Method and apparatus for implementing alerts on a browser running on a portable handheld device

• US 7,577,745 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2005
• Issued: 08/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Symbol Technologies, LLC (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Symbol Technologies, Inc. (Zebra Technologies Corporation)
• Inventors: Joseph, Eugene, Mason, John, Nikzad, Arman, Watson, Richard
• Primary Examiner(s): Lim; Krisna
• Application Number:
  US11/146,547
• Publication Number:
  US 20070005751A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,534 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/227
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/181 Enclosures for portable computers G06F1/1613
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/03545 Pens or stylus
• 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 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and apparatus for implementing alerts on a browser running on a portable handheld device is disclosed. The method generates an asynchronous notification action from the server and in response transmits an alert containing a message indicating availability of HTML pages that describe the nature of the alert. The alert is received at a node on a network and translated into the original message. An alert receipt acknowledgment is transmitted to the server. Access to the alert HTML page is provided through a URL containing the appropriate query strings necessary to present the appropriate HTML page. The invention also discloses a wireless local area network (WLAN) adapter associated with a wireless network that receives paging signals from a server on the network and returns an acknowledgment signal back to the server. The invention also discloses a client/server based method of delivering messages initiated by a client. After a connection is established between a client and server, the client requests a message from the server. In response, the server retrieves and returns the message back to the client.

Claims

1. A method of messaging in a virtual network of spatially separate individual wireless local area network (WLANs) comprising:

establishing a web server at an Internet node;

connecting an access point in each of said WLANs to said Internet node;

executing a browser program on a first mobile unit in a first WLAN;

in a second mobile unit in a second WLAN encoding a textual message into a packet with a destination address corresponding to the first mobile unit;

transferring the packetized textual message to the web server;

at the web server, creating a web page with the textual message;

at the web server, determining if the first mobile unit is active on the network at the time the packetized textual message is received at the web server, and the WLAN in which the first mobile unit is active;

if the first mobile unit is active, transmitting an alert from the web server to the first mobile unit that a message destined for such unit is available; and

displaying a window on the display of the first mobile unit advising the user that said alert has been received, and allowing the user to enter a command if the message is to be displayed on the display.

2. An apparatus for messaging in a virtual network of spatially separate individual wireless local area network (WLANs) comprising:

means for establishing a web server at an Internet node;

means for connecting an access point in each of said WLANs to said Internet node;

means for executing a browser program on a first mobile unit in a first WLAN;

in a second mobile unit in a second WLAN, means for encoding a textual message into a packet with a destination address corresponding to the first mobile unit;

means for transferring the packetized textual message to the web server;

at the web server, means for creating a web page with the textual message;

at the web server, means for determining if the first mobile unit is active on the network at the time the packetized textual message is received at the web server, and the WLAN in which the first mobile unit is active;

if the first mobile unit is active, means for transmitting an alert from the web server to the first mobile unit that a message destined for such unit is available; and

means for displaying a window on the display of the first mobile unit advising the user that said alert has been received, and allowing the user to enter a command if the message is to be displayed on the display.