Abstract:
A method and apparatus for effecting and controlling associated transactions, wherein crediting a third party is confirmed on submitting content to a predetermined recipient on selection of the submitter. The content is sent as a short message, multimedia message or e-mail and the associated transaction involves charging the submitter&#39;s telecommunications account with an Accounting, Authentication and Authorisation server to credit the third party.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention generally relates to donating with electronic communications. The invention relates, in particular but not exclusively, to crediting a chosen charity using a telecommunication network&#39;s Accounting, Authentication and Authorisation (AAA) server on submitting a message to a friend, relative or colleague.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Charity organisations operate often with voluntary staff, but nevertheless need plain money to address certain situations such as catastrophes and helping ill and/or poor people, among others. Such organisations often issue their own greeting cards for special events such as New Year&#39;s. It is also becoming more common to replace small business gifts with a donation to the charity and a card expressing that a donation has been made for the recipient. Perhaps even more common is the sending of cardboard based cards printed with a charity organization logo and text for the Red Cross®, WWF® and the like. The charity gains a small amount of money per each card purchased for the use.  
         [0003]     The internet is quickly spreading to homes in developed countries and thereby gives rise to a number of electronic systems where a donation can be made by sending electronic greetings. Such systems typically provide for voluntary credit to the charity or expose users to advertisements so that the site providing the donation service can utilize advertisers for accessing the donors. Some mobile telephone operators also support charities by donating a predetermined portion of their income. Such a method may ease the donating and help the charity, but, however, suffers from a given inflexibility: a user may not choose whom to aid and when, and the user cannot share her good spirits with a friend or business contact in a discreet and acceptable manner.  
         [0004]     It is desired to provide new alternatives to carrying out donations and other crediting in general to desired parties. It is also desirable to enable capturing an ever-growing portion of people who donate to charities.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a method in a network apparatus serving subscribers of a telecommunications network, including: 
        identifying a charity message from a plurality of messages;     identifying a message recipient of the message;     identifying an associated donation recipient;     instructing an account server to transfer a donation to the associated donation recipient; and     passing the charity message towards the message recipient with a notice of a donation being made.        
 
         [0011]     Advantageously, a mobile telecommunications subscriber, for instance, may send a donation message to a message recipient and also donate to a desired donation recipient so that the message recipient will perceive the donation.  
         [0012]     The method may further include identifying the associated donation recipient to the recipient of the message. The identification may take place by correspondingly modifying the message to contain a coded or plain identification of the associated donation recipient. Advantageously, by modifying the message in the network apparatus, there is no need for a sender to enter and send any explanation of a charity donation being made and telecommunications resources can be spared on a link between the sender and the network apparatus.  
         [0013]     The identification of the charity message may be based on an identifier associated with the message. The identifier may reside within the message, for instance, at the start or end of the message or at a message header or the identifier may be provided by signalling related to the message. By providing the identifier within the message existing messaging clients may be used as is or with little modification to produce charity messages compliant with the first aspect.  
         [0014]     The identification of the charity message may be based on a proxy address associated with the charity message. The network apparatus may recognize all messages sent to the proxy address as charity messages and identify the final recipient of the charity message from the content of the charity message or from other associated signalling. The method may further involve identifying the associated donation recipient based on the proxy address so that different proxy addresses correspond to different charity parties. Advantageously, using the proxy address to identify the desired donation recipient enables technically robust identification of charity messages as the network apparatus may use existing registers of telecommunications networks to distinguish charity messages from other messages.  
         [0015]     The passing of the message towards the recipient may be subject to a successful instruction of the account server to transfer the donation to the donation recipient or to a successful transfer itself. Alternatively, the passing of the message may be independent of the success of the transfer. However, modifying the message may be conditional on the success of the transfer so that the message itself is always passed to the recipient, but only on a successful making of the donation the message is modified accordingly to advise the recipient of a donation made for him or her.  
         [0016]     Advantageously, in the case of charities, it is unlikely that many messages will be sent without sufficient payment capability of the sender. Hence, it may suffice to simply instruct the accounting server, as regardless the charity organization in question will be positively mentioned to the recipient so that new transaction opportunities may follow.  
         [0017]     The message may carry a message modifier flag for indicating whether to modify the donation message with the donation identifier. The donation identifier may be included if the sender opts in or does not opt out of this modification.  
         [0018]     Advantageously, the sender or donor may choose not to send donation messages so that the recipient will not be informed of the associated donation. This may be convenient if the sender does not wish to highlight the donation for any reason, such as political correctness.  
         [0019]     The donation recipient identifier may identify the donation recipient uniquely or relative to the donor. In a relative identification, the network entity may make use of the donor&#39;s subscriber number, location, nationality and/or pre-stored preferences in identifying the donation recipient in question. Alternatively, the network element may simply pass the donation identifier to the accounting server for a corresponding determination of the donation recipient therein. Further alternatively, the donation recipient identifier may identify the donation recipient by a class of recipients, such as for catastrophe relief, domestic poverty relief, domestic health support, etc. It may then be the responsibility of the operator of the network apparatus to direct the donation to a suitable party or parties in accordance with the class.  
         [0020]     The charity message may be a message of a commercial telecommunications network operated by a telecommunications operator and thus subject to charging by the operator with the accounting server. Advantageously, the telecommunications network is a wireless telecommunications network, such as a cellular or satellite network. Wireless networks typically provide for reliable authentication and authorization, as required for processing financial transactions, and use personal equipment that is common and accessible all day long.  
         [0021]     According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a network apparatus for serving subscribers of a telecommunications network, including: 
        means for identifying a charity message from a plurality of messages;     means for identifying a message recipient of the message;     means for identifying an associated donation recipient;     means for instructing an account server to transfer a donation to the donation recipient; and     means for passing the charity message towards the message recipient with a notice of a donation being made.        
 
         [0027]     According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a charity message including: 
        a type identifier for identifying the charity message among a plurality of messages;     a recipient identifier for identifying a recipient of the charity message;     a donation receiver identifier for identifying an intended receiver of a donation; and     a user message.        
 
         [0032]     According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a system including a network apparatus for serving subscribers of a telecommunications network and a client, the network apparatus including: means for identifying a charity message from a plurality of messages; means for identifying a message recipient of the charity message; means for identifying a donation recipient; means for instructing an account server to transfer a donation to the donation recipient; and means for passing the charity message towards the message recipient with a notice of a donation being made; the client including: means for a user to compose a message; means for associating a type identifier with the message for identifying the message among a plurality of messages as a charity message; means for addressing the message to the response recipient with a respective recipient identifier; and means for associating a donation receiver identifier for identifying an intended receiver of a donation. The system may further include an account server for providing accounting services for a telecommunications network operator and for charging the donation from the sender under the instruction of the network apparatus.  
         [0033]     Various embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated only with reference to certain aspects of the invention. It should be appreciated that corresponding embodiments may apply to other aspects as well.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0034]     The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0035]      FIG. 1  presents a simplified block diagram of a system according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;  
         [0036]      FIG. 2  presents a simplified block diagram of a Transaction Server (TS) shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0037]      FIG. 3  presents a simplified block diagram of a Composing Mobile Station shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0038]      FIG. 4  presents a simplified block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the TS;  
         [0039]      FIG. 5  presents a simplified flow chart of the operation of the TS of  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0040]      FIG. 6  presents a simplified flow chart of the operation of the alternative TS of  FIG. 4 ;  
         [0041]      FIG. 7  presents a message according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention; and  
         [0042]      FIG. 8  presents a message according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0043]      FIG. 1  presents a simplified block diagram of a system  100  according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The system  100  is built on any Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) such as cellular networks GSM and CDMA, or on a satellite, landline or Internet-based telephone system. Popular cellular networks are advantageous for their large existing user base and for their typically sophisticated authentication, accounting and authorization (AAA) functions run by common or dedicated servers.  
         [0044]     The system  100  includes a Composing Mobile Station (C-MS)  110  and a transaction server (TS)  120  operable within a PLMN  130  including a plurality of Mobile Stations (MS)  131 . The C-MS  110  is also a subscriber of the PLMN  130 , but here shown distinguished from others for illustration only. The PLMN  130  further includes a Home Location Register (HLR)  132  and an AAA server  133  located functionally close to the HLR  132  for functions of the PLMN.  
         [0045]     The TS  120  is accessible by the C-MS  110  and is capable of transmitting messages to mobile stations  131  by their subscriber identifications via the PLMN  130 .  
         [0046]     The TS  120  is typically embedded in the PLMN  130  so that an A-subscriber number, that is, a number of the C-MS  110 , is readily available to the TS  120 . Hence, the TS  120  can rely on the AAA function of the PLMN  130 . Alternatively, the TS  120  has no access to reliable AAA functions of the PLMN  130  and the C-MS  110  is unreliably identified by a message supposedly composed by the C-MS  110 . In this case, a separate authorization is obtained by sending a verification message from the TS  120  to the C-MS  110  and waiting for a positive acknowledgment (ACK) before proceeding. The TS obtains the identity of the intended recipient of each message it processes from the content of the message itself. Other elements or entities of the PLMN  130 , accessible to the TS  120 , may participate in processing the contents of the messages. The TS  120  may receive pre-filtered recipient number(s) either separately or together with the message. This may be particularly useful if the pre-filtering is carried out by a server with access to subscriber phone books so that the existence of the recipient number can be first verified. Armed with the recipient number and the C-MS number, the TS  120  can effect a donation and pass on a potentially modified message to the recipient as will be described in more detail with reference to  FIGS. 4 and 5 .  
         [0047]      FIG. 2  presents a simplified block diagram of the TS  120  shown in  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment, the TS  120  is incorporated into the equipment of the PLMN  130  that normally handles messages of a given type, such as short messages (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) or e-mail. The TS  120  searches for specific messages (see  FIG. 7 ) that contain one or more predetermined strings in the message body and/or header. The predetermined strings identify a message as a donation message and triggers a donation process with the TS  120  as further described with reference to  FIG. 5 . The TS  120  includes a message processor  201  for performing normal processing related to message delivery, such as delivering and charging in cooperation with the AAA server  133 . The TS  120  further includes a message searcher  202  for searching messages for the predetermined strings and a memory  203  for storing computer program code  204  for controlling the message searcher  202 . The memory  203  additionally stores a first database  205  containing the predetermined strings which identify donation messages and a second database  206  containing data of various donation recipients associated with the predetermined strings. The second database  206  may also contain predefined donation amounts associated with the predetermined strings such that by a given code, a preset donation will be effected to a predefined party or donation recipient. Further, the second database  206  may include dedicated greetings for each or selected donation recipients for embedding into a message before transferring the message to the message recipient. The computer program code  204  controls the operation of the TS  120 . In an alternate embodiment, the two databases  205 ,  206  may be consolidated. In another alternate embodiment, the first database  205  may be replaced by a rule or by a rule set according to which the predetermined strings are formed. As a non-limited example, an autocorrelation function may be run on the message to check for the existence of the specific code such that the position of the string within the message can be freely chosen.  
         [0048]     The TS  120  further includes an accounting instructor  207  configured to instruct the AAA server  133  to credit the donation recipient a desired amount as identified by the message searcher  202 . The network operator running the AAA server  133  need not charge for the donation transaction since the sending of the message in itself incurs charging and is likely to invoke further messaging if there appear to be no additional expenses. Alternatively, the AAA server  133  may charge the subscriber of the C-MS  110  for effecting the donation.  
         [0049]     The TS  120  further includes a message manipulator  208  for removing the specific string from the message and/or for embedding an automated greeting in the message before passing the message to the message recipient. The embedding of the greeting may be subject to a choice of the sender. The message manipulator  208  may also be capable of stealth mode operation in which no greeting is inserted and the predetermined string is removed such that except for possible disclosure in the message of the sender, the recipient will receive no automatic or further indication of the donation in the message delivered to him or her. To this end, the memory  203  may store a sender profile database  209  and/or stealth mode code to be utilized by the message searcher  202  for message-specific determination of stealth mode operation.  
         [0050]     It can be appreciated that in this exemplary embodiment, messages of arbitrary format can be composed and sent to anyone so that the presence of a predetermined string or code causes a donation to be made. Hence, no special properties are required of the C-MS  110  to compose a special message.  
         [0051]     In addition to the features described in the foregoing, the TS  120  may further include a donation list provider block  210  capable of sending a donation list in response to a message requesting such a list with an associated code string identifiable by the message searcher  202 . In this case, a further string such as “donation list” should be defined in the memory  203  and the computer program code  204 . Alternatively, the additional code string may be provided by separate advertising campaigns and/or be intuitively derivable such that they are easy to remember or deduce, such as an example code string “donatemms:wwf”, wherein the initial part of the string identifies a command to donate and the latter part identifies a donation recipient. The latter part need not explicitly identify the donation recipient but may simply refer to a general cause, such as “nature” or “poor”, in which case the TS  120  would select suitable donation recipients that are profiled in working with the respective general cause.  
         [0052]     Each of the functional blocks (message processor  201 , message searcher  202 , accounting instructor  207 , message manipulator  208  and donation list provider block  210 ) can be implemented by the computer program code  204 . The computer program code  204  need not consist of a unitary set of instructions. Instead, the computer program code  204  may contain a number of separate programs executable in one or more computer languages.  
         [0053]      FIG. 3  presents a simplified block diagram of the Composing Mobile Station (C-MS)  110  shown in  FIG. 1 . The C-MS  110  includes a processor  111 , a memory  112  including a working memory  113  and a non-volatile memory  114 , a Radio Frequency (RF) block  115 , and a user interface (UI)  116 .  
         [0054]     The processor  111  is typically a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor. The working memory  113  typically contains Random Access Memory or flash-RAM. The non-volatile memory  114  typically contains Read Only Memory, mass memory, or flash-RAM. The non-volatile memory  114  contains computer executable program code  117  for controlling the processor  111  to run the C-MS 110  in the desired manner. The UI  116  includes keys, typically in the form of a keyboard or keypad, a display, and audio equipment for audio signal input and/or output.  
         [0055]     The processor  111  controls the C-MS  110  to operate in accordance with the invention. The hardware, or any non-software blocks of C-MS  110 , are similar to those in prior art, but controlled by computer program code  117  in order to implement the invention.  
         [0056]      FIG. 4  presents a simplified block diagram of an alternative embodiment of the TS  150 . Unlike the previous embodiment with a message searcher checking all messages, in this exemplary embodiment the messages are addressed to the donation server and the recipient number or other identification is contained in the message. Hence, the message searcher is replaced with a message recipient searcher  401  that obtains the recipient number either directly from the message content or indirectly by using a phone book server to determine the recipient number if only the name and address are provided instead of the number, as a non-limiting example. In other respects, the TS  150  is substantially equivalent with that the TS  120  shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0057]      FIG. 5  presents a simplified flow chart of the operation  500  of the TS  120  of  FIG. 2 . In start box  501 , the TS  120  is ready to receive messages. On arrival of a new message, the TS  120  checks in step  502  whether that message contains a code word or string that identifies a special message. If yes, the operation branches depending on the special message. If the code word identifies a request for a donation list, the TS  120 , in step  503 , sends back a list of different donation parties typically, though not necessarily, with respective donation amounts. If the code word identifies a donation message, the TS  120  determines the donation recipient in step  504 , determines the amount of the donation in step  505 , and instructs the AAA server  133  to carry out a respective transfer to the donation recipient in step  506 . Next, in step  507  the TS  120  optionally waits for a confirmation until a possible timeout that ends the process in the absence of a confirmation of a successful transfer, or the TS  120  proceeds directly to step  508  to manipulate the message. In step  508 , the message is manipulated by removing the code word or string including possible qualifiers thereof (such as the sum to be donated). In step  509 , the TS  120  checks whether a greeting is allowed and, if so, the greeting is inserted in the message in step  510 . The message is next transmitted to the message recipient in step  511  as normal messages are forwarded by the TS  120 .  
         [0058]     As the TS  120  can run thousands or more of the processes  500  simultaneously, the operation  500  was drawn for one single message. The process  500  expires at the end of a single chain of steps. The next message invokes the process  500  again. It is also quite feasible to distribute the operation of the TS  120 , for instance, by using a pre-screening server to filter out the messages with the predetermined string and to divert such messages to respective service providers for the message manipulation and charging.  
         [0059]      FIG. 6  presents a simplified flow chart of the operation  600  of the alternative TS  150  of  FIG. 4 . As with  FIG. 5 , this operation concerns one message only. The TS  150  receives a message in step  601  and detects the message as a special message in step  602 , based on the recipient number (if possible). The TS  150  next searches the message for a true message recipient number in step  603 . If no unambiguous hit is found, the TS  150 , in step  604 , reports a failure and its reason to the C-MS  110 , possibly with an option to reply with just the missing true recipient number. Once the TS  150  possesses the true recipient number, the TS  150  removes the true message recipient number from the message. The TS  150  next determines the donation recipient, in step  605  either from the originally used recipient number or from a respective string in the message, determines the amount of donation in step  606 , and instructs the AAA server  133  to carry out a respective transfer to the donation recipient in step  607 . Next, in step  608 , the TS  150  optionally waits for a confirmation until a possible timeout that ends the process in the absence of a confirmation of a successful transfer, or the TS  150  proceeds directly to step  609  to manipulate the message. In step  609 , the message is manipulated by removing any code word or string including possible qualifiers thereof (such as the sum to be donated). In step  610 , the TS  150  checks whether a greeting is allowed and, if so, the greeting is inserted in step  611 . The manipulated message is next transmitted to the message recipient in step  612 .  
         [0060]     The manipulation of the message, both with reference to  FIGS. 5 and 6 , may involve inserting a frame or logo associated with the donation receiver into the message so that the donation receiver is perceivable in an elegant manner.  
         [0061]      FIG. 7  presents a message  700  on the way to the TS  120  according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. The message  700  includes a header  701  including a sender field (A-subscriber)  702  and a recipient field (B-subscriber)  703 . The message  700  further includes a payload  704 . The payload  704  includes a code word  705 , a code word qualifier  706  that is a number showing the sum of the donation, an optional (positive or negative i.e. opt-in or opt-out) stealth mode indicator  707 , and an additional message for the one or more message recipients. The message  700  optionally includes a text field  708 , an audio content field  709  and/or a video content field  710 .  
         [0062]      FIG. 8  presents a message  800  on the way to the alternative TS  150  of  FIG. 4  according to another exemplary embodiment of the invention. The message  800  includes a header  801  including a sender field (A-subscriber)  802  and a recipient field  803 . The message  800  further includes a payload  804 . The recipient field  803  does not contain the B-subscriber number but rather a number for a donation server or TS  150 . The payload  804  includes a number of the B-subscriber  805  and one or more of the following: a code word  806 , a code word qualifier  807  that is a number showing the sum of the donation, and a stealth mode indicator  808 . The payload typically contains an actual message for one or more message recipients, possibly including one or more text fields  809 , audio content fields  810  and/or video content fields  811 . The code word  806  can be omitted, especially if the recipient field  803  readily identifies the donation recipient or if the sender does not wish to expressly define a particular donation recipient. Also the code word qualifier  807  may be omitted if predetermined amounts are used.  
         [0063]     The message  700 , 800  may be created by any terminal, though alternatively the C-MS  110  can be specially adapted by means of suitable program code, as a non-limiting example, to query the desired donation receiver and donation amount, to fill in the necessary information, and/or to send to the correct number (in the case of the alternatively embodied TS  150 ). In order to facilitate the entry of messages, the mobile stations  110  and  131  may contain pre-defined message templates as known from the Nokia® 6800 GSM telephone. Such templates can be used to facilitate composition of the donation messages as well as possible responses to send thanks for a received donation message. Particularly, templates designed for acknowledging a received donation message are likely to increase messaging, which is advantageous to cellular operators.  
         [0064]     In general, the various embodiments may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. For example, some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device, although the invention is not limited thereto. While various aspects of the invention may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.  
         [0065]     Embodiments of the inventions may be practiced in various components such as integrated circuit modules. The design of integrated circuits is by and large a highly automated process. Complex and powerful software tools are available for converting a logic level design into a semiconductor circuit design ready to be etched and formed on a semiconductor substrate.  
         [0066]     Programs, such as those provided by Synopsys, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. and Cadence Design, of San Jose, Calif. automatically route conductors and locate components on a semiconductor chip using well established rules of design as well as libraries of pre-stored design modules. Once the design for a semiconductor circuit has been completed, the resultant design, in a standardized electronic format (e.g., Opus, GDSII, or the like), may be transmitted to a semiconductor fabrication facility or “fab” for fabrication.  
         [0067]     The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a full and informative description of the best method and apparatus presently contemplated by the inventors for carrying out the invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. As a non-limiting example, a sender may be rewarded for making donations and sending charity messages by allowing him or her to send some messages free of any additional charges after having sent a given number of chargeable messages. As an additional non-limiting example, a sender may similarly be rewarded with a free screen saver, wall paper or ring tone. However, all such and similar modifications of the teachings of this invention will still fall within the scope of this invention.  
         [0068]     Furthermore, some of the features of the preferred embodiments of this invention could be used to advantage without the corresponding use of other features. As such, the foregoing description should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the present invention, and not in limitation thereof.