WO2009032520A2

WO2009032520A2 - Method and system for transmitting messages in a communication network

Info

Publication number: WO2009032520A2
Application number: PCT/US2008/073544
Authority: WO
Inventors: Subir Saha; Jay H. Acharya; Samir Dilipkumar Saklikar; Subramanya K. Prasad; Prashant S. Rao
Original assignee: Motorola, Inc.
Priority date: 2007-08-31
Filing date: 2008-08-19
Publication date: 2009-03-12
Also published as: WO2009032520A3

Abstract

A method and system for transmitting a message in a communication network (100) is disclosed. The method at a network device (108) includes receiving (304) a message composed over a special interface, from a client device (102) in the communication network. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. Further, the method includes inserting (306) additional content to the message. The additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria. Furthermore, the method includes transmitting (308) the message and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of one or more identifiers. The message is associated with the one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TRANSMITTING MESSAGES IN A COMMUNICATION NETWORK

[0001] The present invention generally relates to communication networks, and more particularly, to a method and system for transmitting a message in a communication network.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Communication networks are used extensively these days. Also, communication devices are prevalent in home and business today. Such devices are typically used to send and receive voice, text and/or audio/video data between two or more communication devices. Examples of communication devices can include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, smart phones, pagers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), laptops etc. In the communication network, many services like calling service, messaging service, data service etc. are provided by various network operators or service providers. Further, in an emerging market, like India, the cost of messaging services remains a challenge. There is a need for subsidizing the cost of messaging services to enable mass market adoptions of such services. Also the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) penetration in the emerging markets can be further improved. At present, the service providers are struggling to improve the revenue from data services or messaging services. Various service providers and communication device manufacturers are constantly seeking to create value-added services capable of generating new revenues.

[0003] Further, many organizations can employ mass messaging to inform their patrons, for example schools informing parents, doctors sending reminders to patients etc. However, such type of messaging may be seen as a social responsibilities for those organizations leading to no or negligible incentive for them to adopt such a messaging system. Apart from this, people with public figures, for example, movie personalities, politicians and sports personalities can keep their fans or supporters informed on their personal events by using such a messaging system. Further, these classes of people have a good degree of influence on their fans and supporters and there is a possibility for them to get some financial advantage of this relationship. Also, people with eminent professions, like doctors, professors and vets communicate with a class of people, for example, patients, students and pet owners. These classes of people have some specific needs like cheaper insurance, cheaper loans, training etc. So advertisers can take advantage of these relationships in serving advertisements to receivers of messages. However, these opportunities have not been exploited yet and these classes of people and organizations are still not at advantage. Also, reducing the cost of messaging for enabling such services is still a challenge for the service providers.

[0004] Therefore, a need exists for a method and system for transmitting a message in the communication network. Further, the method and system should also subsidize the cost of messaging services to enable mass market adoptions of such messaging services. Furthermore, the method and system should also provide some incentive to various organization or celebrities for adapting such mass messaging system proactively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, and which, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and explain various principles and advantages, all in accordance with the present invention.

[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network, where various embodiments of the present invention can be practiced;

[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary network device, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention;

[0008] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for transmitting a message in a communication network, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; [0009] FIG. 4 is flow diagram illustrating a method for transmitting a message in a communication network, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; and

[0010] FIGs. 5 and 6 illustrate a flow diagram of a method for transmitting a message in a communication network, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated, relative to other elements, to help to in improving an understanding of the embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] Before describing in detail the particular method and system for transmitting a message in a communication network, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, it should be observed that the present invention resides primarily in combinations of method steps related to the method and system for transmitting a message in a communication network. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented, where appropriate, by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent for an understanding of the present invention, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those with ordinary skill in the art, having the benefit of the description herein.

[0013] In this document, the terms "comprises," "comprising", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements that are not expressly listed or inherent in such a process, method, article or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises ... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or apparatus that comprises the element. The term "another," as used in this document, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms "includes" and/or "having", as used herein, are defined as comprising.

[0014] In the description herein, numerous specific examples are given to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the invention. The examples are included for illustrative purpose only and are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention in any way. It should be noted that various equivalent modifications are possible within the spirit and scope of the present invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that an embodiment of the invention can be practiced with or without the apparatuses, systems, assemblies, methods, components mentioned in the description.

[0015] For one embodiment, a method for transmitting a message in a communication network is provided. The communication network includes a client device and a network device. The method at the network device includes receiving the message from the client device. The message is composed over a special interface at the client device. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. Further, the method includes inserting additional content to the message. The additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria. Furthermore, the method includes transmitting the message and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of one or more identifiers. The message is associated with one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network.

[0016] For another embodiment, a method for transmitting a message in a communication network is provided. The communication network includes a client device and a network device. The message includes a first part and a second part. The method at the client device includes activating a special interface. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. Further, the method includes composing a message over the special interface. The first part of the message includes a user entered text. The second part of the message includes one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network. Furthermore, the method includes converting a format of the message to a predefined format. Further, the method includes transmitting the converted message to the network device.

[0017] For yet another embodiment, a network device in a communication network is provided. The network device includes a processor and a transceiver. The processor is configured to insert additional content into a message. The additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria. Further, the transceiver is configured to receive the message from a client device. The message is composed over a special interface at the client device. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added.. The transceiver is further configured to transmit the message and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of one or more identifiers. The message is associated with the one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network.

[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary communication network 100, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. For one embodiment, the communication network 100 can include a communication device 102, a communication device 104, a communication device 106 and a network device 108. A communication device 104, for example can be a mobile phone. Further, the communication network 100 can include a network device 108. The communication devices 102, 104 and 106, and the network device 108 can send and receive data in the communication network 100. Examples of the communication network 100 include, but are not limited to, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Wireless Fidelity Network (Wi-Fi), a High Performance Radio Local Area Network (HIPERLAN), a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network. [0019] The communication devices 102, 104 and 106 interact with each other by using the network device 108. Each communication device of the communication network 100 can send data to one or more communication devices of the communication network 100. For one embodiment, a communication device that initiates a transmission of data can be called a 'client device'. It will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that any communication device of the communication network 100 can initiate transmission of data to another communication device in the communication network 100. For example, when the communication device 102 transmits data to the communication device 104, the communication device 102 can be called a 'client device' for this particular communication session. For the purpose of this description, the communication device 102 is hereinafter referred to as the client device 102. Further, although the client device 102, the communication device 104 and the communication device 106 have been depicted as mobile phones in FIG.l, it will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that the client device 102, the communication device 104 and the communication device 106 can be any other communication device, such as a smart phone, a pager, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop, a walkie-talkie, a wired phone, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, or a computer.

[0020] Various network operators or service providers provide services like calling services, messaging services, data services etc. to the communication devices associated with a communication network, to enable establishment of communication sessions in the communication network. For one embodiment, the network device 108 enables transmission of data, for example, a message from the client device 102 to any other communication device in the communication network 100 during a communication session. The network device 108 acts as an intermediate device during transmission of the message from the client device 102 to one or more communication devices in the communication network 100. Examples of the network device 108 include, but are not limited to, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Short Message Service Center (SMSC), a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC), an E-mail server, an Instant Message (IM) server, a web server and a network server. When the network device 108 receives a message from the client device 102, it processes the message and transmits it to the destination communication device. For one embodiment, processing a message can include inserting additional content into the message. Further, although FIG. 1 depicts only one network device 108, it will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that the communication network 100 can include more than one of network devices. Further, a network device can be made up of a plurality of sub-network devices.

[0021] For one embodiment, a message transmitted by the client device 102 can be associated with one or more identifiers. Further, the message can include a first part and a second part. The first part can include a user entered text. The second part of the message can include one or more identifiers. Further, each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network 100. For example, John Won can send a message "Party Tonite" to Cathy, Jimmy and Timonna. The message sent by John can have the first part as "Party Tonite" and the second part can include the identifiers, which in this case can be mobile phone numbers of Cathy, Jimmy and Timonna. Other examples of identifiers can include a Mobile Subscriber Identification (MSID) and an E-mail address. For one embodiment, the format of the message can be a Short Message Service (SMS) message format, Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message format, an E-mail message format and an Instant Message (IM) format.

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the network device 108, in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention. The network device 108 enables the transmission of a message in the communication network 100 from a client device to another communication device. For example, the network device 108 can enable transmission of a message from the client device 102 to another communication device, for example the communication device 104. The network device 108 can act as an intermediate device during transmission of the message from the client device 102 to one or more communication devices in the communication network 100.

[0023] The network device 108 can include a processor 202 and a transceiver

204. For one embodiment, the processor 202 can be configured to insert additional content into a message based on a set of predefined criteria. The additional content can be, for example, an advertisement, a banner, a text message, a logo, a symbol, an animation, and a greeting message. For example, a processor at an SMSC in a communication network can insert an advertisement into an SMS message received from a mobile phone. Further, a message transmitted by the client device 102 is associated with one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network 100. For example, a message transmitted by the client device 102 can be associated with the communication devices 104 and 106. Further, the message can include a first part and a second part. The first part of the message can include a user entered text. The second part of the message can include the one or more identifiers. Example of an identifier can include, but is not limited to, a mobile phone number, a Mobile Subscriber Identification (MSID) and an E-mail address.

[0024] The processor 202 can be configured to select the additional content based on a set of predefined criteria. For one embodiment, the set of predefined criteria can include selecting the additional content based on the context of the message. The set of predefined criteria can further include selecting the additional content based on knowledge about a profile of a user of the client device. For example, the additional content can be selected based on the profession of the user of the client device 104. For example, if the user of the client device 104 is a doctor, the additional content can be selected as advertisements of pharmaceutical companies, or promotions of new drugs available. Furthermore, the set of predefined criteria can include selecting the additional content based on knowledge about a profile of a user of a target communication device. The target communication device is a communication device associated with an identifier of the one or more identifiers in the message. For example, if the client device 102 transmits an SMS message to the communication device 104, then the SMS message will have an identifier of the communication device 104, consequently the communication device 104 can be the target communication device.

[0025] The processor 202 can be further configured to determine a context of the message. The context of the message is the discourse surrounding the message that can help in determining the interpretation of the message. For one embodiment, the additional content can be selected based on the context of the message. For example, if a message reads as "Happy Birthday Charlie!" the context of the message can be determined as "Birthday Wish". Based on this context, the additional content selected can be a birthday greeting and/or an advertisement of a cake shop. Further, the processor 202 can receive the additional content from an external server. The external server can be, for example, an E-mail server, a network server, an advertisement server or a web server.

[0026] The processor 202 is further configured to change the format of the message to a target format, when the format of the message is different from the target format. For one embodiment, the format of the message can be a Short Message Service (SMS) message format, a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message format, an E-mail message format, an Instant Message (IM) format. The target format of the message can be any one of an SMS message format, an MMS message format, an E-mail message format, and an IM format. However, the format of the message is changed to the target format only when the format of the message is different from the target format. For example, if a message transmitted by a client device is in the SMS message format, and the target format is an MMS message format, then the format of the message is changed to the MMS message format.

[0027] The network device 108 also includes a transceiver 204. The transceiver 204 can be configured to receive a message from the client device 102. For example, a transceiver at an SMSC can receive an SMS message from a mobile phone. For one embodiment, the message is composed over a special interface at the client device 102. The special interface can be a Graphical User Interface (GUI) or a software application at the client device 102. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. The special interface can be activated by a user of the client device when the user wants to send a message along with some additional content, like an advertisement. Further, if the user does not want to send a message with an additional content, the user can compose the message over a regular message composing interface. For example, if a doctor wants to send a message to his patients, then the doctor can compose the message over a special SMS composing interface at a mobile phone. If the doctor wants to send a message to his family member, then the doctor can compose the message over a regular SMS composing interface at the mobile phone. The transceiver 204 is further configured to transmit the message in the target format and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of the one or more identifiers in the message.

[0028] For the sake of clarity, functioning of the network device 108 can be understood with the following example. A user of the client device 102 can send a message to the communication device 106. The transceiver 204 at the network device 108 can receive the message from the client device 102. The format of the message can be, for example, an SMS message format. Further, the processor 202 determines whether the format of the message i.e. the SMS message format, is different from the target format. The target format can be, for example an MMS message format. When it is determined that the format of the message is different from the target format, the processor 202 changes the format of the message to the MMS message format. Thereafter, the processor 202 can determine a context of the message. The processor 202 then selects additional content based on, for example, the context of the message, to insert into the message. For example, if the message reads as "Have a nice day" then based on the context of the message, an advertisement of a flower shop can be selected as the additional content. The additional content can also be selected based the knowledge about a profile of a user of the client device 102 and/or the knowledge about a profile of a user of the target communication device. The processor 202 then inserts the selected additional content into the message which has been changed from an SMS message format to an MMS message format. For some embodiments, the additional content can be obtained by the network device 108 from an external server. The transceiver 204 then transmits the message and the additional content in the target format to the communication device 106.

[0029] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for transmitting a message in the communication network 100, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The method is initiated at step 302. At step 304, a message is received from the client device 102 at the network device 108. For one embodiment, the message is composed over a special interface at the client device 102. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. The special interface can be a Graphical User Interface or a software application at the client device 102. Further, the special interface can be activated by the user of the client device when the user wants to send a message with some additional content, for example, an advertisement. The message can be associated with one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device. For one embodiment, the message is received by the transceiver 204 at the network device 108. For example, a transceiver at an SMSC can receive an SMS message from a mobile phone. The message can include a first part and a second part. The first part of the message can include a user entered text. For example, if a user types a message "happy marriage anniversary" then this text entered by the user can be the first part of the message. The second part of the message includes the one or more identifiers. Continuing the above example, if the user sends this message to his brother whose contact number is +91 99 100 47637, then this contact number can be the second part of the message. Examples of the identifier include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone number, a Mobile Subscriber Identification (MSID) and an E-mail address.

[0030] At step 306, an additional content is inserted into the message. The additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria. The set of predefined criteria can include selecting the additional content based on a context of the message. Further, the set of predefined criteria includes selecting the additional content based on knowledge about a profile of a user of the client device. Furthermore, the set of predefined criteria includes selecting the additional content based on knowledge about a profile of a user of a target communication device. For one embodiment, the additional content is selected and inserted into the message sent by the client device 102 by the processor 202. Further, the additional content can be an advertisement, a banner, a text message, a logo, a symbol, an animation and/or a greeting message. For example, a processor at an SMSC can insert an advertisement in the received SMS message from a mobile phone. At step 308, the message and the additional content is transmitted to each communication device associated with the one or more identifiers of the message. For one embodiment, the message can be transmitted by the transceiver 204. For example, a transceiver at the SMSC can transmit the message and the inserted advertisement to one or more destination mobile phones in the communication network. Thereafter, the method terminates at step 310. It should be noted that the flowchart for a method for transmitting a message can include fewer or more steps than shown in FIG. 3. It will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that the method can be implemented at any network device of any communication network.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for transmitting a message in the communication network 100, in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. The method is initiated at step 402. At step 404, a special interface is activated at the client device 102. The special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. For one embodiment, the special interface can be activated based on an input from a user of the client device 102. The special interface can be, for example, a Graphical User Interface or a software application at the client device 102. Further, the user of the client device 102 can activate the special interface for composing a message which can be sent along with some additional content, for example an advertisement. At step 406, a message is composed by the user by using the special interface at the client device 102. For example, an SMS message which can be sent along with some additional content can be composed over the special interface at the client device 102. For one embodiment, the message can include a first part and a second part. The first part can include a text entered by a user of the client device 102. The second part of the message can include one or more identifiers associated with the message. Further, each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device. Examples of the identifier can include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone number, a Mobile Subscriber Identification (MSID) and an E-mail address.

[0032] At step 408, a format of the message is converted to a predefined format at the client device 102. For one embodiment, the predefined format can be an Extensible Markup Language (XML) format. For example, a message composed in an SMS message format can be converted to the XML format. At step 410, the converted message can be transmitted to the network device 108. A network device can be selected by the client device 102 for sending the composed message based on configuration settings of the network device at the client device 102. The configuration settings of a network device to which the converted message is transmitted can be selected by the user of the client device 102, or by a network operator (or service provider). It should be noted that the flowchart for the method for transmitting a message can include fewer or more steps than shown in FIG. 4. It will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that the method can be implemented at any communication device of any communication network.

[0033] For the sake of clarity, the method described FIG. 4 can be understood with the following example. A user of a mobile phone can activate the special interface for composing an SMS message. After activating the special interface, the user can compose the SMS message by entering text. Further, the user can also identify one or more other communication devices for sending the SMS message. As described above, the text entered by the user in the SMS message can form a first part of the SMS message. Further, the identifiers of the one or more other communication devices for sending the message can form the second part of the SMS message. The SMS message is then converted to a predefined format, like an XML format at the mobile phone. Afterwards, the changed SMS message can be transmitted to a network device. The network device can be selected based on the configuration settings of the mobile phone of the user, which can either be provided by the user of the mobile phone or the network operator.

[0034] FIGs 5 and 6 illustrate a flow diagram of a method for transmitting a message in a communication network 100, in accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention. The method is initiated at step 502. At step 504, a message is received from the client device 102 at the network device 108. For one embodiment, the message received from the client device 102 is composed over a special interface at the client device 102. Further, the special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added. Furthermore, the message is associated with one or more identifiers. Each of the one or more identifier is associated with a communication device. For one embodiment, the message from the client device 102 can be received by the transceiver 204 at the network device 108. At step 506, it is determined whether a format of the received message is different from a target format. For one embodiment, the target format can be a format of the message in which the message is finally delivered to one or more destination communication devices. When the format of the received message is different from the target format, then step 508 is performed. If the format of the received message is same as the target format, then step 608 is performed. At step 508, the format of the message is changed to the target format. For example, if the format of the message is SMS message format and the target format is an MMS message format, then the SMS message format is changed to the MMS message format. It will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that although for this description the format of the message is changed from the SMS message format to the MMS message format, the format of the message can be changed whenever the format of the received message is different from the target format, for example, from the SMS message format to an E-mail message format, or from the MMS message format to the E-mail message format, or from the MMS message format to an IM format etc.

[0035] At step 510, a context of the message is determined. The context of the message can be, for example, the discourse surrounding the message that helps in determining interpretation of the message. For one embodiment, the context of the message can be determined by the processor 202. At step 602, an additional content is selected based on one or more of, the context of the message, knowledge about a profile of a user of the client device, and knowledge about a profile of a user of a target device. For example, if the profile of the user of the client device 102 indicates that the user is a doctor, than the additional content selected can be an advertisement about a medical insurance company or can be an address of a chemist shop. Similarly, if the context of a message "Happy Anniversary" is determined as "Anniversary", the additional content can be, for example, an anniversary greeting. Examples of the additional content include, but are not limited to, an advertisement, a banner, a text message, a logo, a symbol, an animation, and a greeting message. The target device can be a communication device associated with an identifier of the one or more identifiers in the message. For example, if a message from the client device 102 contains an identifier of the communication device 104, then the communication device 104 can be the target device for the message. At step 604, the additional content is inserted into the message by the processor 202. For one embodiment, the processor 202 can receive the additional content from an external server. The external server can be, for example, an E-mail server, a network server, an advertisement server, or a web server. At step 606, the message and the additional content is transmitted to each communication device associated with the one or more identifiers in the message. For one embodiment, the transceiver 204 can transmit the message and the additional content, like an advertisement, to the target device, for example, the communication device 104. Thereafter, the method terminates at step 608. It should be noted that the flowchart can include fewer or more steps than shown in FIGs. 5 and 6. Further, it will be apparent to a person ordinarily skilled in the art that the method can be implemented at any network device of any communication network.

[0036] For one embodiment, the client device 102 can have a valid subscription of a messaging service to transmit the message along with some additional content to one or more communication devices. Further, these one or more communication devices do not require any subscription to receive the message and the additional content. However, to respond to the additional content in the message sent by the client device 102, the one or more communication devices need to have a valid subscription of the messaging service. For example, a user needs to subscribe to an MMS messaging service on his/her mobile phone to send an MMS message along with some additional content to another mobile phone. Further, for receiving the MMS message, another mobile phone need not have a valid subscription of the MMS messaging service. However, to respond or interact with the additional content received along with the MMS message, a valid subscription of the messaging service is required by the other mobile phone. For example, if a user of a mobile phone receives an MMS message with an interactive advertisement of a stationary shop, the user will need a valid subscription to the messaging service in order to interact with the advertisement. [0037] Various embodiments of the present invention offer one or more advantages. The present invention provides a method and a system for transmitting a message in a communication network. The method provides a subsidized messaging system for communication device users at zero or reduced cost. Further, the method introduces a new means of revenue generation for network operators or service providers from advertisements sent along with the messages. The subsidized or zero cost messaging can help customers in emerging markets to use messaging in volume, thereby further reducing the cost per message. Subsidizing the cost of messaging services will enable mass market adoptions of messaging services, like MMS etc. Consequently, this will result in the popularity of these messaging services in emerging markets also. The method further provides another channel of directed or targeted advertising for the advertisers. The advertisers can do very narrowly targeted advertisement delivery by exploiting relations of people with eminent professionals, for example with doctors. Hence, this can allow these people to get paid for allowing advertisements to be sent along with their messages to their clients. Further, the method provides the user the freedom to select when to send a message having some additional content, and when to send only a message without any additional content. For example, a doctor may use this messaging service to send a message to his patients and a normal messaging service to send a message to his family members. Furthermore, the method enables a user of the sending communication device to make money by allowing the carrier to add advertisement into the message. The method can also enable organizations to proactively adopt the mass messaging system as it would lead to revenue generation for them. Also, the additional content can be selected based on the context of the message, and receiver's or sender's profile etc. This enables a user to narrow down the class of additional content so that a receiver gets only related additional content along with the message. The method also provides another online market opportunity for sellers of products, where the sellers can sell their products.

[0038] It will be appreciated that the method and system for transmitting a message in the communication network, described herein, may comprise one or more conventional processors and unique stored program instructions that control the one or more processors, to implement, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of the system described herein. The non-processor circuits may include, but are not limited to, signal drivers, clock circuits, power- source circuits, and user-input devices. As such, these functions may be interpreted as steps of the method and system for transmitting a message in the communication network. Alternatively, some or all the functions can be implemented by a state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application- specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function, or some combinations of certain of the functions, are implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two approaches can also be used. Thus, methods and means for these functions have been described herein.

[0039] It is expected that one with ordinary skill, notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices motivated by, for example, available time, current technology and economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein, will be readily capable of generating such software instructions, programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.

[0040] In the foregoing specification, the invention and its benefits and advantages have been described with reference to specific embodiments. However, one with ordinary skill in the art would appreciate that various modifications and changes can be made, without departing from the scope of the present invention, as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and the figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present invention. The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as critical, required or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims, including any amendments made during the pendency of this application, and all equivalents of those claims, as issued.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method for transmitting a message in a communication network, the communication network comprising a client device and a network device, the method at the network device comprising: receiving the message from the client device, wherein the message is composed over a special interface at the client device, and wherein the special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added; inserting the additional content to the message, wherein the additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria; and transmitting the message and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of one or more identifiers, wherein the message is associated with the one or more identifiers, and wherein each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising determining a context of the message.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising determining whether a format of the message is a target format, wherein the target format is different from the format of the message.

4. The method as recited in claim 3 further comprising changing the format of the message to the target format when the format of the message is not the target format.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the set of predefined criteria comprises selecting the additional content based on one or more of a context of the message, knowledge about a profile of a user of the client device and knowledge about a profile of a user of a target communication device for the message.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising receiving the additional content at the network device from an external server.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the one or more identifiers is selected from the group comprising a mobile phone number, a Mobile Subscriber Identification (MSID), and an E-mail address.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the additional content is selected from the group comprising an advertisement, a banner, a text message, a logo, a symbol, an animation and a greeting message.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein a format of the message is a Short Message Service (SMS) message format.

0. A network device in a communication network comprising: a processor configured for: inserting additional content into a message, wherein the additional content is selected based on a set of predefined criteria; and a transceiver configured for: receiving the message from the client device, wherein the message is composed over a special interface at the client device, and wherein the special interface allows a user of the client device to compose a message to which an additional content can be added; and transmitting the message and the additional content to each communication device associated with each of one or more identifiers, wherein the message is associated with the one or more identifiers, and wherein each of the one or more identifiers is associated with a communication device of the communication network.