Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/50—Network services
  • H04L67/51—Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
  • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
  • G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
  • G06Q30/0255—Targeted advertisements based on user history
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
  • G06Q30/0241—Advertisements
  • G06Q30/0251—Targeted advertisements
  • G06Q30/0267—Wireless devices
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/10—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for controlling access to devices or network resources
  • H04L63/102—Entity profiles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/14—Session management
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/2866—Architectures; Arrangements
  • H04L67/30—Profiles
  • H04L67/306—User profiles
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
  • H04W12/08—Access security
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
  • H04L63/083—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities using passwords
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L63/00—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security
  • H04L63/08—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities
  • H04L63/0861—Network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for authentication of entities using biometrical features, e.g. fingerprint, retina-scan
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/12—Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
  • H04W36/02—Buffering or recovering information during reselection ; Modification of the traffic flow during hand-off
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
  • H04W84/00—Network topologies
  • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
  • H04W84/04—Large scale networks; Deep hierarchical networks
  • H04W84/06—Airborne or Satellite Networks

Definitions

• This invention relates to cellular communications and, in particular, to a system that enables a passenger's wireless device to receive customized electronic services in an airborne wireless cellular network.
• HLR Home Location Register
• the wireless subscriber should have the ability to originate and receive calls in a unified manner, regardless of their location.
• a given wireless subscriber's feature set it should be possible for a given wireless subscriber's feature set to move transparently with them.
• HLR home cellular service Home Location Register
• VLR Visitor Location Register
• wireless subscribers When wireless subscribers enter the non-terrestrial cellular communication network (that is, they fly in an aircraft as passengers), they encounter a unique environment that traditionally has been disconnected from the terrestrial cellular network, where the wireless network of the aircraft interfaces the subscriber (also termed "passenger” herein) to various services and content.
• the aircraft wireless network therefore, can function as a content filter or can create unique types of content that are directed to the passengers who are on-board the aircraft. The management and generation of this content have yet to be addressed in existing wireless networks.
• various services which relate to the subscriber's travel plans and/or the flight on which the subscriber is travelling are presently not offered to the subscriber.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System provides customized electronic services to passengers who are located onboard an aircraft by storing data indicative of a plurality of electronic services that are available to passengers who are located onboard the aircraft.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System also stores data indicative of preferences of passengers for the plurality of electronic services and associates at least one of the plurality of electronic services with an identified passenger based on the stored data. Once a correspondence is made, the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System advises the passenger of the availability of the customized electronic services and is responsive to the passenger selecting a one of the plurality of electronic services for establishing wireless communications between the passenger's wireless device and the selected one electronic service.
• the electronic services that are customized for the passenger include in-flight entertainment services, such as multi-media presentations, as well as destination- based services, which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.
• in-flight entertainment services such as multi-media presentations
• destination- based services which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.
• the passenger thereby is presented with opportunities during their flight to enhance their travel experience, both in-flight and at their destination.
• This provision of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System is accomplished in part by the use of an "Inner Network” that connects the two segments of the "Outer Network", comprising the Air Subsystem and the ground-based portion of the non-terrestrial cellular communication network.
• the Inner Network transmits both the subscriber traffic (comprising voice and/or other data) and feature set data between the Air Subsystem and the ground-based portion of the non-terrestrial cellular communication network to thereby enable the passenger's wireless devices that are located in the aircraft to receive consistent wireless communication services in both the terrestrial (ground-based) and non-terrestrial regions.
• Figure 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, the overall architecture of a composite air-to-ground network that interconnects an Air Subsystem with a Ground- Based Communication Network;
• Figure 2 illustrates, in block diagram form, the architecture of a typical embodiment of a typical aircraft-based network for wireless devices as embodied in a multi-passenger commercial aircraft;
• FIG. 3 illustrates, in block diagram form, the architecture of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System
• FIG. 4 illustrates, in flow diagram form, the typical operation of the
• Passenger-Based Content Management System segment of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System for the delivery of content that is customized to the passenger;
• Figure 5 illustrates a typical mapping of content sources to passenger interests
• Figure 6 illustrates, in block diagram form, a typical configuration of databases used by the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System
• FIGS 7 - 8 illustrate typical sets of data used by the Customized Electronic
• Figure 9 illustrates, in flow diagram form, the typical operation of the Destination-Based Services Management System segment of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System for the delivery of destination services that are customized to the specific passenger.
• Figure 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, the overall architecture of a typical non-terrestrial cellular communication network, which includes an Air-To-Ground Network 2 (Inner Network) that interconnects the two elements of an Outer Network, comprising an Air Subsystem 3 and Ground Subsystem 1.
• This diagram illustrates the basic concepts of the non-terrestrial cellular communication network and, for the purpose of simplicity of illustration, does not comprise all of the elements found in a typical non-terrestrial cellular communication network.
• the fundamental elements disclosed in Figure 1 provide a teaching of the interrelationship of the various elements which are used to implement a non-terrestrial cellular communication network to provide content to passengers' wireless devices which are located in an aircraft.
• Air-To-Ground Network 2 transmitting both the passenger communication traffic (comprising voice and/or other data) and control information and feature set data between the Air
• the "Air Subsystem” is the communications environment that is implemented in the aircraft, and these communications can be based on various technologies, including but not limited to: wired, wireless, optical, acoustic (ultrasonic), and the like.
• An example of such a network is disclosed in US Patent No. 6,788,935, titled “Aircraft- Based Network For Wireless Subscriber Stations”.
• the preferred embodiment for the Air Subsystem 3 is the use of wireless technology and for the wireless technology to be native to the passengers' wireless devices that passengers and crew carry on the aircraft.
• a laptop computer can communicate via a WiFi or WiMax wireless mode (or via a wired connection, such as a LAN), or a PDA could communicate telephony voice traffic via VoIP (Voice over IP).
• a handheld cell phone that uses the GSM protocol communicates via GSM when inside the aircraft to the Air Subsystem.
• a CDMA cell phone would use CDMA and an analog AMPS phone would use analog AMPS when inside the aircraft to the Air Subsystem 3.
• the connection states could be packet switched or circuit switched or both.
• the objective on the Air Subsystem 3 is to enable seamless and ubiquitous access to the Air Subsystem 3 for the passengers' wireless devices that are carried by passengers and crew, regardless of the technology used by these wireless devices.
• the Air Subsystem 3 also provides the mechanism to manage the provision of services to the passengers' wireless devices that are operating in the aircraft cabin. This management includes not only providing the passenger traffic connectivity but also the availability of non-terrestrial specific feature sets which each passenger is authorized to receive. These features include in-flight entertainment services, such as multi-media presentations, as well as destination-based services which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.
• the passengers' wireless devices 101 used in the aircraft can be identical to those used on the cellular/PCS ground-based communication network 1 ; however, these passengers' wireless devices 101 are pre-registered with the carrier serving the aircraft and/or users have PIN numbers for authentication.
• an antenna interconnects the passengers' wireless devices 101 with the in-cabin Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) 1 1 1 -1 14, which are typically pico-cells with BSC/MSC functions integrated. BTS/BSC/MSC modules are added for each air-interface technology supported.
• BTS Base Transceiver Stations
• the Switch/Router 122 acts as the bridging function (for media/content and signaling to a limited extent) between the Air Subsystem 3 and the ground-based communication network 1 , since the Switch/Router 122 places a call using the Modem 123 to the ground-based communication network 1 via the Air-To-Ground Network 2.
• Air-To-Ground Network 2 shown in Figure 1 is clearly one that is based on wireless communications (radio frequency or optical) between the ground-based communications network 1 and the passengers' wireless devices that are located in the aircraft, with the preferred approach being that of a radio frequency connection.
• This radio frequency connection takes on the form of a cellular topology where typically more than one cell describes the geographic footprint or coverage area of the composite Air- To-Ground Network 2.
• the air-to-ground connection carries both passenger communications traffic and native network signaling traffic.
• the Air-To-Ground Network 2 could be achieved through a wireless satellite connection where radio frequency links are established between the aircraft and a satellite and between the satellite and the ground-based communications network 1 , respectively.
• These satellites could be geosynchronous (appears to be stationary from an earth reference point) or moving, as is the case for Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
• Examples of satellites include, but are not limited to: Geosynchronous Ku Band satellites, DBS satellites (Direct Broadcast Satellite), the Iridium system, the Globalstar system, and the Inmarsat system.
• Geosynchronous Ku Band satellites DBS satellites (Direct Broadcast Satellite)
• the Iridium system the Globalstar system
• Inmarsat system In the
• the link typically is unidirectional, that is, from the satellite to the receiving platform, in this case an aircraft.
• a link transmitting unidirectionally from the aircraft is needed to make the communication bidirectional.
• This link could be satellite or ground- based wireless in nature as previously described.
• other means for communicating to aircraft include broad or wide area links such as High Frequency (HF) radio and more unique systems such as troposcatter architectures.
• HF High Frequency
• the Air-To-Ground Network 2 can be viewed as the conduit through which the passenger communications traffic as well as the control and network feature set data is transported between the Ground Subsystem 1 and the Air Subsystem 3.
• the Air-To-Ground Network 2 can be implemented as a single radio frequency link or multiple radio frequency links, with a portion of the signals being routed over different types of links, such as the Air-To-Ground Link and the Satellite Link.
• the Ground Subsystem 1 consists of Edge Router 140 which connects the voice traffic of the Air-To-Ground Network 2 with the traditional cellular communication network elements, including a Base Station Controller 141 and its associated Mobile Switching Center 142 with its Visited Location Register, Home Location Register to interconnect the voice traffic to the Public Switched Telephone Network 144, and other such functionalities.
• the Base Station Controller 141 is connected to the Internet 147 via Public Switched Data Network 143 for call completions.
• Edge Router 140 also provides interconnection of the data traffic to the Internet 147, Public Switched Data Network 144 via Voice Over IP Server 146, and other such functionalities. These include the Authentication Server, Operating Subsystems, CALEA, and BSS servers 145.
• the ground-based Base Station Controllers 141 of the non-terrestrial cellular communication network The enhanced functionality described below and provided by the Air Subsystem 3, the Air-To-Ground Network 2, and the ground-based Base Station Controllers 141 renders the provision of services to the passengers' wireless devices 101 located in an aircraft transparent to the passengers.
• Figure 2 illustrates the architecture of a typical aircraft-based network for passengers' wireless devices as embodied in a multi-passenger commercial aircraft 200.
• This system comprises a plurality of elements used to implement a communication backbone that is used to enable wireless communication for a plurality of wireless communication devices of diverse nature.
• the aircraft-based network for passengers' wireless devices comprises a Local Area Network 206 that includes a radio frequency communication system 201 that uses a spread spectrum paradigm and having a short range of operation.
• This network 206 supports both circuit-switched and packet-switched connections from passengers' wireless devices 221-224 and interconnects the communications of these passengers' wireless devices 221-224 via a gateway transceiver or transceivers 210 to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) 144 and other destinations, such as the Internet 147 or Public Switched Data Network (PDSN).
• PSTN Public Switched Telephone Network
• PDSN Public Switched Data Network
• the passengers' wireless devices 221-224 include a diversity of communication devices, such as laptop computers 221 , cellular telephones 222, MP3 music players (not shown), Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) (not shown), WiFi-based devices 223, Wi Max-based devices 224, and the like, and for simplicity of description are all collectively termed “passengers' wireless devices” herein, regardless of their implementation specific details.
• communication devices such as laptop computers 221 , cellular telephones 222, MP3 music players (not shown), Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) (not shown), WiFi-based devices 223, Wi Max-based devices 224, and the like, and for simplicity of description are all collectively termed “passengers' wireless devices” herein, regardless of their implementation specific details.
• the basic elements of the aircraft-based network for passengers' wireless devices comprises at least one antenna 205 or means of coupling electromagnetic energy to/from the Air Subsystem 3 located within the aircraft 200 which serves to communicate with the plurality of passengers' wireless devices 221-224 located within the aircraft 200.
• the at least one antenna 205 is connected to a wireless controller 201
• the wireless controller 201 includes at least one low power radio frequency transceiver 202 for providing a circuit switched communication space using a wireless communication paradigm, such as PCS, CDMA, or GSM, for example.
• the wireless controller 201 includes a low power radio frequency transceiver 203 for providing a data-based packet switched communication space using a wireless communication paradigm, such as WiFi (which could also convey packet switched Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).
• a wireless communication paradigm such as WiFi (which could also convey packet switched Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)).
• the wireless controller 201 includes a power control segment 204 that serves to regulate the power output of the plurality of passengers' wireless devices. It also serves to, by RF noise or jamming means, prevent In-Cabin passengers' wireless devices from directly and errantly accessing the ground network when in a non- terrestrial mode.
• the ultra-low airborne transmit power levels feature represents a control by the Power Control element 204 of the wireless controller 201 of the aircraft- based network for passengers' wireless devices to regulate the output signal power produced by the passengers' wireless devices 221 -224 to minimize the likelihood of receipt of a cellular signal by ground-based cell sites or ground-based passengers' wireless devices.
• the wireless controller 201 is connected via a Local Area Network 206 to a plurality of other elements which serve to provide services to the passengers' wireless devices 221-224. These other elements can include an Aircraft Interface 209 for providing management, switching, routing, and aggregation functions for the communication transmissions of the passengers' wireless devices.
• a data acquisition element 207 serves to interface with a plurality of flight system sensors 21 1-214 and a Global Positioning System element 216 to collect data from a plurality of sources as
• pilot communication devices such as the display 217 and headset 218, are connected to this Local Area Network 206 either via a wired connection or a wireless connection.
• a gateway transceiver(s) 210 is used to interconnect the Aircraft Interface 209 to an antenna 215 to enable signals to be transmitted from the aircraft- based network for passengers' wireless devices to transceivers located on the ground. Included in these components is a communications router function to forward the communication signals to the proper destinations. Thus, signals that are destined for passengers on the aircraft are routed to these individuals, while signals routed to passengers located, for example, on the ground are routed to the Ground Subsystem.
• Aircraft antenna patterns that typically minimize nadir (Earth directed) effective radiated power (ERP) may be used in the implementation of the antenna(s) 215 on the aircraft to serve the aircraft-based network for passengers' wireless devices.
• the passenger access to electronic communications typically is regulated via a passenger's wireless device registration process, where each electronic device must be identified, authenticated, and authorized to receive service. Since the aircraft is a self-contained environment with respect to the wireless communications between the passengers' wireless devices and the airborne wireless network extant in the aircraft, all communications are regulated by the network controller. Thus, when a passenger activates their passenger's wireless device, a communication session is initiated between the passenger's wireless device and the network controller to identify the type of device the passenger is using and, thus, its wireless protocol. A "splash screen" is delivered to the passenger on their wireless device to announce entry into the wireless network portal.
• the network controller transmits a set of login displays to the passenger's wireless device to enable the passenger to identify themselves and validate their identity (if the passenger's wireless device is not equipped to automatically perform these tasks via a smart client which automatically logs the passenger into the network).
• the passenger's wireless device is provided with a unique electronic identification (IP address), and the network can respond to the passenger's wireless
• the authentication process may include the use of security processes, such as a password, scan of a passenger immutable characteristic (fingerprint, retina scan, etc.), and the like.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 can be located on the ground as shown in Figure 3 or can optionally be implemented in whole or in part on the individual aircraft 320, 321. For simplicity of description, the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 is shown herein as implemented on the ground and is used to serve a plurality of aircraft 320, 321.
• content can include passenger generated content 361 , such as photographs of travel destinations, and community generated content 361 , such as a bulletin board where passengers can post comments and descriptions of various topics, such as ratings of restaurants at the destination to which the aircraft is traveling.
• FIG. 3 illustrates, in block diagram form, the architecture of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300.
• a plurality of aircraft 320, 321 each having their respective set of passengers 360, (including passengers 330, 331 , 335, 336, for example) are shown as being connected via radio frequency links 301 , 302 to the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300.
• passengers 330, 331 , 335, 336 for example
• Electronic Services Delivery System 300 for each aircraft is a set of databases 341-34N which store data relating to the passengers 360 in aircraft 321 as well as their travel and entertainment preferences and travel itinerary (see Figures 5, 7, and 8).
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 has a Processor 31 1 which runs a plurality of programs, such as Destination-Based Services Management System 312 and Passenger-Based Content Management System 313, as are described below, and the administration routines.
• a plurality of content sources 351-35M optionally can be included in Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 or may be accessed via communication links (not shown) to remote sites where the content sources are located and managed either by the airline or third party vendors.
• the communications apparatus (such as that shown in Figure 2) located on an aircraft 321 establish wireless communications with the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300, which in turn establishes communication sessions with the active ones of passengers' wireless devices located on the aircraft to offer and provide electronic services.
• the electronic services are customized for the passenger and may include in-flight entertainment services, such as multi-media presentations, as well as destination-based services which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.
• the initiation of communication sessions by the passenger's wireless device includes the passenger's wireless device being identified and authenticated by the network on board the aircraft (as described above) in conjunction with the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300, so the passenger's wireless device is provided with a unique identification, and the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 can respond to the passenger's wireless device without further administrative overhead.
• the authentication process may include the use of security processes, such as a password, scan of a passenger immutable characteristic (fingerprint, retina scan, etc.), and the like.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 provides the passengers with access to both standard content offerings and various levels of custom content offerings, which offerings can be customized on a per passenger basis. As shown in Figure 6, there are a number of databases that are included in the
• the database manager 670 includes software not only to manage the databases 610-690, but also to formulate queries to the passengers to offer electronic services based on the passenger's past history of purchases and present authorizations for services.
• Airline/Aircraft database 610 that maintains a listing of the various airlines served by the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 and the services that they offer to their passengers, as well as a listing of the aircraft of each airline that are presently in operation.
• Typical entries for the Aircraft portion 700 of this airline/aircraft database 610 is shown in Figure 7, where the airline 701 , date of the flight as well as day of the week and present time 702, and the airline assigned flight number 704 are listed.
• origin city/airport 705 estimated time of departure 706, and the departure gate 707.
• the length of this flight 708 is also listed, as are the destination city/airport 709, estimated time of arrival including an indication of the amount of time the flight is ahead or behind schedule 710, and the arrival gate 71 1.
• the database can be periodically updated to list the GPS coordinates 712 of this aircraft, and typically provides a listing 713 of the multi-media content resident on board the aircraft.
• Aircraft operational data can also be included, such as altitude 714, vertical speed 715, horizontal speed 716 and a listing of connecting flights 717 that are available at the destination airport. This data enables the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 to formulate service offerings for the passengers on this flight as well as the delivery of content and offers to the passengers during the flight as is described below.
• a Passenger database 620 maintains a listing of the passenger attributes, typically maintained for the frequent flyer passengers for the various airlines.
• the previous behavior database 805 can record information that is specific in terms of the past browsing history of the passenger, including sites visited and the time spent on each site. This enables the system to estimate the passenger's interest in various subjects and products in order to offer electronic services that are pertinent to this passenger.
• passenger generated content 870 can be provided, such as photographs of travel destinations.
• the Marketing database 630 can make use of this data in the Passenger database 620 as well as data relating to destination services as stored in Destination Services database 640 (as described in more detail below) to generate offerings of additional services to the passenger based on their present travel plans.
• Additional databases 650 can be maintained to support additional services and feature offerings and a passenger generated content database 690 can provide information, such as photographs of travel destinations, which data is obtained from the passenger specific entry 800 in the Passenger database 620.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 can offer a number of electronic services that are customized for the passenger and, for the sake of illustration, two such electronic services are disclosed herein.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 and Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 each provide a set of electronic services and makes use of the aircraft identification, passenger identification and authentication, and communication management capabilities provided by Processor 31 1 in Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300. These electronic services typically are activated for each aircraft when the aircraft is in flight.
• FIG. 4 illustrates, in flow diagram form, the typical operation of the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 segment of the Customized
• FIG. 284359 Electronic Services Delivery System 300 for the delivery of content that is customized to the passenger
• Figure 6 illustrates, in block diagram form, a typical configuration of databases used by the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 maintains a listing in its database of the various content that are available from a plurality of sources, which sources can be resident on the aircraft, on the ground at the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300, or remotely located.
• These content sources provide a multitude of entertainment and information, which are mapped by the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 into a plurality of data streams that are available to the passengers on the aircraft. As shown in Figure 5, these can be categorized into typical category offerings of movies and videos 531 , live television 532, live radio 533, music and audio entertainment 534, e- commerce and shopping 535, video games 536, and gambling and other interactive services 537, wherein each of these category offerings typically include multiple choices available to the passenger.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 initiates its operation and either launches one of the two processes (402-405 or 412-416) illustrated in Figure 4 or simultaneously runs both of these processes.
• a first process is the passenger-generated request process (402-405), which is also termed “content request pull”, while the second process is the system-generated query (412-416), which is also termed "content request push”.
• the two processes are described as being executed sequentially, with the order of presentation of these two processes being arbitrary.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 responds to a passenger's wireless device generated content request, where the passenger requests a content delivery service from the set of content services available from Passenger-Based Content Management System 313.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 verifies that the passenger's wireless device is subscribed to the requested content delivery service and the content is presently available. If the passenger is not pre-paid for the requested content delivery service,
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 executes a payment routine (not shown) where the passenger can pay for the requested content delivery service.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 updates the Passenger Attributes Database entries for this passenger, to record the present content selection for the passenger and thereby to maintain a current history of the passenger preferences.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 executes the retrieval of the requested content and delivers the content to the passenger via the aircraft-based network described in Figure 2.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 determines whether additional passenger requests remain to be served and, if so, returns to step 401 where the next one of these requests are served. If not, processing exits at step 407.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 can serve all of the passenger requests in steps 402-405 or can alternate between this routine and the routine of steps 412-416.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 initiates a query to a selected passenger's wireless device, where the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 offers the selected passenger a content delivery service from the set of content services available from Passenger-Based Content Management System 313. The passenger can view this query and then the passenger, at step 413, can elect to receive a content service from the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 verifies that the passenger's wireless device is subscribed to the requested content delivery service and the content is presently available. If the passenger is not pre-paid for the requested content delivery service, then the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 executes a payment routine (not shown) where the passenger can pay for the requested content delivery service.
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 updates the Passenger Attributes Database entries for this passenger, to record the present content selection for the passenger and thereby to maintain a current history of
• the Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 executes the retrieval of the requested content and delivers the content to the passenger via the aircraft-based network described in Figure 2.
• Passenger-Based Content Management System 313 determines whether additional passenger requests remain to be served and, if so, returns to step 401 where the next one of these requests are served. If not, processing exits at step 407.
• Figure 9 illustrates, in flow diagram form, the typical operation of the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 segment of the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300.
• Figures 7 - 8 illustrate typical sets of data used by the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System for the delivery of destination-based services. These differ from the content described above in that the offerings are passenger specific and modified to reflect the travel plans of the passenger; hence, they are termed "destination-based services”.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 initiates its operation and either launches one of the two processes (902-905 or 912- 916) illustrated in Figure 9 or simultaneously runs both of these processes.
• a first process is the passenger-generated request process (902-905), which is also termed “services request pull”, while the second process is the system generated query (912- 916), which is also termed “services request push”.
• the two processes are described as being executed sequentially.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 responds to a passenger's wireless device generated destination-based services request, where the passenger requests a destination-based service from the set of standard destination-based services available from Destination-Based Services Management System 312.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 verifies that the passenger's wireless device is subscribed to the requested destination-based service and the destination-based service is presently available. If
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 executes a payment routine (not shown) where the passenger can pay for the requested destination based service.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 updates the Passenger Attributes Database entries for this passenger, to record the present destination-based service selection for the passenger and thereby to maintain a current history of the passenger preferences.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 executes a reservation for the requested destination-based service and delivers a receipt for the destination-based service to the passenger via the aircraft-based network described in Figure 2.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 determines whether additional passenger requests remain to be served and, if so, returns to step 901 where the next one of these requests are served. If not, processing exits at step 907.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 initiates a query to a selected passenger's wireless device, where the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 offers the selected passenger a destination-based service from the set of destination-based services available from Destination-Based Services Management System 312 (as described in additional detail below).
• the passenger at step 913 can elect to order a destination-based service from the Destination-Based Services Management System 312.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 verifies that the passenger is subscribed to the requested destination-based service and the service is presently available.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 executes a payment routine (not shown) where the passenger can pay for the requested destination-based service, using a credit card or charging the service to their hotel room at the destination, or any other means of payment that can be used.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 updates the Passenger Attributes Database entries for this passenger, to record the
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 executes the reservation for the requested destination-based service and delivers a receipt for the destination-based service to the passenger via the aircraft-based network described in Figure 2.
• Destination-Based Services Management System 312 determines whether additional passenger requests remain to be served and, if so, returns to step 901 where the next one of these requests are served. If not, processing exits at step 907.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 can offer passenger- and destination-specific offerings for the passenger traveling on a flight. Since the flight destination, the passenger identification (and seat number on the flight), and the passenger preferences are known, the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System 300 can use the data in the marketing database 630 to create travel package offerings for a selected passenger. For example, the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 can cycle through the passengers on a particular flight and determine which passengers are traveling for pleasure (for example). The Destination-Based Services Management System 312 can read the arrival time, destination resort, ground transportation, as well as the number of people in this travel party from the databases.
• the Destination-Based Services Management System 312 can then offer restaurant reservations for this passenger and their traveling companions, selecting the restaurant based on this passenger's past recorded preferences as well as restaurants at this location that are partner with the airline on which the passenger is traveling or the resort at which the passenger is staying.
• resort activities can be offered and reservations made using the Destination- Based Services Management System 312, again since the passenger destination and preferences are known as well as possibly past activities engaged by the passenger.
• the destination-based services can also be utilized in the case of bad weather and cancelled flights.
• 284359 delayed or cancelled can be offered ground transportation, lodging, and restaurant reservations as a package once the flight is cancelled. This would, in part, reduce the turmoil caused by such travel interruptions and gain a significant amount of goodwill toward the airline for anticipating and accommodating the needs of the passengers. This also enables the airline to route delayed passengers to partner hotels and restaurants, thereby providing additional benefits to the airline.
• the Customized Electronic Services Delivery System stores data indicative of a plurality of electronic services that are available to passengers who are located onboard an aircraft, as well as data indicative of preferences of passengers.
• the electronic services include in-flight entertainment services, as well as destination-based services which link the passenger's existing travel plans with offers for additional services that are available to the passenger at their nominal destination and their planned travel schedule.

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• 2008
  • 2008-11-18 WO PCT/US2008/083904 patent/WO2009097043A1/en active Application Filing
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  • 2008-11-18 CA CA2713395A patent/CA2713395A1/en not_active Abandoned
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