Method for storing an application's transaction data in a wireless messaging system

• US 6,195,533 B1
• Filed: 05/27/1998
• Issued: 02/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Glenayre Electronics Incorporated (EDCI Holdings Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Glenayre Electronics Incorporated (EDCI Holdings Incorporated)
• Inventors: Quon, Colin S. C., Tkatch, Randy T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsang, Fan
• Assistant Examiner(s): SOBUTKA, PHILIP
• Application Number:
  US09/085,888
• Time in Patent Office: 1,007 Days
• Field of Search: 455/31.2, 455/31.3, 455/466, 455/422, 455/414, 455/38.1, 455/38.4, 455/517, 455/560, 455/556, 455/557, 455/412, 455/31.1, 455/413, 455/403, 340/825.44, 379/88.15
• US Class Current: 340/7.29
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/185 Selective call encoders for paging networks, e.g. paging centre devices

Abstract

A method for storing transaction data for an application in a wireless messaging system is disclosed. Applications can be used to allow paging messages to be entered into a wireless messaging system from external systems such as E-mail or the World Wide Web. Such applications may be implemented on an external application platform that includes the hardware system and system software required by the application. Applications often require the use of certain type of transaction data that has traditionally been stored in an application database designed specifically for this purpose by an application developer. The present invention provides a method for storing such transaction data without requiring the application developer to create a separate database. In the past, the development of such databases has been a significant burden on application developers. The present invention allows the application to store the necessary transaction data in a database inside the wireless messaging system, through the use of a code library that allows the application to send special networking messages to the wireless messaging system. In a hybrid system, the application may still have its own transaction database in which to store some types of transaction data, but may store other types of transaction data in a database in the wireless messaging infrastructure. The application'"'"'s transaction database in these hybrid systems is simpler to design than those that store all the transaction data for the application.

Claims

1. In a paging system, a method for tracking transaction data regarding messages that are sent to a pager, the paging system having an application platform and a wireless messaging infrastructure, the application platform including an application, the wireless messaging infrastructure having a database, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) a paging message being received by an application including certain transaction data about the paging message;

(b) the application sending the paging message and the transaction data to the wireless messaging infrastructure along with at least one networking message to instruct the wireless messaging infrastructure to store the transaction data such that the transaction data is stored by the wireless messaging infrastructure rather than by the application; and

(c) the wireless messaging infrastructure storing the transaction data in a database and returning at least some of the transaction data to the application at selected times so that the application can receive the transaction data when it is needed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of the wireless messaging infrastructure returning the transaction data from the database to the application when a reply from the pager is sent from the wireless messaging infrastructure to the application.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless messaging infrastructure is caused to return the transaction data with the reply from the pager by designating the transaction data as an optional field that when used sets a bit in the wireless messaging infrastructure database that causes the database to return the transaction data with the reply from the pager.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is state-less in that the application platform does not have its own transaction database and the application is therefore not keeping track of the state of the transaction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the application platform includes a code library that is used by the application to generate the networking messages to the wireless messaging infrastructure.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the application platform further includes a database, the application storing certain types of transaction data in the application database and sending other types of transaction data to the wireless messaging infrastructure to be stored.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a home messaging switch in the wireless messaging infrastructure comprises the database where the transaction data that was sent from the application is stored.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the application supports the sending of paging messages from an electronic-mail system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the application supports the sending of paging messages from the World Wide Web system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the application supports the sending of paging messages from a Telocator Message Entry system.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein a home messaging switch in the wireless messaging infrastructure comprises the database where the transaction data that was sent from the application is stored.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of the application using the transaction data returned from the wireless messaging infrastructure to generate a response to the caller that sent the original paging message.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein data generated by the wireless messaging infrastructure is included along with the transaction data that is returned from the wireless messaging infrastructure to the application platform.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the transaction data returned from the wireless messaging infrastructure is used to keep track of the flow of information through the application platform.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein a home messaging switch in the wireless messaging infrastructure comprises the database where the data that is sent by the application is stored.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of the wireless messaging infrastructure returning the data to the application when a response is received from the pager.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the wireless messaging infrastructure is caused to return the data with the response from the pager by designating the data as an optional field that when used sets a bit in the wireless messaging infrastructure database that causes the database to return the data with the response from the pager.

18. In a paging system, a method for tracking transaction data regarding paging messages, the paging system having an application platform, a wireless messaging infrastructure, and a pager, the application platform including an application for facilitating the sending of paging messages from an external system, the wireless messaging infrastructure having a database, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) the application using a code library to send at least one networking message to the wireless messaging infrastructure;

(b) the database in the wireless messaging infrastructure being instructed by the networking message to store the transaction data that is sent from the application platform such that the application platform does not need to store the transaction data; and

(c) the database in the wireless messaging infrastructure returning at least some of the transaction data that was not stored at the application platform to the application platform when a response is received from the pager.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the database in the wireless messaging infrastructure is caused to return the transaction data with the response from the pager in step (c) by designating the transaction data as an optional field that when used sets a bit in the wireless messaging infrastructure database that causes the database to return the transaction data with the response from the pager.

20. In an application for facilitating the transmission of paging messages through a wireless messaging infrastructure, the paging messages originating from an external system, a method for allowing the application to store data in the wireless messaging infrastructure, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) the application collecting certain data in relation to the paging messages;

(b) the application accessing a code library that can be used to generate networking messages to the wireless messaging infrastructure; and

(c) the application using the code library to generate at least one networking message that instructs the wireless messaging infrastructure to store data sent by the application in a database in the wireless messaging infrastructure, the application not storing at least some of the data, the application instead relying on receiving at least some of the stored data from the database in the wireless messaging infrastructure when the data is needed by the application.