Abstract:
A method of operation enables a mobile station or other wireless communication device to query a supporting wireless communication network for directory listing information associated with a phone number specified by the query. Preferably, the mobile station issues the query using short-messaging services (SMS) or other text messaging facilities supported by the network and may specify a desired data format as part of its query. The network returns a short-messaging response to the mobile station that includes one or more data items, such as directory listing information, associated with the specified phone number. The range of information returned may be altered or expanded to include promotional information, coupons, sales notices, etc., where the queried number is a commercial listing. The mobile station may initiate such queries responsive to the user dialing a number, as part of updating stored contact lists, or based on the user&#39;s initiation.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates generally to mobile communication networks, and more particularly, to a method of querying a network database from a mobile station to obtain contact information.  
           [0002]    Users of personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones, wireless Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and other wireless communication devices, benefit tremendously by their ability to use and store various types of contact information. Contact lists, such as electronic phone or address books allow users of such devices to conveniently store and dial numbers of interest. However, maintaining and updating such contact lists can be tedious at times. For example, a common cellular phone function recognizes when a user dials a “new” number not currently stored in the phone&#39;s contact list. Based on such recognition, the phone queries the user as to whether the number should be saved in the contact list for future use. If the user responds affirmatively, the phone adds the new number to the stored contacts list for future use. Of course, the number is stored without benefit of additional directory listing information, e.g., the name/address associated with the number, so the user must often engage in tedious data entry to input complete information for the automatically saved number.  
           [0003]    In a typical scenario, the user calls a directory assistance service provided by his or her wireless service provider and is verbally told the number corresponding to a person or business identified by the user. Although such directory assistance services offer automated call completion to the requested number, many users avoid the additional charges associated with such automated call completion by completing the call on their own. As noted, where the wireless device recognizes the number being dialed as a new number, it generally prompts the user for associated data items such as name and address. Thus, the user ends up manually entering the directory information for the number just obtained from the directory assistance center.  
         BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    The present invention provides a method and apparatus enabling mobile-initiated queries of a supporting wireless network for contact information, such as directory listing information. In an exemplary embodiment, a mobile station originates a Short Messaging Services (SMS) request message that specifies a telephone number for which additional information is desired. Upon receiving the request, the network accesses one or more databases, or cooperates with other entities to access the appropriate database(s) and returns one or more data items associated with the telephone number identified in the mobile station&#39;s request message. The mobile-initiated request may further specify the particular information desired for the number, and may specify the data format(s) in which the information should be returned by the network. For example, a mobile station might generate an SMS request that identifies a telephone number for which vCard formatted contact information is desired.  
           [0005]    In an exemplary embodiment, a mobile station, such as a wireless cellular telephone or wireless PDA, recognizes that the user has entered or otherwise dialed a number not currently stored in its contact list. Based on this recognition, the device queries the user to determine whether the user wishes to save the number into the contact list, and, if so, whether the user wishes the device to obtain and store contact information associated with that number. If the user indicates that such contact information is desired, the device generates a SMS request that identifies the number of interest and may additionally specify the information desired and the data format in which the network should return the information.  
           [0006]    The network processes the request received from the device, such as by processing the request at a Short Messaging Services Center (SMSC) or other appropriate network entity, and obtains one or more data items associated with the specified telephone number for return to the initiating device. In support of this data retrieval, the network may access directory listing databases, as well as other databases, both internal and external to the network, as needed or desired. For example, third-party service providers may maintain custom databases related to advertising and sales, e.g., electronic coupons, restaurant menus, etc., that are returned to the device if the queried number is a business number. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication network providing wireless communication services.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary mobile station served by the wireless communication network of FIG. 1.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 3 illustrates exemplary operation of the mobile station according to the present invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 4 illustrates exemplary operation of the mobile station regarding retrieval of information for new numbers.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary data record configuration for stored contact information in the mobile station.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 6 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of the network of FIG. 1. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 illustrates a short-messaging services (SMS) system implemented as a wireless communication network  10 . Of course, network  10  provides primary communication services that allow a user of a mobile station  12  to communicate with users of the Switch Telephone Network (PSTN)  14 . A base station subsystem (BSS)  16  in combination with a network subsystem  18  supports communication between the mobile station  12  and the PSTN  14 . Of particular interest with regard to the present invention, network subsystem  18  includes a Short Messaging Services Center (SMSC)  20  having access to one or more database systems, such as network database system  22  and/or external database systems  24 . SMSC  20  generally supports short messaging services, e.g., text/data messaging to and from mobile station  12 .  
         [0014]    These SMS communications as well as voice/data communications to and from PSTN  14  involve wireless signaling between mobile station  12  and BSS  16 . In support of such signaling, BSS  16  typically comprises one or more Base Transceiver Systems (BTSs)  30  that are communicatively coupled to one or more Base Station Controllers (BSCs)  32 . In turn, the BSC  32  communicatively links the BSS  16  with a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)  34 , which is communicatively coupled to SMSC  20  and various other network entities. Such entities typically include a Home Location Register (HLR)  36 , a Visitor Location Register (VLR)  38 , an Equipment Identification Register (EIR)  40 , and an Authentication Center (AuC)  42 . As illustrated, the architecture of network  10  is consistent with an implementation based on Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) standards but those skilled in the art should appreciate that the present invention is in no way limited to GSM implementations.  
         [0015]    In accordance with the present invention, mobile station  12  initiates an SMS request, which request includes or otherwise identifies a telephone number for which additional information is desired. Thus, the present invention in its broadest sense comprises a mobile-initiated information request, which is acted on by the network  10  such that the mobile station  12  receives one or more data items in the form of an SMS response generated by the network responsive to the mobile station-originated request.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 2 illustrates a typical mobile station  12 , although those skilled in the art will appreciate that the architecture of the mobile station  12  may vary significantly depending on the type of mobile station  12 . The mobile station  12  illustrated in FIG. 2 is a fully functional cellular radio transceiver, the design of which is well known in the art. The mobile station  12  comprises an antenna  50 , an antenna interface circuit  52 , a receiver  54 , a transmitter  56 , a baseband controller  58 , a system microcontroller or microprocessor  60 , one or more memory devices or systems  62 , stored information such as a contact list  64  held in memory  62 , and one or more I/O circuits  66  coupling the system controller  60  to a user interface  68 , which generally comprises a microphone  70 , an audio speaker  72 , a display  74 , and a keypad  76 .  
         [0017]    In an exemplary operation, a user of the mobile station  12  initiates an information request associated with a phone number of interest, mobile station  12  generates the appropriate SMS request including identification of the phone number of interest, receives an SMS response from the network  10  including one or more data items associated with the phone number, and updates its memory  62  with the received information. Such updating may comprise storage of the received data items in non-volatile portions of memory  62 , such as a contacts list  64 , or may simply include updating working memory that is used to supply information for output on the display  74 . Thus, the user may request contact information and have that information displayed for temporary use, permanently stored for subsequent retrieval, or some combination thereof.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the mobile station  12  in one exemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 illustrates a generalized process for initiating an SMS number information request and can be readily modified by those skilled in the art for added functionality. Processing starts with the identification or selection of a phone number of interest by the user (Step  100 ). If contact information is desired for the phone number (Step  102 ), the mobile station  12  generates an SMS request, with the generated request including or otherwise identifying the phone number of interest (Step  104 ). If number related information is not desired, processing ends with respect to SMS processing.  
         [0019]    Absent errors or unavailability of information, network  10  returns an SMS message responsive to the mobile-initiated information request. Thus, based on whether the requested information is returned (Step  106 ), the mobile station  12  either provides an error report or some other indication to the user (Step  108 ), or updates its memory with the received information (Step  110 ). The mobile station  12  may update memory used for display output to the user and/or update the contact list  64  stored in memory  62 .  
         [0020]    As used in this discussion, the term “SMS message” should be construed broadly. For example, within GSM networks, SMS messages typically comprise 160-character text messages sent using slow speed data channels (SDCCH) that minimize network overhead and do not require allocation of dedicated data channels to the mobile stations  12 . In the context of GSM, SMS messages may be sent or received concurrently with other active communications, such as during an active voice call. However, it should be understood that the present invention contemplates broad application across a range of network types, each possibly having its own specific implementations of SMS services, short text messaging services, or similar messaging services. Thus, as will be detailed later herein, the present invention may be utilized in a range of network types and messaging services. Therefore, the term “SMS message” as used herein is not limited to GSM-based details and should be given broad construction.  
         [0021]    Message formats and the type of data transmitted and returned as part of the mobile-initiated information request of the present invention represent another area of broad variation. For example, in at least one exemplary embodiment, the request generated by mobile station  12  specifies the data format that should be used for information returned by network  10  in its response. Exemplary formats include vCard and vCalendar formats, which represent standard contact and calendaring information formats defined by the Internet Mail Consortium, which maintains an informational Web site at www.imc.org. Interested readers may obtain additional information concerning vCard in the standards documents RFC2425 and RFC2426. Similar details for the vCalendar format may be found in the standards documents RFC2445, 2446, and 2447. As defined by the Internet Mail Consortium (IMC), vCard features include the following items:  
         [0022]    Directory information such as name, address, e-mail address and relevant Internet Universal Resource Locators (URLs)  
         [0023]    Multimedia information including photographs, company logos, audio clips, etc.  
         [0024]    Geographic location information  
         [0025]    Multiple language information  
         [0026]    Similarly, vCalendar information may include scheduling appointment information relative to Personal Information Management (PIM) functions, and may further include “to-do” information and/or other task lists. Other standard data formats that may be specified and used for returned information provided by network  10  include Geo Tag data, which provides geographic-related information. Of course, other industry standards may be used for returning response information, and proprietary data formats may be used.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment wherein the mobile station  12  assists the user in obtaining number-associated information for newly dialed telephone numbers. Processing begins with the mobile station  12  determining whether or not a number dialed by the user represents a “new” telephone number (Step  120 ). If the number is new, e.g., does not already exist in contact list  64 , the mobile station  12  prompts the user to indicate whether the user wishes to save the telephone number (Step  122 ). Processing ends if the user does not wish to save the number, but if such storage is desired, mobile station  12  stores the number in memory  62 , which may comprise generating a new contact record in the contacts list  64  stored in a non-volatile portion of memory  62  (Step  124 ).  
         [0028]    At an appropriate time after saving the number, the mobile station  12  queries the user as to whether additional contact information is desired (Step  126 ). For example, the mobile station may wait until the end of the call to avoid distracting the user while the call is active. If the user indicates that additional information is desired, the mobile station  12  generates the appropriate SMS request that identifies or otherwise indicates the number of interest (Step  128 ) and transmits the request to the network as described above.  
         [0029]    If the network  10  does not return information responsive to the request (Step  130 ), the mobile station  12  may report errors to the user as appropriate (Step  132 ) such as by displaying an error indicator on display  74 . In at least some embodiments, the mobile station  12  maintains a response timer such that an error report is generated if the network  10  fails to respond to the request within a predetermined amount of time.  
         [0030]    If the network  10  does return information, mobile station  12  may take any number of actions, including updating memory  62  by storing the returned information in a record associated with the phone number in the contacts list  64  (Step  134 ). In this respect, the database systems  22  or  24  accessed by SMSC  20  may comprise directory listing information, such as a “Yellow” or “White” pages database. In this manner, the user of mobile station  12  has the advantage of an automatically generated contact listing entry for a newly dialed number that includes whatever detailed directory information is available in network  10  for that number.  
         [0031]    Generally, then, the present invention comprises a mobile-initiated SMS request for number-related data that allows the user of mobile station  12  to access and receive a variety of information associated with the phone number of interest. In one sense, this functionality provides the user with a fully featured “Reverse Directory Information” service, in which the user enters a number and receives from network  10  one or more data items associated with that number. While such data items have been identified as vCards and vCalendars and/or directory listing information, the present invention is not limited to such data items. Indeed, the number of interest may be a commercial number with which the associated vendor has enabled the delivery of coupons, which may be used by the user for purchasing goods or services from the vendor associated with the number of interest. Such coupons may be returned to the mobile station  12  in a variety of formats and stored in memory  62  for later presentation to the business in question. Indeed, the present invention further includes, in at least some embodiments, additional features that are of particular interest for commercial applications.  
         [0032]    In one such embodiment, where the mobile station  12  originates a query associated with a commercial number, the vendor associated with that number is provided information regarding the identity and/or location of the requesting party so that it may more particularly target its advertising. Of course, the amount of identifying information released by the network  10  to a vendor associated with such queries may be controlled in accordance with any number of privacy policies implemented by the network service provider in association with agreed upon standards for release approved by individual users of mobile stations  12 .  
         [0033]    With the above variations in mind, FIG. 5 illustrates a generalized exemplary request/response operation, wherein the mobile station  12  originates the SMS request for data associated with an identified telephone number, and receives one or more data items from network  10  in a corresponding SMS response message. As previously discussed, such data items may comprise, but are not limited to, vCards, vCalendars, coupons, business descriptions, geographic information, detailed directions, restaurant menus, etc.  
         [0034]    In addition to the many variations that may be practiced as regards generation of the request and formatting of the data and type of data that may be returned in the corresponding result, the present invention may be practiced across a wide variety of networks. Although the discussion began with an illustration of the present invention as might be practiced in a GSM-type network, FIG. 6 illustrates wireless communication network  10  implemented based on cdma2000 standards. Thus, the SMS-based messaging supporting the mobile-initiated number information request in accordance with the present invention may be implemented in packet data IP-based networks. Here, network  10  comprises the BTS  30 , BSC  32 , SMS-C  20 , and database systems  22  and  24  as shown earlier in FIG. 1, although it should be understood that such entities are appropriately reconfigured for operation in accordance with the relevant CDMA standards.  
         [0035]    Here, a Packet Core Network (PCN)  80 , which comprises a Packet Data Serving Node (PDSN)  82 , a Home Agent (HA)  84 , and an Access Authorization Authentication (AAA) server  86 , communicatively couples the mobile station  12  to a Managed IP Network  88 , which couples to the Internet  90  through a gateway router  92 . As illustrated, number-related information may be obtained by the network  10  using one or more of its own database systems  22 , or may be obtained in cooperation with Third-Party Provider (3PP) database system  24 , which may be coupled directly or indirectly to the SMS-C  20 , or may be accessible to network  10  via the Internet  90 .  
         [0036]    As the above discussion and accompanying diagrams illustrate, the present invention is adaptable to a variety of network types and data formats. As such, the present invention is not limited by the exemplary details contained herein, but rather is limited only by the following claims and the reasonable equivalence thereof.