Multimedia messaging method and system for transferring multimedia content

• US 7,171,222 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2002
• Issued: 01/30/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mavenir Ltd. (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Comverse Limited (Mavenir Group Holdings Ltd.)
• Inventors: Fostick, Gideon
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): Sharma; Sujatha
• Application Number:
  US10/259,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20040063449A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,583 Days
• Field of Search: 4554141-4143, 455/412.1, 455/466, 455/517, 709/231, 709/206
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session 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 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 Intermediate processing functionally located close to the data consumer application, e.g. in same machine, in same home or in same sub-network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42382 Text-based messaging services in telephone networks such as PSTN/ISDN, e.g. User-to-User Signalling or Short Message Service for fixed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

A method and system for sending messages including multimedia content between mobile communication devices via relays. Synchronized local caches are maintained at the relays for storing and retrieving multimedia content originating with end-users, without the necessity of storing the multimedia content into the caches upon publication by a service provider. When a first mobile communication device wishes to send multimedia content to a second mobile communication device, the first mobile communication device initially transmits a digest of the multimedia content to a first relay, rather than the entire multimedia content, and the first relay searches a first local cache maintained by the first relay using the digest to determine whether the multimedia content is stored in the local cache. When the multimedia content is stored in the first local cache, the first relay sends to the second relay a reference to the multimedia content. By utilizing synchronized local caches and transmitting digests and references for multimedia content, redundant transfers of the entire multimedia content are eliminated.

Claims

1. A system for transferring multimedia content between mobile communication devices, the system comprising:

a relay device configured to receive from a device a digest identifying multimedia content to be transferred; and

a storage device communicably linked to the relay device and configured to store multimedia content previously transferred by the relay device,

wherein the relay device is configured to;

determine whether the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the storage device based on the digest, and

if the multimedia content to be transferred is not stored in the storage device, request and receive the multimedia content to be transferred from the device.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the device is a first mobile communication device, and the multimedia content to be transferred is multimedia content to be transferred from the first mobile communication device to a second mobile communication device.

3. The system according to claim 2, wherein the relay device is configured to store the multimedia content in the storage device after receiving the multimedia content from the first mobile communication device.

4. The system according to claim 2, wherein if the relay device determines that the multimedia content is stored in the storage device, the relay device is configured to retrieve the multimedia content from the storage device.

5. The system according to claim 2, wherein the digest includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) identification stamp for the multimedia content to be transferred.

6. The system according to claim 2, wherein the multimedia content to be transferred is an image, and the digest includes a low-resolution JPEG image of the image.

7. The system according to claim 2, wherein the relay device comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS)-relay.

8. A system for transferring multimedia content between mobile communication devices, the system comprising:

a first relay device;

a first storage device communicably linked to the first relay device and configured to store multimedia content which was previously received by the first relay device;

a second relay device communicably linked to the first relay device; and

a second storage device communicably linked to the second relay device and configured to store multimedia content which was previously received by the second relay device, wherein the first and second storage devices are occasionally synchronized to store the same multimedia content with identical references, and the first relay device is configured to;

determine whether multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the second storage device and,

if the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the second storage device, transmit to the second relay device a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred.

9. The system according to claim 8, wherein the first relay device is communicably linked to a first mobile communication device, and the multimedia content to be transferred is multimedia content to be transferred from the first mobile communication device to a second mobile communication device.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the second relay device is configured to retrieve from the second storage device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device based on the reference.

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein, if the first relay device determines the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, the first relay device is configured to transmit to the second relay device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first relay device and the second relay device are configured to store the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in the first storage device and the second storage device.

13. The system according to claim 11, wherein the first relay device and the second relay device are configured to store at a predetermined time the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in the first storage device and the second storage device.

14. The system according to claim 9, wherein the first storage device and the second storage device are periodically synchronized to store multimedia content which was previously received by at least one of the first and second relay devices.

15. The system according to claim 9, wherein the first storage device and second storage device are locally integrated with the first relay device and second relay device, respectively.

16. The system according to claim 9, wherein the first and second relay devices each comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.

17. A system for transferring multimedia content between mobile communication devices, the system comprising:

a first relay device configured to receive a digest identifying multimedia content to be transferred to a second mobile communication device from a first mobile communication device;

a first storage device communicably linked to the first relay device and configured to store multimedia content which was previously received by the first relay device;

a second relay device communicably linked to the first relay device; and

a second storage device communicably linked to the second relay device and configured to store multimedia content which was previously received by the second relay device, wherein the first and second storage devices are occasionally synchronized to store the same multimedia content with identical references, and the first relay device is configured to;

determine whether the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is stored in the second storage device based on the digest and,

if the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is stored in the second storage device, transmit to the second relay device a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the second relay device is configured to retrieve from the second storage device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device based on the reference.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein, if the first relay device determines that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, the first relay device is configured to:

request and receive from the first mobile communication device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device, and

transmit the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device to the second relay device.

20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the first relay device and the second relay device are configured to store the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in the first storage device and the second storage device.

21. The system according to claim 19, wherein the first relay device and the second relay device are configured to store at a predetermined time the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in the first storage device and the second storage device.

22. The system according to claim 17, wherein the first storage device and the second storage device are periodically synchronized to store multimedia content which was previously received by at least one of the first and second relay devices.

23. The system according to claim 17, wherein the first storage device and second storage device are locally integrated with the first relay device and second relay device, respectively.

24. The system according to claim 17, wherein the first and second relay devices each comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.

25. The system according to claim 17, wherein the digest includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) identification stamp for the multimedia content.

26. The system according to claim 17, wherein the multimedia content is an image, and the digest includes low-resolution JPEG image of the image.

27. A method for transferring multimedia content between mobile communication devices, the method comprising:

receiving from a device a digest identifying multimedia content to be transferred;

determining based on the digest whether the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in a storage device; and

requesting and receiving the multimedia content to be transferred from a device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred is not stored in the storage device.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the device is a first mobile communication device, and the multimedia content to be transferred is multimedia content to be transferred to a second mobile communication device from the first mobile communication device.

29. The method according to claim 28, further comprising storing the multimedia content to be transferred in the storage device if the multimedia content to be transferred is received from the first mobile communication device.

30. The method according to claim 28, further comprising retrieving the multimedia content to be transferred from the storage device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the storage device.

31. The method according to claim 28, wherein the digest includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) identification stamp for the multimedia content.

32. The method according to claim 28, wherein the multimedia content is an image digest includes a low-resolution JPEG image of the image.

33. The method according to claim 28, wherein the relay device comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.

34. A method for transferring multimedia content, the method comprising:

determining at a first relay device whether multimedia content to be transferred is stored in a second storage device communicably linked to a second relay device;

transmitting from the first relay device to the second relay device a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the second storage device; and

transmitting from the first relay device to the second relay device the multimedia content to be transferred if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred is not stored in the second storage device.

35. The method according to claim 34, wherein the multimedia content to be transferred is multimedia content to be transferred to a second mobile communication device from a first mobile communication device.

36. The method according claim 35, further comprising retrieving from the second storage device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device based on the reference if the second relay device receives the reference from the first relay device.

37. The method according to claim 35, further comprising storing the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with an identical reference in the first storage device and the second storage device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the first storage device.

38. The method according to claim 35, further comprising storing the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in a first storage device and the second storage device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, wherein the first storage device is communicably linked to the first relay device.

39. The method according to claim 35, further comprising periodically storing multimedia content which was previously received by at least one of the first and second relay devices in a first storage device and second storage device, wherein the first storage device is communicably linked to the first relay device.

40. The method according to claim 35, wherein the first storage device and second storage device are locally integrated with the first relay device and second relay device, respectively.

41. The method according to claim 35, wherein the first and second relay devices each comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.

42. A method for transferring multimedia content, the method comprising:

receiving at a first relay device a digest from a first mobile communication device, the digest identifying multimedia content to be transferred to a second mobile communication device;

determining whether the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is stored in a second storage device communicably linked to a second relay deve based on the digest; and

transmitting from the first relay device to the second relay device a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is stored in the first storage device.

43. The method according to claim 42, further comprising receiving at the second relay device the reference from the first relay device and retrieving from the second storage device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device based on the reference.

44. The method according to claim 42, further comprising, if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, receiving from the first mobile communication device the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device, and transmitting the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device to the second relay device from the first relay device.

45. The method according to claim 44, further comprising storing the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in a first storage device and the second storage device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, wherein the first storage device is communicably linked to the first relay device.

46. The method according to claim 44, further comprising storing at a predetermined time the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device with identical references in a first storage device and the second storage device if it is determined that the multimedia content to be transferred to the second mobile communication device is not stored in the second storage device, wherein the first storage device is communicably linked to the first relay device.

47. The method according to claim 42, further comprising periodically storing multimedia content which was previously received by at least one of the first and second relay devices in a first storage device and the second storage device, wherein the first storage device is communicably linked to the first relay device.

48. The method according to claim 47, wherein the first storage device and second storage device are locally integrated with the first relay device and second relay device, respectively.

49. The method according to claim 42, wherein the first and second relay devices each comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.

50. The method according to claim 42, wherein the digest includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) identification stamp for the multimedia content.

51. The method according to claim 42, wherein the multimedia content is an image digest includes low-resolution JPEG image of the image.

52. A relay device of a communication system for transferring multimedia content, the relay device comprising:

a storage device configured to store multimedia content, wherein the relay device is configured to;

received from a device a digest identifying multimedia content to be transferred by the relay, determine whether the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the storage device based on the digest, and

if the multimedia content to be transferred is not stored in the storage device, request and receive the multimedia content to be transferred from the device.

53. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the relay device is configured to store the multimedia content to be transferred in the storage device together with a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred.

54. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the relay device is configured to transfer a reference identifying the multimedia content to be transferred if the relay device determines the multimedia content to be transferred is stored in the storage device.

55. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the relay device is configured to receive and store in the storage device multimedia content which was received by other relay devices in the communication system.

56. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the relay device periodically transmits to other relay devices of the communication system multimedia content which received the relay device during a previous predetermined time period.

57. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the digest includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) identification stamp for the multimedia content or a low-resolution JPEG image of the multimedia content.

58. The relay device according to claim 52, wherein the relay device comprises a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) relay.