Method and apparatus for transmitting and displaying information between a remote network and a local computer

What is claimed is:

1. A method of presenting individualized advertisement items on a computer, said individualized advertisement items selected from a database of advertisement items stored on a network, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) inputting user priorities on the computer from a predefined set of general categories of advertising information;

(b) selecting a plurality of advertisement items for presentation from the database of advertisement items, said database of advertisement items containing at least one category of advertising information associated with each advertisement item, said selection based on said user priorities and said associated advertising category;

(c) downloading said plurality of selected advertisement items from said database of advertisement items stored on said network, said downloading of said set of selected advertisement items performed using the process comprising the steps of:

(i) monitoring the communication line utilization rate for a communications link coupling the computer and network;

(ii) determining whether to transmit data in the current iteration based on said monitored line utilization rates;

(iii) if said determination of step (ii) indicates data may be transmitted, transmitting a portion of the remaining advertisement item between the network and the computer;

(iv) tracking the remaining untransmitted portion of the advertisement item, said tracking providing tracking information for any remaining untransmitted portion of the advertisement item;

(v) storing said tracking information indicating the last transmitted portion of said advertisement item, said tracking information being stored in persistent memory;

(vi) repeating steps (i)-(v) until the advertisement item has been transferred, whereby said downloading of said advertisement item continues from the last transmitted portion of said advertisement item after any intervening breaks in said communications link or breaks in the availability of said computer, and

(d) presenting at least one of said plurality of selected advertisement items on said computer, said at least one presented advertisement item being periodically varied from said plurality of selected advertisement items.

2. The method of presenting individualized advertisement items of claim 1 wherein said presentation technique of step (d) is selected from the group consisting of screen-saver display, background wallpaper display, cursor display, fixed screen location display, relative screen location displayed and audio messages played at various times.

3. The method of presenting individualized advertisement items of claim 1 further comprising the step of monitoring the communications link until the communications link coupling the computer and network has been established.

4. A method of presenting information items on a computer, said information items selected from a remote database of information items on a remote network, said method comprising the steps of:

(a) inputting user priorities on the computer from a predefined set of general information categories;

(b) selecting a plurality of information items for presentation from the remote database of information items, said database containing at least one information category associated with each information item, said selection based on said input user priorities and said associated information category;

(c) downloading the plurality of selected information items from the remote network to the computer, said downloading of the plurality of selected information items using the process comprising:

(i) monitoring a current communication line utilization rate for a communications link coupling the computer and the remote network;

(ii) determining whether to transmit data in the current iteration based on said monitored communications line utilization rate;

(iii) if said determination of step (ii) indicates data may be transmitted, transmitting a portion of the remaining information item between the remote network and the computer;

(iv) tracking the remaining untransmitted portion of the information item, said tracking providing tracking information for any remaining untransmitted portion of the information item;

(v) storing said tracking information indicating the last transmitted portion of said information item, said tracking information being stored in persistent memory;

(vi) repeating steps (i)-(v) until the information item has been transferred, whereby said downloading of said information item continues from the last transmitted portion of said information item after any intervening breaks in said communications link or breaks in the availability of said computer; and

(d) presenting at least one of said plurality of selected information items on said computer, said at least one presented information item being periodically varied from said plurality of selected information items.

5. The method of presenting individualized information items of claim 4 wherein said presentation technique of step (d) is selected from the group consisting of screen-saver display, background wallpaper display, cursor display, fixed screen location display, relative screen location display, and audio messages played at various times.

6. The method of presenting individualized information items of claim 4 further comprising the steps of:

(e) collecting feedback information regarding the presented information items; and

(f) uploading said feedback information to said remote network.

7. A process for transmitting a file of data between a client computer and a server computer coupled by a communications link on a computer network, said process comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring the communication line utilization rate for said communications link;

(b) comparing said communication line utilization to preestablished values;

(c) calibrating the amount of data to be transmitted based on said comparison of said communication line utilization to said preestablished values;

(d) transmitting said calibrated amount of data;

(e) tracking the remaining untransmitted portion of said file, said tracking providing tracking information for any remaining untransmitted portion of the file;

(f) storing said tracking information indicating the last transmitted portion of said file, said tracking information being stored in persistent memory; and

(g) repeating steps (a)-(f) until the file has been transferred,

whereby said process for transferring a file continues transmitting from the last transmitted portion of said file after any intervening breaks in said communications link or breaks in the availability of said client computer.

8. The process of claim 7 further comprising the step of:

monitoring the communications link until the communications link coupling the first computer and second computer has been established.

9. The process of claim 7 wherein said file of data comprises executable code.

10. The process of claim 7 wherein said calibration of step (c) comprises the step of calculating the amount of data to be transferred without increasing the communications line utilization rate above a preestablished threshold value.

11. The process of claim 7 wherein said step (a) of monitoring the communications line utilization comprises the step of sampling the line utilization.

12. The process of transmitting a file of data of claim 7 wherein a plurality of categories of programs are transmitting or receiving data on said communications link including at least one category of program implementing said process of transmitting a file of data, said monitoring of step (a) providing line utilization rate information for said plurality of categories of programs, said calibration of step (c) taking into account said monitored line utilization for said at least one category of program implementing said process of transmitting a file of data.

13. A process for transmitting a file of data between a client computer and a server computer coupled by a communications link on a computer network, said process comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring the communication line utilization rate for said communications link;

(b) utilizing said monitored line utilization rate to determine whether to transmit data in the current iteration, and to calculate the amount of data to be transmitted in the current iteration;

(c) if said determination of step (b) indicates data should be transmitted in the current iteration, transmitting the amount of data calculated in step (b);

(d) tracking the remaining untransmitted portion of the file, said tracking providing tracking information for any remaining untransmitted portion of the file;

(e) storing said tracking information indicating the last transmitted portion of said file, said tracking information being stored in persistent memory; and

(f) repeating steps (a)-(e) for a new iteration until the file has been transferred,

whereby said process for transferring said file utilizes said line utilization rate as a feedback mechanism for controlling the transfer of data via said communications link, said process further continuing transmission from the last transmitted portion of said file after any intervening breaks in said communications link or breaks in the availability of said client computer.

14. A process for transmitting a file between a server computer and a local computer, said local computer coupled to server computer by a communications link on a computer network, said process comprising the steps of:

(a) monitoring the communications link to determine if the communications link coupling the local computer and server computer has been established;

(b) determining a communication line utilization rate for the communications link;

(c) if said communications link has been established, transmitting a portion of data from the remaining file between the network and the local computer, the amount of data in said portion being a function of said communication line utilization rate and one or more preestablished values;

(d) tracking the remaining untransmitted portion of the file, said tracking providing tracking information for any remaining untransmitted portion of the file;

(e) storing said tracking information indicating the last transmitted portion of said file, said tracking information being stored in persistent memory; and

(f) repeating steps (a)-(e) until the file has been transferred,

whereby said process for transferring said file continues transmitting from the last transmitted portion of said file after any intervening breaks in said communications link or breaks in the availability of said local computer.

Description Submit all comments and votes

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to advertisement computer display systems and more particularly to a method and system for displaying advertisements and other information on a computer based on general user selected criteria and transmitting such information from a remote network to the local computer.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

There are two major forms of advertising which are currently being employed on the Internet and commercial on-line services. One form is the use of a small advertisement on WEB pages which are commonly accessed. For example, a portion of the screen display for WEB pages used to access Internet searches may include a corporate logo or other advertisement material. Typical of this style of advertising is the Netscape.TM. Internet Browser software available from Netscape Communications Corporation of Mountain View California, which presents a box containing logos for various corporations on the computer display when the user performs a search. This form of advertising, however, is not very sophisticated and does not encourage user interaction.

Another form of advertising on the Internet is the creation of WEB "pages" or sites by advertisers. One variant of the use of a WEB page displays advertisements in a portion of the viewing area. A second variant, often used by corporate or other advertisers, is the use of WEB sites which employ attractive graphics in the hope of having the user interact with various advertising schemes. In addition, product ordering is usually available from these WEB sites. In most cases, users access these WEB sites by one of the following methods: knowing the Internet address; keyword searching; linking from a different WEB site; through an electronic shopping mall type site; through other advertisements on the Internet; or through the use of programs known as search browsers.

Current advertisers have attempted to improve the attractiveness of these WEB pages by including the use of sound, animated or rotating logos or pictures, and scrolling information. One system, Hot Java, available from Sun Microsystems, supports the execution of small applications programs written in a specific programming language executing within the browser on the local computer. This allows the WEB pages to provide richer content, such as animation or scrolling sports scores across a user's computer display, and better interaction with users. These effects, however, are only available while the user is viewing the specific WEB page incorporating the Hot Java technology.

Despite the fast and furious growth in this advertising sector, WEB sites are still regarded as "passive" advertising used predominantly for a corporate image rather than for selling products. Specifically the following drawbacks describe the current state of advertising on the Internet: transmitting the advertising information consumes a large amount of the bandwidth of the communications link between the user's computer and the network; access is initiated by the user rather than the advertiser; the user rather than the advertiser pays for access; accessing a site is a time consuming "hit or miss" process; and the process may improve the corporate image but creates little product demand.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,184 to Pirani et al. ("Pirani") discloses a system integrating commercial advertisements with computer software. The system discloses integrating commercial advertisements with different types of screens. Pirani, however, does not provide for any user input at the local computer as to the types of advertisements which are to be displayed. Thus, users would be forced to view numerous advertisements of which they are likely to have no interest. This will attenuate the users attention to the advertisements and decrease their effectiveness.

As noted above, a significant problem with current methods for advertising on computer networks is the consumption of significant portions of the bandwidth of the communications link between the user's computer and the computer network. Prior systems have attempted to utilize essentially unused time in telephone networks to deliver advertising or other information. U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,740 to Gregorek, et al. ("Gregorek") discloses a marketing system over an existing telephone network which modifies a portion of the call processing system to play an informational announcement in place of the usual ringback or busy signals. Gregorek differs from the present invention in a number of ways, including the fact that it does not provide any means for interacting with computers over a computer network. Also, Gregorek delivers the informational announcement only during a short splice of time when the user is waiting for callback information.

Current file transfer protocols, such as the File Transfer Protocol ("FTP") and the Trivial File Transfer Protocol ("TFTP"), for transferring files from a remote network, such as the Internet, via a communications link to a local computer are designed to transfer files as quickly as possible. Each computer process executing such a protocol attempts to make maximum use of the available communication resources. This leads to interference and an inevitable slowing down of other computer processes attempting to communicate over the communications link. There exists a need, therefore, for a file transfer process which is designed to behave as a background task and have a minimal impact on foreground communications.

There also exists a need to utilize the computer to display locally stored advertisements. Several software products provide "yellow pages" on CD-ROMs or other media such as floppy disks. The user may use these yellow pages to search for products or advertisers by name or description. This system of advertising is limited, however, in that it requires the user to actively search for advertisers or products and therefore does not spontaneously display products to the user.

Microsoft Windows interface provides a rudimentary form of spontaneous advertising by incorporating a Microsoft Windows logo as an option in its screen saver utility. This system, however, offers only a single advertisement in response to a user's response and therefore does not offer a variety of periodically changed advertisement content based on a user's interests.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a process for transmitting an information file between a local computer and a remote computer network over a communications link with minimal interference to other processes executing on the computer which are also transmitting over the communications link.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system of presenting individualized advertisements and other informational messages on a computer by allowing a user to select from a variety of advertisement or informational categories.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and system of downloading and presenting individualized advertisements and other informational messages from a remote network to a local computer based on a user's selection of advertisement or informational categories.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a method and system of downloading and presenting individualized advertisements and other informational messages from a network to a local computer with minimal interference with other data being transmitted between the network and the local computer.

In one variant of the present invention, all advertisements or other informational messages originate on a network server which is accessed via the Internet or alternate on-line method. Select advertisements are transparently downloaded from the network server and stored locally on the user's local computer using a novel type of software referred to herein as a "Polite Agent." In a second variation, the entire advertisement database is locally stored on the local computer or a removable media such as CD-ROM. Manipulation and display of the advertising message is performed by software residing on the user's PC in accordance with preconfigured user preference information.

The advertisement is preferably displayed during idle time as a screen saver utility when the computer is not receiving keyboard input or updating the user's display. Other techniques for displaying the advertisement, such as periodic audio-only messages, screen background wallpaper, cursor modifications, and display in a window on the user's computer display are also available.

Users may enter their preferences by directly choosing categories of advertising or other informational content which most interest them or through interactive games and quizzes. Users may directly respond to advertising messages by participating in contests, requesting further product information, or ordering the advertised product. The advertisements are made attractive to the user by employing a variety of video, animation, sound or any other multimedia effects. Content may be based on an interactive theme such as a contest or special discount offers for on-line customers.

The system monitors the user's interaction with the advertisements and produces raw data on how many times a particular advertisement was accessed as well as the user's response to advertisements. All pertinent information is stored and sent back to a network server where it is made available to the advertisers. User requests for additional information may be directed to the advertiser itself or to the advertiser's WEB site on the network.

The system further comprises the use of a background software process, the Polite Agent, for transferring information between the network and the local computer. The Polite Agent monitors the communications link between the network and the local computer and transfers small portions of the information when the communications link utilization rate is low. In this manner the Polite Agent avoids significant interference with other communications applications transmitting over the communications link. The Polite Agent may also be utilized to transmit other types of information content, such as news, weather, stock quotes, sports scores, software updates or trip reservation information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following Detailed Description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a system architecture in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a local computer and its related components in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the software architecture components of the advertising system network server in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the software architecture components of the local computer in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5 a schematic representation of an advertisement file in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for a polite agent for communicating information with a remote network in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of a job for transmitting data in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for an advertisement display manager constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for an advertisement feeder for downloading advertisements from a network constructed in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of an advertising system for displaying a local database of advertisements constructed in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described with continued reference to the drawings.

System Architecture

1. Network Architecture

FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a preferred embodiment of the system architecture. The Local Computer 500 is physically connected to the Network Service Provider 701 via a Communications Link 703. The Network Service Provider 701 provides access to the Network 700. Advertising System Server 600 is one of the nodes on the Network 700.

a. Local Computer

As shown in FIG. 2, the Local Computer 500 preferably includes a Central Processor 510, a Main Memory 511, an Input/Output Controller 512, a Display Device 513, input devices such as a Keyboard 514 and a Pointing