Abstract:
The present invention provides a method, system and program product for messaging and updating services over the air from application servers to applications in mobile devices, so that applications in mobile devices can receive instant messages over the air from application servers via instant messaging servers and communication networks, with option to communicate back to application servers to fetch updates over the air via communication networks, and execute updates in mobile devices or applications.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Not Applicable 
       STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
       [0002]    Not Applicable 
       REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX 
       [0003]    Not Applicable 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    With the innovation and development of technology, more and more mobile devices have become part of people&#39;s daily lives. A person may have a number of mobile devices such as smart phones, tablets, and laptops. With many rich features, functionalities and application programming interfaces built into mobile devices, the creations of applications in mobile devices have become relatively easy and gained popularities to add services and values to mobile devices. It is not uncommon for a mobile device to have dozens of applications installed. At the time of this writing, Apple Inc declares that there are more than 500,000 applications in its App Store, whereas for Goggle Play, it is estimated to have more than 600,000 applications. 
         [0005]    Applications in mobile devices can be categorized as games, entertainment, utilities, social networking, music, productivity, lifestyle, reference, travel, sports, navigation, healthcare &amp; fitness, news, photography, finance, business, education, weather, books, medical, and etc. Once applications are installed in mobile devices, they can be running in foreground or background, but may not be aware of situations that their corresponding application servers have immediate application and/or user updates for them to fetch and/or execute. For example, suppose an application service provider find that there is a serious bug in its application that is installed in millions of smart-phones, and publish a patch and notice in its application server. If the owners of the corresponding smart-phones are aware of the bug and notice, they can make their smart-phones and/or the application in their smart-phones connect to the application server, fetch the bug-fix patch and apply the patch. The issue is how to notify all the owners of the corresponding smart-phones or how to notify all the corresponding smart-phones automatically, and during proper time-frame let these smart-phones and/or the application in these smart-phones connect to the application server, fetch the bug-fix patch and apply the patch. Although applications in mobile devices can initiate communication with their corresponding application servers by design such as through http or https interface, it is quite challenging for application servers to initiate communication with their corresponding applications in mobile devices due to security consideration such as firewall protection. In order for applications in mobile devices to get immediate updates from their corresponding application servers, certain communication mechanisms should be established between applications and their corresponding application servers. Traditionally there are two ways to facilitate such communication. One is pull-mode, where applications periodically pull application servers to fetch updates, and/or execute updates. The other is push mode, where application servers push instant notification messages to applications so that applications can connect to application servers, fetch updates, and/or execute updates right away. In the pull-mode mechanism, pulling frequency needs to be high enough to ensure data accuracy and timeliness, which could introduce high network traffic and scalability issue on applications servers. On the other hand, the push-mode mechanism allows instant on-demand notifications from applications servers to applications, therefore avoiding unnecessary network traffic and providing reasonable scalability on applications servers. 
         [0006]    Short Messaging service (SMS) is a text messaging service provided by mobile operators for mobile phones. SMS messages and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) messages on top of SMS bearer can be pushed into mobile phones and then relayed to applications in mobile phones near real-time. Due to the controllability of SMS by mobile operators, mobile device manufacturers and/or mobile operating system providers may build messaging services in their own data networks, instead of depending on messaging services from mobile operators. For example, Apple Inc has provided Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) for its mobile and desktop devices such as iPhone, iPad, and MAC, while Google Inc has implemented Google Cloud Messaging for Android (GCM). 
         [0007]    The competitions among mobile device manufacturers and/or mobile operating system providers lead to proprietary protocols and costly implementations for mobile data messaging services. The lack of standardization on mobile data messaging services makes it hard for application service providers to design, implement and deploy their applications on different mobile devices and/or mobile operating systems. Therefore there is a need to provide a cost-effective and flexible solution for messaging services between applications in mobile devices and their corresponding application servers. 
         [0008]    Instant messaging is a communication mechanism providing an instantaneous transmission of messages from senders to receivers between people with communication devices. There are a number of instant messaging service providers that have millions of subscribers. The present invention intents to utilize the widely used instant messaging services and provide messaging and updating services over the air from application servers to applications in mobile devices. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention provides a method, system and program product for messaging and updating services over the air from application servers to applications in mobile devices, so that applications in mobile devices can receive instant messages over the air from application servers via instant messaging servers and communication networks, with option to communicate back to application servers to fetch updates over the air via communication networks, and execute updates in mobile devices or applications. Application service providers and mobile device subscribers setup accounts with instant messaging servers. Application servers and mobile devices have instant messaging clients that can subscribe to and communicate with each other for instant message exchange via instant messaging servers and communication networks. Mobile device subscribers determine whether applications in mobile devices should register or de-register with application servers for instant messaging services from application servers. If applications in mobile devices are granted permissions by mobile device subscribers to receive instant messages from application servers, then application servers can push instant messages to applications whenever there are application and/or user updates from application servers to applications. After instant messages are received on mobile devices, they can be relayed to applications and optionally displayed on the screens of mobile devices. Applications can further process instant messages with option to communicate back to application servers, fetch updates, and execute updates. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic architecture of a mobile device, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a schematic block diagram of an application server, an instant messaging server, a mobile device, and two communication networks, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates a schematic block diagram of the interface and message exchange pattern among an application server with an instant messaging client, an instant messaging server, and a mobile device with an instant messaging client and an application, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0013]      FIG. 1  illustrates a schematic architecture of a mobile device. In one embodiment, the mobile device  100  comprises central processing units  101 , system memories  102 , disk storages  103 , input interfaces  104 , output interfaces  105 , network interfaces  106 , power supply interfaces  107 , and system buses  108 . 
         [0014]    The central processing units  101  provide a means for executing executable programs and can be any types of micro-controllers, processors, micro-processors, or multi-processors. The system memories  102  provide a means for storing executable programs such as a basic input/output system (BIOS), one or more operating systems, a plurality of firmware modules, and a plurality of software/application modules. The system memories  102  can be any combinations of random-access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). The disk storages  103  provide a means for storing programs, files and data, and can be any types of internal disks, external disks  109 , optical disks, and the like. 
         [0015]    The input interfaces  104  provide a means for transferring data into the mobile device  100  through the input devices  110  such as keyboard, keypad, touch-pad, touch screen, thumb-wheel, trackball, mouse, stylus, joystick, microphone, camera, sensor, etc. The input devices  110  can be internal or external parts of the mobile device  100 . The output interfaces  105  provide a means for transferring data from the mobile device  100  to the output devices  111  such as screen, display, television, speaker, etc. The output devices  111  can be internal or external parts of the mobile device  100 . 
         [0016]    The network interfaces  106  provide a means for transferring data between the mobile device  100  and other network devices  112  via communication networks (not shown) such as circuit-switched telephone networks and/or packet-switched data networks. They can be any wireless interfaces such as radio with radio transmitter/receiver/antenna, wireless local/wide/metro area network interfaces, and may include other wireless, wired and satellite network interfaces. 
         [0017]    The power supply interfaces  107  provide power to the mobile device  100 . They can be a number of batteries. They may include external power sources such as AC adapters. 
         [0018]    The system buses  108  provide a means for transferring data internally among the central processing units  101 , the system memories  102 , the disk storages  103 , the input interfaces  104 , the output interfaces  105 , the network interfaces  106 , and other components (not shown) of the mobile device  100 . 
         [0019]    Reference is now to  FIG. 2 , which illustrates a schematic block diagram of an application server  201  with an instant messaging client  202 , an instant messaging server  204 , a mobile device  206  with an instant messaging client  207  and an application  208 , a communication network  203  and a communication network  205 . The instant messaging server  204  can be a public or private, standardized or proprietary instant messaging server, and is responsible for account registration and instant message relay between instant messaging clients. The subscriber of the mobile device  206  registers an account with the instant messaging server  204 , so does the application service provider of the application server  201 . The instant messaging client  202  in the application server  201  can communicate with other instant messaging clients via communication networks and the instant messaging server  204 . The mobile device  206  has the same architecture as the one denoted in  FIG. 1 . The instant messaging client  207  in the mobile device  206  can communicate with other instant messaging clients via communication networks and the instant messaging server  204 . The application  208  in the mobile device  206  is associated with the application server  201 . 
         [0020]    The communication network  203  and communication network  205  provide a means for transporting data between data senders and data receivers. The communication network  203  comprises one or more wireless networks, wired networks and satellite networks. The communication network  205  comprises wireless networks, zero or more wired networks and satellite networks. Wired networks can be any combination of internet, intranet, local area network (LAN) such as ethernet, wide area network (WAN) such as frame relay and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), virtual private network (VPN), public switched telephone network (PSTN), and the like. Wireless networks can be any combination of wireless personal area network (WPAN) such as bluetooth and near field communication (NFC), wireless local area network (WLAN) such as Wi-Fi, wireless wide area network (WWAN), wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN) such as worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WIMAX), long term evolution (LTE), cellular network such as global system for mobile communication (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), code division multiple access (CDMA), evolution-data optimized (EV-DO), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), digital enhanced cordless telecommunication (DECT), integrated digital enhanced network (IDEN), and the like. 
         [0021]    Reference is now to  FIG. 3 , which illustrates a schematic block diagram of the interface and message exchange pattern among an application server with an instant messaging client, an instant messaging server, and a mobile device with an instant messaging client and an application. These entities have the same architectures as those denoted in  FIG. 2 , with communication networks omitted. 
         [0022]    The mobile device  304  and/or the instant messaging client  305  may provide graphic user interfaces and/or application programming interfaces (APIs) to the application  306 . These APIs can be remote procedure calls (RPCs), message exchanges using publisher/subscriber mechanism, and the like. In one embodiment, with the permission from the subscriber of the mobile device  304 , the application  306  can send a registration/de-registration request through the interface  307  to the instant messaging client  305  for instant messaging services from the application server  301 . The instant messaging client  305  can send a registration/de-registration response back to the application  306 . After registration/de-registration request and response, the instant messaging client  305  can send the registration/de-registration status (failure or success) to the application server  301  through the interface  309  with the instant messaging server  303 , and the interface  310  with the instant messaging client  302 . 
         [0023]    In another embodiment, with the permission from the subscriber of the mobile device  304 , the application  306  can send a registration/de-registration request through the interface  307  to the instant messaging client  305  for instant messaging services from the application server  301 . The instant messaging client  305  can send a registration/de-registration response back to the application  306 . After registration/de-registration request and response, the application  306  can send the registration status directly through the interface  311  to the application server  301 . 
         [0024]    In another embodiment, with the permission from the subscriber of the mobile device  304 , the application  306  can send a registration/de-registration request directly through the interface  311  to the application server  301  and get registration/de-registration response from the application server  301 . 
         [0025]    In the end, after registration/de-registration request and response, both the application  306  and the application server  301  have record about whether the mobile device  304  and the application  306  are registered for instant messaging services from the application server  301 . 
         [0026]    If the mobile device  304  and the application  306  are indeed registered for instant messaging service from the application server  301  and if the application server  301  has immediate updates for the application  306  in the mobile device  304 , then the application server  301  can send instant notification messages to the mobile device  304  and the application  306  through the interface  312  with the instant messaging server  303 , the interface  313  with the instant messaging client  305 , and the interface  308  with the application  306 . After instant notification messages are received, optionally they can be displayed on the screen of the mobile device  304 . The application  306  can further process instant notification messages with option to communicate back to application server  301  through the interface  311 , fetch updates, and/or execute updates. 
         [0027]    While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.