Patent Application

App. No. 14/345,678

Abstract

Claims (56)

1 . A service manager for discovering and accessing services via hotspots of a first wireless network, comprising:

means for registering a service profile corresponding to a registered hotspot, which describes all the services the hotspot provides;

means for receiving a request message from the terminal of a service Consumer, this message containing a profile identifier corresponding to a registered hotspot, and requesting to retrieve the service profile corresponding to this registered hotspot;

means for retrieving the requested service profile;

and means for responding to the terminal of a service consumer by sending a message containing the retrieved service profile;

wherein:

said means for registering a service profile corresponding to a registered hotspot comprise means for registering a plurality of service profiles respectively associated to a plurality of profile identifiers respectively corresponding to a plurality of registered hotspots;

and said means for receiving a request message from the terminal of a service consumer, comprise means for receiving, via another network, a request message containing a plurality of profile identifiers and for retrieving the registered service profiles corresponding to the plurality of profile identifiers contained in the request message.

2 . A manager according to claim 1 , further comprising:

means for registering a subscription account created by a service consumer for at least one service;

and means for receiving the payment of a fee for each service that must be paid.

3 . A manager according to claim 1 , further comprising:

means for registering an account created by a service provider, for a new hotspot providing at least one service;

and means for downloading software that can be used by a service provider to transform a computing system into a gateway that can host a service.

4 . A manager according to claim 1 , further comprising means for creating and registering an identifier associated to a registered hotspot, comprising a fixed pattern meaning that this hotspot provides local service, and comprising the profile identifier of the service profile corresponding to this hotspot.

5 . A terminal for discovering and accessing local services via WiFi hotspots of a wireless network, comprising:

means for detecting a hotspot;

means for sending a request message to a local service manager, this message requesting to retrieve a service profile corresponding to a detected hotspot, and describing all the services that the hotspot provides;

means for receiving a service profile from the service manager;

means for enabling a user to select a service among services listed in the received service profile;

means for connecting to the hotspot providing the selected service, and requesting the selected service, via this hotspot;

wherein:

said means for detecting a hotspot of the first Wireless network comprises means for detecting a plurality of hotspots of the first wireless network,

and said means for sending a request message to a local service manager comprises means for sending said request message via another wireless network; and in that the request message requests to retrieve a plurality of service profiles corresponding to the plurality of detected hotspots.

6 . A terminal according to claim 1 , further comprising:

means for subscribing to a service;

and means for paying a fee for each service that must be paid.

7 . A terminal according to claim 1 , wherein that means for detecting hotspots that provide local services comprise means for detecting a hotspot identifier comprising a peculiar pattern indicating that this hotspot provides local services, and then extracting a service profile identifier from this hotspot identifier.

8 . A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for performing. in a service manager, a method for discovering and accessing services via hotspots of a first wireless network, when the program is run on a computer; the method comprising:

registering a service profile corresponding to a registered hotspot, this service profile describing all the services that this registered hotspot provides;

receiving a request message from a terminal, this message containing a profile identifier, and requesting to retrieve the service profile corresponding to this profile identifier;

retrieving the service profile corresponding to this profile identifier;

and responding to the terminal by sending a message containing the retrieved service profile.

wherein:

registering a service profile corresponding to a registered hotspot comprises the registering a plurality of service profiles respectively associated to a plurality of profile identifiers respectively corresponding to a plurality of registered hotspots;

receiving a request message from the terminal of a service consumer, comprises receiving, via another wireless network1 a request message from the terminal, this message containing a plurality of profile identifiers, and requesting to retrieve the service profiles corresponding to this plurality of profile identifiers;

retrieving a profile identifier from this message comprises retrieving the registered service profiles corresponding to the plurality of profile identifiers contained in the received message.

9 . A computer program product according to claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:

subscribing to a service;

and paying a fee for each service that must be paid.

10 . A computer program product according to claim 8 wherein the method further comprises:

registering an account created by a service provider for a new hotspot providing at least one service;

and downloading software that can be used by a service provider to transform a computing system into a gateway that can host a service.

11 . A computer program product according to claim 8 further comprising creating and registering an identifier associated to a registered hotspot, comprising a fixed pattern meaning that this hotspot provides services, and comprising the identifier of the service profile corresponding to this hotspot.

12 . A computer program product comprising computer-executable instructions for performing, in a terminal, a method for discovering and accessing services via hotspots of a first wireless network, when the program is run on a computer, the method comprising:

detecting a hotspot of the first wireless network;

sending a request message to a service manager, this message requesting to retrieve a service profile corresponding to the detected hotspot, and describing all the services that the detected hotspot provides;

receiving a service profile from the service manager;

enabling a user to select a service among services listed in the received service profile;

connecting to the hotspot providing the selected service, and requesting the selected service, via this hotspot;

wherein:

said detecting a hotspot of the first wireless network comprises detecting a plurality of hotspots of the first wireless network,

and said sending a request message to a local service manager comprises sending said request message via another wireless network,

and in that the request message requests to retrieve a plurality of service profiles corresponding to the plurality of detected hotspots.

13 . A computer program product according to claim 12 , wherein the method further comprises subscribing to a service; and paying a fee for each service that is charged for.

14 . A computer program product according to claim 12 wherein detecting ( 5 ) hotspots that provide services comprises detecting a hotspot identifier comprising a peculiar pattern indicating that this hotspot provides services, and then extracting a service profile identifier from this hotspot identifier.

Assignments (10)