Method and system for increasing ease-of-use and bandwidth utilization in wireless devices

• US 6,968,380 B1
• Filed: 05/30/2000
• Issued: 11/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Time Warner Inc. (Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Stern, Edith Helen, Willner, Barry E., Singhal, Sandeep Kishan
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Application Number:
  US09/585,231
• Time in Patent Office: 2,002 Days
• Field of Search: 709/222, 709/225, 709/226, 709/227, 709/228, 709/232, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal

Abstract

A method and system for increasing ease-of-use and bandwidth utilization in a wireless device capable of accessing a communication network is disclosed. The present invention receives information about the wireless device'"'"'s environment, and then uses the environment to determine web sites most likely to be requested. Identifiers of the web sites most likely to be requested are then pushed to the wireless device for selection by the user. In a further aspect of the present invention, the wireless device may also pre-fetch contents from the identified web sites in times when bandwidth is not in use to further speed responsiveness of the device.

Claims

1. A method for increasing ease-of-use and bandwidth utilization in a wireless device capable of accessing a communication network, comprising the steps of:

(a) maintaining a database of web site identifiers that are categorized by environmental factors;

(b) receiving environment information by a network server about the wireless device'"'"'s environment;

(c) querying the database using the environment information to determine particular web sites most likely to be requested by a user of the wireless device in that environment, wherein the particular web sites are determined by examining prior patterns of access of web sites in the environment of the wireless device by users of the communication network; and

(d) pushing identifiers of the particular web sites identified to be most likely to be requested to the wireless device for selection by the user, wherein server policies determine which web site identifiers are sent to the device.

2. The method of claim 1 further including the step of providing geographic location as the environment information.

3. The method of claim 1 further including the step of providing local weather as the environment information.

4. The method of claim 1 further including the step of providing time and date as the environment information.

5. The method of claim 1 further including the step of personalizing which identifiers are pushed based on personalization information.

6. The method of claim 1 further including the step of providing URLs as the identifiers.

7. The method of claim 1 further including the step of sending a location specific welcome page (LSWP) to the wireless device for display.

8. The method of claim 1 further including the step of pushing keyword URLs to the wireless device for speech recognition matching.

48. The method of claim 1 further comprising (e) automatically pushing content from one or more of the identified web sites to the device in times when bandwidth is not in use to speed responsiveness of the device.

49. The method of claim 1 wherein the web site identifiers pushed to the wireless devices are augmented with identifiers for web sites accessed from an environment similar to the environment of the wireless device.

50. The method of claim 1 wherein the web site identifiers most likely to be requested are for web sites which have been most frequently requested by the users accessing the communication network when located in the current environment of the wireless device.

51. The method of claim 1 wherein the web site identifiers are categorized in types of environments by collecting information from a service provider of the communications network, the server analyzing the collected information for each environment for patterns of use by the users accessing the communications network, wherein the information indicates which web sites have been accessed from which environments by a plurality of wireless devices of the communications network.

9. A system for increasing ease-of-use and bandwidth utilization in a wireless device capable of accessing a communication network, comprising:

database means for storing web site identifiers that are categorized by environmental factors;

network server means for receiving environment information about the wireless device'"'"'s environment;

means for querying the database using the environment information to determine particular web sites most likely to be requested by a user of the wireless device in that environment, wherein the particular web sites are determined by examining prior patterns of access of web sites in the environment of the wireless device by users of the communication network; and

means for pushing identifiers of the particular web sites identified to be most likely to be requested to the wireless device for selection by the user, wherein server policies determine which web site identifiers are sent to the device.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the environment information comprises geographic location.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the environment information comprises local weather.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein the environment information comprises time and date.

13. The system of claim 9 further including means for personalizing which identifiers are pushed based on personalization information.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein the identifiers comprise URLs.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein a location specific welcome page (LSWP) is sent to the wireless device for display.

16. The system of claim 9 wherein keyword URLs are pushed to the wireless device for speech recognition matching.

17. The system of claim 9 further comprising means for automatically pushing content from one or more of the identified web sites to the device in times when bandwidth is not in use to speed responsiveness of the device.

18. The system of claim 9 wherein the web site identifiers most likely to be requested are for web sites which have been most frequently requested by the users accessing the communication network when located in the current environment of the wireless device.

19. The system of claim 9 wherein the web site identifiers are categorized in types of environments by collecting information from a service provider of the communications network, the server analyzing the collected information for each environment for patterns of use by the users accessing the communications network, wherein the information indicates which web sites have been accessed from which environments by a plurality of wireless devices of the communications network.

20. A computer-readable medium containing program instructions for increasing ease-of-use and bandwidth utilization in a wireless device capable of accessing a communication network, the program instructions for:

(a) maintaining a database of web site identifiers that are categorized by environmental factors;

(b) receiving environment information by a network server about the wireless device'"'"'s environment;

(c) querying the database using the environment information to determine particular web sites most likely to be requested by a user of the wireless device in that environment, wherein the particular web sites are determined by examining prior patterns of access of web sites in the environment of the wireless device by users of the communication network; and

(d) pushing identifiers of the particular web sites identified to be most likely to be requested to the wireless device for selection by the user, wherein server policies determine which web site identifiers are sent to the device.

21. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of providing geographic location as the environment information.

22. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of providing local weather as the environment information.

23. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of providing time and date as the environment information.

24. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of personalizing which identifiers are pushed based on personalization information.

25. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of providing URLs as the identifiers.

26. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of sending a location specific welcome page (LSWP) to the wireless device for display.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further including the instruction of pushing keyword URLs to the wireless device for speech recognition matching.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 further comprising (e) automatically pushing content from one or more of the identified web sites to the device in times when bandwidth is not in use to speed responsiveness of the device.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the web site identifiers most likely to be requested are for web sites which have been most frequently requested by the users accessing the communication network when located in the current environment of the wireless device.

30. The computer-readable medium of claim 20 wherein the web site identifiers are categorized in types of environments by collecting information from a service provider of the communications network, the server analyzing the collected information for each environment for patterns of use by the users accessing the communications network, wherein the information indicates which web sites have been accessed from which environments by a plurality of wireless devices of the communications network.

31. A method for generating and updating a URL database for providing a environment sensitive user interfaces on wireless devices capable of accessing the Internet, comprising the steps of:

(a) collecting information indicating which URLs are accessed by the wireless devices in what environments and categorizing the URLs according to environment;

(b) analyzing the information collected for each environment for patterns of use; and

(c) forming a location URL database from the patterns of use.

32. The method of claim 31 further including the step of:

d) in response to determining a wireless device'"'"'s environment, automatically transmitting URLs to the wireless device that will most likely be of interest to a user in that environment.

33. The method of claim 31 further including the step of providing geographic location as the environment information.

34. The method of claim 31 further including the step of providing local weather as the environment information.

35. The method of claim 31 further including the step of providing time and date as the environment information.

36. The method of claim 31 further including the step of personalizing which identifiers are pushed based on personalization information.

37. The method of claim 31 wherein the patterns of use are prior patterns of access of web sites in the environments of the wireless devices by users of the wireless devices.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the analyzing the information for prior patterns of access include analyzing for web sites which have been most frequently requested by the users using the wireless devices when located in the categorized environments.

39. The method of claim 31 wherein the information is collected from a service provider coupled to the Internet and communicating with the wireless devices, wherein the collected information indicates which web sites have been accessed from which environments by the wireless devices.

40. A system for providing a location sensitive user interface to wireless devices, comprising:

a communication network;

a service provider;

a plurality of wireless devices in communication with the communication network through the service provider;

a location URL database; and

a server in communication with the communication network for generating and updating the location URL database by;

collecting information from the wireless devices indicating which URLs are accessed from the wireless devices at what locations and categorizing the URLs according to location, analyzing the information collected for each location for patterns of use, and forming a location URL database from the patterns of use.

41. The system of claim 40 wherein the server automatically transmits URLs to each of the wireless devices that will most likely be of interest to a user at a geographic location of each respective device.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the location information is collected from service provider of each of the wireless devices.

43. The system of claim 41 wherein the server categorizes the URLs according to type of location.

44. The system of claim 41 wherein the server assigns the URLs most widely accessed in any given location a higher priority.

45. The system of claim 40 wherein the server analyzes the access patterns according to other factors including at least one of time, weather, user preferences, and patterns of use in similar locations.

46. The system of claim 40 wherein the server performs the pattern of use analysis in real-time.

47. The system of claim 40 wherein the patterns of use are used to update the location URL database.

52. The method of claim 40 wherein the patterns of use are prior patterns of access of web sites at the locations of the wireless devices by users of the wireless devices.