WIRELESS AGENT APPLICATION FOR SHORT-DISTANCE CONNECTIONS
The present invention relates to a method for providing a wireless agent application for short-distance connections. The present invention also relates to a software product for providing wireless agent application for short- distance connections, said software product being stored on storage means. The present invention further relates to a simplified method for activating operation over wireless short-distance connections, and to a software product for ac- tivating operation over wireless short-distance connections, said software product being stored on storage means.
For instance, specification WO-A1-03015315 discloses a short- range agent designed for use in a Bluetooth network, a so-called Promineo roaming agent, which supports a handover/roaming mechanism in the wired network part and monitors all Bluetooth devices within the service area. The agent presented in the aforesaid specification controls the setup of connections. In the system in question, the Promineo-AP connects the Promineo-DT through the LAN, informs the Promineo-RA of BD ADDR and clock-offset information of the DT, sets up a connection according to a command from the Promineo-RA and performs a proxy operation for relaying a PPP diagram, and the Promineo- RA serves as a PPP server for processing PPP connection to the DT in a subnetwork including the NAPs, recovers the PPP connection through tunnel end point redirection after the handover mechanism is completed, and thus maintains the previous PPP connection state during the handover/roaming mecha- nism regardless of disconnection of the Bluetooth link.
For instance, specification EP-1146692 discloses a data communication system based on a Bluetooth link and containing identifiers that identify the Bluetooth transmitter-receiver circuit of a wireless terminal. This specification is associated with low-level authentication of a Bluetooth link -- how to automate the setup of a safe Bluetooth connection in a given environment, e.g. between an intelligent telephone and an office base station.
The present invention does not deal with low-level authentication. It should be as easy as possible for the user to set up a wireless Bluetooth connection or a corresponding ad-hoc type short-distance connection, and low-level authentication should not even be necessary. Authentication implemented using visiting cards refers to high-level authentication, which can be carried out but is not obligatory.
The object of the present invention is to create a wireless agent for an intelligent telephone comprising a software part both in the intelligent telephone and in the base station. The agent automates installation of software on the intelligent telephone and configuration of software to the intelligent tele- phone and offers a possibility for communication between intelligent telephones over base stations, making the transmission of games, software, advertisements and other media between telephones and from base stations to telephones completely transparent.
Another aim of the present invention is to provide a method of acti- vating, identifying and authenticating wireless transmission of a visiting card for the transmission of software or other information from an application distribution unit to an intelligent telephone.
Application distribution unit refers to a server installation capable of wireless communication with an intelligent telephone, such as the BlueGiga WRAP Access Server, which contains specific application software utilising the method described and running independently and without user control.
By using this method, it is not necessary to make any preliminary installations or configuration changes in intelligent telephones, because visiting cards can be created, handled, received and sent by means of telephones us- ing the settings with which they are delivered in the purchase package. In some scenarios, the actual request visiting card can also be sent in a ready state using any transmission path suitable for the transmission of visiting cards.
In the distribution unit it is likewise unnecessary to make any connection-specific or intelligent telephone-specific configurations; instead, it func- tions autonomically as programmed.
The features of the method, apparatus and software product of the invention are presented in detail in the claims below.
Wireless transmission path in this case refers to Bluetooth and/or WLAN, which enable ad-hoc type communication between devices. In the following, the invention will be described in detail with reference to an example and the attached drawings, wherein
Fig. 1 illustrates the architecture of the agent software,
Fig. 2 presents an example of operation, and
Fig. 3 illustrates the architecture of a visiting card application.
Example 1
The agent provides so-called cradle software, whose operation is designed to provide functionality in the communication between a base station 1 and an intelligent telephone 2, and likewise in the communication between intelligent telephones 2 over base stations 1. The intelligent telephones need not be connected to the same base station, but the base stations may communicate between themselves over a network, e.g. over an Ethernet network using the TCP/IP protocol. In the agent it is possible to make settings determining which software applications can be installed automatically. Therefore, for example software produced by a given manufacturer may be always allowed while, on the other hand, e.g. the installation of advertising software can be always denied.
The agent also provides interfaces to which software producers may create plugins to allow third parties to make extensions to the software in question.
The agent automatically installs the software applications on the intelligent telephone 1 , performs the configuration of the software and provides a possibility for communication between intelligent telephones over base stations, making the transmission of games, software, advertisements and other media between telephones and from base stations to telephones completely transparent.
Operation example (see Fig. 2)
1) The user of an intelligent telephone enters the coverage area of a base station.
2) The customer has allowed automatic installation of advertising software on his/her intelligent telephone. The customer has also allowed plugins for all ad- vertising software on his/her telephone.
3) The telephone automatically installs the advertising software on the intelligent telephone.
4) The telephone automatically downloads different plugins for the advertising software and starts running them in the advertising software. It is to be noted that 'plugin' here refers to the advertisement itself.
This operation example allows the transmission of context- dependent advertising material to the telephone and its automatic presentation.
The agent software and the base station software take care of the transfer and installation, the agent software provides the interfaces upon which the producers of advertisement presentation software can create their software and which enable the advertisements themselves to be made suitable to the system in question.
Example 2
The distribution unit 11 identifies the address of an intelligent tele- phone 12 on the basis of a wireless connection. Based on the contents of a visiting card 13, the distribution unit determines the type of information desired and possibly performs an additional authentication, e.g. in the case of services subject to a charge. On the basis of these data, the distribution unit selects and collects the information to be transferred to the intelligent telephone and sends it to the intelligent telephone over the same transmission path over which the request visiting card was received.
Operation example:
1) The user of an intelligent telephone enters the coverage area of the distribution unit.
2) The user of the intelligent telephone creates in the contact data of the telephone a visiting card giving the first name as "LOGO1". 3) The user of the intelligent telephone sends the visiting card over Bluetooth to the distribution unit. The user of the intelligent telephone now has to search for Bluetooth devices and identifies the distribution unit on the basis of its name. 4) When receiving, the distribution unit saves the address of the intelligent telephone, receives the visiting card and analyses its contents. 5) Based on the contents, the distribution unit sends an image entitled "logo1.jpg" over Bluetooth to the intelligent telephone. The distribution unit knows the correct device as it saved the Bluetooth address at the moment of receipt.
6) The user of the intelligent telephone receives the image (at this point the user may have to give his/her consent to the setup of a Bluetooth connection).
7) The intelligent telephone presents a notice of receipt of a message, and the user can then do anything he/she likes with it.
In the example, anybody may set up a Bluetooth connection to the distribution station. Over this connection, it is possible (for any customer) to get free services with a basic visiting card, but with a visiting card containing authentication information it is possible to get special services (regular customer benefits).
It is obvious to the person skilled in the art that different embodiments of the invention are not limited to the example described above, but that they may be varied within the scope of the claims presented below.