MXPA00001065A - Processing and forwarding messages from a computer network to a forwarding service - Google Patents

Abstract

A message processing and forwarding system for processing electronic messages in digital format received over a computer communication path or network (111), and forwarded over a telephone circuit switched network to user's receiver (133), such as a pager. A content processor in a message server (103) processes the received digital message in accordance with knowledge of the receiver's capabilities and user-configured message filtering information to create a customized second message suitable for handling by the user's receiver (133) at a remote physical location. Also, the system defines a distributed architecture for global paging, including multiple redundancy, to yield a robust system. In a preferred embodiment, the original digital message is part of an e-mail message received and forwarded through a conventional computer communication network (111) such as the Internet.

Description

PROCESSING AND SENDING OF MESSAGES FROM A COMPUTER NETWORK TO A SHIPMENT SERVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to communications between computers and over telephony and wireless networks. The last half of our rapidly ending century has been dominated by the emerging importance of communications through computer networks. Computer communication has become increasingly popular due to its ability to convey multimedia messages in a precise and predictable manner. The popularity of electronic mail has been reinforced with the emergence of the Internet as a global network of computers, where people around the world have communicated effortlessly with each other over the Internet. The future also continues to promise additional developments in this area, as communications between computers is constantly improved through faster and more economical links that span the world. Although the revolution in computer communications has provided a new and useful platform for individuals to communicate with each other, the capacity and flexibility of computer communication dictate requirements for software and hardware, increasingly complex for the end user. Thus, for example, a user who seeks to receive electronic mail over the Internet, requires no less than a computer configured with a modem device and communications software. More importantly, the user must establish a communication path through a circuit switched telephony network capable of receiving email messages. In this way, there is a need for a system to transport these types of messages to a user through less complicated and more direct means. COMPENDIUM The invention is directed to a system of sending and processing messages, which receives messages on a computer communications network and after processing the messages, sending them to a receiver such as a radio locator. In one embodiment, the invention includes a source message server, configured to process a first computer readable message received. A message filter is configured and used to select the first message that is also handled by a content processor, to create a second message of content and format that are compatible with the receiver. The second message is assigned a destination address and computer network and a circuit switched destination address. These addresses are obtained by consulting a database that stores predefined filtering and sending parameters for an account associated with the destination network address of the first message. The second message is then sent to a destination message server generally at a remote site identified by the destination address of the assigned computer network. When the destination message server receives the second message over the computer communications network, the second message is then sent to a sending service, usually identified by the assigned circuit switched destination address. In a particular embodiment of the invention, the circuit switched destination address is a telephone number for a radio location service. The radio location service after receiving a call signal and the second message, then notifies the receiver through a radio location network and sends the second message. The invention in this way can be used to notify a user with a paging radio of received messages of electronic mail, without the user having to access a computer communications terminal.

The user can tailor the filtering and sending parameters to select among the messages received by the source message server on behalf of the user. further, the system can be used to avoid long distance telephone fee charges normally generated when a call is made to a remote radiolocation service by sending a request for a radio location message such as a computer message for example on the Internet to the server of destination messages that are then retransmitted in one direction as a local telephone call to the radio localization service. DRAWINGS These and other features, aspects and advantages of this invention will be better understood with respect to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a system-level view of the invention in accordance with one embodiment. Figure 2 shows a list of steps to be performed as an embodiment of the invention. Figure 3 is a data flow diagram of the message servers according to another embodiment of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION As outlined above, the invention presents a related system and method for efficiently communicating a message received in digital format over a communications network to a receiver that is preferably smaller than and more likely less complex than a traditional computer . This receiver can be a simple alphanumeric or numeric paging radio that has limited transmission and reception capabilities, a portable wireless telephone, the combination of a telephone and a paging radio and the combination of a portable computer and a paging radio. A preferred embodiment is the simple and compact locator radio that is normally transported in or otherwise closely coupled with the user. For purposes of explanation, specific embodiments are set forth below to provide a complete understanding of the invention. However, as is understood by a person skilled in the art, upon reading this description, the invention can be practiced without these details. In addition, well-known elements, devices, processes, stages and the like are not set forth in detail in order to avoid obscuring the invention. Before considering some details of the invention, in Figure 1 presents a bird's eye view, one embodiment of the invention. The message processing and sending system of the invention allows communication between a source 116 or 115 and a receiver or receiving device 133 through a layered architecture. A pair of message servers 103 and 105 are linked by a computer communications network (CCN) III as a top layer, while a number of different sending services 123, 135 and 145 form the lower layer. The interface between the upper and lower layers is provided by a number of destination servers 105, 132 and 144, together with any additional or alternate servers 125, 131, 141 and 143.. The different shipping services 123, 135 and 145 can be located in different parts of the world, as covered by the umbrella of CCN III. The CCN can be a wide area network (WAN = Wide Area Network) or even a large company network such as the Internet. An exemplary configuration of the system of Figure 1 will now be described. The source and ultimate destination of a message can be the first message source 115 and a receiver 133. The first message source 115 can be any entity that generates a computer message, one that can be processed and sent over a communications network of computers switched in packages. The system can also be configured as a voice message server 118 and a fax server 116 that receives and understands fax and voice / audio information, respectively and in response, creates and sends a message from compilers. The computer message for example may be an email message sent to a certain email address. In the particular embodiment of Figure 1, messages from the first message source 115, the voice message server 118 or the fax server 116, are received by a mail server 104 that provides mail reception, storage and transmission services. using a protocol such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and the post office protocol (POP = Post Office Protocol). The source server 103 can be configured as a client of the email server 104, to communicate over the CCN 111 using SMTP or POP, to receive email from the mail server 104. Another conveniently configured backup mail server (not shown) can also be implemented for total system robustness. In one embodiment, the source server 103 communicates with a database server 107 to access a copy of the user's account information. The database server 107 may also contain a copy of the network addresses required to communicate with the destination servers. Although it is illustrated that it connects through the CCN 111, the source server 103 and the database server 107 can be configured as part of a separate sub-network that couples with the larger CCN 111, too, as will be recognized by a person with skill in the specialty, different combinations of hardware and software can be used to implement the source server and the database server. In one embodiment, each of the source server 103, the database server 107 and the mail server 107 reside on stand-alone computers or workstations that contain the software and physical equipment resources required to allow operation of the computer. the invention. In alternate modes, however its functions can be supplied through any number of computer systems. The servers and databases communicate with each other through CCN III using protocols such as the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and the hyper text transport protocol (HTTP = Hyper-Text Transport Protocol). ) in packets using a protocol such as the transmission control protocol and Internet protocol x *** m *. ^ ^^ .... ^ fa ^ ... ÜÜi (TCP / IP = Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol). The destination server 105 will probably be located in a different physical site other than the source server 103. The destination server 105 communicates with a sending service 123 (such as a paging service) normally through a switched telephone network in circuit. The circuit switched telephony network can be a public switched telephone network (PSTN) or a generalized switched telephone network (GST) that spans PSTN networks, cellular telephone networks and broadcast networks. of radiolocation. The sending service 123 is able to communicate with a number of different receivers 133 such as a conventional alphanumeric or numerical pager. In a preferred embodiment, the destination server 105 and the sending server 123 will be physically located, so that telephone calls to the sending service 123 will be of the less expensive "local area" type. The operation of the invention in one embodiment will now be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 2 illustrates a flow diagram of the steps performed by the various entities in Figure 1, as ^ ü¡i¡? faith ^^^. a mode of the message sending and processing system of the invention. Starting with block 203, source server 103 is notified of computer messages, probably 5 received by mail server 104. As previously indicated, the original messages will be encapsulated as computer messages, for example in the form of or part of from an email message that has heads and body. The original message can be , for example, requesting that a user transporting the receiver 133 be located or a location message be sent to him and that a certain message be sent to him. As a client to the mail server 104, the source server 103 is notified by a process on the mail server 104 using for example SMTP, in the same way as a standard mail client. For this mode, the notification will include receipt of an email header by the source server 103. While the source server 103 retrieves the messages from the computer, the operation may continue concurrently with block 207 where the source server 103 accesses information associated with a user account. The account can be identified, for example by a destination address of such computer messages as email addresses. Alternately, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * ^^^^^^^ The account may be associated with one or more data fields contained in the messages of the computer. In one embodiment, the account information may include an account number, an account balance and other billing information, the user's email address for receiving computer messages, one or more shipping service addresses such as numbers of telephone and probably a key or code of access of service of shipment that can identify a device radio locator particular. Alternatively, the original message itself may contain the address (for example, telephone number) of the delivery service and / or the access code. The account information may also identify a receiver 133 associated with a particular type of shipping service. This information can be used by the source server 103, to determine the ability of the receiver 133 to receive messages of different media formats and contents. For example, a certain radiolocation service may be exclusive to only numeric messages, while other radio locators and radio location services may support text as well as numeric messages. As explained further below, this information regarding the type of sending service is used to configure a filter message that - "-» * - "« * »-» «» > -. - AJ-Bte-- *** has convenient content and format for processing by the receiver 133. The account information may also identify one or more destination servers 105 by their addresses, for example their Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Thus, in block 211, the source server 103 determines the computer network addressing information required to send the filtered message to the destination server 105. Several destination message servers (such as various network addresses) can be enlisted in the account information capable of sending the filtered message. Alternatively, the destination server may be selected in the original received message, with the network address of the destination server being stored or pre-programmed in a database, the source server 103 or a separate database server 119 As previously mentioned, the original message is received as part of a computer readable message, while the receiver 133 may not be able to display or respond to the original message. Therefore, in block 213, the source server determines the message filter parameters and other processing parameters required to select and process an original message in a filtered message that will be compatible with the display and processing characteristics of the final receiver 133 The mode of the source server 103 in Figure 3 provides a content processor 303, which performs a message processing function on the original messages received based on knowledge of the recipient's message reception capability. The content processor 303 contains at least two main functions: message filtering and processing of contents. Message filtering results in the selection of which of the original messages received will be subject to content processing. Message filtering is obtained through a rule-based scheme where specific data fields together with their values are indicated as the filtering criteria. For the mode that processes and sends original messages as part of email messages, these data fields include sender, recipient, subject and attached files of the email message. The search terms and phrases in the filter criteria can be applied to give more flexibility in selecting a message to be processed and sent. For example, the filtering criteria can be programmed to select all the emails that are sent by a individual or all messages in a particular subject, or all messages with the word "urgent" in the message body or any combination of these criteria. Once the message filter has been determined and an original message is chosen in that base, the operation continues with block 215 where the content processing translates the selected original message into a second message or filtering. The filtered message has content that can be processed by the receiver 133. A rule-based approach is also employed in the processing of content in order to arm the filtered message in such a way that it can be received and displayed or otherwise answered by the receiver 133. For example, if the receiver 133 is a 20 character alphanumeric paging radio, then the rules will not allow more than 20 characters in the filtered message. After recognizing restrictions such as the number and type of characters available to the particular receiver, the content processor will determine the most relevant characters to place the filtered message, as a function of the message filter criteria and algorithms based on rules such as Keyword selection, item deletion, message truncation and message source identification.

After creating the filtered message, the source server 103 encapsulates the filtered message and an associated address of the sending service in another computer message, addressed to a select destination server. The source server 103 may also include a receiver access code in the computer message, if required. In one embodiment, the computer message may be an HTTP message to be communicated using the POST mechanism. The computer message may also be routed through several CCN 111 nodes to finally reach the destination server 105. An alternate destination server 125 may be employed (normally listed in the database) in the event that the server does not respond destination 105. Moving to block 223, destination server 105 receives the computer message about CCN 11 and processes it to obtain the address of the sending service and probably the access code used to reach receiver 133. The filtered message is also it is retrieved and analyzed synthetically to obtain, for example, a numeric (or alphanumeric) message to be sent. The destination server 105 then activates certain resources required to connect to the sending service 123, based on the identity of the sending service identified in the computer message and sends a filtered message to the sending service as a telephone call. After a call is made to the sending service, and the filtered message has been sent, the destination server 105 can return recognition information 5 which identifies the particular filtered message and its sending status. Meanwhile, the source server 103 can update the account information, such as adjusting the balance, to reflect the recently transmitted filtered message. Figure 3 illustrates a data flow diagram of the operations in and between the message servers, according to one embodiment of the invention. As computer messages (including filtered messages) are received in the outbox 320 on the source server 103, a source process 322 such as Unix Perl Script, sends computer messages over the request connection to destination server 105. Computer messages received by destination server 105 are placed in inbox 340.

An interface module for notification 362 retrieves a computer message from the inbox 340 which is placed in the outgoing mailbox 344. After extracting data such as the filtered message, shipping service address and access code of the mail message. computer, extracted data are put on the waiting list in the list of fa fjS! database wait 366, to be processed by a radio location program 368. Status notifications to source server 103 reporting the filtered messages that were sent, are sent over the status connection after receiving status recognition from the radiolocation program. The paging program 368 is responsible for causing the filtered message to be transmitted to the appropriate mailing service normally identified by a telephone number. In one embodiment, the radiolocation problem 368 invokes the software (software) of the conventional computer modem (not shown) to cause the sending service telephone number to be dialed by a modem. When the sending service responds, the modem then sends an access code (if required) and the filtered message, encoded in the signaling format specific to the sending service. The sending service subsequently transmits the filtered message to the receiver 133. The filtered message can then be received by the user, for example as a radiolocation message. In another embodiment, the receiver 133 may be able to perform control functions in response to receiving the filtered message, for example as a controller to reset, activate or deactivate a computer or other controlled device 8 electrically. Having described the basic operation of various embodiments of the invention, certain other useful additions to, variations and advantages of the embodiments are now presented. In another form of the processing and shipping system, the account information including the filter criteria as well as the rules for the processing of content can be defined by the human user of the account through a user interface based on the World Wide Web viewer. (network) to the source message server 103. The user can also program information such as the desired destination server to be used to send the filtered messages. These allow the user to fully adjust the handling of messages for their account. Another access mechanism for the user can be a conventional telephone interactive voice response system that communicates with the source server 013. The processing and sending system modalities described above can also be configured to respond to a fax or voice message, when sending an original computer message to the user's email address to be processed as described above. In this case, the voice message may be from a person who leaves a voice message for the user. The voice message is stored by the message server ^ - ^ Bsg ^ | ^ á ^^ Hssaes ^ ¡tt &J? ^ M ^ fiMMiMM voice 118 and an original email or other convenient message addressed to the user's account on the source server 103 then create and send. The user can then configure the message filter parameters to recognize the original message indicating that a fax or voice mail has been recorded. The filtered message will then notify the user by the receiver 133 that this message arrived. Another useful aspect of the embodiment in Figure 1 is to provide redundancy by including an alternate source server 117, the mirror database 119, and an alternate destination server 125. The total system can be configured to detect faults in any of the servers source or destination, and the database server 107 and replace its functions with an alternate server and / or mirror database 119. This can be achieved by configuring the message servers 103 and 105 to recognize fault conditions (such as failure return codes or lack of a successful return code) and accordingly re-allocate the resources in the case of failures with any of the servers or the database, in such a way that a message is routed through a redundant connection or resource to ensure that the message is sent reliably to the receiver 133. The system will be reconfigured in this way jg ^ jgg adaptively in response to changing communication and network conditions. An added benefit of multiple redundancy, available when the additional destination and source 5 servers are present to handle message traffic, is that the system can be updated or repaired little by little, so that the entire system does not require shutting down. The various modalities described above also define a system that is easily scalable since the message handling capacity can be increased by simply adding additional servers and databases, without resulting in serious bottlenecks. The previous discussion also reveals that in certain In some embodiments, the source server 103 can essentially be cloned because it supports few, if any, unique features of functionality, especially if the account information can be accessed from one or more previously established database servers. To summarize, the embodiments of the message processing and sending system of the invention provide an approach to unify a group of otherwise isolated and different sending services throughout the world using a computer communications network. global as a top layer mechanism to translate and send messages, to provide multinational coverage for different kinds of recipients. While the above description contains many specific data, these will not be considered as limitations on the scope of the invention, but rather as examples of different modalities. Many other variations are possible. For example, different communication protocols can be employed between the source and destination servers to implement the request and status connections. Also, certain described stages that occur sequentially, can be performed alternately concurrently, depending on the particular implementation, as long as the functional dependencies are met. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined not by the illustrated modes but by the appended claims and their legal equivalents. g ^^ $ «gg, yy ^ A & & amp; n ^

Claims (24)

RBJ NDICATIONS

1. - A system for processing and sending messages, characterized by means of: a source server configured to receive a plurality of original messages from at least one message source; a content processor coupled to the source server to select when processing at least one of the plurality of original messages, to create a filtering message; a database containing an address of at least one destination server; and the destination server at least is communicatively coupled to the source server through a computer communications network, and communicatively coupled to a receiving device through a switched telephone network network.

2. - A system according to claim 1, wherein the content processor creates the filtered message based on knowledge of the reception capacity of messages of the receiving device.

3. - A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the source server is also configured to select the destination server at least to receive the filtered message, based on data content of the selected plurality of original messages.

4. - A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the source server is configured to select the destination server at least to receive the filtered message, based on the user account information available to the source server.

5. - A system according to claim 4, characterized in that the source server is also configured to allow the information to be programmed through a network display interface.

6. - A system according to claim 5, characterized in that the information to be programmed includes at least one of user account information, destination server information and message filter information.

7. A system according to claim 1, characterized in that the destination server at least is coupled to a service sent through the switched telephone circuit network, the sending service is communicatively coupled to the receiving device .

8. - A system according to claim 7, characterized in that the destination server at least chooses a signaling interface to And ^ M gsmBStiM ^^^^ & jih the switched network of the telephone circuit for the sending service.

9. - A system according to claim 7, characterized in that it also comprises a second sending service for sending a second filtered message to a second receiver, the first and second sending services physically are in separate sites.

10. - A system according to claim 1, characterized in that it also comprises an alternate source server identical to the source server; and an alternate destination server identical to the destination server at least, wherein the alternate source and destination servers have access to the data required to process and send the plurality of original messages.

11. A system for processing and sending messages, characterized in that it comprises: a source server configured to receive a plurality of original messages and create a filtered message after extracting data from a select one of the plurality of original messages, the source server for send the filtered message to a first address; and the first destination server having a first address and communicatively coupled to the source server, the first destination server in response to receiving the filtered message, causes the filtered message to be sent to a first sending service on a switched telephone circuit network.

12. - A system according to claim 11, characterized in that the original message is part of an email message.

13. - A system according to claim 11, characterized in that the source server is configured to select one of the plurality of original messages according to a message filter defining search criteria used in syntactically analyzing the plurality of original messages.

14. - A system according to claim 11, characterized in that the first sending service is a radiolocation service.

15. - A system according to claim 11, characterized in that the source server sends a telephone number associated with the filtered message to the first destination server.

16. A system according to claim 15, characterized in that the source server obtains the telephone number when accessing the account information associated with a computer network address, where the computer network address is the destination address of the plurality of original messages received. ^ Mnm

17. - A system in accordance with claim 11, characterized in that it further comprises: a fax server communicatively coupled to the source server through the communications network of 5 computers, where the fax server is configured to send an original message to the source server in response to receiving a fax.

18. - Method for processing and automated sending of messages through a network of 10 computer communications, characterized in that it comprises the steps of: selecting one of a plurality of original messages; create a filtered message in response to extracting data from the selected message; sending the filtered message to a first address on the computer communication network; and sending a call signal over a switched telephone circuit network to a sending service in response to receiving the filtered message.

19. Method according to claim 20, characterized in that the step of selecting an original message is to select one of a plurality of e-mail messages.

20. Method according to claim 18, characterized in that the step of selecting is performed according to a message filter that defines the ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ search criteria employed in syntactic analysis of the plurality of original messages.

21. Method according to claim 18, characterized in that the cover of sending a call signal to a sending service includes sending the call signal to a radiolocation service.

22. Method according to claim 18, characterized in that the step of sending a call signal includes sending the filtered message.

23. Method according to claim 18, characterized in that it also comprises the step of sending a telephone number to the first address on the computer communications network.

24. Method according to claim 15, characterized in that it further comprises the step of accessing account information to obtain a telephone number of a sending service in response to selecting one of the plurality of original messages. j ^ j ^ Ü ^ ÜMÜyÜ ^ M ^ j ^ gj ^ A system of sending and processing messages, to process electronic messages in digital format that are received over a computer communications network or path (111, and sent over a switched network) of telephone circuit to the user receiver (133), such as a pager.A content processor in a message server (103) processes the received digital message in accordance with knowledge of the receiver's capabilities and message filtering information configured by the user to create a second tailored message convenient for handling by the user's receiver (133) at a remote physical location.Also, the system defines a distributed architecture for global radiolocation, including multiple redundancy, to give a robust system In a preferred embodiment, the original digital message is part of an email message received and sent through a network of conventional computer communications (111) such as the Internet. PCT- 648 vJ UMi g'S * kmsi * .. - ^. .M ** ~. .MM «^^« ^,. - to. ^ ^ .e ^^^. ^ ^