1. Receiver for a text-information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects, comprising:
a transport-layer receiver configured to receive a transport signal so as to acquire a sequence of transport units;
an application-layer receiver comprising:
an extractor configured to inspect each transport unit and extract a fragment header and a corresponding fragment section therefrom so as to acquire a sequence of fragment sections with associated fragment headers;
a de-fragmenter configured to de-fragment the sequence of fragment sections by use of the fragment headers to acquire the information objects with, at least for a part of the information objects, composing the respective information object from a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
an information object handler configured to parse the information object to acquire an object header and an object content section and processing the information objects according to the object header,
wherein the fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections,
wherein the de-fragmenter is configured to perform the de-fragmentation by
a) checking the fragment header with which a current fragment section is associated as to whether the current fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections,
b) if so, check the fragment header of the current fragment section and the fragment headers associated with a run of fragment sections immediately following the current fragment section and ending at the fragment section immediately preceding a fragment section comprising a fragment header associated therewith which indicates that its fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, or at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that indicates that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, whatever occurs first in the sequence of fragment sections, as to whether there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers;
c) if there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers or if the run ends at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that does not indicate that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, discarding the current fragment section on the run of fragment sections and resuming the de-fragmentation at step a) with the fragment section immediately following the run of fragment sections as the current fragment section; and
d) otherwise, composing the information object from the current fragment section and the run of fragment sections,
wherein the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, wherein the transport-layer receiver is configured to inspect, for each transport packet, the transport packet header in order to obtain a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section and to extract and forward, by use of the payload extraction information, merely bits of the transport packet to the application-level receiver, which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
2. Receiver according to claim 1, wherein the de-fragmenter is configured to perform the de-fragmentation by checking, solely based on the fragment headers, as to whether the fragment sections completely reconstruct the information object which is fragmented into the sub-sequence of fragment sections or as to whether a fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections is missing.
3. Receiver according to claim 2, wherein the fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such the continuity index continuously changes from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections with starting from zero at the first fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections.
4. Receiver according to claim 1, wherein the application layer receiver and the transport layer receiver belong to different OSI layers.
5. Receiver according to claim 1, wherein the information object handler is configured to, in processing the information objects according to the object header, survey a data carousel formed by the information objects and step through a tree of text massages respectively contained in the content sections of the information objections and inter-linked to each other via information object addresses in the object headers responsive to user input of a user of the receiver.
6. Receiver according to claim 5, wherein the application layer receiver belongs to an OSI application layer and the transport layer receiver belongs to a OSI transport layer.
7. Transmitter for a text-based information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects, comprising:
an application-layer transmitter comprising:
a fragmenter configured to fragment the information objects into a sequence of fragment sections with, at least for a part of the information objects, fragmentising the respective information objects into a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
a header adder configured to provide each fragment section with a fragment header allowing a de-fragmentation of the fragment sections to acquire the information objects, each fragment section and the fragment header the respective fragment section is associated with, forming a transport unit,
wherein the header adder is configured such that fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections; and
a transport-layer transmitter configured to for transmit, transport unit-wise, the sequence of transport units within a transport signal,
wherein the transport-layer transmitter is configured to transmit the sequence of transport units within the transport signal such that the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, the transport packet header comprising a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section indicating the bits of the transport packet which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
8. Transmitter according to claim 7, wherein the application layer transmitter and the transport layer transmitter belong to different OSI layers.
9. Transmitter according to claim 7, wherein the application layer transmitter is configured to form a data carousel by the information objects so that a tree of text massages is defined by the data carousel with the each text message contained in a respective one of the content sections of the information objections, the text messages being inter-linked to each other via information object addresses in the object headers.
10. Transmitter according to claim 9, wherein the application layer transmitter belongs to an OSI application layer and the transport layer transmitter belongs to a OSI transport layer.
11. Method for receiving a text-information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects in form of a sequence of transport units comprising:
at transport layer level,
receiving a transport signal so as to obtain a sequence of transport units;
at application layer level,
inspecting each transport unit and extracting a fragment header and a corresponding fragment section therefrom so as to acquire a sequence of fragment sections with associated fragment headers;
de-fragmenting the sequence of fragment sections by use of the fragment headers to acquire the information objects with, at least for a part of the information objects, composing the respective information object from a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
parsing the information object to acquire an object header and an object content section and processing the information objects according to the object header,
wherein the fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections,
wherein the de-fragmentation is performed by
a) checking the fragment header with which a current fragment section is associated as to whether the current fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections,
b) if so, check the fragment header of the current fragment section and the fragment headers associated with a run of fragment sections immediately following the current fragment section and ending at the fragment section immediately preceding a fragment section comprising a fragment header associated therewith which indicates that its fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, or at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that indicates that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, whatever occurs first in the sequence of fragment sections, as to whether there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers;
c) if there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers or if the run ends at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that does not indicate that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, discarding the current fragment section on the run of fragment sections and resuming the de-fragmentation at step a) with the fragment section immediately following the run of fragment sections as the current fragment section; and
d) otherwise, composing the information object from the current fragment section and the run of fragment sections,
wherein the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, wherein the method for comprises, at transport layer, inspecting, for each transport packet, the transport packet header in order to obtain a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section and extracting and forwarding, by use of the payload extraction information, merely bits of the transport packet to the application-layer level, which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
12. Method for transmitting a text-based information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects in form of a sequence of transport units within a transport signal, comprising:
at application layer level,
fragmenting the information objects into a sequence of fragment sections with, at least for a part of the information objects, fragmentising the respective information objects into a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
providing each fragment section with a fragment header allowing a de-fragmentation of the fragment sections to acquire the information objects, each fragment section and the fragment header the respective fragment section is associated with, forming a transport unit,
wherein the provision of each fragment section with a fragment header is performed such that fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections; and
at transport-layer level,
transmitting, transport unit-wise, the sequence of transport units within a transport signal,
wherein the method comprises, in the transport-layer level, transmitting the sequence of transport units within the transport signal such that the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, the transport packet header comprising a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section indicating the bits of the transport packet which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
13. Computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions for performing, when running on a computer, a method for receiving a text-information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects in form of a sequence of transport units comprising:
at transport layer level,
receiving a transport signal so as to obtain a sequence of transport units;
at application layer level,
inspecting each transport unit and extracting a fragment header and a corresponding fragment section therefrom so as to acquire a sequence of fragment sections with associated fragment headers;
de-fragmenting the sequence of fragment sections by use of the fragment headers to acquire the information objects with, at least for a part of the information objects, composing the respective information object from a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
parsing the information object to acquire an object header and an object content section and processing the information objects according to the object header,
wherein the fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections,
wherein the de-fragmentation is performed by
a) checking the fragment header with which a current fragment section is associated as to whether the current fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections,
b) if so, check the fragment header of the current fragment section and the fragment headers associated with a run of fragment sections immediately following the current fragment section and ending at the fragment section immediately preceding a fragment section comprising a fragment header associated therewith which indicates that its fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, or at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that indicates that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, whatever occurs first in the sequence of fragment sections, as to whether there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers;
c) if there is a discontinuity in the continuity index of these fragment headers or if the run ends at a fragment section that comprises a fragment header associated therewith that does not indicate that its fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections, discarding the current fragment section on the run of fragment sections and resuming the de-fragmentation at step a) with the fragment section immediately following the run of fragment sections as the current fragment section; and
d) otherwise, composing the information object from the current fragment section and the run of fragment sections,
wherein the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, wherein the method for comprises, at transport layer level, inspecting, for each transport packet, the transport packet header in order to obtain a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section and extracting and forwarding, by use of the payload extraction information, merely bits of the transport packet to the application-layer level, which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
14. Computer-readable non-transitory storage medium having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions for performing, when running on a computer, a method for transmitting a text-based information signal carrying text-based information content being distributed to information objects in form of a sequence of transport units within a transport signal, comprising:
at an application layer level,
fragmenting the information objects into a sequence of fragment sections with, at least for a part of the information objects, fragmentising the respective information objects into a sub-sequence of fragment sections of the sequence of fragment sections; and
providing each fragment section with a fragment header allowing a de-fragmentation of the fragment sections to acquire the information objects, each fragment section and the fragment header the respective fragment section is associated with, forming a transport unit,
wherein the provision of each fragment section with a fragment header is performed such that fragment headers associated with the sequence of the fragment sections are configured such
that the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the first fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented;
the fragment headers reveal as to whether the associated fragment section is the last fragment section of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented; and
the fragment headers of a sub-sequence of fragment sections into which an information object is fragmented comprise a continuity index continuously changing from the first to the last fragment section of the sub-sequence of fragment sections; and
at transport-layer level,
transmitting, transport unit-wise, the sequence of transport units within a transport signal,
wherein the method comprises, in the transport-layer level, transmitting the sequence of transport units within the transport signal such that the transport signal has each transport unit contained therein in a packetized form distributed onto one or more than one transport packet, each transport packet comprising a transport packet header and a transport packet data section, the transport packet header comprising a payload extraction information on a length of the transport content section or on a payload portion within the transport packet section indicating the bits of the transport packet which concern at least one of the fragment header and the fragment section.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A captive portal service offering system comprising:
an advertising server hosting at least one captive portal service offering page, wherein the advertising server is configured to both send and receive captive portal service offering pages;
a registration server configured to provide user account information associated with a user account, the user account information indicating whether the user account qualifies for a network service offered by the at least one captive portal service offering page, and to register the user account for the network service offered by the at least one captive portal service offering page;
an interface device associated with the user account and in communication with at least one client device, the interface device comprising:
at least one processor;
non-transitory computer readable media having encoded thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising:
instructions to retrieve, from the registration server, user account information associated with the user account;
instructions to determine, based on the user account information, whether to present the at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device;
instructions to direct, in response to a determination to present the at least one captive portal service offering page, one or more of the at least one client device to the at least one captive portal service offering page;
instructions to receive, via the at least one captive portal service offering page, a user selection of the network service offered by the at least one captive portal service offering page; and
instructions to transmit the user selection to the registration server.
2. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to transmit an identifier of the at least one client device to the registration server; and
instructions to associate the at least one client device with the user account.
3. The captive portal service offering system of claim 2, further comprising instructions to alert each of the at least one client device of an availability of the network service.
4. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein each of the at least one captive portal pages are formatted respectively for each of the at least one client device.
5. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to receive, from the advertising server, the at least one captive portal service offering page;
wherein the at least one client device is directed to the at least one captive portal service offering page stored on the interface device.
6. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to establish a tunnel into a walled garden;
instructions to restrict access by the at least one client device to the walled garden; and
instructions to redirect, via the tunnel, the at least one client device to a captive portal server in the walled garden, wherein the captive portal server presents the at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device, and wherein the captive portal server receives the at least one captive portal service offering page from the advertising server.
7. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the advertising server is configured to receive the at least one captive portal service offering page from an advertiser.
8. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the at least one client device is directed to the at least one captive portal service offering page upon occurrence of a condition selected from the group consisting of startup of the at least one client device, connection by the at least one client device to the interface device, or attempt by the client device to access a service provider network.
9. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the interface device comprises a set-top box, wherein the set of instructions further comprises instructions to provide a video stream to the at least one client device, wherein the video stream includes the at least one captive portal service offering page.
10. The captive portal service offering system of claim 1, wherein the at least one captive portal service offering page is presented concurrently with other content requested by the at least one client device.
11. A device for captive portal service offerings, the device associated with a user account and in communication with at least one client device, the device comprising:
at least one processor;
non-transitory computer readable media having encoded thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions executable by the at least one processor to perform one or more operations, the set of instructions comprising:
instructions to retrieve, from a registration server, user account information associated with the user account;
instructions to determine, based on the user account information, whether to present the at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device;
instructions to direct, in response to a determination to present the at least one captive portal service offering page, one or more of the at least one client device to display the at least one captive portal service offering page;
instructions to receive, via the at least one captive portal service offering page, a user selection of the network service offered by the at least one captive portal service offering page; and
instructions to transmit the user selection to the registration server.
12. The device of claim 11, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to transmit an identifier of the at least one client device to the registration server; and
instructions to associate the at least one client device with the user account.
13. The device of claim 12, further comprising instructions to alert each of the at least one client device of an availability of the network service.
14. The device of claim 11, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to receive, from an advertising server, the at least one captive portal service offering page;
wherein the at least one client device is directed locally to the received at least one captive portal service offering page.
15. The device of claim 11, wherein the set of instructions further comprises:
instructions to establish a tunnel into a walled garden;
instructions to restrict access by the at least one client device to the walled garden; and
instructions to redirect, via the tunnel, the at least one client device to a captive portal server in the walled garden, wherein the captive portal server presents the at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device, and wherein the captive portal server receives the at least one captive portal service offering page from the advertising server.
16. The device of claim 11, wherein the set of instructions further comprises instructions to provide a video stream to the at least one client device, wherein the video stream includes the at least one captive portal service offering page.
17. A method for providing captive portal service offerings comprising:
providing an interface device associated with a user account;
establishing, via the interface device, a connection with at least one client device;
retrieving, via a registration server, user account information associated with the user account;
determining, based on the user account information, whether to present at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device;
directing, via the interface device, the at least one client device to the at least one captive portal service offering page;
receiving, via the at least one captive portal service offering page, a user selection of a network service offered by the at least one captive portal service offering page; and
transmitting, via the interface device, the user selection to the registration server.
18. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
receiving, with the interface device, the at least one captive portal service offering page; and
storing, at the interface device, the at least one captive portal service offering page locally;
wherein the at least one client device is directed to the at least one captive portal service offering page stored on the interface device.
19. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
establishing, via the interface device, a tunnel into a walled garden;
restricting, via the interface device, access by the at least one client device to the walled garden; and
redirecting, via the tunnel, the at least one client device to a captive portal server in the walled garden, wherein the captive portal server presents the at least one captive portal service offering page to the at least one client device, and wherein the captive portal server receives the at least one captive portal service offering page from the advertising server.
20. The method of claim 17 further comprising:
providing, via the interface device, a video stream to the at least one client device, wherein the interface device comprises a set-top box, and wherein the video stream includes the at least one captive portal service offering page.