Device and a method for ordering product at a premises via an integrated multimedia service system

• US 20090070229A1
• Filed: 09/10/2007
• Published: 03/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Prodea Automation LLC (f/k/a Kip Prod P1) (FIG LLC (d/b/a Fortress Investment Group LLC))
• Original Assignee: Prodea Systems, Inc.
• Inventors: McQuarters, Alvin R., Ramayya, Jude P., Nicholls, Leon E., Masina, Ramprakash, Cowgill, George A., Ansari, Amir, Raissyan, Atousa
• Granted Patent: US 8,086,495 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0603 Catalogue ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0641 Shopping interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54

Abstract

A product ordering device provided at a digital home system at a user premises is disclosed. The digital home system comprises a user terminal and a gateway device within the premises. Occupants at the premises enjoy the product ordering service on an interactive user interface displayed via the user terminal. The gateway device is coupled for communication with the user terminal via a local area network, and for communication with a wide area network outside the premises; and the gateway device is configured for obtaining product data via the wide area network and providing the product data to the terminal for display on the display device. Upon placement of a product order by a user input through the terminal, the gateway device sends an order message outside of the integrated multimedia service system to request a corresponding vendor for the ordered product to deliver the ordered product at the premises. The product ordering service and the product data are provided and updated by a management server located outside of the premises.

Claims

1. A system for providing a product ordering service to a user premises, the system comprising:

a user terminal at the premises having or driving a display device;

a gateway device in the premises, coupled for communication with the user terminal via a local area network, and for communication with a wide area network outside the premises, whereby the gateway and the terminal form an integrated multimedia service system(IMSS) to provide a user-interactive product ordering service within the premises via the display device, the gateway device being configured for obtaining product data via the wide area network and providing the product data to the terminal to be displayed on the display device,

wherein, upon a placement of a product order by a user input through the terminal based on the product data, the gateway device sends an order message outside of the IMSS to request a corresponding vendor for the ordered product to deliver the ordered product.

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising:

a management server at the outside of the premises coupled to the wide area network for communication with the gateway device, for authenticating associations of a plurality of terminals at one or more premises and a plurality of vendors'"'"' terminals with the management server and for obtaining the product data from the vendor'"'"'s terminals and sending the product data to the gateway device.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the product data comprises categorized lists of products for selective output via the display device based on selected criteria.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the gateway device stores address data of the premises and sends the address data of the premises to a vendor'"'"'s terminal of the ordered product to provide a direction to the premises for use in delivery of the product while sending the order request.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the terminal comprises a set top box (STB) or digital media adapter(DMA) and/or a remote control associated with a TV for converting digital data between a format used by the gateway device and a signal format for a TV type display device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the gateway device comprises an application programming interface (API) to allow application services provided on the wide area network to access the user terminals, the application services being managed from the management server, communications processed through the API including receiving vendors'"'"' product data and sending the order messages.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a management server outside of the premises, coupled to the wide area network for communication with the gateway device,

wherein the management server is configured to integrate billing for the ordered product with billing for providing the product ordering service at the premises.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the user terminal is configured as a client for purposes of product ordering service; and

the gateway is configured as a server communicating with the client, for purposes of the product order service.

9. A method for providing a product ordering service to a user premises having a gateway device coupled for communication with a user terminal via a local area network in the premise and for communication with a wide area network outside the premises, the gateway and the user terminal forming an integrated multimedia service system(IMSS) to provide the product ordering service within the premises, the method comprising steps of:

(a) providing the gateway device with product data from resources outside of the IMSS;

(b) displaying the product data from the gateway on the user terminal via interactive graphical user interface whereupon the user inputs an order request for a product based on the product data;

(c) receiving the order request of a product from the terminal at the gateway; and

(d) sending the order request to a vendor'"'"'s terminal corresponding to the ordered product together with terminal user'"'"'s data, via the wide area network.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a management server located outside of the integrated multimedia service system is coupled to the wide area network for communication with the gateway device, the method further comprising:

(e) authenticating associations of a plurality of terminals at one or more premises and a plurality of vendors'"'"' terminals with the management server by the management server; and

(f) obtaining the product data at the management server from the vendor'"'"'s terminals and sending the product data to the gateway device.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the step (d) comprises steps of:

(d1) sending the order request as well as address data of the premises stored in the gateway to the management server;

(d2) forwarding the order request and the address data to a corresponding product vendor'"'"'s terminal at the management server; and

(d3) obtaining a direction to the premises based on the address data at the vendor'"'"'s terminal.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the step (a) comprises steps of:

(a1) gathering product data and vendors data at the management server;

(a2) categorizing product data and vendors data based on types and price of the products and location of the products; and

(a3) sending categorized product data and vendors data to the gateway at a predetermined time.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising steps of:

(g) receiving a notification relating to status of processing the order in the management server from the vendor'"'"'s terminal;

(h) sending a notification of status of the order to the gateway device based on the notification relating to status of processing the order at the management server; and

(i) forwarding the notification from the gateway device to the terminal at the premises for presentation to the user.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the step (c) comprises steps of:

(c1) receiving payment data of terminal user from the gateway together with the order request; and

(c2) integrating the payment data for the ordered product on bill data for delivering the product ordering services stored in the service management server.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the step (c) comprises steps of:

(c4) receiving payment data of terminal user at the vendor'"'"'s terminal from the gateway together with the order request; and

(c5) charging the price of the ordered product based on the payment data at the vendor'"'"'s terminal.

16. The method of claim 9, further comprising steps of:

17. A gateway device for operation at a user premises to support a product ordering service, the gateway device comprising:

a first interface for enabling bi-directional communications within the premises, with a user terminal device within the premises;

a second interface for enabling bi-directional communications for the one or more terminals via a wide area network;

a processor coupled to the interfaces;

storage coupled to the processor; and

programming in the storage for the product order service,

wherein execution of the programming by the processor causes the gateway device to provide functions in relation to the product order service for the terminal, including;

(1) application server communication with a client functionality of the terminal, for the product ordering service, communicated via the first interface; and

(2) application communication via the second interface, to obtain selected product related information for communication to the end point device and to communicate an order request message to a vendor responsive to order requests from the end point device.

18. The gateway device of claim 17, wherein:

the second interface is configured for enabling bidirectional communications with a management server external to the premises via the wide area network; and

execution of the programming by the processor further causes the gateway device to provide further functions in relation to the product ordering including management of the product ordering service based upon the communications with the management server via the wide area network through the second interface.

19. The gateway device of claim 17, wherein execution of the programming by the processor further causes the gateway device to provide an application programming interface (API) which allows application services provided on the wide area network to access the user terminals, the application services being managed from the management server, communications processed through the API including receiving vendors'"'"' product data and sending the order messages.

20. A product comprising a machine-readable medium and programming embodied in the medium for a gateway device at a premises for communication with a user terminal via a local area network and for communication with a plurality of vendors'"'"' terminals via a wide area network outside the premises, wherein execution of the programming causes the gateway device to provide a product ordering service to the terminal, and the programming provides functions of the gateway in relation to the product ordering service including:

management of communication with the vendors'"'"' terminals and the terminal within the premises;

an application programming interface (API), for application information communicated via the wide area network, the API being adaptable to a plurality of application services provided to end point devices in the premises, the services being managed from the management server, communications processed through the API including receiving vendors'"'"' product data and sending the order messages;

providing product data obtained from the outside of the integrated multimedia service system on the user terminal via an interactive graphical user interface whereupon the user inputs an order request of a product; and

transmitting the order request of products from the terminal and terminal user'"'"'s data for use in delivery of the order product to a vendor'"'"'s terminal corresponding to the ordered product.

21. An integrated multimedia service system for a user premises, comprising:

a terminal device, configured to implement client functionality for interactive communications via a local network at the user premises;

a gateway device for coupling between the local network at the user premises and a wide area network, wherein the gateway device is configured to;

implement server functionality for interactive communications with the client functionality implemented by the terminal device for the interactive communications via the local network at the user premises; and

to implement an application programming interface(API) to provide web services communications with equipment of one or more service providers via the wide area network, to enable the server functionality to deliver an application service offered by one of the providers to the terminal device using the interactive communications.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the API provides one or more functions calls and one or more response messages for the web services communication with the service provider equipment which are independent of protocols used for the interactive client-server communications with the terminal.

23. The system of claim 21, further comprising:

a management server for controlling the server functionality and the API'"'"'s web services communications.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the management server is implemented with an API to provide communications with the service providers via the wide area network for authentication and registration of the service providers.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one of the service providers provides a product ordering service by which a user at the premises orders products on a user interface provided by the gateway device.