Push-type information transmission with dual registration

ES 2 394 624 T3

DESCRIPTION

Procedure for the transmission of unsolicited information and transfer device for the same

Technical field

The present invention relates to a method for the transmission of unsolicited information ("push-type"), which provides information from a server device to a plurality of user terminals through a network, and to a repeater thereof.

Background of the technique

The transmission of information of the request type ("pull-type"), in which a user accesses a server device of an information provider from a communication terminal, such as a personal computer or the like, in order to download desired information , has been conventionally known in the field of information provision services using the Internet.

Additionally, the transmission of unsolicited information, in which the information is supplied to the user from the server side without waiting for access by the user, has been proposed in recent years.

Communication networks have become more complicated and diversified lately, so that the forms of networks, in which there are several routers between the server device and the user's terminal, as in the case of interposing a gateway device between networks with different protocols have also increased.

Document WO 97/10558 discloses one such unsolicited transmission system, in particular, a method and a system for providing continuously updated and personalized information. In this document, the attribute data associated with the unsolicited information is designated by, and provided from, an information provider server, and is stored separately in a user information management part of a gateway device. The information content from the information provider server is examined in order to extract the attribute related to the content, to be compared with a stored attribute.

Furthermore, in the prior art, document US 5,428,778 describes a database procedure and system for disseminating information to users, and this document deals, in particular, with the dissemination of personalized information, mapping user attributes with attributes of information. A plurality of parameters, including keywords, in association with items of information, are stored in a memory medium. The information elements are classified according to the information contained and the recipients for which they are designed. The document also mentions the specification of individual users, or a group of users, as recipients of information elements. In the document, a concept is used whereby recipients can be nominated by the author of an information item at the time of creation. Furthermore, the parameters stored in association with each information element are selected by the originator. In this way, the person who enters an information item is also responsible for entering the keywords or other parameters. These parameters are attached to the text of the information element, in the form of a message header. The parameters and the profile of interest stored for the user are compared in a dissemination subsystem. The dissemination subsystem receives the information as a message with the message header, that is, it receives the attributes attached to the content of the information. Each user whose profile of interest matches the information item parameters is alerted to the presence of the matching information item.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the general structure of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a data format diagram showing the content of a subscriber database according to the same embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a gateway server according to the same embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the basic operations of the transmission of request-type information according to the same embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram showing the basic operations of unsolicited information transmission according to the same embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a first embodiment of the services according to the same unsolicited information transmission.

Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a second embodiment of the services according to the same unsolicited information transmission.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing a billing procedure for the case of the same request-type information transmission.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing a billing procedure for the case of the same unsolicited information transmission.

ES 2 394 624 T3

Fig. 10 is a screen transition diagram for explaining a variant of the present invention.

Optimal Ways to Carry Out the Invention

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the drawings. This embodiment is structured as a system in which the present invention is applied to a mobile packet communication network. The present invention is not restricted to the following embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the technical concept thereof.

A: Implementation Structure (1) General Structure of the System

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawing, MS denotes a mobile station that receives packet communication services from a mobile packet communication network MPN. This mobile station MS is connected not only with the mobile packet communication network MPN shown in the drawing, but also with a mobile telephone network which is not shown and is therefore also capable of receiving mobile telephone services. The mobile station MS comprises a voice input / output portion for a user to perform voice communications, a radio portion for conducting radio communications with a base station BS, an information display portion comprising a liquid crystal panel or the like, and an operating portion where information entry operations are performed, such as entering numbers and entering characters; and it also has an internal microcomputer to control these parts. Additionally, the mobile station MS has software (ie a browser) for browsing data from HTML documents [Hyper Text Markup Language] (hereinafter referred to as HTML data), and displays an interactive screen for the user. based on HTML data supplied from an information provider (hereinafter abbreviated as IP) via a mobile packet communication network.

Additionally, the mobile packet communication MPN network comprises a base station BS, a packet processing module PS, a gateway GWS server, a subscriber database UDB, a billing system BILL and a communication line to connect This elements.

Base stations BS are placed at predetermined intervals, obtained by dividing the terrain into distances of, e.g. eg, a radius of 500 m, and make radio communications with mobile stations MS visiting the radio zones formed in this way.

The packet processing module PS is a computer system provided in a packet switching center that supports a plurality of base stations BS, which receives packet switching requests from the mobile stations MS (registration of the packet switching service is explained later), and that it performs packet switching in the mobile packet communication network.

The GWS gateway server is a computer system provided in a mobile packet gateway switching center in order to interconnect the mobile packet communication MPN network with other networks, such as the Internet INET, which converts the communication protocols that differ between networks. Specifically, conversions are made between the transmission protocol for mobile packet communication networks used by the mobile packet communication MPN network and the TCP / IP used in other networks, such as the Internet INET. Additionally, the gateway server GWS works in collaboration with the IP server W, the subscriber database UDB and the billing system BILL, in order to carry out the control related to the various applications, such as the provisioning services of information and billing procedures for the transmission of information.

The subscriber database UDB stores a subscriber registration information file, composed of information related to the subscribers of the MPN mobile packet communication network, and an IP registration information file, composed of the registration information of the IP (Information Provider). Fig. 2 is a data format diagram showing an example of the content of this subscriber database UDB. As shown in the drawing, the subscriber registration information file contains attribute data, indicating the attributes of each subscriber, such as the telephone number of the mobile station MS, name, gender, date of birth. and the address for each subscriber (ie the user of the mobile station MS) in the mobile packet communication network MPN. Additionally, the IP registration information file contains the name of the company and the absolute address on the network (p. eg, in the case of the Internet, the URL [Uniform Resource Locator - Uniform Resource Locator] that specifies the information resources on the WWW (World Wide Web - World Wide Web); hereinafter, the absolute network address in the present embodiment will be called the URL), information that indicates whether the type of billing is IP billing or not, and information that indicates whether the type of billing depends on the amount or if it is from fixed rate, for each IP that is contracted to receive gateway services with the company that carries this mobile MPN packet communication network. Here, IP billing refers to billing for the information transmission service that is performed, not with respect to the user who received the transmission service, but with respect to the information provider. On the other hand, the billing with respect to the user will hereinafter be referred to as user billing.

The billing system BILL calculates the fees for the provision of services based on the historical information of the service provided from the gateway server, and issues an invoice to the user or the IP. While billing types include user billing and IP billing, as well as amount-dependent and fixed-rate billing, the billing system BILL performs billing according to each billing type.

The IP server W is an IP-led server system, which sends information to be supplied to users over a network in an HTML data format. IP server W can connect with gateway GWS server by 3

ES 2 394 624 T3 via an exclusive line or by the Internet INET, and can be provided within the gateway GWS server, which is provided by the owner of the mobile packet communication mPn network (hereinafter referred to as the W- MAX IP) (2) Gateway Server Structure

The structure of the gateway GWS server will be explained below. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the structure of a gateway GWS server. In the drawing, the GWS gateway server comprises an I-MAX portion for system control, a U-MAX portion for user management, a P-MAX portion for billing management, an M-MAX portion for email management. , a W-MAX IP server and a BUS bus to connect these parts.

The I-MAX portion of the system control controls the various portions of the GWS gateway server, and functions as an interface between networks, performing, for example, protocol conversion between the mobile packet communication MPN network and other networks, such as like the INET of the Internet.

The U-MAX user information management portion stores and manages the subscriber registration information and the IP registration information obtained by reference to the subscriber UDB database, as well as the correspondence between the telephone numbers of the stations. mobile numbers and user management numbers (to be explained later), and user access histories to the IP server W (for example, the number of accesses to each IP server). Additionally, the U-MAX user information management portion performs conversions between the telephone numbers and the user management number, telephone number matching, and attribute data comparison, based on the aforementioned stored information.

The P-MAX portion of billing management records and manages the information necessary for billing with respect to the information transmission services, and supplies this information to the billing system BILL. Specifically, it stores the fact that an email has been received from the IP server W as historical information, calculates the number of packets to be exchanged when transmitting the email to the user, and stores this calculated value. Additionally, the billing management portion P-MAX refers to the content of the subscriber database UDB transferred to the user information management portion U-MAX, in order to determine whether the billing type for each IP is or not billing the IP, and whether or not it depends on the amount; then it requests the billing from the billing system BILL, based on the billing type.

The M-MAX portion of email management mediates the exchange of email between users of mobile stations MS, between users of mobile stations MS and users of other networks such as the Internet INET, or between users of mobile stations MS and the IP server W. This M-MAX portion of email management is provided with mailboxes to store the emails to be transferred for each user, or for each IP server W. There are three types of mailboxes, depending on the type of mail service, and these are distinguished by the addresses of their mailboxes (mail addresses).

(i) A first mailbox BOX1 is a conventional mailbox in which the electronic mail transferred between users is stored in the assigned mail address for each user.

(ii) Then a second BOX2 mailbox is a mailbox for storing electronic mail transmitted from the IP to specific users in order to supply information, or the like. Here, a specific user is a user who has already completed the registration procedures regarding the IP. This second BOX2 mailbox is used in a first type of service, due to the transmission of unsolicited information, to be described later.

(iii) Then a third mailbox BOX3, like the second mailbox BOX2, is a mailbox for storing electronic mail transmitted from the IP to a user in order to supply information. It differs from the second BOX2 mailbox in that, instead of storing email provided to users who have been pre-registered on the IP, it stores email provided to users that have attributes (attributes such as gender, age, address, etc.) indicated by IP. This third mailbox BOX3 is used in a second type of service, due to the transmission of unsolicited information, to be described later.

The W-MAX IP Server is a company-provided server system that owns the mobile MPN packet communication network. This W-MAX IP server, like the other IP server W, performs services such as supplying information to users.

B. Realization Operations

Next, the operations of the embodiment having the above-described structure will be explained.

Information transmission will be explained first, followed by an explanation of billing procedures.

B-1. Transmission of Information

Regarding the information transmission according to the present embodiment, there is request-type information transmission, in which the user of a mobile station MS receives information transmissions by accessing the IP server W, and unsolicited information transmission, in the which the transmission of information is carried out from the server side W of the IP to specified or unspecified users, without waiting for user access. A separate explanation for these types will be given below.

(1) Transmission of information of the request type

ES 2 394 624 T3

Fig. 4 is a sequence showing a basic operation for transmitting request-type information.

As shown in the drawing, the mobile station MS performs a registration of the packet switching service in collaboration with the packet processing module Ps (step S1). Packet-switched service registration is a preliminary registration procedure to enable packet switching in an MPS mobile packet communication network. When this registration of the packet switching service is completed, the mobile station MS sends a line connection request signal to the mobile packet communication network MPS (step S2). This line connection request signal is sent, through the packet processing module PS, to the gateway server GWS (step S3). If a line connection is possible, then the gateway server GWS sends a line connection response signal, through the packet processing module PS, back to the mobile station MS (steps S4, S5). As a result of this, packet switching becomes possible between the mobile station MS and the gateway server GWS.

Then, the mobile station MS sends a connection request signal indicating the URL of a desired server W of the IP (step S6). This connection request signal is routed through the packet processing module PS and sent to the gateway server GWS (step S7). The gateway server GWS receives the connection request signal and establishes a link with the IP server W with the indicated URL (step S8).

When a link with the gateway server GWS has been established in this way, the IP server W sends HTML data, which has been prepared in advance, to the mobile station MS (step S9). This HTML data is routed through the gateway server GWS and transferred to the packet processing module Ps (step S10). Furthermore, in the packet processing module PS, the received HTML data is transferred to the mobile station MS (step S11).

The operations of the above steps S6-S11 are repeatedly executed according to the magnitude of all the data to be transmitted from the IP server W to the mobile station MS. At this time, the mobile station MS sequentially interprets the HTML data transmitted by the browser and displays the received information in the information display portion.

When the data transmission to the mobile station MS is completed, the mobile station MS sends an acknowledgment signal (step S12). The packet processing module PS transfers this acknowledgment signal to the gateway server GWS in order to perform a delivery notification (step S13). When the IP server W completes the data transmission to the mobile station MS, the link between the gateway server GWS and the IP server W is canceled (step S14).

Additionally, when there is a notification of data delivery from the mobile station MS to the gateway server GWS, the gateway server GWS carries out a billing procedure regarding the transmission of information. The billing procedure performed at this time will be described in detail later.

(2) Transmission of unsolicited information

The basic operations of the transmission of unsolicited information will be explained first, followed by explanations of two types of services due to the transmission of unsolicited information.

(i) Basic Operations for the Transmission of Unsolicited Information

Fig. 5 is a sequence diagram illustrating the basic operations of unsolicited information transmission.

In the drawing, an IP server W first sends information, to be supplied to users, to the gateway server GWS, in the form of email (step S21). When the gateway server GWS receives the email, it stores this in the indicated mailbox and sends a communication start notification signal to the packet processing module PS (step S22). This communication initiation notification signal includes information indicating the destination address of the e-mail. When the packet processing module PS receives this communication start notification signal, it calls the mobile station MS corresponding to the destination address included in the signal (step S23).

When the user of the mobile station MS performs a specified operation on the mobile station MS in response to the call, the same sequence of steps S1-S5 described above (shown in Fig. 4) is carried out, and enters the state of being able to switch packets with the gateway GWS server (steps S24-S28). Then, the gateway server GWS sends a receipt notification signal, including the address information of the mailbox in which the e-mail is stored, to the packet processing module PS (step S29). Furthermore, the packet processing module PS sends the received reception notification signal to the mobile station MS (step S30).

After receiving the reception notification signal described above, the mobile station MS sends a connection request signal indicating the mailbox address, included in the reception notification signal, to the packet processing module PS (step S31). This connection request signal is transferred, through the packet processing module PS, to the gateway server GWS (step S32). After receiving the connection request signal, the gateway server GWS sends a connection acknowledgment signal to the packet processing module PS (step S33). The packet processing module PS sends the received connection acknowledgment signal to the mobile station MS (step S34).

Then, the gateway server GWS reads the email received from the IP server W, in the mailbox whose address is indicated in the connection request signal, and transfers the email to the packet processing module PS (step S35) . After receiving the email, the packet processing module PS sends this email to the mobile station MS that issued the connection request (step S36).

ES 2 394 624 T3

The operations of the above steps S31-S36 are repeatedly executed according to the magnitude of the data in the e-mail, to be transmitted from the IP server W to the mobile station MS.

When the mobile station MS has received the email in this way, a delivery notification is sent to the gateway server GWS, in the same way as in steps S12 and S13, shown in Fig. 4 (steps S37, S38) , and the transmission of unsolicited information is completed.

Additionally, if there is a data delivery notification from the mobile station MS to the gateway GWS server, then the gateway GWS server performs a billing procedure regarding the transmission of information. The billing procedure performed at this time will be described in detail later.

(ii) First Type of Service through the Transmission of Unsolicited Information

In the present embodiment, there are two types of services by means of the transmission of unsolicited information. A first type will now be described.

The first type is an email transmission service from the IP server in order to supply certain information to users who have previously completed a registration procedure with the IP, in which the email is stored in the second mailbox. BOX2, and the email is transmitted in response to a user request after the user has been called.

Fig. 6 is a conceptual diagram to explain the first type. In this drawing, a user, who wants services such as providing information on a specific IP, operates a mobile station MS to access the network, and carries out preliminary registration procedures with respect to the IP server (step S61 ). With this access, the subscriber number of the user (ie the telephone number of the mobile station MS) is transferred to the gateway server GWS. The gateway GWS server converts the received subscriber number into a user management number, which is user identity information, with a one-to-one correspondence with the telephone number in the U-MAX user information management portion, in order to prevent the phone number from being sent outside the MPN packet communication network. This user management number is sent from the gateway server GWS to the IP server W, and is stored in the IP server W as user registration information (step S62).

Then, if the IP server W has information to supply to a registered user, the IP server W provides this information as transmission data in the form of email, attaching to the email the address of the second BOX2 mailbox and the management number user name of the registered user to whom the information is to be supplied, and sends the mail to the gateway server GWS (step S63).

When the gateway GWS server receives the email from the IP server W, it stores the email in the second mailbox BOX2 of the M-MAX portion of email management, and converts the indicated user management number to the corresponding number telephone number in the user information management portion U-MAX, and calls the mobile station MS with that telephone number (step S64).

If the user of the mobile station MS who has received this call wishes to receive the information supplied by the IP server, the user operates the mobile station MS to access the gateway server GWS and requests a download of the email (step S65). The download request signal sent to the gateway server GWS at this time contains the telephone number of the mobile station MS which is the source of the request. The gateway server GWS compares the telephone number of the mobile station MS, from which the request signal originates, with the telephone number corresponding to the user management number indicated by the IP server W at the time of receipt of the mail electronic mail in the U-MAX portion of user information management, judging in such a way whether or not it should allow access to the second mailbox BOX2, and then reads the e-mail from the mailbox BOX2, and sends it to the mobile station MS (steps S66, S67).

In this way, it is possible to supply information to specific users registered in the IP server W.

(iii) Second Type of Service through the Transmission of Unsolicited Information

The second type will be explained below. The second type is a service by which email, sent from the IP server in order to provide information to users that have attributes (attributes such as sex, age and address) indicated by the IP server, is stored in a third mailbox BOX3, and the email is transmitted to the relevant users in response to user requests after they have been called.

Fig. 7 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a second type. In the drawing, users who are prepared to receive services such as supplying information from an unspecified IP operate the mobile station MS to access the network, and carry out preliminary registration procedures with respect to the gateway GWS server ( step S71). With this access, the telephone number of the mobile station MS is transferred to the gateway server GWS, and this is stored in the user information management portion U-MAX of the gateway GWS server, as user registration information.

Then, if the IP server W has information to supply to users, the IP server W provides the information in the form of email, attaches attribute data such as gender, age and address to specify the user in the email, and sends the mail to the gateway server GWS (step S72).

When the gateway GWS server receives the email containing the attribute data from the IP server W, it stores the email in the third mailbox BOX3 and the U-MAX user information management portion, and compares the data attribute attached to email with attribute data 6

ES 2 394 624 T3 of each user registered in the subscriber database UDB, in order to specify the relevant users. For example, if the attributes indicated by the IP server W are “men in their thirties living in Tokyo”, a search is made for the relevant users who have these attributes among the users registered in the subscriber uDb database. , and the telephone number of those users is extracted. The gateway server gWs calls the mobile stations MS of the telephone numbers extracted in this way (step S73).

If the user of a mobile station MS, called in this way, wishes to receive the information supplied by the IP server, the user operates the mobile station MS to access the gateway server GWS, and requests an email download (step S74 ). At this time, the telephone number of the mobile station MS which is the origin of the request is attached to the download request signal sent to the gateway server GWS. The gateway GWS server, in the U-MAX user information management portion, compares the telephone number of the mobile station MS from which the order signal originates with the telephone numbers of the users who have completed the procedure of record described above, in order to judge whether or not to allow access to the third BOX3 mailbox, after which it reads the email in the third mailbox BOX3 and sends it to the mobile station MS that made the request (steps S75, S76).

In this way, it is possible for the IP server W to carry out an information provision service to those users who want the provision of information, among the users who are prepared to receive information from the unspecified IP server W.

B-2: Billing Procedure

While the types of billing include communication fee billing for communication services, and information quota billing for IP information provision services, communication fee billing will be explained as an example herein. realization.

Additionally, the billing procedures for the present invention include user billing with respect to the users to whom information has been supplied and the IP (Information Provider) billing to bill the IPs who have supplied the information. In the present embodiment, carrying out user billing or IP billing is managed by different procedures for the case of the transmission of request-type information and the transmission of unsolicited information. Both cases will be explained later.

(1) In the Case of Transmission of Request-type Information

Generally, in the case of the transmission of request-type information, the information is supplied according to a request from the user, so that user billing is more directly applicable. However, there are cases in which the IP wishes to supply information free of charge, in response to requests from unspecified users, for advertising or similar purposes and, in this case, IP billing is more directly applicable. Therefore, in the present embodiment, in the case of transmission of request-type information, user billing is applied in principle and, in exceptional cases where billing has to be applied to the IP, the IP that is the object of it is previously registered in the subscriber UDB database. Then, the gateway server GWS extracts from the subscriber database UDB a list of the IP server URLs W to which the IP billing is to be applied, and stores it in a memory in the P-MAX portion of billing management as an IP billing enumerated table.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart showing the billing procedure for the transmission of request-type information. In this drawing, the user first operates the mobile station MS to access an indicated server W of the IP and, after receiving a delivery acknowledgment signal from the user, the gateway server GWS checks whether the URL of the server W of the IP to which the user has accessed corresponds or not to an IP whom to bill as IP, as listed in the table described above (step S101).

Here, if it is not an IP server to bill as IP, then user billing applies as usual. In this case, the billing management portion P-MAX of the gateway GWS sends a user management number for the user who received the information transmission and the sum of the received packet numbers to the billing system BILL (step S102). The billing system BILL calculates a communication fee by multiplying the sum of the packets supplied from the gateway server GWS by a unit price, and issues a bill to the user specified by the user management number (step S103).

On the other hand, if the URL of the server W of the IP accessed by the user corresponds to an IP billable as IP, then the IP billing is applied. In this case, the billing management portion P-MAX of the gateway server GWS sends the sum of the received packets and the URL of the server W of the IP accessed to the billing system BILL (step S104). The billing system BILL calculates the communication fee by multiplying the sum of the packets supplied from the gateway server GWS by a unit price, and issues a bill to the IP (step S105).

(2) In the Case of the Transmission of Unsolicited Information

Next, the billing procedure will be described in the case of the transmission of unsolicited information. Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing a billing procedure for the case of unsolicited information transmission. In the drawing, when the gateway GWS server receives email from the IP server W in the second mailbox BOX2 or in the third mailbox BOX3, it recognizes that there has been a request for the transmission of unsolicited information, and decides to apply billing to the IP (step S201). That is, in the case of the transmission of unsolicited information, IP billing is more directly applicable to this type of information transmission, therefore, in the present embodiment, IP billing is always applied.

Then, the gateway server GWS specifies the user to whom the information is to be supplied as described above, and then calls the mobile station MS to transmit the e-mail, received from 7

ES 2 394 624 T3 the IP server, to the mobile station MS, but, in the case of IP billing, user billing is not done with respect to this transmission, and IP is billed for everything.

In this case, the billing management portion P-MAX of the gateway GWS server refers to the IP registration information stored in the subscriber database UDB, and checks whether the billing type to be applied to the server W of the IP depends on the amount or it is flat rate (step S202).

If the type of billing depends on the amount, the P-MAX portion of the billing management of the gateway GWS server sends the sum of the packets exchanged in the transmission of the email and the URL of the server W of the IP that was the origin of the mail electronic to the billing system BILL (step S203). The billing system BILL multiplies the sum of the packets supplied from the gateway server GwS by a unit price to calculate the communication fee, and issues a bill to the IP (step S204).

On the other hand, if the billing type is flat rate, then the P-MAX billing management portion of the gateway GWS server sends the IP server W URL to the billing BILL system at the same time the mail is received. electronic from the IP server, in order to request billing for that IP (step S205). The billing system BILL receives this and issues a bill for a standard amount to the indicated IP (step S206).

If the fixed rate billing format is one in which billing is applied to a standard period of time, such as in monthly units, the IP is billed whether or not the email from the IP's server W reaches the gateway GWS server. Therefore, in this case, there is no collaboration between the gateway GWS server and the billing BILL system, and the billing system BILL independently issues an invoice to the IP at regular intervals.

C: Modification Examples

As mentioned above, the present invention is not restricted to the embodiments described above. The present invention can admit various modifications within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention; for example, the following:

(1) In the embodiments, the information is supplied to the mobile stations MS belonging to an MPN mobile packet communication network from another network, such as the Internet INET (first communication network), but if, for example, there is another global network that can replace the Internet INET, then the present invention is applicable to the cases in which the information is supplied from such a network to a mobile station MS belonging to a mobile packet communication MPN network. In this case, the information resource of the IP server W may be specified by means of an absolute address defined in the global network to which it applies, instead of by a URL.

Additionally, the network (second communication network) to which the user terminal belongs is not restricted to being a mobile MPN packet communication network, and the invention is applicable to supply information to user terminals belonging to local networks, such as a fixed network that includes fixed terminals.

Furthermore, the present invention is not restricted to packet switched networks, and is applicable to data communication networks performing other types of data communication, and the communication protocols indicated in the embodiments represent only one possible example. Additionally, the form of the data transmitted from the IP server is not restricted to HTML format, and other formats may be used. For example, if the transmitted information is only textual data, then of course it is not necessary to use a data format such as HTML, which can support multimedia formats.

(2) In the embodiments, the billing of the communication fee for the transmission of request-type information has been made to depend on the amount, in a uniform way, but the present invention is not limited to it, so it is possible to record information , which indicates if it depends on the amount or if it is a fixed rate, in the UDB database of subscribers, as in the case of the transmission of unsolicited information, and carry out billing procedures based on billing type. In the case that a fixed rate system is used for the transmission of request-type information, the user or the IP is billed a standard amount, regardless of the number of exchanged packets, as in the case of the transmission of information not requested.

Additionally, although the type of billing has been established for each IP in the IP record file of the UDB database of subscribers in the embodiments, the present invention is not restricted to it, and it is possible to establish it for each user in the subscriber registration file. Additionally, when you want to establish the type of billing according to the IP and the user, then the type of billing for each user can be established for each IP in the IP registration information file, or the type of billing for each IP can be established for each user in the subscriber registration information file.

(3) Although only the billing of the communication fee has been explained in the embodiments, in order to preserve simplicity, the present invention can be similarly applied to the billing of the information fee. However, when using the amount-dependent information fee billing, the billing does not depend on the number of exchanged packages, as in the communication fee billing, but it is possible to apply various types of billing, such as, for example , billing according to the number of emails exchanged or, when you want to change the amount depending on the case, attach information on amounts, related to a mail transmission, to the email sent from the IP server W to be sent to the gateway GWS server.

Additionally, in the case of billing the information fee, it is possible to do only the user billing and not to bill the IP. In this case, all types of billing in the file of 8

ES 2 394 624 T3 IP registration information in the subscriber database UDB can be set as user billing, or the billing procedure may not be carried out with respect to the IPs that are set for IP billing.

(4) In the embodiments, the type of billing in the transmission of request-type information was a decision of the gateway GWS server, which has an enumerated table of IP billing and which refers to said table, but the present invention does not is restricted to this, and it is possible, for example, to attach information that indicates whether the billing is to the IP or not, adding a label to the HtmL data sent from the IP server W, and causing the gateway server GWS to decide the billing type based on this information.

(5) The structure of the network in the embodiments is but one possible example, and the present invention is not restricted to such a structure. For example, it is possible to divide the functions among a plurality of nodes, such as arranging them into divisions of nodes having a communication protocol conversion function, and of nodes having other functions.

(6) In the embodiments, the IP server W manages the user registration information regarding the IPs in a first type of service, by means of the transmission of unsolicited information, but the present invention may be such that the GWS gateway server is responsible for managing user registration information. For example, as shown in Fig. 10, among the dialog screens displayed when a user performs the registration procedures with the IP, it is possible to send and display only one dialog screen (hereinafter called the registration screen) to assist in the registration operation, such as HTML data prepared by the gateway GWS server, to the user's mobile station MS, and then store and manage the user registration information in the gateway GWS server, based on user registration procedures. In this case, it is possible for the gateway server GWS to find out with which IP server W the user has performed the registration procedures, based on the address information, such as the URL indicated when the user accesses the IP server W. Therefore, if the gateway server GWS has HTML data to provide a registration screen with respect to a plurality of servers W of the IP corresponding to the address information, such as the URL, then it is possible to specify that the HTML data are sent to the user's mobile station MS as a registration screen, based on address information, such as the URL indicated by the user.

(7) While in the embodiments, in the case of the transmission of unsolicited information, the user of a mobile station MS, who has received a call by email, operates the mobile station MS to access the gateway GWS server and downloading the e-mail, the present invention is not restricted thereto, and it is possible to carry out the process in such a way that, when the mobile station MS receives a call, Automatically access the gateway GWS server and download email without waiting for user instruction operations.

(8) In the embodiments, IP billing is always used for the transmission of unsolicited information, but the present invention is not restricted to it, and user billing can also be applied in the case of the transmission of unsolicited information. . In this case, as with the transmission of request-type information described above, an enumerated table of IP billing should be made, based on the fixed content of a subscriber UDB database; Reference should be made to this table in order to determine the use of IP billing or user billing and, in the case of user billing, the proper procedures for user billing should be followed.

Additionally, even in the case of IP billing exclusively, it is possible to prepare a listed IP billing table to have a list of servers relevant to the IP to be billed to the IP, so that, when there is a request for the transmission of information not requested from a server of the IP not listed in this table, the transmission of information will not be routed, by a procedure such as discarding the sent e-mail.

In view of the foregoing, the present invention refers to a method of transmitting unsolicited information in a communication network that includes an information provider server device, a plurality of user terminals to receive information provided by the server device, and a transfer device for routing the transmission of information between the server device and the user terminal; wherein the transfer device executes a step of receiving information mail provided with a network address of a user terminal designated as a desired destination from the server device; a stage of storing said information mail; a stage of calling the user terminal whose network address has been designated; and a step of transmitting the stored information mail in response to a request from the called user terminal.

Furthermore, the user terminal can execute a stage of prior access to the server device and registration of its own network address in the server device as a registration procedure to receive an information transmission service offered by the server device, and the The server device can provide information to user terminals that have completed said registration.

The present invention also relates to a method of transmitting unsolicited information in a communication network, which includes an information provider server device, a plurality of user terminals for receiving information provided by the server device and a transfer device for routing the transmission of information between the server device and the user terminal; in which the transfer device executes a stage of previous storage of information related to user terminals that are to receive an information supply service offered by the server device; a stage of receiving information mail supplied from the server device; a stage of storing the

ES 2 394 624 T3 information mail; a stage of calling a relevant user terminal, based on pre-stored information related to user terminals that are to receive an information provider service; and a step of transmitting the stored information mail in response to a request from the called user terminal.

In addition, the user terminal can execute a stage of prior access to the server device and registration of its own network address in the server device as a registration procedure to receive an information transmission service offered by the server device and, due to At this stage, the information related to the user terminals that are to receive information provider services offered by the server device is pre-stored.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a communication network that includes an information provider server device, a plurality of user terminals to receive information provided by said server device, and a transfer device to route the transmission of information between said device. server and said user terminal; wherein said transfer device executes a stage of storing user attributes data for each user and network addresses of the corresponding user terminals; a step of receiving information mail supplied from said server device, together with attribute information of users designated as intended recipients; a stage of storing said received information mail; a step of comparing said stored user attribute data with the designated user attribute data, and specifying network addresses of user terminals corresponding to users with the designated attributes; a stage of calling the specified user terminals; and a step of sending the stored information mail in response to a request from said called user terminals.

Furthermore, the user terminal comprises a stage of prior access to the server device and the registration of its own network address in the server device, as a registration procedure to receive an information transmission service offered by the server device, and the transfer device calls user terminals that have completed registration.

Furthermore, in the unsolicited information transmission procedure, as outlined above, the server device belongs to a first communication network that follows a first communication protocol, the plurality of user terminals belong to a second communication network that follows a second communication protocol, different from the first communication protocol; and the transfer device is a gateway for the conversion between the first and second communication protocols and the routing of the exchange of the information mail.

Furthermore, preferably, the plurality of user terminals are provided with addresses of the first network, used only in the first communication network, and are discriminated in the first communication network by addresses of the second network, which have a one-to-one correspondence with the addresses of the first network in the second communication network; and the transfer device converts between the addresses of the second network in the first communication network and the addresses of the first network in the second communication network.

Furthermore, preferably, the second communication network is a local network that assimilates specific user terminals; and the first communication network is a global network that interconnects information resources such as the server device, to which identification information is assigned to identify an absolute address in the network.

Furthermore, preferably, the second communication network is a mobile communication network that assimilates a plurality of user terminals that are mobile stations; and the first communication network is the Internet.

Furthermore, the present invention, as outlined above, relates to a transfer device for routing information transmissions between an information provider server device and a plurality of user terminals for receiving the information provided by the server device, comprising means reception to receive information mail supplied from the server device, together with a network address of a user terminal designated as a desired recipient; storage means for storing received information mail; calling means for calling the user terminal whose network address has been designated; and sending means for sending the stored information mail in response to requests from said called user terminal.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a transfer device for routing information transmissions between an information provider server device and a plurality of user terminals to receive the information provided by the server device, comprising a memory for previously registering referred information to a user terminal that is to receive an information provision service offered by the server device; receiving means for receiving information mail supplied from the server device; storage means for storing received information mail; calling means for calling the relevant user terminals, based on the information relating to the previously registered user terminal that is to receive an information provision service; and sending means for sending said stored information mail in response to requests from the called user terminal.

Furthermore, the present invention relates to a transfer device for routing information transmissions between an information provider server device and a plurality of user terminals to receive the information provided by the server device, comprising a memory for registering attribute information user name and a network address of the user terminal, in correspondence with each other, with respect to each user; receiving means for receiving from the mail server device information supplied together with attribute information of a user designated as a desired recipient; storage means for storing received information mail; specification means to compare the

ES 2 394 624 T3 registered user attribute information with the designated user attribute information, and specify network addresses of user terminals corresponding to one or more users with the designated attributes; calling means for calling specified user terminals; and sending means for sending the stored information mail in response to requests from the called user terminals.

Preferably, the server device belongs to a first communication network that follows a first communication protocol, and the plurality of user terminals belong to a second communication network that follows a second communication protocol, different from that of the first communication network. ; and a protocol converter is provided for conversion between the first and second protocols.

Preferably, the plurality of user terminals are provided with addresses of the first network, used only in the second communication network, and are discriminated in the first information transmission network by addresses of the second network that have a one-to-one correspondence with the addresses of the second network. addresses of the first network in the second communication network; and an address converter is provided for conversion between the addresses of the second network in the first communication network and the addresses of the first network in the second communication network.

Preferably, the second communication network is a local network that assimilates specific user terminals, and the first communication network is a global network that interconnects information resources such as the server device, to which identification information is allocated to identify a absolute address on the network.

Preferably, the second communication network is a mobile communication network that assimilates a plurality of user terminals that are mobile stations, and the first communication network is the Internet.