Abstract:
In a system for providing media content to a communication device, a device capabilities determination is made by a rules engine that compares content attributes with constraints on those attributes for a device. Metadata describing the content is derived and entered into a database. As the specifications of different devices are entered into the system, corresponding constraints are associated with the devices that tell the engine the valid range of values for the content attributes. The engine creates an available content library for each class of devices by excluding all instances of content that have attributes outside the range of values prescribed in the constraints. A similar rule set determines whether the content can be distributed through a particular delivery channel, based on the distribution channel capacity to support a media type. The subset of content that passes both the device capabilities tests and the distribution capability tests is viable for delivery to a device over a particular distribution channel.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The invention relates generally to systems and methods for providing media content for mobile communication devices and, more particularly, to systems and methods for supporting the production, management and delivery of media content for wireless devices.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art  
           [0004]    A typical system for distributing media content, such as audio-based ringtones, to mobile communication devices over a communication network includes a library of media content stored in a file server and a means for sending the media content to a device. Each piece of media content is stored in a format compatible with one or more communication devices. For example, an audio file stored in a Nokia proprietary format is considered to be compatible with all models of Nokia telephones. Among the various models of Nokia telephones, however, there may be different types of media capabilities. For example, one telephone model may be capable of playing an audio file such as “ringtones” of a certain byte duration and note range while another model has different duration and range capabilities.  
           [0005]    Existing media content distribution systems do not account for these differences in device capabilities. Thus, a piece of media content associated with Nokia telephones may be sent to any Nokia telephone regardless of the capabilities of the particular telephone model. If the particular model receiving the content does not have the proper capabilities, the content may not be able to be played or, if it can be played, will be limited by the model capabilities. For example, the duration of the ringtone may be truncated or the note range modified to accommodate the capability of the particular telephone. Thus, the user of the device is not able to hear the “true” ringtone.  
           [0006]    In view of the foregoing limitations of existing media distribution systems, those skilled in the art have recognized a need for a system that is capable of providing media content to a variety of communication devices operating over various communications networks and with various media content capabilities such that the possibility of providing incompatible media content to an end-user device is substantially eliminated. The invention fulfills these needs and others.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    Briefly, and in general terms, the invention is directed to various systems and methods for providing media content for mobile communication devices. The systems and methods take the media content capabilities of the device into consideration when determining which media content is available for a given device. The distribution channel over which a device operates may also be taken into consideration.  
           [0008]    In a first aspect, the invention relates to a system for making one or more pieces of media content available for delivery to an end-user device. The system includes a file server with a plurality of media content files stored therein and a database. The database associates content type attributes with each of the media content files and attribute capability constraints with the end-user device. The attribute capability constraints prescribe a range of acceptable values for content type attributes. The system also includes a first rules engine that creates an available library of media content that excludes all media content that have content type attributes outside the range of acceptable values.  
           [0009]    In another aspect of the system, the database associates a carrier network with the end-user device. The carrier network, in turn, has an associated delivery channel capacity. The system further includes a second rules engine adapted to refine the available library to exclude all media content not supported by the delivery channel of the end-user device.  
           [0010]    A key differentiator between the prior system and the system of the present invention is the capacity for the system to determine whether media content of a particular type is viable for delivery to a given device or class of devices. Existing systems operate on the premise that all content marked as active in a database is viable for the devices it is associated with. In accordance with the system of the present invention, content availability is determined from a combination of rules for device capabilities and rules for distribution capabilities.  
           [0011]    The device capabilities determination is made by a rules-based engine that compares content attributes (typically metadata derived by content examination programs) with constraints on those attributes for a device. There are effectively two main steps to this process: firstly, metadata describing the content is derived and entered into the database; secondly, as the specifications of different devices are entered into the system, corresponding constraints are associated with the devices that tell the rules engine what the valid range of values for each content attribute is. As output of this process, the rules engine creates an available content library for each class of devices by excluding all instances of media content that have attributes outside the range of values prescribed in the constraints.  
           [0012]    A similar rule set determines whether the content can be distributed through a particular delivery channel, based on factors such as territory-based licensing of content, distribution channel capacity to support the given media type, and business agreements with third-party distributors and networks that would allow or disallow content of that type to be distributed. The subset of content that passes both the device capabilities tests described above and the distribution capability tests can be determined to be viable for delivery to a given end-user device over a particular distribution channel. Thus, the system substantially eliminates the possibility of providing incompatible media content to an end-user device and instead provides only the most viable media content in view of the operating parameters, i.e., content constraints, delivery channel capacity, etc., associated with a given device.  
           [0013]    These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings which illustrate by way of example the features of the invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary communications system configured in accordance with the invention and including an engine with a database, file servers and client-server interface interfacing with a number of client servers;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the functions performed by the system of FIG. 1 including media production, media management and media delivery;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 is a conceptual model related to the media production function of FIG. 2;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4 is an exemplary listing of the information associated with a performance of FIG. 3, including media type, performance type, performance attributes and content tree;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIGS. 5 and 6 are exemplary listings of the information associated with two of the contents listed in the content tree of FIG. 4, including content type, content attribute values and child content tree;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 7 a  is a conceptual model related to the content to device mapping (C2DMA) function depicted in FIG. 2;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 7 b  is a conceptual model related to the content to payload mapping performed by the media delivery function in FIG. 2;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7 c  is a conceptual model related to the project configurator aspect of the media management function of FIG. 2;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIGS. 8 a - 8   c  are exemplary user interfaces associated with the project configurator aspect of the media management function of FIG. 2;  
         [0023]    FIGS.  9 - 15  are exemplary user interfaces associated with the catalog designer aspect of the media management function of FIG. 2;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 16 provides an exemplary code listing for a catalog request;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIGS. 17 a - 17   d  provide an exemplary code listing for a catalog response;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 18 is a conceptual model related to the billing interface aspect of the media delivery function of FIG. 2;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIGS. 19 a  and  19   b  provide an exemplary code listing for a content delivery request;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 20 provides an exemplary code listing for a content delivery response;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 21 is a conceptual model related to the distributor aspect of the media delivery function of FIG. 2;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 22 is a conceptual model related to the customer service tools aspect of the media delivery function of FIG. 2;  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 23 provides an exemplary code listing for an account status request; and  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 24 provides an exemplary code listing for an account status response. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0033]    Referring now to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a communications system configured to deliver media content to an end-user device over a wireless carrier network. “Media content”, as used herein includes, but is not limited to, ringtones, graphics, photographs, text messages and other audio, video, audiovisual, textual or interactive content as well as actual software applications such as games, alert applications and media players. An “end-user device” includes, but is not limited to, cellular telephone handsets, such as those manufactured by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and Kyocera. End-user devices may also include personal digital assistants (PDA), pagers, wireless e-mail devices, wireless calenders, GPS enabled devices and wireless game devices.  
         [0034]    The system includes an engine  10  with various database related components and server related components working in conjunction to provide a library of media content. Database related components include a database system  12  which stores metadata of the media content while the server system includes a file server system  13  which stores the actual media content. The metadata in the database system  12  includes a uniform resource locator (URL) to the media content in the file server system  13 . In a preferred configuration of the system, the database system  12  includes at least two production databases  12   a  to provide a level of redundancy and an additional replication server database  12   b  to manage and synchronize the redundant databases. In one configuration, the redundant databases are Sun 420 RS boxes running on the Sun Solaris operating system and the replication server database is a Sun 220 box running Sybase database software. The filer servers  13  are Intel 2U, 1 GHz dual processor CPUs running the Linux operating system.  
         [0035]    The system also includes a client-server interface  14  for providing communication between the engine  10  and one or more client servers  16 . The client-server interface  14  is housed within a triple redundant CPU system comprised of Intel 2U, 1 GHz dual processor CPUs, and interfaces with the client servers  16  through a network of switches  15  and routers  17 . The client servers  16  themselves, interface with one or more end-users through an end-user interface  18 . The end-user interface  18  may be a browser running on a personal computer or the end-user device itself, e.g., cellular telephone or a client application.  
         [0036]    The system or platform is built as a layered multitier server application. The Sybase relational database management system is used for data storage but application code components are implemented in the Java programming language using Java 2 as the platform. A Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver provided by the database vendor is used to connect the datastore to the application.  
         [0037]    The lowest-level component of the Java core of the application is a toolkit called XORM (an acronym for eXtensible Object-Relational Mapping). XORM is an open source implementation of the Java Data Objects (JDO) specification which allows application developers to work with the relational data in the database as if it were native Java data objects. XORM facilitates the automatic generation of Structure Query Language (SQL) statements and queries in order to perform operations on persistent data.  
         [0038]    The central part of the application consists of logic classes that provide shared business logic to the externally facing parts of the system. The logic classes include components to manage the complex relationships between different types of data and are broken down into core divisions based on their responsibilities. One contains functions that enable the available library of content, one provides methods to navigate the complexities of the content to device mapping application (C2DMA), and so on.  
         [0039]    The external face of the application is created using the Java Servlet and Java Server Pages application programming interfaces defined by Sun Microsystems. The open source Jakarta Tomcat servlet engine created by the Apache Group is used to host these components. In addition, many of the web-based interfaces in the system rely on the Jakarta Struts template engine, which adds a Model-View-Controller paradigm to the servlet and JSP model. Other components that provide XML (eXtensible Markup Language) output are built similarly but use the open source JDOM API for generating and managing data using the XML document object model.  
         [0040]    The external connectivity pieces of the application, including the content distributors and delivery mechanisms, use the core services provided by the business logic classes and database connectivity layers. They also rely on additional proprietary software and components provided by third-party vendors to provide Java code access to complex communication protocols.  
         [0041]    With reference to FIG. 2, the system includes various functionally interrelated operating modules and database components, including a media production aspect  20 , a content-to-device-mapping application (C2DMA) module  22 , a media management aspect  24  and a media delivery aspect  26 . The media production portion  20  is responsible for the creation and storage of media content. The media management portion  24  is responsible for the management of content catalogs and associated projects and clients through the client-server interface  14  (FIG. 1). The media delivery aspect  26  of the system is responsible for the delivery of content through any available channel to any addressable end-user device. The C2DMA  22  handles the management and selection of appropriate media content for users based on a variety of factors described in detail below. A detailed description of each portion of the system follows. The operating modules described below are contained within the various redundant processing unit systems shown in FIG. 1. Each of these processing units is an Intel 2U, 1 GHz dual processor CPU. Common numeric identifiers in FIGS. 1 and 2 show the relationship between the functional modes (FIG. 2) and the system hardware (FIG. 1).  
         [0042]    Media Production  
         [0043]    With the continued reference to FIG. 2, the media production aspect  20  of the system includes a production tools module  28  and a master media content library  30 , referred to herein as the “master library”. The media production aspect may also include a licensing tools module  32 . With reference to the conceptual model of FIG. 3, the media production aspect  20  allows for the creation of a piece of content  34  from an original piece of media  36 . The content  34  is made by a producer  38  using production tools  40 . Production tools  40  include algorithms which are specific for end-user devices. In the case of ringtones, these algorithms manipulate a source file, e.g., MIDI file, of the media  36  into a piece of content  34  that is compatible with a particular end-user device. The algorithms used by the producer  38  are based on the operation attributes of the end-user device and are often provided by the manufacturer of the end-user device. For example, some end-user devices cannot reproduce a musical note above high “C”. The algorithm associated with this end-user device takes this into account when manipulating the source file. A description and example of the major blocks of the media production portion  20  of the system follows.  
         [0044]    Media  36  is an original work, such as the written music of a song or a piece of art created by an author  44 . A piece of media  36  may have several performances  42 . An example of a piece of media  36  is “Dock of the Bay” written by Steve Cropper and Otis Redding. A performance  42  is a unique rendering of a piece of media  36 . Performances  42  have their own set of attributes such as album name, track length, etc. Thus, for the media “Dock of the Bay”, performances might be “Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding and “Dock of the Bay” by Glen Campbell. Content  34  is a generic container of all forms of digital media. For example, a ringtone&#39;s original MIDI, its Real Audio preview, its Motorola ringtone string, its WAV preview—are all unique pieces of content  34  that relate to a performance  42 . Thus, for the performance, “Dock of the Bay” by Otis Redding, a piece of content might be “the Motorola ringtone for the Otis Redding performance of Dock of the Bay.” 
         [0045]    Licensing system  46  refers to the process by which a performance  42  is associated with specific licensing requirements. For example, a performance  42  may be limited to use in a specific geographical region. Post production  48  is performed by someone who has authority to approve content  34  from the standpoint of quality, licensing, etc. A producer  38  is someone who manipulates content  34  into various formats using the production tools  40 . A producer may also create the original performance using standard media production tools.  
         [0046]    With reference to FIG. 4, various pieces of information are associated with a particular performance, including media type (audio), performance type (song) and rating filter. Each performance is a record in a performance database file stored in the database  12   a  (FIG. 1). The pieces of information are fields in the performance record. The rating filter assigns a G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17 or X content rating to the performance. As described further below, this rating filter may be used to limit access to the performance. Each performance has an associated set of attributes, which may include album, genre, label, year and country information. These attributes are fields in the performance record. The attributes may identify one or more geographical territories (not shown) for licensing purposes. As explained further below, the licensing attribute acts as a filter to limit access to a performance based on licensing criteria such as geographical territories and approved clients. Regarding approved clients, certain clients may have the exclusive rights to certain performances based on distributor agreements. Associated with each performance is one or more pieces of content, as listed under the content tree. The pieces of content are associated with the performance record. Content records contain paths to individual media files stored on the content servers  13  (FIG. 1).  
         [0047]    With reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, various pieces of information are associated with each piece of content, including content type (audio/Nokia Proprietary, audio/Motorola Proprietary) status (active), deliverable (yes), performance (Who Let the Dogs Out) and several content attributes. These pieces of information are fields in the content record. The content attributes relate to the content media file itself and include, for example, the byte count of the content file and the highest and lowest notes within a media file and dimensions and bit depth in the case of graphics. A content file also may include attributes related to territorial licensing. Each content file&#39;s associated attributes and information are stored in a content database file in the database  12   a  (FIG. 1). The actual data is stored on a file server referenced from the database. Additional details on the content field entries are described under the following C2DMA section.  
         [0048]    Content-to-Device-Mapping Application (C2DMA)  
         [0049]    With reference to FIG. 2, as previously mentioned, the C2DMA  22  handles the management and selection of appropriate content for users. In general, the system is capable of managing, serving and delivering correctly formatted content to heterogeneous devices over heterogenous networks. To this end, the system supports multiple makes and models of end-user devices. The system also differentiates between differing makes and models of end-user devices; supports differing functional capabilities of end-user devices that may share the same make and model; recognizes and handles carrier networks that may not allow or support the same functionality, even on the same device; defines the set of products available to a given end-user device and the media constraints for a piece of content to qualify as a product for a device; and associates specific users with specific devices which they own and use. With reference to the conceptual model of FIG. 7 a , the C2DMA maps content to end-users using the following subtasks:  
         [0050]    Content Description:  
         [0051]    The C2DMA provides a metadata model allowing each unique piece of content  34  in the system to be described in such a way that it can be reused. A content type  50  represents a formal declaration of a specific type of content  34  along with a generic description of its possible attributes. Each of the attributes is defined by an instance of the content type attribute  52  class. A content type attribute  52  has a name, a datatype, and a field denoting whether the attribute must be assigned to all content of that type. Note that content type attributes  52  are not meant to provide metadata for the original media title (such as artist, album, etc.), but instead describe details of the electronic media produced. For example, an MP3 file can be stereo or mono, has a bit rate in Kbps or has a variable bit rate with a maximum. In this case a content type “audio/mp3” would be created, with content type attributes named “stereo” (type boolean), “bitRateKbps” (type integer), and “variableBitRate” (type boolean). All three would most likely be marked as required database entries.  
         [0052]    As a piece of content  34  is produced and entered into the system, content attribute value  54  items are created to describe the values for content type attributes  52  of its content type  50 . All content type attributes  52  marked as required must be specified; others are optional. For example, the “Working in a Coal Mine” MIDI is of type “audio/midi”. As content attribute values, it specifies that “numNotes=25”, “highNote=G4”, “lowNote=E3”, etc.  
         [0053]    User Device Customization:  
         [0054]    The C2DMA architecture supports the possibility of unique capabilities for each individual end-user device. A user  56  owns one or more devices  58 . The user  56  may know the make  60  and model  62  of each device  58 . In the object model, make  60  and model  62  are simply entities with a name, where a single make can be associated with many models. For example, end-user Barbara owns a Kyocera 3035. “Barbara” is the name of a user; her device object references a model with the name “3035” which in turn references the “Kyocera” make.  
         [0055]    A device  58  is the entity that binds a user  56  to a model  62 . In some cases, model  62  may not be known, so the device  58  to model  62  mapping is optional. Both models  62  and devices  58  can support any number of platforms  64 . A platform  64  is a semantic grouping of distinct platform product  66  definitions, as described below. Multiple models  62  that support the same functionality may be part of the same platform  64 . For example, the Nokia 5125 model and the Nokia 5165 model both reference the “Nokia 51 xx” platform.  
         [0056]    Platform Product Support:  
         [0057]    The C2DMA describes platforms  64  that support specific media products  68 . A product  68  is a formal definition of deliverable content that implies both media type and intended use. Two examples of products  68  are “Screen Saver” and “Operator Logo”. While these products  68  use the exact same piece of content  34  defined by the exact same size constraints, i.e., content attribute values  54 , they represent different uses of the media.  
         [0058]    A platform product  66  describes the media type and constraints that specify products  68  deliverable to the platform  64 . This is done via a set of media capability  70  objects. The ability for a phone to support ringtones is captured, in the object model, by a platform product  66  that references the product  68  named “Ringtone”. Other platform products  66  for the same phone platform may reference “Operator Logo”, “Screen Saver”, etc.  
         [0059]    A media capability  70  references a content type  50  and capability constraints  72  for that content type. A capability constraint  72  specifies the required value or range of acceptable values for a particular content type attribute  52 . For example, the Nokia 3390 can utilize operator logos that are monochrome bitmaps exactly 72 pixels wide by 72 pixels high. Here, the “3390” model is linked to a platform  64 . This platform  64  references a platform product  66  entry. The platform product  66  references the product  68  named “Operator Logo” and specifies that it is composed of a single media capability  70  for content type  50 , “image/ING”. Attached to the media capability  70  object are three capability constraints  72 , specifying “width=72”, “height=72”, and “color Depth=1”.  
         [0060]    Device to Network Mapping:  
         [0061]    The C2DMA provides a means of associating specific end-user devices with the carrier networks that service them. A device  58  is on a network  74 , which is provided by an operator  76 . For example, Steve&#39;s Motorola phone (the device) is serviced by Verizon (the operator) on the “Verizon US TDMA” network.  
         [0062]    A network  74  can deliver content  34  via a set of delivery channels  78 . Delivery channels  78  define a protocol and means of addressing a device  58 . Examples of delivery channels  78  include the following:  
         [0063]    HTTP: user or agent acquires content by requesting a URL  
         [0064]    SMS: requires a phone number  
         [0065]    EMS: requires a phone number  
         [0066]    Carrier Proprietary: requires a phone number (there might be many of these for different custom protocols)  
         [0067]    Email: requires an email address  
         [0068]    Manual Entry/user Install: denotes that the content must be acquired by the user via a different channel, for example downloading a PRC application from a PC and later synching with a PDA.  
         [0069]    WAP push/pull: user or agent acquires content by requesting a URL  
         [0070]    BREW: user must have appropriate client software  
         [0071]    The relationship between a specific device  58  and a delivery channel  78  is the device&#39;s delivery address  80 . The format of a delivery address  80  may vary based on the delivery channel  78 . For example, the delivery address for the “SMS” delivery channel on Steve&#39;s phone contains an address data field with the value “13105551234”.  
         [0072]    Network Product Support:  
         [0073]    The C2DMA describes the ability for specific media products to be delivered via particular network connections and protocols, both public (the Internet) and proprietary SMSCs). Each delivery channel  78  can provide delivery of a set of products  68 . For example, the Nokia 51xx line supports delivery of ringtones via SMS.  
         [0074]    Associated with each delivery channel  78  for a network  74  is one or more acceptable encodings, provided by subtypes of the converter class. For example, for a specific SMS delivery channel, the ringtones must be sent as hexadecimal sequences with colons between each pair of characters and segmented into data packets or “frames” for SMPP delivery. Some examples of encodings are: binary, hexadecimal encoded, hexadecimal encoded escaped, ZIPped and Base64/UUEncoded.  
         [0075]    With reference to FIG. 7 b , each specific converter  142  encapsulates business logic for translating raw content  34  data to the format specified by the encoding, taking into account the details of the end-user device  58  (FIG. 7 a ) and network  74 . The transformed content is an instance of the payload  160  class. A payload  160  is the customized version of media content  34  for a particular end-user device on a particular delivery network.  
         [0076]    Media Management  
         [0077]    With reference to FIG. 2, the media management aspect  24  of the system includes an available media content library  82  which is a subset of the master library  30 . The available media content library is not a physical entity, i.e., its content resides in the master library. As described further below, attributes, such as content type and territory designation, assigned to a piece of content within the master library  30  determine whether the content may be mapped to a particular available media content library  82 .  
         [0078]    The media management portion  24  of the system provides the tools to create catalogs  86  of media content using the content stored in the master library  30 . These catalogs  86  are defined by various parameters, described below, which are stored in system processors (FIG. 1). The media content itself, remains in the file servers  13 . Attributes associated with a piece of content and a catalog are used to map content to a catalog. A conceptual model of this mapping relationship is shown in FIG. 7 c . As previously mentioned, an available media content library  82  is derived from the master library. This derivation process involves one or more rules engines which act as filters to exclude certain media content in the master library  30  from being associated with the available media content library  82 .  
         [0079]    In one configuration, a rules engine uses the territory  88  and country  90  associated with a particular catalog  86  to limit the available content for the catalog to those pieces of content having licensing related attributes that match or exceed those of the catalog. For example, if a catalog has North America as a territorial designation, only those pieces of content with a North America territorial designation or greater designation, e.g., worldwide, are mapped to the available media content library  82  of the catalog  86 . Other licensing-related parameters, such as approved clients, may be used to limit the available content.  
         [0080]    The available media content library  82  may also be refined by another rules engine based on the media capabilities, i.e., platform  64 , make (not shown), model (not shown), associated with the catalog  86  and the media capabilities associated with the content of the existing available media content library  82 . Thus, the limiting factors in an available media content library  82  are the end-user devices that are supported by the catalog. For example, if a catalog  86  has an associated media capability of “audio/Nokia Proprietary”, only those pieces of content within the existing available media content library  82  of the catalog having an associated media capability of “audio/Nokia Proprietary” are mapped to the available media content library  82  of the catalog.  
         [0081]    With reference to FIG. 2, the media management portion  24  of the system also includes a project configurator  92  which provides an integrated interface between a project manager (PM) and the master library  30  through the C2DMA  22 . The project configurator  92  allows for the creation of client accounts and catalog permissions using standard technologies including Java Server Pages (JSP) and Struts. Data related to the client accounts is stored in system processors (FIG. 1). Various interfaces of the project configurator  92  and the functions provided thereby are described below, with reference to FIG. 7 c.    
         [0082]    Create New Client:  
         [0083]    With reference to FIG. 8 a , the PM enters client  96  information which adds a new record to the system database. Client information contains the name of the client and contact  94  information. The first screen of the graphical user interface (GUI) allows the PM to go to “client operations.” This screen has a list of current clients. When a new client is created, a form appears for obtaining client information. After filling out the information and selecting “OK,” the previous screen appears and the new client now appears on the client list.  
         [0084]    Delete (or Disable) Existing Client:  
         [0085]    At the “client operations” screen, a client is selected on the list and the delete button is selected. After an “are you sure?” popup ensures that this is not a mistake, the client is marked as “deleted,” i.e., is no longer on the list of clients. Client information, however, is not permanently deleted from the system database; it is merely hidden.  
         [0086]    Change Client Information:  
         [0087]    Basic client information is modified. For example: addresses, contacts, etc. The user navigates to the “client operations” screen, selects a specific client, and selects the modify button. A screen just like the form for creating a new client appears, but information is already filled in. The PM can change this information and hit “OK.” The fields are then updated in the system database.  
         [0088]    Manage Contacts for the Client:  
         [0089]    Contact information is added, including names, phone numbers, etc. At the “client operations” screen, there is a list of contacts  94 , and “add”, “modify”, and “remove” buttons. The add and modify buttons navigate to a screen with client contact information. This information can be added or modified. By selecting “OK,” a new database record is created or the existing one is modified.  
         [0090]    Create Extranet Logins:  
         [0091]    An extranet login  98  allows a client  96  to have limited access to the system. At the “client operations” screen, there is a list of contacts  94 . The PM must choose from this list and select the “Create Extranet Login” button. This brings up a screen that asks for the username and password. The system knows who the contact  94  is and what client  96  he is associated with. When this information is entered, a new record is created which is used to validate client logins and initialize the session.  
         [0092]    Manage Catalogs:  
         [0093]    With reference to FIG. 8 b , a client  96  may want changes made to its catalog  86 . Such changes may involve the name and catalog limit  100 , or even deleting a catalog  86 . The system provides an interface for a PM to manage these changes. When a PM chooses to manage catalogs  86  for a client  96 , he is presented with a list of catalogs currently defined for the client. Each catalog  86  in the list has an edit and delete link next to it.  
         [0094]    Selecting delete causes the system to disable (not physically remove) the catalog  86  by marking it as inactive. The PM is returned to the manage catalogs interface with the selected catalog  86  no longer showing. Selecting edit takes the PM to the change catalog setup details. On the same interface, a button is provided to create new catalogs. When selected, the system presents a create new catalogs screen.  
         [0095]    Create New Catalogs:  
         [0096]    With reference to FIG. 8 c , the system provides an interface allowing a PM to create new catalogs  86  for a client  96 . The catalog  86  provides the basis for the client&#39;s product  68  offerings to end users. The interface has a text field for entering a name of the catalog  86  and a drop down box with all currently defined territories  88  in it.  
         [0097]    The interface provides a list of available networks  74 . At least one network must be assigned to the catalog  86 , optionally multiple networks can be assigned. The system responds with an interface providing a list of platforms  64  supported by the assigned networks  74 , to be assigned to the catalog  86 . At least one platform  64  must be assigned, optionally multiple platforms can be selected. The system responds with a list of products  68  to be assigned to the catalog  86 . The list of products available for assignment are those capable of being deployed to the previously assigned platforms  64 .  
         [0098]    When the PM assigns a product  68  to a catalog  86 , a catalog limit  100  can be specified. If set, the limit sets the maximum amount of the product  68  the client  96  can add to his catalog  86  from the available library for each supported platform  64 . If a limit is not set, no limit is enforced.  
         [0099]    The system creates the catalog  86  with the chosen territory  88 , networks  74 , platforms  64 , and products  68  associated with it. In addition, a root category is created in the catalog  86  to store default values for the catalog. A default price code  102  for “free” is created. All categories  106  entered by the client  96 , as explained below, are created under this default root category. After creating the catalog  86  and default root category, the PM is returned back to the client management page (FIG. 8 b ).  
         [0100]    If more than one network  74  is going to be supported in one catalog  86 , the client  96  appends the target network when querying for the XML list of available titles  104 , allowing the system to respond with just the titles  104  available for the selected network  74 . This is because if the catalog  86  supports multiple networks  74 , it may have selected content  108  that can be deployed to one network  74  but not to others. A catalog  86  may have price codes  102  in one or more currencies. Different price codes can be associated with different catalog categories.  
         [0101]    Change Catalog Setup Details:  
         [0102]    The client  96  may want to change the name of the catalog  86 , adjust the catalog limits  100  or even change the networks  74 , platforms  64 , and products  68  associated with a catalog. This interface shows the name of the catalog  86  in a text box for editing. Below the name a table shows columns containing the supported networks  74 , platforms  64 , and products  68 . At the bottom of each column a link is provided to change the information above the link.  
         [0103]    If the PM chooses to change the networks  74 , he is taken to interfaces to select the networks, and must reselect the platforms  64  and products  68  since the available platforms and products may have changed when the networks changed. Similarly, if the platforms  64  are changed, the products  68  must be reselected.  
         [0104]    The interfaces for selecting the networks  74 , platforms  64 , and products  68  are identical to the interfaces specified in the create new catalog section. If the networks  74 , platforms  64 , and or products  68  are changed, the system traverses the current selected content  108  and unselects all content not currently supported by the new configuration. Once the system is updated, the PM is taken back to the manage catalogs interface.  
         [0105]    Associate Client Logins with Catalogs:  
         [0106]    The PM, having created extranet logins  98  for contacts  94  and one or more catalogs  86  for the clients  96 , now needs to associate which contacts can edit the catalogs in question. The PM is presented with a grid with catalogs  86  listed across and contacts  94  with extranet logins  98  listed down. Each intersection of a contact  94  and catalog  86  is represented by a checkbox. The PM can check or uncheck each checkbox; upon this action, the system creates or removes the corresponding mapping from the extranet login  98  to the catalog  86 .  
         [0107]    With reference to FIG. 2, the media management aspect  24  of the system also includes a catalog designer  110  which provides an integrated interface between a client user and the available library through the C2DMA  22 . The catalog designer  110  allows for the creation of catalogs using standard technologies including JSP and Struts. Various interfaces of the catalog designer  110  and the functions provided thereby are described below. As previously mentioned, data related to catalogs is stored in system processors (FIG. 1).  
         [0108]    Client Login/Logout:  
         [0109]    A contact  94  accesses the system home page, which has a hyperlink to the login page. The login page has text fields for username and password, and a login button. The contact  94  gives name/password which is checked against the system database. If correct, a session is created for that contact  94 . The contact  94  is then able to create and modify catalogs  86 . All pages have a logout button. Also, when the session times out, the contact  94  is automatically logged out of the system.  
         [0110]    Catalog Manager/Category Manager:  
         [0111]    After a contact  94  has successfully logged into the system, he is taken to the catalog manager (FIG. 9). The contact  94  is presented with a list of catalogs  86  that have been defined by the PM for the client  96 . Each catalog  86  provides a link to a category manager interface, which displays the categories associated with the catalog. (FIG. 10). If the system determines the contact  94  has authorized access to only one catalog  86 , the contact is immediately presented to the category manager for that catalog.  
         [0112]    Create New Category:  
         [0113]    From the category manager, the contact  94  can choose to add new categories  106  to an existing catalog  86 . In response to a request to create a new category, the system presents an interface screen (FIG. 11), whereby attributes are assigned to the new category. Relevant data about the new category  86  includes:  
         [0114]    Category name  
         [0115]    Product types (choose from list of available product types for catalog)  
         [0116]    Default price code (choose from list of available price codes)  
         [0117]    Rating filter  
         [0118]    Choose if the category is seasonal; if so, enter start and end dates.  
         [0119]    Choose whether the auto-add feature is enabled and if so, what existing category should be used as a template.  
         [0120]    Upon completion of this form, the system creates a new category  106  object with the appropriate relationships and presents an updated category manager screen with the newly created category (FIG. 12). If the auto-add feature is enabled, the category  106  is immediately populated with the titles  104  from the auto-add source category. The category  106  name does not have to be unique throughout a catalog  86 . Default values for price code, rating filter and seasonal status are inherited from the parent category.  
         [0121]    Manage Categories:  
         [0122]    Once a contact  94  has chosen a catalog  86  to manage, he is taken to the category manager interface (FIG. 12). This interface presents a list of all the subcategories defined under the root category of the catalog. Each category has links next to it to edit, create subcategories, manage content, and delete.  
         [0123]    If the contact chooses to edit a category  106 , he is taken to the edit category interface (FIG. 13) and presented with all of the category attributes. The category name is displayed in an editable text box through which it can be changed. Under the category name, other category attributes are presented including: default price code, rating filter, start date and end date.  
         [0124]    The contact  94  can save or cancel the changes. If he saves the changes, the system modifies the category  106  to reflect the new attribute values. If the rating filter has been lowered, the system removes all selected titles  104  from the category  106  that no longer meet the rating requirements. In one configuration of the system, the titles are left in place, thus allowing the client to see what titles have been removed. In either case (save or cancel) the contact is returned to the category manager interface (FIG. 12).  
         [0125]    If the contact  94  chooses to manage category or subcategory content, the system presents a manage content interface, which is described below. If he chooses to delete the category  106 , he is given a popup to confirm the action. If he confirms it, the system deletes the category and its dependent objects permanently.  
         [0126]    Add Content to Category:  
         [0127]    The manage content interface (FIG. 14) provides a list of titles currently in the category, and allows for the addition of titles. Selecting the “add titles” option causes the system to present a title selector interface (FIG. 15). This interface allows the contact  94  to select a title from the list of available content for the platforms, products and networks associated with this category and catalog. The available list is further restricted based on the rating for the title. The contact can view this available list of titles in a number of ways:  
         [0128]    Sorted alphabetically and paginated via a query containing one of the following:  
         [0129]    Artist name (substring match)  
         [0130]    Title (substring match)  
         [0131]    Exact rating (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17, X)  
         [0132]    Product type (choice of products configured for category)  
         [0133]    Platform type (choice of platforms configured for catalog)  
         [0134]    Template category—show content as grouped in an existing template category  
         [0135]    The contact  94  can select one or more titles  104  from this list to import into the category  106 . The system creates a title  104  instance linked to each chosen title and assigns it the default price code  102 . In addition, subject to catalog limit  100  constraints, selected content  108  entries are created for each platform product  66  (FIG. 7 a ) that matches the title with the category&#39;s configuration. The performances listed in a category  106  are unique, i.e., the same item cannot be added twice. As a default function, a single price applies to all selected versions of a title.  
         [0136]    Add/Remove Selected Content by Platform:  
         [0137]    A manage catalog interface allows a contact  94  to look at an existing catalog  86  and add or remove titles  104 . The contact  94  goes to this page and sees a list of catalogs. A specific catalog can be selected and the “modify” button pressed. This brings up a page that displays the titles for that catalog. Specific titles can be selected and deleted.  
         [0138]    There may also be titles in this “active catalog” that are shown, but not selected as active. The contact activates these by selecting the title line item (for a specific device). Also, the contact can go to a screen that shows the entire catalog of available items, select one or more items, and have them added to the active catalog.  
         [0139]    Manage Price/Code Settings for Each Title:  
         [0140]    Each title can be given a price code  102 . Also, the price codes  102  can be modified globally, which automatically changes the price for all items using that code. The active catalog page contains a dropdown combo box for each line item title. The contact  94  can select from a list of price codes  102 . The current price for that code is also displayed.  
         [0141]    To change pricing, the contact  94  goes to a pricing page and sees a list of all price codes  102 . An individual price code can be selected and modified. Also, existing price codes  102  can be deleted, and new ones created. If a price code  102  is deleted, all titles  104  that are set to that price code revert to the default price code. There is a default price code for the entire catalog  86 . This is selected from a list of available price codes on a “pricing” page.  
         [0142]    Manage Price Codes:  
         [0143]    When a contact  94  chooses to manage price codes  102 , he is taken to the manage price codes interface (not shown). The interface presents the contact with a list of all currently defined price codes, in an editable text box, with the set of prices (one price for each currency) to the right of the code in text boxes. The name of the price code can be changed, as can each of the prices.  
         [0144]    Below the list of price codes the list continues with several lines of the same text boxes, all of which are blank. The contact can add new price codes by filling in the blank boxes. When the contact selects save, the system renames any price codes, resets any changed prices and adds any new price codes and prices.  
         [0145]    Next to each price code in the list is a button to delete the price code. If the contact chooses to delete a price code, a pop-up confirmation is presented. If confirmed, the system checks if any titles are using the price code and returns an error page if the price code is currently in use. Otherwise, the price code and all associated prices are permanently deleted. If the price code being deleted was the default price code of any categories or subcategories, the category is modified to use the default “free” price code.  
         [0146]    With continued reference to FIG. 2, the media management aspect  24  of the system also includes a Web services application tool  112  or content export tool which is part of the client-server interface  14  (FIG. 1) and provides an integrated interface between client servers  16  (FIG. 1) and a particular project catalog  86 . The Web services application tool  112  is built utilizing XML and HTTP protocols and provides XML feeds of catalogs and the previews and content associated with a catalog in response to an HTTP request by a client server.  
         [0147]    The following is generally needed to retrieve content information from the system servers: a client account in the system, one or more created catalogs within the system, and an Internet protocol (IP) address from which the client accesses the system. A client requests (via browser manually or server originated request), receives (via browser copy and paste or server catch), parses (to flat file or database importer), and stores (in flat file or database) catalog and content feeds. Using the catalog and content feeds, the client creates an HTML/Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP) display (flat file served to end-user interface or dynamically displayed from system database) interface (Storefront) for use by end-users.  
         [0148]    A client accesses the content of a project catalog  86  with an XML request via HTTP. Once this is successfully passed into the system server, a response is generated and pushed to the client server  16  for display to the end user. In other embodiments, the responses may be provided to the client server by WAP pulling and other browser based delivery.  
         [0149]    The process is as follows: The client sends a server  16  XML request via HTTP to the system server  10  to access its client-specific catalog  86 . The code for an exemplary catalog request and its related schema is shown in FIG. 16. The following fields are in the request:  
         [0150]    Catalog Request—the enclosing tag denoting that this is a catalog request  
         [0151]    Client Id—the assigned client ID for the partner  
         [0152]    Storefront Id—the storefront ID the partner requests  
         [0153]    Model Id—a device model ID, for which the partner is requesting content  
         [0154]    The Web services application tool  112  responds to HTTP POST requests and looks for a parameter with name XML to contain the actual request XML. The Web services application tool  112  uses a standard approach to error messaging. Since it is built on the top of HTTP, it utilizes the robust and extensible platform of HTTP error messaging. All successful requests return HTTP status code  200 . If an error occurs, the response will have error code 4xx.  
         [0155]    If an XML request is detected by the Web services application tool  112 , the catalog request is sent to the system server  10 . The catalog request is handled via the system server  10  and a catalog response is generated as shown in FIGS. 17 a  and  17   b . The code for an exemplary catalog response and its related schema is shown in FIGS. 17 a  through  17   d.    
         [0156]    Catalog Response—the enclosing tag denoting that this is a catalog response  
         [0157]    Model—an end-user device, for which a client is requesting content  
         [0158]    Id—a model Id as assigned by the system operator  
         [0159]    Name—model&#39;s name  
         [0160]    Make—model&#39;s manufacturer  
         [0161]    Product—describes the media types supported by the model  
         [0162]    Id—a platform product Id as assigned by the system operator  
         [0163]    Name—a formal definition of deliverable content that implies both media type and intended use  
         [0164]    Platform—a media type supported by the model  
         [0165]    Category—a logical grouping of content within a catalog; category can contain other categories  
         [0166]    Name—name of the category  
         [0167]    Description—description of the category  
         [0168]    Title—a title of a given performance as stored in the catalog  
         [0169]    Name—name of this performance  
         [0170]    Type—performance type of the piece of content  
         [0171]    Artist—artist or band  
         [0172]    Price—price for all types of content with this title  
         [0173]    Title Attribute—additional attributes describing the above title  
         [0174]    Type—attribute type  
         [0175]    Value—attribute value  
         [0176]    Content Delivery Code—a unique Id for a piece of content that is derived via the storefront from which the content is being requested  
         [0177]    Id—id of the content delivery code  
         [0178]    Product—product for which this title is available and supported by at least one of the requested models  
         [0179]    Id—id for the product  
         [0180]    Preview—a URI pointing to a preview of the requested piece of content; one piece of content might have several previews with different media types  
         [0181]    MediaType—media type of the preview  
         [0182]    URI—URI of the selected piece of content  
         [0183]    Upon receipt of the catalog response, the client server  16  unwinds the XML within the response and builds an HTML or WAP storefront. The storefront may be a Web page displaying the content available within the requested catalog and end-user devices compatible with at least one of the displayed content types.  
         [0184]    With reference to FIG. 2, the media management aspect  24  of the system also includes billing interfaces  114  which provide for the payment of content by the end user. A conceptual model of an exemplary billing interface is shown in FIG. 18. The billing manager  116  is the central object that reconciles billing reports  118  generated from a billing channel  120  with delivery reports generated by a network&#39;s  74  delivery of content  34  through a delivery path  122 . The billing channel  120  may include any one of a 900 toll Interactive Voice Response (IVR)  124 , 800 toll free IVR, credit card  126 , carrier direct billing (CDB)  128  a prepaid card or other billing forms, such as Paypal.  
         [0185]    From the billing report  118  and the network  74  delivery information, commissions  130  are calculated for the various entities in the sales pipeline. The sales pipeline is a conceptual model that includes all primary entities involved in the delivery of a particular piece of content  34 , such as distributors, operators, billing partners, etc. The system calculates a commission share for each entity within the sales pipeline. In addition to commissions, royalties  132  are generated for use of the content  34  that was delivered. Of note is the price list  134 , generated from a client contract  136  involving a point of sale (EPOS)  138  and the system operator. The contract drives which content  34  is available for sale at an EPOS, and the price that will be charged at the EPOS. Possible EPOSs include the Web, Wireless Applications Protocol (WAP), Mobile Originated Short Message Service (MOSMS), a prepaid card, print, advertising and IVR.  
         [0186]    Media Delivery  
         [0187]    With reference to FIG. 2, the media delivery aspect  26  of the system includes a request handler  140 , a broker/converter  142 , a distributor  144 , monitoring tools  146  and customer service tools  148 . The request handler  140  hosts the Web services application  14  (FIG. 1) and receives content requests from a client server.  
         [0188]    In one embodiment, the content requests sent to the request handler  140  by the client server may contain the fields listed below. In other embodiments, less fields may be included. For example, the delivery address, content delivery code Id and operator Id are sufficient to deliver content. The code for an exemplary content request and its related schema is shown in FIGS. 19 a  and  19   b.    
         [0189]    Content Delivery Request—the enclosing tag denoting that this is a content delivery request  
         [0190]    Delivery Address—destination phone number or e-mail address where content is to be sent  
         [0191]    Content Delivery Code Id—the requested content id; content Id uniquely identifies a piece of content as a part of a catalog; it doesn&#39;t represent the actual content; this is a unique id that is determined by matching the content with the storefront to which it will be delivered  
         [0192]    Picture Message Text—this is a special case of product—picture message, which along with a graphic can contain a text message  
         [0193]    Price—price of the requested piece of content; this is defined by combining the storefront and the billing method to calculate the cost to the end user  
         [0194]    Operator Id—the id assigned by the system operator that designates which mobile operator the piece of content will be sent through  
         [0195]    Storefront Id—The store front where the request is coming from  
         [0196]    Sales Channel Id—The sales channel used for this request; this helps determine how the client will pay for a piece of content; it identifies uniquely billing method which will be used, e.g., credit card, and point of sale, e.g., 800, Web site  
         [0197]    Client Transaction Id—the id tracked by the client for this content request  
         [0198]    Request Type—paid/free/resend, etc.  
         [0199]    Billing Address—in case when someone sends a content to a buddy, the billing address will be different from the delivery address  
         [0200]    Model Id—the model of a device that the piece of content will be sent to; the system operator provides the client with a separate document detailing the ids of the models it supports  
         [0201]    Upon receiving the request, the request handler  140  repackages the requests into a standard form and forwards it to the broker/converter  142 . The request handler  140  also sends a content delivery response to the client-server, which contains the following fields. The code for an exemplary content response and its related schema is shown in FIG. 20.  
         [0202]    Content Delivery Response—the enclosing tag denoting that this is a content delivery response  
         [0203]    Moviso Transaction—a transaction associated to this content delivery request  
         [0204]    Id—the transaction id  
         [0205]    Client Transaction—a transaction Id used by the client for tracking this content delivery request  
         [0206]    Id—the transaction id  
         [0207]    With reference to FIG. 7 b , the broker/converter  142  translates the raw content  34  into a payload  160 , i.e., a format specified by the encoding requirements/delivery format  162  used by the delivery channel  78  of the carrier network identified in the content request. The final payload  160  is placed in a que in the broker/converter  142  before being forwarded to the distributor  144  for transmission over the carrier&#39;s delivery network  74 .  
         [0208]    A conceptual model of media distribution is shown in FIG. 21. The following abbreviations are used in the figure:  
         [0209]    SMPP: Short Message Peer to Peer  
         [0210]    SM/ASI: Short Message/Application Service Interface  
         [0211]    SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol  
         [0212]    ESME: External Short Message Entity  
         [0213]    SMSC: Short Message Service Center  
         [0214]    IVR: Interactive Voice Response  
         [0215]    Delivery network: global system for mobile communication (GSM), time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA) for second generation (2G) systems  
         [0216]    MOSMS: Mobile Short Message Service  
         [0217]    Though not shown in the diagram, the system may be used with other delivery networks including the following third generation systems: third generation code division multiple access (3GCDMA), wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) and freedom of mobile multimedia access (FOMMA).  
         [0218]    With reference to FIG. 2, the system may also include a customer service (CS) tool  148  through which it provides various reports to the client and notifications to the end users. A conceptual model of the CS tool  148  is shown in FIG. 22. An exemplary content delivery/accounting report  150  contains the following information:  
         [0219]    Content download transaction identifier  
         [0220]    Content download date  
         [0221]    Content type (ringtone,picture message,etc)  
         [0222]    Content id  
         [0223]    Content name  
         [0224]    Accounting type (free,paid,credit,charge,etc)  
         [0225]    Content download originator type (customer,cs rep,etc)  
         [0226]    Delivery status (phoneset delivered,smsc delivered,buffered,rejected,etc)  
         [0227]    Billing status (billed, not billed, refunded)  
         [0228]    A service request  152  generates a notification  154 , e.g. an email, which is sent to an appropriate notification receiver. The receiver searches for this service request in the CS tool  148  and resolves it, resulting in a service request resolution  156  and an associated notification delivery to an appropriate user  158 .  
         [0229]    As an additional feature, the request handler  140  provides an account status service to those clients using a pre-paid or MIN accounting system to bill the end user. To use this feature, the client sends an account status request which includes the following fields. The code for an account status request and its related schema is shown in FIG. 23.  
         [0230]    Account Status Request—the enclosing tag denoting that this is an account status request  
         [0231]    Billing Address—this can be either an e-mail address, telephone number, home address, etc. that is being used to charge for delivery of the content; when someone sends a ringtone to a buddy, the billing address will be different from the delivery address  
         [0232]    Sales Channel Id—The sales channel used for this request. This is the means by which the user is charged, such as 800 IVR, 900 IVR, pre-paid, etc.  
         [0233]    Store Front Id—The store front from which the request is coming  
         [0234]    In response to the account status request, the request handler  140  generates an account status response which includes the following fields. The code for an account status request and its related schema is shown in FIG. 24.  
         [0235]    Account Status Response—the enclosing tag denoting that this is an account status response  
         [0236]    Balance—the balance of the requested account  
         [0237]    While the foregoing description of the system has focused on the provision of audio-based media content, particularly ringtones, to cellular telephones, the system may be used to provide any type of media content including visual-based and audiovisual-based media content to any one of a variety of communication devices, such as those described earlier.  
         [0238]    It will be apparent from the foregoing that while particular forms of the invention have been illustrated and described, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited, except as by the appended claims.