Patent Publication Number: US-2002002705-A1

Title: Computer profile update system

Description:
[0001] The present invention relates to a system allowing updating of profiles on computer devices. In particular, the present invention is particularly suitable for updating user profiles on portable computerised devices such as mobile telephones.  
       [0002] Increasingly, computers and computer based services store information about users. A home computer may store personal information about its user owner, information on its own hardware and associated settings, information on installed software and its associated settings and preferences and also information on user interface settings that have been selected by the user. This information is held as a profile associated with the user and/or computer and is maintained to enable the user and computer to be able to receive information and access services that are relevant and appropriately formatted. To enable such personalisation, the information or service provider computers need to know about the user and his computer. When a user requests information or a service from the service provider, parts of the profile may be transmitted to the appropriate server which interprets the data and generates an appropriate response for the user. The World Wide Web commission (W3C) have published the document composite capability/preference profiles (CC/PP): a user side frame work for content negotiation which details such a system.  
       [0003] One rapidly developing area is mobile access to online services. Devices such as personal digital assistants and mobile phones are already available that can be used to access online information. The WAP forum has developed and published an open global wireless protocol specification based on existing Internet standards for wireless communication that allows mobile users with such mobile devices to easily access interactive information services and applications. However, in order to keep the cost and weight of the mobile devices down, they currently have limited processor and memory capabilities, small display screens and can only communicate at very limited speeds. As each type of mobile device is different in terms of its screen size, memory and processing capabilities, profiles are extremely important because they allow the interactive services such as WAP based Web Sites to adapt their output (for example change the complexity of the output display or change the size of the output display) to make it more suitable for the mobile device. In order to optimise performance of Web access and mobile device operation, the profile need not necessarily be help by the mobile device. Indeed, due to the extremely limited memory and storage capacity mobile devices profiles may be stored centrally in a profile database and supplied to the contents server by a WAP gateway as and when required instead of being stored locally on the device. However, this shifts the burden to the WAP gateway and, in this scenario, the mobile device must access the WAP gateway each time the user changes it&#39;s configuration. The most likely outcome of this is that the profile is distributed between a number of sites including the WAP gateway, the mobile device and possibly other sites.  
       [0004] However, while a user obviously wishes to retain full control over his profile, he may not be particularly familiar with all of its contents, in particular the more technical contents. Furthermore, the user may not have the time or the ability to update profile elements. In the event that the profile is distributed over a number of sites, this must be centrally managed to ensure the correct parts are properly updated.  
       [0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer profile update system comprising an update control computer arranged to communicate with a user computer, a profile being held in a memory which is associated with the user computer and/or with the user, the update control computer being configured to communicate suggested profile updates to the user computer, wherein if the suggested profile updates are accepted, corresponding updates are made to the profile in the memory.  
       [0006] In the system of the present invention, the user remains in control of the profile but is prompted and guided through the updating of the profile as and when it is required. In this manner, no technical or detailed knowledge is required of the user, nor does the user have to concern himself as to when updates are required. Optionally, technical details of updates may be omitted and the user may be notified only of the effect the update may have. In this way the non-technical user is still fully aware and in control of the effect of an update. 
     
    
    
     [0007] Examples of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
     [0008]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system incorporating a profile updating system according to one aspect of the present invention;  
     [0009]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication system incorporating the profile updating system according to another aspect of the present invention; and,  
     [0010]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication system incorporating the profile updating system according to another aspect of the present invention. 
    
    
     [0011]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer system incorporating a profile updating system according to one aspect of the present invention. A user&#39;s computer  10  is connected to the Internet  20 . The computer  10  includes a hard disk storage device  15  on which profiles on the user and his computer  10  are stored. Each time the user installs new software or hardware or changes the user interface, the profiles are updated by the computer.  
     [0012] An update control computer in the form of a profile server  30  is also connected to the Internet  20 . As a new service comes on line or the user&#39;s circumstances change the profile must be updated. The profile server  30  generates a profile update made up of a number of suggested changes to elements within the profile. The profile update is communicated to the user&#39;s computer  10  over the Internet  20 . Upon receipt, the user is notified that the profile requires updating and the suggested changes. The suggested changes notified to the user may optionally omit technical details and only describe the nature and/or effect of the change. If the user accepts the changes, they are applied to the appropriate profile in a memory, such as storage device  15 . Otherwise, the profile update is discarded.  
     [0013]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication system incorporating the profile updating system according to another aspect of the present invention.  
     [0014] The mobile communication system includes a user computer in the form of a mobile device  100  in communication with a wireless network  120  (such as a digital cellular network). A WAP gateway  130  acting as an update control computer is also in communication with the wireless network  120  and a memory in the form of profile database  140 . The WAP gateway  130  is also connected to the Internet  150 . A content server  160  is also connected to the Internet  150 .  
     [0015] When the mobile device  100  is requested to access the Internet  150  it communicates with the WAP gateway via the wireless network  120 . The WAP gateway acts as an intermediary between the mobile device  100  and the Internet by accepting WAP Internet access requests from the mobile device  100 , parsing the requests and submitting them to the appropriate content server  160  along with necessary data from the profile. The content server  160  processes the request and formats it in dependence on the data from the profile to produce a reply. When the reply is received from the content server  160 , it is processed by the WAP gateway  130  and forwarded to the mobile device  100  for display.  
     [0016] A profile may need updating, for example, if a user takes his mobile device outside of the network he is subscribed to such that he will not be able to receive a cell broadcast. In this case, the profile should be updated so cell broadcast is inhibited. A profile may also need updating if more memory is added to a mobile device, a new operating system loaded, the user&#39;s details change or a new service requiring more information than is currently in the profile becomes available. A profile may also be updated by a content server or other external agency. For example, where the content server is a sports server and the user currently subscribes to football sports information that is normally retrieved once a week, when a major tournament such as the European or World cup is held, the sports server requests to update the server SO that information is retrieved every day. In each of these circumstances, the WAP gateway  130  generates a profile update message that includes the changes suggested to be made to the user&#39;s profile. The message is transmitted across the wireless network  120  to the mobile device  100  and the suggested changes are displayed to the user. Optionally, technical details of the suggested changes may be omitted and the user is only advised of their nature and/or effect. If the user chooses to accept the changes, the message is transmitted back to the WAP gateway  130  and the user&#39;s profile is updated in the records of the profile database  140  associated with the mobile device  100  and/or the user at the WAP gateway. Otherwise, the message is discarded and no changes are made.  
     [0017]FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a mobile communication system incorporating the profile updating system according to another aspect of the present invention.  
     [0018] Where the profile is distributed over a number of sites, once the update is accepted, the appropriate part of the profile is determined by the WAP gateway  130  and the update is then applied or transmitted for application.  
     [0019] The mobile communication system includes a user computer in the form of a personal data assistant  200  in communication with a wireless network  120 . A WAP gateway  130  acting as an update control computer is also in communication with the wireless network  120 . The WAP gateway  130  is also in communication with a number of websites  210  over the Internet  220  that are maintained by respective web servers  230 . The PDA is registered with the web sites  210 , as a result of which a profile is stored in a database  250  of the respective web server  230 .  
     [0020] The WAP gateway  130  maintains an overall database  260  of the users and/or PDA devices profiles held by the respective web servers  230 . Where the WAP server determines an update should be applied and the update is accepted by the user, the WAP server  130  communicates with the respective web servers  230  to arrange the update of the user and/or PDA profile in the database  250 .  
     [0021] The above embodiments of the present invention have been concerned with profiles held by or on behalf of a user&#39;s computer that are used to customise received data so it can be properly displayed and processed by the user. However, profiles are also generated and stored, both on user&#39;s computers as cookies and on remote systems, that allow data and metadata on the user to be stored. These profiles allow user interfaces to be personalised, specific information targeted at users having common interests or for systems to learn about users and their needs so as to be able to predict information they require in future and offer it when it becomes available. Such profiles are in wide-scale use in Internet search engines, subscription services and the like. The present invention is equally applicable to these types of profiles. If the profile is stored on the user&#39;s computer then it could be modified in a manner similar to that described with reference to FIG. 1. Otherwise, where a profile is stored on a remote computer, such as an Internet search engine&#39;s WWW server, the profile could be modified in a manner similar to that described with reference to FIG. 2.