Abstract:
A message processing system includes message center and user subscription data center. The subscription data center stores user subscription data of calling number anonymity service. The message center queries if calling number is anonymous when it transfers message that is transmitted by subscription user, and determines if calling number is anonymous in process of transfer message based on query respond. Interest and mystery of message are increased, personality demand of user is satisfied, and load of message center is decreased. Flexibility and scalability are improved. Additional, the present invention discloses a user subscription data center, a short message center and message processing method.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2008/070365, filed on Feb. 27, 2008, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 200710073593.4, filed on Mar. 20, 2007, both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the communication field and in particular to a message processing system, device and method. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     As mobile communication network technologies develop and mobile terminals become popular, personalized services are increasingly prevalent. Especially for those fans of network chatting and making friends and those fashion pursuers, personalized communication services and service experiences become a predominant communication option of such mobile phone subscribers. Hiding of a calling number in a voice service of mobile communication is a personalized service emerging to satisfy a personalized requirement of a subscriber and to add a mysterious element; this service refers to a service in which the calling number is not shown to a callee when a caller calls the callee. Hiding of the calling number is at a higher priority than showing of the calling number, so that in the case that the calling subscriber has registered for the calling number hiding service, the calling number will not be shown to the callee even if the callee has registered for a calling number showing service. 
     Along with data services with rapid development, various data services implemented on a mobile terminal over a mobile communication network have become closely related to daily life of people and especially the short message service has become one of common contact manners for most of mobile communication subscribers. Therefore, there is a need of developing better personalized services for the short message service. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Embodiments of the invention provide a message processing system, device and method which can hide a calling number in a message service. 
     An embodiment of the invention provides a message processing system including: 
     a message center adapted to query about whether to hide a calling number when forwarding a message sent from a subscriber of a message calling number hiding service in accordance with a service identifier which is set for the subscriber, and to determine whether to hide the calling number when forwarding the short message in accordance with a received query message response; and 
     a user subscription data center adapted to store subscription data of the subscriber, to receive the query message sent from the message center and to return to the message center the query message response about whether to hide the calling number in accordance with the subscription data of the subscriber sending the message. 
     An embodiment of the invention provides a subscription data center including: 
     a first storage unit adapted to store subscription data of a subscriber of a message calling number hiding service; 
     a receiving unit adapted to receive a query message to query about whether to hide a calling number when forwarding a message from the subscriber; 
     a generating unit adapted to query about the stored subscription data of the subscriber sending the message in response to the query message and to generate a query message response containing an indication of whether to hide the calling number; and 
     a sending unit adapted to send the query message response. 
     An embodiment of the invention provides a short message center including: 
     a short message processing unit adapted to send a query message to a subscription data center upon determining a calling number hiding service identifier which is set for a source terminal sending a short message and to determine whether to hide a calling number when forwarding the short message to a destination terminal in accordance with a query message response. 
     An embodiment of the invention further provides a short message processing method including: 
     querying, by a message center, a subscription data center about whether to hide a calling number when forwarding a message sent from a subscriber of a message calling number hiding service in accordance with a service identifier which is set for the subscriber; 
     receiving a query message response containing whether to hide information of the calling number, which is returned from the subscription data center in accordance with subscription data of the subscriber sending the message; and 
     determining whether to hide the calling number when forwarding the message in accordance with the query message response. 
     The embodiments of the invention store in the subscription data center the subscription data of the subscribers of the message calling number hiding service and set corresponding service identifiers for the respective subscribers in the message center, and the subscription data includes a calling number hiding policy which is set by the subscriber. The message center can query the subscription data center about whether to hide a calling number in accordance with the service identifier corresponding to the subscriber before forwarding a message sent from the subscriber, the subscription data center determines whether to hide the calling number in accordance with the subscription data of the subscriber and returns a corresponding message response to the message center, and the message center finally determines whether to hide the calling number in accordance with the message response, thereby satisfying a personalized demand of message subscribers. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a structure of the short message processing system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of a short message processing flow according to an embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram of a stricture of the subscription data center according to an embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the short message center according to an embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Since hiding of a calling number is currently applied only in a voice service and can not be implemented in a short message service, the embodiments of the invention propose an idea that a dedicated subscription data center is arranged in building of a network, which is adapted to store subscription data of respective subscribers of a short message calling number hiding service; when a short message subscriber registers for the calling number hiding service, a Business and Operation Support System (BOSS) sends subscription data which is added during the registration of the service for the subscriber to the subscription data center, and the subscription data center adds and stores the subscription data of the subscriber and notifies a Short Message Center (SMC) that the subscriber has subscribed for the calling number hiding service; and the short message center sets a corresponding service identifier for the subscriber and triggers a processing flow of the calling number hiding service in accordance with the service identifier, where the subscriber can also update the subscription data stored on the subscription data center through the BOSS and cancel the subscription for the service through the BOSS. The above idea may be applied to other types of messages by those skilled in the art without any inventive effort and will be described in details below with reference to the drawings and the embodiments in an example of processing a short message. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of the short message processing system according to an embodiment of the invention, where it is assumed that a source terminal registers for a calling number hiding service and subscription data of the source terminal is stored on a short message subscription data center. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the system includes: 
     at least one source terminal  11 , at least one destination terminal  12 , a short message center  13  and a subscription data center  14 , where: 
     The short message center  13  connected respectively with the source terminal  11 , the at least one destination terminal  12  and the subscription data center  14  is adapted to forward a short message sent from the source terminal  11  to the destination terminal  12  but firstly send a query message to the subscription data center  14  if a corresponding service identifier is determined to have been set for the source terminal. 
     The subscription data center  14  receives the query message sent from the short message center  13 , determines whether to hide a calling number in accordance with the subscription data of the source terminal, and returns to the short message center  13  a query message response instructing the short message center  13  about whether to hide the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12 . 
     The short message center  13  determines whether to hide the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12  in accordance with the query message response returned from the subscription data center  14 . 
     The subscription data of a subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service can be stored in the short message center  13  or another network element, e.g., a Home Location Register (HLR). Practically, the short message center and the subscription data center can be arranged separately or integrally. 
     The solution according to an embodiment of the invention will be described in details with reference to  FIG. 2  by way of an example that the subscription data of the subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service is stored in the short message center  13 . As illustrated in  FIG. 2 , the following steps are involved. 
     In the step S 202 , the source terminal  11  sends to the destination terminal  12  a short message submitted to the short message center  13 . 
     In the step S 204 , the short message center  13  receives the short message. 
     The short message center  13  has stored a service identifier which is set for the subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service. 
     In the step S 206 , the short message center  13  determines whether the source terminal  11  has subscribed for the short message calling number hiding service, and if the short message center  13  has stored the service identifier of the source terminal  11 , that is, the source terminal  11  has subscribed for the short message calling number hiding service, then the short message center executes the step S 210  or the step S 208  otherwise. 
     In the step S 208 , the short message center  13  sends the short message to the destination terminal without hiding the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12 . 
     In the step S 210 , the short message center  13  sends a query message to the subscription data center  14 . 
     The query message is to query about whether to hide the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12 . 
     In the step S 212 , the subscription data center  14  receives the query message. 
     In the step S 214 , the subscription data of the corresponding source terminal  11  is obtained and a query message response is generated according to the subscription data. 
     The subscription data center  14  has stored the subscription data of the subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service, and thus the query message sent from the short message center  13  to the subscription data center  14  includes the number identifier of the source terminal  11 ; and upon receiving the query message, the subscription data center  14  obtains the subscription data of the corresponding source terminal  11  in accordance with the number identifier of the source terminal  11  and generates the query message response according to the subscription data of the corresponding source terminal  11 . 
     Preferably, the subscription data of the subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service can include the number identifier of the short message destination terminal for which the calling number is set by the subscriber to be hidden and further include calling number hiding periods which are set by the subscriber for different short message destination terminals, respectively. For example: 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Destination terminal for 
                   
               
               
                   
                 transmission of short 
                 Calling number hiding 
               
               
                 Subscriber 
                 message 
                 period 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 123******** 
                 234******** 
                 08:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 256******** 
                 08:00~24:00 
               
               
                   
                 456******** 
                 12:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 321******** 
                 368******** 
                 10:00~22:00 
               
               
                   
                 389******** 
                 09:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 864******** 
                 18:00~09:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     Thus, the query message sent from the short message center  13  to the subscription data center  14  further includes the number identifier of the destination terminal  12  and the period in which the source terminal  11  sends the short message. 
     Upon receiving the query message, the subscription data center  14  obtains the calling number hiding period which is set for the destination terminal  12  by the source terminal  11  in accordance with the number identifiers of the source terminal  11  and the destination terminal  12  in the query message, and generates the query message response carrying a calling number hiding identifier if the time when the source terminal  11  sends the short message falls within the calling number hiding period which is set for the destination terminal  12 ; otherwise the subscription data center generates the query message response carrying a calling number non-hiding identifier. 
     In the step S 216 , the subscription data center  14  sends the query message response to the short message center  13 . 
     In the step S 218 , the short message center  13  receives the query message response. 
     In the step S 220 , it is determined whether to hide the number of the source terminal  11  upon forwarding the short message sent from the source terminal  11  to the destination terminal  12 . 
     Upon receiving the query message response, the short message center  13  hides the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12  if the query message response carries the calling number hiding identifier or does not hide the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12  if the query message response carries the calling number non-hiding identifier. 
     Preferably, hiding the number of the source terminal  11  in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12  includes setting a calling number field in the short message sent to the destination terminal  12  as a null or specific field (e.g., 00000000000). 
     In the step S 222 , the short message center sends the short message to the destination terminal  12 . 
     Those ordinarily skilled in the art can appreciate that all or part of the steps in the above method according to the embodiment can be implemented by a program instructing relevant hardware, which can be stored in a computer readable medium, e.g., an ROM/RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, and so on. 
     The solution according to an embodiment of the invention will be further described below in a specific example to facilitate understanding thereof. 
     It is assumed that a source terminal with a number of 12300000001 has subscribed for the calling number hiding service and the subscription data of the subscriber stored in the subscription data center  14  is as follows. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Destination terminal for 
                   
               
               
                   
                 transmission of short 
                 Calling number 
               
               
                 Subscriber 
                 message 
                 hiding period 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 12300000001 
                 12300000002 
                 08:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 12300000003 
                 08:00~24:00 
               
               
                   
                 12300000004 
                 12:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 32100000001 
                 32100000002 
                 10:00~22:00 
               
               
                   
                 32100000003 
                 09:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 32100000004 
                 18:00~09:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     It is assumed that the source terminal with the number of 12300000001 sends to a destination terminal with a number of 12300000002 at 09:30 a short message submitted to the short message center, and the short message center determines that the source terminal of 12300000001 has subscribed for the calling number hiding service and sends to the subscription data center a query message including the number 12300000001 of the source terminal, the number 12300000002 of the destination terminal and the time of 09:30 when the short message is sent. Upon receiving the query message, the subscription data center obtains from the subscription data of the subscriber the calling number hiding period of 08:00˜18:00, which is set by the source terminal for the destination terminal of 12300000002, in accordance with the number 12300000001 of the source terminal and the number 12300000002 of the destination terminal; and since the time of 09:30 when the short message is sent falls within the calling number hiding period of 08:00˜18:00, the subscription data center generates a query message response carrying a calling number hiding identifier for the destination terminal of 12300000002 and sends to the short message center the query message response which may include the following contents: 
                                     Field of source terminal   Field of destination   Identifier       number   terminal number   field                   12300000001   12300000002   1                    
Where the identifier field of 1 indicates the calling number hiding identifier and correspondingly, the identifier field of 0 indicates a calling number un-hiding identifier.
 
     Since the identifier field for the destination terminal of 12300000002 in the query message response indicates 1, i.e., the calling number hiding identifier, the short message center hides the number of the source terminal (12300000001) in the short message sent to the destination terminal of 12300000002 upon receiving the query message response. Specifically, a calling number field in the short message sent to the destination terminal of 12300000002 is set as a null or specific field (e.g., 00000000000). 
     Further in the above embodiment, if the subscription data of the subscriber stored in the subscription data center includes no calling number hiding period which is set by the source terminal for any destination terminal, then a calling number hiding period 00:00˜24:00 (i.e., hidden all day long) or 00:00˜00:00 (i.e., unhidden all day long) of the source terminal for the destination terminal can be determined by default. 
     The calling number hiding service can also be implemented when the source terminal sends a short message to a group of numbers (a plurality of destination terminals), which will be described in the following embodiments. 
     It is assumed that a source terminal with a number of 12300000001 has subscribed for the calling number hiding service and the subscription data of the subscriber stored in the subscription data center  14  is as follows. 
     
       
         
               
               
               
             
           
               
                   
               
               
                   
                 Destination terminal for 
                   
               
               
                   
                 transmission of short 
                 Calling number 
               
               
                 Subscriber 
                 message 
                 hiding period 
               
               
                   
               
             
             
               
                 12300000001 
                 12300000002 
                 08:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 12300000003 
                 08:00~24:00 
               
               
                   
                 12300000004 
                 12:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 32100000001 
                 32100000002 
                 10:00~22:00 
               
               
                   
                 32100000003 
                 09:00~18:00 
               
               
                   
                 32100000004 
                 18:00~09:00 
               
               
                   
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
                 . . . 
               
               
                   
               
             
          
         
       
     
     It is assumed that the source terminal of 12300000001 sends to a plurality of destination terminals (with number of 12300000002, 12300000003 and 12300000004, respectively) at 09:30 a short message submitted to the short message center, and the short message center identifies that the source terminal has subscribed for the calling number hiding service and sends to the subscription data center a query message including the number 12300000001 of the source terminal, the numbers 12300000002, 12300000003 and 12300000004 of the destination terminals and the time of 09:30 when the short message is sent. Upon receiving the query message, the subscription data center respectively obtains from the subscription data center the calling number hiding periods of 08:00˜18:00, 08:00˜24:00 and 12:00˜18:00 of the source terminal for the destination terminals of 12300000002, 12300000003 and 12300000004, in accordance with the number 12300000001 of the source terminal and the numbers 12300000002, 12300000003 and 12300000004 of the destination terminals, and since the time of 09:30 when the short message is sent falls within the calling number hiding periods of 08:00˜18:00 and 08:00˜24:00 but not within the calling number hiding period of 12:00˜18:00, the subscription data center generates and sends to the short message center a query message response which carries calling number hiding identifiers for the destination terminals of 12300000002 and 12300000003 and a calling number non-hiding identifier for the destination terminal of 12300000004 and which may include the following contents: 
                                                         Field 1 of       Field 2 of       Field 3 of           Field of source   destination       destination       destination       terminal   terminal   Identifier   terminal   Identifier   terminal   Identifier       number   number   field 1   number   field 2   number   field 3                   12300000001   12300000002   1   12300000003   1   12300000004   0                    
Where the identifier field of 1 indicates the calling number hiding identifier and the identifier field of 0 indicates the calling number un-hiding identifier.
 
     Since the identifier fields for the destination terminals of 12300000002 and 12300000003 in the query message response indicate 1, i.e., the calling number hiding identifier, the short message center hides the number 12300000001 of the source terminal in the short message sent to the destination terminals of 12300000002 and 12300000003 upon receiving the query message response. Specifically, a calling number field in the short message sent to the destination terminals of 12300000002 and 12300000003 is set as a null or specific field (e.g., 00000000000). Since the identifier fields for the destination terminal of 12300000004 in the query message response indicate 0, i.e., the calling number non-hiding identifier, the short message center does not hide the number of the source terminal (12300000001) in the short message sent to the destination terminal of 12300000004. 
     In the above embodiment, if the subscription data of the subscriber stored in the subscription data center includes no calling number hiding period which is set by the source terminal for any destination terminal, then a calling number hiding period 00:00˜24:00 (i.e., hidden all day long) or 00:00˜00:00 (i.e., unhidden all day long) of the source terminal for the destination terminals can be determined by default. 
     Referring back to  FIG. 1 , the short message processing system according to the embodiment of the invention can further include a business and operation support system  15  adapted to receive a service registration request or a service update request from the subscriber and to send subscription data added during the service registration of the subscriber or send subscription data updated during the service update of the subscriber to the subscription data center  14 . 
     The subscriber data center  14  adds and stores the subscription data added during the service registration of the subscriber and notifies the short message center that the subscriber has subscribed for the calling number hiding service, or updates and stores the subscription data updated during the service update of the subscriber. 
     In the embodiment of the invention, when the subscriber who has subscribed for the short message calling number hiding service sends a short message to the destination terminal, the short message is submitted to the short message center, and the short message center receives the short message and sends the short message to the destination terminal by setting the calling number field in the short message as a null or specific field, so that the calling number can be hidden in the short message to add interesting and mysterious elements of the short message and to secure information privacy of the subscriber. The subscriber can also set the subscription data of the subscriber through the business and operation support system in a way that different calling number hiding policies are set for different destination terminals to implement the calling number hiding service. For example, different calling number hiding periods are set for different destination terminals so that the subscriber may or may not hide the calling number in the short message for the different destination terminals in different periods, thereby satisfying a personalized demand of the subscriber. The subscriber may set such subscription data to realize that the user will not hide the calling number when sending a short message to his family or friend but will show his official phone number when sending a short message to his customer for business. The dedicated subscription data center is set during networking to store the subscription data of the subscriber, and the subscriber can also add or update the subscription data of the subscriber in the subscription data center through the business and operation support system, so that the burden over the short message center can be reduced and the flexibility and extendibility of the system can be improved. 
     A specific structure of the subscription data center  14  as illustrated in  FIG. 3  also with reference to  FIG. 1  includes the following units. 
     A first storage unit  141  is adapted to store subscription data of respective subscribers of the short message calling number hiding service. 
     A receiving unit  142  is adapted to receive a query message sent from the short message center  13 , which is to query about whether to hide a calling number when forwarding a short message from a subscriber. 
     A generating unit  143  is adapted to query about the stored subscription data of the subscriber sending the short message in response to the query message and to generate a query message response containing an indication of whether to hide the calling number. 
     A sending unit  144  is adapted to send the query message response to the short message center  13 . 
     A specific structure of the short message center  13  as illustrated in  FIG. 4  also with reference to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3  includes the following units. 
     A service identifier determining unit  131  is adapted to determine that a calling number hiding service identifier is set for a source terminal sending a short message. 
     A query message sending unit  132  is adapted to send a query message to the subscription data center  14  in accordance with the calling number hiding service identifier and to receive a query message response returned from the subscriber data center. 
     A short message processing unit  133  is adapted to determine whether to hide a calling number when forwarding the short message to the destination terminal  12  in accordance with the query message response received by the query message sending unit  132 . 
     Further, the short message center  13  may also include a second storage unit  134  adapted to store service identifiers which are set for respective subscribers of the short message calling number hiding service. The service identifier determining unit  131  queries the second storage unit  134  in accordance with the calling number of the source terminal sending the short message and determines the calling number hiding service identifier which is set for the source terminal sending the short message. 
     In order to accomplish service interaction with the business and operation support system  15 , the subscription data center  14  according to the embodiment of the invention in  FIG. 3  further includes the following units. 
     An updating unit  145  is adapted to receive the subscription data of the respective subscribers of the short message calling number hiding service and to add or update the subscription data into the first storage unit  141 . 
     An instructing unit  146  is adapted to instruct the short message center  13  to set the service identifier for the new subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service. 
     In  FIG. 4 , the short message center  13  according to the embodiment of the invention further includes the following units. 
     A setting unit  135  is adapted to receive the instruction sent from the instructing unit  146  of the subscriber data center  14  and to set in the second storage unit  134  the service identifier for the new subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service in response to the instruction. 
     Practically, the subscriber can further cancel the subscription for the service, by deleting the subscription data of the subscriber and instructing the short message center to cancel the service identifier of the subscriber through the business and operation support system. 
     In the embodiments of the invention, the subscription data of the subscriber of the short message calling number hiding service is stored in the first storage unit  141  of the subscription data center  14 , thereby enabling the subscriber to perform advanced setting of the calling number hiding service while reducing the burden over the short message center  13  and improving the extendibility of the system; the generating unit generates the query message response from the subscription data of the subscriber stored in the first storage unit  141 , thereby implementing the calling number hiding service in the calling number hiding policy which is set by the subscriber; the service identifier determining unit  131  of the short message center  13  determines whether the service identifier is set for the source terminal sending the short message, thereby authenticating the subscriber while restricting a query directed to the subscription data center  14  and reducing the calculation workload of the system; the short message processing unit  133  determines whether to hide the calling number when forwarding the short message to the destination terminal  12  in accordance with the query message response received by the query message sending unit  132 , thereby implementing the calling number hiding service while securing information privacy of the subscriber and adding interesting and mysterious elements of the short message; and the updating unit  145  receives the subscription data of the respective subscribers of the calling number hiding service and adds or updates the subscription data into the first storage unit  141 , thereby improving the flexibility of the system. 
     Those skilled in the art can modify the specific structures of the short message center and the subscription data center dependent upon a specifically designed flow in any way known to those skilled in the art, descriptions of which will not be repeated here. 
     To summarize, a calling number can be hidden when sending a short message in a way that subscription data of a subscriber is stored in the subscriber data center and the short message center queries the subscription data center about a calling number hiding policy which is set by the subscriber. 
     Evidently, those skilled in the art can modify and vary the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the invention is intended to encompass these modifications and variations thereof provided that they come into the scope of the claims appended to the invention and their equivalents.