Mobile terminal for displaying a rich text document comprising conditional code for identifying advertising information stored locally or on the internet

• US 6,892,217 B1
• Filed: 06/22/2001
• Issued: 05/10/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JP Morgan Chase & Co)
• Original Assignee: Western Digital Technologies Incorporated (Western Digital Corporation)
• Inventors: Smith, Kenneth J., Sareen, Anil, Hanmann, Jonathan Lee
• Primary Examiner(s): Meky, Moustafa M.
• Application Number:
  US09/888,275
• Time in Patent Office: 1,418 Days
• Field of Search: 709200-203, 709217-219, 709223-224, 709/227
• US Class Current: 709/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9574 of access to content, e.g. by caching

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for transmitting advertising information to a mobile terminal over a first connection during a synchronization session and storing the advertising information in a local memory of the mobile terminal. A rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet.

Claims

1. A method of operating a mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) during a synchronization session, receiving advertising information over a first connection and storing the advertising information in the local memory of the mobile terminal;

(b) receiving a rich text document over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet;

(c) processing the first identifier in the rich text document to determine whether the selected advertising information associated with the rich text document is stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, and retrieving the selected advertising information if stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal;

(d) if the selected advertising information is not stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, processing the second identifier to download the selected advertising information from the Internet; and

(e) displaying the rich text document on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the selected advertising information.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

(a) the first connection operates at a first bandwidth;

(b) the second connection operates at a second bandwidth; and

(c) the first bandwidth is substantially greater than the second bandwidth.

3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein:

(a) the first connection comprises a wired connection; and

(b) the second connection comprises a wireless connection.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the conditional code comprises hypertext markup language (HTML) tags.

5. The method as recited in claim 4, wherein:

(a) the first identifier comprises a first HTML tag; and

(b) the second identifier comprises a second HTML tag.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the second identifier comprises a universal resource locator (URL).

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the advertising display criteria comprises a location within the rich text document to display the advertising information.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the advertising information comprises a plurality of banner ads.

9. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein the banner ads are displayed with the rich text document in a predetermined rotation.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the banner ads are rotated each time the rich text document is redisplayed.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein the banner ads are rotated at a predetermined interval while displaying the rich text document.

12. The method as recited in claim 8, wherein:

(a) a type indicator is associated with each banner ad; and

(b) the first identifier comprises a type indicator for selecting a banner ad from the local memory for display with the rich text document.

13. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein during the synchronization session personal information management (PIM) data is transmitted to the remote terminal.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a subsequent synchronization session.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a browsing session.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

(a) evaluating the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal; and

(b) selectively transmitting updated advertising information to the mobile terminal relative to the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal.

17. The method as recited in claim 16, wherein the updated advertising information displaces outdated advertising information stored on the mobile terminal.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

(a) storing in the local memory of the mobile terminal tracking information identifying the advertising information retrieved from the local memory and displayed with the rich text document; and

(b) transmitting the tracking information from the mobile terminal to a target computer.

19. The method as recited in claim 18, wherein the tracking information further comprises click-through data indicating a click-through rate for the advertising information displayed with the rich text document.

20. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein:

(a) the advertising information comprises linked rich text documents; and

(b) during the synchronization session, the linked rich text documents are transmitted to the mobile terminal over the first connection and stored in the local memory.

21. A mobile terminal for communicating with a target computer, the mobile terminal comprising:

(a) a local memory for storing advertising information received from the target computer over a first connection during a synchronization session;

(b) a screen; and

(c) a terminal controller for;

receiving rich text document over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet;

processing the first identifier in the rich text document to determine whether the selected advertising information associated with the rich text document is stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, and retrieving the selected advertising information if stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal;

if the selected advertising information is not stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, processing the second identifier to download the selected advertising information from the Internet; and

displaying the rich text document on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the selected advertising information.

22. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein:

(a) the first connection operates at a first bandwidth;

(b) the second connection operates at a second bandwidth; and

(c) the first bandwidth is substantially greater than the second bandwidth.

23. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 22, wherein:

(a) the first connection comprises a wired connection; and

(b) the second connection comprises a wireless connection.

24. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the conditional code comprises hypertext markup language (HTML) tags.

25. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 24, wherein:

(a) the first identifier comprises a first HTML tag; and

(b) the second identifier comprises a second HTML tag.

26. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the second identifier comprises a universal resource locator (URL).

27. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the advertising information comprises advertising display criteria for displaying the advertising information within the rich text document.

28. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the advertising information comprises a plurality of banner ads.

29. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 28, wherein the banner ads are displayed with the rich text document in a predetermined rotation.

30. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 28, wherein the banner ads are rotated each time the rich text document is redisplayed.

31. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 28, wherein the banner ads are rotated at a predetermined interval while displaying the rich text document.

32. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 28, wherein:

(a) a type indicator is associated with each banner ad; and

(b) the first identifier comprises a type indicator for selecting a banner ad from the local memory for display with the rich text document.

33. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein during the synchronization session the mobile terminal receives personal information management (PIM) data from the target computer over the first connection.

34. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a subsequent synchronization session.

35. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a browsing session.

36. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein:

(a) during the synchronization session the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal is evaluated; and

(b) updated advertising information is selectively transmitted to the mobile terminal relative to the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal.

37. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 36, wherein the updated advertising information displaces outdated advertising information stored on the mobile terminal.

38. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein the terminal controller for:

(a) storing in the local memory of the mobile terminal tracking information identifying the advertising information retrieved from the local memory and displayed with the rich text document; and

(b) transmitting the tracking information from the mobile terminal to a target computer.

39. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 38, wherein the tracking information further comprises click-through data indicating a click-through rate for the advertising information displayed with the rich text document.

40. The mobile terminal as recited in claim 21, wherein:

(a) the advertising information comprises linked rich text documents; and

(b) during the synchronization session, the linked rich text documents are transmitted to the mobile terminal over the first connection and stored in the local memory.

41. A computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium for use in a mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen, the computer program comprising code segments for:

(a) during a synchronization session, receiving advertising information over a first connection and storing the advertising information in the local memory of the mobile terminal;

(b) receiving a rich text document over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet;

(c) processing the first identifier in the rich text document to determine whether the selected advertising information associated with the rich text document is stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, and retrieving the selected advertising information if stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal;

(d) if the selected advertising information is not stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal, processing the second identifier to download the selected advertising information from the Internet; and

(a) displaying the rich text document on the screen of the mobile terminal together with the selected advertising information.

42. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein:

(a) the first connection operates at a first bandwidth;

(b) the second connection operates at a second bandwidth; and

(c) the first bandwidth is substantially greater than the second bandwidth.

43. The computer program as recited in claim 42, wherein:

(a) the first connection comprises a wired connection; and

(b) the second connection comprises a wireless connection.

44. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the conditional code comprises hypertext markup language (HTML) tags.

45. The computer program as recited in claim 44, wherein:

(a) the first identifier comprises a first HTML tag; and

(b) the second identifier comprises a second HTML tag.

46. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the second identifier comprises a universal resource locator (URL).

47. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the advertising display criteria comprises a location within the rich text document to display the advertising information.

48. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the advertising information comprises a plurality of banner ads.

49. The computer program as recited in claim 48, wherein the banner ads are displayed with the rich text document in a predetermined rotation.

50. The computer program as recited in claim 48, wherein the banner ads are rotated each time the rich text document is redisplayed.

51. The computer program as recited in claim 48, wherein the banner ads are rotated at a predetermined interval while displaying the rich text document.

52. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein:

(a) a type indicator is associated with each banner ad; and

(b) the first identifier comprises a type indicator for selecting a banner ad from the local memory for display with the rich text document.

53. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein during the synchronization session personal information management (PIM data is transmitted to the remote terminal.

54. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a subsequent synchronization session.

55. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein the rich text document is transmitted to the mobile terminal over the second connection during a browsing session.

56. The computer program as recited in claim 41, further comprising code segments for:

(a) evaluating the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal; and

(b) selectively transmitting updated advertising information to the mobile terminal relative to the inventory of advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal.

57. The computer program as recited in claim 56, wherein the updated advertising information displaces outdated advertising information stored on the mobile terminal.

58. The computer program as recited in claim 41, further comprising code segments for:

(a) storing in the local memory of the mobile terminal tracking information identifying the advertising information retrieved from the local memory and displayed with the rich text document; and

(b) transmitting the tracking information from the mobile terminal to a target computer.

59. The computer program as recited in claim 58, wherein the tracking information further comprises click-through data indicating a click-through rate for the advertising information displayed with the rich text document.

60. The computer program as recited in claim 41, wherein:

(a) the advertising information comprises linked rich text documents; and

(b) during the synchronization session, the linked rich text documents are transmitted to the mobile terminal over the first connection and stored in the local memory.

61. A method of transmitting data to a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) during a synchronization session, transmitting advertising information to the mobile terminal over a first connection, the local memory of the mobile terminal for storing the advertising information; and

(b) transmitting a rich text document to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet.

62. A computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium for transmitting data to a mobile terminal, the mobile terminal comprising a local memory and a screen, the computer program comprising code segments for:

(a) during a synchronization session, transmitting advertising information to the mobile terminal over a first connection, the local memory of the mobile terminal for storing the advertising information; and

(b) transmitting a rich text document to the mobile terminal over a second connection, wherein the rich text document comprises conditional code comprising advertising display criteria including a first identifier for retrieving selected advertising information stored in the local memory of the mobile terminal and a second identifier for downloading the selected advertising information from the Internet.