WO2001093560A2 - System for sending messages - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a system for processing messages, each message having image and/or text and/or executable code characteristics, the system comprising: first formatting means for receiving and formatting the image and/or text and/or code characteristics of each message for presentation on receiver appliances, thereby producing a first transformed message; second formatting means for formatting the first transformed message for presentation on a predetermined type of receiver appliance, thereby producing a second transformed message; and forwarding means for forwarding the second transformed message to one or more receiver appliances or to a network for transmission to receiver appliances.

Description

SYSTEM FOR SENDING MESSAGES

Technical field and prior art

The invention relates to apparatus for adapting messages and a system for broadcasting messages, in particular to mobile communications appliances such as mobile telephones, for example.

A system for broadcasting interactive messages to mobile communications appliances is described in¹ particular in publication PCT/US99/10016. That publication relates to a system, a method, and a software product giving a mobile telephone the intrinsic ability to be used as an advertising medium. The system comprises a device which manages the display of advertising, and a storage device for storing advertising messages to be displayed. The system also comprises a device enabling mobile telephone users to respond in various ways to a displayed message. These responses, initiated by the user, are forwarded directly to a customer service via a telephone number encoded in the advertising message. The user response can also be directed to a page of the World Wide Web in order to obtain additional information about the goods or services offered by the advertising message, or so as to place an order. All of those possible user responses are directly encoded in the advertising message so as to save the user from the bother of formulating a response message or dialing a telephone number. That method also makes it possible to display advertising messages in a manner that is not intrusive, i.e. without the display disturbing in any way use of the mobile telephone. That non-intrusive method requires advertising messages to be displayed selectively, either on the full screen during periods when the mobile telephone is available, or on a limited portion of the screen while it is in use. Another feature of that system is that it enables advertising messages to be broadcast in deferred mode, i.e. the advertising is transmitted to the mobile telephone and stored therein for subsequent display during a period when said display will not interfere with use of the mobile telephone. Such message storage is performed without intrusively decreasing the storage capacity reserved for information content or for other user messages .

The system described in publication PCT/US99/10016 comprises a mobile communications appliance fitted with a display screen, a processor, memory space enabling advertising messages to be stored, and a message manager which updates the list of messages for presentation and the order in which they should be presented, and which causes the message at the top of the list to be displayed on the screen as soon as the mobile communications appliance has been left idle for some predetermined length of time. The list of messages is updated on the basis of simple criteria, by an unchanging process that takes no account of the profile of the addressee, nor of the contents of the messages.

Managing the display of messages in that way gives the sender of a message no guarantee that the message will be seen by the user of the mobile telephone. As a general rule, when the telephone is available, the user is not looking at the screen. If the user makes an active response, then the response is processed, however such processing does not make it possible to determine whether the message has been seen properly. Unfortunately, when a message has been seen without that giving rise to an active response, there is no way of telling whether the user has taken note of the displayed message. Under such circumstances, the display can be repeated without any result.

Furthermore, the algorithm described in that document relating to how the memory for storing messages is managed gives no guarantee that any given message will actually be presented. This applies in particular to all low priority messages in the event of there being an avalanche of messages.

It is therefore desirable to devise an improved system suitable for detecting when a user has seen a message even in the absence of any direct reaction from the user.

The system described above also suffers from the drawback of broadcasting series of advertising messages to groups of mobile telephone users without taking account of any particular user profile, for example whether they are likely to react in positive manner to certain messages rather than others, and without taking account of the technical characteristics of the mobile telephone screen on which the messages are going to be displayed.

It is therefore desirable to devise an improved system in which each message can be formatted as a function of characteristics specific to each type of destination mobile appliance. There is also the problem of devising an improved system in which each message can be formatted as a function of pertinent data that has been collected on the particular profile of each user.

There is also the problem of finding a communications appliance structure, e.g. mobile appliances or mobile telephones, that enables a message to be processed as a function of its origin, i.e. as a function of the specific message broadcast system from which it came. There is also the problem of making best use of the bandwidth available for communications of this type. In the context of connecting appliances to WAP sites, there is also the problem of managing or making effective use of the time required to establish connections, which time is always of the order of a few seconds on each connection request. There is also the problem of devising a system for broadcasting messages from WAP sites, a method for sending messages from WAP sites, and a configuration for appliances or telephones for receiving messages from said sites that enables effective use to be made of the time required to establish connections and of the passband of the message broadcast system.

Summary of the invention In a first aspect, the invention provides a system for processing messages, each message having image and/or text characteristics, the system comprising:

- first means for receiving and formatting, or programmed to receive and format, image and/or text characteristics of each message for presentation on receiver appliances, to produce a first transformed message or a first message state after first transformation;

- second means for second transformation or formatting, or programmed to perform second transformation or formatting of the first transformed message or message in its first state after first transformation, for presentation on a predetermined type of receiver appliance (selected from a set of predetermined types of mobile appliance) , said second means producing a second transformed message or a second state of the message after second transformation; and

- forwarding means for forwarding the second message or the message in its second state to a wireless network of receiver appliances or to a wired network of receiver appliances, or to a network for transmission or emission to receiver appliances, or means programmed to perform such forwarding.

The second formatting means enable the first transformed message or the message in its first state after first transformation to be adapted for presentation on such-and-such a predetermined type of receiver appliance .

The forwarding means forward the second message or the message in its second state. Thus, the invention makes it possible to adapt messages coming from various advertisers to a variety of types of receiver appliance.

The invention also provides a system for processing messages, each message having image and/or text characteristics, the system comprising:

- first means for receiving and formatting, or programmed to receive and format, the image and/or text characteristics of each message for presentation on receiver appliances, thereby producing a first transformed message or a first state of the message after first transformation; and

- means for forwarding the message (transformed or in said first state) to a network for wireless transmission to receiver appliances or to wired means for forwarding to a plurality of receiver appliances, or to a network for transmission or emission to receiver appliances or to means programmed to perform such forwarding.

The forwarding means forward the first message or the message in its first state after the first transformation .

Second means can then be provided in the receiver appliance itself to perform a second transformation or formatting, or programmed to perform a second transformation or formatting, of the forwarded message in order to present it on the type of receiver appliance in question, said second means producing a second transformed message (after forwarding) or a second message state after second transformation (after forwarding) .

The invention also provides a system for broadcasting messages, in which system, for each addressee, an audit trail of the presentation of each message is established by recording apparatus or apparatus programmed to establish such an audit trail, thus making it possible to identify reception of each message by a particular addressee and to generate, preferably in real time, a profile characteristic of each addressee, which profile can subsequently be used as a basis for selecting messages and/or for selecting presentation characteristics therefor. Thus, in a second aspect, the invention also provides a server system for broadcasting messages and comprising:

- means for, or programmed for, processing messages for presentation of the messages on the display means of receiver appliances that receive the messages; and

- means for, or programmed for, receiving data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances . The server system can be combined with a processing system of the invention as defined above.

In the invention, the message processing or broadcast system includes a server which can co-operate with a mobile telephone network, either as an entity which is distinct from the network, or else as an entity which is integrated therein.

The server or the system can include apparatus for, or programmed for, preparing messages as a function of a predetermined profile characteristic of at least one message addressee.

The server or the system can also including recording apparatus for establishing, in respect of at least one addressee and for at least one message addressed to that addressee, an audit trail of the presentation of said message and of the perception of said presented message by said addressee, said audit trail contributing to updating said predetermined profile characteristic of said addressee, or apparatus programmed for establishing such an audit trail, in order to improve the presentation of messages subsequently addressed to the addressee. In another aspect the invention also provides mobile apparatus for receiving information, and comprising means for, or programmed for:

- determining whether a received collection of data comes from a message server system; and - if a collection of data does come from a message server system, processing said data as a function .of processing protocol data contained in said collection of data.

In mobile telephony, data processing instructions can be stored at least in part in a SIM card (GSM) or a

USIM card (UMTS) .

In addition, the apparatus can include means for, or programmed for, determining whether received data is technical update data and, if so, whether it is for replacing or for adding to technical update data previously contained or stored in said apparatus.

Such apparatus can further includes means for, or programmed for, sending to said message server system data for processing messages selected or prepared by said server system, and/or means for, or programmed for, transmitting back to said message server, data in reply or following reception and/or reading of a message. Which data is transmitted in response to or following reception and/or reading of a message, and/or which data is stored, are determined, for example, by the processing protocol contained in said collection of received data.

The transmitted data and/or the stored data includes, for example, data identifying the message, and/or the date and/or the time of reception and/or of reading of the message and/or of actions performed by a user of said apparatus within a determined length of time following presentation of received data on display means or storage of data in the storage means of the apparatus .

This makes it possible in particular to present a message during a predetermined time interval, and to record that said message has been perceived by the user of said apparatus when use of the apparatus is initiated at an instant lying within said predetermined time interval .

In yet another aspect, the invention also provides a method of transmitting messages from a message server system to appliances for receiving messages, the method comprising:

- processing messages for presentation of the messages on display means of the message receiver appliances;

- sending said messages to said message receiver appliances; and

- receiving data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances.

The sending of messages need not be synchronized relative to the presentation of said messages on the receiver appliances. This can be achieved by using the storage capacity available in an intermediate broadcast network, e.g. a mobile telephone network, or by using the storage capacity available in the receiver appliances, e.g. in a SIM card (GSM) or a USIM card (UMTS) associated with a mobile telephone. Broadcasting and presentation of messages is preferably desynchronized as a function of bandwidth availability on said mobile telephone network, in particular on the basis of criteria negotiated between the operator of the server and the operator of the network.

The broadcast messages can be of a purely visible type or they can be of a combined type including at least one visual element and at least one sound element activated on presentation of the visual element. The data corresponding to each message can include data relating to how it should be presented, and where appropriate to the processing of actions taken by the addressee following said presentation. Whatever the embodiment under consideration, the server can include apparatus for forwarding messages to adapt the characteristics of messages to a form appropriate for forwarding them, e.g. over a network.

Such adaptation can be implemented as a function of a preestablished standard. With mobile telephony, the standard is preferably GSM or UMTS.

Under such circumstances, the message forwarding apparatus enables messages to be encapsulated in a form that is appropriate for transmission by said mobile telephone network, preferably and for example in SMS form, or in FAX page form, or in GPRS form.

A system of the invention offers the advantage of making it possible for each addressee of a message to generate or update a determined profile specifying in particular the number of times a displayed message has indeed been perceived by its addressee.

The system makes it possible to identify each message that has been perceived by recording perception as soon as use of the mobile appliance is initiated during a period that correspond to the display period of the message, i.e. as soon as interaction takes place between the user and the appliance that is of a kind that requires the user to look at the screen. In this way, it is guaranteed not only that a particular message has been displayed, but also that it has been perceived by its addressee, and this information can be given to the sender of the message even when reception of the message has not given rise to any direct response on the part of the addressee. This information relating to a message being perceived by its addressee is archived, and periodically forwarded to the databases so as to contribute to drawing up the profile of the addressee. Brief description of the figures

The characteristics and advantages of the invention appear more clearly in the light of the following description. The description relates to embodiments given by way of non-limiting explanation, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

^• Figure 1 is a diagram of an overall system comprising a server, a transmission network, and mobile appliances;

^• Figures 2A and 2B are block diagrams showing the internal architectures of a server system and of a receiver appliance;

^• Figure 3 is an overall view of apparatus for implementing the invention;

^• Figures 4A and 4B show means for managing the content of messages;

^• Figure 4C shows the steps in a method implemented in the context of server apparatus of the invention; • Figures 5A and 5B show sender means included in means for processing message content, in a system of the invention;

^• Figures 6A and 6B show receiver means within means for processing message content in a system of the invention;

^• Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D show means or functions for transporting messages in a system of the invention;

^• Figure 8 shows functions implemented by a telecommunications network in a system of the invention; • Figure 9 shows functions implemented in a mobile appliance in co-operation with a system of the invention;

• Figure 10 shows control loops implemented in a system of the invention; and

^• Figures 11 and 12 show embodiments of systems of the invention. Detailed description of embodiments of the invention

An overall system for implementing the invention is shown in Figure 1.

The system is shown in an application to mobile telephones and a mobile telephone network. However, the invention also applies to any other application to data- receiving appliances, in particular portable appliances, for example such as PalmPilots (PDA) type pocket appliances or portable computers or electronic organizers or indeed "set-top boxes" for digital television sets (i.e. processor (s) and memories and other components organized around the processor (s) and serving to perform complex programmable functions such as decoding) .

With mobile telephones, and numerous digital TV networks, messages are transmitted by radio. In other applications messages can be forwarded by other means, e.g. by a conventional wired telephone network, by cable (in particular for cable TV) , or transmitted via an infrared link. Reference is thus made below both to mobile telephone appliances and to data-receiver appliances, with the term "data-receiver appliances" covering an entire range of appliances, in particular portable appliances . The system comprises a message server system 2, a broadcast network 4, e.g. a mobile telephone network, comprising a network server and a transmission infrastructure, e.g. by radio, and a quantity of receiver appliances which can be fixed, or mobile, or portable, e.g. mobile telephones 8, 10, ... associated with the network. The operator of the message server 2 may or may not be the same as the operator of the network 4.

When the servers are different, the connection between the server 2 and the network 4 is a high data rate connection.

As shown in Figure 1, messages 3, 5 are sent to the portable appliances 8, 10, and the appliances respond by sending back information 7, 9, e.g. after the messages 3, 5 that have been sent to them have themselves been consulted. Certain aspects of the invention do not necessarily require the receiver appliances used to have this sending capability. When this capability is provided, it would be entirely appropriate to refer to the receiver appliances as transceiver appliances.

As shown in Figure 2A, the server system 2 comprises one or more processors 22, a set of RAM memories 24 (to store data), and a set of ROM memories 26 (e.g. to store program instructions) .

These various elements are interconnected by one or more buses 28.

Peripherals 30 (a screen or display device, and means for inputting data or instructions) enable interactive dialog to take place with a manager of the server system.

Reference 25 designates means for managing input 27 and output 29. In addition to data or instructions relating to an operating system, the server system also has loaded therein program data or instructions for implementing processing in accordance with the invention, and message data for sending to one or more target mobile appliances . This data or these instructions for data processing can be transferred into a memory zone of the server from a diskette or from any other medium that can be read by a computer system (e.g.: hard disks, read-only memory (ROM) , dynamic random access memory (DRAM) , or any other type of RAM, compact optical disks, magnetic or optical storage elements) .

As shown in Figure 2B, each mobile communications appliance has a similar structure and is fitted with a microprocessor and memory zones. As a general rule the memory capacity and the information processing capacity of such an appliance are less extensive than those of the server system 2. An appliance comprises at least one processor 122, a set of RAM memories 124 (for data storage), and a set of ROM memories 126 (e.g. for storing program instructions) . These various elements are interconnected by a bus 128. A peripheral, such as a keypad (references 81 and 101 in Figure 1) enables a user to input data, e.g. in response to a message displayed on the display screen. Other peripherals can be used to input data, e.g. voice control apparatus or a touch-sensitive screen. Data can also be input by using a combination of peripherals such as those mentioned above by way of example .

Reference 125 designates means for managing input 127 and output 129. Data relating to an operating system is stored in a memory zone of each mobile appliance.

Data for reading and/or displaying messages that have been prepared and sent by the server 2 can also be stored in a memory zone in each appliance . In the context of a mobile telephone, there may also be a SIM card (in GSM) or a USIM card (in UMTS) and means for reading such a card.

Under such circumstances, the receiver appliance is a multiprocessor appliance in that it has the mobile processor and at least one other processor, namely the processor in the SIM or USIM card, and where appropriate the processor in a smart card if the appliance is designed to receive one.

Program data for reading messages sent by the server 2 is loaded into a memory zone of each mobile appliance. At least some of the data for reading and/or displaying messages prepared and sent by the server 2 can then also be loaded into the SIM or USIM card, and where applicable, into any smart card, thereby making it possible to provide for personalized reading of message data. The technical characteristics of each mobile appliance include, for example, the display system, and/or display processing, and/or display capabilities, and/or storage capacity, and/or version number of the operating software of the target appliance, and in particular of the software specific to the message application.

This technical data is stored in a memory zone of the server system 2 and is used by the server system when sending a message to a given appliance.

Visual messages are sent by the message server system 2 for display on the screens of mobile telephones 8, 10, ... .

These messages are preferably accompanied by and/or give rise to down streams of control messages and/or up streams of messages 7, 9 (see Figure 1) concerned with interaction, control, and compatibility or with establishing an audit trail.

The content and the processing of these streams are described below.

Visual messages are conveyed by the network 4 after the message server has generated each of them and encapsulated them in the form of one or more transport entities, e.g. in compliance with GSM or UMTS standards. Three types of transport entity which are mentioned purely by way of example comprise SMS messages, FAX pages, and WAP compiled binary data. The particular entity for use in conveying a given interactive image message can be selected dynamically by the message server. An SMS message or a FAX page or a WAP page will be sent, for example, when a visual message is to be used in deferred or masked mode.

A visual message sent by the server to one or more mobile telephones comprises one or more image files and an activation scenario file which includes, where appropriate, a file for controlling interactive interchange . The image file contains data for a graphics or a semi-graphics display. The content of the file is preferably adapted as a function of parameters such as the technical characteristics of the target appliance to which it is to be sent, and/or the duration and/or the cost of transmission.

When the file is to be sent several times to a plurality of users, it can comprise both reusable data and personalized data that differs from one user to another.

In a variant, the reusable data can be stored in a memory zone of one or more mobile appliances, with the server subsequently transmitting only the personalized data which is superposed on the reusable data during display. The transmitted file then comprises not only the personalized data, but also an identifier for the reusable data on which it is to be superposed.

The activation scenario contains presentation data or data which controls the presentation of images on a telephone or other predetermined mobile communications appliance .

The scenario depends on technical data relating to a target mobile appliance so that the technical data can be taken into account. It can also include data for displaying on the mobile appliance after or simultaneously with the display of messages, e.g. questions put to the user.

It can also include data for determining an instant at which the message is to appear on the target appliance. The message need not be displayed immediately after it has been sent to the target appliance, but can be stored in the appliance for subsequent display.

Finally, the activation scenario contains data informing the receiver appliance that it is a message sent by the server system 2.

Depending on the processing capacity of the target appliance or telephone, the visual message may optionally include other kinds of file, e.g. sound files or executable programs for use during presentation.

A visual message is transmitted either in deferred mode or else in priority mode. Deferred mode is used most often and enables the message server to be managed asynchronously. It enables send streams to be controlled in such a manner as to make best use of the bandwidth instantaneously available in the mobile telephone network, thereby minimizing the cost of purchasing bandwidth, or at least avoiding disturbance to the operation of the network by creating unacceptable overloads. Under such circumstances, incoming and outgoing mobile telephone calls generally have priority, so if a call arises, then the call will interrupt transmission of a message.

When a mobile telephone receives an interactive visual message or group of messages from the message server in deferred mode, the ringing function and the function of presenting the calling number are inhibited (e.g. by a conditional branch implemented in the software of the mobile appliance or by special processing performed in the SIM or USIM card) and, in general, there is nothing to warn the user that the mobile telephone is receiving a message. In priority mode, once the call has been established over the mobile telephone network, the mobile telephone is busy to any other potential incoming call. The user of the mobile telephone is warned on the screen that the mobile telephone is receiving one or more messages. After the mobile telephone has received a visual message, activation of the message can be either immediate or else deferred.

In this context, the presence of a received visual message in the mobile telephone and, where appropriate, a message that has been prepared so as to be available for immediate activation, is either masked, or else the user of the mobile telephone is informed of its presence. In the event of its presence being masked, activation is triggered under conditions specified in the activation scenario.

In the event of the user of the mobile telephone being informed of the presence of a message, the user has the option either of triggering activation thereof at any desired moment, or else of waiting for triggering to take place under the conditions specified by the activation scenario . Files are thus received automatically by mobile communications appliances without intervention by_. the users of the appliances. Reception can take place in masked mode (no display of the calling number and no ringing, but with automatic line seizure) or in non- masked mode, with or without priority over standard use of the appliance. There are thus four possible automatic reception modes .

When a mobile appliance receives a message sent by the system 2, it (or more precisely its software for reading received messages) identifies in the activation scenario of the message the data indicating that this is a message from the server 2.

The data contained in the message is then preferably stored in at least one memory zone of the mobile appliance. The data is preferably stored in a plurality of distinct memory zones, e.g. in a memory of the central unit of the mobile appliance, and in the memory of the SIM or USIM card, and/or in the memory (ies) of any associated smart card. It is thus possible to store raw images (in particular in compressed mode) for optimizing transmission time, or "ready to display" images (after preprocessing and where appropriate decompression) . To this end, the use of a multiprocessor configuration is advantageous since it enables image decompression algorithms to be implemented having instructions that are previously stored in said multiprocessor configuration. The mobile appliance can be programmed so that the images or the messages are presented on the screen as soon as certain particular functions of the mobile appliance have been activated, e.g. when the user switches the appliance on or when an outgoing call is initialized or prepared. The message-reading software of the mobile appliance is then organized so that on activation of these particular functions, the contents of the memories of the appliance is scanned, and messages that have been sent by the server system 2 are identified (by a specific label contained in the activation scenario of such messages) , and the messages are displayed. Such a program or such a function makes it possible to ensure that messages are read by the user of the mobile appliance. Thus, it is not necessary to wait for the user to cease interacting with the appliance in a "standard" mode before being able to display messages that have been sent by the server system 2.

The method described makes it possible from the beginning, i.e. on receiving the image to be transmitted, to format messages in such a manner as to minimize the number of bytes that need to be sent without deteriorating the best reproduction made possible by the screen of the receiver appliance (number of pixels, colors, gray scale) .

After display on the display means of the user's mobile appliance, the display program of the mobile appliance can enable a message to be displayed that asks the user whether the message which has just been displayed should be conserved in memory. The user can then either delete the message or conserve it in memory, with the user's response being input to the appliance via the means 81, 101 (e.g. a keypad and/or a voice command and/or a touch-sensitive screen) . Visual messages are simple or interactive, and they are sent without distinction to all mobile telephone users associated with the network (broadcast) , or else to only some of them as predetermined by user targeting apparatus. Such targeting can be implemented by filter means located in the server system or in the network 4, or in the receiver appliances. Broadcasting to all users without distinction, also known as general broadcasting, is performed by using the standard resources of the mobile telephone network or of the digital TV network.

Targeting can be implemented, particularly when using the message system to perform publicity operations involving a plurality of advertisers, either by personalizing the "pack" of messages sent to each mobile telephone user, or by sending the same pack to all users while ensuring that certain elements remain selectively masked when the activation scenario is run. This latter technique is preferred for reasons of economy when the telephone network provides a broadcast service for broadcasting the encapsulation object, e.g. an SMS message, used for broadcasting messages. Another mode of forwarding to receiver appliances consists in:

^• in a first step, sending a first data unit to each appliance, said unit containing data identifying the messages coming from the server system, e.g. labels or message names, which each appliance can read (or not read) ; this first step implements the user targeting means or apparatus since the data serves to identify that which such and such a user can or cannot read; and

• in a second step, sending messages (image file and activation scenario) to all of the appliances; each message is then read by each receiver appliance which determines whether or not it is to read the message and process it and display it; this second step takes place in broadcast mode without distinction between users . These two steps take place in succession, but not necessarily synchronously. The first step can take place long before the second, e.g. the day before or several days before, with the receiver appliance storing the data sent during said first step.

The data identifying the messages as sent during said first step can be referred to as "message-filtering" data.

An overall system of the present invention comprising a message server system 2, a mobile telephone network 4, and mobile telephones 8, 10 associated with the network is shown in Figure 3. In addition to the elements described above, the message server 2 preferably has at least one database 40, 42 (in its memory means) enabling it to manage and make use of a detailed audit trail of contacts .

The content of this database can be parameterizable by the manager of the server from the peripheral means 30.

In one example, it contains the replies to the question "Which user received which message and at what moment, and/or with what reactions and interactions, etc. ...?".

In general, the manager combines in this database data concerning the identities of people who have received messages and/or time stamp data relating to messages being received by mobile appliances and/or data relating to the responses or the types of responses of the addressees to the messages after receiving them. This audit trail or information or data can be distributed over a plurality of databases, which can be partially redundant for reasons of reliability, and to increase operating performance.

An accounting database 40 and/or a database for establishing an audit trail, and/or for management purposes can be devised to establish and/or justify commercial relationships between the various actors in the system, for example the message server 2, the clients of the message server, the telephone network, and the users of mobile telephones. A qualification database 42 can be used in respect of each mobile telephone user to archive any relevant information concerning user profile and user behavior on each occasion that a contact is established. This database can be used for implementing the targeting function.

A control loop 11 makes it possible to obtain information concerning the reactions of the users of appliances that receive the messages on reception and/or display of said messages.

As shown in Figure 3, the message server 2 can have a plurality of means or modules 21, 22, 23 contributing to the physical processing of the messages. These modules or means are, for example, software modules or means having instructions that are stored in memory zones of the server system and that are executed by the processor (s) of the system.

In an embodiment, the system includes, in particular, means 21 for managing message content, means 22 for processing said content, and transport means 23. The content management means 21 can be connected to the databases 40 and 42.

The content processing means 22 can include send means 220 and receive means 221. As shown in Figure 4A, the content management means 21 include means 210 for taking account of a request R made by a message sender. This request R generally consists in a request that contact be made with one or more message addressees, users of mobile telephones associated with the mobile telephone network 4.

A contact consists in presenting a visual message to the user of a mobile telephone on the screen of the mobile telephone, which message has one or more images constituting the content of the contact. As explained above, this presentation is governed by the scenario associated with the visual message. At this stage, a collection of data D is thus produced comprising visual elements and scenario elements (e.g.: sequencing, user interactions, text message display, execution of programs corresponding to standard functions or special functions associated with the visual message, etc . ... ) .

Contact with the user can give rise to dialog. An image can thus be made up of two types of element: the visual display, and where appropriate the accompanying sound, with which there is associated a medium for dialog if this is a dialog contact. The visual message is the result of displaying a graphics or semi-graphics file whose content has been optimized by the message server as a function of predetermined parameters, for example the technical characteristics of the mobile telephone, and in particular the characteristics of its display system (of small size and resolution) , the duration or cost of transmission, etc. In order to improve performance, each time a large portion of the visual message is repetitive in nature, this can be achieved by combining two elements: a reusable visual background stored by being downloaded into the mobile telephone, and personalization of the visual message, with the personalization being the only portion transmitted while contact is being made. The background can be changed and/or modified at a frequency that is lower than that of contacts making use of the background.

The means 210 for taking account of the request comprise authentication means 210-1 for authenticating the client and the request, verification means 210-2 for verifying that the request is not corrupted in formal terms, means 210-3 for digitizing documentary proposals (data D) from the client, and means 210-4 for recording the request. The means 210 for taking the request into account enable a client dossier Dl to be generated (in a memory zone of the server 2) , containing all of the data relating to creating the trade (e.g. client identity, request identity, data D concerning in particular the visual message, the activation scenario thereof, or indeed the contact target) . The client dossier as generated in this way by the means 210 for taking the request into account can then be recovered by means 211 for generating image file data to be sent .

The means 211 comprise layout means 211-1, and possibly targeting means 211-2, and/or enciphering means 211-3, and/or an entity 211-4 for generating quotes or bids .

The layout entity 211-1 serves to transcribe the contact into a form suitable for communication with mobile telephones over the mobile telephone network, and serves to adapt transmission of images that are to be displayed on the screen of a mobile telephone. This makes it possible to take account in particular of the technical characteristics of the mobile telephone or other target destination appliance, and/or the technical characteristics of the telephone network, and/or the instantaneous availability of passband therein.

The screen of the mobile appliance (or any other type of receiver appliance) can be small in size, which makes it pointless to transmit high definition images which would waste the radio resource. However, images can be worked on by using appropriate technologies, e.g. "Alphamosaic" so as to improve the quality perceived by the addressee. Consequently, prior to being sent, images are adapted and then addressed to the mobile appliance with minimum encapsulation, and where possible in a capsule that is standard for the network operator. Transmission is optimized as a function of the provision made in the standard (GSM, UMTS) , and the extent to which the standard is implemented by the network operator, so as to ensure that the mobile telephone displays that which is desired on its screen in application of the desired scenario, while dynamically adopting the most economic use of the resources made available by the network and the receiving telephone, which depends in part on the technical characteristics of the mobile telephone. These means 211-1 possibly make it possible to create effects in the images to be displayed. These means enable the image and the scenario to be integrated (where the term "scenario" is .used in the same meaning as specified above) .

The targeting means 211-2 are associated with a marketing/targeting dossier D2 that makes it possible where appropriate to adapt messages as a function of a predetermined mobile telephone user profile. The enciphering means 211-3 (Figure 4B) are connected, for example, to a marketing/billing dossier D3.

A quote D5 can thus be generated by the quote-making means 211-4, e.g. using a layout D4 for the message to be sent. This layout includes all of the image file data that is to be sent. The quote is then submitted to the client for agreement, with the price being fixed, for example, as a function of the target, the period at which broadcast takes place, or the broadcast mode. Figure 4C shows the various steps relating to this submission.

In a first step (212-2) , the quote is submitted (or modified) with layout D4 and/or the quote.

Customer agreement is requested (212-2) . If this agreement is not given, the proposal can be modified. Once the customer has agreed, the messages can be the subject of a broadcast campaign, for which broadcast mode is determined.

Depending on customer choice, a broadcast campaign dossier D6 can then be created (step 212-3) , the dossier containing at least one message and at least one display scenario, together with data relating to at least one target to be reached. The dossier is stored in a memory zone of the server system.

The content of D7 can also be updated concerning packs of messages on request (step 212-4) . This content contains at least one message and one display scenario, together with data relating to at least one target and to a mobile appliance to be reached. This data is also stored in a memory zone of the server system.

The various contents created in this way can then be processed by the sender means 220 of the content processing apparatus 22.

In an embodiment, the sender means 220 of the content processor apparatus 22 comprise (Figure 5A) means 220-1 for technical updating of mobile appliances, means 220-2 for managing message packs, and means 220-3 for managing individual messages.

The means 220-1 for technical updating of mobile appliances enable the message reading software available in each mobile communications appliance to be updated. These means comprise, for example, means 220-11 specifying which mobile appliances have software that is up-to-date .

Means 211-12 for preparing an update message enabling a message to be prepared for each mobile appliance that needs to be updated, and in particular for preparing data that corresponds to the software elements that are to be updated.

Thereafter, means 220-13 make it possible to send updated software data to each mobile appliance (via a technical out mailbox 220-14 for each mobile appliance, see Figure 5B) . A collection of data D9 including at least the identity of each updated appliance, the time and date of updating, and the software updated can also be stored. The database 42 can also be updated.

The updating that can be performed by the means 220- 1 takes account of the technical characteristics of the mobile appliances, for example their display systems, and/or their display processing, and/or their display capabilities, and/or the storage capacities specific to the type of mobile appliance used by the addressee, and/or the version number of the operating system software of the target appliance, including its software specific to the message application.

As explained above, this technical data is stored in a memory zone of the server 2 and it is used thereby when sending a message to a given mobile.

The means 220-2 for managing message packs makes use of the database D7 and possibly also of user requests (e.g. as brought together in the form of a database D8 identifying users and their requests) to generate packs ready for sending, and for sending said packs.

Individual packs are prepared on the basis of a request from the user of a mobile appliance or on the basis of a given user profile when targeted packs are being used. In an embodiment, the means 220-2 enable the following steps to be performed:

^• a collection of data is produced giving the various packs that are available (step 220-20);

^• an interactive menu is sent for making up packs (step 220-21) ;

^• individual packs are prepared on the basis of a user request or on the basis of a user profile (step 220- 22); individual packs are prepared by taking selected messages from the database D7 , either automatically, or with the help of an operator acting via the peripheral means 30;

^• identifying the individual mailbox (es) to be filled (step 220-23) ; and

^• adapting the messages as a function of the technical characteristics of the mobile appliance (e.g.: display system and/or display processing and/or display modality and/or storage capacity) and/or of the version number of the operating software of the target appliance (step 220-24) . This message processing is performed by the processors of the server 2.

This adaptation of messages can be used, for example, to adapt image format to a format which is accessible by the mobile appliances given the technical capacities thereof, and in particular the size and/or the resolution and/or the quality of "color reproduction".

This format can be an alphamosaic code that is well adapted to low data rate digital transmission. It could equally well be a "proprietary" display format, specific to the manufacture of the mobile appliances, or it could be low definition JPEG. It could be any other type of image encoding that mobiles are capable of displaying directly, without loss of quality.

Image-altering algorithms that can be used include, for example:

^• pixel averaging;

^• deleting or interpreting chrominance; • skeletization; and

^• fusion of two or more images by visual remanence, including in particular "monochrome screen" images that are presented in succession, with the phenomenon being controlled by the order and the duration in which the images that are to be fused together are presented.

It is possible to implement a combination of the above algorithms and methods on a case-by-case basis to optimize any objective function given the technico- economic parameters of transport (over the operator network) and quality (objective and where appropriate subjective) of the image presented on the screen of the mobile appliance.

Such optimization is optional: it is used for mobile telephony applications, but it will be used more rarely in applications where there are no problems with screen size and image definition, in particular for interactive TV applications, but where special effects may nevertheless be desired.

It can be implemented in a manner that is adapted to each transmitted image, e.g. by implementing processing by means of a neural network.

A send or "out" mailbox 220-25 then enables the selected pack of messages to be sent to each mobile appliance. A collection of data D10 comprising at least the identity of each pack sent, and the date and time of sending, can also be stored in memory.

The means 220-3 for managing individual messages make use of the broadcast campaign dossier D6 containing in particular the identity of at least one individual message to be sent, a display scenario, and data relating to at least one target to be reached, to generate individual messages contained in the broadcast campaign.

In an embodiment, these means 220-3 serve to perform the following three steps:

^• A first step 220-30 in which the individual target mailboxes are selected.

^• A second step 220-31 in which each message is adapted as a function of the technical characteristics of the mobile appliance, e.g. such as its display system, and/or its display processing, and/or the display capabilities specific to the type of mobile appliance, and/or the version number of the operating software installed in the appliance. This step 220-31 is preferably performed while taking account of the data in the database 42. In this case also, message adaptation serves, for example, to adapt image format to a format that is accepted by the mobile appliances, which format can be an alphamosaic code that is well adapted to low data rate digital transmission or any one of the formats mentioned above with reference to steps 220-24. Similarly, the image-altering algorithms that can be used are those mentioned above, for example. - A third step 220-32 in which each message as adapted in this way is added to the stack of messages for sending so as to constitute the target user out mailbox.

On leaving the target user mailbox D12, and preferably on the basis of information collected in the account/archive database 40, the stack of messages to be sent is processed by means 220-4 for managing individual out mailboxes.

In one embodiment, the means 220-4 for managing individual out mailboxes serves to perform the following four steps :

^• a first step 220-40 in which monitoring messages returned by the mobile appliance are analyzed for the purpose of performing parameterizable matching actions, e.g. eliminating messages as a function of contractual presentation criteria, and/or eliminating messages that have been read and refused by the user, or eliminating messages that have been put on hold in the user's mobile appliance; • a second step 220-41 in which messages are selected from the queue for incorporation in the out mailbox. This selection made, for example, on the basis of data contained in the marketing/targeting dossier 40 can be performed as a function of various criteria, such as: a) the storage capacity of the target mobile appliances; and/or b) the renewal profile of the user (message consumption) ; and/or c) priorities associated with the broadcast campaign, such as the deadline for presenting the messages, and/or the probability that such messages will be displayed, and/or the contractual appearance scenario;

• a third step 220-42 in which an optional search is made for other display scenarios that are optimized as a function specifically of campaign deadlines and of results so far in the campaign; ^• a fourth step 220-43 in which, if accepted by the advertiser, the message appearance scenario is changed.

An out mailbox 220-44 then enables the batch of individual messages to be sent to each mobile appliance concerned by the broadcast campaign. It is also possible to store a collection of data Dll relating to this batch of individual messages, data including at least the identity of each batch of individual messages sent, the date and time of sending, the identity of each individual message or of each type of individual message, and possibly also of each appearance scenario.

In an embodiment shown in Figures 6A to 6B, the receiver means 221 of the means 22 for processing content comprise means 221—1 for receiving the up streams of information coming from the mobile appliances, means 221- 2 for monitoring the up stream information, and means 221-3 for enabling the message sender to process requests from the user of a mobile appliance.

Each of these means is described below in terms of the steps of a method implemented thereby.

In one embodiment, the means 221-1 for receiving up streams serves to perform the following four steps :

^• a first step 221-10 in which the message from the mobile appliance is received; • a second step 221-11 in which the data of the message received from the mobile appliance is separated from the transport medium;

^• a third step 221-12 in which the data as separated from the transport medium is recorded in the accounting/archive database 40; and

^• a fourth step 221-13 in which the characteristic profile of the user of the mobile appliance is updated and enriched, said profile being recorded in the marketing/targeting dossier D2. In one embodiment, the means 221-2 for monitoring up stream information serves to distinguish the following three possibilities: ^■ a first possibility 221-20 in which the message is refused by the user of the mobile appliance;

^• a second possibility 221-21 in which the message gives rise to a request for contact with the sender of the message; and

^• a third possibility 221-22 in which the user of the mobile appliance makes a request for a pack of messages .

In the second case 221-21, the request for contact gives rise to a step 221-23 in which the request for contact is transferred to the advertiser. In the second and third cases 221-21 and 221-22, the requests are recorded in the request dossier D8 of the user of the target mobile appliance. On the basis of this request dossier D8 (Figure 6B) , the means 221-3 for processing the request from the user of the mobile appliance by the sender of messages enables the server system to make contact either in deferred time or else in real time. In deferred time, the processing is performed in a step 221- 30, enabling, for example, documentation or a user callback program to be sent. In real time, the means 221-3 for processing the request of the user of the mobile appliance by the sender of the messages enables the following three steps to be performed: • a first step 221-31 in which contact can be made in real time, for example by a voice server, a call management center, a WAP site, an Internet connection, or a Minitel connection;

• a second step 221-32 in which communication made with the mobile appliance via the server; and

• a third step 221-33 in which dialog between the user of the mobile appliance and the sender of the message is implemented.

The call to the mobile appliance, and management of the dialog between the user and the sender of the message takes place via the message server acting as a gateway, e.g. as a WAP gateway, or directly by automatically dialing a call number or by setting up a link using a procedure and on the basis of data that appear in the scenario. In both cases (contact with the sender via the "gateway" of the message server or via direct contact with the sender of the messages) , the existence of and the characteristics of the contact are preferably archived in the mobile appliance and transmitted (e.g. periodically) to the message server and stored in the server together with other monitoring data. The message server 2 also has transport apparatus 23 as shown in Figures 7A, 7B, 7C, and 7D to manage calls to each mobile appliance.

It preferably performs these operations firstly while taking account of periods of time negotiated with the operator of the network, and secondly while managing repeats that can be necessary depending on whether or not receipt is acknowledged.

The transport apparatus 23 can, for example, keep up to date a transmission memory with time stamps for events that have occurred in the use of the mobile appliance, mentions of success, and where appropriate mentions of failure .

The transport apparatus 23 receives the contents of the various out mailboxes prepared by the send means 220 of the content processor apparatus 22 (Figure 5B) in particular the technical out mailbox D9 containing the scenario for installing software in various types of mobile appliance for the purpose of displaying messages, the mailbox D10 for sending message packs, and the mailbox for sending individual messages Dll.

Starting from these out mailboxes D9, D10, Dll, transport management is performed initially by out mailbox analysis means 230 that prepare transmission in order to enable a server send sequencer D15 to be updated.

The sequencer contains a set of records, each record containing the input data required for enabling the sequencer to be operated (for physical transmission to the mobile appliances) either by the server (via the mobile telephone network) , or by the mobile telephone network (in the event of adaptation being performed by the operator of the message server sequencing desired for sending, e.g. as a function of operating data known only to the operator of the mobile telephone network and not available to the message server) .

A record contained in the sequencer comprises at least the following elements (when performed by the message server) : an encapsulation object transmissible over the mobile telephone network together with the desired sending time stamp. The record also includes (when performed by the telephone network) a set of alternative encapsulation objects (conveying the same message or group of messages) from which the selection is made (by the operator of the network 4) to use the object which is the most suitable given, in particular, the instantaneous state of the network and given the target mobile appliance.

In one embodiment, the out mailbox analysis means 230 integrated in the transport apparatus 23 serves to perform the following five steps :

^• a first step 230-1 in which the out mailboxes D9, D10, and Dll are pre-sequenced as a function of desired dates and times;

^• a second step 230-2 in which a transmission medium is selected as a function of availability on offer from the network operator, on the basis of technical and economic criteria supplied by an operator dossier Dlβ. For example, the medium may be of the FAX type, of the string-data type, of the GPRS type, etc.:

^• a third step 230-3 in which the messages are prepared as a function of the selected transport medium, for example FAX encapsulation, and in which a data transmission protocol is prepared; ^• an optional fourth step 230-4 in which one or more alternative send media are prepared in the event of the network operator performing optimized physical management of message sending; and • a fifth step 230-5 in which the sending is sequenced as a function of network operator specifications and bandwidth availability. This operation can be performed on the basis of data or information contained in the operator dossier D16, and in a statistics dossier D17 relating to network occupation, said statistics being updated in real time in order to make it possible to forecast subsequent passband availability. When physical management is performed by the network operator, this step has no effect. The server send sequencer D15 as generated in this way during the steps described above, is then processed by the means 231 for physical transmission of messages (Figures 7B, 7C, 7D) . Physical transmission of the messages is performed either by internal management means 231-1 within the message server 2, or by management means 231-2 by the network operator.

In the first case, the internal management means 231-1 enable the following steps to be performed:

^• a first step 231-10 in which the management of call strategy is generated as a function of the state of the mobile appliance, where "state" means, for example, that the mobile appliance is out of reach (out of range or switched off) , or busy, or available;

• a second step 231-11 in which transport is processed by one or more high data rate communications servers;

• a third step 231-12 in which the call is set up in the event of the mobile appliance being available;

• a fourth step 231-13 in which information transfer is performed;

• a fifth step 231-14 in which a transmission acknowledgment of receipt is received by the network operator. This acknowledgment is data or a collection of data transmitted by the mobile appliance when it has received a message. It can be established on the basis of data contained in the activation scenario of the received message; and

^• a sixth step 231-15 in which the transmission is checked for corruption and giving rise to confirmation.

When physical transmission is managed by the network operator, the network operator management means 231-2 in one embodiment serves to perform the following steps:

^• a first step 231-20 in which updates of the operator send sequencer are received from the server;

^• a second step 231-21 in which the active sequencer is updated, i.e. an extract of the operator send sequencer as a function in particular of criteria concerning latest time and date, etc.;

^• a third step 231-22 in which an iteration is performed on the active server send sequencer D15 to determine in real time the state of the mobile appliance to be reached, and in particular:

^• as seen b the network whether it is attached or detached, and if it is attached the identity of the cell to which it is attached;

^• availability of the mobile appliance (free/busy) ; • the available transmission capacity for the link between the mobile appliance and the server of the telephony operator, as a function in particular of:

^• either (for a mobile appliance that is free) of the various physical paths enabling the attachment cell to be reached; or else

• (when the mobile appliance is busy) the state of the call that is in progress; under such circumstances, the telephone operator will observe in particular all of the pertinent parameters relating to the optimization procedure it has selected, parameters such as, for example, percentage occupation of the go- and-return bandwidths, and/or the SMS circuit. This step can be implemented on the basis of fine data D18 concerning network occupation:

^• a fourth step 231-23 in which the communications media available for immediate transmission are determined in real time, e.g. a DATA channel, an SMS channel, a voice channel, the return bandwidth, the unsaturated active bandwidth, etc. Each strategy is associated with particular message formatting (cf. step 230-4);

^• a fifth step 231-24 in which the costs of using each communications medium are analyzed while taking account in particular of the marginal cost of consuming the corresponding resources, of increased value given the urgency of the message to be sent, etc.;

^• a sixth step 231-25 in which the send decision module is activated, i.e. a strategy that its parameterizable and of evolving logic is applied after verifying the validity of the decision parameters, in particular those stemming from steps 231-23 and 231-24. The send decision module can be an algorithmic module or an expert system or a neural network or any other pure or combined decision-making technique;

^• a seventh step 231-26 in which the call is set up;

^■ an eighth step 231-27 in which information is transferred; • a ninth step 231-28 in which transmission is verified for lack of corruption, including an acknowledgment mechanism;

• a tenth step 231-29 in which confirmation of transmission is added to the server send sequencer D15; and

^■ an eleventh step 231-30 in which the original send sequencer is updated for return.

In the two circumstances explained above, i.e. internal management of physical transmission by the means 231-1, and external management by the operator using the means 231-2, transmission management gives rise to a step 232 in which confirmation of message transmission and an audit trail of transmission are recorded, with all this information being archived in the server send sequencer D15 and in a transmission audit trail dossier D19.

By way of example, the following data can be given concerning the dimensions of the server system or the message processor system of the invention for use with 1.5 million users or subscribers to the system and for about 30 screens or messages being broadcast per day and per subscriber. The transport apparatus or means 23 then need to handle 2000 transactions per second which corresponds, at present, to the capacity of a large standard commercially available server, and the data rate between said means 23 and the network operator 4 needs to be of the order of 0.3 Gbits to 0.5 Gbits . When the number of users and/or screens per day and per subscriber is n times as great or only one nth as great, then the above data relating to the number of daily transactions and to data rate need to be multiplied or divided accordingly (the relationship is linear between said data and the number of users or screens per day and per subscriber) .

This shows that the system of the invention is not particularly greedy in its consumption of physical processing resources at transport level. The system of the invention is described above in terms of means enabling certain functions to be accomplished. These means are essentially implemented in the form of software which runs on the system as shown in Figure 2A and as described above with reference to that figure.

The invention thus also applies to a computer program including instructions for implementing one or more of the above-described functions. The invention also applies to any data medium or other medium suitable for being read by a computer system or a server and on which such instructions are stored. Certain functions of the above-described system (e.g. appropriate image processing to adapt it to the technical profile of the target receiver appliance) lie within a given module (e.g. the means for the image processing function) , whereas other implementations are possible. For example, the function of individualized image processing can be implemented equally well in the receiver appliance instead of in the server, particularly when using transmissions that implement the broadcast function of the network operator, as can apply to sending SMS messages. Under such circumstances, the same SMS messages are sent to all of the mobile appliances that have previously received respective files activating targeting filters that are themselves individualized (they contain the message filtering data mentioned above) and having the function of retaining in any given mobile appliance only those SMS messages that corresponds to the targeting. This file for activating the targeting filter is initiated in the management means or the means for processing content and for formatting by the means for processing content. The transport means 23 send to the network operator:

(1) one filter activation SMS message per mobile subscriber; and • (2) a single set of SMS messages (e.g. interactive images) that are broadcast by the network operator: under such circumstances, the traffic between the message server and the network operator (data rate and above all number of transactions) is considerably reduced. This implementation is ideal in certain intended applications (such as making surveys) and also for digital TV.

In another aspect, when messages are broadcast in broadcast mode and the operator 4 is a digital radio operator (e.g. a consumer operator), a major reduction in operating costs of the system is obtained: bandwidth consumption is limited to sending filter data of the kind described above and to sending service messages (messages for updating the target database) . The cost of broadcasting then becomes marginal. This assumes that the receiver appliances possess a radio receiver function. The network function 4, e.g. a mobile telephony operator, is illustrated in Figure 8 for a particular embodiment of the invention.

The down information streams 41 going to the mobile appliances 8, 10 and coming from the message server 2 are processed in a first step 411 in which the messages for transmission are received, and in a second step 412 in which said messages are forwarded to the appliances.

The up information streams 42 from the mobile appliances 8, 10 are processed in a first monitoring step 421 in which message acknowledgments are processed, and a second monitoring step 422 in which messages generated by the mobile appliances are returned to the server 2. In parallel, an operation 423 can be used to produce statistics on operation of the network, said statistics relating in particular to load forecasting, the real time situation of mobile appliances, and real time occupation of the bandwidth.

In one embodiment of the invention, the functions performed by a mobile appliance 8, 10 are as shown in Figure 9. The down streams destined for the mobile appliance come from the mobile technical update mailbox D9, the message pack mailbox D10, and the individual message mailbox Dll (Figure 5B) .

In this embodiment, the mobile appliance 8 has technical update means 81, pack management means 82, and individual message management means 83.

These means are essentially software means, the instructions for running these software elements being contained in memory zones of each of the mobile appliances and/or the corresponding SIM card (GSM) or the USIM card (UMTS) , and/or any SMART card that may optionally be associated with the mobile appliance. When a portion of the software is contained in or on one or more of the specific cards mentioned above, only the holder of said card(s) can use the message receiver appliance under conditions defined specifically by the card (s) .

The technical update means 81 enable a first step 811 to be performed for activating the installation scenario, and a second step 812 to be performed for updating the software version number of the mobile appliance.

When the updating data is sent by the server system 2 in the manner explained above, this data is recognized by the read software of the mobile appliance as being technical update data, e.g. by using a special label or file accompanying the update data, and the data is processed as such. The data is therefore stored so as to replace or be added to software technical data that already exists or is implanted in the mobile appliance. The pack management means 82 serve in a first step 821 to allow the user to navigate through a pack of messages, and in a second step 822 to make up a new pack.

The individual message management means 83 enable messages to be caused to appear 831 on the screen of the mobile appliance. In a particular mode of use, messages from the server system 2 are sent in response to a request made by the user, in which the user requests that specific messages be sent, e.g. messages that have been prepared for the user and stored in the server system 2, and/or messages that have been selected as a function of some given topic as selected by the user. In which case, the server system 2 may make a search through the messages, e.g. using key words, that are contained in the database (es) D7 (Figure 5A) or the memory zones storing messages ready for sending.

This function whereby the user requests sending can be automated by specific software enabling the user appliance to act at determined instants to request that the specific messages be sent, for example messages of the kind described in the paragraph above.

As already explained above, each message transmitted by the server system 2 and for display on a mobile appliance comprises an image file and a file which describes or determines a particular activation or display protocol.

For example, this protocol can enable display on the mobile appliance to be deferred as a function of events that occur in the appliance itself. The message is then stored in a memory zone of the appliance on being received, but it is not displayed on the display means of the appliance until some predetermined event takes place in the appliance: for example the appliance is switched on; and/or switched off; and/or initialized; and/or a call is ended; and/or a call is received; and/or a call ceases to be received; and/or a sound signal is issued by the mobile telephone; and/or the keypad of the appliance is actuated in a particular way by the user (the keypad having one or more special keys or making selection possible from a function menu) in order to cause the display to operate; and/or any other type of interaction between the user and the mobile telephone, for example by means of a voice control apparatus and/or a touch- sensitive screen.

It is possible to parameterize this deferred display function in such a manner that each user can select the deferred display mode or conditions that the user finds most suitable.

After detecting the arrival of an event that might trigger display, the read software of the appliance triggers the activation protocol or the visual presentation software, thereby initiating display. In a particular embodiment, the appliance can receive a message in a manner that is transparent for its user. Under such circumstances, the user is not informed that reception is taking place and reception takes place without any need for user intervention.

When the sending of messages by the server system 2 and the display of such messages on an appliance are not synchronized, then the message is stored either in a memory zone of the mobile telephone network 4 (see Figure 1) or in the appliance for which the message is intended, itself.

A portion of a message transmitted by the server system 2 can be stored in the SIM card (GSM) or the USIM card (UMTS) , when such a card is present in the receiver appliance of the user. It is then possible to implement a procedure for locking access to the message, e.g. by requesting the identity of the addressee and by verifying said identity. Thus, a third party using the appliance with some other SIM or USIM card cannot access the portion of the message stored in the memory.

As explained above, each message can include a dialog medium enabling the addressee of the message to interact in real or deferred time either with the server 2 or with a site or server belonging to a third party, e.g. a site or server belonging to the person that caused the message in question to be sent (the "announcer") . In particular, the messages sent by the server system 2 can contain software pointers enabling the addressees to gain access to information that is not directly available in the message, and enabling links to be established in real time or in deferred time. These pointers can enable connections to be established with the server system 2 itself or with other parties.

The operations performed by the means 81, 82, and 83 are followed by a new step 84 in which data concerning the processing of messages is recorded in a memory zone of the appliance, thus making up a collection of data D20 or a monitoring dossier D20.

This data is recorded, for example, as a function of instructions contained in the activation scenario: it is thus the scenario which serves to decide for any given message which data is to be stored concerning the processing of the message.

The data D20 contains, for example, the identity of each message, and/or the date and time at which the message was seen by the user, and/or a read acknowledgment (e.g.: 1 = read / 0 = not read), and/or actions and/or reactions on the part of the user, etc.

By way of example, it can be observed that a message has been perceived each time the user interacts with the appliance (by pressing on one of the keys of the keypad, for example) in a time interval equal to the duration required for presenting the message on the display means of the appliance. This data can also include data or information corresponding to responses given by the user in reply to questions accompanying the message and displayed under the control of the activation scenario so as to correspond with the display of the image and/or other information. For example, one and/or the other of the following questions can be put to the user:

^■ are you interested? (reply: yes/no) ; and

^• would you like more information? (reply: yes/no) . Starting from the data D20, the appliance has means 85 for preparing up information streams from the mobile appliance to the server 2. In an embodiment, these means enable the following steps to be- performed:

• a first step 851 in which the technical option "up medium" is selected; and • a second step 852 in which the message is prepared as a function of the medium selected for information return. From this step 852, there stems a step 853 of information being returned at the initiative of the mobile appliance, and a step 854 of information being returned at the initiative of the server.

In another embodiment, already mentioned above, the receiver appliance includes a filter function using filter data that has already been received and stored and that was initially sent by the message processing system of the invention. The system then broadcasts messages and the broadcast messages are filtered by the receiver appliance which identifies which messages are to be read and which messages are to be ignored.

The filter data is specific to each user, and is, for example, previously processed by the individual message management means 220-3 as described above with reference to Figure 5A.

An advantage of this embodiment, as already mentioned above, lies in the reduction of traffic between the server system or the message processing system and the network operator. In addition, the receiver appliance can then incorporate a message formatting function, e.g. for adapting the message as a function of the technical characteristics of the receiver appliance.

Information returned from the mobile appliances is processed by the verification steps 11 (Figure 3) as shown in Figure 10.

In an embodiment, the server system 2 implements the following steps .

Initially, a step 60 serves to determine whether information is being returned from any of the destination appliances .

It can then be determined (step 61) whether one or another of the following functions needs to be modified or adapted: - a first function 611 for adaptation and optimization as a function of bandwidth availability in the telecommunications network, associated with above- described step 230-5;

- a second function 612 for adapting and optimizing batches of messages to be transmitted, and associated with above-described step 230-2; - a third function 613 for adapting and optimizing message broadcast campaigns as a function of the target user profile and of the result of the current campaign, associated with above-described step 220-4; - a fourth function 614 for adapting and optimizing mobile appliance call strategies, in association with above-described step 231-2; and

- a fifth function 615 for adapting and optimizing packs as a function of target user profiles and requests, in association with above-described step 221-3.

A message broadcast system of the invention can implement one or more of these regulation loops .

Thus, the message presentation system of the invention makes it possible to collect and archive message presentation data in real time for each message and for each addressee, which data can be used in real or deferred time by the server system 2 for updating the database 42 (see Figure 3) in real or deferred time.

In other words, the system enables data relating to the profile of an addressee to be updated and enriched and this can make it possible, amongst other things, to improve the preparation or the presentation of messages that are subsequently addressed to that user.

The system of the invention can also advantageously be used for any survey type study in which a question is put to a user and the user provides a reply. The reply can be stored as an element of the dossier D20, and then forwarded to the server system 2 in the manner described above. Under such circumstances, after observing (step 60) that return information is present and has come from addressee appliances, the data can be subjected, for example, to processing and to statistical analysis, e.g. prior to above-described step 61.

Such statistical analysis enables the behavior of users to be analyzed.

An example of the system of the invention that comprises as shown in Figure 1 a message server 2 and that is used as an intermediary in a WAP application, is described below with reference to Figure 11.

By way of example, the server 2 has means for forming and storing messages, or for processing messages, in order to present such messages on the display means of receiver appliances 8, 11, and in particular mobile telephones .

The server system 2 can thus include means or modules that are identical or similar to the means 21 for managing message content and to the means 22 for processing said content as described above, together with variants thereof, with reference to Figures 3 to 6B.

The transport means used essentially make use of a network 70, e.g. the Internet or an intranet. A gateway 74 enables messages to be sent, preferably using only the basic functions of the WAP standard. This makes it possible to avoid technical risks such as non- compliance or incomplete implementations of WAP accessory functions, or changes in the standard, or performance problems associated with using WAP functions that are complex.

A WEB-WAP server 72 enables messages to be transformed into the HTTP protocol as accepted by the gateway 74. This gateway, which is operated in WEB-SMS mode under WAP protocol, can also serve to broadcast messages and files (e.g.: image files and activation scenario files) for reception by receiver appliances, and for conveying return information (as explained above: interaction messages, and/or monitoring, and/or detection that the messages have been read) .

This gateway can also be a WEB-FAX gateway used in addition to and/or instead of the WEB-SMS gateway; the purpose of this is to transfer FAX pages to receiver appliances by encapsulating messages from the server 2 (image file, scenario file) . A wireless telephony application (WTA) server 76 serves to integrate functions that are locally activatable in receiver appliances on an event in the services supplied to subscribers (users of receiver appliances such as mobile telephones) , and to do so by means applications stored in the WEB server 72. Events that might be used for activation purposes include, for example :

- the detection of an incoming call; - the detection of recalls from the voice mailbox;

- the detection of call divergence;

- automatic updating of a telephone address book;

- automatic call placement to specific numbers. A WEB-WAP site 78 can be connected to the server system 2 which forwards messages coming from said site. The gateway 74 is connected to an SMS router 80, to a CSD router 82, and to a GSSN router 84.

The assembly constituted by the gateway 74, the server 76, the routers 80-84, and the sender 86 constitutes the transmission network 4.

Another embodiment is given in Figure 12 where numerical references that are identical to those used above are used therein to designate technical elements that are identical or that correspond. Reference 71 designates an intranet network having means 21 and 22 connected thereto for managing content and for processing content, and transport means 23 themselves connected to the WEB-WAP server 72 (or in a variant, including said server 72) . Reference 90 designates a message sender to which the system of the invention supplies a message broadcast service. In this example, a WEB-WAP site 78 is connected to the message broadcast system of the invention via the Internet 73. The assembly is connected via the intranet 71 to the gateway 74 and to the other elements described above with reference to Figure 11, but not shown in Figure 12 (routers 80-84, server 76).

In a particular embodiment of a receiver appliance (specifically: a particular embodiment of software specific to the invention and concerned with loading data into the memories of the appliance) , the appliance can store a plurality of messages, i.e. a plurality of image files (each associated with a corresponding scenario file) , in such a manner as to minimize the use of network connections.

In addition, in a WAP environment, the telephone, or the receiver appliance, or the mobile receiver appliance stores basic WAP functions.

It can then start messages that it has received and stored by means of a "browser", and it can do this without any synchronous or on-line connection to the environment of real WAP sites (e.g. the site 78 in Figure 12), i.e. without consuming bandwidth.

The messages stored in this way in the appliance can be of different kinds. For example some messages can be conventional interactive visual messages, such as interactive advertising or survey questionnaires.

It is also possible for the messages to concern tailor-made extracts, e.g. implemented by the content management means 21 as a function of the addressee profile, e.g. on the basis of a theme.

In this way, it is also possible to send messages from WAP sites that use the message server 2 to cause the user of the mobile appliance to make a connection to such sites, either directly, or via the WAP gateway associated with the message server 2.

Thus, the server 2 can download a reduced image into mobile appliances, which image can be adapted to pages giving access to various WAP sites that are partners of the message server 2. If a user desires to access a WAP site that the user would like to consult or visit in greater detail, then a connection can be set up.

Connection can thus be set up immediately. However, it can also be set up asynchronously, e.g. for the purpose of optimizing bandwidth use or as a function of user desires.

As already mentioned above, an asynchronous connection can be initiated either by the receiver appliance (e.g. in response to an event or a user request) , or by the server (with the server sending, for example, an SMS message to the mobile appliance which then sets up the WAP call), e.g. on the basis of information concerning loading on the mobile telephony network, which information can be forecast information based on statistics that are periodically updated as a function of the audit trail of bandwidth consumption in the network, or on the observation in real time of the loading state of the network (see dossier D17, step 230- 5, Figure 7A) .

It is thus possible to send messages globally from WAP sites in asynchronous mode, and to do so at low cost relative to the resources of the network of the operator 4. This method of proceeding is much more economical than when WAP sites are consulted directly, synchronously, or on-line.

It is thus possible to minimize costs for the user of the receiver appliance, to obtain better performance in searching for information when the search is prepared as a function of the profile of the user, and to optimize use of the available passband (which is an advantage from the point of view of the operator of the mobile telephone network 4) . The functions enabling pages or messages to be loaded and stored in the receiver appliance can be implemented in a SIM card (GSM) or in a USIM card (UMTS) , or in a SMART card associated with the appliance.

When a request is made for connection to a WAP site, the memories are scanned to determine whether messages have been loaded from that site. If so, said messages are displayed during the initial stage of making a connection to the site, between the instant at which a request for connection is made and the instant at which connection is indeed established. An increase in performance in the use of the WAP environment from a mobile telephone can thus be obtained by creating and/or updating (in deferred mode or using unsaturated bandwidth during transmission) , in the mobile appliance, by using an environment which simulates locally the WAP environment (a virtual WAP environment) or an extract of said environment, which can be adapted, for example, as a function of the profile of the user of the mobile appliance and of the type of application intended. This increase in performance is associated in particular with the following aspects.

GPRS/GSM transmission (or its UMTS equivalent) is intended to constitute a medium for WAP mode interaction in the context of computer sessions which, once opened, are kept open even though data is transmitted only when necessary.

Connection time delay (time required to open a GPRS session) is of the 3 seconds (s) to 7 s depending on how the network is set up. This time delay can be even longer, if the bandwidth is busy.

This time delay is therefore rather long and is uncomfortable for the user.

Furthermore, in practice, this time delay is technically incompressible. As a result there is a risk of WAP coming into being more slowly than WAP operators would like (it being recalled that WAP is going to be implemented in highly generalized (standardized) manner on GSM mobile appliances from 2001, and subsequently on UMTS mobile appliances) .

In addition, insofar as a current WAP session can be interrupted to allow the mobile appliance to be used for other purposes (e.g. sending or receiving a telephone call), the user of the appliance may be subjected to one or more reruns of the connection time delay even before terminating WAP interaction with a given object. This applies regardless of whether the interaction was initiated by the user (PULL mode) or by the outside world (PUSH mode) .

In accordance with the invention, the existence in the mobile transmission of a virtual WAP environment enables the user to navigate "locally" before a connection is established (in particular between the instant on which a connection order or request is issued and the instant on which connection is established) in order to give access to the real WAP environment. The possibility of setting up a virtual WAP environment targeted as a function of the profile of the user (e.g. of the objectives the user is likely to be following and/or the content the user is likely to seek via WAP interaction) means that this "local" navigation makes it possible to take advantage of the time delay required for opening a session in order to prepare that session effectively.

Local simulation of the WAP environment (virtual WAP) also makes it possible to implement an original "PUSH" technique in GPRS (or its UMTS equivalent) .

This consists in loading into the mobile appliance not only that which the user has requested, but also other data or information, e.g. corresponding to the most likely future requests, given the user profile that has already been recorded elsewhere. By way of example, this profile is made up in the form of data in a memory D16 of the server system 2, for example the database 42 in Figure 3 or Figure 12. By way of example, this can be illustrated as follows: the subscriber requests stock exchange information. Given the subscriber's profile, it can be seen that the subscriber is always interested in the same particular shares, or in certain time series. Information concerning these particular shares are thus injected into the same packet as the response to the request.

This data is transmitted to the user's appliance during periods prior to the user making a request for connection. The data is stored in a memory zone of the receiver appliance.

Subsequently, when the user makes a request for a WAP connection, the information or data stored in this way is presented to the user in the time interval between the user making the request for connection and the instant at which connection takes place, or at least during a portion of said interval.

This presentation can be made, for example, by means of the browser of the appliance. The browser is thus used to read or present information that has already been stored locally in memory zones of the receiver appliance. Starting from there, the mobile appliance makes it possible to browse through the data, by locally simulating the WAP environment. Response times then become very short for reduced consumption of bandwidth and the user can take advantage of connection time delays to display information that has already been stored in the appliance.

This thus constitutes a combination of synchronous and asynchronous transmission, with the use of data transmitted asynchronously serving to mask the time delays associated with using a synchronous connection. The receiver appliance can also operate under asynchronous transmission conditions with messages being presented asynchronously, just as in synchronous operation. Combined asynchronous and synchronous mode is advantageous for the reasons given above. It is particularly advantageous when, starting from 2001 (CS2 coding) the data rate reaches 13.5 kb/s in the up direction (mobile appliance to network) and 40 kb/s in the down direction (network to mobile appliance) . This makes it possible to transmit imperceptibly (e.g.. in one second) the contents of several mobile screens or several significant data files.

The virtual WAP environment constituted in the mobile appliance in accordance with the invention and as explained above can be used as an alternative to transmitting or updating various data or programs in the mobile appliance on a synchronous basis, providing the data or programs are relatively small in size. The aspects of the invention explained above relating to improved use of the WAP environment will favor development of WAP by hiding its perceived imperfections .

These aspects can be combined with other aspects of the invention as described above, in particular the techniques mentioned for improving the perceived quality of display images and for improving interaction ergonomy.

The invention described above describes a message system, however it also relates to an overall or multimedia system made up of a plurality of systems of the invention, e.g. a server system for mobile telephony, a server system for interactive TV, a server system for fixed Internet activity (a special case in which the receiver appliances are fixed rather than mobile) . Thus, it is possible to use an interactive multimedia message system, with the content used by each subsystem being capable of sharing elements in common and/or associated with those used by other subsystems, thus making it possible to optimize conditions of access to such content (e.g. ergonomy, and/or behavior over time, and/or synchronization, and/or image quality) . For example, it is possible to prepare a content pack in the context of a mobile telephone subsystem for deferred display in the context of interactive television subsystems.

Claims

1/ A system for processing messages, each message having image and/or text and/or executable code characteristics, the system comprising: - first means for receiving and formatting the image and/or text and/or code characteristics of each message for presentation on receiver appliances, thereby producing a first transformed message;

- second means for formatting the first transformed message for presentation on a predetermined type of receiver appliance, thereby producing a second transformed message; and

- forwarding means for forwarding the second transformed message to one or more receiver appliances or to a network for transmission to receiver appliances.

2/ A system according to claim 1, in which said first means include means for digitizing the messages to be processed.

3/ A system according to claim 1, including means for forming an image file and a scenario file or presentation protocol for each message to be sent, the scenario file or presentation protocol including data indicating that the image file or the message comes from the message processing system.

4/ A system according to claim 3, in which the presentation scenario file further includes an indication of a receiver appliance to which the image file is to be sent.

5/ A system according to claim 1, in which said second means include means for adapting at least one message as a function of technical characteristics of at least one receiver appliance to which it is addressed. 6/ A system according to claim 1, in which said second means include means for implementing an algorithm for altering images as a function of the predetermined type of receiver appliance.

7/ A system according to claim 6, in which the image alteration algorithm is of the type that averages image pixels, that suppresses or interprets chrominance, or that performs skeletization, or that fuses images by visual remanence .

8/ A system according to claim 1, in which_. the second transformed message has image characteristics of alphamosaic format or of low definition JPEG type format.

9/ A system according to claim 1, further including a database of technical details of the receiver appliances.

10/ A system according to claim 1, in which said forwarding means forward said second transformed message at instants that are predetermined as a function of the addressee of the message.

11/ A system according to claim 1, in which said second means further comprise a database containing or storing, in respect of at least one user and one message, at least one send instant or data defining at least one desired time interval for said second means to send the second transformed message to the transmission network or to the receiver appliances.

12/ A system according to claim 1, further including a database itself including, for at least one user, an indication of at least one message or at least one group or type of messages to be sent. 13/ A system according to claim 1, in which said receiver appliances can send messages to the message processing system, said processing system further including means for receiving and processing return messages coming from receiver appliances and sent by them either directly or subsequently after receiving messages forwarded by said processing system.

14/ A system according to claim 13, which responds to return messages to determine whether a user of a receiver appliance should be connected to the source of a message received by said user.

15/ A system according to claim 14, in which the system responds to return messages to determine whether the user of a receiver appliance should be connected to a voice server, or to a call management center, or to a WAP site, or to a Web or Internet site, or to a Minitel server.

16/ A system according to claim 14, further including means for storing data relating to whether said user is connected or not connected to said message source.

17/ A system according to claim 1, further including storage means for storing data relating to a plurality of messages that can be sent.

18/ A system according to claim 17, including means for selecting one or more messages to be applied to said storage means.

19/ A system according to claim 1, including storage means for storing a set of messages for sending, and to identify amongst said messages those which are for sending more than once and/or those which are to be deleted from said storage means . 20/ A system according to claim 1, further including means for preparing and sending to at least one of said receiver appliances, at least one collection of data or at least one data file corresponding to a program for reading and/or processing data, and for storing in said receiver appliance.

21/ A system according to claim 1, including forwarding means including storage means for storing data concerning time intervals for forwarding messages to a destination appliance .

22/ A system according to claim 1, including forwarding means having means for selecting a forwarding medium.

23/ A system according to claim 22, where the forwarding medium is of the SMS or FAX or STRING or DATA or WAP type.

24/ A system according to claim 1, in which messages are forwarded as a function of technical data concerning the transmission network and/or a data transmission line, or technical data characterizing the state of the transmission network and/or said line, between said system and said transmission network.

25/ A system according to claim 1, in which message forwarding is followed by the receiver appliance that has received the message issuing an acknowledgment of receipt or data indicating that said message has been received.

26/ A system for broadcasting messages to transceiver appliances for transmitting and receiving said messages, the system comprising: - a message processing system according to claim 1 connected to a WAP site by a communications network; - means for receiving data transmitted by the transceiver appliances and requesting connection to the WAP site; and

- means for operating in a manner that is not synchronized with the requests for connection to send messages coming from the WAP site and processed by the message processing system.

27/ A server system for broadcasting messages, the system comprising:

- means for processing messages to enable said messages to be presented on display means of appliances for receiving the messages; and

- means for receiving data returned by said receiver appliances, directly or subsequently, in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances.

28/ A system according to claim 27, including means for operating on each message to be sent to form an image file and a scenario file or presentation protocol, the scenario or presentation protocol including data indicating that the image file or the message comes from the server system for broadcasting messages.

29/ A system according to claim 28, in which the presentation scenario file further includes the indication of a receiver appliance to which the image file is to be sent.

30/ A system according to claim 1, in which each message contains one or more visual content files and an activation protocol for activating presentation of the message .

31/ A system according to claim 30, in which the activation protocol enables presentation of messages to be deferred as a function of events occurring in the use of the communications receiver appliance.

32/ A system according to claim 27, in which the data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to presentation of said messages includes data relating to the presentation of the messages.

33/ A system according to claim 32, in which the data relating to the presentation of said messages includes data identifying the messages and the date and/or _.time at which said messages were perceived or displayed.

34/ A system according to claim 32, in which the data relating to the presentation of said messages includes data indicating whether an addressee has or has not yet read the messages.

35/ A system according to claim 1, further including a database relating to at least one user to whom messages are addressed.

36/ A system according to claim 35, further including means for modifying or updating said database as a function of data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances .

37/ A system according to claim 27, in which the means for processing messages for presentation of said messages perform processing as a function of data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented.

38/ A system according to claim 27, in which the means for processing messages enable the characteristics of the messages to be adapted to an appropriate form for viewing on the screens of mobile telephones or on electronic organizers or on portable microcomputers or on interactive digital TV appliances such as a TV fitted with a set-top box, for example.

39/ A system according to claim 27, in which the means for processing messages enable the characteristics of the messages to be adapted to a form appropriate for enabling the messages to be conveyed over a mobile telephone network or over a digital TV network.

40/ A system according to claim 39, in which messages are adapted as a function of a preestablished standard appropriate to communication between said server and a mobile telephone network, preferably a GSM standard, or a UMTS standard, and preferably implementing the GSM/GPRS transmission mode or its UMTS equivalent.

41/ A system according to claim 27, in which the means for processing messages enable the encapsulation of the messages to be adapted to a form appropriate for the messages to be conveyed by a transmission network, preferably in SMS or DATA or FAX page or WAP form, preferably in WAP/GPRS (or its UMTS equivalent) form.

42/ A system according to claim 27, in which said means for processing messages process the messages as a function of the technical characteristics of the destination appliances .

43/ A system for broadcasting messages according to claim 27, in which the means for processing messages enable groups of messages to be prepared for forwarding to at least one receiver appliance.

44/ A system for broadcasting messages including a server system according to claim 27, the server being connected by a communications network to a WAP site, the receiver appliances being appliances capable of transmitting connection requests to said WAP site, the server further comprising: - means for receiving data concerning requests for connection to the WAP site as transmitted by the transceiver appliances; and

- means for operating in a manner that is not synchronized relative to the connection requests to send messages that have come from the WAP site and that have been processed by the message processing system. .

45/ A system according to claim 1, said forwarding means or said system including means for optimizing message forwarding as a function of bandwidth availability associated with a wired or wireless network.

46/ A system according to claim 1, in which at least one message includes a visual part and a dialog medium associated with the visual part.

47/ A system according to claim 1, in which each message includes one or more logic pointers enabling the receivers of the messages to access information not contained in the messages.

48/ A mobile telephone network or a digital TV network including a message broadcast system according to claim 1.

49/ Mobile information-receiving apparatus including means for:

- determining whether a received collection of data comes from a message server system; and - if a collection of data does come from a message server system, processing said data as a function of processing protocol data contained in said collection of data .

50/ Apparatus according to claim 49, including data processing instructions, said instructions being stored at least in part in a SIM card (GSM) or a USIM card (UMTS) .

51/ Apparatus according to claim 49, further including means for determining whether received data is technical update data and, if so, whether it is for replacing or for adding to technical update data previously contained or stored in said apparatus.

52/ Apparatus according to claim 49, further including means for sending to said message server system data for processing messages selected or prepared by said server system.

53/ Apparatus according to claim 49, further including means for transmitting back to said message server data in reply or following reception and/or reading of a message .

54/ Apparatus according to claim 49, including means for storing data relating to processing received messages coming from the server system.

55/ Apparatus according to claim 53, in which the data stored and/or the data transmitted in response to or following reception and/or reading of a message is determined by the processing protocol contained in said received collection of data.

56/ Apparatus according to claim 52, in which the data transmitted and/or the data stored includes data identifying the message, and/or the date and/or the time of reception and/or of reading of the message and/or of actions performed by a user of said apparatus within a determined length of time following presentation of received data on display means or storage of data in the storage means of the apparatus .

57/ Apparatus according to claim 49, comprising:

- means for storing messages coming from said server system; and - means for reading said messages subsequent to reception thereof.

58/ Apparatus according to claim 57, in which the means for reading said messages include browser software stored in the storage means of the apparatus.

59/ Apparatus according to claim 57, including means active following a request for connection to a WAP site to identify the stored messages that come from said site and to read said messages.

60/ A method of sending messages from a message server system to message receiver appliances, the method comprising: - processing messages for presentation of the messages on display means of the message receiver appliances;

- sending said messages to said message receiver appliances; and - receiving data sent by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances .

61/ A method according to claim 60, in which the sending of messages is not synchronized relative to the presentation of said messages on the receiver appliances. 62/ A method according to claim 61, in which the sending of messages is unsynchronized by storing at least a portion of the messages in a broadcast network which receives the messages from the server system and which then broadcasts them to the receiver appliances.

63/ A method according to claim 61, in which the sending of messages is unsynchronized by storing at least a proton of the messages in storage means of the receiver appliances.

64/ A method according to claim 61, in which the messages are sent via a broadcast network, and said messages are unsynchronized as a function of bandwidth availability over said broadcast network.

65/ A method according to claim 64, in which said broadcast network is a mobile telephone network.

66/ A method of transmitting messages from a WAP site by means of a message server system to message receiver appliances capable of transmitting connection requests to the WAP site, the messages being transmitted without being requested by the receiver appliances or in a manner that is not synchronous relative to requests for connection to the site.

67/ A server system for broadcasting messages, the system comprising: - means for processing messages for presentation of said messages on the display means of message receiver appliances;

- means for sending to said receiver appliances data or messages containing information about messages to be read or not read, in a collection of messages for sending; and - means for sending said collection of messages to the receiver appliances.

68/ A system according to claim 67, including means for receiving data transmitted by said receiver appliances, directly or subsequently, in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances .

69/ A system according to claim 68, in which the data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented include data relating to the presentation of the messages.

70/ A system according to claim 69, in which the data relating to the presentation of said messages includes data identifying the messages and the date and/or time at which the messages were perceived or displayed.

71/ A system according to claim 69, in which the data relating to the presentation of said messages includes data indicating whether or not the addressee has read the messages .

72/ A system according to claim 67, in which each message contains one or more visual content files and an activation protocol for activating presentation of the message .

73/ A system according to claim 72, in with the activation protocol enables presentation of the messages to be deferred as a function of events that occur in the use of the communications receiver appliance.

74/ A system according to claim 67, including means for forming an image file and a scenario file or presentation protocol for each message to be sent, the scenario file or presentation protocol including data indicating that the image file or the message comes from the server system for broadcasting messages.

75/ A system according to claim 67, further including a database relating to at least one user to whom messages are addressed.

76/ A system according to claim 75, further including means for modifying or updating said database as a function of data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to said messages being presented on said receiver appliances .

77/ A system according to claim 68, in which the means for processing the messages for presentation of said messages form processing as a function of data transmitted by said receiver appliances in response to presentation of said messages.

78/ A system according to claim 68, in which the means for processing the messages enable the characteristics of the messages to be adapted to a form suitable for display on the screens of mobile telephones or of electronic organizers or of portable microcomputers, or on interactive digital TV sets, such as a TV fitted with a set-top box, for example.

79/ Mobile apparatus for receiving information according to claim 49, the apparatus including means for determining whether a received message is a message that can be read.

80/ Apparatus according to claim 79, further including means for adapting received messages for a determined presentation. 81/ A method of sending messages, the method comprising:

- sending said data messages to receiver appliances to determine in each receiver appliance which message can be read or not read; - processing the messages for presentation of said messages on the display means of the receiver appliances that receive the messages; and

- sending said messages to said receiver appliances .

82/ A method according to claim 81, in which the sending of said messages is not synchronous relative to the presentation of said messages on the receiver appliances.

83/ A method according to claim 81, in which said messages are desynchronized by storing at least a portion of the messages in a broadcast network which receives the messages from the server system and which subsequently broadcasts them to the receiver appliances.

84/ A method according to claim 81, in which the sending of the messages is unsynchronized by storing at least a portion of said messages in storage means of the receiver appliances .

85/ A method according to claim 60 or 66, including sending data to the message receiver appliances to determine in each receiver appliance which message can be read and which not read.

86/ A method according to claim 60 or 66, in which the messages are sent via a digital radio operator.

87/ A method according to claim 86, in which the messages are broadcast in a general broadcast mode.

88/ A broadcast system including at least two subsystems according to claim 1 or 67. 89/ A system according to claim 88, in which the at least two subsystems are of different kinds, the overall system constituting a multimedia system.

90/ A computer program including instructions for implementing a method according to claim 60 or 66.