IMS NETWORK PROVIDING PURCHASING SESSIONS TO MOBILE DEVICES THAT ARE LOCATED PROXIMATE TO A BUSINESS

• US 20090003265A1
• Filed: 06/27/2007
• Published: 01/01/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Benco, David S., Agarwal, Anjana, Williams, Byron J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,249,934 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/328
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

IMS networks and methods are disclosed for providing purchasing sessions to mobile devices that are located proximate to a business. IMS network includes an application server that provides advertisements for the business to mobile devices that are located proximate to the business (i.e., the advertisements are pushed to the mobile devices). Responsive to an advertisement, the user of a mobile device may contact the application server through the mobile device to purchase one or more items from the business. The application server responds to the mobile device with receipt information for the purchase. The user may then request delivery of the purchased item through the mobile device by transmitting some or all of the receipt information to the application server. The application server may then schedule delivery of the item to the user of the mobile device.

Claims

1. An IMS network, comprising:

an application server that is associated with a business, wherein the application server is adapted to receive a notification message from a location server indicating that a mobile device is located proximate to the business, to identify an advertisement related to the business, and to initiate transmission of the advertisement to the mobile device that is located proximate to the business;

the application server is further adapted to receive a purchase request message from the mobile device to purchase an item from the business, to facilitate the purchase of the item by a user of the mobile device, and to transmit a purchase response message to the mobile device that includes receipt information for the purchase of the item.

2. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the application server is further adapted to:

receive a delivery request message from the mobile device wherein the delivery request message includes the receipt information; and

process the delivery request message to schedule delivery of the item to the user of the mobile device.

3. The IMS network of claim 2 wherein the application server is further adapted to:

instruct an agent of the business to deliver the purchased item to a pickup location of the business.

4. The IMS network of claim 1 further comprising the location server adapted to:

receive a request message from the application server requesting to be notified of mobile devices that are located proximate to the business;

process location information for the mobile devices that are served by the IMS network to identify the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business; and

transmit the notification message to the application server indicating that the mobile device is located proximate to the business.

5. The IMS network of claim 4 wherein:

the request message from the application server comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message; and

the notification message from the location server comprises a SIP NOTIFY message.

6. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the advertisement comprises a coupon for the item purchased by the user.

7. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the application server is farther adapted to:

identify a payment method for the purchase;

execute a financial transaction based on the identified payment method; and

generate the receipt information for the purchase upon execution of the financial transaction.

8. The IMS network of claim 1 wherein the notification message from the location server indicates that a plurality of mobile devices are located proximate to the business, and wherein the application server is farther adapted to:

transmit the advertisement and an indication of the plurality of the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business to a broadcast server to allow the broadcast server to broadcast the advertisement to the plurality of mobile devices.

9. A method of operating an IMS network, the method comprising:

receiving a notification message in an application server that is associated with a business from a location server wherein the notification message indicates that a mobile device is located proximate to the business;

identifying an advertisement related to the business;

initiating transmission of the advertisement to the mobile device that is located proximate to the business;

receiving a purchase request message in the application server from the mobile device to purchase an item from the business;

facilitating the purchase of the item by a user of the mobile device; and

transmitting a purchase response message from the application server to the mobile device that includes receipt information for the purchase of the item.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving a delivery request message from the mobile device wherein the delivery request message includes the receipt information; and

processing the delivery request message to schedule delivery of the item to the user of the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein processing the delivery request message to schedule delivery of the item to the user of the mobile device comprises:

instructing an agent of the business to deliver the purchased item to a pickup location of the business.

12. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

receiving a request message in the location server from the application server requesting to be notified of mobile devices that are located proximate to the business;

processing location information for the mobile devices in the location server that are served by the IMS network to identify the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business; and

transmitting the notification message from the location server to the application server indicating that the mobile device is located proximate to the business.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein:

the request message from the application server comprises a SIP SUBSCRIBE message; and

the notification message from the location server comprises a SIP NOTIFY message.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the advertisement comprises a coupon for the item purchased by the user.

15. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

identifying a payment method for the purchase;

executing a financial transaction based on the identified payment method; and

generating the receipt information for the purchase upon execution of the financial transaction.

16. The method of claim 9 wherein the notification message from the location server indicates that a plurality of mobile devices is located proximate to the business, and wherein the method further comprises:

transmitting the advertisement and an indication of the plurality of the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business to a broadcast server to allow the broadcast server to broadcast the advertisement to the plurality of mobile devices.

17. An IMS network adapted to provide advertisements to mobile devices, the IMS network comprising:

a location server adapted to monitor the locations of mobile devices that are registered with the IMS network; and

an application server that is associated with a business, wherein the application server is adapted to transmit a request message to the location server requesting to be notified of mobile devices that are located proximate to the business;

the location server further adapted to process location information for the mobile devices to identify the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business responsive to the request message, and to transmit a notification message to the application server indicating the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business;

the application server further adapted to identify an advertisement related to the business, and to initiate transmission of the advertisement to the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business.

18. The IMS network of claim 17 wherein the application server is further adapted to:

receive a purchase request message from one of the mobile devices to purchase an item from the business;

facilitate the purchase of the item by a user of the one mobile device; and

transmit a purchase response message to the one mobile device that includes receipt information for the purchase of the item.

19. The IMS network of claim 18 wherein the application server is further adapted to:

receive a delivery request message from the one mobile device wherein the delivery request message includes the receipt information; and

process the delivery request message to schedule delivery of the item to the user of the one mobile device.

20. The IMS network of claim 17 wherein the application server is further adapted to:

transmit the advertisement and an indication of the mobile devices that are located proximate to the business to a broadcast server to allow the broadcast server to broadcast the advertisement to the mobile devices.