Server and Method for computer communication

The present invention relates to a communication server and to a computer communication method.

Background Communication between people has been a main social event ever since the invention of the telephone eliminated spatial limits of communication - tremendously enhanced by the subsequent introduction of the Internet. Whereas communication via telephone generally continues to be delimited to a person-to-person contact, technical means for the internet and related networks created platforms for open communication between groups of people and even between an almost unlimited number of participants. And in contrast to the traditional technique of broadcasting (radio, television and the like), communication through the modern networks works bi-directionally. One known general tool for technically offering such multi-partner multi-directional communication is commonly known as a "chat room". To return to a more general, historical level, one main purpose of communication was and still is to draw a comparison, in the broad range of meaning of that word. In ancient times, men may have stepped towards each other saying "my axe is stronger than yours, beware" whereas in modern times, they may say "my car is faster than yours" or by way of example in a particular technical context, "energy storage means A is more efficient than energy storage means B and is thus more appropriate for the energy supply of your machine being under construction".

Nowadays, information is available to an extent that is impossible to be overlooked. This statement may now be a platitude and a commonplace - but it has a very interesting broader sense of meaning in the present context: Whereas in former times of com- munication information was available from person to person only, information today is available automatically - as being stored in whatever kind of data storage means. Availability and accessibility vary extremely according to respective purposes. But having the according permission, the initial statement does not mean nothing less but: communication in modern networks is possible multi-directionally, and is involving hu- man beings as well as machines.

Summary

Against this background, the server and method according to the present invention provide for the automatic performance and administration of a comparison of data of any sort, of the result of the comparison and of data correlated to the result by way of a computer communication server comprising the features of claim 1 or by way of a

computer communication method comprising the features of claim 2. Preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims.

It is one aspect of the present invention that a communication server for automatically performing and administrating a comparison, its result and data correlated to the result is connectable to a network. The server of the invention is accessible via the network by at least two users.

The server of the invention comprises a platform program accessible by the users allowing communication between the users. Preferably, the users enter the platform via the network through their mobile phones - wherein preferably only one application is required on the respective mobile phones for easy and immediate availability at any place. The communication may be performed either in real time interactively - or stepwise, e.g. addressing communication to mailboxes of communication partners or even to storage areas of broader accessibility, somehow like "pin boards" in traditional communication. The platform program of the invention further is programmed to request availability of certain data ("first data") from the users, wherein the first data is correlatable to a result of a comparison of second data. In other words, if for example the above-mentioned comparison between the efficiency parameters (second data) of technical devices like the mentioned energy storages is to be performed, availability of data regarding their further technical specification (first data: spatial dimensions, weight, ...) is requested. As a second example, the first data can be correlated to money. For example, first data can represent the personal bank account of a user - or a sub-account like being stored on a pre-loaded pay-card or an (e.g. amount-limited) credit card. In this case, availability of money from the user is requested, e.g. by requesting availability of the money related first data from the bank account, paycard or credit card. "Data correlated to money" in other words is to be understood quite generally as (electronic) data being scaled in such a way that the value of this data represents a certain amount of money.

The server of the invention further comprises a correlation program allowing the users to correlate the first data to the result of a comparison. If in the first mentioned example at least one of the users is an engineer in a research and development team, who would like to communicate the efficiency of an energy storage, which he has just developed, via the team intranet, the correlation program allows him to correlate the mentioned first data (the technical specification of the storage) to the result of a comparison of the second data. This is for example first data that he wishes to forward to his col- leagues in case that a comparison with another energy storage (developed e.g. by another colleague) results in that his own development is more efficient. In the second example, the users can correlate their money (money related first data) to the outcome

of the comparison - this means they are enabled to bet upon the outcome of the comparison, e.g. by entering the amount of money (or in more general terms, value of money related first data).

The server of the invention further comprises a comparison program, which is pro- grammed to automatically compare second data entered by the users - e.g. the efficiency parameters of energy storage A and B developed by two different members of the research and development team. In the second example, the users can enter signals (for example steering signals) to play a game - the comparison program then may be a computer game program of whatever kind. The server of the invention further comprises an evaluation program that automatically distributes the first data, which had been correlated to the result of the comparison of the second data - according to the result of the second data's comparison and according to the correlation. In our first example, the evaluation program automatically directs and sends the technical specification data (first data of the more efficient data storage) to the two developers (and preferably to the other team members as well) if the respective developer had correlated the first data accordingly. In the second example, the evaluation program automatically distributes the bet mount of the looser to the winner of the game.

It is a second aspect of the invention to provide for a computer communication method for automatically administrating a comparison, its result and data correlated to the result comprising the step wherein at least two users respectively enter second data into a program, which then is automatically compared by means of a program. The method further comprises the step that the users respectively correlate first data to the result of the comparison via a network and that the first data is distributed to the users auto- matically by means of a program according to the result of the comparison and according to the correlation. Both above mentioned examples (technical comparison in a design team and betting upon the outcome of a computer game) apply also to this method according to the second aspect of the present invention.

Preferably the involved network comprises a mobile phone network as at least part of the network. Examples of wireless (mobile) communication networks include, without being limited to these, GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) or various GSM based systems (such as GPRS: General Packet Radio Service), AMPS (American Mobile Phone System), DAMPS (Digital AMPS), WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) or TD/CDMA in UMTS (Time Division/Code Division Multiple Ac- cess in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), IMT 2000 and so on.The network also may comprise or consist of the already mentioned Internet and/or a Local

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Area Net. As mentioned above, it is well preferred to use a mobile phone network at the users end of the network to enter the platform program via the mobile phone.

It is one further optional aspect of the invention that the users may enter the second data at the same time. In other words, the comparison is performed in real time in such cases, where this is appropriate. For example, if the users are playing a video game - wherein the second data is e.g. steering signals e.g. from a joystick or another appropriate input unit - the users enter these second data simultaneously in order to perform a competition, which is automatically evaluated according to the invention. From this example, it may be understood that the comparison of the second data according to the invention may be performed indirectly as well - here for example, not directly comparing the steering signals, but comparing an (intermediate) result produced by the video game program from the steering signals. It is further understandable from this example that the entering of the second data can be dependent on and/or affected by the physical and/or intellectual skill of the user. In the context of entertainment games, the result of the comparison may as well be affected by random parameters, which may be communicated by a program to the users as "instant tickets" in advance prior to starting their game. This is also a new concept of entertainment computer games in general. The player receives an instant ticket that defines e.g. power, speed and tires of his car at a formula 1 racing game. Those parameters - e.g. being worse than those, which his competitor has received with his instant ticket - affect the result of the race as well as the skill of the two players does.

Somehow as a new way of communication, the invention technically enables the users reliably to get in contact with each other for what ever kind of comparison of facts, objects, information, experience, knowledge or - only by way of example for another pos- sible content of this communication - to play games with each other, either in real time or even if there is a time gap between their respective entering of the second data. According to the invention, this all can be on multi-user platforms and/or in an around-the- world-distance relationship and provides for reliable automatic exchange of (the first) data as correlated prior to start of the comparison.

Brief description of the drawings

These already mentioned features as well as additional features of the invention are described in the following by way of example and without any limitation to the description of the preferred embodiments as depicted in the attached figures. Figure 1 shows a flow chart comprising the general steps of a computer communication method according to the invention involving mobile phones as user access front ends;

Figure 2 shows architectural details of the protocol messages sent between the mobile phones and the server according to Figure 1 ; and Figure 3 schematically shows an overall system architecture according to the invention.

The specifically described preferred embodiment of the invention - and particularly the server therein - is capable of receiving events in real time from network clients connected to a "session", e.g. according to Figure 1. In other words, all information that is required at one point in time about the "event" is comprised in one message - for example using protocol stacks according to Figure 2. The events are sent in real-time directly to the server. The events relate to one session, for example (like in the example further above) to a networked energy storage design team or to an entertainment game community being online via mobile phone and/or PC. The events are generated by a number of different connected network clients, e.g. the designer colleagues or the members of the game community.

At this mobile phone communication system, there is no need for the user to use additional applications, establish additional network connections or have any prior knowledge of the other users of the system. Also, no end user personal data (such as MSISDN, email) needs to be disclosed so as to achieve instant messaging and offline messaging, but end users are identified by a unique "nickname".

Without the invention, mobile phone users would need a series of different mechanisms and tools to locate the party they would like to communicate, e.g. use of WAP browser so as to find other end users based on certain relevant search criteria. Com- munication would also require applications like Mobile Instant Messaging for enabling message exchanges between selected end users. But amongst other advantages, the invention eliminates the need of accessing and distributing end user personal data such as MSISDN or email for locating and addressing users via standard voice, electronic mail or mobile SMS so as to enable communication between end users and agree upon the first data. End users would otherwise also need to have a synchronized set of parameters for exchanging, required information, i.e. exact time/date to start play-

ing an actual game, initiate multi-user communication session, provide required authentication information and enter second data e.g.. Furthermore, users would require a mechanism to allow them to locate additional end users for setting up new first data, and repeating the previously described process. An application "session" according to the invention is an instance of an application that is started at a given point in time. Clients join and leave the virtual world, and the application session is eventually terminated under some predefined conditions. During the session, the server (Multi-User Node) receives information (data) from the client units directly, containing all required information within the protocol stacks of one message (multi-user protocol message). The server unit stores state information received from each of the client units. The server also transmits at least a part of the stored information to the connected clients. This way, the whole state of an application can be kept even in one unit of the network. This avoids that each client needs to store the entire state, and reduces memory and bandwidth requirement for each client. Security and fraud prevention features are very much preferred to be implemented in the communication system as well.

According to Figure 2, one embodiment of the invention for communication and gaming via mobile phone comprises client applications and a server implementing a protocol stack comprising the following protocol layers: ILOT Lobby Protocol/I LOT Game Protocol

ILOT Security Protocol Multi-User protocol TCP protocol IP protocol A protocol stack is a layered set of protocols, which work together to provide a set of network functions. Each intermediate protocol layer uses the layer below it to provide a service to the layer above.

A protocol layer is the software and/or hardware environment of two or more communication devices or computers in which a particular network protocol operates. A network connection may be thought of as a set of more or less independent protocols, each in a different layer or level. The lowest layer governs direct host-to-host communication between the hardware at different hosts; the highest consists of user application programs. Each layer uses the layer beneath it and provides a service for the layer above. Each networking component hardware or software on one host uses protocols appro- priate to its layer to communicate with the corresponding component (its "peer") on another host. Such layered protocols are sometimes known as peer-to-peer protocols.

The advantages of layered protocols is that the methods of passing information from one layer to another are specified clearly as part of the protocol suite, and changes within a protocol layer are prevented from affecting the other layers. This greatly simplifies the task of designing and maintaining communication systems. Examples of layered protocols are TCP/IP's five layer protocol stack and the OSI seven layer model.

The objective of this embodiment is to allow users with mobile devices to run client applications having a "small footprint" (namely, the: amount of disk space required by an application), with single network connection and, through a single protocol stack with reduced memory and bandwidth requirements to perform operations for the following functions: chatting between clients e.g. about entertainment games and their past performance therein, instant messaging or offline messaging to invite opponent, matchmaking (to agree on first data), even for example negotiating a bet amount and registering a peer-to-peer bet (to correlate first data to the result of the comparison of second data, wherein first data may even be correlated to money), playing the actual multi-player game (to enter second data in real time), evaluating the result including automatic fraud-protected distribution of the first data (to evaluate and administrate the result of the comparison of second data) - as well as requesting and thus assuring the availability of the first data and the integrity of the whole procedure. The client application has small footprint explained above.so as to run on low-end mobile devices. The client application needs to establish only one data network connection and a minimum amount of data is sent/received over the single data network connection.

Figure 3 schematically shows an overall system architecture according to the invention with mandatory components including lntralot ("ILOT") Server, a multiplayer gaming infrastructure, and ILOT Protocols as well as optional system components such as WEB/WAP Portal Infrastructure allowing users to browse through their PC/mobile WEB and mobile WAP browsers, as well as messaging infrastructure allowing for sending SMS and email notifications.

As can be seen in figure 3, terminals like Mobile, PDA, PCs are the necessary equipment for the end user so as to be able to gain access to the ILOT Server. The game client is a piece of software implementing the necessary game logic and the ILOT Protocol and running on the terminal device. In addition, the terminal equipment allows for establishing data network connection through a fixed or mobile network.

Terminals can be e.g. any of the following type:

Mobile devices supporting one or more of the following technologies (WAP, xHTLM, J2ME, GPRS)

Window compatible PC

PlayStation2 and Microsoft XBOX console with internet connectivity iTV setup box

According to figure 3, WAP Portal Infrastructure on the ILOT server is responsible for adapting the layout and content to be presented according to the user device capabilities e.g. screen size, supported colors.

According to figure 3, WEB Portal Infrastructure on the ILOT server is responsible for hosting WEB/WAP pages and allowing users to view those.

According to figure 3, Multiplayer Gaming Infrastructure on the ILOT server is respon- sible for communicating with the game clients and co-coordinating the data exchange between multiple players participating in the session.

According to figure 3, Messaging Infrastructure on the ILOT server manages alerts and notifications subscriptions, i.e. allowing to create alerts /notifications for events generated inside the system, allowing users to select which alerts/notification they would like to receive, checking whenever relevant events are generated to which users they should be send and how.

According to figure 3, the ILOT Server is the "brain" of the system. It contains all the user data, game configuration data, gamer communities, services, as well as orchestrates all the processes to deliver the end user service. The ILOT Server implements the ILOT protocol and communicates to connected clients through the Mobile Gaming Infrastructure.

The following table explains the relations regarding figure 3: