Description

ICON TRANSFORMING SYSTEM, AND SERVICE METHOD

FOR THE SAME

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to an icon transforming system and a service method for the same, in which when SMS (short message service) messages using icons are transmitted and received between different types of terminals using a different icon code system, an icon or specific context in the SMS message of a sender terminal is detected by using a sender-side icon code table, the detected icon or specific context can be replaced or substituted with an icon code or can be removed through a corresponding icon code-transformation operation using a receiver-side icon code table, and a preset specific context can be automatically replaced with an icon for specific context. Background Art

[2] Conventionally, each terminal manufacturer has individually extended icons to be used in SMS messages and has imparted individual codes.

[3] Accordingly, there exists incompatibility in icon code between different terminal manufacturers or between an old model and a new model of the same terminal. In such a case, when an SMS message using icons is transmitted between different types of terminals having a different code system, such a character as 'D', indicating that there is no corresponding character, or a totally-different character can be shown on a receiver terminal.

[4] Because of such a problem, icons which are individually constructed by each terminal manufacturer can be normally transmitted, only when a receiver terminal to which an SMS message including the icons is to be transmitted has the same icon code system.

[5] Therefore, although various types of icons and emoticons to be applied to terminals of each manufacturer are being extended and developed, such icons and emoticons are rarely used in an actual SMS message.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem

[6] An advantage of the present invention is that it provides an icon transforming system and a service method for the same, in which when a message is transmitted and received between different types of terminals using a different icon code system, terminal type information on sender and receiver terminals is grasped, an icon code to be used in the receiver terminal is searched by using the message, and icons used in the

message are replaced, substituted, or removed so that the message is reconstructed so as to be sent. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the icons from being shown as wrong characters in the receiver terminal.

[7] Another advantage of the invention is that it provides an icon transforming system and a service method for the same, which transforms a preset specific context in a message into an icon which can be displayed on a receiver terminal or automatically inserts an icon. Technical Solution

[8] According to an aspect of the invention, an icon transforming system in a mobile- communication network comprises a terminal type database that stores phone-number information of mobile-communication subscribers and terminal type information on mobile-communication terminals corresponding to the phone-number information; and an icon transforming server that acquires terminal type information on sender and receiver terminals of a provided specific message from the terminal type database, detects an icon used in the message by using a sender-side icon code table according to the terminal type information on the sender terminal, inquires of an icon code transformation table with respect to icon codes of sender and receiver sides, performs icon code replacement, icon code substitution, or icon code elimination on the detected icon in the message so as to reconstruct the message, and then provides the reconstructed message to the receiver side. In the icon code replacement, the detected icon is replaced with the same or similar icon of the receiver side. In the icon code substitution, when the same or similar icon is not present in the receiver side and an emoticon having a similar meaning exists, the detected icon is substituted with the emoticon having a similar meaning. In the icon code elimination, when the same or similar icon and an emoticon having a similar meaning are not present in the receiver side, the code of the detected icon is eliminated from the message.

[9] According to another aspect of the invention, the icon transformation server further performs specific-context icon-code replacement in which an icon set for specific context is inserted into the head or tail of a specific context, which is previously set, in the message or the specific context is replaced with the icon set for specific context.

[10] According to a further aspect of the invention, an icon transformation service method comprises receiving a message from a sender side; acquiring terminal type information on sender and receiver terminals of the message from a terminal type database; detecting one or more icons used in the message by using a sender-side icon code table according to the terminal type information of the sender terminal; inquiring of an icon code transformation table with respect to icon codes of the sender and receiver terminals; when the same or similar icon is provided on a receiver-side icon

code table, replacing the detected icon with the same or similar icon; when the same or similar icon is not provided but an emoticon having a similar meaning is provided on the receiver-side icon code table, substituting the detected icon with the emoticon having a similar meaning; when the same or similar icon and an emoticon having a similar meaning are not provided on the receiver-side code table, eliminating the code of the detected icon from the message; and providing the reconstructed message to the sender terminal.

[11] According to a still further aspect of the invention, the icon transformation service method further comprises performing specific-context icon-code replacement in which an icon set for specific context is inserted into the head or tail of a specific context, which is previously set, in the message or the specific context is replaced with the icon set for specific context.

Advantageous Effects

[12] According to the invention, an SMS message including icons can be transmitted and received between different types of terminals having a different icon code system. Further, an icon of an message can be prevented from being interpreted as a totally different character or being shown as a character such as 'D' which indicates that there is no corresponding character.

[13] Further, a preset specific context of an SMS message is automatically transformed into a corresponding icon such that a user can easily use icons without a complicated icon-input process. Brief Description of the Drawings

[14] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an icon transforming system according to the present invention.

[15] Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the icon transformation service method according to an embodiment of the invention.

[16] Fig. 3 is an icon code transformation table showing rules for icon code replacement, icon code substitution, and icon code elimination between different types of terminals using a different icon code system and a rule for automatically transforming a specific context of an SMS message into an icon code. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[17] Hereinafter, an icon transforming system using a mobile communication network and a service method for the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[18] When it is judged that the specific description of related known function or constitution can cloud the point of the invention, the description will be omitted. Terms to be described below are defined in consideration of the functions of the invention and

can differ in accordance with the intension of a user or operator or the practice. Accordingly, the meanings of the terms should be interpreted on the basis of the overall contents of the specification. Further, the invention can be applied to the whole mobile communication network which can transmit and receive SMS messages.

[19] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an icon transforming system according to the invention. The icon transforming system includes an SMS center 10, an SMS receiving gateway 20, an SMS sending gateway 30, an icon transformation server 40, and a terminal type database 50.

[20] The SMS center 10, the SMS receiving gateway 20, and the SMS sending gateway

30 are included in the communication network configuration of a mobile carrier. The SMS center 10 serves to receive, manage, and deliver a message, in order to provide a short-text message.

[21] The SMS receiving gateway 20 delivers a sender-side SMS message from the SMS center 10 to the icon transformation server 40. The SMS sending gateway 30 receives the transformed SMS message from the icon transformation server 40 so as to deliver to the SMS center 20. Then, the SMS center 20 provides the transformed SMS message to a sender-side mobile terminal.

[22] The icon transformation server 40 receives an SMS message of a sender terminal

(not shown) through the SMS receiving gateway 20 and inquires terminal type information by using phone-number information on the sender and receiver terminals which is acquired from the SMS message. Then, the icon transformation server 40 detects icons used in the SMS message by using an icon code table (hereinafter, referred to 'the sender-side icon code table') according to the type of the sender terminal.

[23] The icon transformation server 40 performs icon code transformation on the detected icons by using an icon code table (hereinafter, referred to as 'the receiver- side icon code table') according to the type of the receiver terminal (not shown). Then, the icon transformation server 40 provides a reconstructed SMS message to the SMS sending gateway 30.

[24] The icon transformation server 40 stores icon code tables for each mobile terminal manufacturer and each terminal type.

[25] When SMS messages are transmitted and received between different types of terminals using a different icon code system, the icon transformation server 40 performs an icon-code transformation operation including icon-code replacement in which an icon of an SMS message recorded as sender-side icon codes are replaced with the same or similar icon to be used in the receiver side; icon code substitution in which, when the same or similar icon is not present but only an emoticon having a similar meaning exists, an icon of an SMS message recorded as sender-side icon codes

is substituted with the emoticon composed of special characters to be used in a sender side; and icon-code elimination in which, when the same or similar icon and an emoticon having a similar meaning do not exist, error characters with respect to an SMS message recorded as sender-side icon codes are prevented from being outputted to a sender terminal.

[26] In the icon-code elimination processing, an icon is prevented from being transformed into a totally different character or are prevented from being displayed as 'D' which indicates there is no corresponding character.

[27] In addition to the icon-code transformation operation, when SMS messages are transmitted and received between different types of terminals using a different icon code system, the icon transformation server 40 further performs specific-context icon- code replacement in which an icon is inserted into the head or tail of a specific context, which is previously set, in an SMS message recorded as sender-side icon codes or the specific context is replaced with an icon.

[28] The terminal type database 50 stores phone-number information of mobile- communication subscribers and terminal type information corresponding to the phone- number information.

[29] An icon transformation service method using a mobile communication network will be described with reference to the drawings.

[30] Fig. 2 is a flow chart showing the icon transformation service method according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 3 is an icon code transformation table showing rules for icon code replacement, icon code substitution, and icon code elimination between different types of terminals using a different icon code system and a rule for automatically transforming a specific context of an SMS message into an icon code.

[31] The icon transformation server 40 receives an SMS message created by a sender- side mobile-communication subscriber from the SMS receiving gateway 20 (Sl).

[32] The icon transformation server 40 acquires the phone-number information of sender and receiver terminals from the SMS message. Further, the icon transformation server 40 inquires of the terminal type database 50 the types of the sender and receiver terminals by using the phone-number information of the sender and receiver terminals and then acquires the terminal type information of the sender and receiver terminals.

[33] The terminal type database 50, which provides terminal type information corresponding to a phone number, stores information on various types of terminals which are manufactured by each mobile terminal manufacturer.

[34] The icon transformation server 40 searches an icon and a preset specific context used in the SMS message by using the sender-side icon code table (S3).

[35] The icon transformation server 40 judges on the sender-side icon code table whether or not the same or similar icon with respect to the searched icon and specific

context is provided (S4).

[36] If the same or similar icon is provided, the icon transformation server 40 performs the icon code replacement by using the same or similar icon (S5).

[37] In the icon code replacement, for example, an icon of 'smile' represented by

OxAFFl in a V730 model is transformed into an icon represented by 0xC9CF in a KP3000 model (refer to Fig. 3). In this case, it can be found that two different terminals have icons having the same meaning, when an SMS message including an icon of 'smile' is transmitted in a state where the V730 model is set to a sender terminal and the KP3000 model is set to a receiver terminal.

[38] The icon transformation server 40 further performs the specific-context icon code replacement in which an icon is inserted into the head or tail of a specific context, which is previously set, in an SMS message recorded as sender-side icon codes or the specific context is replaced with an icon.

[39] The icon transformation server 40 judges whether or not there exist more icons or specific contexts in the SMS message, which should be subjected to the icon code transformation operation.

[40] If icons or specific contexts to be subjected to the icon code transformation operation exist, the process proceeds to the third step (S3), and then the above- described operation is repeated. If there are no more icons or specific contexts to be subjected to the icon code transformation operation, the icon transformation server 40 delivers the transformed SMS message to the SMS sending gateway 30 (S7).

[41] If the same or similar icon is not provided in the fourth step (S4), the icon transformation server 40 judges whether an emoticon having a similar meaning exists on the sender-side icon code table or not (S8).

[42] If there exists an emoticon having a similar meaning, the icon transformation server

40 performs the icon code substitution in which an icon in the SMS message is subst ituted with an emoticon having a similar meaning, the emoticon being composed of special characters to be used in the sender side (S9). Then, the process proceeds to the sixth step S6.

[43] In the icon code substitution, since the KP3000 model does not have the same or similar icon corresponding to an icon of 'rose' represented by OxB 134 in the V730 model, the icon of 'rose' is substituted with an emoticon represented by 0x302D, the emoticon being represented as special characters (refer to Fig. 3). In this case, it is exemplified that, when an SMS message including an icon of 'rose' is transmitted in a state where the V730 model is set to a sender terminal and the KP3000 model is set to a receiver terminal, the KP3000 model as the receiver terminal does not have the same or similar icon but has an emoticon having a similar meaning.

[44] If there is no emoticon having a similar meaning, the icon transformation server 40

performs the icon code elimination in order to prevent wrong characters from being outputted to the receiver terminal. Then, the process proceeds to the sixth step (S6), and the following operation is performed (SlO). In the icon-code elimination processing, an icon is prevented from being transformed into a totally different character or is prevented from being displayed as 'D' which indicates there is no corresponding character.

[45] The above-described embodiment may include an information recording medium which can be read by a computer, the information recording medium including program commands for performing various operations. The information recording medium which can be read by a computer may include a program command, a data file, a data structure and the like which are combined or not. The program command to be recorded in the information recording medium may be specially designed for the invention or may be a program command which is known to a computer software provider so as to be used. The information recording medium, which can be read by a computer, includes a hard disk, a floppy disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a RAM, an optical magnetic disk, a flash memory and the like, which are constructed so as to store and perform program commands.

[46] The program command includes a high-level language code, which can be executed using an interpreter by a computer, as well as a machine code which is created by a compiler.

[47] While the present invention has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, various changes and modifications in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

[48] Particularly, the invention can be also applied to MMS (multimedia message service), without being limited to the above-described SMS message in a mobile communication network.