Contextual based identity

• US 20080182548A1
• Filed: 04/27/2007
• Published: 07/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Flash Networks, Ltd. (Constellation Software Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Mobixell Networks Incorporated (Constellation Software Incorporated)
• Inventors: Smith Luna, Michael Edward, Zink, Roland, Pattison, Ian McLean
• Granted Patent: US 8,078,153 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/406
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• 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 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• 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 72/02 Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal

Abstract

Systems and methods for communicating according to contextual identity are disclosed. Embodiments of the present invention provide identity management which may dynamically select appropriate identities or communication channels for communication between network users. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention may automatically select an appropriate identity from a plurality of identities for a user. Thus, users may be provided seamless access to different networks without having to subscribe to the same networks and without having to alter client devices or applications.

Claims

1. A method for communicating according to contextual identity, the method comprising the acts of:

receiving a communication from a user of a first network which communicates according to a first communication protocol;

normalizing the communication into a network-independent format;

selecting a channel of communication for a recipient user of a second network which communicates according to a second communication protocol; and

sending the communication to an identity of the second user via the selected channel of communication, wherein the communication includes an identity of the first user;

wherein the first and second user identities are contextual to the channel of communication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein an identity comprises a routable address, an E.164 number, a phone number, an MSISDN, a SIP URI, an IP address, an e-mail address, or an IM identity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on a recipient preference, presence information associated with the recipient, a classification of the sender by the recipient, service provider policy, or an attribute of the request.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the act of selecting a second identity based on dynamic presence information associated with the first or second user.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second network comprises a macro-cellular network or an IP-based network.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

routing the normalized communication to an application server operable to generate a response to the communication; and

receiving a communication from the application server, wherein the communication received from the application server is sent to the identity of the second user.

7. A method for service delivery according to contextual identity, the method comprising the acts of:

receiving a service request from a subscriber of a first network;

normalizing the service request into a network-independent format;

selecting a channel of communication for a recipient user of a second network; and

sending the service request to an identity of the second user via the selected channel of communication, wherein the service request includes an identity of the first user,

wherein the identity is contextual to the channel of communication.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the selected address comprises a routable messaging address, an E.164 number, a phone number, an MSISDN, a SIP URI, an IP address, an email address, or an IM address.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on one or more preferences designated by the recipient.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on presence information associated with the recipient.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on a classification of the user by the recipient.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on service provider policy.

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of selecting the channel of communication is based on an attribute of the request.

14. The method of claim 7, further comprising the act of selecting a second address based on dynamic presence information associated with the recipient.

15. The method of claim 7, wherein the service request comprises a push-to-talk service request or an instant messaging service request.

16. The method of claim 7, wherein the response comprises a MMS message.

17. The method of claim 7, wherein the response comprises an SMS message.

18. The method of claim 7, wherein the response comprises a file transfer.

19. The method of claim 7, wherein one of the first and second networks is an IMS network or macro-cellular network, and wherein the other of the first and second networks is an IP-based network or macro-cellular network.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising the act of receiving a message from the IMS network.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising the act of receiving a message from the IP-based network.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the act of adapting the message for the IMS network.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising the act of routing the adapted message to the application server.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the act of receiving a second response from the application server.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the act of sending the second response to the IMS network.

26. A system for contextual identity management, the system comprising:

a network bridge comprising

an adapter configured to normalize a request received by the network bridge;

a plurality of channels configured for communication with a plurality of networks;

a presence interface adapted to communicate with a plurality of presence sources to receive presence information;

a user profile interface adapted to communicate with a plurality of user profile sources to receive user profile information;

an address resolution interface adapted to communicate with a plurality of address resolution sources to receive address resolution information;

a channel selection and routing application configured to select one of the plurality of channels; and

a contextual identity mapping application communicably coupled to the presence, user profile, and address resolution interfaces to determine an appropriate identity for one or more users,

wherein the network bridge is configured to send the request using a selected channel to an appropriate identity of a user.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of presence sources comprises a local database.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the plurality of presence sources comprises an external database.

29. The system of claim 26, further comprising a billing bridge communicably coupled to the network bridge, wherein the billing bridge is configured to control access to content and services.

30. A machine-readable medium having stored thereon a plurality of executable instructions, the plurality of executable comprising instructions for:

receiving a request from a user of a first network which communicates according to a first communication protocol;

selecting a channel of communication;

selecting an identity, from a plurality of identities, of a recipient user of a second network which communicates according to a second communication protocol;

adapting the request for the second communication protocol;

routing the adapted request to an application server;

receiving a response from the application server; and

sending the response to the selected identity via the selected channel of communication.