SMS technology for computerized devices

• US 8,694,031 B2
• Filed: 08/04/2009
• Issued: 04/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Media Friends Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Media Friends Incorporated
• Inventors: Lew, Eugene Lee, Gal-Oz, Nimrod
• Primary Examiner(s): Faragalla, Michael
• Assistant Examiner(s): OLIVER, GERALD L
• Application Number:
  US12/535,323
• Publication Number:
  US 20100035640A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,708 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/445, 455/451, 455/435.1, 455/414.1, 455/426.1, 455/462, 370/395.52, 370/328, 370/432, 370/312, 709/206
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/741 Routing in networks with a plurality of addressing schemes, e.g. with both IPv4 and IPv6
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/106 across networks, e.g. mapping telephone numbers to data network addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/24 Connectivity information management, e.g. connectivity discovery or connectivity update

Abstract

A method and system for delivering SMS and MMS messages from a mobile telephone to devices having addresses on an Internet Protocol network are provided. In an embodiment of the invention a device having an IP address and a Media Access Control (MAC) address is registered on a network router and a telephone number is associated with the registered device on the router, such that when the router receives an SMS or MMS message for the telephone number associated with the device the router retrieves the IP address for the device and routes the message to the device.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for routing message communication between at least one mobile telephone and at least one user device having an IP address and a Media Access Control (MAC) address, the method comprising:

provisioning a virtual telephone number associated with the user device, wherein provisioning includes;

registering the at least one user device on a central router and associating the virtual telephone number with the at least one registered device on the central router; and

registering the virtual telephone number with an SMS/MMS aggregator in order that messages for the virtual telephone number are directed to the central router;

receiving a message from the SMS/MMS aggregator on the central router, the message directed to the virtual telephone number;

retrieving on the central router at least one of the IP address and the MAC address of the at least one registered user device using at least one of the virtual telephone number and a user identification as a selection criterion; and

,

routing the message to at least one of the IP address and the MAC address of the at least one registered user device,

wherein the message is at least one selected from the group of;

a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message, a Short Message Service (SMS) text message, and an Instant Messaging format message;

wherein the central router is at least one of;

an SMS router; and

an MMS router;

thereby delivering the message from the at least one mobile telephone to the at least one at least one registered user device having at least one of the IP address and the MAC address.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the IP address is dynamically allocated.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the IP address is statically allocated.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the message from the SMS/MMS aggregator is transmitted to the central router using one of the XMPP protocol, the SMPP protocol and the SIMPLE protocol.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the type of the MMS message is at least one selected from the group consisting of image and video.

6. The method according to claim 1 further comprising delivering the message to at least one selected from the group consisting of:

a television, a video game console, a portable video game device, a mobile personal digital assistant, an IP enabled messaging appliance, and a personal computer.

7. The method according to claim 1 further comprising delivering the message to a plurality of devices.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein the mobile telephone is at least one selected from the group of:

an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) capable telephone, an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) capable Personal Data Assistant (PDA) device, a Femtocell capable telephone, a Femtocell capable Personal Data Assistant (PDA) device and.

9. The method according to claim 1 further comprising delivering and receiving the message and displaying the message in an instant messaging session, by transmitting and receiving a plurality of message formats to and from a plurality of devices and displaying sent or received messages in the instant messaging session wherein at least one participant messages via a mobile telephone device and at least one participant messages via an IP enabled Internet device.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising delivering and receiving the message by a unified messaging server, wherein the unified messaging server sends and receives the message to and from a plurality of devices and a plurality of types of devices and converts the message format to and from at least one format selected from the group consisting of:

SMS, Instant Message, Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM), APEX, Instant Messaging Exchange Protocol, Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol, XMPP, and, SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE).

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising associating the virtual phone number with the MAC address.

12. A system for delivering a message from a mobile telephone to at least one device having an Internet Protocol (IP) and a Media Access Control (MAC) address, the system comprising:

a central router comprising a table for registering and associating at least one of a virtual telephone number and a user identification with at least one of the MAC address and the IP address of the at least one device;

at least one local area network selected from the group consisting of;

a wireless network;

a cable network;

a DSL network;

a telco network;

a combination of a DSL and wireless network;

a combination of a telco and wireless network; and

a combination of a cable and wireless network, for transporting the message from the central router to the device;

an internet connection for connecting the local area network to the internet,

wherein the system delivers the message from the at least one mobile telephone via an SMS/MMS aggregator and the central router to the at least one device having at least one of the IP address and the MAC address associated with the virtual telephone number; and

wherein the message is at least one selected from the group of;

a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message, a Short Message Service (SMS) text message, and an Instant Messaging format message.

13. The system according to claim 12 wherein the device is a router and the message is delivered to devices connected to the router.

14. The system according to claim 12 wherein the message is at least one selected from the group of:

an instant Messaging format message transmitted using the XMPP protocol or the SIMPLE protocol.

15. The system according to claim 12 wherein the MMS message comprises at least one selected from the group of:

an image message and a video message.

16. The system according to claim 12 wherein the mobile telephone is at least one selected from the group of:

an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) capable telephone, an Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) capable Personal Data Assistant (PDA) device, a Femtocell capable telephone and a Femtocell capable Personal Data Assistant (PDA) device.

17. The system according to claim 12 wherein the network router is at least one selected from the group of:

an SMS router and an MMS router.

18. The system according to claim 12 further comprising at least one social networking profile which is accessed for a plurality of telephone numbers which receive the message.

19. The system according to claim 12 wherein the device that receives the message is a television.

20. The system according to claim 12 wherein the message comprises at least one of an SMS text message and an MMS message, the system further comprising delivering the message to a plurality of devices.

21. The system according to claim 20 further comprising a plurality of devices for delivering and receiving the message wherein the system further comprises a module for implementing a display of messages from different parties in an instant messaging session and wherein the system transmits and receives a plurality of message formats to and from the plurality of devices and displays each sent or received message in the instant messaging session.

22. The system according to claim 12, further comprising a unified messaging server which delivers and receives the message and has logic for sending and receiving the message to and from a plurality of types of devices and a plurality of devices and for converting the message to and from at least two different formats selected from the group consisting of:

SMS text message, MMS, Instant Message, Common Profile for Instant Messaging (CPIM), APEX, Instant Messaging Exchange Protocol, Presence and Instant Messaging Protocol, XMPP, and SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE).

23. The system according to claim 12, further comprising

a web based application which leads a user of the at least one device through a provisioning process to establish the virtual telephone number and the user identification.

24. The system according to claim 22, wherein the mobile telephone is an IP enabled mobile telephone sending and receiving SMS text messages via the unified messaging server.