Configurable man-machine interface

Claim 3

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the screen configuration information provides a screen layout description and controls placement of the user interface components.

Claim 4

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the configuration information is provided by a markup language.

Claim 5

A method as recited in claim 3 , wherein at least one of the resource locators is a default resource locator.

Claim 8

A method as recited in claim 5 , wherein the override resource locators are locators of content on a remote server.

Claim 11

A method as recited in claim 7 , wherein for each of the user interface components, the configuration information designates either a default resource locator or an override resource locator, and wherein the alias table stores URIs for at least the override resource locators.

Claim 12

A method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the portable computing device is a mobile phone.

Claim 15

A mobile device that couples to a network server, comprising: a display screen; and a computer readable media storing computer program instructions for operating a browser program and for storing computer program instructions for configuring a user interface on said display screen, wherein the computer program instructions for configuring the user interface on said display screen include: program code for receiving screen configuration information that contains a plurality of user interface components that together form a screen to be displayed on the display screen, each of the user interface components corresponding to a particular aspect of the user interface, the screen configuration information being received at least partially from the network server, and the screen configuration information further including resource locators that specify content to be displayed in the user interface components, the content being separate and apart from the screen configuration information; program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; program code for retrieving the particular content information for the user interface components; and program code for displaying the content information for the identified user interface component on said display screen.

Claim 16

A mobile device that couples to a network server, comprising: a display screen; and a computer readable media storing computer program instructions for operating a browser program and for storing computer program instructions for configuring a user interface on said display screen, wherein the computer program instructions for configuring the user interface on said display screen include: program code for receiving screen configuration information that contains a plurality of user interface components that together form a screen to be displayed on the display screen, each of the user interface components corresponding to a particular aspect of the user interface, the screen configuration information being received at least partially from the network server, and the screen configuration information further including resource locators that specify content to be displayed in the user interface components, the content being separate and apart from the screen configuration information; program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; program code for retrieving the particular content information for the user interface components; and program code for displaying the content information for the identified user interface component on said display screen.

Claim 17

A mobile device as recited in claim 11 , wherein said mobile device is a mobile telephone and has said display screen integral therewith.

Claim 18

A mobile device as recited in claim 11 , wherein said mobile device is a wireless pager and has said display screen integral therewith.

Claim 19

A mobile device as recited in claim 11 , wherein said mobile device includes volatile memory storage, and wherein said program code for locating utilizes a look-up table stored in said volatile memory storage.

Claim 20

A mobile device as recited in claim 11 , wherein said mobile device includes volatile memory storage, and wherein said program code for locating comprises: program code for downloading the screen configuration information from the network server; and program code for storing the screen configuration information in said volatile memory storage.

Claim 21

A mobile device as recited in claim 15 , wherein said program code for storing the screen configuration information in said volatile memory storage stores the screen configuration information in a table within said volatile memory storage, and wherein said program code for storing the screen configuration information in said volatile memory storage includes program code for indexing into the table using the user interface component to identify the resource location for the user interface component.

Claim 22

A computer readable medium containing program code for configuring a user interface on a display screen associated with a remote computing device operating a browser program and capable of being coupled to a network server, said computer readable medium comprising: first program code for receiving screen configuration information that contains a plurality of user interface components that together form a screen to be displayed on the display screen, each of the user interface components corresponding to a particular aspect of the user interface, the screen configuration information being received at least partially from the network server, and the screen configuration information further including resource locators that specify content to be displayed in the user interface components, the content being separate and apart from the screen configuration information; second program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; third program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; fourth program code for retrieving the particular content information for the user interface components; and fifth program code for displaying the content information for the identified user interface component on the display screen.

Claim 23

A computer readable medium containing program code for configuring a user interface on a display screen associated with a remote computing device operating a browser program and capable of being coupled to a network server, said computer readable medium comprising: first program code for receiving screen configuration information that contains a plurality of user interface components that together form a screen to be displayed on the display screen, each of the user interface components corresponding to a particular aspect of the user interface, the screen configuration information being received at least partially from the network server, and the screen configuration information further including resource locators that specify content to be displayed in the user interface components, the content being separate and apart from the screen configuration information; second program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; third program code for locating particular content information for the user interface components based on the screen configuration information; fourth program code for retrieving the particular content information for the user interface components; and fifth program code for displaying the content information for the identified user interface component on the display screen.

Claim 24

A computer readable medium as recited in claim 17 , wherein the remote computing device is a mobile device having the display screen integrally formed therewith.

Claim 25

A server machine for centrally managing user interfaces for different mobile devices having display screens, said computer system comprising: a memory for storing user interface information for mobile devices; and a user interface controller operatively connected to said memory, said user interface controller operates to identify a particular one of the mobile devices, determine appropriate screen setup information for the particular one of the mobile devices, and forward the determined appropriate screen setup information to the particular one of the mobile devices such that the particular one of the mobile devices can setup a screen displayed on its display screen in accordance with the appropriate screen setup information.

Claim 26

A server machine for centrally managing user interfaces for different mobile devices having display screens, said computer system comprising: a memory for storing user interface information for mobile devices; and a user interface controller operatively connected to said memory, said user interface controller operates to identify a particular one of the mobile devices, determine appropriate screen setup information for the particular one of the mobile devices, and forward the determined appropriate screen setup information to the particular one of the mobile devices such that the particular one of the mobile devices can setup a screen displayed on its display screen in accordance with the appropriate screen setup information.

Claim 27

A server machine as recited in claim 19 , wherein the particular one of the mobile devices is identified by a device identifier associated therewith, and the appropriate screen setup information for the particular one of the mobile devices is determined by the device identifier.

Claim 28

A server machine as recited in claim 20 , wherein said server machine coupled between a carrier network for the mobile devices and a wired network.

Claim 29

A server machine as recited in claim 21 , wherein the wired network is the Internet.

Claim 30

A server machine as recited in claim 19 , wherein the particular one of the mobile devices is a mobile phone having a display screen integral therewith.

Claim 31

A server machine as recited in claim 19 , wherein said user interface controller identifies the particular one of the mobile devices using a unique device identifier for the particular one of the mobile devices.

Claim 32

A server machine as recited in claim 24 , wherein said user interface controller selects the appropriate screen setup information for the particular one of the mobile devices based on the device identifier for the particular one of the mobile devices.

Claim 33

A server machine as recited in claim 19 , wherein said user interface controller determines the appropriate screen setup information for the particular one of the mobile devices based on preferences associated with the particular one of the mobile devices.

Claim 36

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein one of the user-interface configuration files is provided for each of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 37

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration files are stored in account information storage areas at the network gateway device associated with the wireless communication devices.

Claim 38

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration files are markup language files.

Claim 39

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the wireless communication protocol is selected from one of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) or HTTP.

Claim 40

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration content contains screen displayable components and uniform resource indicators (URIs).

Claim 41

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration content includes screen configuration and placement instructions.

Claim 42

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration content includes one or more resource locators for one or more screen displayable components for display on a display screen of one of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 43

A method as recited in claim 34 , wherein the user-interface configuration content designates either a default resource locator or an override resource locator.

Claim 44

A method as recited in claim 35 , wherein the override resource locators are associated with content updates stored on a remote server device, where the content is designated for one or more of the wireless communication devices serviced by the network gateway device.

Claim 45

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein the user-interface configuration content describes a plurality of user interface components to be displayed on the one of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 46

A method as recited in claim 37 , wherein the user-interface configuration content includes a resource locator for each of the user interface components to be displayed.

Claim 47

A method as recited in claim 38 , wherein the resource locators designated by the user interface configuration content and provided for the one of the wireless communication devices stored in an alias table on the one of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 48

A method as recited in claim 39 , wherein the alias table stores URIs for the override resource locators.

Claim 49

A method as recited in claim 37 , wherein for each of the user interface components, the user-interface configuration content designates either a default resource locator or an override resource locator.

Claim 50

A method as recited in claim 27 , wherein a plurality of the wireless communication devices are mobile phones.

Claim 51

A method as recited in claim 42 , wherein said method further comprises: altering a user-interface for the one of the wireless communication devices based on the user-interface configuration content included within the corresponding one of the user-interface configuration files forwarded by the network gateway device.

Claim 52

A method as recited in claim 43 , wherein the user-interface configuration content describes a plurality of user interface components to be displayed on the one of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 53

A method as recited in claim 44 , wherein the user-interface configuration content includes a resource locator for each of the user interface components to be displayed.

Claim 54

A method as recited in claim 45 , wherein the resource locators designated by the user interface configuration content and provided for the one of the wireless communication devices stored in an alias table on the one of the wireless communication devices.

Claim 55

A method as recited in claim 43 , wherein the user-interface configuration content is contained within a markup language file.

Claim 56

A method as recited in claim 43 , wherein the plurality of wireless communication devices are mobile phones.