System and method for pushing information to a mobile device

• US 7,711,769 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2007
• Issued: 05/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Research In Motion Limited (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Brown, Michael S., Mousseau, Gary P., Lazaridis, Mihal
• Primary Examiner(s): Jean; Frantz B
• Application Number:
  US11/763,595
• Publication Number:
  US 20070239874A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,054 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/217, 709/219, 455/412.1, 455/414.1
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/00 Commerce
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/289 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 67/306 User profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4878 Advertisement messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A system for pushing information to a mobile device includes a information source, a wireless network, and a proxy content server. The information source stores information. The wireless network sends and receives transmissions to and from the mobile device. The proxy content server is coupled to information source and the wireless network and receives information from the information source. In addition, the proxy content server stores information received from the information source to one of a plurality of channels based on pre-defined information categories, and automatically transmits information from a selected channel over the wireless network to the mobile device.

Claims

1. A system for pushing information to a mobile device, comprising:

an information source that stores information;

a wireless network that sends and receives transmissions to and from the mobile device;

a proxy content server coupled to the information source and the wireless network that receives information from the information source and stores the information to one of a plurality of channels based on pre-defined information categories, and that automatically transmits information from a selected channel over the wireless network to the mobile device,

the selected channel enabled by the mobile device; and

a proxy content server database coupled to the proxy content server that stores data relating to the mobile device and sends a notification to the proxy content server each time a change is detected in the proxy content server database,

wherein the data is used by the proxy content server to select the channel for transmission over the wireless network to the mobile device.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a computer network, wherein the information source and the proxy content server are coupled to the computer network, and wherein the proxy content server receives the information from the information source through the computer network.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer network is the Internet.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer network is an intranet.

5. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

a plurality of information sources coupled to the computer network that transmit information to the proxy content server, wherein the proxy content server stores information from each of the plurality of information sources to a different one of the plurality of channels.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the computer network is an intranet, and wherein the computer network, information source and proxy content server are separated from the wireless network by a firewall.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the information from the selected channel is encrypted by the proxy content server before it is transmitted through the firewall and over the wireless network.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the change in the proxy content server database is a change in information content.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein a meta tag is stored with the change in information content, the meta tag associating advertising content with information content.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the change in the proxy content server database is a change in advertising content.

11. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a computer network, wherein the proxy content server and the wireless network are coupled to the computer network, and wherein the proxy content server transmits information to the wireless network through the computer network.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer network is the Internet.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the computer network is an intranet.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy content server receives a feedback signal from the wireless network and uses the feedback signal to select the channel for transmission.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the feedback signal indicates the location of the mobile device in the wireless network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the feedback signal is generated by the mobile device and transmitted to the proxy content server through the wireless network.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the feedback signal is generated by a base station in the wireless network.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein the feedback signal is a command generated by the mobile device and transmitted to the proxy content server through the wireless network.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the command instructs the proxy content server to cease transmission of the information over the wireless network for an identified period of time.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the information is advertising information.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the information source is a world-wide-web (WWW) server and the information is WWW content accessible as a web page.

22. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy content server polls the information source at regular intervals in order to receive information from the content server.

23. The system of claim 1, wherein the information source automatically transmits the information to the proxy content server.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of channels are memory locations on the proxy content server.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the proxy content server formats the information from the selected channel into data packets for transmission over the wireless network.

26. The system of claim 1, wherein the wireless network is a cellular network.

27. The system of claim 1, wherein the mobile device comprises:

an advertising and information software module that receives the information transmitted over the wireless network from the proxy content server; and

a channel content database having a memory location corresponding to the selected channel on the proxy content server;

wherein the advertising and information software module stores the received information to the memory location in the channel content database.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the mobile device further comprises:

an operating system that tracks the location of the mobile device within the wireless network and generates a feedback signal indicating the location that is transmitted to the proxy content server, wherein the proxy content server uses the feedback signal to select the channel for transmission.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the advertising and information software module receives an input signal from the operating system that indicates the location of the mobile device within the wireless network, and wherein the advertising and information software module uses the input signal from the operating system to generate a location field that is added to the received information.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein each memory location in the channel content database is separated into a plurality of content locations, and wherein the advertising and information software module identifies a content type in the information received from the proxy content server and stores at least a portion of the received information to a particular content location in the channel content database based on the identified content type.

31. The system of claim 30, wherein the mobile device further comprises a channel viewer and selector module that combines stored information from at least two of the content locations to generate a complete message for display on the mobile device.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein the content locations in each memory location in the channel content database include a static content location, a dynamic content location, and a default content location, and wherein the channel viewer and selector module combines information from the static content location and one of the dynamic or default content locations to generate the complete message.

33. The system of claim 30, wherein the proxy content server transmits a display command over the wireless network to the mobile device that identifies information stored in a content location in the channel content database, and wherein the channel viewer and selector module retrieves the identified information from the channel content database for display on the mobile device.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the channel viewer and selector module combines the identified information with information from at least one other content location in order to generate a complete message for display on the mobile device.

35. A system for pushing information to a mobile device, comprising:

a computer network;

an information source coupled to the computer network that stores information;

a wireless network that sends and receives transmissions to and from the mobile device;

means for tracking a location of the mobile device in relation to the wireless network and transmitting a feedback signal to the wireless network that indicates the location of the mobile device;

a proxy content server coupled to the computer network and the wireless network that receives and stores information from the information source, and stores the received information in one of a plurality of pre-defined information categories, wherein the proxy content server receives the feedback signal from the wireless network and uses the feedback signal to select an information category, and wherein the information stored in the selected information category is formatted by the proxy content server for transmission over the wireless network and the formatted information is automatically transmitted over the wireless network to the mobile device; and

a proxy content server database coupled to the proxy content server that stores data relating to the mobile device and sends a notification to the proxy content server each time a change is detected in the proxy content server database,

wherein the data is used by the proxy content server to select the channel for transmission over the wireless network to the mobile device.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein the tracking means is one or more basestations in the wireless network.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the tracking means is a tracking system in the mobile device.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein an operating system in the mobile device functions as the tracking system.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein the computer network in the Internet, and wherein the information source is a world-wide-web (WWW) server and the information is WWW content accessible as a web page.

40. The system of claim 35, wherein the information source automatically pushes the information over the computer network to the proxy content server.

41. The system of claim 35, wherein the proxy content server polls the information source at regular intervals in order to receive the information from the information source.

42. A method of pushing information to a mobile device, comprising the steps of:

providing an information source that stores at least one type of information;

providing a proxy content server having at least one channel, wherein each channel corresponds to one type of information stored by the information source;

providing a proxy content server database that notifies the proxy content server each time a change is detected in the proxy content server database;

establishing at least one criterion for transmitting the type of information from the proxy server to the mobile device;

monitoring the information source to detect a change in at least one type of information stored by the information source;

if a change in a the stored information, then transmitting at least the changed information from the information source to the proxy server;

storing the transmitted information in the channel of the proxy server corresponding to the type of information;

determining if the criterion for transmitting the type of information in the channel from the proxy server to the mobile device is satisfied; and

if the criteria for transmitting the type of information in the channel from the proxy server to the mobile device is satisfied, then automatically formatting the information in the channel for transmission over a wireless network and transmitting the formatted information over the wireless network to the mobile device.

43. A method of pushing information to a mobile device, comprising the steps of:

providing an information source in a computer network that stores information;

transmitting at least a portion of the information from the information source over the computer network to a content proxy server;

identifying a category for the transmitted information and storing the transmitted information in a channel associated with the identified category;

receiving a feedback signal from a wireless network indicating the location of the mobile device in relation to the wireless network;

searching the information stored in the channel to determine if the stored information contains pre-identified criteria that indicates that the stored information is relevant to the location of the mobile device; and

if the stored information contains the pre-identified criteria indicating that the stored information is relevant to the location of the mobile device, then formatting the stored information for transmission over the wireless network and transmitting the formatted information over the wireless network to the mobile device having enabled the stored information to be transmitted.

44. The method of claim 43, comprising the additional steps of:

receiving the information transmitted over the wireless network with the mobile device;

identifying static information stored in the memory device that corresponds to the category for the received information;

combining the received information with the static information to generate a complete message; and

displaying the complete message on the mobile device.

45. A method of pushing information to a mobile device, comprising the steps of:

providing an information source in a computer network that stores information;

providing a content proxy server having a plurality of channels with each channel corresponding to a pre-identified information category;

providing a proxy content server database that notifies the proxy content server each time a change is detected in the proxy content server database;

transmitting at least a portion of the information from the information source over the computer network to the proxy content server;

identifying one of the pre-identified information categories for the transmitted information and storing transmitted information in the channel associated with the identified category;

detecting a triggering event with the proxy content server;

searching the plurality of channels for stored information having a pre-identified criteria indicating that the stored information is relevant to the triggering event;

if stored information having the pre-identified criteria is detected, then formatting the detected information for transmission over a wireless network and automatically transmitting the formatted information over the wireless network to the mobile device having enabled the stored information to be transmitted.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the triggering event is an alarm signal generated by a timer.