Sony International (Europe) Gmbh

Steve Knox

William Bunney

A communication method and a network is presented comprising at least one server ( ) and a plurality of user terminals ( ). The user terminals ( ) can share information with each other and with the at least one server ( ) by means of a network ( ), which can be e.g., the internet. A predefined action is associated by a notification server ( ) with a notification. The notification is sent to a user terminal ( ) and displayed on a screen ( ) of the user terminal ( ). The predefined action associated with the notification sent to the user terminal ( ) is activated automatically by a response to the displayed notification at the user terminal ( ), e.g. by clicking on a notification window on the screen ( ) of the user terminal ( ). A target address can be associated with a notification sent to a user terminal ( ). The predefined action is activated addressed to the target address by the clicking on the notification window. Furthermore, a life span information can be associated with a notification to be sent to the user terminal ( ). A data base ( ) is accessed by the notification server ( ) to store notifications in case the user terminal ( ) to which a notification is to be sent is not in a logged-in state.

Notification subsystem

A network comprising at least one server ( ) and a plurality of user terminals ( ), wherein the user terminals ( ) can communicate with each other by means of an IRC server ( ). The user terminal ( ) can send a command to a chat proxy ( ). The chat proxy ( ) is connected with a session manager ( ) to translate any address longer than nine characters (limit of the IRC protocol) to a code with a maximum length of nine characters. The chat proxy ( ) can cache the result of the conversion in a storage device ( ). The chat proxy ( ) then sends ( ) an IRC command to the IRC server ( ) together with a code having a maximum number of nine characters. The chat proxy ( ) according to the present invention therefore allows a translation process, the provision of semi-private chat rooms with an additional access control and a supply of supplemental chat room attributes.

Growing community of inventors

Brier, WA, United States of America

Steve Knox