GENERATION AND DELIVERY OF MULTIMEDIA CONTENT-ADAPTATION NOTIFICATIONS

• US 20090088191A1
• Filed: 09/25/2008
• Published: 04/02/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Masimo Corporation
• Original Assignee: Vantrix Corporation
• Inventors: Lavalliere, Joseph Leo Claude Mario, Norton, Richard Elliott
• Granted Patent: US 8,220,051 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/212 using filtering or selective blocking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0245 Filtering by information in the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1076 Screening of IP real time communications, e.g. spam over Internet telephony [SPIT]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/752 adapting media to network capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/756 adapting media to device capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• 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

Abstract

A method for conditioning multimedia containers to be compatible with decoding facilities of receivers of diverse types is disclosed. Content of a multimedia container may include components of different encoding formats. Container conditioning also detects and, where feasible, removes undesirable insertions within each content component of a multimedia container. A content component of a container may be filtered, re-encoded, or deleted. Notifications indicating conditions of a container and any modifications performed are appended to the container. A notification may be presented in at least one form compatible with characteristics of a respective receiver. An editing engine implementing the method is associated with a network entity to which multimedia containers are directed. The editing engine accesses a receiver database storing information on several types of receivers and a repository of notification templates encoded in several forms.

Claims

1. A method for processing a message in a multimedia messaging system, the method comprising steps of:

examining said message to remove any present malicious software;

identifying an intended receiver of said message;

resolving any incompatibility of said message with characteristics of said intended receiver;

characterizing a condition of said message by at least one key-value pair and a condition type according to a result of said examining and a result of said resolving;

formulating an identifier of a notification template according to said condition type;

retrieving said notification template from a repository of notification templates using said identifier;

composing a notification using said notification template and said at least one key-value pair; and

appending said notification to said message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said examining comprises detecting presence of malicious software in an attachment of said message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said resolving comprises steps of:

determining capabilities of said intended receiver; and

translating a content component of said message from a current format to a different format compatible with said capabilities.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein a key in said at least one key-value pair indicates one of:

a content-component name;

a cause of content removal;

a virus name; and

a virus scanning engine;

and wherein a value in said at least one key-value pair indicates one of;

a specific content-encoding method;

an identifier of a specific virus;

an identifier of a specific engine used to detect and remove a virus; and

an indication of a message size and corresponding size limit.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising merging said notification with other notifications corresponding to said condition type.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising sending said notification to an originator of said message.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending said at least one key-value pair and said condition type to a server associated with said multimedia messaging system for statistical analyses.

8. A method of processing a data container comprising multiple components, the method comprising:

receiving said container at a container conditioner;

parsing said container to determine;

an identifier of a transmitter and identifiers of addressed receivers of said container; and

properties of each component in said multiple components;

screening said each component to;

eliminate harmful insertions; and

mark said each component accordingly;

acquiring characteristics of a selected receiver of said addressed receivers;

ascertaining compatibility of said properties with said selected receiver;

where said properties are incompatible with said selected receiver, adapting said each component to suit said selected receiver; and

producing a notification specific to said each receiver based on said screening and said adapting of said each component of said multiple components.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

appending said notification to said container to produce an augmented container;

sending said augmented container from said container conditioner to said selected receiver; and

sending said notification from said container conditioner to said transmitter.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein said notification comprises at least one of:

a text;

an image;

an encoded audio signal; and

an encoded video signal.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining a permissible size of said augmented container according to characteristics of said each receiver; and

where a current size of said augmented container exceeds said permissible size, selecting at least one component from among said multiple components to be a candidate for one of;

deletion;

compression; and

translation.

12. The method of claim 8 further comprising:

determining state of a path from said container adapter to said each receiver;

determining a permissible size of said augmented container according to said state and characteristics of said each receiver; and

where a current size of said augmented container exceeds said permissible size, selecting at least one component from among said multiple contents to be a candidate for one of;

deletion;

compression; and

translation.

21. A computer readable medium having computer readable instructions stored there on, which when executed, perform the steps of the method of claim 8.

13. An editing engine for conditioning multimedia containers, the editing engine comprising computer readable instructions stored on a computer readable medium, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to:

receive a container;

parse said container into content components;

determine encoding formats of said content components;

examine each content component to detect presence of malicious insertions and perform corrections of said content components where malicious insertions are found;

identify a first receiver of said container;

acquire characterization of decoding facilities of said first receiver;

determine compatibility of said encoding formats with said decoding facilities;

formulate appropriate condition codes of said container according to said corrections and said compatibility; and

synthesize a first notification according to said appropriate condition codes.

14. The editing engine of claim 13 wherein said computer readable instructions further cause said computing device to:

inspect each of said encoding formats, and for a particular encoding format determine one of;

accepting said particular encoding format;

translating a content component encoded in said particular encoding format to a new encoding format for which said first receiver has a corresponding decoding facility; and

deleting a content component encoded in said particular encoding format.

15. The editing engine of claim 13 wherein said computer readable instructions cause said computing device to synthesize said first notification by causing said computer device to access a versatile dictionary storing a comprehensible description, in multiple display formats, of each of a plurality of condition codes.

16. The editing engine of claim 15, further comprising additional computer readable instructions, which when executed, cause said computing device to:

determine display formats provided by said versatile dictionary;

select at least one display format compatible with said decoding facilities of said first receiver; and

instruct a controller of said versatile dictionary to provide descriptions of said appropriate condition codes in said at least one display format.

17. The editing engine of claim 13 wherein said computer readable instructions cause said computing device to acquire said characterization of decoding facilities by causing said computer device to access a receiver database, said receiver database storing information on decoding facilities of each receiver type from among a plurality of receiver types.

18. The editing engine of claim 13 wherein said computer readable instructions further cause said computing device to:

identify a second receiver of said container;

acquire characterization of decoding facilities of said second receiver;

determine conformity of said encoding formats to said decoding facilities of said second receiver;

formulate specific condition codes of said container according to said corrections and said conformity; and

synthesize a second notification according to said specific condition codes.

19. The editing engine of claim 14 wherein said computer readable instructions further cause said computing device to:

determine a current size of said container including said first notification;

determine a size upper bound dictated by said first receiver;

where said current size exceeds said size upper bound, delete one of said content components according to a preset priority order;

where said current size does not exceed said size upper bound;

append said first notification to said container to produce a first augmented container;

send said first augmented to said first receiver; and

send said first notification to an originator of said container.

20. The editing engine of claim 14 wherein said computer readable instructions further cause said computing device to send said first notification to a service-analysis facility for service planning purposes.