Shortcut for establishing a communication channel with a remote device over a network

• US 20070077949A1
• Filed: 10/03/2005
• Published: 04/05/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Henderson, Irvin, Sanjeeva, Naveen, Ramakrishnan, T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,702,341 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/18 between terminal devices

Abstract

Two-way communication between a general purpose computing device, such as a PC, and a mobile terminal, such as a cell phone. The general device executes a conversation user interface through which a user enters a message. The message is sent to an intermediary communication service, such as a portal server, along with a mobile terminal identifier, such as a phone number. The intermediary service creates a mapping between the mobile identifier, a general device user identifier, and an extension to an intermediary device identifier, such as an extension to an SMS short code. The intermediary service sends the message to the mobile terminal along with the intermediary service identifier and the extension. The mobile device returns a response with the mobile identifier, the intermediary service identifier, and the extension. The intermediary service uses the mobile identifier and the extension to determine the general device user identifier and send the response.

Claims

1. A method for messaging between a general purpose computing device and a mobile terminal, comprising:

establishing a communication session with the general purpose computing device wherein a user identifier is associated with the general purpose computing device;

receiving a message and a mobile terminal identifier from the general purpose computing device via a conversation user interface that is temporarily executed by the general purpose computing device;

storing at least during the communication session an association between the user identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and a return identifier extension;

sending the message, a return identifier, and the return identifier extension to the mobile terminal;

receiving a response, the mobile terminal identifier, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension from the mobile terminal;

using the return identifier extension and the mobile terminal identifier to associate the response with the user identifier; and

sending the response to the general purpose computing device based on the user identifier.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

associating the user identifier with a session identifier that is associated with the communication session with the general purpose computing device; and

using the return identifier extension, the mobile terminal identifier, and the user identifier to associate the response with the communication session with the general purpose computing device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the response is displayed with the conversation user interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal identifier comprises one of a telephone number and a mobile identification number.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the return identifier comprises a short message service (SMS) short code.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the message is formatted to conform to a wide area network protocol when received from the general purpose computing device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the message comprises one of a hypertext transport protocol (HTTP) message, an instant message (IM), and a markup language form element.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the message to comply with a mobile messaging specification before sending the message to the mobile terminal.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the text messaging specification comprises one of SMS, MMS, IM, voice IM, and wireless application protocol (WAP).

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising formatting the response to comply with a wide area network protocol before sending the response to the general purpose computing device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the conversation user interface comprises one of an applet, a markup language form, and a script.

12. A computer readable medium, comprising executable instructions for performing actions, including the actions of claim 1.

13. A modulated data signal for communicating content over a network, the modulated data signal comprising instructions that enable a computing device to perform the actions of claim 1.

14. A server for messaging between a general purpose computing device and a mobile terminal, comprising:

a processor;

a communication interface in communication with the processor for communication between the server, the general purpose computing device, and the mobile terminal; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

establishing a communication session with the general purpose computing device wherein a user identifier is associated with the general purpose computing device;

receiving a message and a mobile terminal identifier from the general purpose computing device via a conversation user interface that is temporarily executed by the general purpose computing device;

storing at least during the communication session an association between the user identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and a return identifier extension;

sending the message, a return identifier, and the return identifier extension to the mobile terminal;

receiving a response, the mobile terminal identifier, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension from the mobile terminal;

using the return identifier extension and the mobile terminal identifier to associate the response with the user identifier; and

sending the response to the general purpose computing device based on the user identifier.

15. The server of claim 14, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform the operations of:

associating the user identifier with a session identifier that is associated with the communication session with the general purpose computing device; and

using the return identifier extension, the mobile terminal identifier, and the user identifier to associate the response with the communication session with the general purpose computing device.

16. The server of claim 14, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform the operation of formatting the message to comply with a mobile messaging specification before sending the message to the mobile terminal.

17. The server of claim 14, wherein the machine instructions further cause the processor to perform the operation of formatting the response to comply with a wide area network protocol before sending the response to the general purpose computing device.

18. A general purpose client computing device comprising:

a communication interface;

a processor in communication with the communication interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

establishing a communication session with a server wherein a user identifier is associated with the general purpose computing device;

temporarily executing a conversation user interface during the communication session;

sending a message and a mobile terminal identifier to the server via the conversation user interface, wherein the server associates the user identifier and the mobile terminal identifier with a return identifier extension, and wherein the server sends the message, a return identifier, and the return identifier extension to a mobile terminal identified by the mobile terminal identifier;

receiving a response via the conversation user interface, wherein the response originates from the mobile terminal, which sends the response with the mobile terminal identifier, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension, and wherein the server associates the mobile terminal identifier and the return identifier extension with the user identifier that is associated with the general purpose computing device.

19. A mobile terminal comprising:

a communication interface;

a processor in communication with the communication interface; and

a memory in communication with the processor and storing machine instructions that cause the processor to perform a plurality of operations, including;

receiving a message, a return identifier, and a return identifier extension, wherein the message was originated with a conversation user interface that is temporarily executed by a general purpose computing device during a communication session with the mobile terminal, and wherein the return identifier identifies an intermediary communication device that has established a communication session with the general purpose computing device, and wherein the return identifier extension associates the mobile terminal with a user identifier that is associated with the general purpose computing device; and

returning to the intermediary communication device a response, the return identifier, the return identifier extension, and a mobile terminal identifier, wherein the intermediary communication device associates the return identifier extension and the mobile terminal identifier with the user identifier to send the response to the general purpose computing device.

20. A method for messaging between a general purpose computing device and a mobile terminal, comprising:

establishing a communication session with the general purpose computing device and assigning a session identifier to the communication session;

receiving a message and a mobile terminal identifier from the general purpose computing device through a conversation user interface that is temporarily executed by the general purpose computing device;

temporarily storing during the communication session an association between the session identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and a return identifier extension;

sending the message, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension to the mobile terminal;

receiving a response, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension from the mobile terminal;

using the return identifier extension to associate the response with the session identifier; and

sending the response to the general purpose computing device based on the session identifier.