Patent Application
20050210508
The present invention relates generally to the field of systems and methods for providing information to wireless communication devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing applications and media artifacts, including text, video, audio and multimedia content, to wireless communication devices that utilize and interact with such content and/or related functions.
Advancements in computing networks have facilitated distribution of information to users of computing devices. Each computing device of a computing network may request access to information stored by other devices coupled to the network. A computing device coupled to a large network, such as the Internet, may have access to a similarly large amount of information.
One advancement in computing networks is the development of Push Technology. Unlike other systems which require each device to request information from information sources, Push Technology delivers information automatically to a device according to programmed preferences. Thus, Push Technology eliminates the need of a computing device to seek out one or more information sources to gather specific information of interest. Many companies utilize Push Technology to “push” software updates directly to various computing devices operated or otherwise owned by them.
Although Push Technology is often used for wired computing devices, it is less often used for providing information to wireless communication devices. Users of wireless communication devices frequently need access to a variety of information, but such information is not as readily available to wired connections due to the limited bandwidth of wireless connections. Wireless communication systems are challenged to maximize the quality of information provided to wireless communication devices while minimizing the traffic imposed on the wireless connections to the devices.
In view of the above, there is a need for a system and method for managing and displaying content on a display of a wireless communication device to maximize content quality. In particular, there is a need for a system and method that manages the active time period of media content in order to provide a user with as much useful, up-to-date information as possible.
The present invention provides the most relevant information to a wireless communication device. In particular, information is tagged with a Time to Live (TTL) value that may be used to remove older content. The present invention applies not only to channels of information but also sub-channels of information, such as individual items included with a channel of media content. The value may be determined at the time of generation and flagged to expire when the item is no longer relevant. Examples of items that may benefit from TTL values include, but are not limited to, weather, sports, traffic, stock market items, and other items with regular updates and limited life.
The system and method adjusts the TTL values of certain items based on user behavior, tracked by the receiving device, and/or other user preference provided by the user. If a user is interested in certain subject matter, as indicated by past user behavior, the TTL value may be adjusted accordingly by a server, such as a media gateway. Each item may be categorized in predetermined classes or types, and two or more items may be compared to determine whether they are related. Examples of past user behavior include, but are not limited to, number of articles with similar subject matter being read, amount of time spent on articles, and quantity of follow-on articles. Thus, a TTL value may be set to a longer value if an article falls within a category of interest, whereas the TTL value may be set to a shorter value and, thus, removed from the receiving device sooner if the article is not of interest.
The system and method also retroactively modifies the TTL value of an item already delivered. Some items, such as new breaking stories, may be provided with asynchronous timing, and the TTL value of an update may not be determined at the time of transmission. Thus, the TTL value of a given item is modified by sending an update signal to the receiving device that shortens or lengthens the TTL value. The system and method may also modify the TTL value of an item to overlap the TTL value of a related item previously provided to a device. A new time does not necessarily cause a previously-provided item to become irrelevant, so the TTL value is modified to reflect the current needs of a user.
One aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication network, and a method thereof, for communicating with a remote device via a wireless link comprising a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver obtains preference information relating to the remote device. The processor adjusts time-to-live (TTL) information of at least one media content item based on the preference information.
Another aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication network, and a method thereof, for communicating with a remote device via a wireless link comprising a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver provides a first media content item and a first time-to-live (TTL) information associated with the first media content item to the remote device. The processor identifies a second media content item associated with the first media content item, and determines a second TTL information based on the first media content item.
Referring to
The media gateway 102 may receive feeds of media channels, buffer and cache the feeds, and feed them to wireless communication devices 104. The term “channel” refers to content that is received from a single content source and provided in a particular format, such as an XML language, and the term “feed” refers to fetching of a file from a particular channel. For one embodiment, the media gateway 102 compresses combined channels and provides them to the wireless communication devices 104 where they are decompressed, separated and stored in a content cache. The media gateway 102 may feed information to the wireless communication device 104 using push, pull and poll technology. For example, for one embodiment, the media gateway 102 generally pushes information to the wireless communication device 104, and the device pull technology from the media gateway upon request.
Although the media gateway 102 may operate on a common platform with other devices, the media gateway may also serve as a control point across multiple platforms. Regardless of the platform used, the media gateway 102 controls, bills and tracks information that is available to the wireless communication devices 104 and, thus, has access to media content from one or more sources. As shown in
The media gateway 102 may also be directly controlled by a service provider, or be coupled to a cockpit controller 114 of a service provider, to manage the flow of billing information 116 and/or other media content 118, such as service provider promotions, for the wireless communication system 100.
Referring to
Referring to the media gateway 102, wireless communication devices 104 and content aggregator 108 shown in
An exemplary function of the wireless communication device 104 as represented by the internal components 200, upon reception of wireless signals, the internal components detect communication signals and the transceiver 202 demodulates the communication signals to recover incoming information, such as voice and/or data, transmitted by the wireless signals. After receiving the incoming information from the transceiver 202, the processor 204 formats the incoming information for one or more output devices 208. Likewise, for transmission of wireless signals, the processor 204 formats outgoing information, which may or may not be activated by the input devices 210, and conveys the outgoing information to the transceiver 202 for modulation to communication signals. The transceiver 202 conveys the modulated signals to the media gateway 102 via a remote transceiver.
The input and output devices 208, 210 of the internal components 200 may include a variety of visual, audio and/or mechanical outputs. For example, the output device(s) 208 may include a visual output device 216 such as a liquid crystal display and light emitting diode indicator, an audio output device 218 such as a speaker, alarm and/or buzzer, and/or a mechanical output device 220 such as a vibrating mechanism. Likewise, by example, the input devices 210 may include a visual input device 222 such as an optical sensor (for example, a camera), an audio input device 224 such as a microphone, and a mechanical input device 226 such as a flip sensor, keyboard, keypad, selection button, touch pad, touch screen, capacitive sensor, motion sensor, and switch. Actions that may actuate one or more input devices 210 include, but not limited to, opening the wireless communication device, unlocking the device, moving the device to actuate a motion, moving the device to actuate a location positioning system, and operating the device.
The internal components 200 of the media gateway 102, wireless communication devices 104 and content aggregator 108 may include a location circuit 228. Examples of the location circuit 228 include, but are not limited to, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver, a triangulation receiver, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, or any other information collecting device that may identify a current location of the device. The location circuit may also be an inherent function of the operation of some other component. For example, location information in the form of Cell ID may be available based on Cell ID. Further, determination of location may be a distributed function involving both the remote device and the network, such as in the case of Cell ID, EOTD or assisted GPS.
The memory portion 206 of the internal components 200 may be used by the processor 204 to store and retrieve data. The data that may be stored by the memory portion 206 include, but is not limited to, operating systems, applications, and data. Each operating system includes executable code that controls basic functions of the communication device, such as interaction among the components of the internal components 200, communication with external devices via the transceiver 202 and/or the component interface 212, and storage and retrieval of applications and data to and from the memory portion 206. Each application includes executable code utilizes an operating system to provide more specific functionality for the communication device, such as file system service and handling of protected and unprotected data stored in the memory portion 206. Data is non-executable code or information that may be referenced and/or manipulated by an operating system or application for performing functions of the communication device.
The processor 204 may perform various operations to store, manipulate and retrieve information in the memory portion 206. Each component of the internal components 200 is not limited to a single component but represents functions that may be performed by a single component or multiple cooperative components, such as a central processing unit operating in conjunction with a digital signal processor and one or more input/output processors. Likewise, two or more components of the internal components 200 may be combined or integrated so long as the functions of these components may be performed by the communication device.
The processor 204 may include an internal clock and perform an internal clock function to synchronize the internal clock with a corresponding clock of the server or servers that provide media content. In the alternative, the internal clock and the internal clock function may be performed by a separate component described above or an added component not shown. The internal clock and the internal clock function may be particularly important for items that include time-sensitive information.
Referring to
The exemplary embodiment of the device also includes one or more plug-ins 312 to provide functionality and one or more containers 314 operating as framework elements and having an area on the display. Examples of plug-in functionality include, but are not limited to, instant messaging buddy activity viewing, news reading and live play sport viewing. Each container 314 may be associated with one or more plug-ins 312. For example, as shown in
The exemplary embodiment of the device further includes one or more display templates 316 and a display area 318, as referenced above, associated with a container 314. Each container 314 may provide a channel 308 of content, stored in the content cache 306, at the display area 318 of an output device 208. Individual items 310 of the channel 308 are displayed based on the container information and corresponding display template 316. The display template 316 defines the manner in which content is displayed at the display area 318. The display template 316 to use for a particular content is defined by channel settings for the current channel 308.
Referring to
The media gateway 102 may then adjust the TTL value of the identified item, if necessary, based on the preference information at step 408. In particular, the media gateway 102 compares the identified items to the retrieved preference information to identify the items that need to be adjusted and adjusts the TTL value of each item that needs to be adjusted. Thereafter, the media gateway 102 provides the identified items and the corresponding TTL values, including the adjusted TTL values, to the device 104 at step 410, and the exemplary network operation 400 terminates at step 412.
Referring to
Referring to
At time ten (t=10), the exemplary container of the device 104 still includes two of the original five items and now includes three new items. In particular, the exemplary container includes the second and fifth items 616, 618 and well as sixth, seventh and eighth items 620, 622, 624 at time ten (t=10). Since ten (10) units of time has past, the first, third and fourth items 606, 610, 612 have expired and are no longer in the exemplary container. At time ten (t=10), the second item 616 has ten (10) units of time left, and the fifth item 618 has twenty (20) units of time left. Also, the sixth, seventh and eighth items 620, 622, 624 have TTL values of ten (10).
At time twenty (t=20), the exemplary container of the device 104 still includes the fifth item 626, but the first, second, third and fourth items 606, 608, 610, 612 have expired and are longer in the exemplary container. Four new items, namely ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth items 628, 630, 632, 634, each having a TTL value of ten (10), have been added to the exemplary container.
As shown in
Referring to
If an identified item is related to a previously provided active item, then the media gateway 102 determines a new TTL value of the previously provided active item based on the identified item at step 710. The TTL value of a given item is modified by sending an update signal to the receiving device that shortens or lengthens the TTL value, and the modified TTL value may overlap the TTL value of a related item. For example, breaking news stories may change the TTL values of older, related stories. If the contents of the older stories are covered completely by the new story, then, the TTL value of the older stories may be shortened. On the other hand, if some parts of the contents of the older stories are not covered by the new story and still may add value to the user, then the TTL value may be shortened slightly or perhaps even lengthened if important. Thereafter, the media gateway 102 provides the new TTL value for the previously provided item or items to the device 104 along with the identified items at step 712, and the second exemplary network operation 700 terminates at step 714.
As stated above, the media gateway 102 determines whether any of the identified items are related to a previously provided item at step 706 and whether any of the previously provided items are still active at step 708. If either of these determination result in a negative answer, then the second exemplary network operation 700 terminates at step 714.
Referring to
The update signal must include the“ttl”element 802 and includes some type of identification to associate the“ttl”element to the corresponding item. As described above, such identification may include a title element 808 and/or a guid element 810. Other examples include, but are not limited to, a link element representing a uniform resource link of the item, a description element providing a synopsis of the item, an author element representing an address of the author of the item, a category element identifying a category type associated with the item, a comments element representing commentary associated with the item, an enclosure element describing one or more media objects attached to the item, a pubDate element indicating when the item was published, and a source item identifying the channel of origination for the item.
For one embodiment, the TTL value itself can be an absolute time. For another embodiment, a publish date of the item may be stored at the device so that it may compute the absolute time of expiration. In the latter instance, the table 800 may, for example, include a pubdate element that identifies the publication date and/or time of the item and takes the form of <pubdate>value</pubdate>. The format of the publication date may take any form to convey the appropriate date and/or time information, such as the number of units of time since a defined epoch (for example, midnight of Jan. 1, 1900) or perhaps YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM. For yet another embodiment, the publication date may be encoded as part of another element, such as the guid element.
Referring to
At time x (t=x), the exemplary container of the device 104 still includes two of the original five items and now includes three new items. In particular, the exemplary container includes the second and fifth items 916, 918 and well as sixth, seventh and eighth items 920, 922, 924 at time x (t=x).
When the media gateway 102 provides a new TTL value to the device 104, the new TTL value may be measured from the starting time of the original item or from the update time. For example, for the fifth item 918 of time x (t=x), the TTL value may represent twenty units of time from time zero (t=0) or from time x (t=x). If, for this example, the TTL value is counted from time zero (t=0), then x is presumed to be less than 20 units because the media gateway 102 would not update an item that is expired. If, on the other hand, the TTL value is counted from the time x (t=x), then x is presumed to be less than 10 units because the fifth item 918 expires before time 30 (t=30).
If at least ten (10) units of time has past, then the first, third and fourth items 906, 910, 912 have expired and are longer in the exemplary container. At time x (t=x), the sixth item 920 has a TTL value of sixty (60), and the seventh and eighth items 922, 924 have TTL values of ten (10). As stated above, the new TTL value may be measured from the starting time of the original item or from the update time. Thus, the second item 916 may have forty (40) minus x units of time left of forty (40) units of time left, depending upon the embodiment applied.
For the modified TTL graph 900, it is important to note that the fifth item 918 has a TTL value of twenty (20) at time x (t=x), whereas the fifth item 914 had a TTL value of sixty (60) at time zero (t=0). Thus, for this example, the media gateway 102 identified the sixth item 920 and further determined that the sixth item includes subject matter related to the subject matter of the fifth item 918. Accordingly, the media gateway 102 provided an update signal to reduce the TTL value of the fifth item 918 to twenty (20) based on the introduction of the sixth item 920.
At time 30 (t=30), the exemplary container of the device 104 still includes the second item 926 and the sixth item 928, but the fifth, seventh and eighth items 918, 922, 924 have expired and are longer in the exemplary container. Three new items, namely ninth, tenth and eleventh items 930, 932, 934, have been added to the exemplary container.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
