Remote procedure calls using short message service

• US 6,230,004 B1
• Filed: 12/01/1997
• Issued: 05/08/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/01/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Willehadson, Stefan, Hall, Hans
• Primary Examiner(s): Urban, Edward F.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Corsaro, Nick
• Application Number:
  US08/982,054
• Time in Patent Office: 1,254 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/420, 455/550, 455/422, 455/414, 455/556
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

A procedure in a remote server is accessed via a wireless telecommunications network. At least one Short Message Service message is produced, which message represents a command that, if applied to the server, will invoke the procedure. The at least one message is sent to the server via the wireless telecommunications network. At the server, the command is reproduced from the at least one message.

Claims

1. A wireless mobile communication device, comprising:

a controller having an output, said controller for automatically determining if said device has adequate resources to perform a data processing operation, and if not, invoking the output to produce a command for invoking the data processing operation in a server that is accessible to said wireless mobile communication device via a wireless telecommunications network and is operable in response to said command to provide at least one of data and a computer program for use by the wireless mobile communication device, said command including first information indicative of the data processing operation and second information indicative of an operand associated with the data processing operation;

a user input for effecting the data processing operation needed by a user of said device; and

an interface having an input coupled to said controller output to receive said command, said interface for expressing the command as at least one Short Message Service message, said interface including a splitter that determines from said command a quantity of Short Message Service messages required to express said command, and said interface having an output that outputs the least one Short Message Service message via the wireless telecommunications network to an external data processing resource to perform the data processing operation.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said interface includes a further input that receives from the wireless telecommunication network a response produced by the data processing operation that said command invoked and expressed as at least one Short Message Service message, said interface having a further output which provides said response of the data processing operation invoked by said command, said controller having an input coupled to said further interface output.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein said interface includes an analyzer coupled to said further input to detect whether a Short Message Service message received at said further input represents said response, said analyzer having a first output to which the Short Message Service message is forwarded if it represents said response, and said analyzer having a second output to which the Short Message Service message is forwarded if it does not represent said response.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein said interface includes a joiner which is coupled to said first output of said analyzer to detect from said forwarded message a quantity of messages required to express said response.

5. The device of claim 4, wherein said joiner, when said quantity exceeds one, obtains from each said message information indicative of a position of that message in a predetermined ordered relationship among said messages.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein said splitter adds to said at least one message information indicative of said quantity.

7. The device of claim 1, wherein said splitter, when said quantity exceeds one, adds to each said message unique information indicative of a position of that message in a predetermined ordered relationship among said messages.

8. A method of accessing a data processing operation in a remote server via a wireless telecommunications network, comprising:

inputting, by a user an indication that the data processing operation is needed;

automatically determining if a mobile communication device has adequate resources to perform the data processing operation, and if not, producing a command that, if applied to the server, will invoke the data processing operation, said command including first information indicative of the data processing operation and second information indicative of an operand associated with the data processing operation;

expressing the command as at least one Short Message Service message;

sending said at least one message to the server that performs the data processing operation via the wireless telecommunications network; and

at the server, reproducing the command from said at least one message and, in response to the reproduced command, providing for use by the mobile communication device at least one of data and a computer program.

9. The method of claim 8, including receiving from the server via the wireless telecommunications network a response produced by the data processing operation that the command invoked and expressed as at least one Short Message Service message, and reproducing the response from said at least one message.

10. The method of claim 9, including detecting whether a Short Message Service message represents said response;

and

thereafter, forwarding the Short Message Service message to a first data path if it represents said response, and forwarding the Short Message Service message to a second data path if it does not represent said response.

11. The method of claim 10, including detecting from a Short Message Service message on the first data path a quantity of Short Message Service messages required to express said response.

12. The method of claim 11, including, when said quantity exceeds one, obtaining from each message information indicative of a position of that message in a predetermined ordered relationship among said messages.

13. A method of accessing a data processing operation in a remote server via a wireless telecommunications network, comprising:

inputting, by a user, an indication that the data processing operation is needed;

automatically determining if a mobile communication device has adequate resources to perform the data processing operation, and if not producing a command that, if applied to the server, will invoke the data processing operation, said command including first information indicative of the data processing operation and second information indicative of an operand associated with the data processing operation;

expressing the command as at least one Short Message Service message, including determining from said command a quantity of said messages required to express said command;

sending said at least one message to the server that performs the data processing operation via the wireless telecommunications network; and

at the server, reproducing the command from said at least one message and, in response to the reproduced command, providing for use by the mobile communication device at least one of data and a computer program.

14. The method of claim 13, including adding to said at least one message information indicative of said quantity.

15. The method of claim 13, including, when said quantity exceeds one, implementing an ordering scheme that identifies a predetermined ordered relationship among said messages.

16. The method of claim 15, including adding to each said message unique information indicative of a position of that message in said ordered relationship.

17. A method of using a wireless telecommunications network and a mobile communication device operable therein to effect performance of a data processing operation needed by a user of the mobile communication device, comprising:

the mobile communication device determining from a user input that the data processing operation is needed by the user;

the mobile communication device automatically determining whether the mobile communication device has adequate resources available for performing the data processing operation within the mobile communication device;

if the mobile communication device determines that adequate resources are not available for performing the data processing operation within the mobile communication device, the mobile communication device sending to an external data processing resource a command for the data processing operation, including using Short Message Service to transmit the command from the mobile communication device through the wireless telecommunications network to the external data processing resource;

the external data processing resource receiving the command and performing the data processing operation in response to the received command; and

the external data processing resource sending a result of the data processing operation to the mobile communication device, including using Short Message Service to transmit the result from the external data processing resource through the wireless telecommunications network to the mobile communication device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of sending a result includes downloading data from the external data processing resource to the mobile communication device.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of sending a result includes downloading a computer program from the external data processing resource to the mobile communication device.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of sending a command includes sending from the mobile communication device to the external data processing resource a remote data processing operation call for execution of a data processing operation by the external data processing resource.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said performing step includes performing a digital signing algorithm.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein said performing step includes performing a language translation operation.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein said step of sending a command includes sending to the external data processing resource first information indicative of the data processing operation and second information indicative of an operand associated with the data processing operation, and wherein said step of using Short Message Service to transmit the command includes expressing said first information and said second information as at least one Short Message Service message, and transmitting the at least one Short Message Service message from the mobile communication device through the wireless telecommunications network to the external data processing resource.

24. A wireless mobile communication device, comprising:

a controller having an input for receiving information from a user of the wireless mobile communication device, said controller for determining from the user input information that a data processing operation is needed by the user, and said controller further for automatically determining whether the mobile communication device has adequate resources available for performing the data processing operation within the mobile communication device, said controller having an output for producing, in response to a determination that adequate resources are not available for performing the data processing operation within the mobile communication device, a command for execution of the data processing operation by a data processing resource that is accessible to said wireless mobile communication device via a wireless telecommunications network; and

an interface having an input coupled to said controller output to receive said command, and said interface having an output that outputs said command to the wireless telecommunications network using Short Message Service.