Fragmented delivery of multimedia

• US 7,200,388 B2
• Filed: 05/31/2002
• Issued: 04/03/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Deeds, Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): Gelin; Jean
• Assistant Examiner(s): PEREZ, JULIO R
• Application Number:
  US10/160,364
• Publication Number:
  US 20030224773A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,768 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/418, 455/414.1, 455/567, 370/487, 370/535, 379/101.01, 709/217, 709/203, 709/236, 709/232, 709/250
• US Class Current: 455/419
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72427 for supporting games or graphical animations

Abstract

A system and method for downloading fragmented mobile-station ring tones and multimedia presentations for promotional and entertainment purposes. One or more presentations are defined and stored in an electronic storage medium in communication with a fragmentation processor. Ideally, the fragmentation process involves in the first instance segmentation of the presentation according to a predetermined rule set. Whether segmented or not, upon receipt of a fragment delivery request the fragmentation processor reviews the delivery history with respect to the target mobile station or recipient and selects a previously undelivered fragment. The fragment is formatted according to the requirements of the target and transmitted. Preferably a confirmation of receipt is made following transmission. When a completion notification is received, the fragmentation processor initiates a verification algorithm to confirm the completion and, if valid, alerts the system operator.

Claims

1. A method of delivering fragmented media presentations to a mobile station in communication with a wireless communication network, said method comprising the steps of:

defining a media presentation;

storing the media presentation in an electronic storage device;

receiving a presentation fragment delivery request;

selecting a presentation fragment, the presentation fragment including a portion of the media presentation; and

maintaining a log of presentation fragments that have been transmitted to the mobile station,

wherein at least one presentation fragment comprises data identifying a plurality of presentation fragments that comprise the media presentation and specifying a length and sequence order of each of the plurality of presentation fragments.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the media presentation is a multimedia presentation.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication network is capable of transmitting in any one or more of a variety of formats, and further comprising the steps of:

determining a format acceptable to the mobile station; and

formatting the selected presentation fragment.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of transmitting the presentation fragment.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of confirming that the mobile station has received the presentation fragment.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of receiving a completion notice indicating that substantially the entire media presentation has been transmitted to the mobile station.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of verifying the accuracy of the completion notice.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of segmenting the defined media presentation prior to the step of selecting a presentation fragment to generate segments.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the segments defined in the segmenting step are of a substantially uniform size.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the segmenting step is performed automatically.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the selected presentation fragment is one segment in length.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein a number of the segments selected for inclusion in the presentation fragment in the selecting step is determined according to a predefined rule.

20. The method according to claim 1, wherein selecting a presentation fragment comprises randomly selecting the presentation fragment.

21. The method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting the plurality of fragmented presentations that comprise the entire media presentation.

22. The method according to claim 21, further comprising awarding either one of a gift or a prize to a user of the mobile station when the plurality of fragmented presentations are received at the mobile station.

23. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving an identification from the mobile station of which presentation fragments, if any, have not been received by the mobile station.

24. The method according to claim 22, further comprising:

receiving a notice that each of the plurality of presentation fragments has been received by the mobile station;

comparing the identity of the user with stored information specifying whether the mobile station of the user received each of the plurality of presentation fragments;

verifying that the notice was not fraudulently generated; and

ensuring that the prize is only awarded once.

25. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of presentation fragments comprises a portion of a game and wherein at least one of the presentation fragments among the plurality of presentation fragments comprises information pertaining to either one of a promotion or an advertisement of a business.

13. A system for transmitting fragmented media presentations to mobile stations via a wireless communication network, said system comprising:

a database for storing in electronic form one or more media presentations;

a fragmentation server in communication with the database and with the wireless communication network, said fragmentation server comprising;

a fragmentation module for selecting a presentation fragment, the presentation fragment comprising a portion of the stored one or more media presentations for transmission;

a communication module for handing communications to and from the fragmentation server;

a logging module for maintaining a log of presentation fragments that have been transmitted to the mobile station; and

a processor for directing the operation of the fragmentation module and the communications module,

wherein at least one presentation fragment comprises data identifying a plurality of presentation fragments that comprise at least one media presentation and specifying a length and sequence order of each of the plurality of presentation fragments.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the fragmentation server further comprises a segmentation module for segmenting the media presentation prior to fragmentation.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the fragmentation server further includes a formatter for formatting the presentation fragments prior to transmission to the mobile station.

26. The system of claim 13, wherein the fragmentation module randomly selects the presentation fragment.

27. The system of claim 14, wherein the communication module transmits the plurality of fragmented presentations to the mobile station during a predetermined time, and wherein the plurality of fragmented presentations comprises the entire media presentation of the at least one of the one or more media presentations.

28. The system of claim 13, wherein, the fragmentation server tracks information regarding which presentation fragments are sent to the mobile station, wherein the logging module stores the information and transmits an award confirmation notice to the mobile station specifying that the user of the mobile station will be awarded either one of a gift or prize when the plurality of fragmented presentations are received at the mobile station.

29. The system of claim 13, wherein the logging module receives an identification from the mobile station of which presentation fragments, if any, have not been received by the mobile station.

30. The system of claim 13, wherein each of the plurality of presentation fragments comprises a portion of a game and wherein at least one of the presentation fragments among the plurality of presentation fragments comprises information pertaining to either one of a promotion or an advertisement of a business.

16. A fragmentation server for fragmenting a media presentation, said fragmentation server comprising:

a fragmentation module;

a segmentation module;

a logging module; and

a communication module;

wherein the segmentation module divides the media presentation into a number of discrete segments, the fragmentation module selects a number of the discrete segments to form a presentation fragment, the communication module transmits the presentation fragment, and the logging module maintains a log of presentation fragments that have been transmitted,

wherein at least one presentation fragment comprises data identifying a plurality of presentation fragments that comprise the media presentation and specifying a length and sequence order of each of the plurality of presentation fragments.

17. The fragmentation server of claim 16, further comprising a verification module for verifying that substantially an entire media presentation has been transmitted to a mobile station.

18. The fragmentation server of claim 16, further comprising a security module for verifying that a media presentation received by the mobile station and retransmitted back to the fragmentation server is authentic.

19. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein the media presentation is a ring tone.

31. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein the fragmentation module randomly selects the presentation fragment.

32. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein the communication module transmits the plurality of fragmented presentations that comprise the entire media presentation.

33. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein the security module transmits an award confirmation notice to the mobile station specifying that a user of the mobile station will be awarded either one of a gift or prize when the plurality of fragmented presentations are received at the mobile station.

34. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein the logging module receives an identification from the mobile station of which presentation fragments, if any, have not been received by the mobile station.

35. The fragmentation server of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of presentation fragments comprises a portion of a game and wherein at least one of the presentation fragments among the plurality of presentation fragments comprises information pertaining to either one of a promotion or an advertisement of a business.