U.S. patent application number 11/220658 was filed with the patent office on 2006-06-15 for systems and methods for communicating across various communication applications using single address strings.
Invention is credited to David T. Bagley, Roger N. Fearing.
Application Number | 20060129696 11/220658 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35207127 |
Filed Date | 2006-06-15 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060129696 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Bagley; David T. ; et
al. |
June 15, 2006 |
Systems and methods for communicating across various communication
applications using single address strings
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for providing addressing
strings formats and associated system implementations to minimize
the number of different addressing strings used for communicating
across different communication applications. The systems and
methods receive a valid address string that can be inputted into a
communication applications selected from a collection of
communication applications wherein the same address string can be
input for any selected communication application from that
collection.
Inventors: |
Bagley; David T.; (Lake
Forest, CA) ; Fearing; Roger N.; (Woodland Hills,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
MEREK, BLACKMON & VOORHEES, LLC
673 S. WASHINGTON ST.
ALEXANDRIA
VA
22314
US
|
Family ID: |
35207127 |
Appl. No.: |
11/220658 |
Filed: |
September 8, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
09579947 |
May 26, 2000 |
6963928 |
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11220658 |
Sep 8, 2005 |
|
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60137137 |
May 27, 1999 |
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60138927 |
Jun 11, 1999 |
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60153426 |
Sep 10, 1999 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/245 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 29/1216 20130101;
H04L 61/157 20130101; H04L 29/12122 20130101; H04L 61/1547
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/245 |
International
Class: |
G06F 15/16 20060101
G06F015/16 |
Claims
1-52. (canceled)
53. A method for operating domain name servers, said method
comprising: substantially dedicating at least one domain name
server to serve one or more sub-level domain names wherein each
said sub-level domain name is represented by at least one string of
numbers having the format of a telephone number.
54. The method of claim 53, said method further comprising:
organizing said domain name servers to ensure said string of
numbers are valid and connecting an originating domain name request
to at least one intended destination domain name via at least one
communication application; and utilizing an address-processing
utility program to process said string of numbers into at least one
format utilized by at least one said communication application;
55. The method of claim 53, wherein at least one said domain name
server is a top level domain name server.
56. The method of claim 54, wherein said address-processing utility
program is a customized world wide web resource locator.
57. (canceled)
58. The method of claim 54, wherein said address-processing utility
program is a customized telephone service feature.
59. The method of claim 54, wherein said communication application
is a world wide web resource locator.
60. The method of claim 54, wherein said communication application
is a telephone service.
61. The method of claim 54, wherein said communication application
is an electronic mail application.
62. (canceled)
63. (canceled)
64. (canceled)
65. The method of claim 53, wherein said domain name server is
operated by a telephone service provider.
66-77. (canceled)
78. (canceled)
79. The method of claim 53, further comprising the steps of:
providing a processor subsystem to differentiate a plurality of
communication applications types; receiving an inputted address
string from a user communication application selected from said
plurality of communication application types; determining a valid
internet address corresponding to said sub-level domain and
corresponding to said user communication application type;
returning said valid internet address to said user communication
application.
80. The method of claim 53, wherein said telephone number is an
eleven digit international phone number.
81. The method of claim 53, further comprising the step of
establishing communication between said user communication
application and a recipient communication application at said
Internet Protocol address.
82. The method of claim 53, further comprising: receiving an
inputted address string from a user communication application;
providing a processor subsystem to differentiate between valid
components and invalid components in said inputted address string;
selectively stripping predetermined non-alphanumeric, invalid
components of the inputted address string to form a stripped input
string; determining an Internet Protocol address corresponding to
said sub-level domain; wherein said valid internet address is used
to connect said communication application with a predetermined
recipient communication application at said Internet Protocol
address.
83. The method of claim 82, further comprising the step of
selectively mapping predetermined non-numeric invalid components of
said inputted address string according to a predetermined mapping
table before determining an Internet Protocol address corresponding
to said sub-level domain;
84. The method of claim 79, wherein said valid internet address IS
an Internet Protocol (IP) address.
85. The method of claim 79, wherein said inputted address string is
a valid internet domain name.
86. The method of claim 79, wherein said valid internet address in
an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a valid e-mail server.
87. The method of claim 79, wherein said processor subsystem
differentiates between said communication application based on the
format of said inputted address string.
88. The method of claim 79, further comprising the steps of: said
processor subsystem recognizing said inputted address string having
a different format from a format utilized by said user
communication application; mapping said different format into at
least one format utilized by said selected communication
application.
89. The method of claim 79, further comprising the steps of:
translating each component of said address string to a
corresponding predetermined number; segmenting said translated
components into at least one subset according to a predetermined
segmenting format; re-sequencing said segmented components into an
output string of a different sequence format from said inputted
address string wherein said output string is in a predetermined
re-sequencing format; and resolving said re-sequenced string into a
corresponding valid address format.
Description
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority from U.S. provisional
applications: 1) Ser. No. 60/137,137, entitled "Error Correcting
Addressing System for Internet, Telephone and Other Communication
Systems Using a Single Universal Address String", filed on May 27,
1999; 2) Ser. No. 60/138,927, entitled "Error Correcting Addressing
System for Internet, Telephone and Other Communication Systems
Using a Single Universal Address String", filed on Jun. 11, 1999;
and 3) Ser. No. 60/153,426, entitled "Error Correcting Addressing
System for Internet, Telephone and Other Communication Systems
Using a Single Universal Address String", filed on Sep. 10, 1999.
The text of each of these applications are incorporated herein by
reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention is generally directed to addressing
strings used by different communication applications to
communicate.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Presently, users of most communication applications such as
telephone, electronic mail (email) or Internet websites are
required to input a predetermined address string into a
communication application in order to establish the desired
communication with the intended recipients. For example, the user
of an email application must input an address string in the form of
a predetermined email address such as johndoe@address.com in order
to send an email message to the recipient.
[0004] An address string is generally presumed to be a sequence of
components having alpha-numeric or other human and/or machine
recognizable characters. Such address sequences can generally be of
any length or component type but their exact configurations are
typically predetermined by the service provider of the
communication application. For example in the case of telephone,
the address string used is the telephone number whose length and
digit sequence are often set by the telephone service provider.
Likewise, in the case of an Internet website, a predetermined
Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is typically used by an Internet
user to access a desired website.
[0005] The use of some address strings, such as telephone numbers,
to establish communication with another location across a
communication medium has been well known in the art. But recent
technological advances, especially in the computer networking and
telecommunication fields have resulted in the introduction of
numerous new and/or different forms of communication. For example,
communication by use of electronic mail, World Wide Web sites, or
other communication application such as facsimile are amongst such
previously unavailable alternatives to a telephone call.
[0006] The increase in the number of ways to communicate, however,
has resulted in an undesirable corresponding increase in both the
number and types of address strings associated with each such form
of communication. Furthermore, the underlying technologies used to
implement such diverse communication applications typically require
a user to input an address string that is largely unique to that
technology in order to operate and derive the desired benefit from
the communication application. Even the communication applications
of the same type but with different formats, such as an email
application by two different email service providers, often require
the use of different address strings. For example an individual
having email accounts with two or more email service providers is a
single recipient entity who will nonetheless have two or more
associated email addresses, usually in the form of one email
address for each service provider.
[0007] One problem with the existing approach of assigning one
address string per user per communication application is the
generation of multiple address strings for a single recipient. For
example, in trying to establish communication with a hypothetical
recipient John Doe having email, world wide web site and a
telephone, an end-user must often know and correctly remember the
distinct address strings associated with each such application in
order to establish communication with John Doe using that
application. The user would thus have to correctly input for
example, johndoe@address.com to send Doe an email, input an often
lengthy and difficult to remember URL string such as
http://www.address.com/johndoe to access Doe's website and input a
phone number into a phone system in order to establish telephone
communication with Doe.
[0008] The requirements for an end-user to know and correctly
remember the separate address strings is further exacerbated by the
prior art's use of Domain Names as website addresses. A Domain
Name, such as www.uspto.gov, is a form of an address string that is
generally designed to include human recognizable characters and/or
numbers in order to aid the user with the finding and/or
recollection of the correct address string. Once inputted into the
communication application, a system Domain Name Server (DNS)
converts the Domain Name into a standard numeric Internet Protocol
(IP) Address such as 255.100.1.0 for internal network use.
[0009] The implementation of Domain Names as address strings has
not however been without shortcomings. Domain Names have grown
increasingly longer in length over time, making them harder to
remember. In addition, there is a general lack of a standards as to
what spelling conventions will be adhered to in the domain name
composition, or even what language they are to appear in. Since
domain names are often registered for legal recognition, such lack
of standards often translate into having to register a domain name
in numerous ways to encompass the different languages and/or
spelling variations within each language in which domain name is to
be used.
[0010] Furthermore, since for practical purposes there are a
relatively limited number of words with which to create a domain
name, legal ramifications such as trademark disputes and the
illicit cumulating of domain names in violation of cybersquatting
laws have followed.
[0011] A DNS is also limited in the handling of errors or
variations in the inputted Domain Name such as those caused by
misspelling or mistakes, such as insertion of an underline instead
of a hyphen in the address. These errors or variations often cause
the DNS to not recognize and/or improperly resolve the address
string, resulting in the failure of the user to connect to an
intended destination in a DNS based system. In addition; a DNS
based system is largely limited to the Internet web addresses and
does not address the problem of multiple address strings for other
communication applications such as emails and telephone
numbers.
[0012] Recent attempts in dealing with the problems of several
address strings have revolved around consolidating the address
strings by use of Unified Messaging Systems such as Microsoft's
Exchange Server and MCI's Onebox.com message delivery system. These
attempts, however, fall short of solving the problem of multiple
addressing strings per user for several reasons. First, the
messaging system approach revolves around the sending of a message
via fax, voice box, etc. This however, does not allow for a direct
calling and connecting to a human being by a standard voice call as
in a telephone system. Second, the messaging systems are primarily
designed for a telephone service operation such as fax, voice box,
etc and still do not address the multiple addressing strings
problem of other applications such as emails and URL.
[0013] It is therefore the objects of the present invention to
address the forgoing deficiencies in the prior art.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0014] One object of the present invention to provide systems to
receive a valid address string that can be inputted into a
communication application selected from a collection of different
types of communication applications wherein the same address string
can be validly inputted for any selected communication application
from that collection.
[0015] It is another object of the present invention to provide
methods for receiving an address string in the format of a
telephone number inputted into at least one communication
application selected from a collection of different types of
communication applications wherein the same address string can be
validly inputted for any selected communication application from
that collection.
[0016] It is a further object of the present invention to provide
methods for receiving an address string inputted into two or more
communication applications selected from a collection of different
types of communication applications wherein the same address string
can be validly inputted for any of the communication applications
from that collection.
[0017] It is yet another object of the present invention to provide
systems and methods for generating a valid Internet address for an
Internet communication application by receiving as input at least
one inputted string, differentiating between valid components and
invalid components in the inputted string and forming at least one
valid Internet address for the Internet communication application
from the valid components.
[0018] Another object of the present invention is to provide
methods for converting an address string into a predetermined
Internet or email address format by receiving as input at least one
inputted address string of alpha-numeric characters and
re-sequencing the inputted string into an output string of a
different sequence format from the inputted address string wherein
the outputted string is in a predetermined Internet or email
address format based on the communication application used.
[0019] A further object of the present invention is to provide
methods for operating domain name servers by substantially
dedicating at least one domain name server to service one or more
sub-level domain names wherein each of the sub-level domain names
is represented by at least one numeric or alphanumeric string in
the format of a telephone number.
[0020] Another object of the present invention is to provide
systems and methods for mapping an address string to a
predetermined corresponding number, recognizing numeric categorical
identifiers in the mapped output, and re-sequencing the mapped
output based on the recognized numeric categorical identifiers to a
predetermined hierarchical format.
[0021] Accordingly, these and other objects are achieved in the
present invention providing addressing strings formats and
associated system implementations to minimize the number of
different addressing strings used for communicating across
different communication applications.
[0022] In a first embodiment, the present invention is a system for
communicating across at least one communication medium. The system
includes an input subsystem to receive an address string, the
address string having a valid format recognized by the input
subsystem and inputted into at least one communication application
selected from a collection of different communication applications
wherein the same address string can be inputted for any selected
communication application from the collection.
[0023] In another aspect of the first embodiment, the present
invention is a method for communicating across at least one
communication medium. The method includes receiving an address
string having the format of a telephone number and inputted into at
least one communication application selected from a collection of
different communication applications wherein the same address
string can be inputted for any selected communication application
from the collection.
[0024] In yet another aspect of the first embodiment, the present
invention is a method for communicating across at least one
communication medium. The method includes receiving an address
string inputted into two or more communication applications
selected from a collection of different communication applications
wherein the same address string is inputted for any selected
communication application from the collection
[0025] In a second embodiment, the present invention is a method
and system for generating a valid Internet address for an Internet
communication application. The method and system includes receiving
as input at least one inputted string, differentiating between
valid components and invalid components in the inputted string, and
forming at least one valid Internet address for the Internet
communication application from the valid components.
[0026] In a third embodiment, the present invention is a method for
converting an address string into a predetermined Internet or email
address format. The method includes receiving as input at least one
inputted address string, the address string including a plurality
of alpha-numeric characters, re-sequencing the inputted string into
an output string of a different sequence format from the inputted
address string wherein said output string is in a predetermined
Internet or email address format based on the communication
application used.
[0027] In a fourth embodiment, the present invention is a method
for operating domain name servers. The method includes
substantially dedicating at least one domain name server to serve
one or more sub-level domain names wherein each of the sub-level
domain names is represented by at least one string of numbers in
the format of a telephone number.
[0028] In a fifth embodiment, the present invention is a method and
system for mapping an address string. The method and system
includes receiving as input a valid address string having at least
one component wherein said component is a member of an
alpha-numeric set, mapping each of the components of said address
string to a predetermined corresponding number, recognizing numeric
categorical identifiers in the mapped components, and re-sequencing
the mapped components based on the recognized numeric categorical
identifiers according to a predetermined hierarchical format.
[0029] In one exemplary embodiment, the present invention includes
but is not limited to an implementation in form of an
invention-specific computer executable software code present at the
end-user and/or at server(s) within a substantially dedicated top
level domain name or email server. The software operates to achieve
some or all of the above described embodiments of the present
invention.
[0030] This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of
the invention may be understood quickly. A more complete
understanding of the invention can be obtained by reference to the
following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof
and to the drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] Without limiting the invention in anyway, a number of
exemplary embodiments of the invention are described below in
association with the accompanying drawings. The Figures provided
herein are referenced to within the specification in order to
better illustrate the workings of exemplary embodiments of the
claimed invention. They are in no respect meant to be an exhaustive
list of the various embodiments of the present invention.
[0032] FIG. 1.0 illustrates a general method by which a user inputs
a requests into an input device in form of an input string.
[0033] FIG. 1.1 shows a prior art example of multiple diverse
requests by users that are inputted into multiple different input
devices using multiple different system input strings.
[0034] FIG. 1.2 illustrates a sample business card displaying three
distinct prior art ways for contacting the business card
holder.
[0035] FIG. 1.3 illustrates an example of a business card
displaying a way for contacting the business card holder according
to the claimed invention.
[0036] FIG. 1.4 shows an example of multiple diverse requests by
users that are inputted into multiple different input devices using
the claimed invention's single system input string.
[0037] FIG. 3.0 illustrates aspects of the claimed invention as
implemented on prior art systems having telephone and the World
Wide Web.
[0038] FIG. 2.0 is a flow diagram illustrating in greater detail
the workings of the claimed invention in a World Wide Web
environment.
[0039] FIG. 3.2 illustrates aspects of the claimed invention as
implemented on prior art systems having electronic mail.
[0040] FIG. 2.1 is a flow diagram illustrating in greater detail
the workings of the claimed invention in an electronic mail
environment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0041] The systems and methods of the present invention are
generally implemented to minimize the number of different
addressing strings that are inputted by the users for communicating
across different communication applications.
[0042] Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1.0
illustrates a method by Which a user's input is translated into
machine usable form. As shown in FIG. 1 a user action 100 such as a
request to access a World Wide Web (WWW) location is inputted into
an input device 101 such as a Web Browser in form of an input
string 102.
[0043] FIG. 1.1 provides further examples of the general approach
illustrated in FIG. 1.0. More particularly, FIG. 1.1 illustrates
four diverse user actions 110-113 that are inputted into four
different input devices using four different system input strings.
In the 110 example, the user action is a request for a telephone
connection using a telephone number as an input string. In the 111
example, the user action is a request for accessing a WWW location
using a prior art WWW address string as an input string. In the 112
example, the user action is a request for an email correspondence
using a prior art email address string as an input string. In the
113 example, similar user actions are requests across other
communication applications such as facsimile, File Transfer
Protocol, etc using appropriate prior art access methods as an
input string for each communication application.
[0044] FIG. 1.2 illustrates in the context of a business card 120,
one problem associated with the prior art approach of having to use
multiple different system input strings. As shown in FIG. 1.2, John
Doe represent a typical business card holder who can be reached by
three different communication application of telephone 121, the
World Wide Web 122 and email 123. The requirement to input multiple
different system input strings for each communication application
mandates that the business card displays each of the three distinct
ways for contacting the business card holder. A disadvantage
associated with such approach is that a user who wishes to contact
John Doe must input a different address string for each
communication application used. In addition, should the business
card become unavailable to the user, the user must typically resort
to memory in recalling the address strings for contacting the
business card holder and having to use three distinct address
strings (one for each type of communication application) diminishes
the user's chances of recalling each correctly. This problem
becomes particularly exacerbated in the circumstances when only one
form of the listed communication applications is available to the
user. For example, a user might be able to recall Doe's phone
number but not the email address which the user may need at the
time to forward an important correspondence.
[0045] FIG. 1.3 illustrates an example of the business card shown
in FIG. 1.2 but utilizing the novel features of the claimed
invention in minimizing the number of required input strings. As
illustrated in the example, the use of only one input string 125 is
sufficient for the business card holder to be contacted using any
of the three listed communication applications of telephone, the
World Wide Web or email.
[0046] FIG. 1.4 further demonstrates the features of the claimed
invention as illustrated in the business card example of FIG. 1.3.
More particularly, FIG. 1.4 illustrates four diverse user actions
126-129 for contacting John Doe that are inputted into four
different input devices but using only one system input strings. In
the 126 example, the user action is a request for a telephone
connection with John Doe using Doe's provided telephone number
(here 18005551234IPN) as an input string. The "IPN" suffix can be
inputted as three extra digits of 4, 7, and 6 which respectively
correspond to the letters "I", "P" and "N" on a standard telephone
keypad. In the 127 example, the user action is a request for
accessing Doe's WWW location using the claimed invention's address
string as an input string. In the 128 example, the user action is a
request for an email correspondence with John Dow using Doe's
provided email address string as an input string. In the 129
example, similar user actions are requests across other
communication applications anticipated to be within the scope of
the claimed invention such as facsimile, File Transfer Protocol,
etc using appropriate access methods as an input string for each
communication application.
[0047] The workings of one embodiment of the invention is now
disclosed in greater detail starting with FIG. 3.0. FIG. 3.0
illustrates embodiments of the present invention which for
simplicity of the illustration are used in a telephone system or
the World Wide Web environment.
[0048] As shown in FIG. 3.0, a user selects whether to contact John
Doe via the telephone or the World Wide Web. In selecting the
telephone system 320, the user inputs the input string in the form
of a telephone number into the telephone instrument 321. To better
demonstrate the workings of the invention the sample input string
18005551234IPN from John Doe's business card is used throughout the
detailed description portion of the present invention pertaining to
FIG. 3.0. The user inputs the initial digits by simply selecting
the correct number on the telephone dial pad. The "IPN" suffix is
inputted as three extra digits of 4, 7, and 6 which respectively
correspond to the letters "I", "P" and "N" on a standard telephone
keypad. The additional "476" digits do not affect the initial
string since they are subsequently discarded as superfluous digits
according to the telephone system protocols implemented on
telephone instrument 321, telephone network 323, or another
instrument tasked for such purpose. Standard telephone connection
protocols are then followed to connect the user the target
telephone instrument 325, here John Doe's telephone.
[0049] In selecting the computer system 302, the user inputs the
input string which is in the form of a telephone number into the
appropriate input location of the client's software supporting the
desired communication application, such as the Uniform Resource
Locator input box of a WWW communication application.
[0050] Currently, although some prior art communication
applications for the Internet may recognize an input string which
is in the form of a telephone number, they are limited to a
specific registered form of the input string, with each variation
in the name requiring a new registration. For example, a website
for selling flowers registered as 1-800-flowers would be recognized
as different than 1800flowers which the user may have erroneously
entered while trying to access the website and may result in the
failure of the user to connect to an intended destination. The
present invention addresses this problem by implementation of an
IPNS Logic 322 to convert an input string which is in the form of a
telephone number into a validly recognized Internet addressing
input format while allowing for variations and errors in the
inputted string. The details of the IPNS Logic software 322 are
further discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.0 below.
[0051] As illustrated in FIG. 3.0, the IPNS Logic 322 can reside at
either the user's end in form of a client software 316 supporting
IPNS Logic 322, or it can be implemented at server's end such as a
system database server level 311, or both, as illustrated by the
317 flow. A system database server is typically a Domain Name
Server (DNS) or a similar system. The operations of Domain DNS or a
similar systems are well known to persons skilled in the art.
[0052] In one aspect of this embodiment, the user's address string
is inputted into a client software 316 that supports the IPNS Logic
322. The inputted address string is then converted by client IPNS
Logic 322 at the client's end to a validly recognized Internet
addressing input format. The converted input is then sent through
the Internet to an appropriate system database server 319 or 311 as
shown by paths 318 or 317. The server 319 or 311 would in turn map
the input string to an Internet Protocol (IP) address of the target
computer or network device 307 following existing protocols and
return the IP address to the client software 316. The client
software 316 would then utilize the IP address to lead the user to
the intended target computer or network device 307 supporting the
desired WWW location, here John Doe's website.
[0053] In another aspect of this embodiment, the user's address
string is inputted into a prior art software 308 that does not
supports the IPNS Logic 322. The existing client software 308 would
then follow the existing Internet address resolution protocols and
forward the address string to an appropriate system database server
311 which supports IPNS Logic 322. The inputted address string is
then converted by IPNS Logic 322 at the server to a validly
recognized Internet addressing input format, then mapped to an
Internet Protocol (IP) address of the target computer or network
device 307 following existing protocols. The IP address is then
returned to the client software 316. The client software 316 would
then utilize the IP address to lead the user to the intended target
computer or network device 307 supporting the desired WWW location,
here John Doe's website.
[0054] Referring more particularly to FIG. 2.0, the workings of the
IPNS Logic 322 is now disclosed in greater detail. In a flow
diagram, FIG. 2.0 demonstrates the process sequence within the IPNS
logic unit 322.
[0055] At stage 200, the user-entered address string is inputted
into the IPNS Logic Unit 322. To better demonstrate the workings of
the invention the sample input string 1800JKL1234.IPN is used
throughout the detailed description portion of the present
invention pertaining to FIG. 2.
[0056] At stage 203, the portion of the address sting that
describes the domain name for which the name server is
authoritative is removed. In this way, the IPNS sequence portion
within the inputted address string is identified and segregated
from the rest of the inputted address string. For example, in the
case of the 1800JKL1234.IPN input string, the "IPN" is removed,
leaving the identified and segregated IPNS sequence 1800JKL1234 as
the outcome.
[0057] At stage 204, the values of each of the characters within
the IPNS sequence is translated to a system(s) or system
administrator(s) defined values. In an exemplary embodiment, the
values are translated according to the following table which is
based substantially on a telephone dial pad configuration:
TABLE-US-00001 0 is translated to a 0 1 is translated to a 1
2abcABC is translated to a 2 3defDEF is translated to a 3 4ghiGHI
is translated to a 4 5jklJKL is translated to a 5 6mnoMNO is
translated to a 6 7pqrsPQRS is translated to a 7 8tuvTUV is
translated to a 8 9wxyzWXYZ is translated to a 9
[0058] All other characters not included in the translation table
such as hyphens and underlines are simply ignored. For example, the
IPNS sequence 1800JKL1234 will be translated to 18005551234.
[0059] One advantage of the foregoing feature of the present
invention is that the variations and mistakes such as insertion of
an underline instead of a hyphen are filtered out in the
translation process. For example, had the user inputted
1-800-JKL.sub.--1234, it would have been still translated to the
correct 18005551234 sequence. Thus in a prior art DNS based system
that is often sensitive to errors, such variations and mistakes
will not cause the DNS to not recognize and/or improperly resolve
the address string and result in the failure of the user to connect
to an intended destination.
[0060] At stage 205, the order in which the characters, fields or a
combinations of both are represented (generally from left to right)
in the translated IPNS sequence is re-sequenced into a new
configuration of from right to left. For example, the translated
IPNS sequence 18005551234 will be re-sequenced to 43215550081.
[0061] At stage 206, the re-sequenced IPNS sequence is segmented
according to a changeable data-driven segmentation format. The
segmentation format is used to determine the number of fields
within the sequence, and the length in number of characters, of
each field for the purpose of inserting dots (i.e ".") in between
the fields within the sequence. An example of a segmentation format
is the 4-3-4 format wherein the IPNS sequence number is segmented
from right to left, first into a group of four rightmost digits,
then the next three followed by the last four. A dot is then
inserted between each segmented group. For example, the
re-sequenced to 43215550081 IPNS sequence will be segmented under
the 4-3-4 format to 4321.555.0081. The segmentation is also data
driven and recognizes numeric categorical identifiers such as
country code or local area codes so that in the case of an inputted
IPNS sequences having a different format, such as ones following
the telephone number format of a foreign country, a different
segmentation format can be used. In an exemplary embodiment, the
different segmentation formats are changeable so that adjustments
to the formatting setup can be made when desired or needed. In
addition, the different segmentation formats are stored in a
database for retrieval by the IPNS processor.
[0062] At stage 207, the removed portion of the address string at
stage 203 that described the domain name for which the name server
is authoritative is now re-attached to the re-sequenced segmented
IPNS sequence. The result is to reconstruct the input string into a
format that is compatible with the underlying communication
technology and addressing system. For example, the 4321.555.0081 is
reconstructed to 4321.555.0081.ipn.
[0063] Following stage 207, the name server is allowed to process
the outgoing string 209 as if it were an original DNS query,
according to the DNS protocols. If no alias information is found
for the string, then the name server should send to the DNS
resolver data which presents the new string as the canonical name
for the original domain queried, in addition to any resolution data
belonging to the new DNS address.
[0064] It is noted that the different stages and specific order of
the foregoing operations are meant to be exemplary only and any
process using one or more of the disclosed routines which yields a
string that is consistent with the desired format of the outgoing
string 209 is anticipated to be within the scope of the claimed
invention.
[0065] FIG. 3.2 illustrates another embodiment of the present
invention used in an electronic mail (email) environment. As
illustrated, client softwares 366 and 358 are connected to client
email server 350 which interfaces with the Internet
address-resolution system such as the system database servers 319
or 311 using IPNS Logic 322 in order to acquire the Internet
Protocol (IP) address of target email server 355. The target email
server 355 receives and processes the email message's address using
IPNS Email Logic 356 in order to resolve the address to a canonical
email address, and then forwards the email message to the recipient
via path 371.
[0066] The embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.2 will now be discussed
in greater detail. To better demonstrate the workings of the
invention the sample input string 1800JKL1234.IPN is used
throughout the detailed description portion of the present
invention pertaining to. FIGS. 3.2 and later to FIG. 2.1.
[0067] Starting at stage 348, the user, based on the availability
or selection of the new or existing software, inputs the input
string which is in the form of a telephone number into the
appropriate location of either the new client software 366 or the
existing client software 358, both of which support email
communication applications and are connected a client email server
350. For example, the user enters the address string
"1-800-555-1234.ipn" or "18005551234.ipn" into ("Send to:") box of
an email program running on a computer that is connected to the
Internet. Currently, prior art email protocols generally do not
recognize an input string which is in the form of a telephone
number as a valid input due to the absence of the "@" symbol in the
string. The present invention addresses this problem by
implementation of one or more of IPNS Converter Logic 351, IPNS
Logic 322 and IPNS Email Logic 356. The IPNS Logic 322 used for the
electronic mail communication application is the same as the IPNS
Logic disclosed in FIG. 2.0 in conjunction with the World Wide Web
embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.0. The details of the IPNS Email
Logic software 356 are further discussed in conjunction with FIG.
2.1 below.
[0068] In an exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3.2 and
following path 365, the IPNS Logic 322 resides in the client
software 366 and converts an input string which is in the form of a
telephone number directly into a validly recognized Internet
addressing input format. Because of the requirements of the
existing email protocols, the converted inputted address must
generally include an "@" symbol and at least one character or the
client software will generally not accept the input in order to
initiate the address resolution process. The IPNS Convertor Logic
351 then converts the output of the IPNS Logic 322 into a validly
recognized Internet email addressing input format by attaching an
"@" symbol and at least one character in order for the client
software to initiate the address resolution process. Unlike the
prior art systems however, in the address string of the present
invention the "@" symbol and the accompanying character are
included merely to give the telephone address string the appearance
of a valid address in compliance with the existing email protocols
so that the address resolution process may be initiated. One
advantage of the foregoing feature is that the user is no longer in
need of entering an email address having an "@" symbol.
[0069] The new client software 366 would then send the converted
input to client email server 350. Since some client software
applications accept a user input address string without an "@"
symbol and forward them to their client email server 350 for
address resolution, the client email server 350 may also contain an
IPNS Convertor Logic 351 to convert the output of the IPNS Logic
322 into a validly recognized Internet email addressing input
format by attaching an "@" symbol and at least one character. The
client email server 350 would then send the input through the
Internet to an appropriate system database server 319 or 311 as
shown by paths 368 or 369. A System Database Server is typically a
Domain Name Server (DNS) or a similar system, the operations of
which are well known to a person skilled in the art. The DNS server
3.19 or 311 would in turn map the input string to an Internet
Protocol (IP) address of the email server that supports email
service for recipient (here John Doe) following existing protocols
and return the IP address to the client software 366. The client
email server 350 would then utilize the IP address to forward the
email packets along with the user's address string to the IP
address destination, generally belonging to a target email server
355 that supports email service for the recipient.
[0070] In another aspect of the FIG. 3.2 embodiment, the user's
address string is inputted into a prior art existing client
software 358 that does not supports the IPNS Logic 322. Because of
the requirements of the existing email protocols, the user inputted
address must include an "@" symbol and at least one character or
the client software will generally not accept the input in order to
initiate the address resolution process. Unlike the prior art
systems however, in the address string of the present invention the
"@" symbol and the accompanying character are included merely to
give the telephone address string the appearance of a valid address
in compliance with the existing email protocols so that the address
resolution process may be initiated. The user thus does not need to
know of any specific pre-set character sequence to enter preceding
the "@" symbol, as generally any arbitrary character input would
now be sufficient. For example, the sample input string
18005551234.IPN from John Doe's business card will be entered in
the format of: <arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN.
[0071] The existing client software 358 would then follow the
existing Internet address resolution protocols and forward the
address string to the client email server 350 which would in turn
forward it to an appropriate system database server 319 which
supports IPNS Logic 322. At some stage before entering the IPNS
Logic 322 the "@" symbol and all preceding characters are generally
separated from the domain name portion (here the IPNS sequence)
following existing email protocols. For example in the case of
<arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN, only the IPNS
sequence 18005551234.IPN would remain. The IPNS sequence is then
converted by IPNS Logic 322 at the server to a validly recognized
Internet addressing input format, then mapped to an Internet
Protocol (IP) address of the email server that supports email
service for recipient (here John Doe) following existing protocols.
The IP address is returned to the client email server 350 which
would then utilize the IP address to forward the email packets
along with the user's address string to the IP address destination,
generally belonging to a target email server 355 that supports
email service for the recipient.
[0072] At the target email server 355, the IPNS Email Logic 356
maps the user's address string to a canonical email address of the
intended recipient. The target email server 355 then forwards the
email message to the intended recipient.
[0073] FIG. 2.1 further illustrates the process flow within the
IPNS Email Logic 356. At stage 213, the incoming data 210 is
recognized as an email message containing a valid address format,
and is uploaded into the IPNS Email Logic 356. A valid address
format can be in either the format of a telephone number such as
for example 18005551234.IPN or one using conventional "@" symbol
such as <arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN. In this
way, the IPNS Email Logic 356 can map addresses coming from either
the New Client Software 366 or the prior art client software
358.
[0074] At stage 214, the mapping of the user's address string to a
canonical email address 214 is performed by the email server in
order to determine the email address to which to forward the
message. For example the user inputted address string of
18005551234.ipn or <arbitrary character(s)>@18005551234.IPN
is mapped to J-Doe@someisp.com where J-Doe@someisp.com is a
functioning email account where John Doe receives his incoming
email.
[0075] At stage 215, the email message is forwarded to the
canonical email address found.
[0076] In an exemplary embodiment, the target email server 355
includes a database which contains a list of incoming email
addresses and their corresponding canonical email addresses. The
database is then queried by the IPNS Email Logic 356 at stage 214
for mapping of the incoming email addresses to their corresponding
canonical email. If a canonical email address is found, the flow
proceeds to stage 215 at where the process of forwarding the email
to the canonical email address is initiated by the email server in
accordance with DNS, SMTP, POP, and/or the relevant standards or
protocols, if any. If a canonical email address is not found, the
target email server 355 alerts other relevant email servers on the
network of an improper address in accordance with DNS, SMTP, POP,
and/or the relevant standards or protocols, if any.
[0077] Thus as disclosed above, one IPNS Address, such as for
example 1-800-555-1234.ipn, can be used to make a phone call,
access a web page, and send an email.
[0078] In one exemplary embodiment of the present invention, at
least one domain within the domain name system is substantially
(preferably 100%) dedicated to the servicing of the IPNS addresses.
The dedicated domain name system is also organized to ensure that
IPNS addresses are usable, in part, for actual standard
communication with an intended party directly via telephone; for
web-page access in relation to the intended recipient; and for the
sending of an e-mail message to the intended recipient. The
organizing feature also includes electronic or conventional
publications of user and administrative manuals of all the possible
permutations of allowable addressing strings and use-parameters
within the system. The user and administrative manual would
disclose the makeup of the allowed addressing strings in the format
of a telephone number within the dedicated domain.
[0079] The dedicated domain is also sufficiently sophisticated to
recognize and process IPSN addresses which may contain additional
human-readable modifiers such as indicators of a telephone number
extension or a company trademark element in a defined position
within the addressing string. For example by entering the extension
"321" in the format of 1-234-567-8900x321.ipn would direct a
communication or a request for a web page to the phone number or
web page of the person or department designated to be at extension
321 at that number within the organization or business that has
subscribed to the system of the present invention. Another example
would be: 1-234-567-8900*Roger.IPN. This address string would
direct a communication or request for a web page or email to the
phone, email or web page of the specific person or department
designated to be at the extension allocated as "Roger" at that
number as administered within the system.
[0080] The addressing string could also be expanded by the addition
of any valid Trademark held by the holder of the telephone number
that is mirrored by the telephone-number-look-alike-string. For
example, valid addresses that the system could recognize could be:
1-800-555-1234.McDonalds.ipn or McDonalds. 1-800-555-1234.ipn.
[0081] The addressing string can also be expanded by the inclusion
of dot-delimited sub-domains prior to or after the
telephone-number-look-alike-string of one of the following types:
[0082] iii) (.)fax(.) [0083] iv) (.)pager(.) [0084] v) (.)cell(.)
[0085] vi) (.)message(.) [0086] vii) (.)instant-message(.) [0087]
viii) (.)chat(.) [0088] ix) (.)ftp(.) [0089] x) (.)gopher(.) [0090]
xi) (.)e-mail(.)[redundant, but could be used] [0091] xii)
(.)web-page(.) (redundant, but could be used) [0092] xiii) etc.
[0093] Other dot-delimited sub-domains also might be added over
time. For example, a valid addresses that the system could
recognize could be: 1-234-567-8900.fax.ipn OR
fax.1-234-5676-8900.ipn. In this case, the domain's processing
would indicate that the incoming data was a fax. The
domain-processing itself would act as a "router" in this case to
the correct final destination of any communication or request for
information.
[0094] The dedicated domain system, in addition, processes the IPNS
addresses according to error-correcting coded and programmed
algorithms that facilitate the usability of the system. The
processing in part includes the loading of custom
address-processing utilities in a dedicated domain name server
within that domain; the loading of a custom e-mail utility in a
dedicated email server; and ensuring that the dedicated e-mail
server is accessible to the dedicated domain name system.
[0095] The dedicated domain is also provided with proper
administration and technical services to assure that it is properly
functioning. Proper administration of the dedicated domain
includes, but is not limited to, the setting up of administration
software to allow the representative of the dedicated domain to
collect, input and store information from a new address subscriber.
A database that contains the subscriber's canonical email address
is used to map one or more iteration of a
telephone-number-look-alike-string address to a canonical email
address and/or to the website address chosen by a subscriber. In
this way, the representative of the dedicated domain or the
subscriber would be able to quickly change relevant elements of the
database. For example, email sent to a particular
telephone-number-look-alike-string address can be re-routed to a
different canonical email address for a period of time or as a
basic change to the subscriber's profile.
[0096] Finally, the representatives of the domain or the
subscribers would be able, through the use of the software, to add
or delete modifiers to the basic IPNS address, if any exist, such
as having each instance of an IPNS address with a different
modifier to map to a different canonical email address.
[0097] It is noted that the foregoing different embodiments of the
present invention were illustrated separately at times for the
purpose of simplicity of diagrams and related description of the
specification. Any process or system using one or more of the
disclosed embodiments is anticipated to be within the scope of the
claimed invention.
[0098] Other embodiments and advantages of the present invention
will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of
the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein.
It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as
exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being
indicated by the following claims.
* * * * *
References