Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Auxiliary data signaling
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-04
2004-06-15
Maung, Nay (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Auxiliary data signaling
C455S412100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06751463
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for intelligent delivery and storage of various information service messages to a subscriber including short message service (SMS) messages, particularly in a wireless communications network.
2. Background of Related Art
We are now in what is called the information age. More than ever, the exchange of information, and the ability to do the same, has become an important technical necessity of modern society. With the introduction and now wide usage of the Internet, and the advances in telecommunications, a variety of means for exchanging information have proliferated to bring a great number of people together through the exchange of information.
One way in which information is exchanged is through short messages. A short message is typically a textual such as paging message, e-mail or a voice mail message passed to and/or from various types of communication devices, e.g., cellular telephone handsets, telephones or computers with appropriate modems. A variety of services have been introduced using SMS networks including, for example, integrated electronic mail and fax, integrated paging, interactive banking, and information services such as stock quotes, and airline schedule delivery.
FIG. 8
shows a general example of one such short message exchange network. In particular, in
FIG. 8
, a voice or text message is communicated between a first communication device (i.e., sender
806
) and a second communication device (i.e., recipient
804
). The sender
806
accesses a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet or the Public Telephone Switching Network (PTSN). The short message from the sender
806
via gateway
805
is delivered to the recipient
804
via, e.g., a gateway
802
and a local area network (LAN) and/or wireless network
803
.
Although the recipient
804
is shown as being a mobile phone handset, the recipient
804
may comprise, e.g., a computer device connected either through the LAN
803
or via a direct modem connection to the WAN (e.g., PTSN or the Internet)
801
.
An example of a wireless short message exchange network is described in co-pending and co-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/322,929, filed Jun. 1, 1999 by the same inventors as herein entitled: “SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE NOTIFICATION IN MULTIPLE SERVICE CENTER SHORT MESSAGE SERVICE NETWORK”, claiming priority from U.S. provisional application No. 60/105,774, filed Oct. 27, 1998, entitled: “PENDING MESSAGE NOTIFICATION SCHEME IN WIRELESS SYSTEM”, both of which are explicitly incorporated herein by reference.
A well known example of a system which delivers short messages is an electronic mail system, commonly referred to as e-mail. E-mail enables a sender to exchange information with a recipient from their respective communication devices, e.g., typically two remotely located computer devices.
An SMS network typically includes one or more short message service center(s) (SMSC) which each provide a store-and-forward mechanism to provide guaranteed delivery of a short message to an intended subscriber. Using the store-and-forward mechanism, delivery of transmitted short messages is guaranteed to the supported subscribers whether or not the intended recipient is “on-line” or active because the transmitted short message is stored within the one SMSC assigned to service the particular recipient subscriber, and later delivered to the intended subscriber recipient from their assigned SMSC once the subscriber recipient again becomes available.
Thus, if a subscriber recipient is inactive when a short message is originally transmitted to them, the short message will be stored at the relevant SMSC servicing the particular subscriber and forwarded once the subscriber again becomes active.
Integrated e-mail and fax, integrated paging, and/or interactive banking, and/or audible information services are all typical services provided by typical SMS network service providers. For example, with integrated e-mail, e-mail messages may be sent to and received from a mobile handset
804
via the Internet, PTSN, and/or a wireless network, as appropriate.
Example audible information services typically available include weather reports, traffic information, entertainment (e.g., movie and concert) information, and/or financial information such as stock quotes, exchange rates, banking and brokerage services, etc. These audible information services are typically delivered using a short message service using, e.g., a voice message and/or e-mail message to the subscriber.
Many of the audible information services provide information which is periodically updated. For example, weather reports, stock quotes, traffic information, etc. may be updated by the sender sending a revised voice message and/or e-mail message to the subscriber, e.g., every hour, three times a day, etc. Because of the periodic updates, certain short messages (i.e., the old ones) might be thought to have a “shelf life” after which they become unreliable. Unfortunately, a recipient receives all short messages addressed to them, and in fact is guaranteed delivery of all messages—including the outdated ones, because of the conventional store-and-forward techniques. Thus, for example,after an extended absence, many superceded stale messages must be sifted through by the recipient before the most current message is retrieved and confirmed.
Oftentimes, the source of a particular short message is not known until the content is reviewed by the recipient, which is typically wasteful of time, particularly after an extended period of absence by the recipient.
For example, a subscriber who subscribes to a stock quote service may periodically receive updated short messages (e.g., e-mail) every, e.g., 15 minutes, 30 minutes, hour, 3 times a day, etc. This is exacerbated by a user who subscribes to more than one information services. Thus, during an extended absence in particular, the subscriber may receive numerous short messages from each of the information services most of which may be out of date by the time they are retrieved by the user.
FIG. 9
shows an exemplary “in-box” of a typical e-mail application program in which e-mail messages received by the subscriber are listed in a desired order, e.g., in the order of receipt, in alphabetical order according to the sender, or in alphabetical order according to the subject, etc.
In particular, several short messages
1010
,
1020
,
1010
A,
1030
,
1010
B,
1010
C,
1030
A and
1010
D are shown in
FIG. 9
in chronological order. Typically, a subscriber is interested only in the latest information message from any particular occasionally revised information service, e.g.,
1020
,
1010
D and
1030
A, but is nevertheless required to “scroll through” and/or delete earlier messages from the same sender to get to the latest message from that sender. This inconvenience is particularly acute with respect to voice messages, which are typically more difficult to “scroll” through. Moreover, the inconvenience may be exacerbated if the subscriber has not retrieved their short messages for a long period of time, e.g., because their mobile telephone has been inactive or off for a long period of time.
Short messages may be stored at a server location or at a mobile subscriber
804
of a SMS network, e.g., as described in the referenced co-pending application. The short messages are stored in a memory, often referred as a queue, either in the SMSC which services the subscriber or, after delivery, in the subscriber's receiving communication device, e.g., their mobile handset.
An exemplary conventional queue is shown in FIG.
10
A.
In particular, a first in, first out (FIFO) queue
901
includes N+1 memory blocks, each of which can store all or a portion of a short message. The short messages may initially be stored starting from memory block,
0
, with later received message being stored in a later memory block in the FIFO queue
90
Hart Reuben D.
Lorello Timothy J.
Puscas Constantin Horatiu
Bollman William H.
Maung Nay
Sobutka Philip J.
TeleCommunication Systems Inc.
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