FR2830148A1 - Working process optimization digital terminal network position management system having terminal base state constructed and server transmitting request/setting base state following address terminal notified - Google Patents

Abstract

The telecommunications management system between a terminal and an information server has a step of construction of a state base for each terminal. There is a step of transmission by the server of a request and a step of setting the base state as a function of the address notified by the terminal in response to the request.

Description

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 METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TELECOMMUNICATION BETWEEN AN INFORMATION SERVER AND AT LEAST ONE TERMINAL.

 The present invention relates to a method for managing the location of digital terminals in a wired or wireless network, for managing the delay with respect to an event database and for real-time notification of digital terminals following the location or the updating. day of the event database.

 It makes it possible to manage in real time the presence and absence of people or groups of people, by automating the process of recalling events by notification and time differences remotely, by message or by location, in a database of events used by one or more users. It also makes it possible to notify people if they are close, if they have arrived safely or if they are late, by manually or automatically evaluating the delay.

 The field of application of the present invention relates to the optimization of working time and the increase of the individual productivity of managers, and of group work, by the joint use of different information systems, digital networks and terminals. .

 Current location systems have only been developed in specific applications such as vehicle location by GPS (WOUS0005544) or location of a mobile phone (GSM for example) in a cellular network (EP994000132.9), or the notification of the update of a shared calendar (WOEP0007699), or the notification of event recall based on the Internet (EP99103632.8). None of these systems combined use an event database, a notification system and a location system for the shared management of an event database and for its updating, as well as different

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 digital terminals connected to wired or wireless networks.

 The present invention proposes the exchange of information between four information systems which are an event server, a presence server, a message server and a location server within sessions managed centrally by the communication server. presence.

 Cases of application of the present invention are: in terms of proximity notification: allowing people from the same company or administration (soldiers, doctors, firefighters, police ...) to meet physically; - in terms of notification of a delay managed within an event database: to postpone the meeting of a group of people from the same company (salespeople, managers ...) or administration (school bus service, firefighters , doctors, ambulances ...); - in terms of location notification: allow you to know that people or objects have arrived safely (for salespeople, carriers, parents wishing to follow their children ...).

 To this end, the present invention aims, according to a first aspect, a method of automatic location of digital terminals connected to digital networks (wired or wireless), characterized in that it comprises: - the definition of the list of terminals to locate from a first terminal (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, voice server, etc.) transmitted in the form of a message from the terminal, to the message server, from the message server to the presence server; - the presence server then performs periodically (for a predefined period by setting the

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 server) a location request to the location server which lists the location of the terminals (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, etc.) present within a second type of digital network (wired or wireless) which may be the same as the first ; - the presence server then defines - at a given time, in the case of proximity to a set of predefined terminals, when at least one terminal arrives at a predefined location - the list of notifications to be sent by the server messages to other terminals (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, etc.) over a third type of digital network (wired or wireless) which may be of the same type as the first two.

 The present invention relates, according to a second aspect, to a process for confirming events-such as meetings, appointments, milestones-noted in an event base common to a group of people (such as an agenda shared electronic) with the possibility of remotely acknowledging this event, of indicating a possible delay or of deleting this event remotely, characterized in that it comprises: - the configuration of events (meeting or meeting) in the event server from a first digital terminal connected to a first digital network (wired or wireless), the events are thus stored in a base called event base; - the periodic reading by the presence server of predefined events with a view to broadcasting, by the message server, requests for confirmation of presence for these events on digital terminals (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, etc.) connected to a digital network of a second type, which may be the same as the first. The message server starts a session at this level

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 allowing to match the answer to the question posed within a context, several questions can be asked to the same terminal, or to the same group of terminals, simultaneously; - reading the request for confirmation of presence at these events on the digital terminal (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, etc.) and entering on this same terminal an acknowledgment, an estimate of a delay or to delete this event, received by the message server which matches the answers to the questions within a session, and which retransmits the acknowledgments, delay estimation or deletion of this event to the presence server; the automatic updating by the presence server of the event database of the event server from information received from the terminals connected to the digital network of the second type; - optional notification in real time of digital terminals (computer, mobile phone, personal assistant ...) connected to a digital network of a third type, which may be the same as the first two, of the automatic update of the event database thus signifying that the event has been acknowledged or that it is delayed, delayed or postponed, according to the information received previously.

 The present invention aims, according to a third aspect, to a method for automatically updating an event database, of the same nature as in the second method, which can be shared by a group of users (such as an agenda shared) using location information from digital terminals (computer, mobile phone, personal assistant, etc.) connected to a digital network, characterized in that it includes:

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hertzien) d'un deuxième type, qui peut être le même que le premier ; - le calcul par le serveur de présence d'une estimation de décalage temporel (avance, retard ou ajournement) pour un événement à partir de la différence entre les localisations des terminaux numériques du réseau du deuxième type, ainsi que la mise à jour automatique de la base des événements ; - la notification optionnelle en temps réel de terminaux numériques (ordinateur, téléphone mobile, assistant personnel) connectés à un réseau numérique d'un troisième type, qui peut être le même que les deux premiers, de la mise à jour automatique de la base d'événements signifiant ainsi que l'événement a été acquitté, qu'il est décalé ou supprimé selon les informations reçues précédemment, par le serveur de messages. - the configuration of events in the event server - such as meetings, appointments, milestones - from a first digital terminal connected to a first digital network (wired or wireless), the events are thus stored in a base called event base; - periodic reading by the presence server of predefined events in order to consult the location server to obtain the location of digital terminals (computer, mobile phone, personal assistant ...) connected to a digital network (wired or

radio) of a second type, which may be the same as the first; - the server calculating the presence of a time difference estimate (advance, delay or postponement) for an event from the difference between the locations of digital terminals on the network of the second type, as well as the automatic updating of the basis of events; - optional notification in real time of digital terminals (computer, mobile phone, personal assistant) connected to a digital network of a third type, which may be the same as the first two, of the automatic updating of the database. events signifying that the event has been acknowledged, that it is offset or deleted according to the information previously received, by the message server.

 Other advantages, aims and characteristics of the invention will emerge from the description which follows, made with reference to the appended drawings in which: - Figure 1 is a block diagram of the process of the present invention; - Figure 2 shows a general diagram of implementation of the present invention;

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 - Figure 3 shows a hardware and software architecture capable of supporting the present implementation of the present invention; - Figure 4 shows a succession of operations implemented by the elements illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 in the context of an application of the present invention to the automatic location of terminals; - Figure 5 shows a succession of operations implemented by the elements illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 in the context of an application of the present invention to the confirmation in real time of predefined events; - Figure 6 shows a succession of operations implemented by the elements illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 in the context of an application of the present invention to the automatic update of a shared event database.

 Figure 1 shows a block diagram of the method of the present invention. The system implemented by this method comprises: - a first digital terminal 10 connected to a first digital network 11; - A first digital network 11 which can be wired or wireless; - a second digital terminal 20, which can be the same as the first, connected to a second digital network 21; a second wired or wireless digital network 21, which may be the same as the first; a third digital terminal 30, which may be the same as the first or the second, connected to a third digital network 31;

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 a third digital network 31, wired or wireless, which may be the same as the first or the second; an event server 12 which manages an event database which can be shared between several users; a message server 22 interconnected to the second digital network 21 for broadcasting messages to the second digital terminal 20 and receiving messages sent by this terminal; a location server 32 interconnected to the third digital network 31 for the location of the digital terminal 30; a presence server 40 which communicates with the event server 12, the message server 22 and the location server 32.

 The terminal 10 can be a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other electronic equipment capable of configuring or consulting the information contained in the event server 12. The network 11 is a wired or wireless digital network enabling the exchange of digital data between the terminal 10 and the event server 12.

 The terminal 20 can be a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other electronic equipment capable of receiving and transmitting messages (questions, answers and notifications) in real time, that is to say without delay , on the digital network 21. The terminal 20 can be of the same nature as the terminal 10 or of a different nature. Terminals 10 and 20 can be one and the same terminal or separate terminals. Network 21 is a wired or wireless digital network allowing exchange

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 digital data in real time between terminal 20 and server 22.

 The terminal 30 can be a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other electronic equipment connected to the digital network 31 and capable of being located, namely having a unique identifier which it communicates periodically in time real to the digital network 31. The digital terminal 30 can be of the same nature as the terminals 10 and 20 or of a different nature. Terminals 10, 20 and 30 can be the same terminal, two or three separate terminals. The network 31 is a wired or wireless digital network allowing the exchange of digital data in real time between the terminal 30 and the server 32 and having a location function which breaks down the network 31 into sub-parts locatable according to a repository. The terminal 30 communicates a unique identifier to the network which allows its location within one or more of these subparties.

 For example, if the network 31 is a digital cellular telephone network, the sub-assemblies enabling the location can be the cells around the antennas of this network.

 The event server 12 manages an event database, which can be absences, appointments, meetings, to-do items, etc. on behalf of one or more users. The initial configuration of these events is carried out by the terminal 10 through the digital network 11. The event server communicates the upcoming events to the presence server 40. The presence server 40 performs updates on the basis of event server events 12.

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 The message server 22 communicates in real time, that is to say without delay, messages, which may be questions or notifications, to the terminal 20 through the digital network 21. It also receives messages in real time , which can be answers to questions previously asked. The message server 22 manages sessions to match a response received from the terminal 20 to a question previously asked of this same terminal. The difference between a notification and a question is that a notification does not involve a response from the terminal 20. The message server 22 exchanges messages with the presence server 32, which can be questions or notifications to route to terminal 20 through network 21.

 The location server 32 periodically receives in real time, that is to say without delay, the location of the terminal 30 connected to the digital network 31 and stores this in a database, to transmit the location of the terminal 30 to the server. presence 32 when the latter claims him. The location results in a base of the unique identifiers of the terminals connected to the digital network 31 followed by the identifiers of the subsets of the network 31 in which the terminal 30 is located.

 The presence server is the heart of the information system of the present invention by its capacity to process the information emanating from the servers 12, 22 and 32 within several processes aimed at optimizing the working time of the users of the present invention. and increase individual productivity, this based on data from the event database of the event server 12, questions / answers asked by the message server 22, and location data from the location server 32.

Server processes and the flows exchanged between

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un deuxième terminal numérique 210, appelé terminal B, pouvant être de même nature que le terminal A ou de nature différente, à savoir un ordinateur, un téléphone mobile, un assistant numérique personnel ou tout autre terminal numérique pouvant échanger des messages, relié au deuxième réseau numérique 211, permettant de consulter et d'envoyer des messages, notifications et questions/réponses, avec le serveur de messages 212 ;

- un deuxième réseau numérique 211, appelé réseau B, filaire ou hertzien, pouvant être de même nature que le réseau A ou de nature différente, permettant d'acheminer des messages numériques, notifications ou questions/réponses, dans les deux sens, entre le serveur de messages 212 et le terminal numérique 210 ; - un troisième terminal numérique 220, appelé terminal C, pouvant être de même nature que les deux premiers terminaux ou de nature différente, à savoir un ordinateur, un téléphone mobile, un assistant numérique personnel ou tout autre terminal numérique pouvant être localisé par le réseau servers themselves or between servers and terminals are described in the following figures. FIG. 2 represents a general diagram of implementation of the present invention where the system comprises: a first digital terminal 200, called terminal A, connected to the first digital network 201, which can be a computer, a mobile phone, a digital assistant personal or all at the digital terminal making it possible to consult the event server 202 and to configure the event base 203; - A first digital network 201, called network A, wired or wireless, carrying data in both directions between the event server 202 and the digital terminal 200;

a second digital terminal 210, called terminal B, which may be of the same nature as terminal A or of a different nature, namely a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other digital terminal capable of exchanging messages, connected to the second digital network 211, making it possible to consult and send messages, notifications and questions / answers, with the message server 212;

- a second digital network 211, called network B, wired or wireless, which may be of the same nature as network A or of a different nature, making it possible to route digital messages, notifications or questions / answers, in both directions, between the message server 212 and the digital terminal 210; a third digital terminal 220, called terminal C, which can be of the same nature as the first two terminals or of a different nature, namely a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other digital terminal which can be located by the network

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 digital C thanks to a unique identification present in one or more subsets of said network; a third digital network 221, called network C, wired or wireless, which may be of the same nature as networks A or B or of a different nature, making it possible to locate digital terminals in subsets of the network repository, such as the location of the terminal 220 which is communicated to the location server 222; an event server 202 responsible for managing the event base 203, connected by a first communication medium to the first digital network 201 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type suitable the operation of the event base 203; an event database 203 managed by the event server 202 which contains configured events which can be consulted by the users by means of the terminal 200 via the digital network 201 such as meetings, appointments and planned absences, tasks, etc. ; a real-time messaging server 202, that is to say capable of communicating without delay, connected by a first communication medium to the second digital network 202 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type, responsible for issuing notifications and questions at the request of the presence server 230, and managing the responses received from the digital terminal 210 by matching them to the questions previously sent to this same terminal; a location server 222, connected by a first communication medium to the third digital network 221 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type,

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 responsible for collecting the location of the terminal 220 on the digital network 221 and storing the data in the location base 223 with a view to communicating the location information to the presence server at the latter's request; a presence server 230, connected by a communication medium of the computer network type to the event servers 202, of messages 212 and location 222, is a computer server of known type, responsible for carrying out the operations described in the present invention at starting from the information contained in the database 231; - A subscriber base 231 managed by the presence server 230 listing the information on the users of the various terminals, the networks and the settings defined by the users for the processes described in the present invention.

 FIG. 3 represents a hardware and software architecture allowing the implementation of the present invention. It includes a computer or computer terminal 301, a wired or wireless digital network 302, an event server 303, a local computer network 304, an event database 305 attached to the event server 303, an ISDN telephone or a GSM, GPRS, ixode or UMTS 306 mobile, a wired or wireless digital network 307, a message server 308, a message base 309 attached to the message server 308, a presence server 310, a second ISDN telephone or a GSM mobile , GPRS, iMode or UMTS 311 which can be the same type as terminal 306 or different, which can be the same terminal as terminal 306 or a separate terminal, a third digital wired or wireless network 312, a location server 313 and a base of

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 locations 314 of the terminals connected to the third digital network 312.

 The computer terminal 301 is, for example a computer, a personal assistant or a digital telephone, comprising a modem allowing communication in transmission and in reception with the wired or wireless digital network 302. The digital network 302 is of known type and can be a local computer network, a wide computer network such as the global computer network known as the Internet, or a digital wireless network such as a cellular telephone network, a radio local loop or a digital terrestrial or broadcast television system satellite. The information server 303 is of known type, for ensuring the management of events of one or more users, comprising an event base 305, which is a memory register of known type, which can be consulted or updated by its owners, that is to say the users to whom the events contained in the database relate, via the computer terminal 301 through the digital network 302.

 The digital local area network 304 is of known type.

It is a corporate computer network, connecting the event server 303, the message server 308, the presence server 310 and the location server 313.

 The digital terminal 306 is of known type, which can for example be an ISDN wired telephone, a digital mobile telephone with GSM, GPRS, iMode or UMTS standards, a personal digital assistant equipped with a modem, a computer equipped with a connected modem to a digital wired or wireless network 307. The digital communication network 307 is of known type, and makes it possible to exchange digital data in both directions in the form of messages between the message server 308 and the terminal 306.

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 The message server 308 is a computer server of known type, running software specific to the invention making it possible to broadcast information in real time, that is to say without delay, over the digital network 307 to one or more digital terminals 306. It also makes it possible to broadcast questions intended for the digital terminal 306 through the digital network 307 and to match to the questions the answers received from the digital terminal 306 through the network 307.

The matching between the messages sent and received by the message server 308 is carried out in a limited period of time, called session context. The session context is assigned to a gateway of the message server intended for the digital network 307, while ensuring that a single question intended for a digital terminal 306 can pass through said gateway during the session context and up to upon its expiration or, until the reception of an answer which is thus paired with the question previously asked. If a question is not answered in the context, the current context is deleted and a new context can be created for a new question. Several pairs of questions and answers can be asked simultaneously, the software makes it possible to match the questions and the answers without the need to add an identifier to the question or the answer, thanks to the use of separate gateways on the digital network 307. The message server 308 communicates with the presence server 310, through the local network 304.

 The message base 309 is a memory register of known type, which stores the messages to be sent on the network 307 and the response type messages received from this same network and which are matched to the questions.

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 The presence server 310 is a computer server, running software specific to the invention, using the digital data exchanged with the event server 303, the digital data exchanged with the message server 308 and the digital data exchanged with the location server 313. The presence server receives the data from the event server on events that will occur within a certain time, that is to say a time TO configured in the system to receive the events defined at T (current time) + TO (the delay), it also updates the data in the event database 305, through the local network 304. The presence server 310 transmits and receives, via the local network 304, messages, of the parameters, notifications or questions type intended for the message server 308, and awaits answers to the questions thus sent to the digital terminal 306 to across the network 307. The presence server 310 requests, via the local network 304, from the location server 313 the location of digital terminals of type 311 within the digital network 312.

 The digital terminal 311 is of known type, which can for example be an ISDN wired telephone, a digital mobile telephone with GSM, GPRS, iMode or UMTS standards, a personal digital assistant equipped with a modem, a computer equipped with a connected modem to a wired or wireless digital network 312. The digital terminal 311 has a unique identification on the digital or wireless network 312, making it possible to locate it within subsets defined in a known repository of the digital network 312.

 The digital communication network 312 is of known type, it has a location service which makes it possible, using a unique identifier of the terminal 311, to locate

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 said terminal in subsets defined in a known repository of the digital network, for example cells of a cellular network or IP classes of a computer network.

 The location server 313 is a computer server of known type, running software specific to the invention which records in real time, that is to say without delay, the location of the digital terminals 311 in the location base placed available to the presence server 310. The location base 314 is a memory register of known type, which stores the locations of the terminals 311 within the digital wired or wireless network 312, regularly updated by the location server by reception of this data from the digital network 312. The presence server 310 periodically consults the base 314 for the methods of the present invention.

 Figures 4 to 6 which illustrate the different applications of the present invention use the same formalism: in each of these figures, the operations are represented from top to bottom, in the order of chronological succession. In these figures are represented: - on the leftmost vertical column and in the form of rectangles, the operations performed by a user implements a first digital terminal, called terminal A, and connected to the first digital network, called network A. The terminal is inscribed in a rhombus to which the rectangle representing the transaction considered is superimposed; - on the second vertical column from the left of the figure, successive transmissions of information on networks A or B, in the form of arrows whose direction corresponds to the direction of communication, that is to say that the direction from left to right corresponds to the user direction to server, and that the right to left direction corresponds to the direction

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 server to user. It is observed here that for each transmission of information, several signals can be exchanged between the electronic systems used (synchronization, selection of communication protocol, information, redundancies, acknowledgment of transmission, retransmission in the event of error ...) . In these arrows, network A corresponds to the first digital network, and network B corresponds to the second digital network, which can be identical or different; - on the third vertical column starting from the left of FIG. 4 and in the form of rectangles, the operations carried out by the message server connecting the terminals A and B, respectively through the networks A and B, with the presence server ; - on the fourth vertical column, starting from the left of Figure 4 and in the form of rectangles, the operations performed by the presence server by combining the data from the message server and those from the location server at the input of the processing algorithm and generating results at the end of the algorithm which are then communicated to the message server; - on the fifth vertical column, starting from the left of FIG. 4 and in the form of a database, a network C and a terminal C, the processing performed by the location server, namely the real-time location, that is to say without delay of the terminal C defined by a unique identifier in the digital network C and the recording of this location in the location base 404 which is made available to the presence server in the context of the present invention.

 In FIG. 4, there is a succession of generic operations implemented by the elements illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3:

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 during operation 400, the user of terminal A (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) defines by means of the latter the list of type C terminals (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) to be located within the network C (network 221 in FIG. 2), and communicates this list through the digital network A (network 211 in FIG. 2) to the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2). The list of terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) to be located is a list of unique identifiers or of data that can be linked bijectively to the unique identifiers of the terminals by the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2). During this operation, the user can request from the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) three types of operation to be carried out: either to locate type C terminals in real time and to be notified on his terminal type B, their location, either to be notified on its type B terminal when the localized type C terminals have arrived in predefined sub-parts of the network C, or to locate the type C terminals which are in the same part of network C as its own type C terminal. Type A, B and C terminals can be of the same or different nature, they are connected to digital wired or wireless networks; during operation 401, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) receives this list sent by terminal A (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) via the digital, wired or wireless network, A (network 211 on FIG. 2) and transmits it, via a communication medium of known type, to the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2); during operation 402, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) stores the list of unique identifiers of terminals C (terminal 220 on the

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 Figure 2) in a temporary or permanent storage structure of a type known for carrying out the operations described below in the process of the present invention; during operation 403 which is repeated periodically according to a delay previously set at the system level, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) interrogates the location server (server 222 in FIG. 2) to know the location terminals C (terminal 220) on the wired or wireless digital network C (network 221 in FIG. 2). The location in real time of the terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) on the wired or wireless digital network C (network 221 in FIG. 2), is recorded by the location server (server 222 in FIG. 2) in the location base 404 (base 223 in Figure 2); during operation 405, following each occurrence of operation 403, itself executed periodically according to a delay previously set at the system level, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) receives the locations of the terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) within the digital wired or wireless network C (network 221 in FIG. 2). The location of the terminals C results in a list of subset identifiers within the repository defined for the digital network C; during operation 406, following each occurrence of operations 403 and 405, themselves executed periodically according to a delay previously set at the system level, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines the list of notifications to send by the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) to terminals B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) by the digital wired or wireless network B (network 211 in FIG. 2).

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 According to the function chosen by the user during operation 400, namely either the notification of the location of the terminals C, or the notification of the location of the terminals C present in the same subset of the network C, the presence server will define during operation 406 the list of notifications to send and transmit them by a communication medium to the message server; during operation 407, according to each occurrence of operations 403, 405 and 407, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) broadcasts the location notifications obtained from the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2), a set of digital terminals C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) through the digital wired or wireless network C (network 211 in FIG. 2). The method described in the present invention applies equally well to terminals A, B or C of identical or distinct type, respectively connected to digital networks A, B or C identical or distinct; during operation 408, according to each occurrence of operations 403, 405, 406 and 407, the user receives from the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) by network B (network 211 in FIG. 2), on the terminal B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) location notifications for terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) defined by the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) within network C (network 221 in FIG. 2) in accordance with the parameters defined by the user during operation 400. Depending on what the user has defined during operation 400, the notifications can be either location information of a set of C terminals within the wired or wireless C digital network, i.e. notifications that a set of C terminals

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 reside in the same subset of the network C repository as the terminal C of the user who defined these parameters during operation 400.

 An example in FIG. 4 is the concept of assistance in meeting a set of two or more users, having digital terminals C connected to the same wired or wireless digital network C. In this example case , a first user defines during operation 400 the set of unique identifiers of terminals C of the user or users that he wishes to meet.

When the terminal C of this user is in the same subset of the digital network repository C as the terminals C of the users listed during the configuration operation 400, the presence server defines the list of notifications, to be sent by the message server, to each of these users as well as to the one who carried out the configuration, on the fact that they may meet being in the same subset of the network C.

 In FIG. 5, there is a succession of operations implemented by the elements illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in an application of the invention to the automatic updating of events contained in an event database using a event server, presence server, message server, different digital terminals and wired or wireless digital networks: during an operation 500, the user of digital terminal A (terminal 200 in FIG. 2) defines at by means of the latter a set of events, which are transmitted to the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) via a first communication medium called network A (digital wired or wireless network 201 in the figure 2). An event is characterized by a nomenclature of the event in question: for example, the designation of a

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 appointment, meeting, meeting with the list of participants themselves users of the system, the designation of a milestone in a task schedule, a location (in the sense of a list of sub-parties a wired or wireless digital network) for the realization of this event, etc., a start date and time and an end date and one, which can be the same or separate (the end date and time in this case, must be later than the start date and time in this case); during operation 501, the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) receives by the first communication medium, the digital network A (wired or wireless digital network 201 in FIG. 2) a set of events defined by the user of terminal A (terminal 200 in FIG. 2) which he stores in the event base 502 (event base 203 in FIG. 2) which is a memory register of known type; during an operation 503 which occurs periodically at a frequency set at the system level, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) interrogates the event base 502 (event base 203 in FIG. 2) of the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) through a digital communication medium between the two servers, so as to consult the events recorded by users having to start within a certain time (t + tO) configured at the level of the system. If the response to this operation is an empty set, the process ends while waiting for a new occurrence of operation 503; during operation 504 following each occurrence of operation 503 and if the latter gives a non-empty response set, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines a list of requests for

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 presence confirmation for these events to be sent by the message server (server 212 in Figure 2) to all users of digital terminals B (terminal 210 in Figure 2) through digital network B (wired digital network or microwave 211 in Figure 2). A request for confirmation of presence includes the wording of the event as defined by a user during an operation 500, the start date and time, the end date and time if it is separate from the start date and time. Presence confirmation requests can be sent to a person as part of an event database used by a single user of digital terminal B, or to a group of more than one person as part of a database of events shared by several people using digital terminals B. The presence server transmits the unique identifier or identifiers of the terminals B to the message server by another communication medium; during operation 505, following an occurrence of operation 504, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) formats and sends a follow-up confirmation request to all the users defined by the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2), on another communication medium which is digital network B (wired or wireless digital network 211 in FIG. 2) intended for all the users of terminals B (digital terminal 210 in the figure 2). For the present method, the message server (server 212 in the figure) manages a session context by terminal making it possible to match the requests for confirmation of presence for events with the reception of the responses to these requests (acknowledgment, estimation of delay or absence) coming from all of the terminals B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) through the

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 digital communication medium called network B (network 211 in FIG. 2), knowing that several requests for confirmation of presence at events can be routed to the same user concurrently.

Each session context is maintained for a time tl during which the message server waits for the response associated with the presence confirmation request addressed to a user. If the user does not respond within this time, the session context expires and the message server informs the presence server that the user has not responded within this time; during operation 506, following operations 504 and 505, the user of terminal B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) receives a request for confirmation of presence at an event, sent by the message server (server 212 on Figure 2) through the communication medium called digital network B (wired or wireless network 211 in Figure 2); during operation 507, the user of terminal B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) enters an acknowledgment at the request for confirmation of presence at a previously received event, the notification of an estimated delay for his presence at this event or its absence. Terminal B sends this request to the message server (server 210 in FIG. 2) through the communication medium called digital network B (wired or wireless network 211 in FIG. 2); during operation 508, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) receives the response from the user of terminal B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) to the request to confirm the presence of presence at an event previously issued by this same server, through the communication medium called digital network B (network

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 digital wired or wireless 211 in Figure 2). The message server matches the response which can be an acknowledgment to the request for confirmation of presence, or the notification of a delay estimated by the user for the presence of this event, to the request previously sent during an operation. 505, and frees the associated session context. If the session context associated with this terminal has expired, the message server ignores the response (the message server will have already informed the server of presence of the absence of response from the user of this terminal within the time allowed). The message server transmits the response received from the user and thus matched to the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) through another communication medium; during operation 509, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) receives from the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) the response from the user of terminal B (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) and updates the event database 502 (base 203 in FIG. 2) of the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2), to indicate either that the request for confirmation of the presence of the event has been acknowledged. a notification of delay during operation 507 by this user. Depending on the parameters defined for the users at the presence server level, the process ends during operation 509, or continues with a notification of all the users of the terminals C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2, of the same nature as terminal B in FIG. 5 or of a different nature) of the acknowledgment of the presence of the user of terminal B at the event, of the notification of delay of this user or of his absence; during the optional operation 510, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines the list of update notifications for the event database

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 502 (event base 203 in FIG. 2), which can be an acknowledgment on request of confirmation of the presence of an event, the delay notification for the presence or absence of the user of the terminal B for this event, to be sent by notification, to all the users of the terminals C concerned by this event. These notifications include the wording of the event as defined by the user of the terminal C during the operation 500, the start and end dates and times, updated during the operation 509. The server of presence transmits, through a communication medium, all the notifications of updates thus generated to the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) so that it broadcasts them to all the users of the terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) through the communication medium called network C (network 221 in FIG. 2); during operation 511, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) receives from the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2), by a first communication medium, the notifications for updating the base of events to be broadcast on the communication medium called network C (wired or wireless digital network 211 in FIG. 2) to all of the terminals C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2). The update notification of an event from the event base 502 to all of the users of terminal C can be made on a network of the same nature as that of all of the users of terminal B or on a network digital wired or wireless of a different nature; during operation 512, the user of terminal C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) reads the update notification of an event from event base 502 transmitted by digital network C (wired digital network or wireless 211 in Figure 2). This notification can be

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 a confirmation of the event, following the acknowledgment of the request for confirmation of presence, or the notification of a delay with an estimate defined by the user of the terminal B, during the operation 507.

 In FIG. 6, there is a succession of operations implemented by the elements illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, in an application of the invention to the automatic updating of events contained in an event database using a event server, a presence server, a location server and a message server, various digital terminals and wired or wireless digital networks: during an operation 600, the user of digital terminal A (terminal 200 on the FIG. 2) defines by means of the latter a set of events, which are transmitted to the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) via a first communication medium called network A (digital wired network or microwave 201 in Figure 2). An event is characterized by a nomenclature of the event in question, for example, the designation of an appointment, a meeting, a meeting with the list of participants themselves users of the system, the designation of '' a milestone in a task schedule, the location (set of unique identifiers of sub-parts of the network) in the repository of network B for the realization of this event, etc., a start date and time and a date and an end, which can be the same or separate (the end date and time must be later than the start date and time in this case); during operation 601, the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) receives via the first communication medium, the digital network A (digital wired or wireless network 201 in FIG. 2) a

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l'opération 600 et de la base des abonnés (base 231 sur la figure 2) ; au cours de l'opération 605, le serveur de présence (serveur 230 sur la figure 2) définit une liste de demandes de localisation d'un ensemble de terminaux B (terminal 220 sur la figure 2) dans le référentiel de localisation du réseau numérique B (réseau numérique filaire ou hertzien 221 sur la figure 2), transmise par un support de communication au serveur de localisation (serveur 222 sur la set of events defined by the user of terminal A (terminal 200 in FIG. 2) which he registers in the event base 602 (event base 203 in FIG. 2) which is a memory register of known type ; during an operation 603 which occurs periodically at a frequency set at the system level, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) interrogates the event base 602 (event base 203 in FIG. 2) of the event server (server 202 in FIG. 2) through a digital communication medium between the two servers, so as to consult the events recorded by users having to start within a certain time (t + tO) configured at the level of the system. If the response to this operation is an empty set, the process ends while waiting for a new occurrence of operation 603; during operation 604 following each occurrence of operation 603 and if the latter gives a non-empty set of responses, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines the list of unique identifiers of terminals B (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) to be located on digital network B (network 221 in FIG. 2) from the parameters entered by the user of terminal A (terminal 200 in FIG. 2) during

operation 600 and the subscriber base (base 231 in FIG. 2); during operation 605, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines a list of location requests for a set of terminals B (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) in the location repository of the digital network B (digital wired or wireless network 221 in FIG. 2), transmitted by a communication medium to the location server (server 222 on the

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 figure 2). The location server has a location base 606 (base 223 in FIG. 2) which is a memory register of known type, containing in real time the location of a set of terminals B within the digital network B. A location being represented by a set of unique identifiers of subsets of the digital network B in which the digital terminals B are located, identified by a unique identifier known to the presence server; during operation 607, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) receives via a communication medium, from the location server (server 222 in FIG. 2), the locations of all of the terminals C ( terminal 220 in FIG. 2) defined during operation 604, within the digital wired or wireless network C (network 221 in FIG. 2), originating from the database 606 (base 223 in FIG. 2). The location of all the terminals C results in a list of subset identifiers within the repository defined for the digital network C; during operation 608, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) calculates the expected delay, which can be considered as zero, taking into account the difference between the location of the event being processed and of the location of each of the terminals of all of the terminals C (terminal 220 in FIG. 2) defined during operation 604. The forecast delay is calculated by the geographic knowledge of the subsets of the repository of the digital network C ( digital wired or wireless network 221 in FIG. 2); during operation 609, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) updates the event in the event database 602 (base 203 in FIG. 2) of the

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 event server (server 202 in FIG. 2). This update can be an acknowledgment of maintaining the date and time of the start of this event or its offset due to a set of delays calculated by the presence server during operation 608. The process can end during operation 609 or optionally continue to notify the users of the terminals C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) of the update of this event; during the optional operation 610, the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2) defines the list of update notifications for the event database 602 (event database 203 in FIG. 2), which can be the confirmation of the date and time of the start of the event or a delay notification for the presence of the user of a terminal B for this event, to be sent to all users of terminals C affected by this event. These notifications include the wording of the event as defined by the user of the terminal C during the operation 600, the start and end dates and times, updated during the operation 609. The server presence transmits all the notifications of updates thus generated to the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) through a communication medium, so that it broadcasts them to all the users of the terminals C ( terminal 220 in FIG. 2) through the communication medium called network C (network 221 in FIG. 2); during operation 611, the message server (server 212 in FIG. 2) receives from the presence server (server 230 in FIG. 2), by a first communication medium, the notifications for updating the base of events to be broadcast on the communication medium called network C (wired or wireless digital network 211 in FIG. 2) to all of the terminals C (terminal 210 on the

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 figure 2). The update notification of an event from the event base 602 to all of the users of terminal C can be made on a network of the same nature as that of all of the users of terminal B or on a network digital wired or wireless of a different nature; during operation 612, the user of terminal C (terminal 210 in FIG. 2) reads the update notification of an event from event base 602 transmitted by the digital network C (wired digital network or wireless 211 in Figure 2). This notification can be a confirmation of the event, following the acknowledgment of the presence confirmation request, or the notification of a delay with an estimate calculated by the presence server from information from the location server, at during operation 608.

Claims (14)

1-Method of telecommunication between an information server and at least one terminal comprising a step of constructing a state base of each terminal characterized in that it comprises a step of emission by the server of a request and a step of updating said state base as a function of the notification sent by the terminal in response to said request.  2-Telecommunication method according to claim 1 characterized in that the terminals communicate with the server by communication networks of different natures [GSM, PSTN, Internet, ...].  3-telecommunication method according to claim 1 or 2 characterized in that the state base is a location base.  4-telecommunication method according to claim 1,2 or 3 characterized in that the state base is an event base.  5-telecommunication method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an additional step of notification of a message comprising the identifier of the terminal whose state has been modified and the list of identifiers of the zones of location of said terminal by the server to one or more terminals, during an update of the state database.  6-telecommunication method according to claim 3 characterized in that it comprises an additional step of notification of the proximity of at least two specific terminals, consisting of calculating a comparison function of the list of identifiers of the location zones of each of said terminals, and to notify <Desc / Clms Page number 33>  a terminal at least the result of said function, and the identifiers of said specific terminals.  7-Telecommunication method according to claim 3 characterized in that said comparison function is negative when the intersection of the lists of identifiers of the zones of said specific terminals is empty.  8-telecommunication method according to claim 4 characterized in that it comprises a step of addressing by the server to at least one terminal of a request and recording in the event base of the message sent by said terminal in response to said request, the addressing step being triggered as a function of the events recorded in said base.  9-A method of telecommunications according to claim 8 characterized in that it comprises an additional step of notification of the update of the event database in the form of a message sent by the server to at least one terminal.  10-telecommunication method according to claim 3 and 8 characterized in that said request is a location request.  11-Telecommunication method according to claim 1 for the automatic location of digital terminals connected to digital networks (wired or wireless), characterized in that it comprises the steps of: - definition of the list of terminals to be located from a first terminal (computer, mobile phone, digital assistant, voice server, etc.) transmitted in the form of a message from the terminal to the message server, from the message server to the presence server; request for periodic location by the presence server to the location server; <Desc / Clms Page number 34>  when at least one terminal arrives at a predefined location, definition by the presence server of the list of notifications to be sent by the message server to other terminals.  12-System for implementing a method according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an event server, a presence server, a message server and a location server at within sessions centrally managed by the presence server.  13-System according to claim 12 characterized in that it comprises: - a first digital terminal 10 connected to a first digital network 11; - A first digital network 11 which can be wired or wireless; - a second digital terminal 20, which can be the same as the first, connected to a second digital network 21; a second wired or wireless digital network 21, which may be the same as the first; a third digital terminal 30, which may be the same as the first or the second, connected to a third digital network 31; a third digital network 31, wired or wireless, which may be the same as the first or the second; an event server 12 which manages an event database which can be shared between several users; a message server 22 interconnected to the second digital network 21 for broadcasting messages to <Desc / Clms Page number 35> 22 and the location server 32.  destination of the second digital terminal 20 and the reception of messages sent by this terminal; a location server 32 interconnected to the third digital network 31 for the location of the digital terminal 30; a presence server 40 which communicates with the event server 12, the message server  14-System according to claim 12 characterized in that it comprises: a first digital terminal 200, called terminal A, connected to the first digital network 201, which can be a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other digital terminal allowing to consult the event server 202 and to configure the event database 203; - a first digital network 201, called network A, wired or wireless, transporting the data in both directions between the event server 202 and the digital terminal

 200 i a second digital terminal 210, called terminal B, which may be of the same nature as terminal A or of a different nature, namely a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other digital terminal capable of exchanging messages, connected to the second digital network 211, making it possible to consult and send messages, notifications and questions / answers, with the message server 212; - a second digital network 211, called network B, wired or wireless, which may be of the same nature as network A or of a different nature, making it possible to route digital messages, notifications or questions / answers, in <Desc / Clms Page number 36>  both directions, between the message server 212 and the digital terminal 210; a third digital terminal 220, called terminal C, which can be of the same nature as the first two terminals or of a different nature, namely a computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant or any other digital terminal which can be located by the digital network C by means of a unique identification present in one or more subsets of said network; a third digital network 221, called network C, wired or wireless, which may be of the same nature as networks A or B or of a different nature, making it possible to locate digital terminals in subsets of the network repository, such as the location of the terminal 220 which is communicated to the location server 222; an event server 202 responsible for managing the event base 203, connected by a first communication medium to the first digital network 201 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type suitable the operation of the event base 203; an event database 203 managed by the event server 202 which contains configured events which can be consulted by the users by means of the terminal 200 via the digital network 201 such as meetings, appointments and planned absences, tasks, etc. ; a real-time messaging server 202, that is to say capable of communicating without delay, connected by a first communication medium to the second digital network 202 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type, responsible for issuing notifications and questions at the request of the presence server 230, and managing the responses <Desc / Clms Page number 37>  received from digital terminal 210 by matching them to questions previously sent to this same terminal; a location server 222, connected by a first communication medium to the third digital network 221 and by a second communication medium to the presence server 230, is a computer server of known type, responsible for collecting the location of the terminal 220 on the digital network 221 and to store the data in the location base 223 in order to communicate the location information to the presence server at the latter's request; a presence server 230, connected by a communication medium of the computer network type to the event servers 202, of messages 212 and location 222, is a computer server of known type, responsible for carrying out the operations described in the present invention at starting from the information contained in the database 231; - A subscriber base 231 managed by the presence server 230 listing the information on the users of the various terminals, the networks and the settings defined by the users for the processes described in the present invention.