Process and system to supply a multimedia application on a terminal
Contents
1. memories with appli cations that are only used periodically The invention process answers this need by implementing the MMS agent At the time of sending from the first terminal 10A monitoring by a link 16 to at least a second terminal 10B monitored a multimedia message including a programming agent i e an MMS agent the programming agent is scripted to automati cally start a phone link between the first terminal 10A and the second terminal 10B The link 16 is preferably a wireless link such as GSM or GPRS The phone link consists in the acti US 2009 0031300 Al vation using the programming agent of the voice channel and the loudspeaker of the second terminal 10B In a pre ferred embodiment of the invention the programming agent can start also automatically an audible alarm on the second terminal or a display of a video sequence for example com prised of colored images for attracting the attention of the monitored person located near the second terminal 10B The programming agent can trigger on the second terminal 10B the formation of a multimedia message intended to be sent automatically by link 17 to the first terminal 10A The link 17 is preferably a wireless link such as GSM or GPRS This multimedia message is an MMS agent that includes image text and sound digital data and the encoded data of the programming agent The digital data are contextual data spe cific to the monitored person located near the second2. of the main embodiments of the invention with reference to US 2009 0031300 Al the drawings in which the same numerical references iden tify the same elements in each of the different figures 0030 FIG 1 represents diagrammatically an example of communication in a digital network A terminal 10 for example a cellphone equipped with a keyboard 12 and a display screen 11 sends by link 1 for example GPRS type General Packet Radio System multimedia message data to a central server 20 The terminal 10 can also be a camera phone a wireless camera or a PDA Personal Display Assis tant The server 20 is typically an SMS Center or an MMS Center The server 20 enables data sent by the terminal 10 to be saved and enables a service to be supplied for example a multimedia message composition application to compose for example an electronic postcard The electronic postcard can contain image or text digital data which sound data can be linked to The server 20 sends secondly by a link 2 for example GPRS type data to a platform for executing photo graphic work like for example a photographic laboratory 30 which will execute for example a print of the postcard thus composed Apart from the problems of communication latency the creation of the postcard involves because of the more or less complex user interfaces several manual inter ventions that are not always easy to perform based on the terminal 10 The consequence is that the r
3. to the platform for executing prints 40 The programming agent 36 produces an interface to automatically display on each terminal information associated with the execution of requests specific to each terminal these requests are for example prints of the multimedia message prepared in common Time information e g hour minute of the print can be displayed automatically on each terminal having sent for example a printing request of the multimedia message to the kiosk 40 Like in the previous embodiments the code data of the programming agent are automatically destroyed when the programming agent is deactivated This deactivation takes place automatically at the end of the application s use or the deactivation is performed manually for example using the keyboard 12 of the terminal 10 0043 An additional advantage of the MMS architecture is that existing payment methods adapted to mobile terminals for example SMS MMS Premium type enable the invoicing of single use applications that is the MMS agents to be produced easily According to FIGS 3 and 4 the invoicing is for example divided into three steps The initiation of a first Jan 29 2009 payment is performed when sending the first message by link 3 Then the initiation of a second payment is performed to receive the MMS agent by link 4 And finally the initiation of a third payment is performed by links 6 and 7 or by link 8 This third payment corresponds from the
4. 20 to each of the terminals placed near the kiosk 40 The programming agents interact when they are activated on each terminal to produce the multimedia message comprised of a combination of digital data coming from each terminal The digital data coming from each terminal are image text or sound data The programming agent enables a user interface to be produced on each terminal to display for example the multimedia message The programming agent is capable of identifying a platform for executing imaging work like the photographic kiosk 40 to send an imaging work request from the terminal to the execution platform The digital data sent from the terminal to the platform for executing imaging work are text or image data of the multimedia message The com munication link of the digital data between the terminals and the kiosk 40 is a wireless link such as Bluetooth or WiFi The connection between the terminal and the kiosk is advanta geously made secure This means that the digital data trans ferred between the terminal and the kiosk cannot be inter cepted or polluted 0042 In this third embodiment the programming agents specific to each of the terminals interact and interact with the platform for executing the imaging work 40 in order to deter mine the priorities of the work execution requests on the basis of the multimedia message data prepared in common among the terminals The requests are transmitted from each of the terminals
5. of automatically performing the composition and for matting of the postcard which avoids the formatting errors due to manual interactions carried out by the user In a pre ferred variant of this embodiment of the invention additional data concerning for example the identification of a process US 2009 0031300 Al ing laboratory 30 the type of work to be executed the pricing of the products to be executed e g as a discount or promo tion or the payment account number to be debited are attached to the data packet transmitted to the server 20 Then the data packet is sent by a link 7 to the laboratory 30 The link 7 is preferably a wireless link such as GPRS The labo ratory 30 is a platform ora center for executing imaging work The laboratory 30 can for example print a paper version of the postcard and mail it to the address given on the postcard 0034 A service for executing imaging work online for example on the Internet can use the MMS agent 31 contain ing a programming agent 36 comprised of encoded digital data corresponding to a specific application This specific application relates for example to a promotional offer The MMS agent 31 is sent by the service provider for example to a list of users who have subscribed or belong to this service The MMS agent 31 is sent by the service provider to the users service to user communication or by a user sub scribed to the service to other users user to user commu
6. printing work execution request corre sponding to the promotional offer is advantageously made with a photographic kiosk from the terminal 10 18 19 and using a wireless Bluetooth type link 0037 The user of the terminal 10 18 19 can also advan tageously send the MMS agent 31 containing the program ming agent 36 to another addressee provided with a portable terminal to convey a gift to this other addressee Ifa first user of a terminal 10 18 19 sends the MMS agent 31 to a second user of another terminal 10 18 19 it is the first user the sender of the MMS agent who is debited by benefiting nevertheless from the advantages linked to any promotional offer 0038 Inthe most usual embodiment of the invention with the application finished a deactivation destroys the code data of the programming agent The programming agent is deac tivated either automatically when the data packet is sent to the server 20 by the link 6 or by the user from the terminal 10 This is another advantage of the invention that avoids block ing the memory space of the terminal 10 with the encoded data of the programming agent s program 0039 FIG 4 corresponds to a second embodiment of the invention in an environment for example of a photographic kiosk A first message is sent by a link 3 from the terminal 10 to the applications server 20 The first message is an SMS an MMS or an email The first message includes data to identify the kiosk 4
7. termi nal 10B The sound data characterize for example the words or noise made by the monitored person located near the terminal 10B The image data characterize for example a video sequence filming the monitored person This video can be produced automatically by a third terminal 15 capable of communicating by a wireless link 14 with the second termi nal 10B The third terminal 15 is for example a camera The link 14 is for example a Bluetooth IrDA or WiFi link The contextual data here the video are collected automatically by the link 14 to be automatically included in the MMS agent returned to the terminal 10A Another embodiment not rep resented advantageously integrates the camera 15 into the terminal 10 The contextual data of the multimedia message can be displayed on the screen of the terminal 10A in par ticular video data that are useful to the monitoring person if the monitored person cannot express themself by voice The code data of the programming agent are automatically destroyed when the programming agent is deactivated at the end of the monitoring sequence 1 A process to supply on a terminal 10 a multimedia application using a programming agent 36 comprising the following steps a automatically send from an applications server 20 to the terminal 10 a digital data medium 31 containing the programming agent 36 based on the digital data of a first message initially sent from the terminal to said appl
8. 0 e g a number or geolocalization coordinates supplied by an LBS geolocalization service Location Based Services The server 20 automatically sends by the link 4 an MMS agent 31 to the terminal 10 The MMS agent 31 con tains and carries the programming agent 36 The application enabling for example a postcard or a year calendar to be created is automatically implemented by the programming agent as in the first embodiment described above 0040 However in this second embodiment the program ming agent automatically establishes according to a link 8 a connection to communicate digital data from the terminal 10 to the kiosk 40 when the terminal 10 is located near the kiosk 40 The link 8 is preferably Bluetooth IrDA or WiFi type The programming agent automatically establishes the com munication between the terminal 10 and the kiosk 40 without any manual interaction by the terminal user The program ming agent also performs an automatic display of the user interface on the terminal 10 The interface is compatible with the kiosk 40 so that the user of the terminal 10 independently of the use of the kiosk by another user can prepare an imaging work order from the terminal 10 An order that he she could normally only prepare at the kiosk after having loaded his her data for example of an image from the terminal to the kiosk and having waited if necessary for another user inter acting with the kiosk to free the place at the
9. US 20090031300A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication o Pub No US 2009 0031300 A1 Vau et al 43 Pub Date Jan 29 2009 54 PROCESS AND SYSTEM TO SUPPLY A 0 Foreign Application Priority Data MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION ON A TERMINAL USING A PROGRAMMING Feb 17 2004 FR sennor 0401550 AGENT 75 Inventors Jean Marie Vau Paris FR Andre C Rigon Saint Maur des Fosses FR Oliver M Rigault La Celle St Cloud FR Thierry Lebihen Paris FR Olivier A Furon Dinard FR Correspondence Address EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY PATENT LEGAL STAFF 343 STATE STREET ROCHESTER NY 14650 2201 US 73 Assignee 21 Appl No 22 PCT Filed 86 PCT No 371 0 1 2 4 Date Eastman Kodak Company Rochester NY US 10 585 627 Apr 5 2004 PCT EP04 03601 Jul 11 2006 Publication Classification 51 Int Cl GO6F 9 445 2006 01 E2 US C ereer theres 717 178 57 ABSTRACT The invention is in the technological field of imaging to supply a multimedia application on a terminal 10 using a programming agent The invention relates to a process to supply on a terminal 10 a multimedia application using a programming agent 36 comprising the following steps automatically send from an applications server 20 to the terminal 10 a digital data medium 31 containing the pro gramming agent 36 based on the digital data of a first message initially sent from
10. card to be displayed on the screen 11 and additional image text mailing address etc data to be added in the proposed postcard format to customize the postcard The interface elements are advantageously adapted to a platform for executing imaging work or an online ser vice The programming agent is capable of automatically identifying a platform for executing imaging work to send an imaging work execution request from the terminal to the execution platform The additional data are advantageously image data linked to the postcard context for example an image of the Eiffel Tower in Paris representing a place or Elton John s photo representing an event If the program ming agent 36 needs to connect to a personal zone and thus secure of online service through WAP e g access to a pri vate zone of an online album to use a personal image to compose the postcard the programming agent 36 has the advantage of automating the connection e g by transmitting an access code and password thus making secure access very simple This is linked to the fact that the programming agent 36 was sent unambiguously to the terminal 10 which is perfectly identified by the wireless network The program ming agent 36 then automatically formats the data added to the postcard and the group or packet of formatted data is sent by a link 6 to the server 20 The link 6 is preferably a wireless link such as GPRS The programming agent has the advan tage
11. composed multi media message e g a postcard to work requests either to the laboratory 30 or to the kiosk 40 0044 FIG 5 represents an example of a variant of the first embodiment It is no longer a matter of communicating MMS agents between a server and a terminal but of commu nicating MMS agents among several terminals FIG 5 rep resents an example where a digital data medium containing a programming agent is sent to at least one other terminal This embodiment corresponds to sending an MMS agent 31 from a first terminal 10 to at least a second terminal 18 19 Accord ing to FIG 5 when the terminal 10 receives for example the digital data medium 31 containing the programming agent that is an MMS agent the MMS agent 31 is sent by wireless links 4 4A 4B for example GPRS type links to terminals 18 and 19 The programming agent is then extracted by link 5 from the digital data medium 31 and saved respectively in terminals 18 and 19 0045 FIG 6 represents a communication of digital data according to the invention between two terminals in a con text of remote monitoring between these two terminals The particular context of the monitoring application requires any system latency to be suppressed to force and obtain digital data communications in real time i e practically instanta neously Examples of applications enabling remote monitor ing to be performed between two terminals exist in the prior art One example
12. e encoded program 8 The process according to claim 7 characterized in that the activation of the programming agent performs an auto matic formatting for example of an electronic postcard 9 The process according to claim 1 characterized in that after the step of reception in the terminal 10 of the digital data medium 31 containing the programming agent 36 the digital data medium containing the programming agent is sent to at least a second terminal 18 19 10 The process according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the code data of the programming agent 36 are automatically destroyed when the programming agent is deactivated 11 The process according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the code data of the programming agent 36 are kept for a preset period and automatically destroyed at the end of the preset period 12 The process according to claim 11 characterized in that the preset period is included in the encoded data of the pro gramming agent 36 13 The process according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the code data of the programming agent 36 are automatically destroyed after a preset number of activations of the programming agent 36 14 The process according to any one of claims 1 to 13 characterized in that a request for executing imaging work is sent from the terminal 10 to a platform for executing imag ing work 30 40 capable of communicating w
13. enerally communicate with one or more central servers of SMS Centers or MMS Centers type In particular these servers enable the temporary saving of data transmitted by a first terminal before sending them to a second addressee terminal The terminals can be fixed such a PC Personal Computer or mobile such a cellphone or camera phone This communication mode used for SMS text and MMS text image and sound transmis sions among terminals has the disadvantage of latency According to the traffic that is the network s congestion it often takes several seconds even several dozen seconds to transmit an SMS between two terminals and several dozen seconds even some minutes to transmit an MMS between two terminals In the case of WAP data transmission down loading for example an Internet site onto a terminal or down loading any application software has the disadvantage that the connection can be cut during the download and therefore all the downloading procedure has to be repeated The loading times incurred and the service quality are incompatible with the terminal user s expectations and all the more so with a mobile terminal user s expectations because the mobile ter minal user generally requires communications immediacy 0005 The mobile terminals environment is thus subject not only to latency problems but also to the constraints of response immediacy That is the possibility of sending data by communicating them
14. esults of formatting the postcard i e the data layout have a significant error rate 0031 FIG 2 represents a digital data medium architecture 21 of MMS type according to the prior art The MMS archi tecture 21 includes support or saving means of image 22 text 23 sound audio 24 data or even video 25 data These text still or moving image video or sound data constitute the contents of a multimedia message 0032 FIG 2 also represents an architecture 31 of MMS digital data medium according to the invention The MMS architecture 31 also includes support or saving means of image 32 text 33 sound audio 34 data or even video 35 data The MMS architecture 31 according to the invention includes a programming agent 36 The programming agent 36 is comprised of encoded digital data that constitute an appli cation program The programming agent 36 is included in the MMS architecture 31 The MMS architecture 31 including the programming agent 36 is also called MMS agent The MMS agent 31 is a vector for transporting the encoded data of the programming agent 36 The MMS agent 31 uses the known medium of the MMS multimedia message The MMS agent 31 can thus be transmitted easily from a server to an identified mobile terminal The programming agent 36 is for example written in a Java MIDP language or another lan guage used with mobile terminals According to the program ming script the agent corresponds to specific applications con
15. ferably a wireless link like GPRS The MMS agent includes the programming agent 36 that corresponds to the requested application In a preferred embodiment of the invention the user is notified of the arrival of the MMS agent on his her terminal by an alphanumeric display identifying the programming agent or simply by displaying the programming agent on the screen 11 as an icon At this stage following a link 5 the programming agent 36 is automatically extracted from the MMS data medium and is saved in the terminal 10 The extraction is performed by a special application saved in the terminal 10 This special application occupies little memory space and is called agent nest framework The special application agent nest frame work is advantageously used to reduce blocking of the memory with the programming agent code It also enables the programming agent to be recognized and activated The user of the terminal 10 activates the programming agent 36 by clicking on the displayed icon of the programming agent Ina variant of the embodiment the user of the terminal 10 acti vates the programming agent by opening the MMS data medium containing the agent the MMS agent which auto matically starts the production of the application pro grammed by the programming agent 36 The programming agent 36 automatically displays the interface elements on the screen 11 of the terminal 10 The interface elements enable for example the post
16. ible with the immediacy expected by the user positioned for example in front of a photographic kiosk with his her mobile terminal to load his her data The wait is accentuated by the use of the kiosk by other users lining up in front of the kiosk 0009 Thus it is desirable to resolve all the drawbacks described above and met with by the terminal users espe cially mobile ones used in various network environments so as to reduce the errors of layout or formatting of composed multimedia messages and to obtain immediacy as to the communications operated between terminals and between terminals and platforms of the photographic kiosk type DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0010 The purpose of the present invention is to remedy the above mentioned problems of the prior art The object of the present invention is to supply a terminal user for example of a mobile terminal portable with a friendly interface enabling the user to easily create multimedia messages free of formatting errors independently of the network environment in which the terminal is placed during the message layout 0011 One object of the invention as regards the prior art is to share central intelligence by distributing this intelli gence to the terminal by means of a programming agent that is sent to the terminal The programming agent is an encoded program linked to a multimedia message Data making up the multimedia message come from several sources for example
17. ications server b automatically extract from the terminal 10 the pro gramming agent 36 from the digital data media 31 c automatically save the programming agent in the termi nal 2 The process according to claim 1 characterized in that the digital data medium 31 is a multimedia message of MMS type capable of containing image text sound and programming code data 3 The process according to claim 1 characterized in that the first message is preferably an SMS type text message 4 The process according to claim 1 characterized in that it also comprises a step of automatically displaying the pro gramming agent 36 in an identified format such as alpha numeric or such as an icon 5 The process according to claim 1 or 4 characterized in that the programming agent 36 is an encoded application program placed in the digital data medium 31 Jan 29 2009 6 The process according to claim 1 characterized in that a payment request for sending the digital data medium 31 containing the programming agent 36 to the terminal 10 is performed automatically before the sending of said data medium to said terminal 10 said payment request being integrated into an automatic payment procedure like for example SMS MMS Premium 7 The process according to claim 4 or 5 characterized in that it also comprises a step of activation of the programming agent to automatically perform the application correspond ing with th
18. instantly that is in real time is an important need But the retransmission or the response from the terminal receiving these data must also be capable of being carried out immediately The immediacy need involv ing minimum latency in communications operated among terminals is all the more necessary as the obtaining of imme diate communications of SMS or MMS messages for example between remote mobile terminals i e far away from one another can become crucial if personal safety issues are involved In this context the information exchanged among terminals must be done practically immediately Safety issues relate to the remote monitoring for example using a portable terminal of a person s health or the safety of a very young child with the latter themselves being provided with or near to a portable terminal If the person is near to the portable terminal he she is for example capable of speaking but may not be capable of getting hold of the terminal because of a physical impossibility for example In this case a fast and effective information communication method is necessary 0006 Another disadvantage concerns the communication between one or more mobile terminals for example a camera phone and a platform for executing imaging work like for example a photographic kiosk capable of producing prints The difficulty is to be able to manage data communications with the kiosk for the non expert user of the mobile terminal who
19. ith the termi nal 10 15 The process according to claim 14 characterized in that the platform for executing photographic work is a photo graphic laboratory 30 or kiosk 40 16 The process according to any one of claims 1 4 5 7 14 wherein the programming agent automatically displays on the screen 11 of the terminal 10 user interface elements adapted to the platform for executing photographic work or an online service 17 The process according any one of claims 1 6 9 14 16 characterized in that the terminal 10 is a mobile terminal like for example a cellphone a camera phone or a PDA 18 An imaging system to supply a multimedia application ona terminal comprising at least one terminal 10 18 19 at least one applications server 20 and at least one platform for executing imaging work 30 40 capable of inter communi cating characterized in that each at least one terminal 10 18 19 is capable of activating at least one programming agent 36 to carry out the process according to any one of claims 1 to17
20. kiosk s order panel The programming agent imported onto the terminal 10 has the advantage of sending an order command to the kiosk without waiting for the kiosk to be freed by the other user Another advantage is that the user of the terminal 10 can for example get into a customer line in front of the kiosk without going to the end of the line The order capable of US 2009 0031300 Al being placed from the portable terminal is executed by the kiosk just after the work order of the other user using the kiosk 0041 A third embodiment of the invention not repre sented by a figure relates to a multi user context in a photo graphic kiosk environment similar to that represented on FIG 4 Several users of mobile terminals 10 such as cellphones camera phones or PDAs are located near a platform for executing imaging work like for example the kiosk 40 and wish to create a common composed product formed by digital data coming from various terminals The common composed product is typically a multimedia message The multimedia message can comprise image text and sound data The final common composed product required is for example a print comprised of images and texts of the multimedia message The images and parts of text come from each of the various terminals The invention method according to this third embodiment is characterized in that the programming agents 36 are sent by using an MMS agent 31 from the applications server
21. les a digital data medium containing a programming agent to be sent from a terminal towards at least one other terminal 0019 Itis an object of the invention to provide an imaging system for supplying a multimedia application on a terminal The imaging system comprises at least one terminal at least one applications server and at least one platform for executing imaging work capable of inter communicating characterized in that each at least one terminal is capable of activating at least one programming agent to operate an application pro grammed according to the method described above 0020 It is also an object of the invention to provide a process for automatically communicating digital data between many terminals capable of inter communicating and with an applications server characterized in that program ming agents specific to an application are sent from the appli cations server to each terminal so that the programming agents interact when they are activated on each terminal to produce a composed multimedia message with a combination of digital data coming from each terminal The method enables request priorities to be determined for imaging work transmitted from each of the terminals to the execution plat form 0021 It is also an object of the invention to provide a communication process between at least two terminals and based on the sending from a first terminal to at least one second terminal of a multimedia message comprisi
22. ng a pro gramming agent consisting in automatically starting using the programming agent the establishment of a phone link between the first terminal and the at least one second terminal The programming agent also starts automatically on the sec ond terminal the forming of a multimedia message intended to be sent automatically to the first terminal 0022 Other characteristics and advantages of the inven tion will appear on reading the following description with reference to the various figures DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES OF THE DRAWINGS 0023 FIG 1 represents an example of the digital network architecture of the prior art to create for example a postcard 0024 FIG 2 represents the architectures of MMS data media respectively according to the prior art and according to the invention 0025 FIG 3 represents a diagram of an embodiment according to the invention for example a postcard in an imaging work laboratory environment 0026 FIG 4 represents a diagram of an embodiment according to the invention for example a postcard in a pho tographic kiosk environment 0027 FIG 5 represents a communication of digital data according to the invention in a context of many terminals 0028 FIG 6 represents a communication of digital data according to the invention in a context of remote monitoring between two terminals DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 0029 The following description is a detailed description
23. ni cation The users receive the MMS agent 31 on their respec tive terminals 10 18 19 In the particular case of a promotional offer the programming agent 36 can automati cally display on the screen of the terminal 10 18 19 an information message linked to the promotional offer The message is for example a video clip offering one or advan tageously several image prints at a reduced price or free fora certain period that corresponds with the duration of the pro motional offer The MMS agent 31 also carries data equiva lent to those ofa purchasing voucher with its related discount coupon The programming agent 36 can display these data purchasing voucher on the terminal s screen The payment method is performed from the user s terminal 10 18 19 through for example his her online account or according to a known payment procedure like SMS Premium or prefer ably MMS Premium Prints preferably relate to digital images that the user of the terminal 10 18 19 has saved for example in a photographic album saved in the terminal The programming agent 36 corresponding to the specific promo tional application has the special feature of being active for a preset time or of being activated and thus deactivated a preset number of times This preset period is at least equal to the duration of the promotional offer The duration of the promotional offer is advantageously between one day and two months And the programming agen
24. of known visual remote monitoring is the triggering from a first terminal sending an SMS to a second terminal located at a distance of the capture of a still or moving video image by the second terminal Generally these applications operate with PC type terminals and are saved in the terminals and thus use memory space whereas they are only used periodically for planned or occasional control Periodic control is typically the monitoring of an ill or disabled person or a newborn child who require remote monitoring It is preferable that the person who performs the monitoring and who is liable to move about is no longer dependent in order to obtain information immediately only on a fixed PC type terminal which they have to go to If the person who performs the monitoring preferably uses a mobile terminal 10A it is desirable that the terminal does not have its memory space blocked with an application that is only used periodically On the other hand the person performing the remote monitoring has to carry it out quickly and thus must have the most automated application possible which avoids more or less lengthy or complex interactions with the terminal 10A The monitored person must also have means for answer ing for example just by using the voice without having to get hold of the terminal 10B near to them There is thus a need to avoid users manual interactions with their respective termi nals while not blocking the terminals
25. t 36 is active during the preset period independently of the number of activations and deactivations of said programming agent during this pre set period In other words whatever the number of activa tions deactivations of the programming agent the code data of the programming agent are kept for the whole preset period The code data of the programming agent are advan tageously saved in the terminal s memory Then the code data of the programming agent 36 are automatically destroyed at the end of the preset period Whereas in another embodi ment the code data of the programming agent 36 are auto matically destroyed after a preset number of activations of the programming agent 0035 Indeed the programming agent 36 enables the user of the terminal 10 18 19 to respond several times to a pro motional offer during its whole period The code data of the programming agent 36 are not destroyed automatically when the application is closed the first time The code data of the programming agent 36 are destroyed automatically only at the end of the preset period which is preferably the period of Jan 29 2009 the promotional offer Or the code data of the programming agent 36 are destroyed only after a preset number of activa tions 0036 The activation of the programming agent from the terminal produces an interface to select images and to send a request to execute printing work of said images at a reduced price or free The
26. taining encoded instructions to automatically execute for example a postcard composition the organization of image data formatting according to the display capacity of a termi nal the management of the communication of the data with other programming agents or any other imaging application capable of being useful on a terminal The programming agent has a fundamental interest it is a single use application The application is single use because it is deleted following its use This is particularly advantageous when mobile termi nals are used having reduced memory capacities 0033 FIG 3 corresponds to a first embodiment of the invention which represents a diagram to produce for example a postcard by using an MMS agent 31 The terminal 10 sends by a link 3 a first message to the applications server 20 The terminal 10 is for example a cellphone a camera Jan 29 2009 phone or a PDA The link 3 is preferably a wireless link like for example a signaling channel adapted to the GSM network Global System for Mobile or WAP or GPRS type links to transmit e mails SMS or MMS The first message comprises digital data The digital data are for example a number with several digits of a known applications service and optionally a short text targeting the sought application for example postcard The applications server 20 contacted by SMS then automatically sends an MMS agent 31 by a link 4 to the terminal 10 The link 4 is pre
27. the terminal and a photographic kiosk or an online service that can communicate with the terminal 0012 The present invention relates more specifically to a process to supply a multimedia application on a terminal using a programming agent comprising the following steps 0013 a automatically send from an applications server to the terminal a digital data support containing the programming agent based on the digital data of a first message initially sent from the terminal to said applica tions server 0014 b automatically extract from the terminal the programming agent from the data medium 0015 c automatically save the programming agent in the terminal 0016 The digital data medium according to the invention is a multimedia message of MMS type capable of containing image text sound and programming code data The pro gramming agent can be displayed on the terminal s screen The programming agent is an encoded program placed in the data medium When activated the programming agent executes an application program to automatically format for example an electronic postcard The code data of the pro gramming agent are automatically destroyed when the pro gramming agent is deactivated Jan 29 2009 0017 The invention process also enables a request for the execution of imaging work to be sent from the terminal to an execution platform capable of communicating with the ter minal 0018 The invention process also enab
28. the terminal to said applications server automatically extract from the terminal 10 the pro gramming agent 36 from the digital data medium 31 automatically save the programming agent in the terminal The invention also relates to an imaging system in which the programming agent manages the communication of digital data among terminals 10 and service platforms 30 that can inter communicate The invention is preferably implemented in networks that require the use of mobil terminals US 2009 0031300 A1 Jan 29 2009 Sheet 1 of 3 Patent Application Publication FIG 1 FIG 2 Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 2 of 3 US 2009 0031300 A1 Patent Application Publication Jan 29 2009 Sheet 3 of 3 US 2009 0031300 A1 FIG 6 US 2009 0031300 Al PROCESS AND SYSTEM TO SUPPLY A MULTIMEDIA APPLICATION ON A TERMINAL USING A PROGRAMMING AGENT TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 0001 The invention is in the technological field of imag ing The invention relates to a process to supply a multimedia application on a terminal using a programming agent The invention also relates to an imaging system in which the programming agent manages the communication of digital data between terminals and service platforms that can inter communicate The invention is preferably implemented in networks that require the use of mobile terminals STATE OF THE PRIOR ART 0002 Many programmed applications soft
29. ure require special characters to be placed like for example hash to separate the text from the other elements of the postcard address etc Such methods used to define the various elements text address etc added in the postcard frame lead to ahigh rate of postcard formatting errors Consequently the terminal user is dissatisfied because the method does not reproduce what he she is entitled to expect and if the user sends the composed message e g postcard completed with added text to the other persons having for example mobile terminals these addressees will also be dissatisfied There fore it seems necessary to provide applications to compose for example electronic postcards which are easier to use and produce better composition results 0004 By definition mobile terminals are limited in memory capacity and display capacity They are thus less capable of being easily maintained and updated with the latest versions of proposed applications new software versions Furthermore it is not desirable because of the limited memory capacity to load a large number of potentially useful applications onto the mobile terminal In a conventional net work environment of communication among mobile termi Jan 29 2009 nals or among mobile terminals and service providers plat forms the communication modes generally used are of SMS MMS or WAP Wireless Application Protocol type To transmit SMSs or MMSs terminals g
30. ware and online services existing in the prior art and implemented especially in wireless communication networks like for example mobile telephony networks are adopted slowly even reluctantly by potential users because of the differences and disparities of platforms and environments that these net works have For example various proprietary systems avail able and used in mobile telephony like Brew Linux Microsoft Java Symbian etc can be mentioned For example Java MIDP is a software platform known and com monly used in mobile telephony but it has certain disadvan tages as to access capability for example to images or other digital data saved in a mobile portable terminal 0003 SMS Short Message Service type messages or MMS multimedia type messages Multimedia Message Ser vice comprising digital data of images text and sound are communication media generally used with mobile terminals Applications to compose MMSs are increasingly widespread These applications can be used to compose for example postcards in an MMS structure but they are not suitable for creating postcards in satisfactory conditions for the terminal user One disadvantage is that the interfaces in particular on mobile terminals are more or less complex and lack ease of use i e they are not easy to use by a non specialist user The actions to be carried out to create for example an electronic postcard with a specific application in an MMS struct
31. wishes for example to customize a digital image presen tation by enhancing it with other data supplied by the kiosk The image captured for example with a camera phone can be put into a particular format representing for example a diary or a postcard of the place where the image was captured The user s objective is to produce in a fast and friendly way an end product comprising the image data and the diary or post card data Existing interfaces are often more or less complex according to the capabilities of the terminal or kiosk There fore the production of a composed product images and text in a chosen frame format is fairly lengthy and requires sev US 2009 0031300 Al eral interventions by the terminal user for example using the terminal s keyboard Therefore there is a need to improve the existing interfaces to make them friendlier by reducing the user s manual interactions to the minimum 0007 The interfaces problem is emphasized if several ter minal users for example mobile terminal users wish to pro duce acommon composed product formed by specific digital data coming from each terminal in order to edit the common composed product on a platform for executing imagery work like a photographic kiosk 0008 An additional drawback is the complexity for the platform executing the imaging work of interacting simulta neously with many terminals except by using priority rules that generate waiting times incompat
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