Abstract:
The invention provides a computer-based method for logging a user mobile device onto a server computer system including registering a unique identifier of a user mobile device, receiving a first message from the user mobile device, detecting an Internet Protocol address associated with the user mobile device, receiving the unique identifier corresponding to the Internet Protocol address; and transmitting to the user mobile device a second message.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    The present U.S. Utility Patent Application claims priority pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §120 as a continuation of U.S. Utility application Ser. No. 13/746,171, entitled “COMPUTER BASED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOGGING IN A USER MOBILE DEVICE AT A SERVER COMPUTER SYSTEM,” filed Jan. 21, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. Utility Application Serial No. 12/234,488, entitled “COMPUTER BASED METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR LOGGING IN A USER MOBILE DEVICE AT A SERVER COMPUTER SYSTEM,” filed Sep. 19, 2008, both of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety and made part of the present U.S. Utility Patent Application for all purposes. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1). Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to a computer-based method and system for manipulating electronic media such as ringtones and videos. 
         [0004]    2). Discussion of Related Art 
         [0005]    Mobile phones usually have a number of ringtones that are installed by a manufacturer. A user can select a ringtone from a drop-down list, and it is also sometimes possible to associate different ringtones with different incoming phone numbers. 
         [0006]    A user may wish to download a ringtone from a remote server and store the ringtone in memory of the mobile phone. However, a mobile phone and the network that it is connected to are usually too slow and the viewing capabilities on the mobile phone are too limited for finding media on a remote server. A company that provides mobile media content for use on mobile phones will usually also have a website that is accessible from a user computer system over the Internet. The user of the mobile phone may make use of the user computer system to find listings of mobile content on the website through browsing or searching functionality built into the website, and then instruct the website to facilitate downloading of the media content to the mobile phone. A message may, for example, be sent to the mobile phone, and the message can include a link to the media content on the server. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The invention is further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a network system in which aspects of the invention are manifested; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is a screenshot of a browser view that displays a view of a website; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is a view similar to  FIG. 2 , after a search has been conducted for media files in a database in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a view similar to  FIG. 3 , wherein registration and login information are completed and an instruction is sent to a server computer system to transmit a media file to a user mobile device; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a front view of a user mobile device displaying an SMS message that is received by the user mobile device, the message including a link; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  displays a view on a WAP browser of the user mobile device to confirm downloading of a media file into memory of the user mobile device; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a view that is displayed on the user mobile device following successful downloading and saving of the media file; 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating components that are used primarily for processing a search request in a message from the user mobile device; 
           [0016]      FIGS. 9 to 14  are views that are displayed on the user mobile device to illustrate the functioning of the system of  FIG. 8 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 15  is a block diagram of components of a server computer system in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 16  is a screen shot of an Internet browser view displaying a user-specific homepage from a registered user area; 
           [0019]      FIG. 17  is a view similar to  FIG. 4  showing a general homepage from an unregistered user area; 
           [0020]      FIG. 18  illustrates a computer and network system that can be used for automatic login of mobile device; 
           [0021]      FIG. 19  illustrates signals that are transmitted between the server computer system, the carrier computer system, and the user mobile device; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 20  is a block diagram of components of a server computer system in  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Network Overview 
       [0023]      FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings illustrates a network system  20  that embodies features of the invention. The network system  20  includes a server computer system  22 , a plurality of user computer systems  24 ,  26 , and  28  that are connected to the server computer system  22  over a network in the form of the Internet  30 , and a plurality of user mobile devices  32 ,  34 , and  36  that are connected over a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) network  38  and over a Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) network  40  to the server computer system  22 . 
         [0024]    The server computer system  22  includes a file store in the form of a file server  42 , a data store in the form of a file database  44 , a content delivery platform and content management system  46 , a Web site  48 , a WAP site  50 , an SMS/MMS gateway  52 , and a transcoding service  54 . The file database  44  is connected to the file server  42 . The content delivery platform and content management system  46  forms the center of the server computer system  22 , and all other components including the Web site  48 , WAP site  50 , SMS/MMS gateway  52 , transcoding service  54 , file server  42 , and file database  44  are directly connected to the content delivery platform and content management system  46 . The content delivery platform and content management system  46  indexes files such as ringtones (reduced media content), full-track content, games, wallpaper, and graphics from the file server  42  into the file database  44  and in a structured manner, as will be required for downloading and for the Web site  48 , WAP  50 , SMS/MMS gateway  52 , and transcoding service  54 . The transcoding service  54  prepares communications suitable for transmission over the Internet  30 , WAP network  38 , and SMS/MMS network  40 . 
       2. Web Site 
       [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates a home page  163  within a browser view  53  at the user computer system  24 ,  26 , or  28  in  FIG. 1 . The browser view  53  forms part of an Internet browser application such as Internet Explorer®, Netscape®, or Firefox®. The browser view  53  includes a viewing pane  55  within which the home page  163  is displayed. The browser view  53  also includes a vertical scroll bar  56  that can be moved up or down to view portions of the home page  163  if the entire home page  163  does not fit vertically within the viewing pane  55 . The browser view  53  also has an address box  58  and back and forward buttons  60 . A user can use a mouse to move a cursor  62  into the address box  58 , and then depress a button on the mouse to select the address box  58 . The user can then utilize a keyboard to enter text such as “http://www.thumbplay.com” in the address box  58 , and can then depress an “enter” key on the keyboard to transmit a signal and a request for a page. The text within the address box  58  can also be automatically updated, for example when a user logs into the home page  163 . The back and forward buttons  60  can be used to view earlier or subsequent pages. 
         [0026]    The home page  163  is in a general area of the Web site  48  in  FIG. 1 . The home page  163  includes tabs  165 A to  165 F that provide links to other pages of the general area. In the home page  163 , the tab  165 B is highlighted, indicating that the home page  163  is in a portion of the general area relating to ringtones. 
         [0027]    The home page  163  is typically displayed at one of the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28  in  FIG. 1 , and provides the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28  access to ringtones through a browse menu  169  or by entering text in a search box  171 . Text can, for example, be entered in the search box  171 , and an acquiring user can then either select a “go” button  172  or hit “enter” on a keyboard to cause transmission of a signal from the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28  over the internet  30  to the Web site  48  in  FIG. 1 . The signal includes an address for the Web site  48 , a query that is entered in the search box  171 , and a return address for the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28 . The query is used at the Web site  48  to extract one or more search results. A signal is then transmitted from the Web site  48  over the internet  30  to the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28 , the signal including the search result or search results and an address corresponding to the return address received from the user computer  24 ,  26 , or  28 . 
         [0028]    Not every signal is described in detail herein. One skilled in the art will appreciate that a signal is generated by and transmitted from one computer system and received and processed at another computer system, and will also appreciate what the contents of such a signal will be. One skilled in the art will also appreciate that a computerized step is typically carried out by a respective module of software code stored in memory of a computer. For example, a transmission step is typically carried out by a transmission module, a receiving step is carried out by a receiving module, a password generation step is carried out by a password generation module, etc. These modules are connected to one another so that a step carried out by one module can be followed by a step carried out by another module. 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  shows a view  176  that includes a download page with a plurality of search results  178  that are received at the user computer systems  24 ,  26 , or  28  over the Internet  30  from the Web site  48 . Each search result  178  includes a ringtone name, an artist name, and a ringtone download button  180 , among other things. 
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows a view  182  that is displayed upon selection of one of the ringtone download buttons  180  in the view  176  of  FIG. 3 . A profile of the acquiring user computer system  24  is previously stored on the content delivery platform and content management system  46  of  FIG. 1 , including a mobile phone number  184  and a password  186 . The view  182  includes the mobile phone number  184  and a password text box  188  for entering the password  186 . The view  182  also has a “transmission” button  190 . Upon selection of the “transmission” button  190 , a signal is sent from the user computer system  24  over the Internet  30  to the Web site  48 . The Web site  48  communicates with the content delivery platform and content management system  46 , which uses the selected search result to access one of the ringtones on the media file server  42 . The content delivery platform and content management system  46  then transmits a link corresponding to the accessed ringtone on the media file server  42  over the SMS/MMS network  40  to a user mobile device  32 ,  34 , or  36  having the mobile phone number  184  in the view  182  of  FIG. 4 . 
         [0031]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the link  190  that is received at for example the user mobile device  32  comes in the form of an SMS message  192  that includes the link  190 . An acquiring user can utilize “arrow” and “enter” keys  194  of the user mobile device  32  to select the link  190 . 
         [0032]    Upon selection of the link  190  and confirmation of the download as shown in  FIG. 6 , the user mobile device  32  transmits a requesting signal over the WAP network  38  in  FIG. 1  to the content delivery platform and content management system  46 . The content delivery platform and content management system  46  then automatically transmits a copy of the selected ringtone (or other media file) from the media file server  42  over the WAP network  38  to the respective user mobile device  32 . The respective user mobile device  32  then automatically stores the copy of the selected ringtone in memory. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the user mobile device  32  then displays a message that confirms that the file has been downloaded and stored in memory of the user mobile device  32 . 
         [0000]    3. SMS with a Search Identifier 
         [0033]      FIG. 8  illustrates components of the content delivery platform and content management system  46  that are used for responding to an SMS message with a search identifier “Get” that is received directly from for example the user mobile device  32  in  FIG. 1 . The components of the content delivery platform and content management system  46  shown in  FIG. 8  provide a system that is different from and in addition to the system as hereinbefore described that utilizes the Website  48  in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0034]    The content delivery platform and content management system  46  further includes a search engine, hereinafter referred to as an “extraction module”  200 , a message generation and transmissions module  202 , a results page request receiving module  204 , a results page generation and transmissions module  206 , a selection command receiving module  208 , a download page  210 , a download command receiving module  211  and a file transmissions module  214 . The functioning of the system shown in  FIG. 8  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 9 to 14  in conjunction with  FIG. 8 . 
         [0035]    As shown in  FIG. 9 , the user of the user mobile device  32  prepares a message to an address 48000 with the text “Get Fergie” and then selects a “send” button to transmit the message. The message is transmitted from the user mobile device  32  over the SMS/MMS network  40  and is received by the SMS/MMS gateway  52 .  FIG. 10  shows a view that is displayed on the user mobile device  32  following transmission of the message. 
         [0036]    SMS/MMS gateway  52  is connected to the extraction module  200 . The extraction module  200  recognizes the text “Get” and the search query “Fergie” in the SMS message. The text “Get” serves as a search identifier. Upon detection of the search identifier “Get” by the extraction module  200 , the extraction module  200  thus determines that the message includes a search identifier and then utilizes the search query “Fergie” to extract a plurality of search results from the file database  44 . 
         [0037]    The message generation and transmissions module  202  is connected to the extraction module  200  and transmits a message through the SMS/MMS gateway  52  and the SMS/MMS network  40  to the user mobile device  32 . If, as in the present example, the extraction module  200  has detected the search identifier “Get” in the SMS message of  FIG. 9 , the message that is transmitted by the message generation and transmissions module  202  as received by the user mobile device  32  and is shown in  FIG. 11 . The message includes a link  214  that can be selected by a user utilizing the “arrow” and “enter” keys  194  of the user mobile device  32  in  FIG. 5 . The link  214  includes the search request “Fergie” and a return address (the phone number) of the user mobile device  32 . If, on the other hand, the search identifier “Get” was not present in the text, a message is sent to the mobile user device  32  with text stating that the message from the user mobile device  32  was in error. 
       4. WAP Site 
       [0038]      FIG. 12A  shows a view of a WAP browser that automatically launches upon selection of the link  214  in  FIG. 11 . Upon selection of the link  214 , a results page request command is transmitted by the user mobile device  32  over the WAP network  38  and is received by the results page request receiving module  204 . The command includes the entire link  214 . The results page generation and transmissions module  206  is connected to the results page request receiving module  204  and to the extraction module  200 . The results page generation and transmissions module  206  generates a results page that includes the search results that are extracted by the extraction module  200  and transmits the results page via the WAP site  50  and the WAP network  38  to the user mobile device  32 .  FIG. 12A  shows the results page and the search results  216  that are displayed by the WAP browser of the user mobile device  32 . 
         [0039]      FIG. 12B  shows an alternative where a WAP browser is directed to an artist-specific page. An artist-specific page is displayed when a one-to-one match can be made between the search query and the artist-specific page. A track-specific page can be displayed when a one-to-one match can be made between the query and the track. A results page such as in  FIG. 12A  is displayed when a one-to-one relationship cannot be made between the query and either an artist or a track. The results page thus displays results from more than one artist or track. 
         [0040]    In the present example, the user selects the first search result “pedestal” to cause transmission of a selection command from the user mobile device  32  over the WAP network  38  and the WAP site  50 . The selection command receiving module  208  is connected to the WAP site  50  and to the download page  210  so that the download page  210  is transmitted over the WAP site  50  and the WAP network  38  to the user mobile device  32 .  FIG. 13  shows a view of the download page  210  on the user mobile device  32 . The download page  210  includes a “download” button  218 . The buttons of the user mobile device  32  can be used to select the download button  218 , which causes transmission of a download command from the user mobile device  32  over the WAP network  38 . 
         [0041]    The download command receiving module  211  is connected to the WAP network  38  so as to receive the download command. The file transmissions module  212  is connected to the file server  42  and to the download command receiving module  211 . The download command includes the name of the particular file in the file server  42 , i.e., the file corresponding to the entry “pedestal” in the file database  44 . The file transmissions module  214  utilizes the name of the entry in the download command to extract the corresponding file from the file server  42 , and then transmits the file over the WAP network  38  to the user mobile device  32 .  FIG. 14  shows a view that is displayed on the user mobile device  32  to confirm downloading of the respective file. Upon selection of a confirmation button  220 , the file is downloaded and saved in memory of the user mobile device  32  as hereinbefore described with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
         [0042]    It can also been seen that the SMS messaging capabilities of the user mobile device  32  can be used to transmit a request for a media file. There is thus no need to utilize the WAP browser on the user mobile device  32  to search for and request a media file or to use a Web browser on a personal computer to search for and request a media file. 
       5. Registration and Login of User Computer 
       [0043]    As shown in  FIG. 15  the file database  44  includes content data and registered user data. The content data includes a plurality of tracks, each track having an associated artist and an associated graphic. Each track corresponds to a respective media file in the file database  44 . The registered user data includes a plurality of user names, each with an associated phone number, email address and password. 
         [0044]    The Web site  48  includes an unregistered user area  260  and a registered user area  262 . A user at one of the user computer systems  24 ,  26  or  28  in  FIG. 1  can log onto the Web site  48  by entering login information or by automatically transmitting a cookie to the server computer system  22 . The server computer system  22  compares the login information or the cookie with registered user data in the file database  44  and, upon a favorable comparison, provides the user computer system  24 ,  26  or  28  access to the registered user area  262 . In the event of an unfavorable comparison or if login information or a cookie is not received at the server computer system  22 , the respective user computer system  24 ,  26  or  28  is only provided access to the unregistered area  260 . A user computer system  24 ,  26  or  28  that is provided only access to the unregistered user area  260  can still obtain access to the registered user area  262  following completion of a registration process. 
         [0045]      FIG. 16  illustrates a browser view  276  that displays a user-specific homepage  278  at the user computer system  24  in  FIG. 1 . Because the server computer system  22  has detected login information, the user-specific homepage  278  includes a username  288  from the file database  44  in  FIG. 15  corresponding to the login information. The user-specific homepage  278  also includes links  290  from the file database  44  corresponding to media files that have previously been purchased by the specific user of the specific user computer system  24  and represented by the username  288 . The user-specific homepage  278  also includes search and browsing functionality that allows the user of the user computer system  24  to search or find other media files for transmission to the user mobile device  32 . Upon selection of such media files and instructions for downloading such media files, the media files will be transmitted to the user mobile device  32  without transmitting an intervening page from the server computer system  22  to the user computer system  24  requesting a phone number or login information such as a username or password. 
         [0046]      FIG. 17  illustrates a general homepage  292  that is displayed at the user computer system  24  if a login is not detected. The general homepage  292  includes the same search and browse functionality as the user-specific homepage  278  in  FIG. 16 . However, the username  288  and links  290  in the user-specific homepage  278  of  FIG. 16  are not displayed in the general homepage  292  of  FIG. 17 . A different user-specific homepage is transmitted to each user computer system from which login information is detected, but the same general homepage  292  of  FIG. 17  is transmitted to all user computer systems from which login information is not received or cannot be validated. 
       6. Automatic Login of Mobile Device 
       [0047]      FIG. 18  illustrates a computer and network system  10  that can be used for automatic login of mobile device. The computer and network system  10  includes the user computer system  24 , the server computer system  22 , the mobile carrier computer system  12 , and the user mobile device  32 . Although only one user computer system  24  and one user mobile device  32  are shown in  FIG. 18 , there may be a plurality of user computer systems and a plurality of user mobile devices in the computer and network system  10 . The user computer system  24  is connected to the server computer system  22  over the Internet  30  or other forms of network. The server computer system  22  has a file database  44  for storing registered user data  442  and has memory for storing data such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address. The registered user data  442  includes username, password, phone number, and email address that is associated with a particular user  72 . It also includes user-specific settings, for example, a user-specific homepage that is presented to the user  72  when the user is first logged into the server computer system  22 . 
         [0048]    The user mobile device  32  is connected to the server computer system  22  over the WAP network  38  which is maintained by the mobile carrier computer system  12 . Both the user mobile device  32  and the mobile carrier computer system  12  have memories for storing IP addresses. In addition, the mobile carrier computer system  12  also has memory for storing unique identifier of the user mobile device, for example, a telephone number. 
         [0049]    In use, the mobile carrier computer system  12  dynamically assigns an IP address to the user mobile device  32 . Although the IP address assigned to the user mobile device  32  may stay the same for long periods of time, it can generally change. In contrast to static IP addresses which do not change, dynamic IP addresses have several advantages. They avoid the administrative burden of assigning specific static addresses to each user mobile device on a network. In some instances, they also allow many user mobile devices to share limited address space on a network when not all of them are online at the same time. In use, the mobile carrier computer system  12  keeps track of the unique identifier of a particular user mobile device, to which a particular dynamic IP address is assigned. 
         [0050]    In use, the user  72  has control of both the user computer system  24  and the user mobile device  32 .  FIG. 19  illustrates signals that are transmitted between the server computer system  22 , the carrier computer system  12 , and the user mobile device  32  in  FIG. 1 . At step  800 , the user  72  may register both the user computer system  24  and the user mobile device  32  at the server computer system  22  using the user computer system  24 . Details of the registration process are described in the last section. When the registration is completed, an entry is created in the registered user data  442  in  FIG. 18  that includes the unique phone number of the user mobile device  32 . A user-specific homepage associated with the user mobile device  32  is also saved in the registered user data  442 . 
         [0051]    At step  802 , when the user  72  enters the URL http://www.thumbplay.com in the WAP browser on the user mobile device  32 , the device sends a homepage request to the server computer system  22  via WAP network. At step  804 , the server computer system  22  detects the IP address of the user mobile device  32  via the mobile carrier computer system  12 . At step  806 , the carrier computer system  12  sends to the server computer system  22  a phone number that corresponds to the IP address. At step  808 , the server computer system  22  then compares the phone number with registered user data  442 . At step  810 , upon a favorable comparison of the phone number, the server computer system  22  retrieves from registered user data  442  the user-specific homepage associated with the phone number, and sends the homepage to the user mobile device  32 . In this way, the mobile device  32  is automatically logged onto the server computer system  22  without the need to transmit any login information such as user name and password. 
         [0052]    Alternatively, the user  72  may send an SMS message with a homepage identifier “Homepage” to the server computer system  22 . The server computer system  22  goes through steps  804 ,  806 , and  808  above. Upon a favorable comparison of the phone number, the server computer system  22  sends an SMS message to the user mobile device  32  with a link to the user-specific homepage. When the user  72  selects the link, the WAP browser on the user mobile device will be launched with the user-specific homepage. 
       7. Computer System 
       [0053]      FIG. 20  shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exemplary form of a computer system  900  within which a set of instructions, for causing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may be executed. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in a server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. 
         [0054]    The exemplary computer system  900  includes a processor  902  (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both), a main memory  904  (e.g., read only memory (ROM), flash memory, dynamic random access memory (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM) or Rambus DRAM (RDRAM), etc.), and a static memory  906  (e.g., flash memory, static random access memory (SRAM), etc.), which communicate with each other via a bus  908 . 
         [0055]    The computer system  900  may further include a video display  910  (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system  900  also includes an alpha-numeric input device  912  (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device  914  (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit  916 , a signal generation device  918  (e.g., a speaker), and a network interface device  920 . 
         [0056]    The disk drive unit  916  includes a machine-readable medium  922  on which is stored one or more sets of instructions  924  (e.g., software) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. The software may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory  904  and/or within the processor  902  during execution thereof by the computer system  900 , the main memory  904  and the processor  902  also constituting machine-readable media. 
         [0057]    The software may further be transmitted or received over a network  928  via the network interface device  920 . 
         [0058]    While the machine-readable medium  924  is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, optical and magnetic media, and carrier wave signals. 
         [0059]    While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments are merely illustrative and not restrictive of the current invention, and that this invention is not restricted to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described since modifications may occur to those ordinarily skilled in the art.