Patent Publication Number: US-2003236769-A1

Title: Method and device for mobile communication

Description:
[0001] The present invention relates to a method and a device for mobile communication and in particular, but not necessarily, a method for updating a register of contact information in a mobile station.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNIQUE  
       [0002] Inputting new contact data, such as telephone numbers and names to the memory of an electronic device, such as a mobile station, is a task that many people find difficult or laborious. This is common especially among users who seldom use this procedure. In the future this will be even more laborious, because in addition to the name and telephone number, other contact information, such as the e-mail or Internet page address, must be input to the memory of the device.  
       [0003] In order to store the contact information in the user&#39;s mobile station as easily as possible, all contact information available should be automatically stored in the mobile station on the basis of a certain piece of contact information, preferably when the user of the mobile station establishes a connection on the basis of said certain piece of contact information.  
       [0004] A method and a system for providing information related to a computer network have been presented in U.S. Pat. No. 6,067,546. For example, subscriber B (called party) receives the telephone number of subscriber A (calling party). The device of subscriber B (customer premises equipment, GPE) or the elements of the telephone network use said telephone number for indexing the database, which contains combinations of telephone numbers and computer network addresses. When the computer network address of subscriber A has been retrieved to the device of subscriber B, the information created by subscriber A, such as a web page (the location of which in the network is specified by said computer network address) can be transmitted to subscriber B and presented in the device of subscriber B. In addition, the telephone number of subscriber A can be sent by subscriber B to an application located in the computer network, the application causing automatic presentation of the information created by subscriber A in the device of subscriber B.  
       [0005] The application number EP 869688 discloses a method and a device for transferring service pages implemented in a telecommunication network, such as the Internet, to a terminal device. Transferring a service page according to the invention presented in the application enables the presentation of versatile information on the display of a terminal device connected to a telecommunication network on the basis of CLIP (Calling Line Identification Presentation) or CoLP (Connected Line Identification Presentation) identification information. This is implemented by transferring, for example, to the display of subscriber A the service page selected by subscriber B, which can be used for advertising, for example. When subscriber A has established a telephone connection to subscriber B, the CoLP information is transmitted to subscriber A. After this, subscriber A contacts the Internet address server, whereupon the CoLP information is also transmitted to said address server. If the Internet address corresponding to the CoLP information is found in the database of said server, said Internet address is transmitted to subscriber A. After this, subscriber A contacts the Internet address received, downloads the service page and shows the service page retrieved on the display of the terminal device. This embodiment is suitable for situations in which, for example, the client calls the number of a company offering certain products or services, and gets automatically further information about the products or services provided by the company to his terminal device in the form of a service page. However, the use of the CoLP service instead of the CLIP service provides an advantage. Subscriber A, to whom the advertisement is directed, can be sure of the origin of the advertisement, because call transfers possibly implemented in the telephone network, for example, cannot affect the validity of the CoLP service.  
       [0006] Both of the prior art solutions described above require downloading a web page, which is relatively slow with the present mobile stations.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] A method and a device have now been invented by which the contact information is stored in the user&#39;s mobile station as a response to an established communication connection. The first mobile station user, such as subscriber A, establishes a connection with the first mobile station to a second mobile station, for example, such as subscriber B, on the basis of a first piece of contact information related to the second mobile station user, such as a telephone number. When a connection has been established, subscriber A receives other contact information related to subscriber B, such as address information, in his mobile station on request.  
       [0008] Storing the contact information in the user&#39;s mobile station is easy and requires no extra effort. All other contact information available that relates to a certain first piece of contact information is preferably stored automatically when the user of the mobile station establishes a connection on the basis of said certain first piece of contact information.  
       [0009] According to a first aspect of the invention, a method has been implemented for storing contact information in the memory of a first electronic device, the first electronic device being capable of communicating via a communication network with at least a second electronic device; the method comprises the steps of: inputting a first piece of contact information to the first electronic device for establishing a communication connection to said at least one second electronic device, establishing a communication connection via said communication network between said first electronic device and said at least one second electronic device on the basis of said first piece of contact information, characterized in that the method also comprises: sending a request message by said first electronic device to said at least one second electronic device on the basis of said communication connection, the request message comprising a request for sending at least one second contact information update relating to said first piece of contact information to said first electronic device, sending a feedback message as a response to said request message by said at least one second electronic device, the feedback message comprising at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information, and storing said first piece of contact information and said at least one second piece of contact information in the memory of said first electronic device.  
       [0010] According to a second aspect of the invention, a first electronic device has been implemented for storing contact information in the memory of said device, the device being capable of communicating via a communication network with at least a second electronic device; the device comprises: input means for inputting a first piece of contact information to the first electronic device for establishing a communication connection to said at least one second electronic device, communication means for establishing a communication connection via said communication network between said first device and said at least one second electronic device on the basis of said first piece of contact information, characterized in that said device also comprises: request message generating means, the request message comprising a request for sending at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information to said device, request message transmission means for sending a request message by said device to at least one second electronic device on the basis of the communication connection established, reception means for receiving a feedback message, which comprises at least one second piece of contact information, as a response to the transmitted request message, the second piece of contact information relating to said first piece of contact information, storage means for storing said first piece of contact information and said second piece of contact information in the memory of said device.  
       [0011] According to a third aspect of the invention, there is implemented a system for storing contact information in the memory of a first electronic device; the system comprises a first electronic device and at least one second electronic device, the first electronic device being capable of communicating via a communication network with at least a second electronic device, the system comprises input means for inputting a first piece of contact information to the first electronic device for establishing a communication connection to said at least one second electronic device, communication means for establishing a communication connection via said communication network between said first electronic device and said at least one second electronic device on the basis of said first piece of contact information, characterized in that the system comprises: request message transmission means for sending a request message by said first electronic device to at least one second electronic device on the basis of the communication connection established, the request message comprising a request for sending at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information to said first electronic device, feedback message transmission means for sending a feedback message on the basis of a request message received from said at least one second electronic device, the feedback message comprising at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information, and storage means for storing said first piece of contact information and said second piece of contact information in the memory of said first electronic device.  
       [0012] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a computer software product has been implemented for an electronic device for storing contact information in said electronic device, the electronic device being capable of establishing a communication connection via a communication network with at least one second electronic device on the basis of a first piece of contact information formed in said first electronic device, characterized in that the computer software product comprises: computer software means for generating a request message, the request message comprising a request for sending at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information to said device, computer software means for making said first electronic device send said request message to at least one second electronic device on the basis of the communication connection established, computer software means for making said electronic device receive a feedback message, which comprises at least one second piece of contact information, as a response to the request message transmitted, the second piece of contact information relating to said first piece of contact information, computer software means for storing said first piece of contact information and said at least one second piece of contact information in the memory of said electronic device. 
     
    
    
     [0013] In the following, the invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which  
     [0014]FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the invention;  
     [0015]FIG. 2 shows an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention;  
     [0016]FIG. 3 a  shows a system according to an embodiment of the invention;  
     [0017]FIG. 3 b  shows a system according to an alternative embodiment of the invention;  
     [0018]FIG. 4 shows a list of contact information according to an embodiment of the invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 5 a  shows the structure of a request message according to an embodiment of the invention; and  
     [0020]FIG. 5 b  shows the structure of a feedback message according to an embodiment of the invention.  
    
    
     [0021]FIG. 1 is a flow diagram of a method according to an embodiment of the invention. The steps of the method can be advantageously implemented with a computer program code stored in the electronic device. In order to illustrate the presentation, reference is made in the following to the mobile stations  310 ,  320 , communication network  330  and server  340  shown in FIGS. 3 a  and  3   b . In step  101 , the user of an electronic device, such as a mobile station  310 , inputs to the mobile station  310  the first piece on contact information, such as the telephone number of the user of a second mobile station  320 , on the basis of which a communication connection is established between the mobile stations  310  and  320 . Alternatively, the communication connection between the mobile stations  310  and  320  can be established on the basis of an e-mail address or a web address. The mobile station  310  stores the received piece of contact information in the memory for possible later use in step  102 . If a communication connection is established with another mobile station  320 , for example, in step  103 , the mobile station  310  sends in step  104 , after the communication connection has been established, a request message to the mobile station  320 , asking for further contact information related to said first piece of contact information. This takes place so that the mobile station  310  sends a request message preferably as an SMS message to the mobile station  320 , the request message comprising a request to send at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information. The SMS message can be, for example, an SMS message standardized in the GSM system (SMS, Short Message Service). The feedback message and request message are not limited for implementation merely as SMS messages, but other types of messages, such as MMS messages (MMS, Multi Media Service), can be used for implementing the invention.  
     [0022] The transmission of the request message is dependent on the settings of the mobile station. The user of the terminal can determine whether the request message is sent automatically when the communication connection is established, or separately when the user so wishes. If an automatic request message has been selected in the settings, the request message is preferably transmitted during the communication connection. Alternatively, or if the request message cannot be sent during the communication connection, the request message can also be sent before establishing the communication connection or after it. The user accepts the transmission of the request message e.g. by pressing a key as a reply to a prompt shown on the display of the device by the computer software application, giving the user a possibility to accept or to reject the transmission of a request message by pressing a key. If the second mobile station  320  can offer at least one second piece of contact information, it is sent by the mobile station  320  or by the user of said mobile station as a feedback message e.g. in one ordinary or concatenated SMS message. Sending the feedback message takes place in such a manner, for example, that a computer software application installed in the mobile station  320  is activated by the user of the mobile station  320 , after which the computer software application automatically generates a predetermined feedback message when the mobile station  320  receives a request message, and the feedback message is transmitted to the mobile station  310 . The computer software application recognizes the received message as a request message on the basis of an identifier in the message. In addition, the sender of the message is recognized on the basis of a subscriber identifier, for example. After the recognition, the computer software application returns a feedback message either automatically or at the user&#39;s request. The feedback message comprises at least one second piece of contact information, which can be e.g. the telephone, fax or pager number of a person or a company, a name or an address, but it can also comprise other information. If the feedback message is a multimedia message, it can comprise e.g. an image, which can be in the jpeg format, for example. The user of the mobile station  320  can, when he so wishes, specify the piece(s) of contact information that the user wants to offer to the users of other mobile stations, in this case to the user of mobile station  310 . Said feedback message is received by mobile station  310  (step  105 ), whereupon the contact information is retrieved from the feedback message as explained below in connection with the description of FIGS. 5 a  and  5   b . The contact information is stored in the memory or register of mobile station  310  (step  107 ), and finally said first piece of contact information and the other contact information received are linked to refer to each other in said memory or register (step  108 ). The feedback message can be sent either during the communication connection or after it, if it is not possible to send it during the communication connection.  
     [0023] Alternatively, the request message can be sent in step  104  to a server  340 , for example, such as a contact information server, in which address information of the users of the mobile station have been stored. The request message is received by the server, and if at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information has been stored on the server  340 , a feedback message is sent from the server via the communication network  330  to the mobile station  310 , which receives said feedback message (step  105 ). In the mobile station  310 , the contact information is retrieved from the feedback message (step  106 ) and stored in the memory of the mobile station  310  (step  107 ), and finally said received contact information and said first piece of contact information are linked to each other in step  108 . If no second piece of contact information is found, the server  340  or the mobile station  320  can inform the mobile station  310  in an SMS message, for example, that information is not available.  
     [0024]FIG. 2 shows an electronic device  200  according to an embodiment of the invention. The device  200  is preferably a mobile station that operates in a wireless radio frequency cellular communication system, such as the GSM system. The device  200  comprises a processor  201  for performing operations in a device  200 , a memory  202  for storing information, at least one application  203  for generating and sending a request message, for example, a keyboard  204  for inputting information, a display  205  for presenting information, a transceiver  206  and an antenna  207  for transmitting information wirelessly to a communication network. The device  200  also comprises a register  208 , in which contact information, such as name, telephone number, e-mail, Internet address or mail address information of private persons or companies have been stored. Both the application  203  and the register  208  can be stored in the memory  202 , although they have been presented as separate blocks here. The device  200  has been arranged to send the request message and the feedback message as a text message or a multimedia message, for example, by the application  203 , the processor  201  and the transceiver  206  to at least one second electronic device. The request message is transmitted as a response to the established communication connection that has been perceived by the application. The request message comprises a request for sending at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information to the device  200 . The feedback message is sent by the device  200  on the basis of the request message received by the device, the feedback message comprising at least one second piece of contact information relating to the device  200  or the user of the device  200 . The transceiver  206  sends, under the control of the processor  206 , the above mentioned request and feedback message as a short message, such as an SMS message, or a multimedia message, such as an MMS message. As is known, in the GSM system the maximum length of a text message is 160 characters. If the request or feedback message is longer than said 160 characters, it is sent in several messages in a manner known by a person skilled in the art, for example as a so-called concatenated message.  
     [0025] The device also comprises reception means ( 201 - 207 ) for receiving a feedback and request message to the device  200 . The feedback and request message comprise an identifier on the basis of which the reception means can handle the message received in an appropriate manner. Then the request message arriving at the mobile station is recognized as a message asking for contact information, and a feedback message is sent as a response to the recognized request message. The transmission of the feedback message depends on the settings of the device  200 . The device  200  can be set by the user in a state in which the device automatically sends a feedback message after receiving a request message, which is recognized by the device  200  as a message asking for address information. Alternatively, the user can set the device  200  in a state in which the device asks the user for confirmation to send a feedback message. Correspondingly, the feedback message coming to the mobile station is recognized as the contact information feedback message on the basis of an identifier in the message, after which the storage means in the mobile station  200 , comprising a processor  201 , a memory  202 , at least one computer software application  203 , are used to store the information contained by the feedback message, the contact information, in the memory  202  or register  208  of said device  200 . The communication means are used to establish a connection between said device  200  and a communication network, the communication network being a mobile station network or the Internet, for example. The connection is established with another user of a mobile station. During said connection, a request message is sent to the mobile station of the other user and/or to a server in the network offering contact information services, the request message including an identifier, by means of which the receiver recognizes the message as a request message, and a request to send a feedback message as a response to said request message, the feedback message comprising further contact information related to said first piece of contact information. If said second mobile station or said server has a register or list of contact information comprising both said first piece of contact information and at least one second piece of contact information, which is attached to said first piece of contact information, both the first and the at least one second piece of contact information are sent in a feedback message to the device  200 . Said second mobile station and said server contain means for recognizing the request message and for retrieving said at least one second piece of contact information from the memory of the device or server and generating means for generating the feedback message. The feedback message is received in the device  200  wirelessly and stored in the memory  202  or register  208  of the device. Finally, said first and said at least one second piece of contact information are linked in the memory  202  or register  208  to refer to each other.  
     [0026]FIG. 3 a  shows a system according to an embodiment of the invention, comprising a first mobile station  310 , a second mobile station  320 , a communication network  330  and a server  340 , such as an address information server. The mobile station  310  is capable of communicating via the communication network  330  with the mobile station  320  and the server  340 . The user of the mobile station  310  inputs (reference  301 ) to the mobile station  310  the first piece of contact information, which can be, for example, a telephone number or other piece of contact information, such as an e-mail address or a web page address. If the piece of contact information is a telephone number, as in the case, for example, that the user of the mobile station  310  calls the user of the mobile station  320  for the first time, the mobile station  310  establishes a connection (ref.  302 ) to the mobile station  320  via the communication network  330 . In the next step, the mobile station  310  sends a request message (ref.  303 ) to the server  340 , asking the server to deliver information to the mobile station  310 , such as contact information related to the first piece of contact information. After this, the server  340  sends a feedback message (ref.  304 ) back to the mobile station  310 ; the feedback message can comprise at least one second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information, or alternatively the server  340  can report that the information requested is not found in the server. If the mobile station  310  receives at least one second piece of contact information, it stores (ref.  305 ) said piece of contact information in the memory  311  and links said piece of contact information to said first piece of contact information.  
     [0027] An alternative embodiment for receiving contact information for more than one mobile station simultaneously is described in the following. This implementation uses the point-to-multipoint or broadcasting method, in which a plurality of mobile stations receive the transmission simultaneously. This can, among other things, save the resources of the communication network, such as the mobile network.  
     [0028] The mobile station  310  calls/establishes a connection to a number/web address, or mobile station  320  in this example. Then the server in the network receives the identifier of mobile station  310 , such as a subscriber identifier, and stores it in the memory of the server. The server also includes a counter  350 , e.g. as computer software stored in the memory, which counts the number of request messages related to a certain object, such as a person or a company the contact information of which is wanted (for example, the number of mobile stations that have called the telephone number of a person or a company). This means that if said object has both a web address and a telephone number, for example, the counter calculates both the calls and visits to the web address. In this example, the value of the counter  350  is incremented by one as a response to a connection established to the mobile station  320 . When the counter that refers to the identifier of mobile station  320  exceeds a certain threshold value, the server  340  transmits a feedback message comprising other contact information of the number/address (ref.  351 ) to the broadcast center  352 , which cyclically transmits a feedback message (ref.  353 ) in its area as a broadcast transmission to a plurality of mobile stations simultaneously. The transmission can be implemented according to the DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) protocol, for example, as a unidirectional transmission through a separate broadcast network  360 , for example. When the customer terminal, such as the DVB receiver of the mobile station  310 , is on, it can receive the transmission and the feedback message.  
     [0029] Broadcasting is suitable for such places, for example, where connections to a certain number/address are established frequently. In order to make reception more effective, DVB transmissions must be performed cyclically for a certain time to ensure that as many receivers wanting information as possible are on at the moment of transmission.  
     [0030] To make sure that only the receivers who want a certain feedback message can receive said feedback message, computer software is stored in the terminal for storing the piece of contact information in the memory of the device when, for example, a communication connection is established on the basis of said piece of contact information and the request message is transmitted. The piece of contact information is stored in the memory of the DVB receiver in connection with the transmission of the request message, for example. Said piece of contact information operates as an identifier at the moment that the mobile station receives the broadcast feedback message. The DVB transmission contains an identifier/header at the beginning, indicating that the DVB transmission concerns e.g. the telephone number 09 1234567, or a request message for said piece of contact information. When the receiver (mobile station  310 ) recognizes the piece of information the same as the piece of contact information stored earlier (call number 09 1234567), the terminal  310  receives the data related to the identifier, i.e. further contact information related to telephone number 09 1234567 in this example, and stores it in the memory. A terminal which does not have said identifier stored in the memory does not receive said feedback message either.  
     [0031]FIG. 3 b  shows a system according to an alternative embodiment of the invention, comprising a first mobile station  310 , a second mobile station  320  and a communication network  330 . The mobile station  310  can communicate via the communication network  330  with the mobile station  320 . The user of the mobile station  310  inputs (reference  341 ) to the mobile station  310  the first piece of contact information, which can be, for example, a telephone number or address information, such as an e-mail address or a web page address. If the piece of contact information is a telephone number, as in the case, for example, that the user of the mobile station  310  calls the user of the mobile station  320  for the first time, the mobile station  310  establishes a communication connection (ref.  342 ) to the mobile station  320  via the communication network  330 . The mobile station  320  sends a feedback message  343  to the mobile station  310 , the feedback message comprising the contact information stored in the mobile station, such as the telephone number, name or address information. The mobile station  310  receives said message  343  and stores it automatically in the memory  311 .  
     [0032]FIG. 4 illustrates in an exemplary manner a list of contact information  400  according to an embodiment of the invention. Said list comprises information fields  401 , such as name fields (references  404 - 407 ), e.g. company name information  406 , personal name information in the form of surname and first name (references  404 ,  405 ), job title information  407  and numeric fields (references  408 - 411 ), such as telephone  408 , mobile station  409 ,  410  or fax number information  411 . In addition, the list of contact information  400  can comprise fields related to an information network, such as an e-mail address  412  or Internet address field  413  and mail and street address fields (references  414 - 417 ). Reference  402  is an example of a list of contact information for a private person, and reference  403  is an example of a list of contact information for a company.  
     [0033]FIG. 5 a  is an example of the structure of a request message. The request message  510  comprises a first identifier field SMS start  511 , which indicates that the message starts from that record, and a second identifier field  512 , on the basis of which the request message can be identified by the receiver of the message. The request message can also comprise a field  513  containing the first piece of contact information, which is advantageously the telephone number on the basis of which the communication connection between two mobile stations has been established, as in the descriptions of FIGS. 3 a  and  3   b . The request message can also comprise a record field  514 , in which it is indicated, for example, that the second piece of contact information related to said first piece of contact information, in field  513 , should be sent as a feedback message to the sender of the request message, i.e. to the telephone number from which the request message has been sent. The record field  514  can comprise a request for sending only certain other contact information, such as all other telephone numbers, or alternatively for sending all possible contact information. The contents of the record field can be defined by the sender of the request message, for example. The fields  512 - 514  mentioned above correspond to the SMS message information of 160 characters. Finally, the request message comprises the record field SMS end  515 , which indicates that the message ends at the record in question.  
     [0034]FIG. 5 b  is an example of the structure of the feedback message. The feedback message  520  comprises a first identifier field SMS start  521 , which indicates that the message starts from that record, and a second identifier field  522 , on the basis of which the feedback message can be recognized by the receiver of the message. The feedback message can also comprise fields  524 ,  528 ,  532  containing contact information, such as name, number or address information, and identifier fields  523 ,  527 ,  529  associated with said fields, on the basis of which the contents of the fields containing contact information can be stored in the right place at the reception end. Because the maximum length of the SMS message has been specified as  160  characters, the feedback message comprises identifiers (references  525 ,  526 ,  530  and  531 ), by which the receiver is informed that the message is longer than 160 characters. The number of contact information fields in the feedback message depends on the number of fields indicated in the request message and the total number of contact information items available. Finally, the feedback message comprises the record field  533 , which indicates that the message ends at the record in question.  
     [0035] There are alternative implementations for the structure of the feedback message. In the first alternative, the feedback message comprises the identifier fields of all possible contact information fields regardless of whether the contact information field itself contains information or not. In that case, the request message and the feedback message have a standard form, and the request message can be made relatively short, because it does not specify in more detail which information the feedback message should contain. The contents of the feedback message are stored in the mobile station by examining whether the contact information field corresponding to the identifier field contains information or not.  
     [0036] In another alternative, the feedback message comprises only the contact information fields and corresponding identifier fields that have been mentioned in the request message. An advantageous feature in this case is the fact that the size of the feedback message does not grow large because of empty identifier fields of the contact data fields.  
     [0037] The implementation and embodiments of the invention have been presented here by means of examples. It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the embodiments described above, and that the invention can also be implemented in some other form without departing from the characteristic features of the invention. The embodiments presented should be regarded as illustrative but not restrictive. Thus the possibilities for the implementation and use of the invention are limited only by the accompanying claims. Therefore, the various alternative embodiments of the invention, including equivalent embodiments, fall within the scope of the invention.