METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CIRCULATING MESSAGES
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for circulating a message to a group of people, comprising:
- sending a circulated message by a 1st mobile communicator; and
sequentially receiving the circulated message by an nth mobile communicator and sending the circulated message to an (n+1)st mobile communicator, n=2, 3, . . . , N-1, wherein each one of the N mobile communicators each has a distinct phone number.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method for circulating a message to a group of people, including sending a circulated message by a 1st mobile communicator, and sequentially receiving the circulated message by an nth mobile communicator and sending the circulated message to an (n+1)st mobile communicator, n=2, 3, . . . , N-1, wherein each one of the N mobile communicators has a distinct phone number. A system is also described and claimed.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for circulating a message to a group of people, comprising:
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sending a circulated message by a 1st mobile communicator; and sequentially receiving the circulated message by an nth mobile communicator and sending the circulated message to an (n+1)st mobile communicator, n=2, 3, . . . , N-1, wherein each one of the N mobile communicators each has a distinct phone number. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of N mobile communicators, each having a distinct phone number; and circuitry in each of said plurality of mobile communicators, (i) for sending a circulated message by the 1st mobile communicator, and (ii) for sequentially receiving the circulated message by the nth mobile communicator and sending the circulated message to the (n+1)st mobile communicator, n=2, 3, . . . , N-1. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. A method of communication, comprising:
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receiving a circulated message, by a destination mobile communicator, from a previous destination mobile communicator; and sending the circulated message to a next destination mobile communicator, where the previous destination mobile communicator, the destination mobile communicator and the next destination mobile communicator are successive members of an ordered list of mobile communicators, if the destination mobile communicator is not the last member of the ordered list. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A destination mobile communicator, comprising:
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a modem for sending and receiving messages; a memory for storing a group of identifiers of mobile communicators, and an ordered list thereof; and modem controller circuitry communicatively coupled with said modem and with said memory, for controlling said modem (i) to receive a circulated message from a previous destination mobile communicator, and (ii) to send the circulated message to a next destination mobile communicator, where the previous destination mobile communicator, the destination mobile communicator and the next destination mobile communicator are successive members of the ordered list of mobile communicators stored in said memory, if the destination mobile communicator is not the last member of the ordered list. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of billing subscribers to a communication service, comprising:
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identifying a message that was distributed to members of a pre-defined group of subscribers; further identifying all transmissions of the distributed message from one member of the group to another member of the group, as the distributed message traversed all members of the group; and allocating the total cost of the identified transmissions equally among the members of the group. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A billing system for subscribers to a communication service, comprising:
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an activity monitor (i) for identifying a message that was distributed to members of a pre-defined group of subscribers, and (ii) for further identifying all transmissions of the distributed message from one member of the group to another member of the group, as the distributed message traversed all members of the group; and a billing manager, coupled with said activity monitor, for allocating the total cost of the identified transmissions equally among the members of the group. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method for circulating a message to a group of people, comprising:
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sending a circulated message and a distribution list comprising identifiers for a plurality of mobile communicators, by a first mobile communicator; and sequentially receiving the circulated message and a distribution list, by a next mobile communicator, and, if the received distribution list is non-empty, then (i) selecting one of the mobile communicators identified in the distribution list, (ii) modifying the distribution list by removing the identifier of the selected mobile communicator therefrom, and (iii) sending the circulated message and the modified distribution list to the selected mobile communicator. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of mobile communicators; and circuitry in each of said plurality of mobile communicators, (i) for sending a circulated message and a distribution list comprising identifiers for a plurality of mobile communicators, and (ii) for successively receiving the circulated message and a distribution list, by a next mobile communicator, and, if the received distribution list is non-empty, then (ii.a) selecting one of the mobile communicators identified in the distribution list, (ii.b) modifying the distribution list by removing the identifier of the selected mobile communicator therefrom, and (ii.c) sending the circulated message and the modified distribution list to the selected mobile communicator. - View Dependent Claims (30)
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31. A method for creating a group of mobile communicators, comprising:
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sending an invitation from an originator mobile communicator to a plurality of other mobile communicators; receiving responses from the plurality of other mobile communicators, the responses indicating acceptance or non-acceptance of the invitation; creating group information comprising (a) identifiers of group members, the group members comprising the mobile communicators from which responses indicating acceptance of the invitation were received, and (b) an ordered list of the group members for use in circulating messages among the group members; and sending the group information to the group members. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33)
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34. A communication system, comprising:
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a plurality of mobile communicators; and circuitry in each of said plurality of mobile communicators, (i) for sending an invitation from such mobile communicator to the other mobile communicators, (ii) for receiving responses from the other mobile communicators, the responses indicating acceptance or non-acceptance of the invitation, (iii) for creating group information comprising (a) identifiers of group members, the group members comprising the mobile communicators from which responses indicating acceptance of the invitation were received, and (b) an ordered list of the group members for use in circulating messages among the group members, and (iv) for sending the group information to the group members. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
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Specification