Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02291463 1999-12-02
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COMPUTER ACCESS
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer services and more
particularly relates to
a system and method for providing computer access and Internet access to
travellers.
Background of the Invention
Internet access has become a integral part of a daily routine for many people.
Such access
can be critical for people who rely on the Internet for information services
such as email, weather
reports, stock quotes, news reports and the like. It is believed that Internet
use will only increase,
as people become further dependant on the Internet for information services.
Internet access from the home is well-known, wherein a home-computer with a
modem can
be used to dial-in to an Internet service provider (ISP). High-speed Internet
access is now readily
available in homes, as home-computers equipped with cable-modems can obtain
neax instantaneous
Internet connections. Internet access from the office is also well known,
wherein a office-computer
with an ethernet connection can be connected to a corporate ISP affiliated
with the office.
However, home-computer users and office-computer users face certain hurdles
when
travelling. Such travellers typically must carry a laptop computer with a
modem in order to dial-up
to their ISP. As known to those of skill in the art, Internet access through a
laptop computer can be
unreliable, slow, and expensive. For example, problems with software or
hardware on the laptop
computer cannot be readily addressed by a traveller, and as such, a faulty
laptop computer can
prevent the traveller from accessing his or her Internet account. Even if the
laptop is fully functional,
the traveller is faced with the additional burden of locating a telephone line
and establishing a
connection between the laptop and the traveller's ISP. When dialling long-
distance, billing can be
difficult to arrange, as the traveller's credit-card number may need to be
preprogrammed into the
dialing sequence of the laptop modem. Even once the traveller has established
a connection, the
CA 02291463 1999-12-02
physical distance between the traveller and the ISP may result in a poor and
even slower-than-normal
connection. As known to those of skill in the art, a dial-up telephone
connection can rarely achieve
speeds above 56kB, so even the fastest dial-up connections will be band-
limited for a heavy Internet
user. Traveller's using dial-up laptops from modems can face exorbitant long-
distance telephone
expenses when dialing their ISP using their hotel room telephone line. These
problems are similar
when using trains, planes or other modes of transportation.
Summary of the Invention
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a novel method and
system for providing
computer access that obviates or mitigates at least one of the disadvantages
of the prior art.
In one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of providing access
to a computer
application to a traveller occupying a hospitality entity, the hospitality
entity having an information
appliance operable to execute the computer application, the method comprising
the steps of:
presenting a menu on an output device of the information appliance, the access
program
offering at least one computer application to the traveller;
receiving a selection for one of the computer applications from the traveller;
loading an application onto the information appliance based on the selection;
recording a billing measurementrepresentative of the a fee for accessing the
application; and,
adding the billing measurement to a bill.
The hospitality entity can include hotels, motels, airports, planes and train
stations. Other
hospitality entities will occur to those of skill in the art.
The computer application can include a web-browser, a word-processor, a spread-
sheet.
Other applications will occur to those of skill in the art.
The present invention provides a novel system and method for accessing the
Internet that is
particuarly useful for travellers. In one particular embodiment, an
information appliance located in
the traveller's hotel room that has a dedicated Internet connection to an
Internet service provider.
Usage of the information appliance is charged on the traveller's hotel bill.
In other embodiments
of the invention, other applications can be rented to the traveller, and the
charges for such rental can
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CA 02291463 1999-12-02
be charged directly to the traveller's hotel bill. A royalty or other type of
fee for the rental can be
electronically remitted from the hotel and directly to the appropriate party.
Brief Description of the Drawings
The present invention will now be explained, by way of example only, with
reference to certain
embodiments and the attached Figures in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for providing Internet access to
travellers in accordance
with an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of one of the Hotel LANs shown in Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of one of the information appliances of Figure
2; and
Figure 4 is a flow-chart of a method of providing Internet access to
travellers in accordance with
another embodiment of the invention.
Detailed Description of the Invention
Referring now to Figure 1, a system for providing Internet access to
travellers is indicated generally
at 20. System 20 includes an Internet service provider (ISP) 24 that is
connected to at least one hotel
local area network 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d via a communication link 28. It is
presently preferred that
communication link 28 is a fractional T1 link, however, other high-bandwith
links will occur to
those of skill in the art.
ISP 24 can be structured in any known format. In a present embodiment, ISP 24
includes
a Hub server 32. A firewall 36 manages security between hub server 32 and a
mail server 38, a
primary DNS server 40 and a secondary DNS server 42. Hub server 32 is
connected to the Internet
46 via a second communication link 48. Second communication link 48 is
preferably a full T 1 link,
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however, other types of links will occur to those of skill in the art.
Each Hotel LAN 26a, 26b, 26c ... 26n is located in any one of a hotel, motel,
bed & breakfast
or any other type of traveller's lodging. (As used herein, the term 'hotel'
should be construed
broadly to include all types of traveller's lodgings.) Well-known hotel-chains
suitable for Hotel
LANs 26a, 26b, 26c ... 26n include RadissonTM, HiltonTM, Days-InnTM, Holiday-
InnTM. Other hotel-
chains and lodgings will occur to those of skill in the art. Each Hotel LAN
26a, 26b, 26c ... 26n can
be located anywhere in the world, and are generally remotely located from ISP
24.
In a present embodiment, the architecture of Hotel LANs 26b, 26c ... 26n are
substantially
identical to hotel LAN 26a. Accordingly, for the purposes of simplifying the
explanation of the
present invention, only Hotel LAN 26awi11 be explained in detail. Referring
now to Figure 2, Hotel
LAN 26a includes an Internet server 52 that manages Internet access to a
plurality of information
appliances 54a, 54b, 54c ... 54m. Each information appliance 54a, 54b, 54c ...
54m is located in
various guest-rooms, conference-rooms and other locations throughout the
hotel, as desired. Internet
server 52 is connected to communication link 28 and is operable to access
Internet 46 via ISP 24.
1 S In turn, Internet server 52 is also operable to provide Internet access to
each information appliance
54a, 54b, 54c ... 54m over a communication link 55. Communication link 55 can
be based on any
known architecture such as ethernet, ISDN, coaxial cable, as will occur to
those of skill in the art.
Internet server 52 is also connected to a hotel-billing computer 56. Hotel-
billing computer
56 is operable to determine any charges incurred by travellers during their
stay at the hotel. Hotel-
billing computer 56 includes a central processing unit, random access memory,
a persistent storage
device such as a hard-drive, one or more input devices such as a keyboard, a
mouse, a credit-card
reader, a television billing system for charging movies, a hotel-restaurant
invoicing computer, hotel
telephone system for charging fees for telephone calls. Hotel billing computer
56 also includes one
or more output devices such as a printer and a monitor.
Hotel-billing computer 56 is operable to perform one or more conventional
invoicing
functions such as:
1) charges for each day a room is occupied by a traveller;
2) charges for meals consumed by the traveller;
3) charges for telephone calls made by the traveller;
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4) charges for films viewed by the traveller;
5) charges for laundry services used by the traveller; and
6) charges for mini-bar items consumed by the traveller.
Other hotel-billing functions performed by hotel-billing computer 56 will
occur to those of skill in
the art.
Hotel billing computer 56 is also operable to receive an input from Internet
server 52. Thus,
hotel billing computer 56 is also operable to invoice and/or receive payments
for charges for Internet
access incurred by a traveller accessing one or more information appliances
54a, 54b, 54c ... 54m.
It is presently preferred that hotel billing computer 56 also include an
output to Internet server 52,
and is thus operable to remit a payment for the Internet access from the
traveller and directly to ISP
24.
In a present embodiment, information appliances 54b, 54c ... 54m are
substantially identical
to information appliance 54a. Accordingly, for the purposes of simplifying the
explanation of the
present invention, only information appliance 54a will be explained in detail.
Referring now to
Figure 3, information appliance 54a includes a processing unit 60, a keyboard
62, a mouse 64, a
monitor 66, speakers 68, a LAN connection 72 for connection to communication
link 55, and a data
cable 74. Processing unit 60 houses a central processing unit, random access
memory, and read only
memory. Processing unit 60 can be any known configuration of the
aforementioned components,
such as a Pentium 166MN1~~ computer with 64 megabytes of random access memory,
and having
an operating system, such as Windows 98, stored in a persistent storage
device, such as a hard-disc
drive, which loads the operating system upon actuation of processing unit 60.
Processing unit 60
further includes a web-browser, such as Netscape Communicator 4.5, that can be
loaded over the
operating system when initiated by an access program. The details of the
access program will be
discussed in greater detail below.
Processing unit 60 further includes a network interface card that is connected
to LAN
connection 72, and provides a data communication conduit for the web-browser
to load web-pages
from the Internet. Processing unit 60 is operable to receive user input from
keyboard 62 and mouse
64. It will be apparent that other user-input devices, other than or in
addition to keyboard 62 and
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mouse 64 can be provided, as desired. User-input from these user-input devices
can include
instructions to browse web-sites via the web-browser.
Processing unit 60 is also operable to present user output to monitor 66 and
speakers 68. It
will be apparent that other user-output devices, other than or in addition to
monitor 66 and speakers
68 can be provided, as desired. User-output to these devices can include
visual content from web
pages delivered to monitor 66, and/or audio content from web-pages and
delivered to speakers 68.
Processing unit 60 also includes an access program that is stored on the
persistent storage
device. The access program is operable to present a menu of choices to a
travellerusing information
appliance 54a. At least one of the choices available to the traveller is
whether the traveller wishes
to access the web-browser. Typically, the access program will inform the
traveller of the fees that
will be charged and added to the traveller's bill if the traveller chooses to
access the web-browser.
The access program is further operable to initiate the web-browser and allow
the traveller to interact
therewith, should the traveller choose to access the web-browser. The access
program is further
operable to monitor when the traveller finishes accessing the web-browser and
to report such
1 S information to the hotel-billing computer 56 via the Internet server 52.
Data cable 74 is connected to a peripheral port on processing unit 60, such as
a serial port,
parallel port, USB port or the like. The free end of data cable 74 includes a
plug to fit into a mating
port on a laptop computer or other portable computing device carried by the
traveller occupying the
room respective to information appliance 54a. Thus processing unit 60 is
further operable to
download and/or upload data from a portable computing device carried by the
traveller that is
connected to data cable 74. A suitable software program for managing data
communication between
appliance 54a and the portable computing device is LapLinkTM. Typically, the
data communication
software can be initiated via the access program. Other data communication
software will occur to
those of skill in the art.
A method of providing Internet access to a traveller will now be discussed
with reference the
foregoing system 20 and the flow-chart shown in Figure 4. For purposes of the
explaining the
present embodiment, itwill assumed that information appliance 54a is located
on the desk of a hotel
room, and that a traveller has checked into the same hotel room. It is further
assumed that
information appliance 54a is 'on', and that the access program is running. The
access program
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presents a menu of choices on monitor 66 to the traveller. One of the choices
available to the
traveller is an option to access the Internet. It is presently preferred that
the access program include
a list of prices for Internet access and can include terms of access.
At step 100, it is determined whether Internet access has been selected.
Typically, the
S selection will be made by using mouse 64 or keyboard 62 to make the
appropriate selection on the
access program. While not a critical feature of the present invention, the
access program can require
one or more confirmations that the traveller is certain he or she wishes to
access the Internet. If
access program does not determine that the traveller has selected to access
the Internet, then the
method returns to step 100 and awaits for further input from the traveller.
If, however, the traveller
selects Internet access then the method proceeds to step 110.
At step 110, the access program instructs processing unit 60 to load the web-
browser and to
offer access to the web-browser to the traveller. At this point, the traveller
can enter "urls" or point
and click to various web-sites and interact with the web-browser in the usual
fashion. A traveller
can also access his or her personal email using an Internet-based email
account, such as hotmailTM
or yahooTM. If such a service is available through the Internet-based email
account, the traveller can
also access a personal POP3 email account with his or her home or office
Internet service provider.
The web-browser may include a default home page that offers the traveller a
range of
information about local attractions and restaurants proximal to the hotel
where the traveller is
staying. Such services may include, for example, restaurant listings, maps,
movie theatres, airport
information, weather reports and the like. The service may also include access
to the hotel intra-net,
where the traveller can review and/or pay the hotel bill, make future
reservations, order room-service
and so forth. It is presently preferred that the default home page prominently
displays the trade-mark
of the hotel where the traveller is staying.
The web-browser also offers a selection that allows the traveller to terminate
the Internet
access.
At step 120, a billing measurement is modified. In a presently preferred
embodiment, the
billing measurement is modified to reflect of the amount of time that the
traveller has accessed the
Internet. At step 130, it is determined whether the traveller has terminated
access to the Internet.
If the access has not been terminated, then the method returns to step 120 and
the billing
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measurement is modified to reflect the additional time that the traveller has
accessed the Internet.
It is to be understood that a variety of billing measurements can be effected,
and accordingly, the
exact sequence of steps 120 and 130 can vary, and such variations are within
the scope of the
invention. For example, the traveller may be offered a daily flat-rate access
of the Internet.
S Returning again to step 130, if the traveller terminates Internet access
then the method moves
to step 140. At step 140, a billing entry reflecting the traveller's use of
the Internet is added to the
traveller's hotel bill. In a presently preferred embodiment, the billing
measurement determined at
step 120 is forwarded to the hotel-billing computer 56. Accordingly, when the
traveller checks-out
of the hotel, the billing measurement determined at step 120 will appear as a
charge on the traveller's
final hotel bill.
In another embodiment of the invention, the traveller can download a file from
information
appliance 54a to his or her personal laptop. In the present embodiment, the
traveller accesses the
Internet as previously described. During access of the Internet the traveller
can choose to download
a file from a remote location using any known means in the art, such as saving
an email attachment
1 S to an Internet-based email account or by downloading a file from a
website. Upon selecting to
download the file it is transferred over the Internet and down to a persisent
storage device on
processing unit 60. At this point, the traveller can choose to terminate
Internet access in the
previously described manner. Next, the traveller connects data cable 74 to his
orherpersonal laptop.
The traveller can then use the access program to select the data communication
program and
download the file from processing unit 60 to the laptop. The access program
can further include
functionality to add an additional charge to the traveller's hotel bill for
using this feature of
information appliance 54a. It will now be apparent that the traveller can
upload files to the Internet
by using a similar sequence of steps.
In another embodiment of the invention, all or a portion of the fee received
from the traveller
forthe use of information appliance 54a can be directly remitted using any
secure electronic payment
means. The payment will typically be from hotel billing computer 56 to ISP 24
via hotel Internet
server 52. Other means of payment will occur to those of skill in the art.
While the embodiments discussed herein are directed to particular
implementations of the
present invention, itwill be apparent that the sub-sets and variations to
these embodiments are within
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the scope of the invention. For example, information appliance 54a can be used
to 'rent' a variety
of applications to the traveller in lieu of or in addition to a web-browser.
Such applications can be
either hosted locally on information appliance 54a or can be hosted remotely
at ISP 24. Other rented
applications can include word-processors, spread-sheets, drawing packages,
presentation software.
Fees for 'renting' the software can be added directly to the traveller's bill,
and appropriate royalties
can be remitted electronically directly to the respective copyright holder of
the software, with a
service charge being rendered by the hotel and/or ISP 24.
Alternatively, the Internet access and/or renting of other software
applications can be
incorporated directly as a flat fee into the hotel room rate, and the services
offered on the information
appliance can be freely available to the traveller. Alternatively, no fee need
be charged for use of
the information appliance, and the information appliance can simply be another
amenity offered in
the hotel room. It is also contemplated that the access program can offer a
range of services to the
traveller, each service being charged at different levels of fees.
Furthermore, a variation of hotel LAN 26a can be implemented in a variety of
different
places frequented by travellers. For example, LAN 26a can be located in an
airport lounge or a train-
station, whereby a fee can be charged by swiping a credit-card through a read
attached to the
information appliance connected to the LAN. Alternatively, LAN 26a can be
incorporated into
seating on airplane or train. Other locations frequented by travellers and
suitable for LAN26a will
occur to those of skill in the art.
It is also contemplated that the ISP providing Internet access for each hotel
can host its own
web-site that is accessible to travellers. The ISP's website can offer a
variety of e-commerce
services that are external to the hotel, such as travel bookings, gift
purchases and stock trading. Othre
e-commerce services will occur to those of skill in the art.
Another variation of hotel LAN 26a can be implemented in a condominium or
neighborhood
of residences. Fees can be charged to each condominium owner with an
information appliance as
part of their metered services, or they can be incorporated into monthly
condominium maintenance
fees.
The present invention provides a novel system and method for accessing the
Internet. The
present invention is particularly suited to the needs of a traveller wishing
to access the Internet, by
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providing a high-speed Internet connection that can be readily accessed by the
traveller. When
placed in a hotel room, the traveller can access the Internet without the need
for configuring his or
her portable computer or laptop to interface with the hotel telephone system.
By offering a higher
bandwidth than conventional telephone lines, the traveller can download files
to his or her portable
computer with relative ease via the Internet enabled information appliance in
the hotel room. When
the traveller checks out of the hotel, he is presented with a convenient
summary of charges for
Internet access, and avoids paying telephone charges in conjunction with using
the traveller's
portable computer. Additionally, the traveller can access the Internet without
tying up the telephone
line in the hotel room.
