Remote Control of Mobile Terminal via Remote Control Proxy and SMS
A remote operator and a mobile terminal initiate contact with a remote control proxy server. These components may be behind a firewall. If a mobile terminal does not have a then-extant session with the remote control proxy server, the remote operator and/or the remote control proxy server may send an SMS message to the mobile terminal and/or a device associated with the mobile terminal, which SMS message causes the mobile terminal to initiate a session with the remote control proxy server. After the mobile terminal and the remote operator are both connected to the remote control proxy server, the remote control proxy server passes communications between the mobile terminal and the remote operator without modification. The remote operator may control the mobile device keyboard, screen and may pass arguments to parameters associated with the operation of the device or its applications.
1 . A method to connect a mobile terminal and a remote operator through a remote control proxy server comprising the following steps, not necessarily in the following order:
the remote operator connecting with a remote control proxy server;
the remote operator identifying a mobile terminal with which it wishes to establish a remote connection;
the remote control proxy server passing data between the remote operator and an identified mobile terminal;
sending a wake message to the identified mobile terminal;
the mobile terminal connecting with the remote control proxy server.
2 . The method according to claim 1 where the connections between the remote operator and the remote control proxy server and between the mobile terminal and the remote control proxy server are TCP/IP connections.
3 . The method according to claim 2 where the TCP/IP connections transport data formatted according to XML.
4 . The method according to claim 1 where the data comprises user interface output from the mobile terminal and user input from the remote operator.
5 . The method according to claim 1 where the wake message is sent in at least a portion of its transmission path to the mobile terminal as a message in a protocol selected from the SMS, EMS, and/or MMS message protocols.
6 . The method according to claim 1 where the wake message is sent as an email to an SMS gateway and/or an SMSC, which SMS gateway and/or SMSC may convert the email into a and transmit the message according to a protocol selected from the SMS, EMS, and/or MMS message protocols.
7 . The method according to claim 1 where the wake message comprises a wake code.
8 . The method according to claim 1 further comprising execution of a remote control client application in the computer system of the mobile terminal, which remote control client application:
monitors a wireless unit for receipt of a wake message,
prompts the mobile terminal to power up if the mobile terminal was in a low-power mode,
transmits output from the mobile terminal,
receives input from the remote operator, and
provides the input from the remote operator to the computer system of the mobile terminal.
9 . A system to connect a remote operator and a mobile terminal comprising the following:
a remote control proxy server component configured to:
connect with a remote operator and/or a mobile terminal,
pass data between a remote operator and/or a mobile terminal,
send a wake message if a mobile terminal is not connected to the remote control proxy server when a remote operator has requested to relay data to the mobile terminal through the remote control proxy server.
10 . The system according to claim 9 further comprising:
a remote operator component configured to:
establish a connection with a remote control proxy server, and
receive output from and provide input to a mobile terminal via the remote control proxy server.
11 . The system according to claim 9 further comprising:
a mobile terminal component configured to:
establish a connection with a remote control proxy server,
provide output to and receive input from a remote operator via the remote control proxy server,
power up in response to receipt of a wake message.
12 . The system according to claim 9 wherein the connection with a remote operator and/or a mobile terminal is a TCP/IP connection.
13 . The system according to claim 9 wherein the data is formatted according to a markup language.
14 . The system according to claim 9 wherein the remote control proxy server is further configured to send the wake message in at least a portion of its transmission path to the mobile terminal as a message in a protocol selected from the SMS, EMS, and/or MMS message protocols.
15 . The system according to claim 9 wherein the remote control proxy server is further configured to send the wake message as an email to an SMS gateway and/or an SMSC, which SMS gateway and/or SMSC may convert the email into a and transmit the message according to a protocol selected from the SMS, EMS, and/or MMS message protocols.
16 . A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to transmit data between a remote operator and a mobile terminal by a method comprising, not necessarily in the following order:
connecting with a remote operator and/or a mobile terminal,
passing the data between a remote operator and a mobile terminal,
sending a wake message to a mobile terminal if:
such mobile terminal is not connected to the computer system, and if a remote operator connected to such computer system requests a remote connection with such mobile terminal.
17 . The computer-readable medium according to claim 16 wherein the wake message is sent in at least a portion of its transmission path to the mobile terminal as a message in a protocol selected from the SMS, EMS, and/or MMS message protocols.
18 . The computer-readable medium according to claim 16 wherein the data is formatted according to XML.
19 . The computer-readable medium according to claim 16 wherein connecting with a remote operator and/or a mobile terminal is connecting with a TCP/IP connection.
20 . The computer-readable medium according to claim 16 wherein the wake message is sent as an SMTP email to an SMS gateway and/or an SMSC.