Visual interface to mobile subscriber account services

• US 6,466,783 B2
• Filed: 06/08/1998
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/11/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unwired Planet LLC (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Openwave Systems Incorporated (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Inventors: Dahm, Cynthia N., Heumann, Gregory, Martin, Jr., Bruce K., Rossmann, Alain S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Vivian
• Assistant Examiner(s): APPIAH, CHARLES NANA
• Application Number:
  US09/093,944
• Publication Number:
  US 20010014615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,590 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412, 455/418, 455/419, 455/420, 455/38.1, 455/566, 455/517, 455/405, 455/406, 455/4, 455/408, 455/414, 455/407, 455/458, 709/227, 709/228, 709/229, 379/114.29, 379/114.28
• US Class Current: 455/414.2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/2871 Implementation details of single intermediate entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72469 for operating the device by selecting functions from two or more displayed items, e.g. menus or icons
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/1235 where one of the core networks is a wireless network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for providing visual interfaces to mobile subscriber account services suitable for mobile devices with a small screen and phone keypad communicating, via a wireless data network, with a remotely located server device providing the mobile subscriber account services. Apart from the interactive voice system and other related systems providing access to subscriber account services, the present invention provides direct visual interface to the mobile subscriber account services and allows mobile subscribers to efficiently, visually and interactively, for example, access desired information and place service requests, through the limited screen and phone keypad at anytime from anywhere with limited costs to the service providers and maximum convenience to mobile subscribers.

Claims

1. A method for providing a visual interface between a display screen of a client device that includes a keypad and services offered by a service provider, said method comprising:

receiving a service request from said client device for accessing an account manager, on a server device across a wireless data network using a first communication protocol, said service request containing a first device identifier;

accessing a user account in a user account database with said account manager;

comparing said first device identifier from said client device with a second device identifier in said user account; and

sending information from said account manager to said client device if said first device identifier and said second device identifier correspond using said first communication protocol, said information used by said client device for displaying a screen display comprising a plurality of user interface components on said display screen for manipulating said user account.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

detecting the selection of one of the user interface components in the screen display using the keypad;

retrieving content information from the server device in accordance with the one of the user interface components in the screen display; and

displaying the content information on said display screen of said client device.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said retrieving said content information from the server device comprises:

requesting the content information from the server device, through a landnet using a second communication protocol; and

mapping said content information from said second communication protocol to said first communication protocol.

4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein said retrieving content information comprises:

retrieving the content information in a first data format, said first data format being a native format of said client device.

5. The method as recited in claim 2, further comprising:

accepting specific information in accordance with the content information displayed on the display screen;

forwarding the specific information from said client device to the server device; and

updating said user account according to the specific information received from the client device.

6. The method as recited in claim 5 further comprising:

accessing the content information identified by a selected user interface component; and

displaying the content information that has been incorporated with the specific information.

7. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the specific information comprises a sequence of alphanumeric characters.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

buffering the plurality of the user interface components in a memory in the client device.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said device identification comprises an IP address of the client device.

10. A method for providing visual interfaces to mobile subscriber account services on a display screen of a client device that includes a keypad, the method comprising:

accepting in a server device a first service request from the client device to access the mobile subscriber account services, the first service request comprising a first device identification, said mobile subscriber account services accessible from said server device that is coupled to the client device via a wireless data network operating a first communication protocol, said first protocol a native protocol of said client device, wherein the server device comprises an account manager managing a user account in a user account database;

accessing said user account in said user account database from said account manager;

comparing said first device identification from said client device with a second device identification in said user account; and

mapping said first service request from the first communication protocol to a second communication protocol to create a second service request and sending said second service request to a second server device with said second communication protocol if said first device identification and said second device identification correspond.

11. The method as recited in claim 10 wherein said accepting said first service request further comprises:

accepting a specific choice from a set of choices on the screen display from a user using the keypad; and

creating said second service request for specific content information from the server device in accordance with the specific choice selected from the screen display.

12. The method as recited in claim 11 wherein said accepting said first service request further comprises:

accepting user specified information in accordance with the specific choice;

placing the user specified information in said second service request to the server device.

13. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first communication protocol is a wireless network communication protocol.

14. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the first service request comprises a markup language.

15. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein the second communication protocol comprises hypertext transfer protocol.

16. The method as recited in claim 10 further comprising:

receiving a first response from said second server device operating with the second communication protocol; and

mapping said response from the second communication protocol to the first communication protocol to create a second response; and

sending the second response to the client device via the wireless data network.

17. A method for performing a commercial transaction with a user having a wireless client device by providing a visual interface between a display screen of a client device that includes a keypad and services offered by a service provider, said method comprising:

sending a message to said wireless client device, said message causing said wireless client device to display more than one service offering on said display screen of said wireless client device;

accepting a first service request from said wireless client device in a first protocol, said first service request including a first device identification, said first service request specifying a service desired by said user, said first protocol being a native protocol of a client program on said client device;

accessing a user account in a user account database to obtain a second device identification;

comparing said first device identification from said wireless client device with said second device identification from said user account; and

mapping said first service request from said first protocol to a second service request with a second communication protocol used by a server associated with said service desired by said user and sending said second service request to said server associated with said service desired by said user if said first device identification and said second device identification correspond.

18. The method as recited in claim 17 further comprising:

accepting user entered information in said first service request that further define said first service request.

19. The method as recited in claim 18 wherein said user entered information comprises alphanumeric data.

20. The method as recited in claim 18 wherein said user entered information comprises a monetary value.

21. The method as recited in claim 17 wherein said service desired by said user comprises pre-paid cellular telephone service.

22. The method as recited in claim 17 wherein said service desired by said user comprises a switch from a first wireless network to a second wireless network.

23. A processing system comprising:

a server module to accept a first service request to access mobile subscriber account services from a mobile client device over a wireless data network using a first communication protocol, the first protocol a native protocol of the client device, the first service request comprising a first device identification; and

an account manager to manage user accounts in a user account database, to access a user account in the user account database in response to the first request, and to compare the first device identification from the client device with a second device identification in the user account;

wherein the server module further is to map the service request from the first communication protocol to a second communication protocol to create a second service request and to send the second service request to a server device over a second data network using the second communication protocol if the first device identification and the second device identification correspond.

24. An apparatus for providing visual interfaces to mobile subscriber account services on a display screen of a client device that includes a keypad, the apparatus comprising:

means for accepting in a server device a first service request from the client device to access the mobile subscriber account services, the first service request comprising a first device identification, the mobile subscriber account services accessible from a server device that is coupled to the client device via a wireless data network operating a first communication protocol, said first protocol a native protocol of said client device, wherein the server device comprises an account manager managing a user account in a user account database;

means for accessing the user account in the user account database from the account manager;

means for comparing the first device identification from the client device with a second device identification in the user account; and

means for mapping the service request from the first communication protocol to a second communication protocol to create a second service request and sending the second service request to a second server device with the second communication protocol if the first device identification and the second device identification correspond.

25. A processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a storage facility accessible to the processor and storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processing system to execute a process comprising;

sending a message to a mobile client device via a wireless network, the message causing the client device to display a plurality of user account service offerings on a display screen of the mobile client device,

receiving a first service request from the mobile client device via the wireless network using a first communication protocol, the service request containing a first device identifier,

accessing a user account in a user account database,

comparing the first device identifier from the mobile client device with a second device identifier in the user account, and

mapping the first service request from the first communication protocol to a second communication protocol to create a second service request, and

sending the second service request using the second communication protocol to a server configured to provide an account service if the first device identification and the second device identification correspond.