U.S. patent application number 10/503194 was filed with the patent office on 2005-08-04 for method of providing access to presence related information.
This patent application is currently assigned to Symbian Limited. Invention is credited to Butler, Dominic, Karlsson, Petter.
Application Number | 20050170847 10/503194 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 9930227 |
Filed Date | 2005-08-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050170847 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Karlsson, Petter ; et
al. |
August 4, 2005 |
Method of providing access to presence related information
Abstract
Presence information for a user is stored and made accessible
using a conventional client server or peer to peer Presence model.
The identity of any entity that requests or accesses this Presence
information is however logged and then automatically provided to a
wireless information device operated by the user. This enables the
device to display the identity of the entity that requested or
accessed the Presence information and hence (a) can prompt a user
to contact the entity that sought his Presence information and (b)
inhibits inappropriate accessing of Presence information.
Inventors: |
Karlsson, Petter; (London,
GB) ; Butler, Dominic; (London, GB) |
Correspondence
Address: |
SYNNESTVEDT LECHNER & WOODBRIDGE LLP
P O BOX 592
PRINCETON
NJ
08542-0592
US
|
Assignee: |
Symbian Limited
London
GB
|
Family ID: |
9930227 |
Appl. No.: |
10/503194 |
Filed: |
July 30, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
February 3, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/GB03/00448 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/456.2 ;
455/411; 455/414.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 67/24 20130101;
H04M 1/663 20130101; H04M 1/724 20210101; H04L 69/329 20130101;
H04M 3/42 20130101; H04L 67/04 20130101; H04L 67/16 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/456.2 ;
455/414.3; 455/411 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 007/20 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 1, 2002 |
GB |
0202371.1 |
Claims
1. A method of providing access to Presence information comprising
the following steps: (a) storing Presence information for a user
and making that information accessible to others; (b) logging the
identity of any entity that requests or accesses the Presence
information; (c) automatically providing data to a wireless
information device operated by the user to enable that device to
display the identity of the entity that requested or accessed the
Presence information.
2. The method of claim 1 in which Presence information is stored at
a server remote from the device and the time of request or access
is logged at the server and then automatically provided by the
server to the device by being sent to the device for display on the
device.
3. The method of claim 1 in which Presence information is stored on
the device, the time of request or access is logged on the device
and then provided internally within the device for display on the
device.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the kind of Presence information
requested or accessed is logged and automatically provided to the
device for display on the device (i) instantly when an entity
requests or accesses Presence information; (ii) at regular times;
(iii) at pre-defined times; or (iv) when requested to do so by the
device.
5. The method of claim 1 in which the step of storing and logging
Presence information takes places at a server based database,
programmed to automatically send some or all of the logged
information to the wireless information device.
6. The method of claim 1 comprising the step of providing an entity
accessing Presence information with the option of leaving a message
to be sent to the user.
7. A wireless information device programmed to: (a) receive data
defining the identity of any entity that has requested or accessed
Presence information relating to the user of the device; (b)
display that identity together with an indication that Presence
information has been sought or accessed.
8. The wireless information device of claim 7 programmed to: (a)
receive data defining the time at which Presence information was
requested or accessed; (b) display that time.
9. The wireless information device of claim 7 programmed to: (a)
receive data defining the kind of Presence information that was
requested or accessed; (b) display the kind of Presence information
accessed.
10. The wireless information device of claim 7 in which the
identity of the entity that has requested or accessed the Presence
information is displayed on the wireless information device
together with a user selectable option to contact that entity using
voice or message based communication.
11. The wireless information device of claim 7 programmed to
display user selectable options defining when the data is to be
received from a server.
12. The wireless information device of claim 11 programmed to
display some or all of the following options defining when the data
is to be received from a server: (i) instantly when an entity
requests or accesses Presence information; (ii) at regular times;
(iii) at pre-defined times; or (iv) when requested to do so by the
device.
13. Computer software which, when running on a wireless information
device, enables the device to: (a) receive data defining the
identity of any entity that has requested or accessed Presence
information relating to the user of the device; (b) display that
identity together with an indication that Presence information has
been sought or accessed.
14. The computer software of claim 13 which, when running on a
wireless information device, enables the device to operate as a
device claimed in claim 8.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates to a method of providing access to
presence information. `Presence` information refers to private user
data which gives information and hints about a user's current
state, including location, availability and mood. The term
`wireless information device` used in this patent specification
should be expansively construed to cover any kind of device with
one or two way communications capabilities and includes without
limitation radio telephones, smart phones, communicators, personal
computers, computers and application specific devices. It includes
devices able to communicate in any manner over any kind of network,
such as GSM or UMTS mobile radio, Bluetooth.TM., Internet etc.
[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art
[0004] Current generation wired and wireless telephones can
indicate to a caller the status of a call recipient in only crude
and potentially ambiguous terms: for example, when a caller makes a
voice call, he or she might receive one of five different
responses: (a) the desired call recipient answers; (b) there is no
answer; (c) there is an engaged tone; (d) the call gets put through
to a pre-recorded voice mail message or (e) the call gets diverted
to someone else. If the intended call recipient does not actually
answer the call, then the caller has no idea why the call was not
answered: for example, is the intended recipient in fact there but
too busy to answer? Could a different number have been dialled to
connect successfully?
[0005] Conventional so-called `Presence` systems are the subject of
considerable interest at present and partly solve the above
problems. The intent of Presence systems is to show the status of
the prospective call recipient to a calling party ahead of the
caller making the call--for example, giving information about
whether the intended call recipient is busy, in a meeting,
contactable on a mobile phone or land line, giving hints about the
way the call recipient would prefer to be contacted (voice, SMS
etc). Reference may be made to RFC 2778 `A Model for Presence and
Instant Messaging` February 2000, The Internet Society.
[0006] Presence information will typically be stored on one or more
servers controlled by a wireless operator; people can post their
Presence information onto these servers directly from their own
wireless information devices; some kinds of Presence information
may also be determined automatically, such as the location of the
device. Someone seeking Presence information relating to (or
`owned`) by another can access these servers. Peer to peer variants
are also possible, with an individual storing his or her Presence
information on his or her own wireless information device, which
can give access to that information to other wireless information
device or servers that wish to pull down this information. Various
kinds of access control to different kinds of information can be
provided, so that a user might give access to certain Presence
information only to a defined group of friends or family; for
example, location information might be available only to persons
the user has classified as close friends, whereas availability
information might be accessed by a broader group. Reference may be
made to PCT/GB01/03784 filed by the present applicant, which
describes a comprehensive Presence architecture and is incorporated
by reference into this disclosure. Further reference may also be
made to PCT/GB01/03804 again filed by Symbian Limited, which
discloses an extensible database architecture suitable for the fast
and efficient deployment of the present invention and is again
incorporated by reference into this disclosure.
[0007] Despite a user's ability to limit access to his/her own
Presence data to defined users and classes of users, one of the
disadvantages of Presence systems is the perceived lack of control
that the user has over his Presence information. That lack of
control is clearly greater where a user has not implemented any of
the conventional access control features described above, perhaps
because doing so is seen as complicated, or has made some Presence
information `public` and hence can be accessed by anyone (this
might include basic availability information).
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
[0008] In a first aspect of the present invention, there is a
method of providing access to Presence information comprising the
following steps:
[0009] (a) storing Presence information for a user and making that
information accessible;
[0010] (b) logging the identity of any entity that requests or
accesses the Presence information;
[0011] (c) automatically providing data to a wireless information
device operated by the user to enable that device to display the
identity of the entity that requested or accessed the Presence
information.
[0012] There are two main advantages to a user: First, conventional
systems provide no technical solution to the problem of alerting a
user to the fact that an entity might be interested in contacting
him or her; with the present invention, where communication between
the entity and the user has not happened (perhaps due to adverse
Presence information--e.g. the user has stated that he is in a
meeting--or poor network coverage) then the user can readily see
that the entity was at least considering communicating with him or
her because the entity viewed his or her Presence information; the
user can then contact the entity directly if he or she wishes.
Secondly, because a user is aware of whenever an entity accesses
his Presence information, that tends to give the user a greater
feeling of control over that information: it can only be accessed
with his knowledge. A related consequence is that the inappropriate
accessing of Presence information is inhibited.
[0013] Currently, mobile telephones display a `missed calls` alert,
giving a user a greater sense of being connected and also the
practical option of returning those calls. The present invention
proposes an equivalently useful new functionality, namely logging
and displaying on the user's wireless information device the
identity of anyone accessing the user's Presence information.
[0014] In a typical implementation of the present invention,
Presence information is stored on server based databases controlled
by a wireless network operator; those servers can be programmed to
log all access requests to Presence information (e.g. identity of
person accessing the Presence information, the nature of Presence
information accessed, the time/date of access) and to provide that
information to the relevant user's wireless information device by
sending it. This may be on an automatic, immediate basis whenever
Presence information is requested; at regular intervals; at
pre-defined times; or when polled/requested by the device.
Appropriate user selectable menu options are displayed on the
device to enable the user to select the appropriate approach. That
device is then programmed to display the fact that Presence
information has been requested or accessed and to give the user the
option of viewing the log. The server based databases may be
programmed to automatically deny access to Presence information
from pre-defined categories of entities (e.g. black-listed persons,
entities not listed in the user's contact list stored on the
database; commercial organisations etc.), so that it is useful to
be able to inform a user not only when Presence information has
been accessed, but also when it has been requested and denied.
[0015] A peer to peer approach is also possible: The Presence data
is then not stored on a central database server and managed
centrally by the database server owner (e.g. network operator), but
is distributed across wireless information devices such that the
Presence information for any given user is stored on and managed by
software on that user's wireless information device. The software
will act as the above-mentioned server software, meaning it will
handle Presence information requests from other users, it will log
Presence information requests, may be programmed or otherwise
configured by the user to deny/permit requests from given users,
will facilitate communication with the entity that has requested
Presence information and will provide directly to its own display
data indicating that Presence information has been sought or
accessed.
[0016] The device can also give the user the option of
communicating (e.g. voice, SMS message etc.) with the entity that
has accessed the Presence information; by facilitating
communication in this manner, it is more likely that users will
actually make the call and hence generate revenue for the operator.
Similarly, the server may give the entity accessing Presence
information the option of messaging the user or initiating a voice
call once the Presence information has been returned.
[0017] In a second aspect, there is a wireless information device
programmed to:
[0018] (a) receive data defining the identity of any entity that
has requested or accessed Presence information relating to a user
of the device;
[0019] (b) display that identity together with an indication that
Presence information has been sought or accessed.
[0020] A third aspect of the invention covers computer software
which, when running on a wireless information device, enables the
device to:
[0021] (a) receive data defining the identity of any entity that
has requested or accessed Presence information relating to the user
of the device;
[0022] (b) display that identity together with an indication that
Presence information has been sought or accessed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] The invention will be described with reference to the
following Figures, in which the log is referred to as a
`footprint`.
[0024] FIG. 1: shows a mobile telephone with a display showing 2
`footprints`, or logs of entities who have accessed the Presence
information of the user controlling that telephone;
[0025] FIG. 2: shows the mobile telephone with a dialog giving the
user the option of viewing the `footprints` or logs;
[0026] FIG. 3: shows the actual `footprints` or logs;
[0027] FIG. 4: shows a high level schematic of an implementation
for a peer to peer Presence system.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0028] An implementation of the present invention is called
`Footprints` and runs on wireless information devices with the
Symbian OS from Symbian Limited of London, United Kingdom.
[0029] Footprints User Interaction
[0030] Using Footprints, a wireless information device can be
pushed data (e.g. instantly or at pre-defined times) if someone
accesses the Presence information associated with the user of that
device, or can be set to poll regularly (or on user initiation) for
that information from the server.
[0031] That data can be used to display on the device an alert that
someone has sought the user's Presence information: in FIG. 1, the
alert `2 footprints` is shown, indicating that two entities have
accessed the user's Presence Information. Automatic notification of
this sort can be instantaneous (i.e. when the access takes place),
can be provided to the device at regular intervals, or can be
provided on specific request only. Just as a user is notified of
missed calls by the cellular telephony infrastructure storing a log
of all missed calls and sending that log to the mobile telephone,
so can the present invention be implemented using conventional
database logging and data transmission software: the same server
software/hardware that is used to log missed calls and send
notifications to handsets may in fact be used.
[0032] If in FIG. 1 the user selects the item labelled `2
footprints`, then the dialog shown in FIG. 2 is displayed: "Do you
want to view these now?" with the two options "View" and "Cancel".
If the "View" option is selected, then, as shown in FIG. 3, the
actual identity of the persons accessing the Presence information
and the time of access is shown. Selecting the "View" option may
require the device to ask the server for the relevant information;
alternately, that information may have already been supplied to the
device as stored on it.
[0033] The Figures show the device displaying Footprint information
in a manner fully integrated into the user interface of the device;
this will typically require the Footprint device software to be
burnt into the device ROM or for the device to be able to load and
run new applications such as Footprints.
[0034] A high level schematic for Footprints implemented on a peer
to peer Presence system is shown at FIG. 4. Different applications,
or apps, 1, 2 and 3 (such as the Contacts application, or Security,
or indeed any application that may need to be informed of a
Footprint) communicate with a `listener` component 4 that listens
for Presence requests from remote parties. This listener component
4 provides an API for apps to receive alerts 5 about incoming
Presence queries. The Footprint app (or the UI extension to a
Contacts app that provides this functionality) is built on top of
this API. Authorised Presence queries are responded to with data
being sent from the Presence Data Store 6 back over the network 7
to the requesting party, with the appropriate notification being
sent to the app 1 etc. All components 1-6 are device resident, with
Listener 4 and Presence Data Store 6 being part of the device
OS.
[0035] A Presence architecture may be implemented in a
Client/Server form: an Instant Messaging and Presence (IMP) Server
holds master copies of Presence information and other `Personal
data`: Personal data is non transient data (unlike Presence
information) which the user wishes to store in a database that can
be accessed within user defined access limits (e.g. to defined
classes of individuals etc.). Personal data could include such
things as: MP3 files; photos; credit card details; date of birth
and other auto from fill information; medical records; Agenda;
Public PGP key, etc. i.e. file, record and transaction based shared
content.
[0036] The server listens for client connections and communicates
directly with clients and other servers. The server also handles:
data storage, user authentication, directory lookups (e.g. LDAP)
and Rosters, etc. The server can log all requests for Presence
information (e.g. the name of the entity requesting that
information, the contact numbers, e-mails etc, the kind of Presence
information sought, the time/date of access, whether access was
successful or not etc.) and can send that information to the
relevant client devices (e.g. users' wireless information
devices).
[0037] The client device communicates with the IMP server, parses
and interprets well-formed XML packets and understands message data
types.
[0038] For legacy devices, such as current GSM telephones, the FIG.
4 peer to peer approach is not readily possible. However, the
present invention can still be effectively implemented in a client
server model by the server sending simple SMS text messages to the
device if Presence information is accessed. The SMS text message
may be of the form "X accessed your location information (Cinema Y)
at time Z".
[0039] Returning to the overall architecture, each user is
associated with a single server which receives information for them
and from them. But in a typical network, there could be many IMP
servers provided by the same operator, with the servers
transferring messages and Presence information between themselves
and, with the appropriate interoperability standards in place (e.g.
SIMPLE), with other external IM and presence systems too. A
Client/Server protocol (preferably an open XML-based standard) is
employed for communications. This is used for client-server,
server-client and server-server communication (session initiation,
modification and termination). A server-to-server protocol may also
be used--SIP/SIMPLE for interoperability between heterogeneous
systems would be a natural design choice.
[0040] Data representation protocol: a fundamental requirement of
the architecture is that it must be extensible. As such, an open
XML-based standard protocol should be used for
packaging/transporting data (IM, Presence data and personal
information). The protocol should use XML namespaces to encapsulate
other kinds of data sent, allowing any client, server, transport,
or any component of the architecture to build custom applications
by including their own XML data within their namespace. SOAP may be
employed.
[0041] Along with a flexible messaging and presence system, an
XML-based directory should be provided. As to account management,
the server by default will allow every user to have full control
over the creation of and management of their account. This includes
passwords, and all presence, personal data and messaging aspects.
Server administrators have full control over the rights allotted to
each account, and can remove or limit those at any time.
* * * * *