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FORM 2
The Patent Act 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
The Patent Rules, 2005
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(SEE SECTION 10 AND RULE 13)
TITLE OF THE INVENTION
“Inline Advertisements in Messaging”
APPLICANTS:
Name Nationality Address
Alcatel Lucent France 54 rue de la Boétie, 75008 Paris, France
The following specification particularly describes and ascertains the nature of this
invention and the manner in which it is to be performed:-
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5
BACKGROUND
Technical Field
10 1. The embodiments herein relate to telecommunications, and, more
particularly, to mobile messaging services including appending advertisement
information.
Description of the Related Art
15
2. Short Message Service (SMS) advertising is fast emerging as the most
suitable and effective medium for advertising. There have been many concepts that have
emerged wherein the advertisers send advertisements to the mobile.
3. SMS text advertising is a quick and easy way of marketing to mobile
20 phone users. SMS Text Advertising companies collect a great number of mobile numbers
from the users on an opt-in basis with permission to send the users SMS text advertising
messages. The companies send the SMS text advertising message to users once the
company is provided with the chosen message and the target profile. Most commercial
SMS text service providers provide access to SMS text Application Programmable
25 Interfaces (APIs). APIs allow users to control sending and receiving of SMS text via web,
PC or MAC application.
4. As wireless text messaging (SMS) has grown into a mainstream
communication tool for consumers, reaching them via SMS marketing has become
increasingly important strategy for businesses. High speed access over 3G and high-end
30 mobile handsets have expanded the base for mobile advertising, and new methods and
advertising models are being introduced. However, similar to other media mix
components, SMS advertising methods also exhibit drawbacks such as spamming, fraud,
and illegal use of the Short Message Service Center (SMS-C) addresses. Certain firms are
bound to start sending out unsolicited and undesirable (spam) commercial advertisements
35 through text messaging to mobile handsets and other communication devices capable of
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receiving SMS. Further, faked SMS traffic and spoofing lead 5 to revenue leakage and
unpredictable loads on the network. Furthermore, such drawbacks may lead to customer
dissatisfaction, cause errors in communication devices and so on.
5. Generally, advertisements are sent as separate SMS to subscriber which
are ignored or deleted without reading by the user. The advertising agencies get very little
10 return on investment as few people read the advertisements and the advertising agencies
end up paying the operators for sending such SMS advertisements. Moreover, most SMS
messaging services charge a per-use fee to a user for every SMS received.
SUMMARY
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6. In view of the foregoing, an embodiment herein provides a method for
sending a Multimedia Message (MMS) by a subscriber to a MMS proxy relay, the MMS
proxy relay forwarding the multimedia message to a Multimedia Message Service Center
(MMSC), the method comprising steps of Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC)
20 verifying the information of the subscriber in a subscriber list, the MMSC appending at
least one advertisement to the MMS if the subscriber information is present in the
subscriber list, and the MMSC delivering the MMS to a receiver. In the embodiment
disclosed herein, MMSC appends the advertisement information to the MMS if the size
of the MMS is less than a predetermined value.
25 7. Embodiments further disclose a method of billing the subscriber for the
MMS services by a Service Control Point (SCP) triggered by an MMS proxy relay by
performing discounted billing to the subscriber on finding the subscriber in an inline
MMS Profile.
8. Embodiments further disclose a method of billing the subscriber for the
30 MMS services, the method comprising the steps of MMSC generating tickets for MMS
delivery, MMSC providing tickets to the billing system, and the billing system
performing discounted billing to the subscriber.
9. Embodiments further disclose a system adapted for sending a Multimedia
Message (MMS), where the MMS is sent by a subscriber to an MMS proxy relay and the
35 MMS proxy relay forwarding the MMS to a Multimedia Message Center (MMSC). The
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system further comprising of means adapted for verifying 5 the information of the
subscriber in a subscriber list, appending at least one advertisement to the MMS if
information of the subscriber is present in the subscriber list, and delivering said MMS to
the receiver. In the embodiments herein, MMSC includes a means adapted for checking
the subscriber information present in the subscriber list and comparing size of the MMS
10 with a predetermined value. Further, MMSC comprises a database for storing the
subscriber list and the advertisements to be appended in the MMS.
10. Embodiments further disclose a system with a Service Control Point
(SCP) triggered by MMS proxy relay for performing billing of the subscriber. The SCP
15 comprising at least one means adapted for receiving information about the MMS from the
MMS proxy relay, checking for the subscriber in an MMS profile, performing discounted
billing on finding the subscriber in the MMS profile, and sending a message to the MMS
proxy relay to continue sending of the MMS. The embodiments further includes a billing
system triggered by MMSC to perform billing for the subscriber by receiving information
20 about the MMS from MMSC and performing billing of the subscriber.
11. Embodiments disclosed use a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
between the MMS proxy relay and SCP triggered by proxy relay.
12. These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better
appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following
25 description and the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
13. The embodiments herein will be better understood from the following
30 detailed description with reference to the drawings, in which:
14. FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system for appending an
advertisement information in an MMS, according to an embodiment herein;
15. FIG. 2 illustrates a sequence diagram depicting the network call flow for
appending an advertisement in an MMS, according to an embodiment herein;
35 16. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method of appending an
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advertisement in an MMS, according 5 to an embodiment herein;
17. FIG. 4 illustrates a sequence diagram depicting the network call flow for
billing the subscriber by a Service Control Point (SCP), according to an embodiment
herein;
18. FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart depicting the method of billing the
10 subscriber by a Service Control Point (SCP), according to an embodiment herein;
19. FIG. 6 illustrates a sequence diagram depicting the network call flow for
billing the subscriber by a billing system, according to an embodiment herein; and
20. FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method of billing the subscriber
for the service by a billing system, according to an embodiment herein.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
21. The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous
details thereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting embodiments
20 that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and detailed in the following
description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are
omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used
herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the
embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to
25 practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as
limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.
22. The embodiments herein achieve a method for sending a Multimedia
message with appended advertisement information from an acquaintance resulting in
discounted MMS tariff for the subscriber, advertisement options for advertising agencies
30 and revenue for operators. Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS.
1 through 7, where similar reference characters denote corresponding features
consistently throughout the figures, there are shown embodiments.
23. Embodiments herein disclose enable a method for sending MMS with
advertisements. The subscriber initiates an MMS to a concerned receiver. The MMS
35 proxy relay accepts the MMS from the subscriber and transmits the MMS to Multimedia
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Message Service Center (MMSC). The MMSC of the network 5 of subscriber comprises
logic for checking the size of MMS in MMS PDU and if the size of MMS is less than a
predefined value, MMSC then appends the advertisements at the end of the MMS and
further delivers the MMS with the advertisements to the receiver. An SCP (triggered by
SMS proxy relay) or Billing system (triggered by MMSC) performs a discounted billing
10 of the subscriber for the service. The SCP/Billing system is available as a configurable
option at SCP/Billing in subscriber account profile or as a subscription. Also, the operator
earns revenue from the advertisements that are appended in the MMS.
24. FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting a system 100 for appending an
advertisement in a Multimedia Message Service (MMS), according to an embodiment
15 herein. The system 100 comprises a subscriber 101, MMS proxy relay102, Multimedia
Message Service Center (MMSC) 103, Billing system/Service Control Point (SCP) 104
and a receiver 105. The subscriber 101 initiates sending an MMS from the mobile to the
receiver 105. The MMS proxy relay 102 receives the MMS from the subscriber 101 and
transmits the message to the MMSC 103. MMSC 103 includes database 107 comprising
20 information of subscriber list and advertisement information to be appended and an
appending module 106. MMSC 103 checks for the subscriber 101 in subscriber list in
database 107. If the subscriber 101 has subscribed for the service, then the appending
module 106 in the MMSC 103 appends the advertisement to the MMS and delivers the
MMS to the receiver 105. Further, MMSC 103 generates tickets for the subscription of
25 the service and provides the tickets to billing system/SCP 104. The billing system/SCP
104 performs discounted billing to the subscriber 101.
25. FIG. 2 illustrates a sequence diagram 200 depicting the network call flow
for appending an advertisement in an MMS, according to an embodiment herein. The
subscriber 101 sends an MMS from the mobile and the MMS proxy relay 102 receives
30 the MMS from the subscriber 101. The MMS proxy relay 102 then transmits the MMS to
Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) 103. MMSC 103 checks if the subscriber
101 is present in the subscriber list in the database 107 and if the MMS size is less than a
predetermined value, where the predetermined value can be decided upon by the service
provider. If the size of MMS is less than the predetermined value and if the subscriber is
35 present in the subscribers list, then the appending module 106 of the MMSC 103 appends
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the advertisement information stored in the database 107 to 5 the MMS MMSC 103 then
delivers the MMS with the appended advertisement to the receiver 105. Further, the
billing system/SCP 104 performs billing of the subscriber 101.
26. FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method of appending
advertisements in MMS, according to an embodiment herein. The subscriber 101 sends
10 (301) an MMS from the mobile and the MMS proxy relay (102) receives (302) the MMS
from the subscriber 101. The MMS proxy relay (102) then transmits (303) the MMS to
Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) (103). MMSC 103 checks (304) if the
subscriber (101) is present in the subscriber list in the database 107. If the subscriber 101
is present in the subscriber list, then MMSC 103 further performs (305) a check to find if
15 the size of MMS is less than the predetermined value or not. If the size of MMS is less
than the predetermined value and if the subscriber is present in the subscribers list, then
the appending module 106 of the MMSC 103 appends (306) the advertisement
information to the MMS. If the size of MMS is more than the predetermined value or if
the subscriber is not present in the subscriber list in the database, then the appending
20 module 106 of the MMSC 103 does not append the advertisement text to the MMS. The
MMSC 103 delivers (307) the MMS message to the receiver 105. The various actions in
method 300 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or
simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 3 may be
omitted.
25 27. FIG. 4 illustrates a sequence diagram depicting the network call flow for
billing the subscriber 101 by SCP, according to an embodiment herein. The MMS proxy
relay 102 receives the MMS sent by the subscriber 101 and transmits a DEBIT
REQUEST for charging the subscriber to Service Control Point (SCP). The debit request
message comprises fields like Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (International
30 Subscriber Directory Number) Number (MSISDN), transaction ID, message identifier,
destination number operator code of the message, time of message being sent and any
customized messages. The SCP 104 then verifies the subscriber 101 information and
checks if the subscriber 101 is present in the inline MMS profile. If the subscriber 101
information is present in the inline MMS profile, then SCP 104 performs a discounted
35 billing of the subscriber 101 registered for the service. Further, SCP 104 sends a
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DEBIT_ACKNOWLEDGEMENT message 402 to MMS proxy 5 relay 102 for delivering
the MMS. The MMS proxy relay 102 then transmits the MMS to MMSC 103. MMSC
103 checks for the subscriber 101 in the subscriber list. The subscriber list comprises
information as to services the subscriber has subscribed to, including if the subscriber has
subscribed to the service of appending the advertisement to MMS. If the subscriber has
10 subscribed to this particular service, the MMSC 103 checks the size of the MMS
message. If the size of MMS is less than a predetermined value and if the subscriber is
present in the subscribers list, then the appending module 106 of the MMSC 103 appends
the advertisement to the MMS and delivers the MMS to the receiver 105. If the
subscriber has not subscribed to this service or the size of the MMS is greater than the
15 predetermined value, then the MMSC 103 sends the MMS message to the receiver 105
without appending any advertisement.
28. FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart depicting the method of SCP billing the
subscriber, according to an embodiment herein. The MMS proxy relay 102 receives (501)
the MMS sent by the subscriber 101 and transmits (502) a DEBIT REQUEST for
20 charging the subscriber to Service Control Point (SCP). The DEBIT REQUEST message
comprises fields like Mobile Subscriber International ISDN (International Subscriber
Directory Number) Number (MSISDN), transaction ID, message identifier, destination
number operator code of the message, time of message being sent and any customized
messages. The SCP 104 then verifies (503) the subscriber 101 information and checks
25 (504) if the subscriber 101 is present in the inline MMS profile. If the subscriber 101
information is present in the inline MMS profile, then SCP 104 performs (506)
discounted billing for the subscriber 101 registered for the service. If the subscriber
information is not present in the inline MMS profile, then discounted billing is not
performed (505). Further, SCP 104 sends (507) a DEBIT_ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
30 message 402 to MMS proxy relay 102 to continue the delivery of the MMS. The MMS
proxy relay 102 then transmits (508) the MMS to MMSC 103. MMSC 103 checks (509)
if the subscriber 101 is present in the subscriber list in the database. If the subscriber 101
is present in the subscriber list, then MMSC 103 further performs (510) a check to find if
the MMS size is less than a predetermined value. If the size of MMS is less than the
35 predetermined value and if the subscriber is present in the subscribers list, then the
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appending module 106 of the MMSC 103 appends (511) the advertisement 5 information to
the MMS. If the size of MMS is more than the predetermined value or if the subscriber is
not present in the subscriber list in the database, then the appending module 106 of the
MMSC (103) does not append the advertisement information to the MMS. Thereafter, the
MMSC delivers (512) the MMS to the recipient 105. The various actions in method 500
10 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or simultaneously. Further,
in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 5 may be omitted.
29. FIG. 6 illustrates a sequence diagram depicting the network call flow for
billing the subscriber by the billing system, according to an embodiment herein. The
MMS proxy relay 102 receives the MMS sent by the subscriber 101 and delivers the
15 MMS 601 to MMSC 103. MMSC 103 checks for the subscriber 101 in the subscriber list.
The subscriber list comprises information as to services the subscriber has subscribed to,
including if the subscriber has subscribed to the service of appending advertisement
information to MMS. If the subscriber has subscribed to this particular service, the
MMSC 103 checks the size of MMS message. If the size of the MMS is less than a
20 predetermined value and if the subscriber is present in the subscribers list, then the
appending module 106 of the MMSC 103 appends the advertisement information to the
MMS and delivers the MMS to the receiver 105. Further, MMSC103 generates tickets for
MMS delivery and provides the tickets to the billing system 104. Thereafter, the MMSC
103 sends tickets 602 to the billing system 104, so that the billing system can bill the
25 subscriber 101 for the service. If the subscriber has not subscribed to this service or the
size of MMS is greater than the predetermined value, the MMSC 103 sends the MMS
message to the receiver 105 without appending any advertisement.
30. FIG. 7 illustrates a flowchart depicting a method of billing the subscriber
for the service by a billing system, according to an embodiment herein. The MMS proxy
30 relay 102 receives the MMS sent by the subscriber 101 and transmits (701) the MMS to
MMSC 103. MMSC 103 checks (702) if the subscriber 101 is present in the subscriber
list in the database. If the subscriber 101 is present in the subscriber list, then send
MMSC 103 further performs (703) a check to find if the MMS size is less than the
predetermined value. If the size of MMS text less than the predetermined value and if the
35 subscriber is present in the subscriber list, then the appending module 106 of the
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MMSC103 appends (704) the advertisement to the MMS. Thereafter, 5 the MMSC 103
delivers (705) the MMS to the receiver. If the subscriber 101 is not present in the
subscriber list in the database or if the MMS size is greater than the predetermined value,
then the advertisement information is not appended to the MMS and the MMSC 103
delivers (705) to the recipient. Further, MMSC103 generates (706) tickets for MMS
10 delivery and provides (707) the tickets to the billing system 104. Thereafter, the billing
system 104 performs (708) billing of the subscriber 101 for the service. The various
actions in method 700 may be performed in the order presented, in a different order or
simultaneously. Further, in some embodiments, some actions listed in FIG. 7 may be
omitted.
15 31. The embodiments disclosed herein establish MMS as a successful
communication medium for sending advertising information, by creating an opportunity
in the advertising and marketing domains. The embodiments preferably use a Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) between the MMS proxy relay and SCP. Further, charging the
MMSs at a less tariff creates more MMSs as the subscribers have an incentive to send
20 more MMSs as the service is cheap, resulting in more advertisements and benefits to the
subscriber and service provider as no additional network capacity is required as
advertisement is appended to the MMS.
32. The advantages of the embodiments disclosed include the fact that there is
no need for an advertising agent to send separate advertisement MMS messages.
25 Furthermore, embodiments disclosed increase the probability of a receiver reading an
advertisement, and therefore create more options for revenue generation for the
operator/service provider.
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5 CLAIMS
What is claimed is:
1. A method for sending a Multimedia Message (MMS), said MMS being sent by a
subscriber (101) to a MMS proxy relay (102), said MMS proxy relay (102) forwarding
said multimedia message to a Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) (103), said
10 method comprising steps of
said Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC) (103) verifying if information
of said subscriber (101) in a subscriber list;
said MMSC (103) appending (306, 511) atleast one advertisement to said MMS if
said subscriber (101) information is present in said subscriber list; and
15 said MMSC (103) delivering (307, 512) said MMS to a receiver (105).
2. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said Multimedia Message Service
Center (103) appends (306, 511) said advertisement to said MMS, if size of said MMS is
less than a predetermined value.
20
3. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a Service Control Point (SCP) (104)
is triggered by said MMS proxy relay (102) for billing said subscriber (101) comprises
performing (506) discounted billing to said subscriber (101), on finding said subscriber
(101) in an inline MMS Profile.
25
4. The method, as claimed in claim 1, wherein said subscriber (101) is billed
according to the following steps of
said Multimedia Message Service Center (103) generating (706) tickets for said
MMS delivery;
30 said Multimedia Message Service Center (103) providing (707) tickets to a billing
system (104) and
said billing system performing (708) discounted billing to said subscriber (101).
5. A system adapted to send a Multimedia Message (MMS) to a receiver, said MMS
35 being sent by a subscriber (101) to a MMS proxy relay (102), said MMS proxy relay
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(102) forwarding said MMS to a Multimedia Message Service Center 5 (103), said system
comprising a means adapted for
verifying if information of said subscriber (101) in a subscriber list;
appending (306, 511) atleast one advertisement to said MMS if information of
said subscriber (101) is present in said subscriber list; and
10 delivering (307, 512) said MMS to the receiver (105).
6. The system, as claimed in claim 5, wherein said Multimedia Message Service
Center (103) comprises atleast one means adapted for
checking (304) said subscriber (101) information present in said subscriber list;
15 and
comparing size of said MMS with a predetermined value.
7. The system, as claimed in claim 5, wherein said Multimedia Message Service
Center (103) further comprises a database (107) for storing said subscriber list and said
20 advertisements to be appended in said MMS.
8. The system, as claimed in claim 5, wherein a Service Control Point (SCP) (104) is
triggered by said MMS proxy relay (102) for performing billing for said subscriber (101),
said SCP (104) comprising atleast one means adapted for
25 receiving information about said MMS from said MMS proxy relay (102);
checking (504) for said subscriber (101) in an MMS profile;
performing (506) discounted billing on finding said subscriber in said MMS
profile; and
sending (507) a message to said MMS proxy relay (102) to continue sending of
30 said MMS.
9. The system, as claimed in claim 5, wherein a Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HHTP) is used between said MMS Proxy relay (102) and said SCP (104).
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10. The system, as claimed in claim 5, wherein a billing system 5 (104) triggered by
MMSC performs billing for said subscriber (101), said billing system (104) comprising
atleast one means adapted for
receiving (707) information about said MMS from said Multimedia Message
Service Center (103); and
10 performing (708) billing for said subscriber (101).
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5 ABSTRACT
A method and system sending Multimedia Message (MMS) with advertisement is
disclosed. The method includes the subscriber sending an MMS, MMS proxy relay
receiving the MMS from the subscriber, MMS proxy relay sending the MMS to
Multimedia Message Service Center, Multimedia Message Service Center (MMSC)
10 verifying the subscriber information in the subscriber list, MMSC checks the size of
MMS in Multimedia Message Service Packet Data Unit (MMS PDU), MMSC appending
the advertisement information to the MMS, MMSC delivering the MMS to the receiver;
and a Billing system/ Service Control Point (SCP) performing a discounted billing of the
subscriber. The MMSC has a database for storing the subscriber list and advertisement
15 information to be appended in the MMS. The Multimedia Message Service Center of the
subscriber includes logic to determine the size of MMS information in MMS PDU.
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