Service and/or collapsing at least two responses from the Web Service into one response for the wireless communication device.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the API of the Web service comprises a plurality of proprietary functions and interfaces exposed by the Web service.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the request and the response from/to the wireless communication device are in a first format and the request and the response to/from the Web Service are in a second format.

12. A system for communicating between a wireless communication device and a Web Service comprising a service to:

receive a request from the wireless communication device directed to the Web Service;

expand the request from the wireless communication device into an at least two requests for the Web Service;

send the at least two requests to the Web Service;

receive an at least two responses from the Web Service for the at least two requests sent to the Web Service;

collapse the at least two responses from the Web Service into a single response for the wireless communication device; and

send the response to the wireless communication device over a wireless network.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the service further to:

convert requests from the first format into the second format in expanding the request from the wireless communication device; and

convert responses from the second format into the first format in collapsing the responses from the Web Service.

15. A system for communicating between a wireless communication device and a social networking site, comprising:

a service to connect to the wireless communication device and the social networking site, the service to perform the functions including;

receiving a communication in a first format from the wireless communication device;

converting the communication from the first format to a second format, the second format being a required format for communicating with the social networking site; and

sending the communication in the second format to the social networking site.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the service includes a Web Service integration proxy to convert the communication from the first format to the second format.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the Web Service integration proxy includes:

a Web Services proxy to convert the communication from the first format to a third format; and

a networking site Web Services adapter to convert the communication from the third format to the second format.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein converting the communication from the first format to the second format includes expanding a one request from the wireless communication device into an at least two requests for the networking site.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the Web Service integration proxy implements a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP).

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the Web Service integration proxy further includes an authentication proxy to retrieve user authentication data from a database on the service and transmit the user authentication data to the social networking site on behalf of the user to log the user into the social networking site.

21. The service of claim 15, wherein the communication in the first format is smaller in size relative than the communication in the second format.