Abstract:
Systems for purchasing personalized products are provided. An embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized products includes a client node and a supplier node. The supplier node provides a product packet comprising a product and multiple components belonging to the product, and transmits the product packet to the client node. The client node comprises a client interface displaying product packet information, and facilitating selection of a portion of the components belonging to the product by a user to generate assembly information, and generates an order packet according to the user provided assembly information. The supplier node receives the order packet from the client node.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
       [0001]     The invention relates to order management, and more particularly, to systems and methods for purchasing personalized products.  
         [0002]     With the spread of network technology, users have come to know various network applications. Network technology has dramatically changed conventional purchasing. Users now want to buy products over networks rather. Furthermore, with globalization, the distances between buyers and sellers have increased. Transactions across cities, provinces, countries, and continents are also increasing. Issues concerning users are efficiency and convenience in purchasing products from various places. Thus, electronic purchasing systems have been introduced. Due to the advantages of efficiency and convenience of network shopping, network bidding, network purchasing, and network bookstore systems have also emerged. Buyers can shop for products by browsing Web pages, and order the desired products via a network shopping system, thus completing a network transaction.  
         [0003]     Current network purchasing systems, however, only provide packaged products to customers. Customers can select, buy and have packaged products delivered. Although the network purchasing system satisfies the requirements of distant orders, conventional network purchasing systems are not capable of meeting customized product requirements because the content/specification of packaged products can not be changed. Some users may focus on product price, while others may focus on product performance. Certain customer groups, such as young people with high expendable income regular online consumption patterns, prefer to purchase products having personalized parts for fulfilling their personal tastes or needs. They do not want to buy the same products that everybody else buys. Conventional electronic purchasing systems do not typically provide means for personalizing electronic products. Systems and methods for purchasing personalized products are desirable.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0004]     Systems for purchasing personalized products are provided. An exemplary embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized products comprises a client node and a supplier node. The supplier node provides a product packet comprising product and multiple component information. The product packet is transmitted to the client node. The client node comprises a client interface displaying product packet information, means for selecting components belonging to the product for generating assembly information. An order packet can then be generated according to the user provided assembly information. The supplier node receives the order packet from the client node.  
         [0005]     Methods for purchasing personalized products are provided. An embodiment of a method for purchasing personalized products comprises following steps. A supplier node, according to a product and multiple associated component information, generates a product packet. The product packet is transmitted to a client node by the supplier node. The client node generates an order packet reflecting user selected product components. The order packet is transmitted to the supplier node by the client node. The supplier node then displays the received order packet information, thus, a manufacture can deliver a customized product to a user according to the order packet information. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]     The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a hardware environment applicable to an embodiment of a personal computer;  
         [0008]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of the network architecture of a first embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized electronic products;  
         [0009]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for purchasing personalized electronic products;  
         [0010]      FIG. 4  is a message sequence diagram of a first embodiment for purchasing personalized electronic products;  
         [0011]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of the network architecture of a second embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized electronic products;  
         [0012]      FIGS. 6A and 6B  are flowcharts illustrating a second embodiment of a method for purchasing personalized electronic products;  
         [0013]      FIG. 7  is a message sequence diagram of a second embodiment for purchasing personalized electronic products.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a hardware environment applicable to an embodiment of a personal computer, comprising a processing unit  11 , memory  12 , a storage device  13 , an output device  14 , an input device  15  and a communication device  16 . Moreover, those skilled in the art will recognize that some embodiments may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including multiprocessor-based, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like. The programmable consumer electronics may be mobile stations, projectors, displayers, mp3 players, digital video recorders or the like. The processing unit  11  is connected by buses  17  to the memory  12 , storage device  13 , output device  14 , input device  15  and communication device  16 . There may be one or more processing units  11 , such that the processor of the computer comprises a single central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessing unit (MPU) or multiple processing units, commonly referred to as a parallel processing environment. The memory  12  is preferably a random access memory (RAM), but may also include read-only memory (ROM) or flash ROM. The memory  12  preferably stores program modules executed by the processing unit  11  to perform methods for purchasing personalized products. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, or others, that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Some embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices linked through a communication network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices based on various remote access architectures such as DCOM, CORBA, Web objects, Web Services or similar.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of the network architecture of a first embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized electronic products  20 , preferably comprising personal computers  21  and  23 . The personal computers may be practiced in the hardware environment illustrated by  FIG. 1 . The personal computers  21  and  23  may be connected for operating in a wired, wireless or mixed network. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the personal computers  21  and  23  may be connected in different types of networking environments, and with communication conducted via various types of transmission devices such as routers, gateways, access points, base station systems or others. The personal computer  21  represents a supplier node, and the personal computer  23  represents a client node.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of a method for purchasing personalized electronic products. In step S 311 , a product and all potential components thereof (including parts and accessories) are provided by the supplier node  21 . For example, all the optical drives with which a notebook may potentially be equipped may include CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW, and similar, and all potential memories may include 128 M, 256 M, 512 M, 1 G, 2 G memories, and similar. In step S 313 , the supplier node  21  transmits product packets comprising the product and complete or partial component information to the client node  23 . In step S 331 , the product packets are received by the client node  23 . In step S 333 , the product and complete or partial component information is acquired by the client node  23 , and the acquired information is displayed via a client interface (e.g. a Web page). In step S 335 , several components, such as a DVD-RW, 2 G memories, a mouse and others, are selected for assembly with the product, and assembly information comprising the selection results are generated via the client interface by the client node  23 . In step S 337 , order packets comprising the assembly information are transmitted to the supplier node  21  by the client node  23 . In step S 351 , order packets are received by the supplier node  21 . In step S 353 , the supplier node  21  acquires assembly information comprising the product and selected components. The supplier node  21  may comprise a supplier interface for displaying the product and selected components, enabling the operators to deliver the product containing the selected components to the customer. In step S 371 , acknowledgement packets comprising order confirmation are transmitted to the client node  23  by the supplier node  21 . When receiving acknowledgement packets, the client node  23  displays a message showing that the order has been successfully received via a client interface.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a message sequence diagram of a first embodiment for purchasing personalized electronic products. The supplier node  21  first transmits the described product packets to the client node  23 . After receiving the product packets, the client node  23  transmits the described order packets to the supplier node  21 . After receiving the order packets, the supplier node  21  transmits the described acknowledgement packets to the client node  23 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of the network architecture of a second embodiment of a system for purchasing personalized electronic products  50 , preferably comprising personal computers  51 ,  53  and  55 . The personal computers may be practiced in the hardware environment illustrated by  FIG. 1 . The personal computers  51 ,  53  and  55  may be connected for operating in a wired, wireless or mixed network. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the personal computers  51 ,  53  and  55  and with communication conducted via various types of transmission devices such as routers, gateways, access points, base station systems or others. The personal computer  51  represents a supplier node, the personal computer  53  represents a proxy node, and the personal computer  55  represents a client node.  
         [0019]      FIGS. 6A AND 6B  are flowcharts illustrating a second embodiment of a method for purchasing personalized electronic products. In step S 611 , a product and all potential components thereof (including parts and accessories) are provided by the supplier node  51 . In step S 613 , product packets comprising the product and complete or partial component information are transmitted to the proxy node  53  by the supplier node  51 . In step S 615 , the received product packets are transferred to the client node  55  by the proxy node  53 . In step S 631 , the product packets are received by the client node  55 . In step S 633 , the product and complete or partial component information is acquired by the client node  55 , and the acquired information is displayed via a client interface (e.g. a Web page). In step S 635 , components are selected for assembly with the product, and assembly information comprising user selections is generated via the client interface by the client node  55 . In step S 637 , order packets comprising the assembly information are transmitted to the proxy node  53  by the client node  55 . In step S 639 , the received order packets are transferred to the supplier node  51  by the proxy node  53 . In step S 651 , the order packets are received by the supplier node  51 . In step S 653 , the supplier node  51  acquires assembly information comprising the product and selected components. The supplier node  51  may comprise a supplier interface for displaying the product and the selected components, enabling the operators to deliver the product containing the selected components to the customer. In step S 671 , acknowledgement packets comprising order confirmation are transmitted to the proxy node  53  by the supplier node  51 . In step S 673 , the received acknowledgement packets are transferred to the client node  55  by the proxy node  53 . When receiving the acknowledgement packets, the client node  55  displays a message showing that the order has been successfully received via a client interface.  
         [0020]      FIG. 7  is a message sequence diagram of a second embodiment for purchasing personalized electronic products. At the beginning, the supplier node  51  transmits the described product packets to proxy node  53 , and then, the proxy node  53  transfers the product packets to the client node  55 . After receiving the product packets, the client node  23  transmits the described order packets to the proxy node  53 . The proxy node  53  then transfers the order packets to the supplier node  51 . After receiving the order packets, the supplier node  51  transmits the described acknowledgement packets to the proxy node  53 , and then, the proxy node  53  transfers the acknowledgement packets to the client node  55 .  
         [0021]     Although the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiment, it is not limited thereto. Those skilled in this technology can make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The invention is not limited to merely test or simulation applications. Any applications relating to cross-platform message exchanging should be covered by the scope of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention shall be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalents.