U.S. patent application number 10/377520 was filed with the patent office on 2004-02-12 for network portal apparatus and method.
Invention is credited to Britt, Joe Freeman JR., Hershenson, Matthew J., Rubin, Andrew E..
Application Number | 20040030744 10/377520 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 24177210 |
Filed Date | 2004-02-12 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040030744 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Rubin, Andrew E. ; et
al. |
February 12, 2004 |
Network portal apparatus and method
Abstract
A portal device is described comprising: a processor; and a
memory for storing instructions which, when executed by the
processor, cause the processor to receive data transmitted from a
portal server on which a user of the portal device is registered,
the data being identified by the user upon registering a user
account with the portal server.
Inventors: |
Rubin, Andrew E.; (Los
Altos, CA) ; Britt, Joe Freeman JR.; (Los Gatos,
CA) ; Hershenson, Matthew J.; (Palo Alto,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Saina S. Shamilov
BLAKELY, SOKOLOFF, TAYLOR & ZAFMAN LLP
Seventh Floor
12400 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles
CA
90025-1026
US
|
Family ID: |
24177210 |
Appl. No.: |
10/377520 |
Filed: |
February 28, 2003 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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10377520 |
Feb 28, 2003 |
|
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09545701 |
Apr 7, 2000 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/203 ;
707/E17.111; 707/E17.121; 709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 65/765 20220501;
H04L 67/2871 20130101; G06F 16/954 20190101; H04L 67/562 20220501;
G06F 16/9577 20190101; H04L 67/289 20130101; H04L 65/1101 20220501;
H04L 67/56 20220501; H04L 67/02 20130101; H04L 67/567 20220501 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/203 ;
709/217 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A portal device comprising: a processor; a memory for storing
instructions which, when executed by said processor, cause said
processor to: receive data transmitted from a portal server on
which a user of said portal device is registered, said data being
identified by said user upon registering a user account with said
portal server.
2. The portal device as in claim 1 wherein said data are
transmitted from said portal server to said portal device over a
wireless communication link.
3. The portal device as in claim 2 wherein said wireless
communication link is a digital radio frequency ("RF") link.
4. The portal device as in claim 3 wherein said digital RF link is
a sub-carrier frequency block.
5. The portal device as in claim 4 wherein said sub-carrier
frequency block is leased from a radio station.
6. The portal device as in claim 1 further comprising: an
interpreter module configured to interpret bytecodes transmitted
from said portal server for processing on said processor.
7. The portal device as in claim 6 wherein said interpreter module
is programmed in a read only memory ("ROM").
8. The portal device as in claim 2 wherein said data transmitted
from said portal server are not device addressable data.
9. The portal device as in claim 8 wherein said data are data
addressable and wherein said portal device listens for transmission
of particular types of data before performing one or more specified
functions.
10. The portal device as in claim 1 further comprising: means for
receiving a portal key from another portal device, said portal key
usable for gaining access to a particular set of data on said
portal server.
11. A portal system comprising: a portal server configured to
retrieve a set of data from a plurality of network sources
specified by a user; and a portal device configured to communicate
with said portal server over a communication link and to download a
user-specified subset of said plurality of data.
12. The portal system as in claim 11 wherein said communication
link is comprised of a first link between a client computer and
said portal device; and a second link between said client computer
and said portal server over a network.
13. The portal system as in claim 12 wherein said first link is a
wireless communication link.
14. The portal system as in claim 13 wherein said first link is a
radio frequency ("RF") link.
15. The portal system as in claim 12 wherein said first link is a
capacitively-coupled communication link.
16. The portal system as in claim 11 wherein said communication
link is an RF link.
17. The portal system as in claim 16 wherein said communication
link a sub-carrier frequency block.
18. The portal system as in claim 17 wherein said sub-carrier
frequency block is leased from a radio station.
19. The portal system as in claim 12 wherein said first link is an
infrared link.
20. The portal system as in claim 11 wherein said portal device is
further configured to exchange portal keys with other such portal
devices, said portal keys being usable for gaining access to a
particular set of data on said portal server.
21. The portal system as in claim 20 wherein said portal device is
further configured to transmit said portal key to said portal
server through said client to access said particular set of data on
said portal server.
22. A method for extending a portal server comprising: registering
a user on said portal server, said registration process comprising
identifying a plurality of data to be maintained by said portal
server on behalf of said user; sending said user a portal device;
and transmitting portions of said plurality of data to said portal
device.
23. The method as in claim 22 wherein said portions of data are
identified by said user logging in to said portal server from a
client computer.
24. The method as in claim 22 wherein said step of transmitting
comprises: transmitting said portions of said plurality of data
over a wireless link.
25. The method as in claim 24 wherein said wireless link is an
sub-carrier frequency block of a radio station.
26. A method for providing an advertisement on a portal device
comprising: downloading said advertisement from a portal server;
and triggering said advertisement based on a specified event.
27. The method as in claim 26 wherein downloading said
advertisement is accomplished over a client link and said specified
event is a particular date and time.
28. The method as in claim 26 wherein downloading said
advertisement is accomplished over a wireless link and said
specified event is receipt of a particular wireless data
transmission.
29. The method as in claim 28 wherein said wireless link is an RF
link.
30. The method as in claim 29 wherein said RF link is an RF
sub-carrier link.
31. The method as claimed in claim 26 wherein said event is said
portal device being transported near a particular business.
32. A method for providing a first user with access to data on a
portal server comprising: transmitting a portal key to said first
user's portal device, said key identifying a particular group of
data stored on said portal server.
33. The method as in claim 32 wherein said portal key is
transmitted by a second user's portal device to said first user's
portal device.
34. The method as in claim 33 wherein said portal key is one of a
plurality of portal keys maintained by said second user and wherein
each key of said plurality of keys provides access to a different
set of data on said portal server.
35. The method as in claim 34 wherein a business key provides said
first user with access to a set of business-related data of said
second user.
36. The method as in claim 35 wherein a personal key provides said
first user with access to a set of personal data of said second
user.
37. The method as in claim 36 wherein said portal key is
automatically transmitted to said portal device from a second
portal device located at a business.
38. The method as in claim 37 wherein said portal key identifies
data related to said business on said portal server.
39. The method as in claim 38 wherein said data is an
advertisement.
40. A portal device programming method comprising: configuring a
set of portal device user preferences for a portal device on a
portal server; and downloading one or more of said preferences to
said portal device responsive to a communication link being
established between said portal device and said portal server.
41. The portal device programming method as in claim 40 wherein one
of said user preferences relates to a user interface of said portal
device.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to the field of network
data services. More particularly, the invention relates to an
apparatus and method for managing network portal data.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] "Portals" are World Wide Web ("WWW") sites which help users
manage and navigate through vast amounts of information stored on
the Internet. Some well known Internet portals include
"Yahoo!.RTM.," AltaVista.RTM., and Excite.RTM.. Portals typically
provide search features which allow users to search for particular
types of content by entering keywords. In response to the keyword
search request, the portal returns links to relevant Internet sites
and/or relevant content stored directly on the portal. For example,
if a user enters the keyword "snowboarding," the portal may return
a list of hyperlinks to Internet sites related to snowboarding as
well as internal portal categories related to snowboarding (e.g.,
"Recreation>Sports>Snowboarding").
[0005] In addition to the keyword search and content management
capabilities described above, portals may also provide users with a
variety of network applications such as, for example, email,
electronic scheduling and contact management, chat groups,
newsgroups, personal financing, and instant messaging, to name just
a few.
[0006] Many portals also provide a registration feature which
allows users to customize the types of information and/or
applications which will be immediately accessible to the user on
the portal. For example, the user may configure the portal to
automatically retrieve and display information specified by the
user such as, for example, the value of the user's stock portfolio,
the weather forecast in the user's geographic location, an
indication of any unread email messages, the user's appointments
for the day, the local news headlines for the day, and/or the
television listings for the user's favorite channels that
evening.
[0007] When the user visits the portal (e.g., via a client
computer), he/she may be presented with a single Web page that
contains all of the foregoing information, automatically collected
and transmitted by the portal. Typically, a portal will transmit a
unique Web page and associated data to the user in this manner only
after receiving proper authentication (e.g., user ID and
password).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] A method is described, comprising: searching for portable
device software configured on a client; automatically installing
the portable device software if the portable device software is not
configured on the client; searching for a portable device attached
to the client; and logging in a user of the portable device upon
identifying the portable device.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] A better understanding of the present invention can be
obtained from the following detailed description in conjunction
with the following drawings, in which:
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary network architecture used to
implement elements of the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 2 illustrates another exemplary network architecture
used to implement elements of the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 3 illustrates a radio signal including its sub-carrier
in the frequency domain.
[0013] FIG. 4 illustrates an external view of a portal device
according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0014] FIG. 5 illustrates an internal view of a portal device
according to one embodiment of the invention.
[0015] FIG. 6 illustrates a process according to one embodiment of
the invention wherein a user is logged in to a portal server.
[0016] FIG. 7 illustrates a visual programming interface according
to one embodiment of the invention.
[0017] FIG. 8 illustrates portal device communication according to
one embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0018] In the following description, for the purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will
be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present
invention may be practiced without some of these specific details.
In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in
block diagram form to avoid obscuring the underlying principles of
the present invention.
An Exemplary Network Architecture
[0019] Elements of the present invention may be included within a
client-server based architecture 100 such as that illustrated in
FIG. 1. According to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, a portal
server 110 communicates with clients 140 and other network servers
130 over a network 120 (e.g., the Internet). The network 120 over
which the clients 140 and servers 110, 130 transmit and receive
data may be comprised of any combination of private (e.g., leased)
and/or public communication channels. These may include, for
example, Digital Signal ("DS") channels (e.g., DS-3/T-3, DS-1/T1),
Synchronous Optical Network ("SONET") channels (e.g., OC-3/STS-3),
Integrated Services Digital Network ("ISDN") channels, Digital
Subscriber Line ("DSL") channels, cable modem channels and a
variety of wireless communication channels including satellite
broadcast and cellular channels.
[0020] In addition, various networking protocols may be used to
support communication across the network 120 including, for
example, the Asynchronous Transfer Mode ("ATM"), Ethernet, and
Token Ring (at the data-link level); as well as Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP"), Internetwork Packet
Exchange ("IPX"), AppleTalk and DECnet (at the network/transport
level). It should be noted, however, that the principles of the
invention are not limited to any particular communication channel
or protocol.
[0021] The portal server 110 in one embodiment includes a user
database for storing various types of user configuration and
account data. Users may register and login to the portal server 110
from a client 140 by specifying a user ID and/or password.
According to one embodiment, a user connects to the servers 110,
130 via a browser application such as Netscape Navigator.TM. or
Microsoft Internet Explorer.TM. which communicates via the
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (hereinafter "HTTP").
[0022] In one embodiment, users may configure the portal server 110
to retrieve and manage specific types of information. For example,
a user may configure the portal server 110 to retrieve up-to-date
stock quotes for a specified set of stocks (e.g., reflecting the
user's portfolio), to collect the weather forecast for the user's
hometown, and/or to retrieve recent articles relating to a
particular sports franchise. The portal server will then retrieve
the specified information from other servers (e.g., server 130) on
behalf of the user.
[0023] In addition to information retrieval and management, in one
embodiment the portal server 110 also provides application services
such as email, online scheduling (e.g., appointments, to-do lists,
etc), instant messaging, contact management, word processing and a
variety of other online services. Users may access these services
by logging in to the portal server 110 with a valid user ID and
password. In one embodiment, the portal server 110 generates a
unique, personalized Web page for each user containing links to
all, or a subset of, the information and/or services subscribed to
by the user.
Embodiments of the Invention
[0024] In one embodiment, a portal device 150 stores and processes
user-specified information and/or programs as well as
non-user-specified information/programs (e.g., targeted
advertisements based on the user's profile). The
information/programs may be transmitted to the portal device 150
through the client 140, and/or directly via wireless broadcast (as
illustrated in FIG. 2 and described in detail below). Thus, the
portal device 150 in this embodiment is a removable extension of
the portal server 110, storing a subset of the information and
services maintained by the portal server 110 on behalf of the user.
For example, a user may configure the portal server 110 to
periodically download the user's to-do list (or other scheduling
data) to the portal device (e.g., every morning, every two hours,
every time the user connects the portal device to the client 140,
etc). When the user leaves the office, he/she can simply take the
portal device with him/her and view his/her schedule throughout the
day.
[0025] The timing of the information/program download may depend on
the particular embodiment of the portal device 150. For example, if
a wireless embodiment is used (described below) downloads may occur
at any time when the portal device 150 is within wireless
transmission range, whereas if a non-wireless embodiment is used,
downloads may be limited to periods of time when the portal device
150 is connected to the portal server 110.
[0026] In one embodiment, the user may customize the portal device
150 preferences and content which will be downloaded to the portal
device 150 from the portal server 110. This may be accomplished,
for example, by selecting certain preferences/content from a portal
server 110 Web page (e.g., by using an online programming interface
as described below). For example, the user may choose to have each
day's to-do list downloaded to his portal device 150 and may also
program the device 150 (e.g., via the portal server 110) to
continually display the next scheduled event for the day. Various
other user interface and content-based data may be transmitted to
the portal device 150 from the portal server 110 while still
complying with the underlying principles of the invention.
Client Link
[0027] As illustrated in FIG. 1, one embodiment of the portal
device 150 communicates to the portal server 110 via a
communication link 160 with the client 140. The communication link
may be established via a physical I/O connection with the client
140 such as a Universal Serial Bus ("USB") interface or a
communication ("serial") interface. Alternatively, the
communication link 160 may be a wireless link such as an Infrared
I/O channel or a radio frequency ("RF") I/O channel.
[0028] In one particular embodiment, the client link 160 is formed
using a capacitively-coupled communication channel. As is known in
the art, a capacitor is any dielectric sandwiched between two
conductive elements. In this embodiment, one of the two conductive
elements is located within the portal device 150 and the second of
the two conductive elements is located external to the portal
device 150 and is communicatively coupled to an I/O port of the
client 140. For example, in one embodiment, the second conductive
element may be disposed within user's mouse pad. According to this
embodiment, the user may simply place the portal device on the
mouse pad to set up the capacitive communication link 160 with the
client 140. It should be noted, however, that various other client
links 160 may be employed while still complying with the underlying
principles of the invention.
Direct Radio Broadcast
[0029] In one embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 2, data and/or
programs are transmitted to the portal device 150 from the portal
server 110 over an RF link 220. In this embodiment, the
organization maintaining the portal server 110 and/or implementing
other features of the system and method described herein
(hereinafter the "portal organization" or "PO"), may lease a
portion of the RF transmission bandwidth from one or more radio
stations 210. It should be noted, however, that various RF
transmission techniques may be used without departing from the
underlying principles of the invention.
[0030] Referring to FIG. 3, in one particular embodiment, the PO
will use the radio station's sub-carrier frequency band 320 to
transmit data and/or programs to the portal device 150. As it is
known in the art, radio stations are licensed a sub-carrier
frequency block 320 along with the audio carrier frequency block
310. Although some radio stations use the sub-carrier frequency
block 320 (e.g., for foreign-language broadcast), most do not. As
such, the present embodiment provides a mechanism for transmitting
data over an infrequently-used wireless transmission channel.
[0031] To further conserve bandwidth within the sub-carrier
frequency block 320, in one embodiment, the data transmitted over
the RF link 220 is not addressed to any one specific portal device.
Rather, in this embodiment, the data is simply transmitted (e.g.,
with a tag that identifies the data) and is sensed by any portal
device(s) 150 listening within the sub-carrier block 320. This type
of addressing will be referred to herein as "data addressable"
addressing (in contrast to "device addressable addressing in which
a device address is associated with the transmitted data). The
individual portal devices 150 that sense the various data
transmissions may ignore them or may take some other specified
action (e.g., store and display the transmitted data), depending on
how the devices 150 are configured. For example, a portal device
150 may be configured by a user to track stock quotes for stocks
within his/her portfolio and to ignore all other stock quotes.
Similarly, the user may configure the portal device 150 to listen
for local weather reports, local news headlines, and/or any other
information which may be accessed by the user directly at the
portal server 110.
[0032] In one embodiment, the data broadcast in a particular
geographical region will be selected based on the number of users
in that region who have registered on the portal server 110 and/or
the types of data requested by users in the region. For example, if
no users in the region have configured the portal server 110 to
gather a particular stock quote, then the portal server 110 will
not transmit that stock quote over the RF link 220 in that region.
Similarly, the portal server 110 may be configured to only transmit
local data such as weather and local news in the local broadcast
region to which the weather and news pertains (i.e., where it will
most likely be requested). Broadcasting data selectively in this
manner will further improve bandwidth over the RF link 220 (i.e.,
by reducing unnecessary data transmissions).
[0033] In one embodiment, portal devices 150 may be addressed
directly (e.g., by including the device's serial number or other ID
code in an address field of the data transmission). This embodiment
may be provided by the PO to users as a "premium" service, under
which the user pays an additional fee to receive
personally-addressed information over the sub-carrier 360 (e.g.,
email messages, daily schedules, etc), as well as the more general
information described above. Users of this embodiment may be
charged on a subscription basis and/or on a per-use basis,
depending on the embodiment. Of course, other pricing models may be
employed while still complying with the underlying concept. The PO
may also employ this embodiment under certain emergency situations
(e.g., where it is crucial that a particular user receive a data
transmission immediately).
Embodiments of the Portal Device
[0034] FIG. 4 illustrates an external view of one embodiment of a
portal device 420 which may be used as a key chain. As shown, this
embodiment includes a key chain ring 410 for securing a set of keys
(or other personal effects) to the device 420. Also illustrated is
a display 430 for displaying various types of portal data. In one
embodiment the display is a Liquid Crystal Display ("LCD"). Of
course, other display technologies may be implemented while still
complying with the underlying principles of the invention (e.g.,
Light Emitting Diode ("LED") displays). Also included is a set of
control buttons 440 and 441 for selecting menu items and/or jumping
back and forth between stored portal data and a control knob 450
for scrolling between menu items and/or data. In one embodiment,
the control knob 450 rotates on an axis which is substantially
perpendicular to the plane of the display 430.
[0035] Additional attachable embodiments of the portal device 150
include a necklace configuration, a pocket watch configuration, and
a sports configuration (e.g., wherein the portal device is strapped
firmly around a user's arm). In the latter configuration, the shell
of the portal device may be comprised of a waterproof material to
avoid water damage to the internal components of the device.
[0036] As illustrated in FIG. 5, one embodiment of the portal
device 150 is comprised generally of a microcontroller 505, an
external memory 550, a display controller 575, and a battery 560.
The external memory 550 may be used to store programs and/or portal
data 565 transmitted to the portal device 150 from the portal
server 110 (e.g., via client 140 and/or radio station 210). In one
embodiment, the external memory 550 is non-volatile memory (e.g.,
an electrically erasable programmable read only memory ("EEPROM");
a programmable read only memory ("PROM"), etc). Alternatively, the
memory 550 may be a volatile memory (e.g., random access memory or
"RAM") but the data stored therein may be continually maintained
via the battery 560. The battery 560 in one embodiment is a coin
cell battery (e.g., of the same type used in portable electronic
devices such as calculators and watches). In one embodiment, when
the battery power decreases below a threshold level, the portal
device 150 will notify the user and/or the portal server 110. The
portal server 110 in one embodiment will then automatically send
the user a new battery.
[0037] The microcontroller 505 of one embodiment is comprised of a
central processing unit ("CPU") 510, a read only memory ("ROM")
570, and a scratchpad RAM 540. The ROM 570 is further comprised of
an interpreter module 520 and a toolbox module 530.
[0038] The toolbox module 530 of the ROM 570 contains a set of
toolbox routines for processing data, text and graphics on the
portal device 150. These routines include drawing text and graphics
on the portal device's display 430, decompressing data transmitted
from the portal server 110, reproducing audio on the portal device
150, and performing various input/output and communication
functions (e.g., transmitting/receiving data over the client link
160 and/or the RF link 220). A variety of additional portal device
functions may be included within the toolbox 530 while still
complying with the underlying principles of the invention.
[0039] In one embodiment, microprograms and portal data 560 are
transmitted from the portal server 110 to the external memory 550
of the portal device via a communication interface 570 under
control of the CPU 510. Various communication interfaces 570 may be
employed without departing from the underlying principles of the
invention including, for example, a Universal Serial Bus ("USB")
interface or a serial communication ("serial") interface. The
microprograms in one embodiment are comprised of compact,
interpreted instructions known as "bytecodes," which are converted
into native code by the interpreter module 520 before being
executed by the CPU 510. One of the benefits of this configuration
is that when the microcontroller/CPU portion of the portal device
150 is upgraded (e.g., to a faster and/or less expensive model),
only the interpreter module 520 and toolbox 530 of the ROM needs to
be rewritten to interpret the currently existing bytecodes for the
new microcontroller/CPU. In addition, this configuration allows
portal devices 150 with different CPUs to coexist and execute the
same microprograms. Moreover, programming frequently-used routines
in the ROM toolbox module 530 reduces the size of microprograms
stored in the external memory 550, thereby conserving memory and
bandwidth over the client link 160 and/or the RF link 220. In one
embodiment, new interpreter modules 520 and/or toolbox routines 530
may be developed to execute the same microprograms on cellular
phones, personal information managers ("PIMs"), or any other device
with a CPU and memory.
[0040] One embodiment of the ROM 570 may be comprised of
interpreted code as well as native code written specifically for
the microcontroller CPU 505. More particularly, some toolbox
routines may be written as interpreted code (as indicated by the
arrow between the toolbox 530 and the interpreter module 520) to
conserve memory and bandwidth for the same reasons described above
with respect to microprograms. Moreover, in one embodiment, data
and microprograms stored in external memory 550 may be configured
to override older versions of data/microprograms stored in the ROM
570 (e.g., in the ROM toolbox 530).
Data Compression
[0041] As described above, microprograms and portal data may be
transmitted to the portal device 150 in a compressed format. As
such, in one embodiment, decompression logic is programmed into the
microcontroller ROM 570 (e.g., within the toolbox 530) and is used
to interpret and/or decompress the microprograms/data as they are
received.
[0042] In one embodiment, a plurality of uncompressed data is
stored in the ROM 570, and codes identifying the uncompressed data
are transmitted across the RF link 220 and/or client link 160. For
example, instead of transmitting the entire market code for a
particular stock, such as "MSFT" for Microsoft, a compressed code,
e.g., "M," may be transmitted to the portal device 150 instead. The
ROM 570 in this embodiment may include a lookup table (or similar
decode logic) for retrieving the real market code "MSFT," using the
compressed code, "M." Once the real code is retrieved from the ROM
570, it may be displayed on the portal device 150 as illustrated in
FIG. 4. It should be noted, however, that the underlying principles
of the invention may be practiced using a variety of coding schemes
and/or digital compression techniques.
User Registration and Authentication
[0043] One embodiment of the invention will now be described with
reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6. According to this embodiment,
when a user initially connects to the portal server 110 (e.g., from
client 140), the portal server 110 will determine whether a portal
device plug-in is installed on the user's Web browser (at 615). As
is known in the art, plug-ins are auxiliary programs added to Web
browsers to provide them with new levels of functionality. One
embodiment of the present invention uses a plug-in to coordinate
communication between the portal server 110, the client 140, and
the portal device 150. In addition, the plug-in may convert and/or
compress "standard" portal programs/data (e.g., programs/data meant
to be executed on the client 140) into microprograms/data that the
portal device can properly interpret, as described herein. If the
plug-in is not installed, the portal server 110 may automatically
transmit and install it on the client 140 (at 625).
[0044] At 630, the portal server 110 (e.g., via the plug-in)
determines whether the portal device is currently attached to the
client 140. If the device 150 is attached then, in one embodiment,
the portal server 110 will automatically log the user in. The
portal server 110 may automatically authenticate the portal device
150 via a serial number and/or a user authentication key
embedded/stored in the device 150. Once the user is logged in to
the portal server, he/she can then transmit data to and from the
portal device 150 as described herein.
[0045] If the device 150 is not attached, however, then the portal
server 110 may implement a standard user name/password login
procedure and/or may register the user (at 640). During the
registration process the user may be asked to respond to a series
of questions relating to his/her background (e.g., hobbies,
education, career, etc). The portal server 110 may use this
information to personalize the content collected and provided to
the user and/or to target ads to the user based on the user's
preferences. In addition, at this point the user may be provided
with an opportunity to configure the portal server 110 to gather
and manage specific information on behalf of the user (e.g.,
particular stocks, sports scores, news, etc) and/or to provide the
user with access to certain online applications (e.g., email,
electronic scheduling, etc) as described herein.
Online Programming Interface
[0046] In one embodiment, registered users are provided with an
online visual programming interface such as that illustrated in
FIG. 7. Under this embodiment users may construct their own
microprograms to be executed on the portal device 150 and/or the
client 140. For example, a user may define a programming block as a
hyperlink which points to a particular piece of data or series of
data (e.g., a current stock quote for AT&T, the San Francisco
weather forecast, etc) and may also indicate how frequently the
data associated with the hyperlink is to be updated. Multiple such
blocks may be chained together to create a continual sequence of
information to be displayed on the portal device 150 or the client
140. The particular programs generated by users may depend on
whether a wireless portal device 150 is being used. For example, a
microprogram designed to download up-to-date stock quotes may
require a wireless connection to the portal server 110 to be
effective.
[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 7, users may also program animation
and/or sound into the portal device 150. For example, block 710
points to a particular image file (e.g., a bitmap file) and block
715 points to a particular music file (e.g., a Musical Instrument
Digital Interface or "MIDI" file). The user may cause the image to
move across the display 430 of the portal device 150 in a specified
direction by programming block 720 (e.g., using X and Y coordinate
data). Concurrently, the user may program block 725 to play the
music track identified in block 715. Temporal link 722 indicates
that the movement of the image and the playback of the music track
are to take place simultaneously. Programming block 720 indicates
that the music and image will both fade out to end the program.
[0048] In one embodiment, standard image and/or music files stored
on the client 140 are converted to a format which the portal device
can interpret (e.g., using a conversion module which may included
in the client plug-in). For example, the melody line may be
extracted from a MIDI file and transmitted to the portal device as
a series of notes. Similarly, bitmap or JPEG images may be
converted so that they are properly displayed on the portal device
display 430, which in one embodiment is a black & white LCD
display.
Portal Key Operations
[0049] In one embodiment, each portal device 150 includes a portal
key which uniquely identifies the device, the user and/or
particular data on the portal server. The key may either be
permanently embedded in the device (e.g., the key may be the serial
number) or, alternatively, may be selected manually by the user
(e.g., the user's ID on the portal server 110) or may be assigned
to the device by the portal server 110.
[0050] Regardless of how the portal key is generated, as
illustrated in FIG. 8, in one embodiment users may exchange keys
between portal devices. Specifically, portal device 810 is shown
receiving a portal key (key no. 5331998TW) from portal device 820.
In one embodiment, when the user of portal device 810 connects to
the portal server 110 after receiving the portal key, he/she will
be provided with access to information and/or services associated
with the portal key. For example, the user of portal key 820 may
store personal and/or business-related information on the portal
server 110 which he/she wants to share with the user of portal
device 810.
[0051] Several portal key applications may be implemented using
this type of portal key exchange. These include, for example,
social invitations; "business card" exchanges (i.e., where the user
of portal device 820 stores an online business card on portal
server 110); personal photo exchanges; and/or exchanges of any
other information adapted to be stored on a computer network. It
should be noted, however, that the underlying principles of the
invention are not limited to any particular type of informational
exchange.
[0052] Exchanging portal keys in the foregoing manner provides an
efficient mechanism for exchanging information using a limited
amount of portal device memory because the underlying information
is stored on the portal server 110, rather than the portal device
150 itself. In addition, when a user exchanges a key, the user is
then free to continually update the information/services on the
portal server 110 to which the key provides access. For example, a
user may exchange a key with a prospective employer, and
subsequently update his/her resume on the portal server 110.
Similarly, if the user is involved in research, he/she may exchange
his/her key with colleagues and continually update the research
data on the portal server 110.
[0053] In one embodiment, a user may set up a number of different
keys on the portal server, each pointing to a different type of
information and/or service. The user can then select a particular
key to transmit to a second user (e.g., using the portal device
controls 440, 441, 450) depending on the information and/or service
to be provided to the second user. For example, a user may
establish a business key which points to business-oriented
information/services (e.g., a firm brochure) and a personal key
which points to personal information/services (e.g., personal
photos). In one embodiment, the portal device 150 will include one
standard key for generally identifying the portal device 150 to the
portal server 110 and other users, and any number of user-defined
"sub-keys" which can be used to exchanged more specific user data
(e.g., such as the business data and personal data described
above).
[0054] Various advertising and promotional services may be
implemented in accordance with the underlying principles of the
invention. In one embodiment, portal devices may be set up to
broadcast keys to users at a place of business such as a
supermarket or a car dealership. A user may choose to receive the
key on his/her portal device and thereby acquire additional
information about the product/service associated with the key when
he/she logs in to the portal server 110. Businesses may offer
various types of Internet promotions/discounts to users in this
manner. Conversely, a user may choose to transmit his/her key to a
portal device located at a business to request that the business
automatically contact the user with additional product/service
information (e.g., via email, a telephone call, etc).
[0055] In one embodiment, advertisements and/or coupons may be
transmitted to the user's portal device 150. This may be
accomplished over the client link 160 and/or the RF link 220. If
transmitted over the client link 160, the ad/coupon may be
programmed to trigger at a statistically effective time (one
embodiment of the portal device 150 includes a digital clock). For
example, a Starbucks.RTM. Coffee ad may be downloaded to the portal
device 150 at a random time and may be programmed to trigger in the
morning, before the user heads in to work. Personal information
known about the user (e.g., the user's preferences, the user's
daily schedule, etc) may be factored in to the timing decision
and/or the decision as to which ads to transmit to the user. The
ad/coupon may also be triggered automatically at any time/date via
the RF link 220.
[0056] If a coupon is transmitted, the user may redeem the coupon
in a number of ways. In one embodiment, the user may simply show
the coupon code to an employee working at the business for which
the coupon is valid. Alternatively, a portal device may be
configured directly at the business to automatically redeem coupons
(e.g., via a coupon exchange feature similar to the key exchange
feature described above). The business' portal device may
communicate with the portal server 110 to continually transmit and
receive coupon data. In one embodiment, the user's portal device is
configured to display a bar code identifying the received
coupon/service which may be interpreted by a bar code device at the
business to redeem the coupon/service. The underlying principles of
the invention may be implemented using various additional
advertisement and/or coupon redemption mechanisms.
[0057] In one embodiment, a coupon or advertisement may be
transmitted to the user's portal device 150 from a portal device
located at a business (in contrast to the embodiment above, where
the coupon/advertisement is transmitted by the portal server 110).
In this embodiment, the user's portal device 150 may automatically
trigger the advertisement/coupon when it is brought within range of
the business' portal device. In one embodiment, the business'
portal device transmits a key to the user's portal device 150,
which the user may subsequently use to obtain additional
information from the portal server 110 (e.g., relating to a
particular product or service). In this embodiment, the business'
portal device may or may not communicate directly with the portal
server 110.
[0058] It should be noted that the foregoing description of portal
devices and associated methods includes various business methods.
In addition, according to one particular business method, once a
user registers on the portal server 110, the PO will assign a
portal device 150 to the user free of charge (or for some nominal
fee). Upon receipt of the portal device 150 (e.g., in the mail),
the user will attach the portal device (e.g., via the client link
160), and register the portal device 150 with the portal server
110. The user may then configure the manner in which he/she will
use the portal device 150 (e.g., by selecting the types of portal
data/microprograms to be processed and stored in the device). In
one embodiment, users will be given the option to upgrade to a more
advanced portal device 150 for a specified fee. In one embodiment,
however, the fee will be no more than the cost of manufacturing and
shipping the device to the user.
[0059] In one embodiment, the portal device 150 is shipped to the
user with pre-configured data and/or advertisements already stored
within the device 150. This may include, for example, the user's
name and address; scheduling data for the user for the day/week on
which the user will receive the device; and/or any other data
stored by the user on the portal server 110.
[0060] In one particular embodiment, the portal device 150 is
configured to display shipping information (e.g., the shipping bar
code and/or destination address) on its display 430. This shipping
information may be used by the shipping company to transport the
portal device 150 to the user. This embodiment may be shipped to
the user using transparent packaging so that the shipping data may
be easily read/scanned.
[0061] Embodiments of the invention may include various steps as
set forth above. The steps may be embodied in machine-executable
instructions. The instructions can be used to cause a
general-purpose or special-purpose processor to perform certain
steps. Alternatively, these steps may be performed by specific
hardware components that contain hardwired logic for performing the
steps, or by any combination of programmed computer components and
custom hardware components.
[0062] Elements of the present invention may also be provided as a
machine-readable medium for storing the machine-executable
instructions. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not
limited to, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and
magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or
optical cards, propagation media or other type of
media/machine-readable medium suitable for storing electronic
instructions. For example, the present invention may be downloaded
as a computer program which may be transferred from a remote
computer (e.g., a server) to a requesting computer (e.g., a client)
by way of data signals embodied in a carrier wave or other
propagation medium via a communication link (e.g., a modem or
network connection).
[0063] Throughout the foregoing description, for the purposes of
explanation, numerous specific details were set forth in order to
provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be
apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the invention may
be practiced without some of these specific details. For example,
while the system described above employs a single portal server
110, alternative embodiments of the invention may include numerous
different servers (e.g., database servers, web servers, etc),
and/or mirrored servers distributed across a network. Accordingly,
the scope and spirit of the invention should be judged in terms of
the claims which follow.
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