Patent Publication Number: US-2007105571-A1

Title: System and method for providing advertisement messages

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates generally to a system for providing advertisement messages and, more particularly, to a system and method for providing advertisement messages, which transmit the advertisement messages to users according to preset conditions, and allow the advertisement messages to be separately managed.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      As the number of users who carry mobile communication terminals is increasing, service operators are transmitting advertisement messages for publicizing their services or products to the mobile communication terminals, so that the users may view the advertisement messages.  
      However, the advertisement messages are frequently transmitted to the users&#39; mobile communication terminals without previous consultation with the users, so that the users increasingly regard most of the advertisement messages that are received by their mobile communication terminals as spam messages and delete the received advertisement messages without viewing them.  
      Accordingly, research is required research into a method in which service operators provide advertisement messages to users differently from the existing method of transmitting advertisement messages.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing advertisement messages, which provide corresponding advertisement messages only to specific users according to advertisement message transmission conditions set by the users.  
      Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for providing advertisement messages, which provide a Virtual Machine (VM) application, having functions for separately managing and storing advertisement messages received by each user&#39;s mobile communication terminal, thus allowing the advertisement messages to be viewed according to users&#39; settings.  
      In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a system for providing advertisement messages, the system being connected with a mobile communication network and transmitting advertisement messages to a mobile communication terminal in which a Virtual Machine (VM) application for receiving the advertisement messages is installed, the system including a DataBase (DB) for storing information associated with the advertisement message provision system, as well as collected and registered advertisement messages; a message transmission condition setting unit for classifying message transmission conditions, which users register using wired or wireless terminals, according to a user and storing the classified message transmission conditions in the DB, based on a preset message transmission condition menu; a VM application provision unit for extracting the VM application, which has been previously stored, and transmitting the extracted VM application to the mobile communication terminal of a user desiring to receive advertisement messages; a message transmission target extraction unit for, when a request from an operator or a registration for a new advertisement message is made, extracting an advertisement message transmission target based on message transmission conditions for the respective users, which have been registered in the DB by the message transmission condition setting unit; and a message transmission unit for transmitting the advertisement message to the mobile communication terminal of the corresponding user, which is chosen as an advertisement message transmission target by the message transmission target extraction unit and has been provided with the VM application.  
      In addition, the present invention provides a method for providing advertisement messages, using a system for providing advertisement messages, that is connected to a mobile communication network and transmits the advertisement messages to a mobile communication terminal in which a VM application for receiving the advertisement messages has been installed, the system having a DB for storing collected and registered advertisement messages, the method including the steps of (a) classifying message transmission conditions, which are registered by users using a wired or wireless terminal, according to a user and storing the classified message transmission conditions in the DB, based on a preset message transmission condition menu; (b) when a request from an operator or a registration for a new advertisement message is made, extracting an advertisement message transmission target based on message transmission conditions for the respective users, which have been registered in the DB by the message transmission condition setting unit; and (c) transmitting the advertisement message to the mobile communication terminal of the corresponding user, which is chosen as an advertisement message transmission target at step (b) and has been provided with the VM application.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a connection between a system for providing advertisement messages and a communication network according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the construction of the system for providing advertisement messages according to the present invention in detail;  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the construction of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing advertisement messages according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The advertisement message disclosed in the present invention has a short message form or a multimedia message form, including any of text, a still image, a moving image or a combination thereof.  
      A preferred embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings below.  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram showing a connection between a system for providing advertisement messages and a communication network according to the present invention.  
      The advertisement message provision system  300  stores advertisement messages collected from a plurality of content servers (not shown) or registered by advertisement providers through a mobile communication network  200 , and transmits an advertisement message to a mobile communication terminal  100  based on message transmission conditions that a user sets using a preset message transmission condition menu.  
      In this case, a VM application is downloaded from the advertisement message provision system  300 , is stored and installed in the mobile communication terminal  100  in order to receive the advertisement messages, and separately stores and manages the advertisement messages transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300 . Each of the advertisement messages includes information about the call-back URL of a server that provides information about the details of each item in the advertisement message, so that, when the user manipulates a terminal and selects a specific item from the advertisement message, a connection to the server that provides the details can be made using the call-back URL.  
      The advertisement message provision system  300 , illustrated in  FIG. 1 , may be connected to a plurality of content provision servers (not shown) that request the transmission of advertisement messages, or may be implemented as part of an individual business&#39;s corporate management server.  
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the construction of the system for providing advertisement messages according to the present invention in detail.  
      As shown in  FIG. 2 , the advertisement message provision system  300  includes a message collection/registration unit  310 , a message transmission condition setting unit  320 , a VM application provision unit  330 , a message transmission target extraction unit  340 , a message transmission unit  350 , and a DB  360 .  
      In more detail, the DB  360  includes a message information DB  361  for storing the collected and registered advertisement messages, a message transmission condition DB  363  for storing message transmission conditions that users register using wired or wireless terminals, and a VM application information DB  365  for storing information about a VM application that is installed in the mobile communication terminal  100  and then has a function of separately managing advertisement messages, which are received from the advertisement message provision system  300 , in the mobile communication terminal  100 .  
      The message collection/registration unit  310  stores the advertisement messages, which are collected from the plurality of content provision servers or are registered by the advertisement providers, in the message information DB  361 , and allows an advertisement message transmission procedure to be performed by transferring the advertisement messages to the message transmission target extraction unit  340  and the message transmission unit  350  at the time of storing the advertisement messages.  
      Each of the advertisement messages includes information about the call-back URL of a server that provides information about the details of each item in the advertisement message, so that, when the user manipulates a terminal and selects a specific item from the advertisement message, a connection to the server that provides the details can be made using the call-back URL.  
      Based on a preset message transmission condition menu, the message transmission condition setting unit  320  classifies message transmission conditions, which users register using wired or wireless terminals, according to a user and stores the classified message transmission conditions in the message transmission condition DB  363 . In this case, the message transmission conditions may be any of the conditions for transmitting advertisement messages matched to a field that a user selects according to his or her preference, conditions for transmitting advertisement messages associated with a specific business designated by the user, conditions for transmitting all advertisement messages, and the combinations thereof.  
      The VM application provision unit  330  extracts a previously stored VM application and transmits the extracted VM application to the mobile communication terminal  100  of a user who desires to receive the advertisement message. The VM application has functions of storing the advertisement messages, which are transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300 , in a separate advertisement message storage space provided in the mobile communication terminal  100 , and providing the stored advertisement messages at the user&#39;s request, after transmission to the mobile communication terminal  100  and installation.  
      When a request from an operator or a registration for a new advertisement message is made, the message transmission target extraction unit  340  extracts an advertisement message transmission target based on the message transmission conditions for each user, which have been registered in the message transmission condition DB  363  by the message transmission condition setting unit  320 .  
      The message transmission unit  350  transmits an advertisement message to the mobile communication terminal  100  of the corresponding user, which is chosen as an advertisement message transmission target by the message transmission target extraction unit  340  and has been provided with the VM application.  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing the construction of a mobile communication terminal according to the present invention.  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , the mobile communication terminal  100  includes a control unit  110 , an input unit  120 , memory  130 , a wireless communication unit  140 , a display unit  150 , an output unit  160 , an application storage unit  170 , an advertisement message management unit  180 , and an advertisement message storage unit  190 .  
      Since the control unit  110  for the overall operation of the mobile communication terminal  100 , the input unit  120  for controlling the input of the mobile communication terminal  100 , the memory  130  for storing various pieces of data, the wireless communication unit  140  for performing wireless communication, a display unit  150  for displaying the current state of a mobile communication terminal or the processed state of an event that a user has requested, and an output unit  160  for audibly providing data, which is necessary for the use of voice call service or data service, are general elements of mobile communication terminals, a description thereof is omitted.  
      The application storage unit  170  receives and stores the VM application transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300 , and installs the VM application in the mobile communication terminal  100 , thus allowing the VM application to separately manage the advertisement transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300 .  
      When the advertisement messages transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300  are received according to the message transmission conditions registered by the user, the advertisement message management unit  180  stores the received advertisement messages in the advertisement message storage unit  190 .  
      Furthermore, the advertisement message management unit  180  displays the advertisement messages through the display unit  150  immediately after receiving the advertisement messages, which have been stored in the advertisement message storage unit  190 , according to preset message display conditions, or extracts advertisement message from the advertisement message storage unit  190  and displays the extracted advertisement message through the display unit  150  at the user&#39;s request. Each of the advertisement messages includes information about the call-back URL of a server that provides information about the details of each item of the advertisement message, so that, when the user manipulates a terminal and selects a specific item from the advertisement message, a connection to the server that provides the details can be made using the call-back URL.  
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing advertisement messages according to the present invention.  
      The advertisement message provision system  300 , disclosed in conjunction with  FIG. 4 , stores advertisement messages, which are collected from a plurality of content provision servers or are registered by advertisement providers, in the message information DB  361 .  
      The message transmission condition setting unit  320  of the advertisement message provision system  300  classifies message transmission conditions, which users register by using wired or wireless terminals, according to a user and stores the classified message transmission conditions in the message transmission condition DB  363 , based on a preset message transmission condition menu at step S 101 . In this case, the message transmission conditions may be any of the conditions for transmitting advertisement messages matched to a field selected by a user according to his or her preference, conditions for transmitting advertisement messages associated with a specific business designated by the user, conditions for transmitting all advertisement messages, and the combinations thereof.  
      The VM application provision unit  330  extracts the VM application, which has been previously stored in the VM application information DB  365 , and transmits the extracted VM application to the mobile communication terminal  100  of a user, desiring to receive the advertisement messages, in response to a request transmitted from the mobile communication terminal  100  at step S 103 . In this case, the VM application stores the advertisement messages, transmitted from the advertisement message provision system  300 , in the separate advertisement message storage space provided in the mobile communication terminal  100 , and provides the stored advertisement messages at the user&#39;s request, after transmission to the mobile communication terminal  100  and installation.  
      Thereafter, when a request from an operator or a registration for a new advertisement message is made at step S 105 , the message transmission target extraction unit  340  extracts an advertisement message transmission target based on message transmission conditions for the respective users, which have been registered in the message transmission condition DB  363 , at step S 107 .  
      The message transmission unit  350  transmits the advertisement message to the mobile communication terminal  100  of the corresponding user, which is chosen as an advertisement message transmission target at step S 107  and has been provided with the VM application.  
      Each of the advertisement messages, disclosed in conjunction with  FIG. 4 , includes information about the call-back URL of a server that provides information about the details of each item of the advertisement message, so that, when the user manipulates a terminal and selects a specific item from the advertisement message, a connection to the server that provides the details can be made using the call-back URL.  
      As described above, the system and method for providing advertisement messages transmit advertisement messages to users&#39; mobile communication terminals according to preset conditions, so that they are advantageous in that advertisement messages differentiated from existing spam messages can be provided and, therefore, the advertisement effect can be improved.  
      Furthermore, the present invention provides a VM application, which allows received advertisement messages to be separately stored and managed, to the mobile communication terminals, so that it is advantageous in that advertisement messages can be viewed according to a user&#39;s settings.  
      Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.