Abstract:
A method for discovering capabilities of a communication device, including updating the capabilities of the communication device, generating update information corresponding to the communication device after updating the capabilities of the communication device, and transferring the URL of user agent profile and the update information of the communication device to a first server, when the communication device connects to the Internet.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   This application claims priority to Application No. 94140953 filed in Taiwan on Nov. 22, 2005 under 35 U.S.C. §119(a). 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates to a communication device management system, and in particular collection method of a communication device management system with a dynamic capability. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
     FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a conventional data path for upgrading a communication device  10 . The capabilities of the communication device  10  are determined when fabricated. A User Agent Profile (UAProf) describing capabilities of communication device  10  is stored in a database  16  of a second server  15 . Most of the second servers  15  are set up by the factories that manufacture the communication device  10 . The UAProf stored in the database  16  of the second server  15  comprises the initial software/hardware capabilities of the communication device  10 . 
   When a user wants to surf the internet, a built-in browser  11  of the communication device  10  has to transfer URL of the UAProf to a first server  13  through the internet  12 . When the URL of the UAProf is received by the first server  13 , a request for the content of the UAProf is sent to the second server  15 . Most first servers  13  are configured by a Telecommunication Company which provides services to users. 
   In addition, if the communication device  10  transfers both the URL of the UAProf and a User Agent Profile Difference (UAProf-Diff) to the first server  13 , the first server  13  will send a request to the second server  15  to obtain the content of the UAProf according to URL of the UAProf, and combine the UAProf and UAProf-Diff to update the UAProf of the communication device  10 . UAProf-Diff may be the difference between various types of communication devices of the same brand. In addition, the UAProf-Diff can be pre-stored in the communication device  10  when fabricated. 
   To enhance performance, first server  13  stores correct UAProfs corresponding to each user in a database  14  of the first server  13  in order to reduce the time required to request the UAProf content from the second server. 
   When a user uses a built-in browser  11  of communication device  10  to access on-line services through internet  12 , information server  17  provides data or format transformed data to communication device  10  according to the correct UAProf stored in database  14  of first server  13 . In addition, data provided by information server  17  can be the contents of web pages or files. 
   Under conventional architecture, a communication device can only transfer the URL of the UAProf and UAProf-Diff stored in the communication device when fabricated to the server that is set up by a Telecommunication Company. Due to the ability to enhance the capabilities of a communication device, the capabilities of the communication device may vary. The capabilities of the communication device can be changed through updating software or adding pluggable accessories such as a camera module, a TV receiver and a portable keyboard, but the servers set up by Telecommunication Company have no idea about changes to the communication device after fabrication. When a user uses the built-in browser of the communication device to access on-line services through the Internet, the servers set up by Telecommunication Company can only send a request to the information server for additional information according to the original capabilities. Therefore, the information provided by the information server may not be the expected information. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
   A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
   Methods and systems for discovering capabilities of communication devices are provided. An embodiment of a method for discovering capabilities of a communication device comprising updating the capabilities of the communication device, generating an update updating information corresponding to the communication device after updating the capabilities of the communication device, and transferring the URL of user agent profile and the updated information of the communication device to a first server when the communication device is connected to the Internet. 
   An embodiment of a communication device capability management system; comprises a communication device, comprising: URL of a user agent profile; a capability management agent generating an information update corresponding to the capabilities of the communication device after updating the communication device when the capabilities of the communication device have been updated; and a download agent downloading software for updating the communication device, and a first server sending a request to a second server for the user agent profile according to the URL of the user agent profile, comparing the user agent profile and the information update, and updating the user agent profile for describing the software/hardware capabilities of the communication device after being updated. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     The present invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic view of a conventional communication device upgrading system. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic view of a communication device capabilities management system. 
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing the addition of a new pluggable accessory. 
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart of adding or updating software. 
       FIG. 5  is a flow chart of adding or updating the UAProf-Diff. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION 
     FIG. 2  illustrates a communication device capabilities management system comprising a communication device  20 , a first server  23 , a second server  25  and an information server  27  according to the embodiment of the invention. Communication device  20  can be a portable device, such as a cellular phone or a PDA. 
   Communication device  20  has a capability management agent  29 . When the capabilities of communication device  20  are updated, capability management agent  29  can generate an information update B corresponding to communication device  20  according to software install information A of the software. Updating communication device  20  means adding/updating software and/or adding pluggable accessories. Software install information A can be the descriptor of the software or the driver of the pluggable accessory for describing the media support/processing capabilities thereof. Information update B can be the UAProf-Diff generated by capability management agent  29  according to the descriptor or the driver. 
   It should be noted that UAProf-Diff can be the information describing difference between various types of communication devices of the same brand pre-stored in the communication device when fabricated. However, not all of the communication devices have a pre-stored UAProf-Diff when fabricated. Whether a communication device has a UAProf-Diff or not depends on the manufacturer. 
   Furthermore, in one embodiment of the invention, if communication device  20  has a UAProf-Diff, capability management agent  29  adds a field or updates the field in the UAProf corresponding to the software or the pluggable accessory according to the capability thereof for correctly describing the capabilities of communication device  20 . 
   In addition, in one embodiment of the invention, if communication device  20  does not have a UAProf-Diff, capability management agent  29  can generate a UAProf-Diff according to the descriptor of the software or the driver of the pluggable accessory. Capability management agent  29  also adds a field in UAProf-Diff corresponding to the software or the pluggable accessory to correctly describe the capabilities of communication device  20 . 
   When a user surfs the internet, a built-in browser  21  of communication device  20  has to transfer the URL of the UAProf and the UAProf-Diff to first server  23  through Internet  22 . Most first servers  23  are set up by Telecommunication Company for providing services to users, such as Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan), Vodafone (UK), and China Mobile (China). In addition, surfing Internet  22  can be through physical network or wireless network. In one embodiment of the invention, when a UAProf corresponding to a user is already stored in database  24  of first server  23 , UAProf stored in database  24  can be compared with the UAProf-Diff received by first server  23 , to update UAProf in database  24  to correctly describe the capabilities of communication device  20 , and then store the updated UAProf in database  24 . 
   In another embodiment of the invention, if the UAProf corresponding to URL of the UAProf of the user is not stored in database  24  of first server  23 , first server  23  will send a request to second server  25  for the content of the UAProf corresponding to the URL of the UAProf of the user. In addition, first server  23  will compare the UAProf with the UAProf-Diff to update the UAProf for correctly describing the capabilities of communication device  20 . Second server  25  can be configured by the manufacturer of communication device  20 , such as Motorola or Nokia. The UAProf describing the capabilities of communication device  20  when fabricated can be stored in database  26  of second server  25 . For the sake of performance, the correct UAProf of the user is stored in database  24  of first server  23 , to reduce the time required to send a request to second server  25  for the UAProf content. 
   With the correct UAProf, when a user surfs the internet through built-in browser  21  of communication device  20 , information server  27 , based on the UAProf stored in database  24  of first server  23 , can determine whether to send the information to communication device  20  directly, or to transform the format of the information before sending it to communication device  20 , for correctly processing the information. Information server  27  can provide information such as web pages, files and data. Contents of information server  27  can be updated by software vendors, and the information provided by information server  27  can be free to downloaded or pay-per-download. 
   It should be noted that in some embodiments first server  23 , second server  25  and information server  27  are set up by Telecommunication Company, manufacturers and software vendors, respectively. First server  23 , second server  25  and information server  27  are not limited to position in separate hosts. In one embodiment of the invention, first server  23  and information server  27  can share the same host, also, first server  23  and second server  25  can share the same host, second-server  25  and information server  27  can share the same host, or first server  23 , second server  25  and information server  27  can share the same host. 
     FIG. 3  illustrates a flow chart of updating the pluggable accessory. First, adding the pluggable accessory such as a camera module, a TV receiver, or a portable keyboard is added to communication device  20  (S 31 ). The pluggable accessory can be plugged into the expended slot directly, connected to communication device  20  through a wired line or connected to communication device  20  wirelessly (such as Bluetooth and IrDA). IrDA is a kind of point-to-point transmission technique defined by Infrared Data Association. Next, it is determined whether the communication device  20  can identify the pluggable accessory (S 32 ). If communication device  20  can identify the pluggable accessory, the driver of the pluggable accessory has been installed, Capability management agent  29  of communication device  20  can then execute a system function call (S 34 ) to obtain the correlation information of the pluggable accessory (S 35 ). Further, if the pluggable accessory can not be identified by communication device  20 , installation of the driver of the pluggable accessory may be required (S 33 ). The process to install driver of the pluggable accessory is the same as adding software described on next paragraph. 
     FIG. 4  illustrates step S 33  of an embodiment of the invention, the detailed steps of adding/updating software. First, the user obtains software through wired or wireless method by a download agent of communication device  20  (S 42 ). Next, the user installs the downloaded software (S 44 ). The download agent can comprise any applicable transmission medium, such as a browser, e-mail, multimedia message service (MMS) or file transfer protocol (FTP). A software descriptor accompanies the software being downloaded to describe the media supporting/processing capabilities of the software, and software installation information A can be stored in the software or saved as an additional file, such as a software descriptor file. The format of software installation information A is not limited to a specific format. In one embodiment of the present invention, the content of software installation information A comprises information such as name, version, software vendor and capabilities of the applications. 
   Software installation information A can be discovered periodically by capability management agent  29 . Also, capability management agent  29  can be informed through system function call after the download agent has downloaded and installed the software, then software installation information A can be discovered. A method for capability management agent  29  to actively discover software installation information A is to store software installation information A in the designated data path or the memory via the download agent. Software installation information A is processed by capability management agent  29  when a specific event occurs (such as a particular time, a user initiation or a software event) (S 46 ). Capability management agent  29  can add a field to the UAProf-Diff or update the fields of the UAProf-Diff based on software installation information A. 
   If the UAProf-Diff is stored in communication device  20 , capability management agent  29  can update the UAProf-Diff based on software installation information A to correctly describe the capabilities of communication device  20  in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. 
   In addition, if the UAProf-Diff is not stored in communication device  20 , capability management agent  29  can generate the UAProf-Diff according to software installation information A in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Capability management agent  29  also generates fields corresponding to software installation information A for correctly representing the capabilities of communication device  20 . 
     FIG. 5  illustrates the steps for adding/updating the UAProf-Diff. First, communication device  20  verifies the format of software installation information A downloaded by the download agent (S 52 ). It should be noted that, step S 52  is an optional step. If the format of software installation information A does not meet the criteria of the self-defined or the standard UAProf, then the UAProf is neither updated nor modified from UAProf or UAProf-Diff. If the format of software installation information A meets the criteria of the standard UAProf, then it is further decided if the properties of the downloaded software to be newly added software or updated software (S 54 ). If the downloaded software is new software the new component/attribute fields are added to the UAProf-Diff based on software installation information A (S 56 ). When the downloaded software is updated software, the component/attribute fields are added according to software installation information A, if corresponding component/attribute fields are not presented in the UAProf-Diff, or updating component/attribute fields are updated according to software installation information A, if corresponding component/attribute fields are presented in the UAProf-Diff (S 58 ). 
   As previously described above, in one embodiment of present invention, capability management agent  29  dynamically discovers the update information of communication device  20 , and actively transfers information update of communication device  20  to first server  23  when connecting to the Internet to provide the proper information to communication device  20  according to UAProf stored in database  24 . 
   While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.