CA2668861A1 - Server, user equipment, notification system, method for controlling server, and method for controlling user equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

A server (520) comprising: receiving means (706) for receiving, from User Equipment (510), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates is provided. The server (520) also comprises determination means (708) for periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated, and notification means (712) for notifying the User Equipment (510) via a SIP request message which indicates that the content has been updated.

Description

, = ' 1 DESCRIPTION
SERVER, USER EQUIPMENT, NOTIFICATION SYSTEM, METHOD FOR CONTROLLING SERVER, AND METHOD FOR
CONTROLLING USER EQUIPMENT

TECHNICAL FIELD' [0001] The present invention relates to.
technology for monitoring, and providing notifications pertaining to, updates of website content.

BACKGROUND

[0002] These days, many- webs,ites provide a variety of content, such as news, weather forecasts, TV program listings, and so on, to the J.public via the Internet. Such content is typically described in the form=bf Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) document, but may also be described in another format. The location of the information is indicated by a Universal Resource Identifier (URI) and,can be accessed using the URI.

[0003] For example, a user, i.e., a reader, launches a web browser on a comptiter and inputs the URI of news that he or she wishes to read, e.g., http://www.******.com/newsOl.html. Then the , =

web browser downloads the HTML do-cument from the inputted'URI, parses it, and displays it in a user-readable format.

[0004] Since most of the content is likely to be updated periodically, the user must access the content periodically if he or she wishes to keep.
current. Since there are a great many websites, -each with much content, however, it is tiresome for the user to access each_such-piece of-content and determine whether or not it has been updated.
For example, assume the website "www.******.com"
provides 50 pieces of news'content, i.e., news0l.html, news02.html, ..., news50.html. Since=
the user cannot determine whether or not,each of them is updated unless he or she actually accesses them individually, the user has to ,.periodically access 50 URIs, which is tiresome and a waste'of time, especially when some'of them, or in the worst case, all of them, have not been updated.

[0005] RSS (RDF/Rich Site Summary) [1], is a well-known technology, the purpose of which is to assist the user in keeping track of updated content, thereby reducing wasted time and effort.
The crucial component in implementing RSS is an RSS document, which is an electronic document that summarizes content on a website. An RSS

~ = .

document is encoded=in XML-based=Resource Description Framework, (RDF). For this reason, RSS may be treated as an abbreviation for RDF
Site Summary, rather than Rich Site Summary. As with a website, the=location of the RSS document, is itself indicated by a URI.
. , .

[0006] An RSS document contains= a list of -metadata information, such as a title and URI of the individual content offered b.y the website.' For example, when=a website provides 50 pieces of news-content, the RSS document may'contain a given,number of URIs, up to'50, together with the=
same number of titles corresponding to each URI, -and so on. Accordingly, the user can recognize whether or not a given piece of content has been updated,merely by downloading the RSS document.

[0007] Since an RSS document can be automatically generated from HTML documents or other content on a website, updated website information can easily and instantly be published by generating an RSS document whenever at least one piece of content on the website is updated.
Currently, the primary application for RSS is to publish information on updates to news sites or weblogs, a.k.a "blogs".

[0008] = As regards TV program listings, since many networks broadcast TV programs via a plurality of channels, it is diff=icult for a user, i.e., a viewer, to know which TV program is available, as well as at what time, or on which channel, it is available. In addition, networks sometimes decide to change elements of,their programming schedules, which further complicates, the user's efforts to maintain up-to-date TV
-program listings.

[0009] These-days, an Electronic Progr,am Guide (EPG), is often used to promptly provide a user with the latest TV program listings. EPG
data contains-information about TV programs that are available from one or more channels in a certain time period, e.'g., September 27õ 2006,.
15:00 18:00, or*a one-week period starting at O:OOAM on September 28, 2006. EPG data is primarily provided fbr TV sets or set-top boxes, but is also available for computers and other equipment,.su'ch as personal video recorders (PVRs).

[0010] For example, each network generates an EPG data file (an EPG document), which contains information about the respective networks' TV
programs. Each network distributes its EPG data file via websites, and these websites may be operated by a network's local stations, with each station having a distinct schedule. When the networks or their stations change=their broadcast schedules, they update the,EPG data files on their websites. Accordingly, if the user chooses one or more websi.tes', or more specifically, EPG
data'URIs, and periodically downloads the EPG' data from these URIs, he or she can keep TV
program listings up to date.

[0011], There are a variety of EPG data formats, and it is possible to have multiple providers for EPG'data, even though the TV
programs are the same. Therefore, the user may choose a plurality of URIs'for the same TV
channel.

[0012]Existing Problem:

In order to keep constant track of whet-her or,not predetermined:content on websites, or predetermined TV program listings, have been updated, the User must periodically download RSS

documents, or EPG data files (in whole or in partly), even though they have not, in fact, been updated. In other words, the user often ends up downloading RSS documents or EPG data that offer no new information. These downloads may result in wasted time, bandwidth, and money.

[0013] This problem is especially'serious in situations where downloads are carried out via such apparatuses such as a cellul=ar phone or a set-top box. This is because computational capacity and/or bandwidth are often limited, and/or because billing is often performed based on the amount of transmitted/received traffic, in such situations.

SUMMARY

[0014] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the pre-existing problem.

[0015] = According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a server comprising:
receiving means for receiving, from User Equipment, l'ocation information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates;
determination means for periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated; and notification means for notifying the User Equipment vi,a'a SIP request message which indicates that the content has been updated.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided User Equipment comprising: location information sending means for sending, to a server, location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates; message receiving means for receiving, from the server, a SIP

request message which indicates that the content to be monitored for updates has been updated; and content receiving means for receiving the conten:t*.
for whichnotification has been received by the message receiving means.

[0017] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a.
notification system comprising a server and,User Equipment, wh.erein: the server comprises:=
receiving means for receiving, from the User Equipme.nt, location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates;
determination means for periodically determining..
whether or not the content has been updated; and notification means for notifying the User Equipment via a SIP request message which indicates that the cbntent to be monitored has been'updated; and the User Equipment comprises:
location inf,&rmation sending means for sending, to the server, location information which indicates the location of the content to be monitored for updates; message receiving means for receiving, from the server, the SIP request message which indicates that the content~to be monitored has been updated; and content receiving means for receiving the content for which .
notification has been received by the message receiving means.

[0018] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a server comprising: receiving step of receiving, from User Equipment, location information which.indicates a location of content to be monitored; determination step of -periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated; and notification step of notifying the User Equipment via an SIP
request message which indicates that the content has'been updated.

[0019] According to another aspect of the preseint invention, there is provided 'a method -for controlling User Equipment comprising: location information sending step of sending, to a server, location information"which indicates a location of content to be monitored; mes-s'age receiving step of receiving, from the server, a SIP request message which indicates that the content to be monitored has been updated; and content receiving step of receiving the content for which notification has been received in the message receiving step.

[0020] The main advantage of the present invention is as follows. The SIP AS determines whether or not content provided by websites is updated, on behalf of the UE (User Equipment).
The UE is notified only when content is actually updated. Accordingly, wasteful communication between the UE and the websites, and/or wasteful communication between the UE and the SIP (Session Initiation Protoc.ol) AS (Application Server), is reduced. In addition,,since the SIP AS.notifies ,the UE.using a SIP request message that indicates that the content has been update=d and which is distinguishable f'rom other SIP events, the user of the UE can distinguish the SIP request message froin other events, such as'IP telephony.

[0021] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the ,following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached drawings, in which like reference characters'designa.te the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The accompanying drawin-gs, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illus'trate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

[0023] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a standalone application RSS reader.

[0024] Fig. 2 illustrates an example of a user interface of, a standalone application RSS
reader.

[0025] Fig. 3 illustrates the'comparison between a standalone application and abrowser RSS reader, using.cellular phones as an example.

[0026] Fig.A deplcts a schemat"ic view of the EPG case'corresponding to Fig. 3.~

[0027] Fig. 5 illustrates the. overview.of a notification system according to the embodiment.

[0028] Fig. 6 is a block diagram of a UE
according to the embodiment.

[0029] Fig. 7 is a block diagram of a SIP AS
according to'the-embodiment. [0030] Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the UE according to the-.embodiment.

[0031] Fig. -9 is a flowchart".showing the process performed by the SIP AS according to the embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0032]RSS/EPG Reader:

An RSS reader, which is typically imp'lemented by an application program, collects RSS documents, i.e., RDF data, from one or more websites. The RSS reader may be built into User Equipment (UE), including but not limited to a personal computer.,- a cellular phone, or a set-top box. It also may be built into a server (RSS
server)..

[0033] In the former case, the RSS reader may, b,e called an "application type RSS reader". In the latter case; the RSS server collects RSS
documents on behalf of the UE and generates'a document based on the RSS documents, such.as an HTML document. The UE downloads the generated HTMLdocument and displays it in a web browser.
Therefore the,RSS reader iri the latter case may be called a "browser type RSS reader".

[0034] Fig. l.'illustrates an example,of an RSS reader application. In Fig. 1, an RSS reader 102 that is installed on a personal computer-(PC) .100 periodically collects RSS documents from websites 110, 120, and 130 over 'the Internet 140.
The website 110 has content such as HTML
documents 112, 113, and 114, and it generates an RSS document 111 based on the content. When some portion of the content is updated, the website 110 re-generates the RSS document 111. Therefore, the RSS reader 102 can,determine whether or not some of the content on website 110 has been updated only if it periodically downloads the RSS
document 111 and compares it with the previously ' = = .

downloaded RSS document 111. The websites 120 and 130 function in a-manner similar to that of the website 110. Accord-ingly, the RSS reader can easily monitor updates for extensive amounts of content provided by large numbers of websites. It should be noted that the behavior of the RSS

0 reader 102 is entirely pull-based,'i.e._, ,downloading of RSS documents and their processing is periodically performed'at a predetermined intervals, even though some or all of the RSS
documents may not have been updated, i.e., re-generated.

[0035] Many RSS reader applications have a user interface similar to that found in many current e-mail clients, as shown in Fig. 2. In an example shown in Fig. 2, a window 200 comprises three panes: an RSS documents pane 202, a title pane 204, and a browser pane 206. The RSS
documents pa,ne 202 shows RSS documents, in other words, the websites for which the RSS reader 102 watches for= updates. The title pane 204 shows the titles of content associated witha selected RSS
document 208. The browser pane 206 shows content associated with a selected title 210, in a user-readable format. Typically, a web browser function is embedded in an RSS reader application, thereby achieving the display of the content in the brow,ser pane 206."

[0036] Some RSS reader applications have a user interface element called a ticker, instead of, or in addition to, the user interface similar to t'hat found in many current e-mail clients.
Looking like an electric bulletin board on a computer desktop, the, ticker prese~nts highlights ,of web content acquired from,RSS documents in a manner similar to that of news headlines.-"[0037] Fig. 3'illustrates the comparison between an RSS reader application (i.e. an application type RSS reader) and an RSS reader ~ , .
browser (i.e. a browser type RS,S reader), using cellular phones300 and 350 as an'example.
[0038] With an RSS reader application, the cellular phone 300" is equipped with an RSS reader 302. The RSS reader 302 is, for example, an appl'icationprogram implemented in Java (registered trademark). Similar to the RSS reader.
102 shown in Fig. 1, the RSS reader 302 collects one or more RSS documents 312 from one or more websites 310 via a mobile network 320 and the Internet 322. The RSS reader 302 interprets the RSS documents and displays them on a display device of the cellular phone 300.

[0039] With an RSS reader browser, on the other hand, it is not necessary for the cellular phone 350 to be equipped with an,RSS reader, as it is equipped with a web browser 352. The cellular phone 350 sends URIs of the content which the user of the cellular phone 350 wishes to monitor for updates to an RSS server 360, via' the mobile networ.k 320 and the Internet 322. The RSS server 360 equipped with RSS reader functionality collects RSS documents, which are designated by the URIs received,from the cellular ,phone 350, via-the Internet 322. The RSS server then converts the collected RSS documents into one os more HTML documents'optimized for cellular, i.e., mobile, phones. Accordingly, the user can identif=y that.selected~content.has been updated by periodically downloading HTML
documents from the=RSS server 360 and showin-g the HTML documents on th"e web browser 352.

[0040] . With both the RSS reader application and the RSS reader browser, the cellular phone 300 and 350 must periodically download RSS
documents or HTML documents converted from RSS
documents, even though the documents may not have been updated, as discussed in the Background section. -[0041] The explanation discussed above may similarly be applied to a situation where the UE
uses EPG to continuously obtain the latest TV

, = .

program listings.

[0042] Fig. 4 depicts a-schemat,ic view of the EPG case corresponding to Fig. 3. In Fig. 4, cellular phones 400 and 450 correspond to'the cellular phones 300 and 350.

[=0043] With an RSS reader application, the cellular phone 400 is,equipped.with an.EPG reader 1402. The EPG reader 402 is, for example, an-application program implemented in Java .(registered trademark). Similar to the RSS reader 302, the EPG reader 402 collects one or more EPG
documents 412=from one or more websites 410 via a mobile network 320 and the Internet 322. The EPG
reader 402 interprets the EPG documents and displays them in the form of user-readable TV
program listings. While an EPG document, EPG data, may be an XML-based document the same as an RSS =document may be, the EPG document might be in any forinat as long as the EPG reader 402 can interpret it.

[0044]- With an RSS reader browser, the EPG
server 460, which is equipped with EPG reader functionality and corresponds to the RSS server 360 in Fig. 3, collects -EPG documents, which are designated by the URIs received from the cellular phone 450, via the Internet 322. The EPG server then converts the collected EPG documents into one or more HTML documents optimized for cellular, i.e., mobile, phones. Accordingly, the user can identify that TV program sche.dules have=
been updated by periodically down'loading HTML
documents from the EPG server 360 and showing the HTML documents on,the web browser 352.

[0045] Instead of converting EP.G .documents ,into HTML documents, the EPG server 460 may integrate a plurality of EPG documents into one EPG document, based on a user profile. In this case, the cellular phone 450 has EPG reader 402 and downloads=the integrated EPG data from the EPG server 460.

[0046-] The in.stances shown in Figs. 3, and 4 are not exclusive. In other.words, for example, the cellular phone,300 can.be equipped with the RSS reader 302, the web browser 352, and EPG
reader 402. 'In this case, the c=ellular phone 300 can arbitrarily work in the application type or the browser type, as well as being able to arbitrarily download RSS documents or EPG
documents.

[0047] In the following description, the RSS
case shown in Fig. 3 is primarily employed in order to simplify the explanation. However, the following description may be applicable to both RSS and EPG. Additionally, the concept of the present invention may be applied-to any type of content; includin,g but not-limited to an HTML
document, a JPEG image, or an MPEG image. In other words, the cellular phone 300 may download, e.g., HTML documents directly or indirectly, i.e., via a server such as the RSS server 360, from the websites 310, according to the embodiment.

.[0048]An Overview'of a notification system:
Fi.g. 5 illustrates an overview of a notification system 500 according to the embodiment. The system 500 comprises a UE 510,.an.
SIP application server (SIP AS) 520, and, an RSS
provider 530. According to some embodiments, the notification system 500 includes a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 540 of an IP Multimedia System (IMS)'.

[0049] The UE 510 conforms, to Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Although UE 510 is described as a cellular phone in Fig. 5, it may be any kind of UE, including but not limited to a PC or a set-top box, so long as it conforms to SIP. The SIP AS 520 is equipped with RSS reader functionality and is identified by an SIP URI.
The RSS provider 530 is a website which provides one or more RSS documents.

[0050] According to the embodiment, the UE

510 sends one or.more URIs-indicating the location of RSS documents (hereinafter referred to as RSS.URIs), to the SIP AS 520. The UE 510 may sends RSS URIs using any protocols, including but not limited to Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), or SIP,~although SIP by the Subscribe method.is employed in the following description by way of illustration. The URIs-to be sent may be found in various ways. For example the user of the'UE 510 may obtain the URIs through routine web'surfing. , , .

[0051]. The SIP AS 520 monitors RSS documents for updates on behalf of theUE'510. If a give.n RSS document is updated, the SIP AS 520 notifies the UE510 via an SIP request message. Typically, the Notify method is employed, although other employed as well.' methods may be' [0052] Since an SIP Notify method notification is not performed when RSS documents have not been updated, wastes of such things as time, bandwidth, and money regarding communications between the UE 510 and the SIP AS
520, i.e., wasteful communications, can be avoided. A wasteful communication between the UE
510 and the RSS provider 530 can also be avoided because the UE 510 downloads RSS documents via the SIP AS 520 or directly from the RSS provider 530 only when the.-RSS documents have actually been updated.

[0053] .<SIP Event Package>

Ac.cording to the embodiment, a new SIP event package is defined so that the UE 510 can recognize that the SIP Notify message received -from the SIP AS 510 indicates that one or more RSS documents.have been updated.=In other..words, the UE 510 cari distinguish the SI:P Notify message regarding the updating of RSS documents from other,SIP request messages regarding, for example, IP telephony.

[0054-] The-name of the new event package is arbitrary, so long as it is distinguishable from the presently existing names. For example, it may ~.be "rss," or more generally speaking, it may"be "update. " . This neW name appears in the Event header field present in Subscribe and Notify messages.
Below is the example of the SIP Notify message according to the embodiment. As shown here, the-SIP Notify message may contain the updated content, e.g., the updated RSS document, in the body of the message:

NOTIFY sip:user@imsop.com SIP/2.0 Via: SIP/2.0/UDP
rssps.imsop.com;branch=z9hG4bKna998sk From: <sip:service@imsop.com>;tag=ffd2 To: <si.p:user@imsop.com>;t-ag=xfg9 Call-ID: 2010@imsop.com = , =
Event: rss Max-Fo.rwards: 70 CSeq: 8775 NOTIFY

Content-Type: application/rdf+xml Content-Length: ...

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.,w3.org/1999/02/22-..
rdf-syntax-ris#"

xmins:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmins="http://purl,.org/rss/1.0/">
<channel ydf:about="-http://www.example.com">

<title>Example:com Newsdesk</title>
<link>http:/'/www.example.com</link>
<dc:publisher>Example provides business intelligence </dc:publisher>
<items>

<rdf:Seq>
<rdf : 1i rdf:resource="http://www.example.com/xml_vid.asp?
ttv id=919" />

<rdf:li , = =

rdf:resource="http://www.example.com/xml_vid.asp?
ttv id=918"

</rdf : Seq>
</items>
</channel>
<item rdf:about="http://www.example.com/xml_vid.asp?ttv id=919">

<,title>Newsdesk for week-ending= -20/10/2006</title>

<lirik>http://www.example.com/xml vid.asp?ttv_id=9=

-19</link>

<dc:da=te>2006-10-20</dc:date> <dc:creator>xxx</dc:creator>

</item>
<item rdf:about="http://www.example.com/xml vid.asp?ttv id=918">

<title>Community W,iFi</title>
<link>http://www.example.com/xml_vid.asp?ttv_id=9 18</link>

<dc:date>2006-10-19</dc:date>
<dc:creator>xxx</dc:creator>
</item>

</rdf:RDF>

[0055] <User_Equipment>

Fig. 6 is a block diagram of the UE 510. A
processor .602 executes computer programs such as' firmware and an operating system, thereby . , =
controlling each of the components-'contained 'withinthe UE 510. In Fig. 6, the components contained in the processor .602 are=typically implemented by the computer programs executed by the processor 602, although they may be implemented in dedicated hardware.
, [00561. A transceiver 604 controls the transmission'and"the reception of data between the UE 510 and an.external node, such as the SIP
AS 520 or the RSS provi,der 530.

[0057] A locatiori information sending unit 6.06 sends location information,, typically URIs, to the SIP AS'520. The URIs to be sent are input from a user interface 608, such as a keypad. The location in.formation sending unit 606 may send URIs via an SIP Subscribe message. Preferably, the SIP Subscribe message relates to the event defined for the present invention, e.g., "Event:
rss", so that the SIP AS 520 will be able to identify that it should monitor the content associated with the received URIs for updates.

23 [0058] A message receiving unit 610 receives the SIP request message, e:g., the SIP Notify message, from the SIP AS 520. The SIP Notify message indicates that the content associated with UR,Is sent by the location information sending unit 606 have been updated. In other words, the SIP Notify message here.-relates to the event defined for the present invention, e.g., "Event: rss"..This is why.the message receiving unit 610 can recognize that the received SIP
Notify message relates to a content update. The message receiving unit.610'notifies a content receiving unit 612 and a notification unit 614 that the SIP Notdfy message has been rec,eived_ [0059] The con'tent receiving unit 612 extracts an RSS document from the SIP Notify message and sends it: to an RSS Reader 620. If the SIP Notif y'message contains an HTML document instead of an RSS document, the content receiving.
.unit 612 sends the extracted HTML document to a web browser, 622. If the SIP Notify message does not contain the updated content, the content receiving unit 612 downloads it from the SIP AS
520 or the RSS provider 530.

[0060] The notification unit 614 controls notifying the user that the content has been updated by, for example, showing a message on a display 616 or sending an audio s-ignal to a speaker 618.

[0061] The RSS reader 620 interprets the RSS
document and displays it on the display 616 in a user=readable format.

[,0062] The web browser 622 interprets the HTML document and displays it on tYie.display 616 ,in a user-readable format.

[0063] A profile sending unit 624 retr,ieves a user profile from"a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) 626 and sends the user profile to the HSS'540. Alternatively, the profile sending unit 624 may send the.user profile directly to the SIP
AS 520.

[0064] The UE 510 may have other components according to the data to be handled. For example, if the content recei:ving unit 612 r'eceives an EPG
d.ocument,'.the UE 510 should have an EPG reader.
[0065] <SIP AS>

Fig. 7 is a block diagram of the SIP AS 520.
A processor, 702 executes computer programs such as firmware and an operating system, thereby controlling each of the components included within the SIP AS 520. In Fig. 7, the components contained in the processor 702 are typically implemented by the computer programs executed by the processor 702, although they may be , ~ 25 implemented in dedicated hardware.

[0066] A trans-ceiver 704 controls the transmission and the reception of data between the SIP AS 520 and an external node such as the UE 510 and the RSS provider 530.

[0067] A receiving unit 706 receives location information, typically URIs, from the UE 510, and esupplies them to a determination unit 708. It is not necessary for the receiving-unit 706 to ,receive the plurality of the URIs at once.
Instead of supplying the URIs directly to the determination'unit 708, the'receiving unit 706 may send them to storage 710. The storage 710 stores the:URIs >and associates them-with:the user who sent the URIs to the SIP AS 520. In other words, the storage,710 can store a plurality of groups of URIs for each of a plurality of users.
The d'etermination unit 70,8 may-receive the URIs from the stofage 710.

[0068] The determination unit 708 periodically determines whether or not the content associated with the URIs have been updated. More specifically, the determination unit 708 periodically downloads time information, e.g., a time stamp, for the content from the locations identified by the URIs, i.e., the RSS
provider 530, and compares it with the previously downloaded time stamp. The determination unit 708 may store the downloaded time information in the storage 710. When the time information of given content differs from the previously downloaded time information, the determination unit 708 determines that this content has been updated, and notifies a riotification unit 712.
-Alternatively, in order to determine whether'or not the content has been updated', the -determination unit 708 may periodically download the'content itself, and compare it with previously downloaded content. The downloaded content may be stored in the storage 710.

[0069] When the content is updated, the notification unit 712 notifies the UE 510 via a SIP Notify message-which indicates that the content has been updated. In some embodiments, the notification unit 712 retrieves the updated content from,'t,he RSS provider 530 or the storage 710 and puts it into the body of the SIP Notify message.

[0070] According to some embodiments, an obtaining unit 714 receives a user profile of the user of the UE 510 from the HSS 540.
Alternatively, the obtaining unit 714 may receive the user profile directly from the UE 510. The obtaining unit 714 supplies the user profile to the notification unit 712. In thi=s case, the notification unit-712 notifies the UE 510 when a predetermined condition, which is determined based on the user profile, is sat'isfied, in addition to the content having been updated. The' predetermined condition is, for example, a condition where at least a pre,determined amount ,of content, e.g., three instances, has been updated after the most recent no=tification by the notification unit'712 to the UE 510, a pred'etermined keyword, e.g., "Football," being included in the updated coritent, the updated content being updated in a predetermined period of time, e.g., ",after May 27, 2005, at 0.:OOAM", or any combination thereof.

[0071] According to some embodiments, the obtaining unit 714 supplies the user profile to a gene'r'ation unit'716. The generation unit 716 receives the =content from the'determination unit 708 and/or the storage 710, and generates customized,content based on the user profile. The generating unit 716 then supplies the customized content to the notification unit 712.
Accordingly, instead of sending the updated content to the UE 510, the notification unit 712 may send the customized content, i.e., content which is personalized for the user of the UE 510, , =

to the UE 510.

[0072] According to some embodiments, the generation unit 716 converts the content. For example, the generation unit 716-converts the RSS
document into an HTTP document. In this case, the generation unit 716 includes an RSS reader. As a, , '.
result, even when the UE 510 does not have the RSS reader 620, the UE 510 can interpret the content, using the web browser 6.22,. .[0073] Th~eSIP AS 520 may have other components according to the data. to- be handled.
For example, if the determination unit 708 downloads an EPG document and the generation unit 712 converts the,. EPG docume=nt into an HTML' document, the generation unit 712 includes an EPG
reader.

[0074] Ifi some embodiments, the-generation unit 716 combines a plurality of EPG documents into one EPG.document based on the user profile, thereby generating a personalized EPG document.
[0075]Procedure:

Fig. 8 is a.flowchart showing the process performed by the UE 510 according to the embodiment. It would be possible to perform some steps in parallel or in reverse order. Also, some steps are not essential for the present , . .

invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the attached claims.

[0076] In step S801, the UE 510 determines whether or not it has been ordered to send a SIP
Subscribe message containing one or more URIs. If it has been so ordered, the process advances to step S802. If it has not been so ordered, the 'process advances to step S804'.

[0077] In.step S802, the UE 510 sends URIs to the SIP AS 520; via the SIP Subscribe message, which indicate locations of content to be monitored.

[0078]. In step S803, the UE 510 sends the user profile to the SIP AS 520. This step need not be performed unless the previously sent user profile has been modifi.ed. Alternatively, the user profile may be ~sent in advance, for example, when the UE 510 joins the network of the notification, system 500.~ In this case, the user profile may be sent via the HSS 540 to the SIP AS
520.

[0079] In step S804, the UE 510 determines whether or not it has received an SIP Notify message which indicates that the content associated with URIs sent in step S802 has been updated. If it receives the SIP Notify message, the process advances to step S805. If it does not receive the SIP Notify message, the process returns to step S801.

[0080] In step S805, the UE 510 notifies the user that.the content associated with the URIs sent in, step S802 has been updated. The notification in s,tep S805 is performed by, for example, showing a message on the _di'splay 616 or sending*an audio signal to the speaker 618.
[0081] In,step S806, the UE 510 receives the ,updated content. The updated content may be extracted from the SIP Notify message, or may be received from the RSS provi-der 530. According to some embodiments, the UE 510 receives the customized content, which is generated'based on the updated content. According to some embodiments, the customized content is generated ba-sed on the updated content and-the user profile sent in step S803.

[0082] In step S807,. the UE 510 interprets the received content and displays it in a user-readable format. The process then returns to step S801.

[0083] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the SIP AS 520 according to the embodiment. Some steps may be performed in parallel or in reverse order, and some steps are not essential for the present invention. The . = = .

scope of the present invention is defined by the attached claims.

[0084] In step S901, the SIP AS 520 determines whether or not it receives a SIP
Subscribe message containing one or more URIs. If it receives the S=IP Subscribe message, the = = ~ , '.
process advances to step S902. If it does not receive SIP Subscribe message, the process advances to step S904.

[0085] In step S902, the SIP AS 520 receives URIs, via the SIP Subscribe message, which indicate locations of content to be monitored _ , = , from'the UE 510. According to some embodiments, st-ep S902 includ.es step S902a, wherein the'SIP AS
520 st'ores the URIs in the storage 710.

[0086] In step.S903, the SIPAS 520 receives the user profile from the UE 510, if the UE 510 sends- it in =step S803. Alternatively, the user profile may be received=in"advance, for example, when the UE 510 joins the network of the notification system 500. This step need not be performed unless the previously received user profile has been modified. According to some embodiments, the SIP AS 520 may receive the user profile from the HSS 540 instead of the UE 510.
[0087] In step S904, the SIP AS 520 determines whether or not the content associated with the URIs received in step S9.02 has been updated. If the c,ontent has been updated, the process advances to step S906. If the content has' not been updated, the process returns to step S901. Since the process in step S904 is repeatedly performed as shown in Fig. 9, the SIP, . . , .
AS 520 periodically performs the determination per step S904.

[0088] According to some embodiments, ethe SIP
AS 520 determines whether or not a predetermined condition defined based on the user profile has been satisfied in step S904. In this case, the process advances to step S906 when the predetermined conditiori has been satisfied, and the content has been updated.

[0089] According to someembodiments, step ,.S904 includes three steps: S904a, S904b, and S904c. In,step S904a, the SIP AS" 520 downloads time information, e.g., a.time stamp, for the content associated with the URIs received in step S902. The time information indicates when the content was last updated. The downloaded time information is stored, e.g., in the storage 710.
In step S904b, the SIP AS 520 compares the time information with the previously downloaded time information. If they differ from each other, the process advances to step S904c. If they are the same, the process returns to step S901, because the content has not been updated. In step S904c, the SIP AS 520 downloads the updated content and stores i,t in, e.g., the storage 710.

[0090] According to some embodiments, the SIP=
AS 520 downloads the content itself in step S904a), and compares the downloaded..,content with -the previously downloaded content, in step S904b.
If the content has been'updated, the process advances from step S904b to step S906, skipping step S904c because the updated content has already been downloaded.

[0091] In step S906, the SIP AS 520 notifie,s the UE 510 via a>SIP Notify message which indicates that the content has been updated.
According to some embodiments, step S906 inc-ludes 1.step S906a, wherein the SIP AS 520 puts the updated content-into the body of the SIP Notify message. Acco-rdingly, the.SIP.AS 520 can send the updated content at the same time as it notifies the UE 5,10.

[0092] According to some embodiments, the SIP
AS 520 generates customized content in step S905, and the SIP AS 520 sends the customized content in step S906. In step S905, the SIP AS 520 generates the customized content by converting the format of the content, e.g., converting the RSS document into an HTML document.

Alternatively, the SIP AS 520 may generate the customized content by combining a plurality of content based on the user profile.

[0093] After.performing the process in step S906, the process.returns to step S901.
1[0094]Other Embodiments`.

Some embodiments include a-procedure.,for"
collecting fees that conforms to the IMS
standard.

[0095] When the SIP AS '520 downloads an RSS
document from the RSS provider 530 for the first time, the S.IP AS '520 also downloads pricing information. The SIP AS 520 is then authenticated by the RSS provider 530.

[0096] Whenever the SIP AS 520 receives the RSS document from the RSS provider 530, any pricing information that pertains to that RSS
document is also, taken into account. All users who have subscribed to the RSS document, i.e., all users who have sent the URI related to that RSS document in step S802, are billed in accordance with the pricing information.

[0097] The pricing information may be a specific document. It may be a Diameter document, or the communication mechanism may be RSS. If RSS

, =

is used, the RSS documents can be~sent securely over HTTPS.

[0098] According to some embodiments, the SIP
AS 520 becomes a place where a plurality of URIs, a~re gathered because users register their favorite URIs with the SIP AS 520,,.,in the ,subscription phase, per step S802. Taking advantage of this position, the SIP AS 520 can' make these URIs available to other users, possibly through a dedicated web interface. The following related services'might be introduced a=s=
_ ~ .
a result:

[0099] Catego,rization: the RSS reader application server groups the collected URIs into categories and presents them to users. This enables users to easily find wanted'websites' URIs, especially RSS/EPG URIs;=

[0100] Keyword search: the SIP AS 520 provides a keyword search interface to the users, which returns a list of URIs of which website sources provide content, e.g., RSS documents, related to the keyword;

[0101] Statistics: the SIP AS 520 takes statistics that indicate which websites are most popular, i.e., more people are subscribing to the URIs that the popular websites are providing. By , =

presenting this information to the user, e.g., a top 10 list for every interest category, the SIP
AS 520 offers useful criteria to users.

[0102]A.dvantages of'the Present Invention:

As discussed above, the SIP AS determines, on behalf of the UE, whether or not the content ,provided by websites has been updated. The.UE is notified and download the content only when the content has actually been updated.

[0103] Accordingly, wasteful communicat"ion between the UE and the websites, and/or wasteful communication between the UE and SIP AS, is reduced. This raduction is especially advantageous when computational capacity and/or bandwidth for the UE is limited, and/or billing is performed based o'n the amount of tran=smitted/received traffic. In addition, since' the SIP AS notifies the.UE using an SIP request message that indicates that the content has been updated, and which is distinguishable from other SIP events, the user of the UE can distinguish the SIP request messagefrom other events, such as IP telephony.

[0104] However, the UE may be any kind of equipment conforming to SIP, including but not limited to a PC, a set-top box, or a cellular J =

phone. The content which the SIP-AS monitors for updates may be any kind of-content, including but not limited to an RSS document, an EPG document, or an HTTP document.

[0105] While the present invention has been described with reference t=o exempl=ary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is.not limited to the=disclosed=
exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims.is to be accorded t-he broadest interpretatio'n so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions. [0106]References: , 1. RDF Site Summary (RSS) Specification 1.0, http://web.resource.-o-rg/rss/1.0/spec 2. SIP-specific Event Notification, RFC3265 .

Claims (37)

1. A server (520) comprising:

receiving means (706) for receiving, from User Equipment (510), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates;

determination means (708) for periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated; and notification means (712) for notifying the User Equipment (510) via a SIP request message which indicates that the content has been updated.

2. The server (520) according to claim 1, further comprising storage (710) for storing a plurality of the location information, wherein:

the receiving means (706) stores the location information received from the User Equipment (510) in the storage (710), while also associating it with the User Equipment (510); and the determination means (708) periodically determines whether or not each piece of the content associated with each piece of the location information stored in the storage (710) has been updated.

3. The server (520) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the determination means (708) determines whether or not the content has been updated by periodically downloading time information which indicates when the content was last updated and comparing it with the most recently downloaded time information; and the determination means (708) downloads the content from the location indicated by the location information if it is determined that the content has been updated.

4. The server (520) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination means (708) determines whether or not the content has been updated by periodically downloading the content from the location indicated by the location information and comparing it with the most recently downloaded content.

5. The server (520) according to claim 3 or 4, wherein, when notifying the User Equipment (510), the notification means (712) sends the updated content downloaded by the determination means (708) to the User Equipment (510) by including it in the SIP request message.

6. The server (520) according to any of claims 1 - 5, wherein the notification means (712) notifies the User Equipment (510) if a predetermined condition is satisfied, together with a determination that the content has been updated.

7. The server (520) according to claim 6, wherein the predetermined condition is determined based on a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510).

8. The server (520) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the predetermined condition includes at least one of the following:

not less than a predetermiried quantity of content has been updated after the most recent notification of the User Equipment (510) by the notification means (712);

a predetermined keyword is included in the updated content; and the updated content has been updated within a predetermined time period.

9. The server (520) according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising generating means (716) for generating customized content using the updated content downloaded by the determination means (708).

10. The server (520) according to claim 9, wherein, when notifying the User Equipment (510), the notification means (712) sends the customized content to the User Equipment (510) by including it in the SIP request message.

11. The server (520) according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the generating means (716) generates the customized content based on a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510).

12. The server (520) according to any of claims 7, 8, and 11, further comprising obtaining means (714) for obtaining the user profile from at least one of the User Equipment (510) and a Home Subscriber Server (540) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem.

13. The server (520) according to any of claims 1 - 12, wherein the content to be monitored for updates is RDF data and/or EPG data.

14. User Equipment (510) comprising:

location information sending means (606) for sending, to a server (520), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates;

message receiving means (610)-for receiving, from the server (520), a SIP request message which indicates that the content to be monitored for updates has been updated; and content receiving means (612) for receiving the content for which notification has been received by the message receiving means (610).

15. The User Equipment (510) according to claim 14, further comprising notification means (614) for notifying a user of the User Equipment (510), in response to the SIP request message, that the content to be monitored has been updated.

16. The User Equipment (510) according to claim 14 or 15, wherein:

the SIP request message includes the content; and the content receiving means (612) receives the content by extracting it from the SIP request message.

17. The User Equipment (510) according to any of claims 14 - 16, further comprising profile sending means (624) for sending a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510) to at least one of the server (520) and the Home Subscriber Server (540) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem which is accessible from the server (520), wherein:

the message receiving means (610) receives the SIP request message if the server (520) determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied, together with a determination that the content to be monitored has been updated; and the predetermined condition is defined based on the user profile.

18. The User Equipment (510) according to any of claims 14 - 17, wherein the content to be monitored is RDF data and/or EPG data.

19. A notification system (500) comprising a server (520) and User Equipment (510), wherein:
the server (520) comprises:

receiving means (706) for receiving, from the User Equipment (510), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored for updates;

determination means (708) for periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated; and notification means (712) for notifying the User Equipment (510) via a SIP request message which indicates that the content to be monitored has been updated; and the User Equipment (510) comprises:

location information sending means (606) for sending, to the server (520), location information which indicates the location of the content to be monitored for updates;

message receiving means (610) for receiving, from the server (520), the SIP request message which indicates that the content to be monitored has been updated; and content receiving means (612) for receiving the content f-or which notification has been received by the message receiving means (610).

20. A method for controlling a server (520) comprising:

receiving step (S902) of receiving, from User Equipment (510), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored;

determination step (S904) of periodically determining whether or not the content has been updated; and notification step (S906) of notifying the User Equipment (510) via an SIP request message which indicates that the content has been updated.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

the receiving step (S902) comprises a stoting step (S902a) of storing the location information received from the User Equipment (510) in the storage (710), while also associating it with the User Equipment (510); and the determination step (S904) comprises the step (S904) of periodically determining whether or not each of the pieces of content associated with each piece of the location information stored in the storage (710) has been updated.

22. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein:

the determination step (S904) comprises a step (S904b) of determining whether or not the content is updated by periodically downloading time information which indicates when the content was last updated and comparing it with the most recently downloaded time information; and the determination step (S904) comprises a step (S904c) of downloading the content from the location indicated by the location information if it is determined that the content has been updated.

23. The method according to claim 20 or 21, wherein he determination step (S904) comprises a step (S904b) of determining whether or not the content is updated by periodically downloading the content from the location indicated by the location information and comparing it with the most recently downloaded content.

24. The method according to claim 22 or 23, wherein the notification step (S906) comprises a step (S906a) of sending the updated content downloaded in the determination step (S904) to the User Equipment (510) by including it in the SIP request message.

25. The method according to any of claims 20-24, wherein the server (520) notifies the User Equipment (520) in the notification step (S906) if a predetermined condition is satisfied, together with a determination that the content to be monitored has been updated.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein the predetermined condition is determined based on a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510).

27. The method according to claim 25 or 26, wherein the predetermined condition includes at least one of the following:

not less than a predetermined quantity of the content has been updated after the server (520) most recently notified the User Equipment (510) in the notification step (S906);

a predetermined keyword is included in the updated content; and the updated content has been updated within a predetermined time period.

28. The method according to claim 22 or 23, further comprising generating step (S905) of generating customized content using the updated content downloaded in the determination step (S904).

29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the notification step (S906) comprises a step (S906a) of sending the customized content to the User Equipment (510) by including it in the SIP
request message.

30. The method according to claim 28 or 29, wherein in the generating step (S905), the customized content is generated based on a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510).

31. The method according to any of claims 26, 27, and 30, further comprising obtaining step (S903) of obtaining the user profile from at least one of the User Equipment (510) and a Home Subscriber Server (540) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem.

32. The method according to any of claims 20-31, wherein the content to be monitored is RDF data and/or EPG data.

33. A method for controlling User Equipment (510) comprising:

location information sending step (S802) of sending, to a server (520), location information which indicates a location of content to be monitored;

message receiving step (S804) of receiving, from the server (520), a SIP request message which indicates that the content to be monitored has been updated; and content receiving step (S806) of receiving the content for which notification has been received in the message receiving step (S804).

34. The method according to claim 33, further comprising notification step (S805) of notifying a user of the User Equipment (510), in response to the SIP request message, that the content to be monitored has been updated.

35. The method according to claim 33 or 34, wherein:

the SIP request message includes the content; and in the content receiving step (S806), the content is received by extracting it from the SIP
request message.

36. The method according to any of claims 33-35, further comprising profile sending step (S803) of sending a user profile associated with a user of the User Equipment (510) to at least one of the server (520) and the Home Subscriber Server (540) of an IP Multimedia Subsystem which is accessible from the server (520), wherein:

in the message receiving step (S804), the SIP request message is received if the server (520) determines that a predetermined condition is satisfied, together with a determination that the content to be monitored has been updated; and the predetermined condition is defined based on the user profile.

37. The method according to any of claims 33-36, wherein the content to be monitored is RDF data and/or EPG data.