Method and architecture for interactive two-way communication devices to interact with a network

• US 6,473,609 B1
• Filed: 09/14/1998
• Issued: 10/29/2002
• 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: Rossmann, Alain S., Lentczner, Mark G., Sandman, Brad E., Laursen, Andrew L., Schwartz, Bruce V., Greer, Russell S., Boyle, Stephen S., Fox, Mark A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ferguson, Keith
• Application Number:
  US09/153,322
• Time in Patent Office: 1,506 Days
• Field of Search: 455/403, 455/422, 455/426, 455/414, 455/445, 455/411, 455/412, 455/550, 455/556, 455/466, 455/517, 455/406, 455/407, 455/408, 701/213
• US Class Current: 455/406
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0237 using prediction or retrieval techniques
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• 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 67/5651 Reducing the amount or size of exchanged application data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• 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 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

The present invention is particularly applicable to navigation of Internet by two-way interactive communication mobile devices that are capable of wireless communication via a link server with service providers or network servers on the Internet. Despite the limited computing resources in mobile devices that make it economically and technically impractical for the mobile devices to operate a local browser functioning as if it was in a desktop computer, the present invention allows the mobile devices to interact effectively with the Internet using a control engine operating in the link server and an interface engine operating in the mobile devices. The control engine, which utilizes the computing resources of the link server device, is responsible for tasks that require considerable computing power and memory, such as processing of URL requests, interpretation of markup language files, management of data cache and variable states. Further, working with a message processor in the server device, the control engine communicates with an interface engine using a compact data format that is efficiently transportable in the wireless data network. The interface engine typically performs tasks that do not require considerable computing power and memory, such as receiving input data from users, and the rendering of the compact data format received from the link server device, to cause the mobile device to display contents in the markup language files on a display screen.

Claims

1. A method for an interactive two-way communication mobile device of a wireless network to interact with a network server, the mobile device having a display screen, the method comprising:

initiating a control engine in a link server device coupled to a landnet after the mobile device establishes a communication session with the link server device over the wireless network, through a pair of first and second protocol interfaces, the first protocol interface residing in the mobile device and the second protocol interface residing in the link server device, the link server device comprising;

an account manager managing a user account of the mobile device; and

a message processor receiving a message from the network server over the landnet;

associating the control engine with an interface engine operating in the mobile device corresponding to the user account, and

converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file that can be efficiently transportable in the wireless network, including substituting a uniform resource identifier in the message with a corresponding address identifier while maintaining the uniform resource identifier in the link server device.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the message received from the network server represents a World Wide Web page.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, the method further comprising forwarding device characteristics information of the display screen from the mobile device to the link server device over the wireless network.

4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the compact data file is screen description data that can be directly rendered by the interface engine in the mobile device.

5. The method as recited in claim 4;

wherein the message comprises a device identifier identifying the mobile device.

6. The method as recited in claim 4;

the method further comprising buffering the message in a cache memory in reference to the user account of the mobile device in the link server device.

7. The method as recited in claim 6;

wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises converting the message to the screen description data corresponding to the device characteristics information received from the mobile device.

8. The method as recited in claim 7;

the method further comprising causing the display screen by the interface engine, upon receiving the screen description data, to display the contents in the message from the network server according to the screen description data from the link server device.

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

navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device;

generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device; and

sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network; and

forwarding the client request to the network server over the landnet.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said generating a client request comprising making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein said generating a client request comprising receiving inputs from a user by using an limited input interface of the mobile device.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the limited input interface comprises a phone keypad equipped in the mobile device.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the limited input interface comprises a number of soft keys displayed on the display screen of the mobile device.

14. The method as recited in claim 6;

wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises;

generating the screen description data from the message with the corresponding address identifier.

15. The method as recited in claim 14;

wherein said substituting the uniform resource identifier comprises storing the uniform resource identifier in an address table managed by the account manager in the link server device.

16. The method as recited in claim 15;

the method further comprising causing the interface engine, upon receiving the screen description data, to display on the display screen contents in the message from the network server according to the screen description data from the link server device.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, the method still further comprising:

navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device;

generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device; and

sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein said generating a client request comprises:

making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key, the selection linking to the address identifier; and

forwarding the client request to the network server over the landnet.

19. The method as recited in claim 18;

further comprising;

looking up the address table for the address identifier;

replacing the address identifier with the uniform resource identifier from the address table;

forming a new client request in the link server device; and

sending the new client request to the network server over the landnet.

20. The method as recited in claim 17;

wherein said generating a client request comprises receiving inputs from a user using a phone keypad of the mobile device.

21. The method as recited in claim 20;

the method still further comprising;

substituting variables in the message with the inputs in the link server device to produce an updated message;

converting the updated message to an updated screen description data corresponding to the device characteristics information received from the mobile device; and

sending the updated screen description data to the mobile device over the wireless network.

22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the message received from the network server is a markup language file.

23. The method as recited in claim 22, wherein the markup language is selected from a group consisting of Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).

24. The method as recited in claim 1;

wherein the message received from the network server is a notification comprising a device identifier identifying the mobile device by the account manager and a universal resource identifier identifying a service web site.

25. The method as recited in claim 24;

wherein said converting the message by the message processor to a compact data file comprises;

looking up in a notification list managed by the account manager for an entry substantially equivalent to the received notification in the link server device;

updating the notification list with the received notification;

substituting the uniform resource identifier with a corresponding address identifier;

storing the uniform resource identifier and the corresponding address identifier in an address table managed by the account manager in the link server device; and

converting the notification with the uniform resource identifier substituted by the address identifier to the compact data file.

26. The method as recited in claim 25;

wherein said updating the notification list comprises;

replacing an entry with the received notification if the entry is identical to the received notification in the notification list; and

inserting the received notification into the notification list if there are no entries that are identical to the received notification in the notification list;

wherein the inserted received notification is sequenced in the notification list.

27. The method as recited in claim 26;

the method further comprising;

processing a client request by the control engine to form an updated client request in the link server device upon receiving the client request from the mobile device that responds to the received notification from the link server device; and

forwarding the updated client request to the network server.

28. The method as recited in claim 27;

wherein said processing a client request by the control engine comprises;

retrieving the uniform resource identifier from the address table with respect to the corresponding address identifier; and

generating the updated client request with the uniform resource identifier therein.

29. A method for an interactive two-way communication mobile device of a wireless network to interact with a network server, the mobile device having a display screen, the method comprising:

establishing a communication session between the mobile device and a link server device over the wireless network through a pair of first and second protocol interfaces, the first protocol interface residing in the mobile device and the second protocol interface residing in the link server device, the link server device coupled to the network server through a landnet, so that the mobile device interacts with the network server via the link server device;

associating an interface engine operating in the mobile device with a control engine operating in the link server device with respect to an account established for the mobile device in the link server device;

receiving a compact data file generated in the link server device over the wireless network, the compact data file having been generated by the link server device by substituting a uniform resource identifier in the message with a corresponding address identifier while maintaining the uniform resource identifier in the link server device; and

rendering the compact data file by the interface engine to display contents of the compact data file.

30. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein said establishing a communication session comprises forwarding device characteristics information of the display screen of the mobile device to the link server device over the wireless network.

31. The method as recited in claim 30, wherein the compact data file is screen description data converted by a message processor in the link server device from a message received from the network server, the message representing a World Wide Web page.

32. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the World Wide Web page is represented in a markup language.

33. The method as recited in claim 32, wherein the markup language is selected from a group consisting of Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), HyperText Markup Language (HTML), Wireless Markup Language (WML), Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML).

34. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the message processor determines whether there are uniform resource identifiers in the message.

35. The method as recited in claim 34, wherein the message processor substitutes the uniform resource identifiers with respective address identifiers if there are uniform resource identifiers in the message;

the uniform resource identifiers associated respectively with the address identifiers maintained in an address table in the link server device.

36. The method as recited in claim 35, wherein the screen description data comprises the address identifiers.

37. The method as recited in claim 36, the method further comprising:

navigating in the contents being displayed on the display screen of the mobile device;

generating a client request by a client module in the mobile device;

the client request comprising one of the address identifiers; and

sending the client request to the link server device over the wireless network.

38. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein said generating a client request comprises:

making a selection in the contents by activating a predefined key on the mobile device.

39. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the predefined key is in a phone keypad equipped in the mobile device.

40. The method as recited in claim 38, wherein the predefined key is a soft key display in the screen display of the mobile device.

41. The method as recited in claim 37, wherein the control engine in the link server device retrieves one of the uniform resource identifiers from the address table with respect to the one of the address identifiers in the received client request and generates an updated client request with the one of the uniform resource identifiers therein, the updated client request subsequently forwarded to the network server.

42. The method as recited in claim 31, wherein the message processor interprets the message to generate the screen description data according to the device characteristics information.

43. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the compact data file is an updated notification processed in the link server device from the notification received from the network server, the notification comprising an alert type and a uniform resource identifier.

44. The method as recited in claim 43, wherein the updated notification comprises an address identifier corresponding to the uniform resource identifier in the notification, the uniform resource identifier associated with the address identifier maintained in an address table in the link server device.

45. The method as recited in claim 44, the method further comprising notifying the user of the updated notification according to the alert type when the mobile device receives the updated notification.

46. The method as recited in claim 44, the method further comprising updating an alert list with the received updated notification in the mobile device.

47. The method as recited in claim 46, wherein said updating an alert list comprises:

replacing an entry with the received updated notification if the entry is identical to the received updated notification in the alert list; and

inserting the received updated notification into the alert list if there are no any entries identical to the received updated notification in the alert list;

wherein the inserted received updated notification is sequenced in the alert list.

48. The method as recited in claim 29, wherein the compact data file is a service request comprising a special identifier before an address, the address identifying a local service offered in the mobile device.

49. The method as recited in claim 48, the method further comprising:

invoking the local service in the mobile device upon receiving the service request from the link server device;

sending a client request to the link server device over the wireless network in response to the local service; and

receiving screen description data generated in the link server device with respect to the client request.