Method for Modifying Service Mode Requested by a Communications Terminal

• US 20080227484A1
• Filed: 06/13/2006
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Original Assignee: Orange S.A.
• Inventors: Beziau, Christophe, Auvray, Vincent, Collomb-Patton, Bertrand
• Application Number:
  US11/915,236
• Publication Number:
  US 20080227484A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for modifying a service mode requested by a communication and/or broadcasting terminal. The terminal is connected to a communication network with a variable quality of service. The terminal executes at least the following steps, prior to transmitting at least some of its requests: selecting a new identifier value of the desired service mode; and integrating in the content of the request to be transmitted, the identifier value of said desired service mode, such that the signals required by the terminal are adapted to a format corresponding to the identifier value contained in the request.

Claims

1. A method of modifying a service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, said terminal being connected to a communications network with variable quality of service,

wherein said terminal, prior to transmission of at least certain of its requests, executes at least:

a step of selecting a new identifier value of the desired service mode; and

a step of integrating, in a content of the request to be transmitted, said identifier value of said desired service mode,

so that signals requested by said terminal are adapted to a format corresponding to said identifier value contained in said request.

2. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1, wherein said selecting step takes account of at least one parameter of configuration of said terminal defined by a user.

3. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1, wherein said selecting step takes account of the value of at least one parameter representing quality of a connection of the terminal to said network, belonging to the group comprising at least:

bandwidth of said network;

jitter of said network;

maximum bit rate of said network;

mean error rate of a link.

4. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 3, wherein the value of at least one parameter representing the quality of the connection of said terminal to said network is detected by said terminal or is detected by another remote terminal belonging to the group comprising at least:

a contents server;

a web server;

a network traffic supervision terminal.

5. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 3, wherein the method comprises:

in addition, a step of detecting the current value of at least one of said parameters representing the quality of the connection of said terminal to said network;

and said step of selecting a new identifier value of said desired service mode is then adapted to said current value of said at least one network parameter detected, when said identifier value of said service mode is different from the identifier value of an active service mode in a list of service modes that can be activated and used by said terminal, said list setting up a correspondence of ranges of values associated with at least certain of the network parameters with an identifier value of a service mode adapted to these ranges of values,

said new identifier value of said selected service mode being then integrated into the content of the request to be transmitted to said server, at said integration step,

so that a response received from said terminal, following sending of at least certain of its requests, is adapted to said new selected identifier value.

6. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1, wherein the step of selecting a new identifier value of the desired service mode comprises a sub-step of replacing a current navigation interface identifier value of said terminal by a new navigation interface value adapted to said new identifier value of the service mode.

7. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 6, wherein said sub-step of replacing is a sub-step of replacement in a registry of said terminal of said current navigation interface identifier value by said new navigation interface identifier value.

8. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 6, wherein the method comprises an additional step of rebooting the navigation interface of said terminal so as to activate said new navigation interface identifier value and be able to integrate this value into the content of the request to be transmitted to said server.

9. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1, wherein said step of integrating said identifier value of said desired service mode into the content of the request to be transmitted is done in real time by a server module embedded in said terminal, said server module having preliminarily intercepted the at least one request, prior to the transmission of this request by said terminal to said server,

so that the format of a response of said server to said terminal is adapted to said new identifier value of the desired service mode.

10. The method of modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1, wherein said step of selecting of a new identifier value of the desired service mode comprises a sub-step of taking account of a set of predefined modification rules defining modalities of replacement of said identifier value of the current service mode by said new identifier value of the service mode as a function of at least one service use parameter defined preliminarily by a user of said terminal.

20. Application of the method of modification of the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal according to claim 1 to a field belonging to the group consisting of:

videotelephony;

computer-assisted collaborative work;

embedded communicating applications;

messaging services;

television on demand;

video on demand.

11. A device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, said terminal being connected to a communications network with variable quality of service and comprising means of transmission of requests to a distant server,

wherein said device comprises at least the following means:

of selection of a new identifier value of the desired service mode; and

of integration, in a content of the request to be transmitted, of said identifier value of said desired service mode,

so that signals requested by said terminal are adapted to a format corresponding to said identifier value contained in each request of said terminal.

12. The device for modifying he a service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 11, wherein said selection means comprise means for taking account of at least one parameter of configuration of said terminal defined by a user.

13. The device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 11, wherein said selection means comprise means for taking account of the value of at least one parameter representing quality of a connection of the terminal to said network, belonging to the group comprising at least:

bandwidth of said network;

jitter of said network;

maximum bit rate of said network;

mean error rate of a link.

14. The device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 13, wherein the device comprises additional means:

of detection of the current value of at least one of said parameters representing the quality of the connection of said terminal to said network;

of selection of a new identifier value of said desired service mode adapted to said current value of at least one of the network parameters detected, when said identifier value of said service mode is different from the identifier value of an active service mode, in a list of service modes that can be activated and used by said terminal, said list setting up a correspondence of ranges of values associated with at least certain of said network parameters with an identifier value of a service mode adapted to these ranges of values;

of integration, in the content of the request to be transmitted to said server, of the new identifier value of said selected service mode,

so that a response received from said terminal following sending of certain of its requests is adapted to said new selected identifier value.

15. The device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 13, wherein said means of selection of a new identifier value of the desired service mode comprise means of replacement of a current navigation interface identifier value of said terminal by a new navigation interface value adapted to said new identifier value of the service mode.

16. The device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 15, wherein said means of replacement of said interface identifier value comprise means of replacement, in a registry of said terminal, of said current navigation interface identifier value by said new navigation interface identifier value.

17. The device for modifying the service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, according to claim 11, wherein the device furthermore comprises self-adaptive means of configuration of said new identifier value of the desired service mode as a function of a current value of at least one parameter representing quality of a connection of said terminal to said network.

18. A communications and/or broadcasting terminal comprising a plurality of service modes that can be activated and/or a plurality of communications interfaces with at least one contents server, through a communications network, wherein the terminal implements the device for modification of the current service mode according to claim 11.

19. A computer program product recorded in a computer-readable carrier and executable by a processor comprising program code instructions for the execution of the following steps of a method of modifying a service mode requested by a communications and/or broadcasting terminal, said terminal being connected to a communications network with variable service quality, when said program is executed on a computer;

prior to transmitting at least certain of the terminal'"'"'s requests,

selecting a new identifier value of the desired service mode; and

integrating, in a content of the request to be transmitted, said identifier value of said desired service mode,

so that signals requested by said terminal are adapted to a format corresponding to said identifier value contained in said request.