`Cardill0, IV et al.
`
`[54] SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING
`INTERNET DATA FILES USING A SCREEN
`DISPLAY TELEPHONE TERMINAL
`
`[75] Inventors: Raymond A. Cardillo, IV; Thomas
`Kredo, both of Rochester, NY.
`
`[73] Assignee: Northern Telecom, Limited, Canada
`
`[*l NOIiCeI
`
`This patent is subject to a terminal dis
`claimer.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 08/815,663
`[22]
`Filed:
`Mar. 10, 1997
`
`[51] Int. Cl.6 .................................................. .. H04M 11/00
`[52] US. Cl. .................................... .. 379/93.25; 379/90.01
`[58] Field of Search ............................ .. 379/90.01, 93.01,
`379/93.05—93.09, 93.12—93.15, 93.17—93.31,
`93.37, 110.01, 387, 900
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`2/1995 Garland ................................. .. 379/106
`5,394,461
`6/1996 Braun et al.
`379/93
`5,524,141
`6/1996 Meske, Jr. et al. ..
`395/600
`5,530,852
`7/1996 H011 .................... ..
`379/201
`5,541,986
`5,572,727 11/1996 Larsson et al. ..
`395/616
`5,588,044 12/1996 Lofgren et al. .... ..
`.. 379/67
`5,590,178 12/1996 Murakami et al. ..
`.. 379/96
`5,594,490
`1/1997 Dawson et al. .... ..
`348/6
`5,594,491
`1/1997 Hodge et al. ............................. .. 378/7
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`Bellcore, “Generic Requirements for an SPCS to Customer
`Premises Equipment Data Interface for Analog Display
`Services,” Technical Reference No. Tr—NWT—001273, Issue
`No. 1, pp. 1—1—A4 (Dec. 1992).
`Bellcore, “Technical Reference Bullentin No. 2,” Revision of
`TR—NWT—001273, pp. 1—3 (Oct. 1993).
`Bellcore, “Technical Reference Notice of Disclaimer” Revi
`sion of TR—NWT—001273, pp. 1—1—R2, (Jun. 1995).
`Bellcore, “Technical Reference Bulletin,” Revision of
`TR—NWT—001273, pp. 1—3 (Jun. 1993).
`
`US005937041A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,937,041
`*Aug. 10, 1999
`
`Bellcore, “Technical Reference Bulletin No. 3,” Revision of
`TR—NWT—001273, pp. 1—10 (Dec. 1993).
`NT Northern Telecom, “ACMS Server High Level Software
`Design, System Design Speci?cation,” Multimedia Bus.
`Appln., No. 355—01533—00002, pp. 1—23 (Dec. 1994).
`UnWired Planet, Inc., “Using the Up.Browser;” Ver. 1.0.1,
`pp. 1—13 (Aug. 1996).
`UnWired Planet, Inc., “HDML Language Reference,” Ver.
`1.0, pp. 1—52 (Jul. 1996).
`UnWired Planet, Inc., “Up.Link Developer’s Guide,” Ver.
`1.0, pp. 1—46 (Jul. 1996).
`NT Northern Telecom, “T heABC ’s of Display Based,” Issue
`1, pp. 17—36 (Jan. 1995).
`NT Northern Telecom, “Service Generator User’s Guide,”
`No. 203—3071—900, (May. 1993).
`US. Orders Introduces Revolutionary Internet—Based Ser
`vice To Smart Telephone Users in All 50 States for 7.95 a
`Month; Roll—out to Pagers, PDA’s & Cellular Phones
`Planned for 1997, (Sep. 1996).
`Bob Emerson, “With simultaneous voice and data, neW
`screen phones Will bring better services,” BYTE (Jan. 1996).
`Terry Yarbrough and Lois Andreasen, “ADSI on the Rise”
`(Sep. 6, 1996).
`
`Primary Examiner—Wing F. Chan
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Finnegan, Henderson, FaraboW,
`Garrett & Dunner, L.L.P.
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A system and method for interfacing screen-display tele
`phone terminals With the Internet. AbroWser device located
`on an ADSI capable telephone platform server retrieves
`requested data ?les from an Internet site and formats the
`retrieved data ?le speci?cally for display on the screen
`display telephone terminal. The broWser also permits a link
`betWeen ADSI speci?c applications by giving the user
`imbedded softkey commands Which retrieve other data ?les
`including ADSI applications.
`
`18 Claims, 8 Drawing Sheets
`
`1__0
`
`120
`
`130
`
`122
`
`112
`
`11°
`
`111
`
`115
`
`3% 113
`“114
`== ‘116
`ADSI TELEPHONE
`(OPE)
`
`NETWORK
`APPLICATION
`VEHICLE
`(NAV)
`
` 1
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10,1999
`
`Sheet 1 of 8
`
`5,937,041
`
`
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`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
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`
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`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`uA
`
`99910;1g
`
`Sheet 3 of 8
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`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10,1999
`
`Sheet 4 of8
`
`5,937,041
`
`200
`
`(
`
`START ,
`
`211
`
`7
`
`IS TERMINAL
`110 AN —-—N
`ADSI DEVISE
`
`Y
`+
`DISPLAY
`“WELCOM E” (‘220
`MESSAGE
`
`V
`
`USER SELECTS
`INTERNET SITE $230
`
`DISPLAY w
`DATA FILE
`240
`
`(
`
`V
`
`END )
`
`CALL
`
`250
`
`FIG. 4
`
` 5
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10, 1999
`
`Sheet 5 0f 8
`
`5,937,041
`
`I
`
`START I
`
`Y
`
`TRANSMIT
`“SELECT LOCATION”
`DISPLAY BOX
`
`I
`VERIFY “SELECT
`LOCATION”
`DISPLAY BLOCK
`
`p320
`
`I
`
`p330
`
`PLAY SELECT
`LOCATION MESSAGE
`
`I
`
`f 340
`
`345
`
`RECEIVE USER
`SELECTION
`
`Y
`
`I
`
`SET TO USER
`SPECIFIED SITE
`LOCATION
`
`A 350
`
`FIG. 5
`
`355
`
`END
`
` 6
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10,1999
`
`Sheet 6 of8
`
`5,937,041
`
`E
`
`PERFORM “GET
`400” HTML” PROCESS —-I :I
`
`I
`TRANSMIT AND
`DISPLAY “DISPLAY p410
`WEB DATA” BLOCK
`
`I
`
`VERIFY “DISPLAY F420
`WEB DAT ” BLOCK
`
`WAIT
`FOR USER
`RESPONSE
`
`430
`
`M
`
`RECEIVE “QUIT”
`MESSAGE
`
`h 440
`
`Y
`
`N
`
`485
`
`I
`
`END
`
`L
`
`Y
`
`FIG. 6
`
`I
`DISPLAY
`“ERROR” “‘ 450
`MESSAGE
`
`WAIT
`t=TIMEOUT
`
` 7
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10,1999
`
`Sheet 7 of8
`
`5,937,041
`
`m
`
`(I)
`
`505 v
`_
`
`WAIT FOR
`REQUEST MESSAGE
`
`CONVERT REQUEST
`510 #- MESSAGE TO HTTP
`
`515
`
`'8 EESLSEST
`
`520
`2
`CREATE
`‘ERROR”
`N—* REPLY
`MESSAGE
`
`Y
`i
`PROCESS INTERNET
`525 w REQUEST FOR REPLY __.®
`MESSAGE CONTENT
`
`FORMAT REPLY
`530 w MESSAGE
`
`‘
`‘
`
`l
`SEND “REPLY”
`MESSAGE
`T
`WAS INTERNET
`540w CONNECTlON
`SUCCESSFUL?
`Y
`
`545
`)
`
`_N__, SEND “CONNECTION
`FAILED” MESSAGE
`
`546
`
`END
`
`=
`
`G. 7
`
` 8
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 10,1999
`
`Sheet 8 of8
`
`5,937,041
`
`5_2.5
`
`610
`
`SEND
`UNRESOLVED
`N—’ ERROR
`MESSAGE
`
`625
`g
`
`SEND
`_>CONNECTIVITY
`N
`ERROR
`MESSAGE
`
`626
`
`I
`
`END
`A
`
`640
`
`SEND
`CONNECTION
`N
`_’ ERROR
`MESSAGE
`
`=
`
`WAIT
`FOR
`REPLY
`
`~/\65O
`6630
`
`G00
`D DATA
`RECEIVED?
`
`SEND BAD
`DATA
`N_> ERROR
`MESSAGE
`
`600~
`
`RESOLVE
`HOSTNAME
`
`605
`
`HOSTNAME
`RESOLVED
`
`Y
`I
`SETUP INTERNET
`A TIVITY
`C
`
`615
`T“
`
`"
`CONNECTIVITY
`SUCCESSFUL?
`
`62°
`
`Y
`I
`CONHNOESCTT TO
`
`630,‘
`
`635
`
`"
`CONNECTION
`SUCCESSFUL?
`
`I
`
`SEND DATA
`645~ RETRIEVAL REQUEST
`TO HOST
`
`~
`665
`
`SEND DATA FILE
`
`+
`V
`
`"j
`END
`9
`
`666
`
`655
`FIG. 8
`
` 9
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETRIEVING
`INTERNET DATA FILES USING A SCREEN
`DISPLAY TELEPHONE TERMINAL
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`A. Field of the Invention
`This invention generally relates to the ?eld of Analog
`Display Services Interface (ADSI) and in particular to a
`system and method for interfacing a screen-display tele
`phone device With the World Wide Web or Internet.
`B. Description of the Prior Art
`
`1. ADSI Display Devices
`ADSI is a telecommunications protocol standard devel
`oped by Bellcore and published in Bell Communications
`Research report “Generic Requirements for an SPCS to
`Customer Premises Equipment Data Interface for Analog
`Display Services,” Technical Reference TR-NWT-001273,
`Dec. 1992 (incorporated herein by reference). ADSI enables
`alternate voice and data capability over the existing analog
`telephone netWork. This capability permits ADSI devices to
`communicate With users through a familiar voice response
`audio interface, Where the user listens to voice recordings
`and makes menu selections using the telephone keypad, and
`With visual menus and information on a screen display,
`Where service selections can be made using softkeys.
`Currently, ADSI devices are often implemented as screen
`display telephone terminals, but there can also be television
`set-top boxes alloWing users to make calls using the
`television, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, and
`personal computers that are ADSI capable.
`In addition to real-time interactive applications, ADSI
`also enables program transfer using a capability knoWn as
`Feature DoWnload. These programs, or service scripts, can
`be developed by a server and run on a local terminal. In
`many cases, these scripts are created by an authoring tool
`and stored in an external database for access by the tele
`phony platform serving the user. Therefore, When neW
`features are requested by the user, or are neWly added by the
`server, the scripts are transferred by the telephony platform
`to the ADSI terminal Where they are stored in memory and
`executed by the terminal until overWritten. These scripts
`de?ne not only call ?oW, but also de?ne the softkeys and
`displays presented to the user during a call.
`One example of applied ADSI technology is Northern
`Telecom’s Advanced Call Management Service (ACMS). In
`ACMS, customer selected features are stored in an external
`database. When a customer calls in for activation of services,
`a database lookup is performed so that the appropriate
`information for that customer can be doWnloaded to the
`telephone. The application runs on a NetWork Applications
`Vehicle (NAV), Which is typically a UNIX-based telephony
`platform, and Which reads an object ?le to get information
`concerning the call ?oW. The NAV presents the call ?oW,
`including ADSI commands, to the end user and as a result
`a neW application is presented to the terminal.
`In addition, any server may create Custom Local Area
`Signaling Services (CLASS)SM or Custom Calling Features
`(CCF) and doWnload these advanced feature doWnload
`scripts that are speci?cally tailored to the user’s service
`subscription. As a result, a user can activate services such as
`three-Way calling, call Waiting, and call forWarding through
`context sensitive screen prompts and softkeys. These
`advanced call management telephony script applications
`have been a primary area of development for ADSI display
`terminals.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`5,937,041
`
`2
`An example of advanced ADSI script transfer is disclosed
`in US. Pat. No. 5,541,986, to Hou. Speci?cally, Hou dis
`closes a method and system for automatically consolidating
`service scripts for doWnloading to ADSI-compatible screen
`display telephones. The method and system comprises
`specifying a general template for a set of service features,
`specifying line speci?c attributes for a feature, and then
`combining the tWo into a service module. A customer’s
`service is composed of multiple service modules Which,
`When selected, Would be consolidated by a netWork server
`computer into a single service script. Hou also discloses
`compiling the consolidated service script for doWnloading
`and transmission to a local processor in the compatible
`screen-display telephone.
`
`2. The Internet
`
`The Internet, or “net,” fueled by the popularity of the
`World Wide Web (W or Web), has exhibited signi?cant
`groWth over the past feW years. At present, to access the
`information available on the Web, users typically use stan
`dard computer equipment, such as a home personal com
`puter With a display and modem, and an Internet connection.
`There have been efforts to expand the number of users and
`the ease With Which they access the net. For example, several
`companies have developed television set-top boxes that
`permit users to broWse or “surf” the Internet from their
`television sets. In addition, telephone companies have joined
`With softWare developers to alloW mobile communication
`devices such as cellular telephones, pagers, and PDAs to
`access some features of the Internet.
`At present, several types of Internet connections are
`available. For example, to use an Internet connection from
`Internet Service Providers (ISPs), the user dials into a
`computer at the ISP’s facility using a modem and standard
`telephone line. The ISP’s computer in turn provides the user
`With access to the Internet. Through this Internet connection,
`the user can access information on the Web using a computer
`program called a “Web broWser,” such as for example the
`Netscape NavigatorTM from Netscape Communications Cor
`poration. The Web broWser is a softWare program that alloWs
`a user to vieW the data received from an Internet site
`location. To accomplish this, the user gives the Web broWser
`a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) for an object on the
`Internet, for example, a data ?le containing information of
`interest. The document is referred to as a “Web page,” and
`the information contained in the Web page is called content.
`Web pages often refer to other Web pages using “hypertext
`link” or “hyperlinks” that include Words or phrases repre
`senting the other pages in a form that gives the broWser the
`URL for the corresponding Web page When a user selects a
`hyperlink.
`Hyperlinks are made possible by building Web pages
`using a Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), an evolving
`language Which is used to construct documents in a uniform,
`standardiZed format so they may be accessed by Web
`broWsers and displayed for the user. HTML is an ASCII
`text-based language Which de?nes page formats used to
`display the HTML elements. To ensure accessibility, all
`HTML documents have a “point-of-contact” name, or
`ANCHOR, identi?ed in the document as part of the
`ANCHOR element. This name is hyperlink-enabled by
`surrounding the name With the <A >element. This feature
`permits a user to link With another URL When the ANCHOR
`element is selected.
`Once the user selects a site to visit, the URL identi?es a
`speci?c host computer on the Internet, called a “Web
`
` 10
`
`Petitioners' Exhibit 1046, Page
`
`
`
`5,937,041
`
`3
`Server,” and, more particularly, the location of a Web page
`located on the Web Server. The Web broWser retrieves the
`Web page and displays it for the user.
`Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the most Widely
`used format to access and link users With various other Web
`pages or sites referenced by the original Web page. HTTP
`requires a program running on the host computer that
`understands and responds to this protocol. The ?le retrieved
`might be, for example, an HTML ?le, a graphic ?le, a sound
`?le, an animation sequence ?le, a ?le to be executed by the
`Web server (e.g., CGI programs), or a Word processing ?le.
`Ultimately, Whether the ?le can be retrieved or handled
`depends on the features and capabilities of the broWser.
`When a broWser requests a speci?c URL, it sends the request
`to the sponsoring Web server. The Web server receives the
`request and attempts to ful?ll the request.
`There are several Ways that user requests can be ful?lled.
`For example, Web servers translate a request such as “http://
`WWW.recipes.com/recipes/soup.htm” into a search for a
`physical ?le on that server. It Would start from the base
`directory for that domain and then apply the path that Was
`requested. In this example, the Web server Would look for a
`directory called “recipes” and then look for a ?le called
`“soup.htm” Within that directory. If the ?le Was found it
`Would be passed back, Without modi?cation, to the request
`ing broWser. In this Way, the URL can be thought of as a
`speci?c ?le sitting on a server, or host computer.
`Common GateWay Interface (CGI) Was created as one
`Way for Web servers to achieve a dynamic element by
`calling to programs that reside on the server. This dynamic
`element alloWs the Web server to immediately respond to the
`request Without doing additional processing. The server
`receives a request from the broWser, and it uses the dynamic
`element, or hypertext link, to connect With a neW process.
`The server then passes CGI based tagged data that Will be
`used by the program to create, for example, the HTML ?le.
`The CGI program executes the associated display format
`subroutine, or script ?le, and accesses other data sources to
`generate the content and then returns the HTML back to the
`HTTP server. Once the transfer is completed, the CGI
`process terminates and the server transfers the HTML back
`to the requesting broWser.
`An alternative to using separate CGI scripts to de?ne
`content is a template-based HTML that actually embeds a
`request for the dynamic data Within the HTML ?le itself
`When a speci?c page is requested, a pre-processor scans the
`?le for proprietary tags that are then translated into ?nal
`HTML based on the request. The ?nal HTML is then passed
`back to the server and on to the broWser for the user to vieW
`on their computer terminal. While the examples given have
`been explained in the context of HTML, both CGIs and
`templates may be created With any Standard Generalized
`Markup Language (SGML) based markup language, such as
`Handheld Device Markup language (HDML). HDMI, is a
`markup language designed and developed by AT&T and
`UnWired Planet, Inc. to alloW handheld devices some access
`to the resources of the Internet. The speci?cs of the language
`are disclosed in “HDML Language Reference, Version 1.0,”
`UnWired Planet, Inc., Jul. 1996, and herein incorporated by
`reference.
`While computer terminals and other devices that are
`con?gured to receive HTTP signals and HTML ?les may
`utiliZe the above methods to access and vieW the Internet
`data, the speci?c display standards for ADSI devices, as Well
`as the display capabilities for ADSI and other screen-display
`telephones, alloW only a limited vieW of HTTP transferred
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`4
`HTML ?les. In addition, ADSI display characteristics do not
`permit a user to take advantage of the hypertext features
`imbedded in most HTML data ?les.
`While the capability of ADSI devices have been explored
`to provide users With more advanced consumer-based tele
`phone services, ADSI devices have not previously been
`integrated successfully and effectively With the vast
`resources of the Internet. In addition to permitting ADSI
`devices to retrieve data ?les from the Internet, the proposed
`ADSI Internet interface Would also provide users With the
`ability to “jump” betWeen ADSI applications by giving
`applications an imbedded link to other ADSI applications.
`This bene?t Would be similar to the bene?ts of hyperlinks
`used in HTML and has not been effectively implemented for
`ADSI application. Therefore, a need exists for a system and
`method that Would alloW ADSI devices to access and
`retrieve data from the Internet as Well as link ADSI appli
`cations.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`In an effort to expand the utility of ADSI devices and
`provide users With an alternate means for accessing the
`resources of the Internet, it is a goal of the present invention
`to permit the users of screen-display telephone terminals to
`access and retrieve Internet data ?les. In accordance With the
`purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described
`herein, a method is provided for retrieving and displaying
`data ?les from an Internet location comprising the steps of:
`receiving, at a screen-display telephone terminal, a data ?le
`request from a user; transmitting the data ?le request to a
`telephony platform server; receiving the data ?le request at
`the telephony platform and transmitting an Internet protocol
`message to an Internet site location, Wherein the Internet
`protocol message corresponds to the data ?le request
`received from the user and the Internet site location corre
`sponds to the data ?le requested by the user; retrieving an
`Internet data ?le from the Internet site location and format
`ting the Internet data ?le received in response to the Internet
`protocol message for display on the screen-display tele
`phone terminal; transmitting, from the telephony platform
`server, the Internet data ?le to the telephone terminal,
`Wherein said Internet data ?le is formatted for display on the
`screen-display telephone terminal; and displaying the for
`matted data ?le on the screen-display telephone terminal.
`In another aspect, the invention provides a system for
`interfacing at least one ADSI screen-display telephone ter
`minal With a plurality of Internet site locations, Wherein the
`Internet site locations contain data ?les, the system com
`prising: an ADSI screen-display telephone terminal for
`transmitting a data ?le request to an ADSI telephony plat
`form server and displaying an Internet data ?le retrieved
`from one of the plurality of Internet site locations; and a
`broWser device residing on the ADSI telephony platform
`server for retrieving the Internet data ?le and formatting the
`retrieved data ?le to a format that corresponds to the display
`characteristics of the terminal.
`In yet another aspect, the invention provides an ADSI
`screen-display telephone terminal for receiving and display
`ing a data ?le retrieved from an external server apparatus,
`the terminal comprising: an integrated screen-display for
`presenting a user With a selection of data ?les and displaying
`the retrieved data ?le; a data ?le selection device, connected
`to the screen-display, for transmitting a data ?le selection
`signal to a telephony platform; and a receiver apparatus,
`connected to the screen-display, for receiving the retrieved
`data ?le in response to the data ?le selection signal.
`
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`Additional advantages of the invention Will be set forth in
`part in the description Which follows, and in part can be
`knoWn from the description, or may be learned by practice
`of the invention. The advantages of the invention Will be
`realiZed and attained by means of the elements and combi
`nations particularly pointed out in the appended claims
`thereof as Well as the appended draWings.
`It should be understood that both the foregoing general
`description and the folloWing detailed description are exem
`plary and explanatory and are intended to provide a further
`explanation of the invention as claimed.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram shoWing an Internet interface
`system consistent With the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a block diagram shoWing further details of the
`Internet interface system of FIG. 1;
`FIG. 3 is a block diagram shoWing the further details of
`the broWser device of FIG. 2;
`FIG. 4 is ?oWchart shoWing a method used to access the
`Internet and retrieve Internet data ?les using a screen
`display telephone terminal consistent With FIG. 1;
`FIG. 5 is a How chart shoWing further details of an
`Internet site selection process consistent With the method of
`FIG. 4;
`FIG. 6 is a How chart shoWing further details of an
`Internet data ?le display process consistent With the method
`of FIG. 4;
`FIG. 7 is a How chart shoWing an Internet connection and
`data ?le retrieval process consistent With the method of FIG.
`6; and
`FIG. 8 is a How chart shoWing the Internet connection and
`data ?le retrieval process consistent With the method of FIG.
`7.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`Reference Will noW be made in detail to the present
`preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of Which
`are illustrated in the accompanying draWings. Wherever
`possible, the same reference numbers Will be used through
`out the draWings to refer to the same or like parts.
`A. The System
`FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams shoWing an ADSI-based
`Internet access system 100 consistent With the present
`invention. FIG. 1 shoWs the overall make-up of the system
`100, While FIG. 2 shoWs a more detailed layout of the
`system 100. A telephone terminal, such as an ADSI screen
`display telephone terminal 110 or other suitable Customer
`Premise Equipment (CPE), having an integrated screen
`display 111, is connected to public sWitched telephone
`netWork (PSTN) 120 that routes calls and data transfers from
`terminal 110 to the NetWork Application Vehicle (NAV) 130
`via standard telephone interface lines 112 and 122. NAV 130
`is a telephony platform server for controlling call and data
`How betWeen the terminal 110 and the Web 140. As further
`described beloW, NAV 130 includes ADSI Internet BroWser
`(AIB) 180, an ADSI protocol speci?c Web broWser that can
`retrieve data ?les from the Internet and format the data ?le
`to an ADSI protocol formatted data display block for display
`on screen-display 111. NAV 130 also contains a memory
`device 132 for receiving and storing Internet protocol
`messages, and a memory device 134 for storing data ?les
`and messages transmitted from the Internet.
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`The Web 140, as Well as the term Internet, are generic
`terms for a multiple of Well knoWn protocols and standards
`used over a standard datalink such as connections 145 and
`146. Host Server 155 is a remote computer system acces
`sible over the Internet or other communication medium
`along line 145. Host computer Server 155 contains Web
`Server 150, Which is a server application program for
`accessing Web pages from various Internet sites and retriev
`ing data ?les from, for example, URLs 160—162, through the
`Internet using existing Web architecture. Preferably, Web
`Server 150 presents the accessed Web pages to the requestor,
`in this case AIB 180, in HTML format. Web Server 150 also
`permits a service provider to insert ANCHOR “tags” on
`speci?c Web pages that Would point AIB 180 to speci?cally
`designed ADSI Telephone Hypertext Markup Language
`(ATML) ?les or also HDML formatted data ?les. Moreover,
`Web Server 150 receives Internet requests from AIB 180
`through the Web 140 to locate and access a number of URLs,
`such as for example URLs 160—162. URLs 160—162 could
`be Web site locations such as a Yahoo Home Page, a Nortel
`Home Page, or a Lycos Homepage, and additional URLs
`could include a Hello World Homepage, or a time/
`temperature site.
`Terminal 110 may be any ADSI compatible device, or
`other screen-display telephone terminal, capable of receiv
`ing and storing upgrade command ?les, service scripts, and
`transmitted data from NAV 130 through PSTN 120. One
`example is Nortel’s PoWer Touch 350, Which includes an 8
`x20 character LCD screen-display 111, a series of program
`mable softkeys 113 for a user’s selection of a particular data
`?le or other displayed functions, a standard telephone
`speaker 114, handset 115, and a standard 12 character
`telephone key pad 116.
`Terminal 110 communicates With NAV 130 by standard
`transmission of ADSI protocol transmission signals along
`line 112, PSTN 120, and line 122. The ADSI protocol
`transmission signals may include, but are not limited to,
`Dual Tone Multi Frequency (DTMF) signals. For a more
`detailed description of ADSI communication signal
`requirements, refer to Bell Communications Research report
`“Generic Requirements for an SPCS to Customer Premises
`Equipment Data Interface for Analog Display Services,”
`Technical Reference TR-NWT-001273, Dec. 1992
`(incorporated herein by reference).
`NAV 130 may be any telephony platform capable of
`retrieving, storing, and transmitting both data and command
`?les. In the present embodiment, and by Way of example
`only, NAV 130 can be a UNIX-based ADSI capable platform
`implemented through Well-knoWn hardWare, but With spe
`ci?c softWare functions described herein for the present
`invention. NAV 130 includes a UNIX-based processor, and
`a number of internal memory locations including, a ?rst
`memory 132 for receiving and storing data ?les and mes
`sages transmitted from terminal 110, and a second memory
`134 for receiving data ?les from the Internet. NAV 130 also
`includes AIB 180 Which is connected to memory devices
`132 and 134 via data bus 133. In addition, as further
`described beloW, NAV 130 controls the call How and data
`transfers betWeen the Host Server apparatus 155 and termi
`nal 110. NAV 130 also alloWs a service provider to create
`and store ADSI data ?les Written in a markup language
`speci?cally formatted for screen-display telephone termi
`nals. This language could comprise a standard text-based
`markup language similar to HTML, or could include a
`modi?ed version of HDML, or a speci?cally designed
`ATML, and serve as a substitute for conventional ADSI
`scripting language.
`
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`FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of the AIB 180
`in greater detail. The speci?c functions of the sections are
`described in greater detail below in conjunction With FIGS.
`4—8. AIB 180 contains a request message receiving and
`formatting section 182 for receiving a user data ?le request
`from ?rst memory 132 via data bus 133. In addition, section
`182 interprets the ADSI protocol data ?le request message
`received from terminal 110 and stored in memory device
`132 to thereby, generate a corresponding HTTP formatted
`message. The request message transmitting section 184
`receives the HTTP request message and transmits it to
`memory 134 and Web Server 150.
`Once the data ?le is located, a data ?le retrieval section
`186 retrieves the HTML data ?le from the Internet via
`memory 134 and data bus 133. Section 186 is connected to
`a data ?le formatting and transmitting section 188 that
`formats the HTML data ?le to be compatible With the
`display capabilities of screen-display 111. As explained in
`more detail beloW, this process could involve identifying
`particular sections of the data ?le for display, and
`eliminating, or truncating, those display lines that exceed the
`display capacity of screen-display 111. Preferably, the refor
`matting process involves using ADSI scripting techniques to
`con?gure the entire data ?le to a data display block speci?
`cally designed for the ADSI screen-display, and compliant
`With the ADSI protocol requirements.
`B. Internet Data Retrieval
`In order to retrieve Web pages and display them in the
`ADSI format, system 100 permits a user to access Internet
`locations through Web 140. To do this, the Internet site
`location request signals received from terminal 110 must be
`decoded by AIB 180 to a format that Web Server 150 and
`URL servers such as those at 160, 161, and 162 can interpret
`and understand. Preferably, this Would involve interpreting
`the received request message to generate a corresponding
`HTTP formatted message. Once Web Server 150 receives a
`location selection, it transmits the data ?le contained at the
`requested site location back to terminal 110 via the tele
`phony platform server, Which in this case is NAV 130. After
`NAV 130 receives the data ?le from the Internet site via the
`Web Server 150, AIB 180 formats the data ?le to an ADSI
`compatible data display block so that it may be transmitted
`to terminal 110 in a form terminal 110 can display.
`FIG. 4 shoWs a general overvieW of method 200, a call
`?oW script used in conjunction With system 1 00 for retriev
`ing an Internet data ?le from Web 140 using terminal 110.
`The subsequent ?gures, FIGS. 5—8, then shoW further details
`of the method 200 as speci?ed.
`With reference noW to FIG. 4, upon receiving a request
`from a user to access the system 100, NAV 130 determines
`if the requesting terminal 110 is an ADSI compatible device.
`(Step 210). If not, the call and process are terminated at step
`211. If terminal 110 is ADSI compatible, then using con
`ventional ADSI techniques, NAV 130 transmits a “WEL
`COME” message to terminal 110 for display on screen
`display 111. (Step 220). This informs the user that the
`connection to NAV 130 has been completed and that the user
`may commence using the features displayed. The “WEL
`COME” message may also include an individual or univer
`sal homepage from Which users begin their Internet access.
`It is contemplated that the homepage Will guide the user
`through the process described above With the commands and
`procedures that folloW.
`From the homepage or “WELCOME” screen, the user is
`permitted to make an Internet site selection (Step 230), by
`depressing a number on keypad 116 or selecting a softkey
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`113 corresponding to the URL to be accessed. That is, the
`user can select Which of the available Web sites are to be
`visited and, therefore, Which data ?les Will be retrieved. As
`described above, by Way of example only, potential Web
`sites could include a Nortel Homepage, a Yahoo Homepage,
`a Fortune Homepage, a Time/Temperature location, or a
`Hello World Homepage. It also i