System and method for servers to send alerts to connectionless devices

• US 8,370,435 B1
• Filed: 11/28/2000
• Issued: 02/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Original Assignee: TeleCommunication Systems Inc (Comtech Telecommunications Corporation)
• Inventors: Bonefas, Rudy G., Sobchak, Richard K., Zombek, James M.
• Primary Examiner(s): BATES, KEVIN T
• Application Number:
  US09/723,285
• Time in Patent Office: 4,452 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/227, 709/206, 709/207, 709/203, 709/228, 370/351, 370/356
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/507 Filtering out customers affected by service problems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like

Abstract

A method of sending alerts from servers to client devices is provided. The alert can be generated with a server application and may include customer information. The alert may then be sent to a message router. The message router retrieves a station ID of the client device based on the customer information. A communication type of the client device can be determined based on the station ID and one or more of a plurality of protocol gateways can be selected based on the communication type. The alert can be forwarded to the selected one or more of the plurality of protocol gateways where is may be formatted for the selected client device. The formatted alert may then be forwarded via the network to the selected client device.

Claims

1. A method of sending an alert to selected client devices in a communications system including a server adapted to run a server application, a message router communicating with the server, a plurality of protocol gateways communicating with the message routers, and a network adapted to couple the server and the protocol gateways to client devices, comprising:

generating said alert with said server application, said alert including customer information;

sending said alert to said message router;

retrieving a station ID of said client device from said customer information previously stored within said message router;

determining a communication type of said client device based on said station ID;

selecting one or more of said plurality of protocol gateways based on said communication type; and

forwarding said alert to said selected one or more of said plurality of protocol gateways;

formatting said alert with said protocol gateway for said selected client device; and

forwarding said formatted alert via said network to said selected client device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said customer information includes at least one of a customer ID and a port number.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a user table to obtain said station ID associated with said customer ID.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of said message router for said station ID associated with said customer ID.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of said message router and a device table for a first device associated with said customer ID when both said customer ID and port number are provided.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

returning an inactive customer message to said server if no station ID is retrieved.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

segmenting said alert with said selected protocol gateway into message segments before sending said alert over said network.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

assembling said message segments at said client device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said alert includes at least one of an alert message, a compression flag, an encryption flag, and an acknowledgement flag.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

returning an acknowledgement to said selected protocol gateway after receiving said formatted alert message at said client device.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

forwarding said acknowledgement from said selected protocol gateway to said server.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said customer information is a client information object.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

said client information object includes a customer ID and a device ID.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein:

said alert includes an active device only flag and wherein said device ID can be set to all devices.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

searching a local cache of said message router for said station ID if said active device only flag is set and said device ID is specified.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

searching a user table for said station ID if said station ID is not located in said local cache.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

searching only said user table for active client devices associated with said customer ID if said active device only flag is set and said device ID is set to all devices.

18. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

searching a local cache of said message router for said station ID if said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is specified.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

searching a device table for said station ID if said station ID is not located in said local cache.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

searching a device table for client devices associated with said customer ID if said active only flag is not set and said device ID is set to all devices.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing each station ID retrieved in said step of retrieving a station ID to said server.

22. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing each station ID retrieved by said message router to said seer, before forwarding said alert to said protocol gateway.

23. A method of sending alerts to client devices, comprising:

generating said alert at a server, said alert including a customer ID and a device ID;

forwarding said alert to a message router;

locating with said message router one or more station IDs from at least one of said customer ID and device ID previously stored within said message router;

determining with said message router a communication type associated with each station ID;

forwarding said alert to a protocol gateway associated with said determined communication type; and

transmitting said alert with said protocol gateway over a network to said client devices.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

receiving said alert with a transport layer of an application running on said protocol gateway and sending said alert from said transport layer to client applications.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:

segmenting said alert into message segments with said protocol gateway.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein:

said client application assembles said message segments.

27. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

sending an acknowledgement from said client device to said protocol gateway once said alert is received by said client device.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

sending said acknowledgement from said protocol gateway to said server that forwarded said alert after receiving said acknowledgement from said client device.

29. The method of claim 23, wherein:

said alert comprises at least one of an alert message, a client information object including said customer ID and device ID, message flags, compression flag and an encryption flag.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said messages flags specify at least one of:

whether said server requires an acknowledgement message;

whether said alert should be sent only if said client device is currently active; and

whether said protocol gateway should only attempt message delivery once.

31. The method of claim 23, wherein:

said alert includes an active device only flag and said device ID can be set to all devices.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein said locating step comprises:

searching a local cache of said message router for said station ID if said active device only flag is set and said device ID is specified;

searching only a user table for active client devices associated with said customer ID if said active device flag is set and said device ID is set to all devices;

searching a local cache of said message router for said station ID if said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is specified; and

searching a device table for client devices associated with said customer ID if said active device only flag is not set and said device ID is set to all devices.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

for said steps of searching a local cache of said message router, searching a database for said station ID if said station ID is not found in said local cache.

34. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

providing each device ID located to server if device ID is set to all devices.

35. The method of claim 31, further comprising:

sending an inactive message to said server if no device is located and said device ID is set to all devices, otherwise sending a customer not valid message.

36. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

formatting said alert for said client device with said protocol gateway.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of a message router and a device table for a first device associated with said customer ID when both said customer ID and port number are provided.

37. A method of sending an alert to selected client devices in a communications system, comprising:

generating said alert with a server application, said alert including customer information;

retrieving a station ID of said client device from said customer information previously stored within a message router;

determining a communication type of said client device based on said station ID;

selecting one or more of a plurality of protocol gateways based on a communication type; and

forwarding said alert to said selected one or more of said plurality of protocol gateways; and

formatting said alert with said protocol gateway for said selected client device.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein:

said customer information includes at least one of a customer ID and a port number.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a user table to obtain said station ID associated with said customer ID.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein:

said step of determining a communication type further comprises searching a local cache of a message router for said station ID associated with said customer ID.

42. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

returning an inactive customer message to said server if no station ID is retrieved.

43. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

segmenting said alert with said selected protocol gateway into message segments before sending said alert over said communications system.

44. The method of claim 43, further comprising:

assembling said message segments at said client device.

45. The method of claim 37, wherein:

said alert includes at least one of an alert message, a compression flag, an encryption flag, and an acknowledgement flag.

46. The method of claim 37, further comprising:

returning an acknowledgement to said selected protocol gateway after receiving said formatted alert message at said client device.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

forwarding said acknowledgement from said selected protocol gateway to said server.

48. The method of claim 37, wherein:

said customer information is a client information object.

49. A system for sending an alert to selected client devices in a communications system, comprising:

means for generating said alert with a server application, said alert including customer information;

means for retrieving a station ID of said client device from said customer information previously stored within a message router;

means for determining a communication type of said client device based on said station ID;

means for selecting one or more of a plurality of protocol gateways based on a communication type; and

means for forwarding said alert to said selected one or more of said plurality of protocol gateways; and

means for formatting said alert with said protocol gateway for said selected client device.

50. The system for sending an alert to selected client devices in a communications system according to claim 49, wherein:

said customer information includes at least one of a customer ID and a port number.

51. The system for sending an alert to selected client devices in a communications system according to claim 50, wherein:

said means for determining a communication type comprises a means for searching a user table to obtain said station ID associated with said customer ID.

52. A system for sending alerts to client devices, comprising:

means for generating said alert at a server, said alert including a customer ID and a device ID;

means for forwarding said alert to a message router;

means for locating with said message router one or more station IDs from at least on of said customer ID and device ID previously stored within said message router;

means for determining with said message router a communication type associated with each station ID;

means for forwarding said alert to a protocol gateway associated with said determined communication type; and

means for transmitting said alert with said protocol gateway over a network to said client devices.

53. The system for sending alerts to client devices according to claim 52, further comprising:

means for receiving said alert with a transport layer of an application running on said protocol gateway and sending said alert from said transport layer to client applications.

54. The system for sending alerts to client devices according to claim 53, further comprising:

means for segmenting said alert into message segments with said protocol gateway.

55. The method of claim 54, wherein:

said client application assembles said message segments.