Mobile surveys and polling

• US 7,310,350 B1
• Filed: 12/29/2000
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Shao, Victor, McGee, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham, Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Elallam, Ahmed
• Application Number:
  US09/751,259
• Time in Patent Office: 2,545 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/352, 370/401, 370/466, 370/259, 370/260, 709200-206, 709/227, 709/228, 705/1, 705/10, 705/710, 455/2.01
• US Class Current: 370/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/06 using polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A method and system are provided for allowing mobile device users to participate in an online survey community by entering opinions and reading opinions of other through their mobile devices. The mobile devices need not support the same protocol as the server that manages and provides the survey information. In particular, a system is provided in which users of WAP-enabled mobile phones can enter opinion information into their WAP phones immediately after an event that is the subject of a survey, even though a Web server that uses a protocol not supported by the phones manages the survey data. Further, a feature is provided to defer the transmission of the opinion data from the phone, thereby allowing the opinion data to be batched, or to be entered even when the phone network is not available.

Claims

1. A method for sharing an opinion with an online community, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a first connection between a mobile device and a gateway using a first protocol;

wherein said mobile device supports said first protocol but not a second protocol;

wherein said online community is associated with a server that supports said second protocol but not said first protocol;

receiving, from said mobile device at said gateway, opinion data indicating an opinion, that was specified through user interface controls on said mobile device, in a message that is not addressed to any specific member of the community, using said first protocol, wherein said user input was provided relative to a survey defined by a particular party;

transmitting said opinion data, using said second protocol, from said gateway to said server;

storing, at said server, for said survey, said opinion data as part of survey results, wherein said survey results reflect opinion data from a plurality of members of the online community; and

transmitting said survey results, using said second protocol, from said server to members of said online community in response to requests received by said server in said second protocol;

wherein the step of transmitting said survey results includes transmitting said survey results from said server to members of the online community that are not associated with said particular party that defined said survey;

wherein a second mobile device is a mobile device of a member of the community and not the particular party that defined the survey;

wherein said member provides user input, that indicates a second opinion, relative to a different survey, results of which other members of said online community may request and receive;

receiving a request for said survey results, using said first protocol, from said second mobile device at said gateway, wherein the request was specified in second user input through user interface controls on said second mobile device, wherein said second user input does not initiate the creation of said survey;

transmitting a request for said survey results, using said second protocol, from said gateway to said server;

in response to said request received at said server using said second protocol, transmitting said survey results, using said second protocol, to said gateway; and

sending said survey results, using said first protocol, from said gateway to said second mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

said first protocol is WAP; and

said second protocol is HTTP.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the step of receiving opinion data from said mobile device at said gateway includes receiving said opinion data over a wireless connection; and

the step of transmitting said opinion data from said gateway to said server includes transmitting said opinion data over a network to which both said gateway and said server are connected.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

prior to receiving user input that indicates said opinion, transmitting, to said mobile device, from said server, through said gateway, previous opinion data that indicates an opinion previously stored on said server;

wherein said user input is entered as a response to said previous opinion data; and

said server storing an association between said previous opinion data and said opinion data.

5. The method claim 1 wherein:

the opinion data is stored within said mobile device; and

the stored opinion data is received from said mobile device at said gateway in a batch with other opinion data previously entered by a user of said mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the step of receiving user input that indicates said opinion through user interface controls on said mobile device is performed while said mobile device does not have a connection to said gateway;

the opinion data is stored within said mobile device; and

the stored opinion data is received from said mobile device at said gateway after a connection is established between said mobile device and said gateway.

7. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for sharing an opinion with an online community, the instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

establishing a first connection between a mobile device and a gateway using a first protocol;

wherein said mobile device supports said first protocol but not a second protocol;

wherein said online community is associated with a server that supports said second protocol but not said first protocol;

receiving, from said mobile device at said gateway, opinion data indicating an opinion, that was specified through user interface controls on said mobile device, in a message that is not addressed to any specific member of the community, using said first protocol, wherein said user input was provided relative to a survey defined by a particular party;

transmitting said opinion data, using said second protocol, from said gateway to said server;

storing, at said server, for said survey, said opinion data as part of survey results, wherein said survey results reflect opinion data from a plurality of members of the online community; and

transmitting said survey results, using said second protocol, from said server to members of said online community in response to requests received by said server in said second protocol;

wherein the step of transmitting said survey results includes transmitting said survey results from said server to members of the online community that are not associated with said particular party that defined said survey;

wherein a second mobile device is a mobile device of a member of the community and not the particular party that defined the survey;

wherein said member provides user input, that indicates a second opinion, relative to a different survey, results of which other members of said online community may request and receive;

receiving a request for said survey results, using said first protocol, from said second mobile device at said gateway, wherein the request was specified in second user input through user interface controls on said second mobile device, wherein said second user input does not initiate the creation of said survey;

transmitting a request for said survey results, using said second protocol, from said gateway to said server;

in response to said request received at said server using said second protocol, transmitting said survey results, using said second protocol, to said gateway; and

sending said survey results, using said first protocol, from said gateway to said second mobile device.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein:

said first protocol is WAP; and

said second protocol is HTTP.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein:

the step of receiving opinion data from said mobile device at said gateway includes receiving said opinion data over a wireless connection; and

the step of transmitting said opinion data from said gateway to said server includes transmitting said opinion data over a network to which both said gateway and said server are connected.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

prior to receiving user input that indicates said opinion, transmitting, to said mobile device, from said server, through said gateway, previous opinion data that indicates an opinion previously stored on said server;

wherein said user input is entered as a response to said previous opinion data; and

said server storing an association between said previous opinion data and said opinion data.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein:

the opinion data is stored within said mobile device; and

the stored opinion data is received from said mobile device at said gateway in a batch with other opinion data previously entered by a user of said mobile device.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 wherein:

the step of receiving user input that indicates said opinion through user interface controls on said mobile device is performed while said mobile device does not have a connection to said gateway;

the opinion data is stored within said mobile device; and

the stored opinion data is received from said mobile device at said gateway after a connection is established between said mobile device and said gateway.