Native language domain name registration and usage

• US 7,020,602 B1
• Filed: 08/21/2000
• Issued: 03/28/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jiyul Yoo, Ki S. Kim
• Original Assignee: Jiyul Yoo, Ki S. Kim
• Inventors: Kim, Ki S., Yoo, Jiyul
• Primary Examiner(s): MCFADDEN, SUSAN IRIS
• Application Number:
  US09/642,471
• Time in Patent Office: 2,045 Days
• Field of Search: 704/8, 704/9, 709/218, 709/245, 709/228, 707/203, 707/3, 707/4
• US Class Current: 704/8
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/32 containing non-Latin characters, e.g. Chinese domain names
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/604 Address structures or formats
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/30 Managing network names, e.g. use of aliases or nicknames name-to-address mapping H04L61/45
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/301 Name conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/3015 Name registration, generation or assignment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/45 Network directories; Name-to-address mapping

Abstract

A domain name system includes a native language domain name registrar, which receives a native language domain name registration request. The native language domain name comprises at least one non-alphanumeric character not included in the allowable character set for domain name registration, i.e., the English alphabets A through Z, the Arabic numbers 0 through 9 and the hyphen “-”. Each of the non-alphanumeric characters is converted to a string of alphanumeric characters to produce an alphanumeric domain name comprised of strings of alphanumeric characters uniquely representing the native language domain name being requested to be registered. The resulting alphanumeric domain name is registered with the domain name registration system, and is used in the domain name/IP address entry in the domain name server (DNS). An algorithm based conversion between each of the native language character and the corresponding alphanumeric character string is used to maintain a unique correspondence between a native language character and the corresponding alphanumeric character string. The same algorithm may be provided to the web browsers installed on the computer of a world-wide-web (WWW) user to convert native language domain names to the corresponding alphanumeric domain names, which are ultimately used for domain name lookup process during the respective WWW browse sessions.

Claims

1. A method of registering a domain name, comprising:

receiving from a registrant a request for registration of a native language domain name, said native language domain name including at least one non-alphanumeric character;

converting each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character to a corresponding alphanumeric character to produce a converted alphanumeric domain name; and

registering said converted alphanumeric domain name with an authorized alphanumeric domain name registrar, said authorized alphanumeric domain name registrar being one of one or more registrar that maintain a database of domain names usable in the Internet so as to ensure there are no duplicative domain name assignments, wherein said step of registering comprises adding an entry in a domain name server database, said added entry defining unique correspondence relationship between said converted alphanumeric domain name and an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a web site of said registrant.

2. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

reserving said native language domain name for an exclusive use by said registrant.

3. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether said converted alphanumeric domain name was already registered by another entity other than said registrant.

4. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character is converted to said corresponding alphanumeric character based on Unicode standard.

5. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 1, further comprising:

sending, upon registration of said converted alphanumeric domain name, to said registrant a confirmation message indicating completion of registration of said native language domain name.

6. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 1, wherein:

said alphanumeric domain name has a fixed number of character width.

7. The method of registering a domain name in accordance with claim 6, wherein:

said fixed number of character width is sixty-four.

8. A method of establishing a communication link between a user computer and a destination website over a world wide web network, comprising:

receiving a universal resource locator of said destination website, said universal resource locator having a native language domain name that comprises at least one non-alphanumeric character;

converting each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character to a corresponding alphanumeric character to produce a converted alphanumeric domain name, said converted alphanumeric domain name being pre-registered with an authorized registrar based on a request for registration of said native language domain name;

performing a domain name server inquiry using said converted alphanumeric domain name to obtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address of said destination website, said domain name server inquiry comprises querying a database of pre-registered domain names usable in the Internet, said database being maintained so as to ensure there are no duplicative domain name assignments; and

establishing said communication link between said user computer and said destination website using said Internet Protocol (IP) address.

9. The method of establishing said communication link between said user computer and said destination website in accordance with claim 8, wherein:

each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character is converted to said corresponding alphanumeric character based on Unicode standard.

10. The method of establishing said communication link between said user computer and said destination website in accordance with claim 8, wherein:

said alphanumeric domain name has a fixed number of character width.

11. The method of establishing said communication link between said user computer and said destination website in accordance with claim 10, wherein:

said fixed number of character width is sixty-four.

12. A domain name registration system, comprising:

a native language domain name registrar configured to receive a request for registration of a native language domain name, said native language domain name including at least one non-alphanumeric character;

wherein said native language domain name registrar is configured to convert each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character to a corresponding alphanumeric character to produce a converted alphanumeric domain name, and is further configured to register said converted alphanumeric domain name with an authorized alphanumeric domain name registrar, said authorized alphanumeric domain name registrar being one of one or more registrar that maintain a database of domain names usable in the Internet so as to ensure there are no duplicative domain name assignment, said database of domain names having a plurality of entries defining unique correspondence relationships between a plurality of alphanumeric domain names and respective ones of a plurality of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

13. The domain name registration system according to claim 12, wherein:

said native language domain name registrar configured to convert each of said at least one non-alphanumeric character to said corresponding alphanumeric character in accordance with Unicode standard.

14. The domain name registration system according to claim 12, wherein:

said converted alphanumeric domain name has a fixed number of character width.

15. The domain name registration system according to claim 14, wherein:

said fixed number of character width is sixty-four.

16. The domain name registration system according to claim 12, wherein said converted alphanumeric domain name comprising:

at least one language code character.