Patent Publication Number: US-2007105541-A1

Title: Method of control of a wireless communication unit and a wireless communication unit

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to control of wireless communication units, in general, and in particular, to a method and an apparatus for optimizing use of Multimedia Message Services.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      Wireless communications systems, for example a cellular telephony system, allow for communication between users of the wireless communication units by means of message services. Besides communication between two users (or a group of users) of the mobile communication units there is a huge number of messages transmitted by third parties, like Value Added Service Providers (VASP) also known as Content Providers, to the users. A big part of these messages is a result of automatic delivery of recurring information (i.e. subscribed billing info, stock market info, weather info etc). With increasing usage of messaging capabilities, the wireless communication unit provides more and more information but also becomes overwhelmed with these recurrently received messages.  
      Mobile phones are now not only devices that allow for communication with another party, they also perform many other functions. They can be used for taking photographs, sending and receiving emails, browsing the internet; they can also be used as a personal assistants, etc. It is simply a consequence of the fact that the mobile phones are actually computers and they perform functions similar to those of traditional computers (PC or laptops). Because the elements of a Man Machine Interface (MMI) are software definable, they can be changed and allow for personalization of the mobile phone. However, the plurality of elements of the MMI makes the process of personalization time consuming. Having computer readable files defining an appearance of the elements of the MMI makes is difficult to apply proper rendering schemes (e.g., when and for what time the image/animation/text should be displayed on the screen; whether the sound, if any, should be played immediately, etc.).  
      Computer readable files forming so called “themes” can be used for personalization of the mobile phone. A theme is a combination of a wallpaper, a screensaver, and one or more ring tones. The next level in personalization of the communication device is called a “skin”. The term “skin” is wider than “theme” as it allows for customization of all aspects of the MMI appearance. In addition to the elements of the MMI that can be personalized by means of the themes, skins additionally allow for alteration of elements like icons, toolbars, pointers, etc.  
      In both these applications, interaction with a user of the communication unit is required in order to make the communication unit fully functional. In case of recurring messages, a user of the mobile phone must erase the unwanted messages from the memory. Because there could be hundreds of messages in the memory of the phone, it could be a really time consuming process to find and erase obsolete messages. As the communication units provide more and more functions and become more and more popular, it is important to have all the functionalities easily accessible for the user irrespective of the user&#39;s technical knowledge and experience. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating a communication network in one embodiment of the present invention,  
       FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating a method of control of a wireless communication unit in one embodiment of the present invention,  
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication unit in one embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
      The term “Content Provider” herein below refers to an entity that provides services (mostly information and entertainment) to users of wireless communication devices (e.g. mobile phones) operating in a communications network.  
      The term “theme” herein below refers to personalizing main elements of a Man Machine Interface (MMI) and it could be a combination of a wallpaper, a screensaver, and one or more ring tones.  
      The term “skin” herein below refers to personalizing all elements of the MMI that can be personalized. This includes the elements covered by the term “theme” and additionally icons, toolbars, pointers, etc.  
      The term “stream of a message” (also referred to as a “stream”) herein below refers to a parameter that allows for identification of a Content Provider that originated the message and for identification of a content of the message (weather forecast, stock info, news, theme, skin, etc.).  
      Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , one embodiment of a method of control of a wireless communication unit  300  (e.g., a mobile phone) according to the present invention is shown. In this embodiment, a user of a wireless communication unit  300  operating in a digital communication network  100  subscribes to a service that provides regular updates of information on a particular subject (e.g., a weather channel to receive the forecast for a given city, location, country, etc). The updates are regularly provided by a Content Provider  104 . In a first step, the Content Provider  104  creates the MMS message  202  ( FIG. 2 ) to be delivered to said wireless communication unit  300 . The MMS created by the Content Provider  104  in one embodiment may contain a Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) element with both an information text and an image (it can be for example an animated image, e.g., a weather map). In the next step, the Content Provider creates an instruction  204  ( FIG. 2 ) for the wireless communication unit  300 . Said instruction defines a stream of a message and an action to be executed by the communication unit  300 . Because receiving regular updates of specific information will eventually fill up the whole available memory  312  ( FIG. 3 ), said instruction instructs the communication unit  300  to erase from the memory  312  all previous messages from the same stream.  
      In one embodiment, the instruction is inserted  206  ( FIG. 2 ) in two predefined fields, wherein these two fields are added to the standard protocol used for transmitting MMS messages. In a first field the stream of the message is defined, and a second field defines the action. Table 1 below specifies information elements in the MM 1 _submit_REQ message which is part of the protocol used for transmitting MMS messages as defined in 3GPP 23.140. The MMS message will be conveyed end-to-end with the two new fields when all concerned interfaces (e.g., MM 1 _notification.REQ; MM 1 _retrieve.RES; MM 4 _forward.REQ; MM 7 _forward.REQ as defined in 3GPP 23.140) support these new fields and parameters contained therein.  
               TABLE 1                          Information elements in the       MM1_submit.REQ message.                         Information               element   Presence   Description               Message Type   Mandatory   Identifies this message as MM1 submit.REQ       Transaction ID   Mandatory   The identification of the               MM1_submit.REQ/MM1_submit.RES pair.       MMS Version   Mandatory   Identifies the version of the interface               supported by the MMS UA.       Recipient   Mandatory   The address of the recipient(s) of the       address       MM. Multiple addresses are possible.       Content type   Mandatory   The content type of the MM&#39;s content.       Sender address   Optional   The address of the MM originator.       Message class   Optional   The class of the MM (e.g., personal,               advertisement, information service)       Date and time   Optional   The time and date of the submission of               the MM (time stamp).       Time of Expiry   Optional   The desired time of expiry for the MM or               reply-MM (time stamp).       Earliest   Optional   The earliest desired time of delivery of       delivery time       the MM to the recipient (time stamp).       Delivery report   Optional   A request for delivery report.       Reply-   Optional   A request for reply-charging.       Charging       Reply-Deadline   Optional   In case of reply-charging the latest time               of submission of replies granted to the               recipient(s) (time stamp).       Reply-   Optional   In case of reply-charging the maximum       Charging-Size       size for reply-MM(s) granted to the               recipient(s).       Priority   Optional   The priority (importance) of the message.       Sender   Optional   A request to show or hide the sender&#39;s       visibility       identity when the message is delivered to               the recipient.       Store   Optional   A request to store a copy of the MM into               the user&#39;s MMBox, in addition to the               normal delivery of the MM.       MM State   Optional   The value to set in the MM State               information element of the stored MM, if               Store is present.       MM Flags   Optional   One or more MM Flag keywords to set in               the MM Flags information element of the               stored MM, if Store is present       Read reply   Optional   A request for read reply report.       Subject   Optional   The title of the whole multimedia               message.       Reply-   Optional   In case of reply-charging when the reply-       Charging-ID       MM is submitted within the               MM1_submit.REQ               this is the identification of the               original MM that is replied to.       Push stream   Optional   For a given sender, this field indicates               at which stream the message pertain       Push action   Optional   It indicates the recommended actions to       type       be taken by the receiving device       Content   Optional   The content of the multimedia message                  
 
      It is within contemplation of the present invention that the instruction (or part of it, e.g., defining the stream of the message) can be inserted into or derived from other fields of the protocol.  
      Alternatively the instruction may be embedded in the message itself. In one embodiment for embedding the message a Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) method is used.  
      In yet another embodiment, the instruction identifying the stream of the message and the action to be executed by the communication unit  300  is embedded as plain text in a textual portion of the message. In this embodiment a special markers indicating the beginning and the end of said instruction must be used.  
      Because the instruction is designed to control the communication unit, adequate safety measures must be employed to ensure that only these parties that the user of the communication device  300  authorized (e.g., by subscribing to the service) are allowed to deliver the message to the user&#39;s communication unit  300 . Authentication and authorization procedures  208  ( FIG. 2 ) are applied in order to ensure safety of the service. For this purpose, one of the methods of authentication and authorization known in the art may be used.  
      After the message and the instruction are created, the Content Provider  104  transmits them  210  ( FIG. 2 ) through the operator server  106  and Switching and Management Infrastructure (SwMI)  108 ,  118 ,  120 ,  122 , which substantially contains all of the communication elements apart from the communication unit  300 . This includes base transceiver stations (BTSs)  118 ,  120 ,  122  connected to a conventional public-switched telephone network (PSTN)  124  through base station controllers (BSCs), mobile switching centres (MSCs) and Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC). For the sake of clarity, only part of these element were presented on  FIG. 1 . Each of the BTSs  118 ,  120 ,  122  provides an over-the-air communication  126  with communication units  300 ,  130  operating in respective cells  112 ,  114 ,  116 . The SwMI  108 ,  118 ,  120 ,  122  delivers the MMS to the communication unit  300 .  
      After receiving said MMS message, the communication unit  300  extracts the instruction from the predefined information fields and starts processing  222  said instruction. Alternatively, referring to  FIG. 3 , a scanning function  314  (which may be implemented as a part of a microprocessor  310  or as a separate unit) scans the message for the presence of said instruction. After the instruction is identified, it is then transferred to the microprocessor  310  for processing  222 .  
      In one embodiment, the MMS message is automatically retrieved  212  by the communication unit and then the instruction is automatically processed  216 ,  222 . In this implementation, no user&#39;s interaction is required. However, to allow the user to keep control over the communication unit  300  it is also possible that the user is prompted (e.g., by a ring alert) to retrieve the message  212 ,  214  and the instruction is then processed automatically  216 ,  222  or after the user&#39;s confirmation  216 ,  218 ,  222 . In yet another embodiment, the message is retrieved automatically  212  and then the instruction is processed after confirmation by the user  216 ,  218 ,  222 .  
      The information placed in a field “date and time” (as shown in Table 1) is used by the communication unit to select the messages from the same stream which have been sent before the latest received message was sent. Based on that, the communication unit  300  will erase  224  the previously received message only if it has been sent earlier than the latest received message.  
      If the user&#39;s interaction is required, and the user&#39;s decision is not to retrieve the message or not to process the instruction, then the message or the instruction is discarded  220 .  
      In one embodiment, before delivering the instruction and the message to the communication unit  300 , said instruction is processed by the Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC). As a result of executing the action defined in the instruction, all previous messages addressed to said communication unit  300  from the same stream as the one just received are erased from a memory of the MMSC. This could be especially important in situations where the communication unit  300  is switched off for an extended period of time. For example, if a communication unit  300  is switched-off for a period of one week, all the messages with an expiration date longer than one week will be accumulated in the memory of the MMSC and transmitted to the communication unit  300  when the communication unit  300  is switched on. The present invention allows for erasing all messages of a given stream except the one latest received. That would save memory storage capacity in the MMSC, but even more importantly, only the latest message would be sent to the device when it switches on. This would save bandwidth for the carrier and memory in the communication unit  300 .  
      In another embodiment the MMS message may be used for delivering multimedia elements that can be used for modification of a Man Machine Interface (MMI) including elements such as a keypad  316 , a display  318 , a microphone  320 , and a loudspeaker  326  with amplifier  324 . Because the MMS message can be used for delivering graphics, animation, music, and text, it is possible to use this service for personalization of the MMI of the communication unit. The Content Provider  104  creates a message  202 , which is a combination of a wallpaper, a screen saver, and a ring tone (a so called “theme”) or a combination of the same elements as the theme and other elements like icons, toolbars, pointers, etc (a so called “skin”). Such combinations can be distributed by the Content Provider  104  to the communication units.  
      In the next step, the Context Provider  104  creates an instruction that will be processed by the communication unit  300 . In this embodiment, the instruction promotes easy installation of the theme or skin on the communication unit  300 . The instruction instructs the microprocessor  310  of the communication unit  300  how to render  226  the multimedia elements of the MMS message. The stream of the message field indicates that the message contains either a theme or a skin. It means that the message contains elements of the MMI that will be affected by the action defined in the action field.  
      Similarly, as in the embodiment of the invention applied to recurring information, updates to the instruction can be a part of the protocol or be embedded in the message. Similarly the authentication/-authorization security measures can be applied in accordance with methods known in the art. Further, retrieval of the message and processing the instruction can be automatic or initiated by the user. As a result of processing the instruction, at least one element of the MMI is replaced with a second multimedia element which was delivered with the MMS message.  
      Because the invention relates to wireless communication systems, it is clear that the message can be delivered to the communication unit  300  over-the-air. However, it is within contemplation of the invention that the message can be also delivered to the communication unit  300  by means of a wireline or wireless connection. With reference to  FIG. 3 , one embodiment of a communication unit  300  is shown. The wireless communication unit  300  has a receiver section consisting of an antenna  306 , a Radio Frequency switch  304 , and a receiver  308  for receiving messages over-the-air. A transmitter section, for transmitting messages over-the-air, consists of the antenna  306 , the Radio Frequency switch  304 , and a transmitter  302 . Said receiver  308  and said transmitter  302  are connected to a microprocessor  310 . A communication interface  322  is also connected to said microprocessor  310 . It allows for electric connection with an external device, e.g. a personal computer, and for transferring MMS messages to the communication unit. In one embodiment, said communication interface is a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port. For a wireless connection via the communication interface  322 , a Bluetooth, WiFi, or Irda technology can be used. The wireless communication unit  300  has also a scanning function  314  to detect and extract an instruction embedded in said message and to transfer said instruction to the microprocessor  310  for processing. A memory device  312  is connected to said microprocessor  310  and, depending on embodiment, it can be a memory module built-in in the wireless communication unit  300  and/or a removable memory device, e.g., a UMTS Subscriber Information Module (USIM).  
      Though this invention is mainly focused on Multimedia Message Service messages and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) it can also be applied to other types of messages and communications systems e.g. operating in accordance with one or more of the GSM, TETRA, APCO25 or GPRS communications standards.