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

• US 7,702,341 B2
• Filed: 10/03/2005
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: R2 Solutions LLC (Acacia Research Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Yahoo! Inc. (Apollo Global Management, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramakrishnan, Thyagarajapuram S., Henderson, Irvin, Sanjeeva, Naveen Dasa
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehrpour; Melody
• Application Number:
  US11/242,486
• Publication Number:
  US 20070077949A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,660 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/11.1, 455/445, 455/434, 455/410, 455/435.1, 455/435.2, 455/411, 370/328, 370/349, 370/496
• 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 employing an intermediate server to enable messaging between a general purpose computing device and a mobile terminal, comprising, at the intermediate server:

establishing a communication session with the general purpose computing device wherein a user identifier received from the general purpose computing device 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 established by the intermediate server, wherein storing the association includes establishing a relationship mapping with a plurality of elements, the elements comprising the user identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and the return identifier extension;

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

receiving a response to the message sent to the mobile terminal, wherein the response is transmitted from the mobile terminal and returns the mobile terminal identifier, the return identifier, and the return identifier extension from the mobile terminal to the intermediate server;

using the return identifier extension and the mobile terminal identifier received with the response to associate the response with the user identifier, wherein the association of the response with the user identifier is based at least in part on the relationship mapping; 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 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.

14. The server of claim 13, 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.

15. The server of claim 13, 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.

16. The server of claim 13, 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.

17. 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 an intermediate 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 intermediate server via the conversation user interface, wherein the intermediate server associates the user identifier and the mobile terminal identifier with a return identifier extension established by the intermediate server, and wherein the association comprises a relationship mapping including the user identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and the return identifier extension, and wherein the intermediate server sends the message, including a return identifier and the return identifier extension, to a mobile terminal identified by the mobile terminal identifier;

receiving a response to the sent message 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 to the intermediate server, and wherein the intermediate server receives the response and associates the mobile terminal identifier and the return identifier extension with the user identifier that is associated with the general purpose computing device based at least in part on the relationship mapping.

18. 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, including 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 wherein the association between the return identifier extension and the user identifier is stored in a relationship mapping established at the intermediary communication device; and

returning to the intermediary communication device a response to the received message, the response including 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 based at least in part on the relationship mapping to send the response to the general purpose computing device, and wherein the response is transmitted to the intermediary communication device via the communication interface.

19. 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, wherein storing the association includes establishing a relationship mapping with a plurality of elements, the elements comprising the user identifier, the mobile terminal identifier, and the return identifier extension;

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

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

using at least the return identifier extension and the relationship mapping to associate the response with the session identifier; and

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