SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING AN OPTICAL MEMORY CARD TO COMMUNICATE OVER A NETWORK FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Abstract: A system and method for communicating over a wide area network (28), such as the Internet, in which data is stored in a web browser format on an optical memory card (12) and the card is linked through a card reader/writer (16) to a plurality of other user addresses (30) over a wide area network (28). The data may include a variety of types of information such as a user's personal data, configuration information, bookmark files, URL links or other such data. For example, the use of the optical memory card (12) with this data allows users to personalize remote browsing sites for convenience in using the wide area network (28).

Description: Description SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USING AN OPTICAL MEMORY CARD TO COMMUNICATE OVER A NETWORK FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to optical memory cards and a method for linking an optical memory card to a wide area network, such as the Internet, for communication with the network. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Optical memory cards are well known in the art and are usually credit card size, with dimensions of about 2 by 3 inches, that can store information on high resolution laser recording material. Historically, the use of the optical memory card has been limited to two basic types of system architectures, systems that were completely off line, and closed network systems. In the first type of system, the off line system, the card serves as an independent data storage device in which all of the data required for a particular application is stored, retrieved and maintained only on the optical memory card media. The data can only be retrieved through the use of an optical memory card reader/writer device. The second type of system involves the combination of both storage on independent optical memory cards and storage within closed networks. In this structure, the data on the card is used in combination with data contained within a closed network system. The data on the card and network may or may not contain all of the data of the other device, although in most cases, the optical memory card data is saved in a backup file of some type on the network device. In recent years, wide area networks, such as the Internet, have gained increasing popularity and use. As such, today's Internet users face increasingly complex tasks of maintaining current status and rights across multiple Internet and private network systems. For example, a user could be a member of several on-line services, Internet Service Provider (ISP) accounts and company networks. Each of these services has independent security and log on procedures. Once within any given service, access to various files, links and services may also be secured by more access codes. Most secure sites require passwords to be periodically changed, while log on access sites, phone numbers and Internet protocol addresses also change rapidly as well. It would be convenient if all of these personal data sets could be accessed, managed, updated and utilized from one particular user address (rather than having to log on to several different user addresses to maintain different sets of data) . Additionally, many Internet users customize their computer by storing configuration information and logging important and interesting URL files to reference files called "bookmarks". It would be very convenient if a user's computer configuration information and bookmark files could be easily accessed at many different user addresses and remote sites. It is the object of the present invention to provide a system to expand the use of optical memory cards, linking the cards with a wide area network. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method wherein an optical memory card, having a user's personal data stored upon it, may communicate over a wide area network having a plurality of user addresses, such that the data is accessible at other user addresses on the wide area network for electronic commerce and other applications. It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an Internet user with personalization of remote browsing sites. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects have been met by a system and method for communicating over a wide area network in which data is stored in a web browser readable format on an optical memory card and the card is linked through a card reader/writer unit to a wide area network, such as the Internet. The data stored on the card may be in any Internet browser readable format, such as HTML or Java languages, and may include various types of a user's personal data. Among the types of personal data that can be stored on the card include identification and security access information, hospital patient data, banking account information, member information for use in a loyalty card system and user bookmark files of URL sites. Many Internet users set up a personal configuration on their home computer or on their regular Internet user address or browsing site. The configuration information usually includes bookmark files, the user's personal data of the types noted above, and any other desired files, links or services that the user wants to easily access. Through the use of an optical memory card having this data stored on it to the Internet, a user can go to any browsing site that has a card reader/writer linked to the Internet and be able to set up his or her personal configuration for use in communicating over the Internet. Possible sites where the optical memory card could be implemented include a variety of public places such as kiosks, banks, or supermarkets, or the card could be used at another private user's terminal where a card reader existed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a system diagram of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing steps in the method of the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION With reference to Fig. 1, an optical memory card 12 is shown as part of the system of the present invention. The optical memory card 12 has a size common to most credit cards and usually the card's substrate material is made of a dielectric material, such as a plastic. The substrate on the card carries a strip 24 made of a high resolution laser recording material, on which data is stored. Additionally, eye readable information may be printed on the substrate of the card for identification or other such purposes. Details on the construction of the optical memory card can be found in U.S. Patent No. 5,421,619 to Dyball which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is hereby incorporated by reference. The data may be recorded and stored on the card 12 in any Internet browser compatible format, such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) , Java, or other formats. In this way, the data can be read by a web browser. A web browser allows a user to view information from a remote computer on the wide area network, regardless of equipment variations. The software browser receives information from the web server over the network and retrieves a document from that server. After obtaining a copy of a document from a remote computer, the browser software automatically formats and displays the document and allows the user to select related documents. An advantage of having the data stored in a web browser format and read by web browser software is that the data would be compatible and readable from any type of computer platform that a user is employing. Various types of data can be stored on the strip 24 of the optical memory card 12 in order to carry out many different user applications over the wide area network. In one type of application, the user may store on the card personal identification information such as a user's e-mail addresses, security access information, a personal home web page, or other identifying information. In that way, the user can easily transport all of this personal information to different sites without having to re-enter the information when he or she is using a remote browsing site, or a browsing site other than their regular browsing site. Additionally, a user could store bookmark files of interesting or important URL sites on the card. By doing so, these bookmark files would be readily accessible to the user, regardless of the location where the user logs on to the Internet. Another type of data that could be stored on a card would be a user's hospital patient data or medical records. This data could be used in interacting with healthcare systems, insurance companies, or other medical web sites. Similarly, banking account information could be stored on the card for use in banking and transaction systems. This would be a very useful feature as many people today conduct banking transactions and pay bills over the Internet. Through the use of the optical memory card, people could still conduct these transactions even when they are away from their home user address, such as when they are on a vacation or on a business trip. Another application in which the card could be used is to store member information for use in a loyalty card system. Many businesses have loyalty card systems, such as the frequent flyer mile programs that many airlines have, or preferred customer cards that many grocery stores and retail stores now have. The loyalty card system data could be tracked on the optical memory card for loyalty card systems in which transactions take place over the Internet. Again, this would be a useful application of the optical memory card since many people now often purchase airline tickets or shop for many types of goods over the Internet. As bandwidth capacities on the Internet increase, larger volumes of data could be stored on the card and communicated over the Internet. Among the types of data that could be implemented in a system with greater bandwidth are automobile users manuals, encyclopedias, novels, or even audio or video files. For automotive maintenance manuals, a central storage location would have a collection of manuals, each manual on an optical card in browser format. The card would also have eye readable information on labels so that a mechanic could call the central storage location and request a specific manual. A card would be located using the eye readable label and the card scanned by a card reader, with the scanned information transmitted over the Internet to the mechanic. The mechanic could download the information on a hard drive and then view the information with browser software. As can be seen, many different applications can be implemented using the system of the present invention. Referring back to Fig. 1, the optical memory card 12 is introduced into a reader/writer unit 16. The reader/writer unit 16 reads the data from the card and has the ability to write data onto the card as well. The data on the card is permanent so all data that has been tracked on the card is permanent and readable. Additional information can be written in unused locations on the card. A description of the reader/writer unit 16 is shown in U.S. Patent No. 5,421,619 to Dyball, as well as U.S. Patent No. 5,089,693 to Haddock, which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and are hereby incorporated by reference. The reader/writer unit 16 can have it's own web browser so that it is web enabled and connected to the wide area network 28, in which case, the card 12 functions as an integrated part of an Internet based personal web site. If the reader/writer unit 16 is an off-line stand alone unit, then the card 12 may be browsed independently with any Internet web browsing interface 22. Since the data is stored in any Internet browser compatible format, the data would be browsed by the Internet browser in any manner known in the prior art. Through the interaction with the wide area network 28, the user of reader/writer unit 16 can interact with another user at a second reader/writer unit 18, who may be using another optical memory card, or can interact with a plurality of other user addresses 30, some of which might store data using conventional media. Fig. 2 illustrates the method of the present invention. Referring to the flow chart, in step 51 an optical memory card is provided. The next step 53 is to store data on the optical memory card in a web browser format. Then, the next step 55 is to link the optical memory card to a wide area network and then step 57 is to communicate the data from the optical memory card over the wide area network. The following example illustrates how the system and method of the present would work. A person, who lives in California, has a home computer or regular browsing site on which is stored personalized configuration information. The person goes on a business trip in New York and wants to access a wide area network, such as the Internet. Normally, the person would have to log onto the Internet from a remote browsing site which would not have the person's home configuration or the information that would be available at his or her home computer or regular browsing site. Assuming that the person finds a remote browsing site which has a reader/writer unit, then the person could insert the optical memory card having all of the stored personal data and configuration information on it, into the reader/writer unit. When the card is read through the reader/writer unit and a web browser, the person would then have all of his or her personal configuration information, bookmarks, and personal data available, without having to re-enter the personal data or having to search for the URL sites. In this way, a person can conveniently transport and implement the information that is stored on his or her home computer or regular browsing site when using a remote browsing site.

Claims: Claims 1. A system for communicating over a network comprising: an optical memory card carrying stored data, and a card reader unit having means for receiving the optical memory card and for reading the data stored on the optical memory card, the reader unit communicating with a network having a plurality of user addresses having web browser software such that web browser format data on the card is accessible over the network at the plurality of user addresses. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the data stored on the optical memory card is stored in a web browser format. 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the data includes personal information of a system user. 4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the personal information includes identification and security access information for ISP accounts, on-line service provider accounts or private network systems. 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the data includes user bookmark files of URL sites. 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the reader unit is connected to a separate web-browsing interface and the web-browsing interface is linked to the network. 7. A method of communicating over a network comprising: providing an optical memory card; storing data on the optical memory card in a web browser format; linking the optical memory card to a network having a plurality of user addresses; and communicating the data over the network to another user address. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing personal information of a user on the optical memory card. 9. A system for communicating over a network comprising: a network having a plurality of user addresses from which data is transmitted and received in web browser format; an optical memory card carrying data stored in web browser format; and an optical card reader unit communicating with the network such that the data is accessible over the network at the plurality of user addresses. A ENDED CLAIMS [received by the International Bureau on 28 June 2000 (28.06.00); new claims 6 and 10-13 added, claims 6, 7, 8, and 9 renumbered as claims 7, 8, 9 and 14; other claims unchanged (3 pages)] 1. A system for communicating over a network comprising: an optical memory card carrying stored data, and a card reader unit having means for receiving the optical memory card and for reading the data stored on the optical memory card, the reader unit communicating with a network having a plurality of user addresses having web browser software such that web browser format data on the card is accessible over the network at the plurality of user addresses. 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the data stored on the optical memory card is stored in a web browser format. 3. The system of claim 1 wherein the data includes personal information of a system user. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the personal information includes identification and security access information for ISP accounts, on-line service provider accounts or private network systems. 5. The system of claim 1 wherein the data includes user bookmark files of URL sites. 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the data includes personal configuration information. 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the reader unit is connected to a separate web-browsing interface and the web-browsing interface is linked to the network. 8. A method of communicating over a network comprising: providing an optical memory card; storing data on the optical memory card in a web browser format; linking the optical memory card to a network having a plurality of user addresses; and communicating the data over the network to another user address. 9. The method of claim 8, further comprising storing personal information of a user on the optical memory card. 10. The method of claim 8 wherein storing data on the optical memory card in web browser format comprises storing personal configuration information of a user from a personal configuration storage site. 11. The method of claim 10 wherein linking the optical memory card to said network having said plurality of user addresses occurs at a browsing site remote from said personal configuration storage site. 12. The method of claim 11 wherein communicating the data over the network to another user address comprises communicating said personal configuration information in web browser format. ArøDED SHEET (ARTICLE 19) 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising accessing said personal configuration information at said remote browsing site. 14. A system for communicating over a network comprising: a network having a plurality of user addresses from which data is transmitted and received in web browser format; an optical memory card carrying data stored in web browser format; and an optical card reader unit communicating with the network such that the data is accessible over the network at the plurality of user addresses. Statement Under PCT Article 19.1) The amendments under Article 19 are as follows. Original claims 6, 7, 8 and 9 have been renumbered as claims 7, 8, 9 and 14, respectively. Claim 6 and claims 10-13 have been added to delineate additional aspects of the invention. Support for the amendments is found throughout the specification and claims as filed. Therefore, no new matter has been added. Claims 1-5 are unchanged. Claims 1-14 are currently pending in the application.

Inventors: HADDOCK RICHARD M, HADDOCK, RICHARD, M.
Applicants: DREXLER TECH, DREXLER TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: G06F17
IPC codes: G06F13, G06F17, G06K17, G06K19