Abstract:
Sending message notifications to a mobile station without requiring the mobile station to fully connect to a fee-based access point for a wireless network. A message notification system registers the mobile station as ready to receive a message notification, receives a message addressed to the mobile station from a sender, generates a message notification based on the message, and transmits the message notification to the mobile station through the access point. The fee-based access point allows the mobile station to partially connect to the access point without incurring a fee. The access point receives a registration request from the mobile station, forwards the registration request to the message notification system, receives the message notification from the message notification system, waits for a poll message from the mobile station, and forwards the message notification to the mobile station when the poll message is received.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     In a conventional wireless infrastructure network, mobile stations (e.g., a laptop computer with a wireless connection) are associated with a wireless access point (AP) within a basic service set. The wireless network may be open to the general public, and users are generally charged a service fee for connecting their mobile station to such a public wireless network. Users must first authenticate themselves to the public wireless network to obtain access. After the authentication process is performed, the public wireless network generates accounting records for the user detailing resource consumption such as connection time and/or bandwidth usage.  
         [0002]     Currently, users cannot use a public wireless network to receive message notifications or messages unless they are authenticated and connected. In service fee-based public wireless networks, a user will have to incur usage-based fees to check for such message notifications or messages. In deciding whether to pay a service fee to connect to the public wireless network, a user typically must weigh the trade-offs between the cost of such a connection and the expected value of the connectivity. The costs incurred include both monetary costs (i.e., the service fee) and resource costs (i.e., the increased use of battery life to power a wireless card). If the costs incurred are high and the user&#39;s perceived need for data services is low, the user is unlikely to attempt a connection. This results in a loss of potential revenue for the public wireless network provider and this may also prevent the user from receiving important messages.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0003]      FIG. 1  is a network that includes a message notification system according to one implementation of the invention.  
         [0004]      FIG. 2  is a method for a mobile station to become authorized with a message notification system according to an implementation of the invention.  
         [0005]      FIG. 3  is a method for a message notification to be transmitted from a sender to the mobile station according to an implementation of the invention.  
         [0006]      FIG. 4  is a method for a message notification to be transmitted from a sender to the mobile station according to another implementation of the invention.  
         [0007]      FIG. 5  is a method for a message notification to be delivered to the mobile station according to another implementation of the invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0008]     The following description, various aspects of the illustrative implementations will be described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative implementations. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.  
         [0009]     References to “one implementation”, “an implementation”, “example implementation”, “various implementations”, etc., indicate that the implementation(s) of the invention so described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but not every implementation necessarily includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Further, the different implementations described may have some, all, or none of the features described for other implementations.  
         [0010]     The term “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored in registers and/or memory. A “computing platform” may comprise one or more processors.  
         [0011]     The term “wireless” and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some implementations they might not.  
         [0012]     As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives “first”, “second”, “third”, etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner. Various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations, in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention, however, the order of description should not be construed to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.  
         [0013]     Implementations of the invention enable a mobile station to register its presence on a network without authenticating or maintaining an active connection. This allows a message sender to contact the mobile station (i.e., a user of the mobile station) while the mobile station is not fully connected to the network. A sender may contact the mobile station even while the mobile station periodically sleeps to further reduce power consumption. In some implementations, when a sender transmits a message to the mobile station, the mobile station may receive a message notification that identifies the sender but does not include the full message. The mobile station may then establish a full connection to the network to receive the full message. In some implementations, when a sender transmits a message to the mobile station, the mobile station may receive the full message instead of a message notification. The mobile station may then establish a full connection to the network to respond to the message.  
         [0014]      FIG. 1  illustrates one implementation of a network that includes a message notification system in accordance with the invention. A mobile station  100  is a client device that may include, but is not limited to, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a pager, and a mobile telephone. The mobile station  100  includes wireless communication functionality and may communicate with a wireless access point (AP)  102 . This wireless communication functionality may be enabled by a wireless card (not shown) in the mobile station  100 . The AP  102  may establish a wireless local area network (WLAN) that the mobile station  100  may join by fully connecting to the AP  102 . The WLAN established by the AP  102  may be a public wireless local area network (PWLAN)  104 . In some implementations, the WLAN may be implemented using IEEE 802.11 protocols or IEEE 802.16 protocols.  
         [0015]     The AP  102  may be a basic service set that is coupled to a network  106  such as the Internet. Through the network  106 , the AP  102  may be coupled to a message notification system (MNS)  108 . The AP  102  may also be connected to a service provider through the network  106 , for example, a company that provides and maintains the PWLAN  104 .  
         [0016]     The MNS  108  may be a computing system, such as a computer, that includes at least a processor and a memory. The MNS  108  may include server software that carries out at least some of the methods of the invention. The MNS  108  may be coupled to a sender  110  through the network  106 . The sender  110  may be any entity that can send a message to the mobile station  100 . For instance, the sender  110  may be a person that is a friend, an associate, a co-worker, or family of the user of the mobile station  100 . The sender  110  may even be a business or other organization that can send a message to the user of the mobile station  100 .  
         [0017]     In some implementations, the network that couples the AP  102  to the MNS  108  may be different than the network that couples the MNS  108  to the sender  110 . In some implementations, the networks may be the same. In some implementations, the AP  102  may be coupled to the MNS  108  through the Internet and the MNS  108  may be coupled to the sender  110  through the Internet.  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  is a method for the mobile station  102  to register its presence on a network to receive message notifications from a sender  110 . In an implementation, the mobile station  100  may register its presence by informing the MNS  108  that the mobile station  100  is ready to receive message notifications. The mobile station  100  may do this by wirelessly transmitting a registration request to the AP  102  (process  202  of  FIG. 2 ). In accordance with the invention, the registration request is a message that includes data intended for both the AP  102  and for the MNS  108 .  
         [0019]     For the AP  102 , the registration request may provide a domain name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or other information suitable for routing the registration request to the MNS  108 . The registration request may also provide an anonymous public key that identifies the mobile station  100 . The use of an anonymous public key helps maintain user privacy because it does not contain identifying information that may compromise personal data. In some implementations, the registration request may provide an identifier other than a public key for the mobile station  100 .  
         [0020]     For the MNS  108 , the registration request may include an expiration timestamp that defines a time period during which the mobile station  100  is available for message notifications from the MNS  108 . The registration request may also include a list of one or more senders  110  that are authorized to contact the mobile station  100  through the MNS  108 . The list may include the public keys or other identifiers for such senders  110 .  
         [0021]     Although not required, in some implementations the registration request may be a pre-authenticated registration message that is digitally-signed. In some implementations, the registration request may be provided through an information element extension in an IEEE 802.11 probe request. In some implementations, the registration request may use IEEE 802.16 MAC layer protocols. It should be noted that a trust relationship may not be required between the mobile station  100  and the AP  102  because the registration request may be self-protecting.  
         [0022]     The AP  102  receives the registration request and records the public key or other identifier for the mobile station if provided (process  204 ). The AP  102  may also record a Media Access Control (MAC) address for the mobile station  100  (process  204 ). The MAC address may be transmitted to the AP  102  in the registration request or it may be received separate from the registration request, for instance, when the mobile station  100  activates its wireless functionality and initially contacts the AP  102 . The AP  102  may use both the recorded public key and the recorded MAC address to route message notifications to the mobile station  100 . The AP  102  then uses the information from the registration request to forward the registration request to the MNS  108  (process  206 ). The registration request is generally transmitted between the AP  102  and the MNS  108  over a network such as the Internet.  
         [0023]     When the MNS  108  receives the registration request, it may transmit an acknowledgement back to the AP  102  over the same network (process  208 ). The MNS  108  may parse the registration request to record the expiration timestamp for the registration (process  210 ). In some implementations, the MNS  108  may only transmit message notifications to the mobile station  100  during the time period when the registration is active. Once the registration expires, the MNS  108  may no longer transmit message notifications to the mobile station  100 . The MNS  108  may also parse the registration request to record the list of public keys of authorized senders  110  if provided. The MNS  108  may record this list (process  210 ) and use it to authenticate senders  110  that attempt to contact the mobile station  100 , as described below.  
         [0024]     In some implementations, the MNS  108  may match the public key provided in the registration request to a previously defined user account. For example, the MNS  108  may maintain a mapping between the public key and data stored in the user account. The user account may include alternate identifiers for the mobile station  100 , such as a user name associated with the mobile station  100 . This enables a sender  110  to address their message to the user name or other identifier rather than a public key which the sender  110  may not know. In some implementations, the MNS  108  will not have a previously defined user account and will simply record the public key provided in the registration request.  
         [0025]     In some implementations of the invention, the MNS  108  may receive a domain name or an IP address for the AP  102 . In other implementations, the MNS  108  may receive a domain name or an IP address for a message notification forwarding service (MNFS)  112  associated with the AP  102  and/or associated with the service provider for the AP  102 . For example, if the AP  102  provides a PWLAN  104 , the service provider associated with the PWLAN  104  may utilize a separate MNFS  112  for delivery of message notifications. The domain name or IP address of the MNFS  112  may be transmitted along with the registration request. In some implementations, the domain name or IP address of the MNFS  112  may be added to the registration request by the AP  102 . In other implementations, the mobile station  100  may include the domain name or IP address of the MNFS  112  in the registration request. The MNS  108  may use the address of either the AP  102  or the MNFS  112  as a delivery address for message notifications.  
         [0026]     The AP  102  may forward the acknowledgement from the MNS  108  on to the mobile station  100  (process  212 ). To reduce its consumption of battery life, the mobile station  100  may enter a low power state, such as a sleep mode or a hibernation mode (process  214 ). In some implementations, the mobile station  100  may conserve power by reducing or minimizing the activity of its wireless card.  
         [0027]      FIG. 3  describes a method, according to an implementation of the invention, for a message notification to be delivered to the mobile station  100 . When a sender  110  wishes to communicate with the mobile station  100  (i.e., the sender  110  wishes to send a message to a user of the mobile station  100 ), the sender  110  may send a message to the MNS  108  (process  302  of  FIG. 3 ). The message may be communicated to the MNS  108  over the network  106  such as the Internet.  
         [0028]     The MNS  108  may authenticate the sender  110  (process  304 ). In an implementation, when a sender  110  attempts to send a message to the mobile station  100  through the MNS  108 , the MNS  108  may verify that the public key or other identifier of the sender  110  is on the list of authorized senders. If there is a match, the sender  110  is authorized. If there is no match, the MNS  108  may deny or reject the request of the sender  110 . The MNS  108  may also verify that the registration has not expired based on the expiration timestamp included in the registration request.  
         [0029]     Once the sender  110  is authenticated and the registration is found to still be active, the MNS  108  may generate a message notification based on the message (process  306 ). In some implementations, the message notification may include a portion of the information contained in the message, including but not limited to an identity of the message sender, at least a portion of text from a subject line of the message, and at least a portion of text from a body of the message. In some implementations, the message notification may include other data associated with the message, including but not limited to the time and date the message was sent, the size of the message, and an importance level for the message (e.g., low, medium, or high importance).  
         [0030]     The MNS  108  may send the message notification to the AP  102  (process  308 ). In accordance with the invention, the message notification may be addressed to the public key of the mobile station  100 . If the message from the sender  110  was originally addressed to an identifier for the mobile station  100  that is not the public key (e.g., a user name), the MNS  108  may look up the public key associated with that identifier and then address the message notification to the public key. This protects the privacy of the mobile station  100  as well as the user of the mobile station  100 . The MNS  108  is therefore able to support both name-based addressing and anonymous public key-based addressing. With name-based addressing, the privacy of the user is protected from the AP  102  since the translation from user name to public key is performed by the MNS  108 .  
         [0031]     The message notification may be communicated to the AP  102  over the network  106  such as the Internet. The message notification may be sent in lieu of the entire message to conserve bandwidth and possibly to provide the user of the mobile station  100  with an incentive to establish a full connection with the AP  102 . In some implementations, the entire message from the sender  110  may be sent instead of a message notification. In implementations of the invention, the message notification may be encrypted and digitally signed prior to being sent to the AP  102 . For example, the encryption may be carried out by encrypting a symmetric key using the public key, encrypting the message notification with the symmetric key, and delivering both to the AP  102  or the MNFS  112  for delivery.  
         [0032]     In an implementation of the invention, the AP  102  may store the message notification received from the MNS  108  until it is polled by the mobile station  100  as the mobile station  100  may be in a low power state. The mobile station  100  may therefore periodically wake up and poll the AP  102  to determine whether any message notifications are pending (process  310 ). The poll message may also include a copy of the registration request in case the mobile station  100  has moved to a new location and has not registered its presence. If the AP  102  has already registered the mobile station  100 , it may ignore the registration request.  
         [0033]     When the AP  102  is polled, it may transmit the message notification to the mobile station  100  (process  312 ). The AP  102  may route the message notification to the mobile device  100  using its public key and device MAC address. The AP  102  may also contact the MNS  108  and acknowledge that the message notification was delivered to the mobile station  100  (process  314 ).  
         [0034]      FIG. 4  describes a method, according to an implementation of the invention, for a message notification to be delivered to the mobile station  100  using the MNFS  112 . The sender  110  begins by sending a message to the MNS  108  (process  402  of  FIG. 4 ). Again, the message may be communicated to the MNS  108  over the network  106  such as the Internet and may be addressed to the public key or other identifier associated with the mobile station  100 .  
         [0035]     The MNS  108  may authenticate the sender  110  (process  404 ). The MNS  108  may also check that the registration has not expired based on the expiration timestamp included in the registration request. The MNS  108  may then generate a message notification (process  406 ) and send the message notification to the MNFS  112  (process  408 ). The message notification may be communicated to the MNFS  112  over the network  106  such as the Internet. In some implementations, the entire message may be sent instead of a message notification. The MNFS  112  may store the message notification received from the MNS  108  until the MNFS  112  is contacted by the AP  102 .  
         [0036]     The mobile station  100  may periodically wake up and poll the AP  102  to determine whether any message notifications are pending (process  410 ). When the AP  102  is polled, the AP  102  may in turn poll the MNFS  112  to determine whether any message notifications are pending (process  412 ). The MNFS  112  may then transmit the message notification to the AP  102  (process  414 ) and the AP  102  may forward the message notification to the mobile station  100  (process  416 ). In some implementations, the MNFS  112  may also contact the MNS  108  and acknowledge that the message notification was delivered to the mobile station  100 .  
         [0037]      FIG. 5  describes a method, according to an implementation of the invention, for a message notification to be delivered to the mobile station  100  with the MNS  108  performing the functions of the MNFS  112  as well. The sender  110  begins by sending a message to the MNS  108  (process  502  of  FIG. 5 ). Again, the message may be communicated to the MNS  108  over the network  106  such as the Internet and may be addressed to the public key or other identifier associated with the mobile station  100 .  
         [0038]     The MNS  108  may authenticate the sender  110  (process  504 ). The MNS  108  may also check that the registration has not expired based on the expiration timestamp included in the registration request. The MNS  108  may then generate a message notification based on the message (process  506 ) and store the message notification until the MNS  108  is contacted by the AP  102 .  
         [0039]     The mobile station  100  may periodically wake up and poll the AP  102  to determine whether any message notifications are pending (process  508 ). When the AP  102  is polled, the AP  102  may in turn poll the MNS  108  to determine whether any message notifications are pending (process  510 ). The MNS  108  may then transmit a message notification to the AP  102  (process  512 ) and the AP  102  may forward the message notification to the mobile station  100  (process  514 ).  
         [0040]     Once the mobile station  100  receives the message notification, a user of the mobile station  100  may determine whether the pending message is important enough to establish a full connection to the AP  102  of the PWLAN  104 . If so, the user may establish a full connection between the mobile station  100  and the AP  102 , for instance by paying any required service fees, and download the message in its entirety. The message notification may include the identity of the sender  110  that sent the message to assist the user of the mobile station  100  in determining whether or not to establish a full connection. In implementations where the entire message is sent instead of a message notification, the user of the mobile station  100  may read the entire message without the need to establish a full connection to the AP  102 .  
         [0041]     In implementations of the invention, verification processes, such as verifying digital signatures, may be performed only when a message notification is to be delivered. This is the point at which a chargeable event would likely occur, and the verifications may help prevent spurious charges and undesired interruptions of the user. If the registration expires without any message notifications being sent to the mobile station  100 , then no public key operations will be needed at all.  
         [0042]     The MNS  108  may be used to verify messages sent by sender  110 , the registration request, or both. If the registration request includes a digital signature, verifying the registration request may be deferred until a message has been received from a sender  110 . The result of the verification may be cached so the verification need only be performed once per registration. If a second registration request is received from the mobile station  100  before a prior registration has expired, the MNS  108  may check the timestamps and update the registration information if the timestamp of the second request is later and the request is valid. The digital signature associated with the new registration request may be checked to ensure an unauthorized user may not overwrite a legitimate registration with a bogus registration. If the AP  102  and/or the MNFS  112  establish a secure channel with the MNS  108 , for example using a Secure Sockets Layer or IPsec, there is a reduced need to perform public key operations during registration or message delivery.  
         [0043]     This systems and methods of the invention described herein invention provide a novel registration and notification service that encourages more efficient use of network resources, preserves user privacy, and enables very low-power operation.  
         [0044]     The invention may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. The invention may also be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium, which may be read and executed by a processing platform to perform the operations described herein. A machine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing, transmitting, or receiving information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable medium may include read only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM), such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM); magnetic disk storage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, the interfaces that transmit and/or receive those signals, etc.), and others.  
         [0045]     The above description of illustrated implementations of the invention, including what is described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. While specific implementations of, and examples for, the invention are described herein for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize.  
         [0046]     These modifications may be made to the invention in light of the above detailed description. The terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific implementations disclosed in the specification and the claims. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims, which are to be construed in accordance with established doctrines of claim interpretation.