WO2010062447A1

WO2010062447A1 - Language translation system having multi-platform capabilities and associated method

Info

Publication number: WO2010062447A1
Application number: PCT/US2009/057752
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin Anthony Wilson; Abhijat Gupta; Brent Thomas Ward
Original assignee: RTI International Inc
Current assignee: RTI International Inc
Priority date: 2008-10-28
Filing date: 2009-09-22
Publication date: 2010-06-03
Anticipated expiration: 2011-04-28

Abstract

A language translation system is provided for translating messages exchanged between users having different language requirements and/or preferences and translating the text of web content when the language of the text of that content is different from the requirements and/or preferences of a requesting user. A protocol conversion procedure is also provided that allows the language translation system to have multi-platform capabilities, including exchanging communications between devices that may have different protocols. Methods for translating a message contained within a communication or text contained within web content, and methods for converting the protocol of a communication, are also provided.

Description

LANGUAGE TRANSLATION SYSTEM HAVING MULTI-PLATFORM CAPABILITIES

AND ASSOCIATED METHOD

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to a language translation system In particular, the invention relates to a language translation system having multi-platform capabilities and methods for translating a message of an electronic communication or translating text of web content across multi-platform systems

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the proliferation of electronic communication as a preferred manner of connecting entities, it may be desirable for such a communication to be tailored to the preferred languages of the communicating parties Under such criteria, communication is generally easy when the parties prefer or use the same language However, issues can be expected to arise where the communicating parties speak, comprehend, or otherwise understand different languages In such instances, it may be desirable to translate a communication between parties such that the recipient receives the communication in his/her preferred language

Some attempts have conventionally been undertaken to accomplish a translation scheme for electronic communications For example, U S Patent No 6,996,520 is directed to a language translation system and method using specialized dictionaries The '520 patent discloses a translation resource that must be affirmatively sought out by a user, and requires particular user input, in order for the user to obtain the desired translation U S Patent No 5,535,120 is directed to a machine translation and telecommunications system using user ID data to select dictionaries In this instance, the '120 patent also discloses a translation resource that must be affirmatively sought out by a user, and requires particular user input, in order for the user to obtain the desired translation As such, the '520 and '120 patents appear to be directed to resources, outside of an electronic communication, that must be sought out by either the sender or the recipient, in order to make use of the translation capabilities afforded thereby U S Patent No 5,884,246 is purportedly directed to a system and method for transparent translation of electronically transmitted messages However, the '246 patent discloses that the sender of an electronic communication must affirmatively input domain field indicators for an intended recipient, wherein the communication and the domain field indicators are directed to a translation site for any appropriate translation, before the translated communication is forwarded to the intended recipient As such, the '246 patent appears to presuppose that the sender is aware of the language preference of the recipient, and thus is able to designate the domain filed indicators in order to obtain the desired translation of the communication Further, the '246 patent appears to address instances in which the sender may make use of the translation service, and does not appear to consider a situation of an incoming electronic communication for which the recipient may prefer to receive in a particular language

While these references purport to provide convenient translation mechanisms for electronic communications, the devices and methods actually require affirmative actions on the part of the user (whether sender or recipient) and/or pre-suppose knowledge on the part of at least the sender of the communication as to the preferred language of the recipient There exists a need for a language translation system, method, and/or computer program product that provides a translation scheme that does not necessarily pre-suppose knowledge of either party to a communication, which is preferably substantially invisible to the parties, effectively functions for outgoing as well as incoming communications, and does not necessarily require substantial affirmative action on the part of either party in order to receive the benefit of translated communications

The ability to implement a seamless and an effective language translation system is further complicated when parties wish to communicate through the same type of communication method but across different network platforms, such as by e-mail, instant messaging (IM), short message service (SMS) text messaging, multimedia message service (MMS), enhanced message service (EMS), facsimile transmissions, and the like, or using different communication methods altogether, such as client-server based exchanges, e-mail to IM services, e-mail to facsimile transmissions, and the like There exists an additional need for a language translation system, method, and/or computer program product that provides a translation scheme for cross-platform communications and/or for communications occurring between parties who use different devices for communicating

The ability to implement a seamless and an effective language translation system is further complicated when parties wish to communicate using different types of devices having different protocols There exists an additional need for a language translation system, method, and/or computer program product that provides a translation scheme for communications that occur between different types of devices having different communication protocols

Attempts at internationalization of communication systems have been limited and have generally been aimed at the computer program level where the source code of such a program is kept separate from a repository of translatable text strings While this approach enables easy customization of the software since all the information that needs to be translated is identified and obtained from the repository, its ability to function as a translation service is typically limited to specific software commands, messages displayed in dialogue boxes and the like, since the repository at the local level is built with content that is limited to the needs of the program using the resource The ability to build a sizeable repository that can feasibly perform contextual translations at the local level is typically limited by machine resources as well as implementation costs and costs associated with maintaining such a repository Further, using localized repositories to perform translations are limited in that they lack the ability to understand the context in which the text is communicated and/or in which the text is to appear As such, the translation will typically contain errors and will be grammatically incorrect, perhaps deviating from the meaning that the person communicating the message had intended Contextual translation systems that are localized at the machine level are described in, for example, U S Pat Nos 6,311 ,151 and 6,782,529 Indeed, the accuracy of these contextual translation systems localized at the machine level are dependent on the user providing feedback concerning the proper meaning of a translation to enable the repository to become updated with such information There exists an additional need for a language translation system, method, and/or computer program product that provides a translation scheme that is accurate and does not require the feedback of a user in order to increase translation accuracy

The infrastructure for delivery of communications electronically, whether in digital or analog forms, is well-developed Less developed is the ability to deliver information to the user in the natural language that he or she prefers An increasingly global marketplace demands that communications and web-based content be capable of being delivered in a language that is understood by the recipient While there are machine translation technologies available, they have conventionally required the user to select which text they would like translated and manually invoke the translation system Further, the translations obtained from these technologies suffer similar limitations that the contextual translators using localized repositories, as explained herein, suffer Companies desiring to have the content on their websites delivered in multiple languages have had to resort to hiring human translators and architecting their systems to allow the user to select which language they prefer Obviously, the cost to set up this type of multi-lingual content delivery is expensive and may not be feasible in all circumstances There exists an additional need for a language translation system, method, and/or computer program product that provides a translation scheme lower in cost than conventional systems that does not have to be manually deployed by the communicator or invoked by the recipient

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a language translation system and methods for translating a message of an electronic communication or translating text of web content across multi-platform systems Without intending to be bound by theory, a language translation system, in particular a language translation system having multi-platform capabilities, and the techniques of the invention provide an improved capability to seamlessly translate messages among users having different language preferences and/or needs The language translation system further provides the capability of delivering electronic communications having message content generated using a protocol of one type of device used by a sending user to a protocol of another type of device used by a receiving user

In one aspect, the invention provides a language translation system that includes an interface server configured to receive a communication sent by a communication device, a registration database configured to store identifying information with such identifying information including the language of a sending user and the preferred language of a receiving user, a language database configured to store language information, and a language translation server for translating at least a portion of the message contained in the communication from the language of the sending user to the preferred language of the receiving user if the two languages are different with such conversion being at least partially based on information supplied by the language database

In an embodiment of the invention, the language translation system also has a protocol database that is configured to store protocol information, and a protocol conversion server for converting the protocol of the communication, typically corresponding to the protocol of the device used by the sending user, to a preferred device protocol of the receiving user In this embodiment of the invention, the interface server is configured to identify the protocol of the communication and the preferred device protocol of the receiving user The identifying information of the registration database can include the preferred device protocol of the receiving user In another embodiment of the invention, preferably, the preferred device protocol of the receiving user is the protocol of the device the receiving user is using to communicate with the sending user

In certain embodiments of the invention, the language translation system can be used only for protocol conversion In this embodiment of the invention, an interface server receives or otherwise intercepts a communication from a communication device, identifies a protocol of the communication, and identifies a preferred device protocol of a receiving user A registration database is configured to store certain identifying information that includes the preferred device protocol of the receiving user A protocol conversion server converts the protocol of the communication to the preferred device protocol of the receiving user using protocol information stored in a protocol database Another aspect of the invention provides methods for translating a message using a language translation system In an embodiment of the invention, the method for translating a message of a communication comprises the steps of either receiving or intercepting the communication, identifying the language of the sending user or, alternatively, the language of the message of the communication itself, identifying the language of a receiving user, translating the message of the communication if the language of the communication is different from the language of the receiving user to form a modified communication, and transmitting or retransmitting the modified communication containing the translated message to the receiving user

In an embodiment of the invention, the translating step of the method for translating a message of a communication comprises the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, translating the text segments into translated text segments, optionally, the text segments may be analyzed by a context sensor to assist with determining the best translation available depending on how the text is presented, and, finally, concatenating the syntactical code segments and the translated text segments to form the modified communication In yet another embodiment of the invention, the method for translating a message of a communication can further comprise the steps of identifying the protocol of the communication, identifying a preferred device protocol of the receiving user, and converting the protocol of the communication into the preferred device protocol of the receiving user if the protocols are different In yet another embodiment of the invention, the step of converting the protocol of the communication preferably includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, parsing the syntactical code segments into individual syntax segments, converting the individual syntax segments into converted individual syntax segments using a protocol database, forming the converted individual code segments into converted syntactical code segments, updating termination strings as necessary in this and other syntactical code segments, as needed, and concatenating the converted syntactical code segments with the text segments to form the modified communication In yet another embodiment of the invention, the syntax of the modified communication can be optimized using a syntactical language optimizer

Another aspect of the invention provides a method for converting a protocol of a communication including the steps of receiving or otherwise intercepting the communication, identifying the protocol of the communication, identifying a preferred device protocol of a receiving user, converting the protocol of the communication into the preferred device protocol of the receiving user if the protocol of the communication is different from the preferred device protocol of the receiving user, to form a modified communication, and transmitting the modified communication to the receiving user In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preferred device protocol of the receiving user is the protocol of the device the user is currently using to communicate with a sending user

In another embodiment of the invention, the method of converting a protocol of a communication includes a conversion step comprising the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, parsing the syntactical code segments into individual syntax segments, converting the individual syntax segments into converted syntax segments, forming the converted syntax segments into converted syntactical code segments, updating termination strings in at least one of the syntactical code segment being operated upon and any other syntactical code segments Optionally, and, in certain embodiments of the invention, preferably, the step to convert the protocol of the communication includes the set of optimizing the syntax of the modified communication using a syntactical language optimizer Another aspect of the invention provides methods for translating web content using a language translation system In an embodiment of the invention, the method for translating web content comprises the steps of receiving or otherwise intercepting a request for web content from a requesting user, transmitting the request for web content to a server, identifying a language of the requesting user, identifying a language of the web content, translating text of the web content, if the language of the text differs from that of the requesting user, to form a modified web content, and transmitting the modified web content to the requesting user

In another embodiment of the invention, the method for translating web content can also comprise performing protocol conversion on the content comprising the steps of identifying a device protocol of the requesting user, identifying a protocol of the web content, and converting the protocol of the web content to the device protocol of the requesting user if the protocols are different to form the modified web content Optionally, in certain preferred embodiments of the invention, the method for translating web content also includes the step of optimizing the syntax of the modified web content using a syntactical language optimizer

Embodiments of the present invention thus provide significant advantages as otherwise detailed herein BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein

FIG 1 is a schematic of an exemplary network platform for translating electronic communications among a plurality of devices having the same or different communication protocols across a plurality of network platforms,

FIG 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a message handling, translation, and protocol conversion procedure of the interface server

FIG 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a web page handling, translation, and protocol conversion procedure of the interface server

FIG 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a general overview of the procedures of the language translation system according to an embodiment of the invention, and

FIG 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps of the language translation system API according to an embodiment of the invention, FIG 6 is a flow diagram illustrating a general overview of the procedures of the protocol conversion system according to an embodiment of the invention, and

FIG 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps of the protocol conversion system API according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG 8 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps of the syntax conversion procedure according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG 9 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having the same communication protocol communicating over a common network platform according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG 10 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating over a common network platform according to an embodiment of the invention,

FIG 11 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating across a plurality of network platforms according to an embodiment of the invention, FIG 12 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating across a plurality of cross-network platforms according to an embodiment of the invention, and

FIG 13 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating across a plurality of cross-network platforms having more than one language translation system according to another embodiment of the invention

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown Preferred embodiments of the invention may be described, but this invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art The embodiments of the invention are not to be interpreted in any way as limiting the invention Like numbers refer to like elements throughout

As used in the specification and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly indicates otherwise For example, reference to "a network platform" includes a plurality of such network platforms

It will be understood that relative terms may be used herein to describe one element's relationship to another element as illustrated in the Figures It will be understood that such terms can be used to describe the relative positions of the element or elements of the invention and are not intended, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, to be limiting

Embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to various perspectives that are schematic representations of embodiments of the present invention As a person having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs would appreciate, variations from or modifications to the elements and position of elements as illustrated in the Figures are to be expected in practicing the invention Such variations and/or modifications can be the result of manufacturing techniques, design considerations, and the like, and such variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of the present invention and as further set forth in the claims that follow The articles of the present invention and their respective components illustrated in the Figures are not intended to illustrate the precise configuration of the component of an article and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention

Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation All terms, including technical and scientific terms, as used herein, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs unless a term has been otherwise defined It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning as commonly understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure Such commonly used terms will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless the disclosure herein expressly so defines otherwise

The invention described herein relates to a language translation system, specifically, a language translation system that is capable of translating messages or text in electronic communications among devices having the same or different communication protocols and communicating on the same or across a multiple number of interlinked network platforms The language translation system is generally comprised of an interface handling procedure, a translator, a protocol converter, a registration system, one or more databases configured to maintain appropriate translations of words and/or phrases from one language into another language, and one or more databases configured to store commands of various communication protocols, which further identifies syntactical structures needed to accomplish a given task within each of the respective devices In one embodiment of the invention, the language translation system is constructed of an interface server, a translation server, a protocol conversion server, a registration database, a language database, and a protocol database

Without intending to be bound by theory, embodiments of the invention provide improvements over systems known in the art by translating text transferred between the same or different types of communication devices over the same or different network platforms A multi- platform translation application program interface ("API") is capable of identifying the language of the source text and translating the source text into the language desired and/or understood by a target recipient Additionally, protocol conversion allows a user operating on one type of device to deliver the communication containing the translated message to an entirely different device

Without intending to be bound by theory, embodiments of the invention further provide improvements over systems known in the art by allowing the user to request web content that is available, for example, on a web server in a certain language and to translate the language of the content into another more preferred language of the user

As used interchangeably herein, the terms "communication" and "electronic communication" means those communications by wired or wireless technology Preferably, a "communication" or an "electronic communication" will be those communications that occur between one or more devices connected to a network platform

As used herein, the term "device" refers to any component coupled to a network platform for the purpose of communicating with at least one other device on the network

As used herein, a "network platform" typically consists of a physical layer that allows transmission of the data bits over a data link that can be accessed by the communication devices connected thereto, a data link layer that provides for data transfer across the physical layer, a network layer that provides the functional and procedural mechanisms for transferring data sequences from a source to a destination across the network platform, and typically a transport layer and/or application layer acting as an interface between application-based devices connected to the network Non-limiting examples of a "network platform" include a packet switched network, e g , a data network, and a circuit switched network, such as a public switched telephone network ("PSTN") or a telephony network

A "network platform" may be a unified messaging service provider ("UMSP") network, which is a data network of different types of resources owned and maintained by a service provider Of course, network platforms may be implemented by an individual or an entity that interconnects their private local area network ("LAN"), wide area network ("WAN"), or enterprise network to a public network Such connectivity is typically accomplished by a router or series of routers having, for example, any number of security features such as, for example, a firewall, to prevent unauthorized access to the secured network Access to the LAN, WAN, or enterprise network may be controlled by, for example, a virtual private network ("VPN") which allows secured connectivity to the private network through virtual circuits from, for example, other networks or communication connections

The network platform may be a cross-network platform configuration having at least two different types of network platforms For example, a LAN, WAN, or enterprise network may be interfaced to a public network that seeks services through a UMSP network all interconnected through a series of routers Further, the UMSP network may further integrate communications from devices located on a switched-circuit network through the use of inbound and outbound servers The term "network platform" is not intended to be limiting, but is also intended to capture any of these types of network configurations and structures as well as other network configurations and structures now known or eventually conceived of in the art

As used interchangeably herein, the terms "protocol" or "communication protocol" refers a set of instructions and/or a format for data for controlling how the information is communicated over a network platform and processed by a receiving device Examples of a "protocol" or "communication protocol" include, but are not limited to, internet protocol ("IP"), radio frequency identification ("RFID"), Bluetooth, infrared ("IR"), wireless local area network (WLAN), voice over internet protocol ("VoIP"), WI-FI, Wι-Max, GSM/GPRS, GPS, CDMA, EvDO, TDMA (utilizing SIMM and USIMM platforms), short message service ("SMS"), multi media service ("MMS"), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System ("UMTS"), High Speed Downlink Packet Access ("HSDPA")/Hιgh-Speed Uplink Packet Access ("HSUPA") and general purpose interface ("GPIO"), protocols that employ software-defined radio ("SDR") technology, magnetic swipe, smart card integrated digital services network ("ISDN") or any other circuit-switched network protocol whether public or proprietary A "protocol" or "communication protocol" may be defined by one or more protocol standards, such as the standards promulgated by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) or the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) A "protocol" or "communication protocol" may have data represented in certain formats such as, for example, standard generalized markup language ("SGML"), extensible markup language ("XML"), hypertext markup language ("HTML"), extensible hypertext markup language ("xHTML"), RSS format, simple mail transfer protocol ("SMTP"), post office protocol ("POP"), internet message access protocol ("IMAP"), web- based distribution authoring and versioning ("WebDAV"), session initiated protocol ("SIP"), and the like A "protocol" or "communication protocol" may extend to wireless personal area network ("WPAN") protocols, such as, for example, Bluetooth A "protocol" or "communication protocol" may also include a specification for a combination of computer network protocols A non-limiting example of such a specification includes the Internet Reference Model or TCP/IP Model first created by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency ("DARPA") A schematic of an exemplary network platform for translating electronic communications among a plurality of devices having the same or different communication protocols across a plurality of network platforms is shown in FIG 1 , according to one embodiment of the invention In this illustrative embodiment of the invention, the language translation system 1 interfaces to a private network platform 20, which can be, for example, a LAN, WAN, or enterprise network, for the purpose of facilitating communications and translating messages between devices on other network platforms such as a public network platform 10, another private network platform 40, which also can be, for example, a LAN, WAN, or enterprise network, a UMSP network 50, and a circuit switched network 60, such as a PSTN or a telephony network The private network platforms 20 and 40 and UMSP network 50 are interfaced to the public network platform 10 through routers 12, 14, and 16 A purpose of the router is to receive and forward information from one network platform to another network platform For example, a router will allow electronic communications to occur between devices residing on separate network platforms assuming the devices and users are properly authorized to so act on each of the network platforms

In one embodiment of the invention, the language translation system 1 is interfaced to the private network platform 20 In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, the devices that form the core application and processing structure of the language translation system 1 includes an interface server 21 , a language translation server 22 and a protocol conversion server 23 each responsible for executing various processing components of the multi-platform translation API, a registration database 24, a language database 26, and a protocol database 28 Other embodiments of the invention can include a single server that functions as an interface server, a language translation server, and a protocol conversion server In yet other embodiments of the invention, the language database 26, resides on another server interfaced to the network and is preferably configured to translate between a multiple number of types of languages In even yet other embodiments, the language database 26 and/or protocol conversion database 28 is configured on a server interfaced to another network that is accessible by the multi-platform translation API executed by the language translation server 22 and/or protocol conversion server 23, respectively In other embodiments of the invention, the multi-platform translation API is configured on a client computer or another server computer and executes when the application sends a communication Indeed, any computing structure understood by a person with ordinary skill for implementing applications can be used in carrying out the functions of the interface server 21 , language translation server 22, protocol conversion server 23, registration database 24, language database 26, and protocol database 28

Other devices that can be connected to the private network platforms 20 and 40, include, but are not limited to, mail servers 30 and 42, desktop computers 32, 34, and 44, portable computers 38 and 48, and instant messaging servers 36 and 46 In certain embodiments of the invention, another network platform such as the private network platform 40, may optionally be configured with a language translation system 1 having, for example, an interface server, language translation server, protocol conversion server, multi-platform translation API, registration database, language database and protocol database as discussed for the private network platform 20 In another embodiment of the invention, as further disclosed herein, the private network platform 40 may share these services with the private network platform 20

In this exemplary embodiment of the invention, a language translation system 1 is also configured to process communications being sent to and received from a UMSP network 50 This language translation system 1 includes an interface server 51, a language translation server 52, a protocol conversion server 53, a registration database 54, a language database 56, and a protocol database 58 A person having ordinary skill in the art with the benefit of the disclosure herein will understand there are again many modifications, variations, and configurations for delivering the capabilities and advantages of the language translation system 1 To the extent such modifications, variations, and configurations do not depart from the spirit of the invention, they are intended to be included within the scope thereof

An outbound server 62 and an inbound server 64 facilitate the network communication between the UMSP network 50 and a phone company switch 66 The phone company switch 66 manages the electronic communications occurring over the circuit switched network 60 The circuit switch network 60 can accommodate a number of types of devices such as a telephone 70, laptop computer 72 connected to the circuit switched network through a modem (not shown), and facsimile machine 74 A head end access station 68 manages the wireless local area network (WLAN) signal traffic directed through a series of antennae Wireless devices transmitting and receiving electronic communications over the WLAN include, for example, cell phones 76 and other multi-function wireless devices such as a BLACKBERRY® 78 Certain embodiments of the invention also include WLAN network platforms that are interfaced directly to a digital network platform

The interface server 21 can perform various procedures using a combination of utilities and/or functions For example, the interface server 21 can act as a registration device for new users desiring to make use of the language translation system having multi-platform capabilities As can be appreciated by a person skilled in the art, a user may register using the interface server by way of a dedicated website In addition to providing certain information that is particular to the user such a registration procedure could require that a user enter a language preference for transmitting and receiving messages One skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, will recognize other approaches to determining a user's particular language preference are contemplated For example, upon first using the language translation system 1 , a user could be prompted to enter information that is unknown to the information server 21 A prompt for such information could include, among other things, a user's particular language preference Preferably, any registration information received from a user will be stored in a registration database 24 While one aspect of the invention is premised on a registration/user profile, other techniques for determining a particular language preference may be implemented For example, when a user is unknown to the interface server 21, the interface server can implement a utility to analyze an electronic communication to determine the preferred language of the sending user Upon receiving a response to this electronic communication, the interface server 21 can again implement the utility to determine the preferred language of the recipient user The recipient's reply can be translated into the language preference of the sending user Additionally, subsequent electronic communications between the sending user and recipient user can then be translated based on this information "learned" by the interface server 21 Preferably, such information is stored for later use by the interface server 21 in the registration database 24 In addition to providing the ability to translate messages, the language translation system 1 provides the ability to perform protocol conversion to allow communications from one type of device to be converted to the protocol of another type of device Such information can again be provided via a registration service as disclosed herein whereby the user identifies the various devices and/or programs that are used for electronic communications For example, the user can enter the type of e-mail protocol used by user's e-mail server associated with a particular e-mail address If such information is unknown to the user, the interface server 21 can request that the user send an e-mail to an e-mail address electronically monitored by the information server 21 to allow a utility implemented by the interface server 21 to determine such information Preferably, the protocol information will be stored to the registration database 24 Similar automated protocol detection systems can be used by the interface server to determine the protocols for a particular user's other devices as well

Other device protocol information that may be registered or automatically determined for a user by the interface server 21 includes, for example, instant messaging ("IM") services, such as the YAHOO'® Messenger IM service, the IM service available as part of the Microsoft Network ("MSN"), or IM services that are part of software packages— e g , IBM® LOTUS® SAMETIME® The interface server 21 allows for users of the same or even different IM services to be effectively interconnected allowing them to engage in intersystem communications regardless of whether the protocols for these systems are peer-to-peer or client-server based Emulation software executed on the interface server 21 allows the communications to appear to be seamless Protocol conversion, as described herein, facilitates these communications between instant messaging systems across multiple platforms Such communication exchanges between users continue to be translated by the language translation features available on the language translation system 1

Yet other device protocol information that may be registered or automatically determined for a user by the interface server 21 includes, for example, short message service ("SMS") to support text messaging Any SMS protocol can be represented in the inventive system For example, the SMS protocol can be one that is used in any cellular device

In yet other embodiments of the invention, an API development toolkit will allow a user to extend the protocol database to include syntax and syntax mapping to the protocol structure of a proprietary device Similarly, an API development toolkit will allow a user to extend the language database to include translation rules for another language This can be useful for building an entirely new language that is not part of the database or to extend an existing language to allow for translations of slang words and/or phrases or integrating certain language dialects in the language database The present invention also has the ability to process higher level, more advanced protocols for representing data and/or information in certain formats such as, for example, standard generalized markup language ("SGML"), extensile markup language ("XML"), hypertext markup language ("HTML"), and RSS format, all formats that are particularly useful for transferring such data and/or information in, for example, client-server type settings Embodiments of the invention are directed to converting the text in such communications from one language to another language, converting from one protocol representing the data and/or information to another protocol, or both An optional context sensor can analyze how certain text strings are being represented in these electronic communications and provide an interpretation that best represents this same context in the recipient's language This will enable the recipient to better understand the message that the text is attempting to convey

The particular device protocols expressly defined herein are only intended to be exemplary of the capabilities of the language translations system having multi-platform capabilities The embodiments of the invention disclosed herein encompass any device protocol that may be used to exchange electronic communications across any network architecture Indeed one of the advantages of the inventive language translation system having multi- platform capabilities is to translate text messages from one type of device and recast those translated messages using the protocol of a different device Some examples of such cross- device communications include, but are not limited to, sending the contents of an e-mail to a fax machine, using IM to send SMS text messages to a cellphone, converting web content from one device form to another device form, for example, such as a form that may be quicker and easier to access depending on the protocol of the device from which the request for web content is made, and allowing a user of a device configured for one type of IM service to communicate with another user having a device configured for a different IM service

FIG 2 is a flow diagram that illustrates an exemplary message handling, translation, and protocol conversion procedure of the interface server according to an embodiment of the invention The sending user, using the sending user's device, initiates a communication with the receiving user, operating on the same type of or a different device 102 The sending user sends a message to the receiving user 104 The message is embedded in the communication protocol of the sending user's device 106 A message handling utility 100 processed by the interface server 21 receives or otherwise intercepts the communication 110 and identifies the language of the sending user (ι e , the language of the message within the communication) and the protocol of the sending user's device (ι e , the protocol of the communication) 112 using the registration database as needed 24 according to procedures described herein Similarly, the message handling utility 100 identifies the language of the receiving user and the protocol of the receiving user's device 114 using the registration database as needed 24 according to procedures described herein The message handling utility 100 sends the communication to the translation server 22 where the translator 200 is invoked if the language of the sending user differs from the preferred language of the receiving user 116 Further, the message handling utility 100 of the interface server 21 sends the communication to the protocol conversion server 23 where the protocol converter 300 is invoked if the protocol of the sending user's device differs from the protocol of the receiving user's device 118 Finally, the message handling utility 100 transmits or retransmits the communication, with the message translated and protocol converted if either is needed, to the receiving user's device 120 The communication includes the message, translated if necessary, in the protocol of the recipient's device 108 FIG 3 is a flow diagram, according to another embodiment of the invention showing an exemplary web page handling, translation, and protocol conversion procedure used by the interface server A user, the requesting user, for example, from a client computer, makes a request for certain web content 122 A web content handling utility 101 processed by the interface server 21 receives or otherwise intercepts the request 132 and transmits or retransmits the request for the web content 134, which makes it appear to the server 124 hosting the web content that the interface server 21 is the client computer making the request The web content handling utility 101 identifies the language of the requesting user and the protocol of the requesting user's device 136 using the registration database as needed 24 according to procedures described herein If the interface server 21 has not yet received the content from the web server 126, the web content handling utility 101 waits for the web content to be downloaded 138 Once the content is received, the web content handling utility 101 identifies the language of the text and the communication protocol of the web content 140 The web content handling utility 101 sends the web content to the translation server 22 where the translator 200 is invoked if the language desired by the requesting user is different from the language of the text of the web content 142 Further, the web content handling utility 100 sends the web content to the protocol conversion server 23 where the protocol converter 300 is invoked if the protocol of the requesting user's device differs from the protocol of the web content 144 Finally, the web content handling utility 101 transmits or retransmits the web content including the text, translated, if necessary, in the protocol to the requesting user's device 146 The transmitted or retransmitted web content includes the text, translated, if needed, to the language desired by the user, converted to the protocol of the requesting user's device 128, if necessary

A flow diagram illustrating a general overview of the procedures of the translator 200 of the language translation system, according to an embodiment of the invention, is shown in FIG 4 A parser 201 processes the communication containing the message to be translated The parser 201 identifies the individual pieces of text that make up the message and/or content and isolates these segments of text from the other information contained in the communication A translation process 220 optionally analyzes the context in which the text segment is presented and translates that segment into the language that is desired by a user in a form that will be understood by that user Finally, concatenation 240 reintegrates the translated text segments into the other information, such as the syntax of the communication protocol, contained in the communication As a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand having the benefit of this disclosure, if both the message or text of a communication must be translated and the protocol of the communication must be converted, the steps of the translator and protocol converter may be integrated so the procedures can be processed simultaneously However, the processes are described separately herein for purposes of clarity of disclosure

The more detailed steps, according to one embodiment of the invention, of the parser 201 , translation process 220, and concatenation 240 are shown in the flow diagram of FIG 5 The parser 201 first starts 202 by extracting and storing a leading segment from the communication 206 As used herein, unless the disclosure clearly indicates otherwise, the term "leading segment" is meant to be the segment of a communication preceding a segment of text within that communication Therefore, depending on the number of segments of text within a communication, the communication may have more than one "leading segment" as identified, for example, by leading segment. The extracted leading segment is stored 208, for example, in memory for later access A text segment is then extracted from the communication 210 The text segment is also stored for later access 212, for example, in memory The procedure then determines if any other text segments remain in the communication 214 If text segments do remain, the process is redirected to entry point 204 to again extract and store another leading segment and text segment from the communication This loop continues until all leading segments and text segments are extracted from the communication and stored The parser 201 concludes by storing the trailing segment of the communication 216 (ι e , the segment remaining once all the text segments have been extracted), for example, in internal memory for later access 218

The translation process 220 starts 222 by retrieving the text segments 224 stored 212 by the parser 201 A context sensor 226 optionally determines the context in which the text is presented using a context database 228 The translation process then translates each of the text strings 230 using the language database 26 The translated strings are stored 232, for example, in internal memory for later access 234 While this exemplary procedure shows the translation of each of the text segments occurring simultaneously, which is typically preferred, in another embodiment of the invention, each text segment is translated individually The concatenation process 240 starts 242 by retrieving the first leading segment 246 The first translated text segment is retrieved and concatenated to the first leading segment 248 If there are remaining segments of text translated from the communication, the concatenation 240 process returns 250 to entry point 244 to continue to retrieve and concatenate leading segments 246 and retrieve and concatenate translated text segments 248 Once all leading segments and translated text segments have been concatenated, the trailing segment 252 is retrieved from storage 218 and appended to the communication The procedures of the translation API then terminate 254

A flow diagram illustrating a general overview of the procedures of the protocol converter 300 of the language translation system, according to an embodiment of the invention, is shown in FIG 6 A parser 201 processes the communication containing the message to be translated The parser 201 , which can be the same parser used in the translator 200, identifies the individual pieces of text that make up the message and/or content and isolates these segments of text from the other information contained in the communication A protocol converter 301 converts each piece of syntax of one type of protocol to a comparable syntax of another type of protocol (ι e , the syntax of another type of protocol that will perform the same or similar function or functions of the syntax of the one type of protocol) Finally, concatenation 240, which can be the same concatenation process used in the translator 200, reintegrates the converted protocol segments, the text segments, and trailing segment contained in the communication As a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand having the benefit of this disclosure, as previously disclosed herein, if both the message or text of a communication must be translated and the protocol of the communication must be converted, the steps of the translator and protocol converter may be integrated so the procedures can be processed simultaneously However, the processes are described separately herein for purposes of clarity of disclosure

The more detailed steps, according to one embodiment of the invention, of the parser 201 , protocol converter 301, and concatenation 240 are shown in the flow diagram of FIG 7 The parser 201 , in this embodiment of the invention, has the same steps of the parser 201 described for the translator 200 illustrated in FIG 5 In other embodiments of the invention, the parser 201 can be structured differently For example, in certain embodiments of the invention, a parser 201 may be used that has specifically been designed to more effectively parse a communication having a message in a certain kind of language and/or a communication having a particular type of protocol Clearly, in cases when the parser 201 that is to be used for protocol conversation is the same as the parser 201 that was used in language translation, then there will be no need to again execute the parser 201 , assuming, of course, there was a need to execute the translator 200 Rather, the parsed values can merely be retrieved from the memory where the leading segments 208, memory where the translated text segments 234, and memory where the trailing segment 218 had earlier been stored

After the communication has been parsed by the parser 201 , the protocol converter begins 302 by retrieving the first leading segment from a communication 304 The protocol converter then retrieves the next leading segment from a communication 308 The next leading segment is retrieved from a communication since, in certain circumstances, depending on the type of protocol conversion taking place, as further explained herein, it may be necessary to revise the syntax terminators following the text segment Once the syntax conversion procedure 310 is performed on the leading segments, the first converted leading segment is stored 312, for example, in internal memory for later access 314 If there are any remaining leading segments to be processed 316, the process is redirected to entry point 306 as additional leading segments are retrieved 308 and converted into the new protocol 310 When only the last leading segment remains to be converted, the trailing segment is retrieved 318 and processed using the syntax conversion procedure 310 The last leading segment that has been converted is stored 320, for example, in internal memory for later access 314 Any syntax contained within the trailing segment is converted using the syntax conversion procedure 310 The converted trailing segment is stored 322, for example, in internal memory for later access 324 In certain instances, depending on the syntax structures of the protocols involved in the conversion, the trailing segment may only contain terminators for the syntax held by one or more of the prior leading segments The syntax conversion procedure 310 is capable of recognizing and accommodating these types of protocols In those circumstances where the trailing segment does contain syntax to be converted, the syntax conversion procedure 310 will convert the text according to the information contained in the protocol database 28

A concatenation procedure 240, which can either be the same concatenation procedure used in the translator 200 or a different procedure, reassembles the communication using any text segments, including translated segments if necessary, converted leading segments, and converted trailing segment information. However, there is typically at least one difference between the concatenation procedure used in the translator 200 and that used in the protocol converter 300. A syntactical language optimizer 326 may optionally be used to optimize the converted syntax for the protocol of the reassembled communication. Any syntax optimization procedure known in the art may be used. Non-limiting examples of optimizers include the syntax optimizer described in U.S. Patent No. 6,526,382 to Yuschik and the general code optimizer described in U.S. Patent No. 5,842,021 to Odani et al.

A flow diagram showing a more detailed view of the steps of the syntax conversion procedure according to an embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. The procedure begins 330 by parsing or extracting an element of syntax from a leading segment that precedes a text segment 334. Once isolated, a corresponding syntax, rule, and/or procedure from the desired protocol is identified 336 using the protocol database 28. The converted syntax is stored 338, for example, in internal memory 344. If additional elements of syntax remain in the leading segment to be converted 342, program flow is redirected to entry point 332 where syntax extraction 334, conversion 336, and storage 338 continues. Once all elements of syntax have been converted to the desired protocol, an assembly procedure begins to operate on the converted syntax 344 reassembling the syntax into a converted leading segment. An element of converted syntax is retrieved 348 from memory 340 and integrated into the converted leading segment being assembled 350. Any revisions required by the leading segment that follows the text segment in question are also made 352 by the assembly procedure. Program flow is redirected to entry point 346 as long as any converted syntax remains to be integrated into the leading segment 354. The assembly procedure terminates 356 once all elements of converted syntax have been integrated into the converted leading segment that precedes the text segment in question (from string-_! in the procedure) and any necessary changes are made to the converted leading segment that follows the text segment in question (from sthng₂ in the procedure).

The utilities disclosed herein executed as part of the language translation system 1 are merely exemplary of the types of utilities that can be processed by the framework. Indeed, the API development toolkit will allow for the translation and conversion utilities to be customized in order to integrate, for example, other languages into the language database 26 and convert any device protocol that is either now known or later developed.

The exemplary architecture of the language translation system 1 as illustrated in FIG. 1 may be used to accommodate communications among the same types of devices that are interfaced to the same network. FIG. 9 is a schematic of a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having the same communication protocol communicating over a common network platform such as an intranet according to an embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment of the invention, the language translation system 1 includes an interface server 21, translation server 22, protocol conversion server 23, registration database 24, language database 26, and protocol database 28. In this illustrative example, a sending user 82 drafts an e-mail to a recipient user 84 using sending user's desktop computer 32 although such device could be any mail user agent of the sending user 82. Once sending user 82 has completed drafting the e-mail, sending user 82 sends the e-mail to receiving user 84 using the e-mail address of the receiving user 84 The e-mail message is typically embedded in a communication protocol such as SMTP and is directed to a mail server 30 identified by a domain name following the "@" sign of an e-mail address In one embodiment of the invention, the interface server 21 receives or otherwise intercepts the message that is sent by the sending user 82, identifies whether such message requires translation based on the language of the sending user 82 and the preferred language of the receiving user 84, as determined by the procedures disclosed herein, and directs or redirects the communication containing the translated message to the mail server 30 In this exemplary embodiment, since the protocol of the sending user's desktop computer 32 and the receiving user's desktop computer 34 are the same, it is not necessary to perform protocol conversion on any syntax of the communication protocol

In another embodiment of the invention, it is possible to configure the interface server 21 to receive or otherwise intercept the e-mail message sent by the sending user 82 when the communication leaves the mail server 30 bound for the desktop computer 34 of the receiving user 84 In yet other embodiments of the invention, the interface server 21 receives or otherwise intercepts the communication both prior to being received by the mail server 30 and upon being directed by the mail server 30 to the device the recipient user 84 is using to retrieve e-mail The latter embodiment of the invention is particularly preferred in those situations when the device the recipient user 84 uses to read e-mail can vary and the protocols of those devices also vary requiring that protocol conversion be performed on the communication when it is directed to the receiving user

FIG 10 illustrates an embodiment of the invention showing a network platform for translating electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating over a common network platform such as an intranet In this exemplary embodiment, the interface server 21 of the language translation system 1 receives or otherwise intercepts communications received and sent by a mail server 30 performing translation and protocol conversion as necessary as already described herein Also, in this exemplary embodiment, the interface server 21 receives or otherwise intercepts communications received and sent by another communication server, for example, an instant messaging server 36 The embodiment of the invention represented in FIG 10 highlights the capability of the language translation system 1 to receive or otherwise intercept an e-mail message drafted and sent by sending user 82 on desktop computer 32, translate the message of the communication, if necessary, perform protocol conversion, and allow that message to be presented to a receiving user 88 through another client device such as a portable computer 38 where the receiving user 88 has identified a preference to read all messages as they become available through the receiving user's IM service Likewise, receiving user 88 may respond to the message from sending user 82 through receiving user's IM service using portable computer 38 whereby the language translation system 1 receives or otherwise intercepts such communication, translates the message of the communication, if necessary, perform protocol conversion, and have such message directed to the mail server 30 allowing the original sending user 82 to read the response from the receiving user 88 as an e-mail through desktop computer 32 Without intending to be bound by theory, an advantage of the inventive language translation system 1 is to allow a user to receive and transmit communications using their preferred language through a device that is more supportive of a certain communication protocol such as, for example, e-mail on client computers, IM on a handheld device, or even SMS through a cell phone

Commonly, it is desirable for devices to be capable of communicating across more than one network platform FIG 11 is a schematic illustrating an embodiment of the invention where electronic communications between devices having either the same or different communication protocols communicate across a plurality of network platforms In this exemplary embodiment, a sending user 82 again drafts and sends a communication, such as an e-mail communication, using desktop computer 32 to receiving user 98 using a device such as a handheld computer 48 or similar device The interface server 21 of the language translation system 1 receives or otherwise intercepts the communication at least one of before the communication is received by mail server 30 or after communication is sent by mail server 30 The message of the communication is translated into the language preferred by the receiving user 98, if necessary, and converted to the protocol of the communication service receiving user 98 is using on portable computer 48 In an embodiment of the invention, the receiving user can be using an IM service on portable computer 48 having an IM server 46 for facilitating such communications The network platform such as an intranet from where the sending user 82 communicates is interfaced to the public network platform 10 by a router 12 Another network platform from where receiving user 98 communicates is interfaced to the public network platform 10 by another router 14 Typically, a server operating on one network platform will not have authority to interact with the servers configured on another network platform, unless the network platforms are owned or managed by the same entity or special permissions have been assigned at router 12 and/or router 14 However, the language translation system 1 can operate on all e-mail communications submitted by sending user 82 on the network where it does have authority and receive or otherwise intercept communications intended for receipt by sending user 82, translating the messages in such communications as necessary, and converting such communications into the protocol desired by mail server 30 to allow sending user 82 to receive such communications using desktop computer 32 Of course, the representation of FIG 11 is merely exemplary in nature The device and communication protocol used by either sending user 82 and receiving user 98 can be any device and communication protocol known and used in the art for communicating across any network architecture The language translation system 1 can be used in any of these configurations to translate messages between users and convert between the communication protocols of the various types of devices

The language translation system 1 can process communications occurring across more than one type of network An embodiment of an invention involves using the language translation system 1 for communication handling occurring between a packet switched network, e g , a data network, and a circuit switched network, such as a PSTN or a telephony network as represented in FIG 12 In this exemplary embodiment, sending user 82 using desktop computer 32 sends a communication to receiving user 96 using a cell phone 68 As already described herein, the language translations system 1 receives or otherwise intercepts the communication at least one of before the communication is received by mail server 30 or after communication is sent by mail server 30 The message of the communication is translated into the language preferred by the receiving user 96, if necessary, and converts the protocol to the protocol of the communication service receiving user 96 is using on cell phone 76, such as, for example, SMS In order to complete the request, the interface server 21 must have access to the cell phone number of the receiving user 96 Such information can be made available to the interface server 21 through, for example, the registration database 24, prompting the user for the number when it is not available to the interface server 21 , or by adopting an alternative address scheme, such as, for example, including the number in the address field of the e-mail address Of course, in the case of the latter, appropriate naming structures will be established for each of the device types and utilities provided on the interface server 21 to so interpret

The communication exchange using the various protocols of the communication devices occurs from the network platform, such as an intranet, of sending user 82 through router 12 interfaced to a public network platform 10 In this exemplary representation, a UMSP network 50 is also interfaced to the public network platform 10 through router 16 Any messages received across the UMSP network 50 from the public network 10 authorized to be distributed to a device on a circuit switched network 60 are directed through an outbound server 62 to a phone company switch 66 The phone company switch 66 manages the electronic communications occurring on the circuit switched network 60 and allows the message, in this case, to be sent to a head end access station 68 that manages the WLAN signal traffic to the cell phone 76 of the receiving user 96

In the event receiving user 96 responds to the communication from sending user 82, the communication is directed across the circuit switched network 60 through the phone company switch 66 An inbound server 64 receives the communication from the phone company switch 66 and directs it across the series of networks represented in this exemplary embodiment until the communication is received or otherwise intercepted by the interface server 21 of the language translation system 1 operating on the network platform of the sending user 82 The language translation system 1 will translate the message of the communication if necessary and convert from the protocol used by the SMS of the cell phone 76 of the receiving user 96 now sending the response to the protocol of the communication device being used by sending user 82, i e , the mail protocol being used by sending user on desktop computer 32 The communication, as translated and converted, is sent by the interface server 21 to the mail server 30 The communication is merely "re-packaged" as an e-mail communication by the language translation system 1 allowing the mail server 30 to treat the communication as an e-mail message so that the message of the communication can be directed to sending user 82

In other embodiments of the invention, it is possible to have more than one language translation system 1 functioning on a given network or even across more than one network FIG 13 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where electronic communications between devices having different communication protocols communicating across a plurality of cross-network platforms are capable of being translated using more than one language translation system 1 A language translation system 1 operating on the network platform of the sending user includes an interface server 21 , language translation server 22, protocol conversion server 23, registration database 24, language database 26, and protocol database 28 Another language translation system 1 operating on a UMSP network, for example, is similarly configured to have an interface server 51, language translation server 52, protocol conversion server 53, registration database 54, language database 56, and protocol database 58

In certain embodiments of the invention where there are more than one language translation servers 1 , the language translation servers 1 may share services and data assuming they have been configured as such and the networks upon which they are configured will allow such access For example, in one embodiment of the invention, more than one language translation system 1 may share a registration database, a language database, a protocol database, and any combination thereof In certain other embodiments of the invention, a language translation system 1 may be allowed access to data in a registration database, a language database, a protocol database, and any combination thereof when its own databases do no have such information or the information on its databases do not include the most recent updates to information

Preferably, in network architectures having more than one language translation system 1 , each language translation system will be capable of identifying when another language translation system has already processed a communication In certain other embodiments of the invention, in network architectures having more than one language translation system 1, each language translation system 1 will be capable of coordinating processing communications in order to achieve the fastest possible rate of processing of communications A person skilled in the art, having the benefit of this disclosure, can contemplate other architectures, designs, and/or configurations of the language translation system 1 for achieving the translation of messages and/or conversion of protocols on either the same network platform or a network platform having multi-platform capabilities Such representations are intended to be part of the disclosure of the invention disclosed herein Another aspect of the invention includes methods of use of a language translation system to translate a message The language translation system can be used to translate a message on one platform Preferably, the language translation system is used to translate a message across more than one platform An embodiment of the invention involves a method for translating a message using a language translation system comprising the steps of receiving or otherwise intercepting a communication, identifying the language of a sending user, identifying the language of a receiving user, translating a message of the communication if the language of the sending user is different from the language of the receiving user, and transmitting or retransmitting the communication to the receiving user

In another embodiment of the invention, the step for translating a message of the communication includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, translating each of the text segments using a language database into translated text segments, and concatenating the syntactical code segments with the translated text segments to form a modified communication

In another embodiment of the invention, the method for translating a message additionally comprises the steps of identifying the protocol of a sending user's device (ι e , the protocol of the communication), identifying the preferred protocol of the receiving user's device, and converting the protocol of the communication if the protocol of the sending user's device is different from the preferred device protocol of the receiving user In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the preferred device protocol of the receiving user is the protocol of the device the user is currently using to communicate with a sending user

In another embodiment of the invention, the step for converting the protocol of the communication includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, further parsing the syntactical code segments into individual syntax segments, converting the individual syntax segments into converted syntax segments using a protocol database, formulating the individual code segments into converted syntactical code segments, updating termination strings as necessary in other syntactical code segments, and concatenating the converted syntactical code segments with the text segments to form a modified communication

In yet another embodiment of the invention, the step for converting the protocol of the communication additionally comprises the step of optimizing the syntax using a syntactical language optimizer

Another aspect of the invention includes methods of use of a language translation system to translate web content An embodiment of the invention involves a method for translating web content using a language translation system comprising the steps of receiving or otherwise intercepting a request for web content from a requesting user, transmitting or retransmitting the request for web content to a web server, identifying a language of the requesting user, if necessary, waiting for the web content to be delivered, identifying a language of the web content, translating text of the web content if the language of the requesting user is different from the language of the web content to form a modified web content, and transmitting the modified web content to the requesting user The translating step can additionally include the steps as further described herein

In another embodiment of the invention, the method for translating web content further comprises the steps of identifying a device protocol of the requesting user, identifying a protocol of the web content, and converting the protocol of the web content to the device protocol of the requesting user if such protocols are different to form the modified web content The converting step can additionally include the steps as further described herein

All publications mentioned herein, including patents, patent applications, and journal articles are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties including the references cited therein, which are also incorporated herein by reference The publications discussed herein are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the present invention is not entitled to antedate such publication by virtue of prior invention. Further, the dates of publication provided may be different from the actual publication dates which may need to be independently confirmed.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the descriptions herein and the associated drawings. For example, though various systems and methods are disclosed herein, one skilled in the art will appreciate that various computer program products and/or computer devices configured to execute such computer program products may also comprise at least a portion of such systems and methods. Such systems and methods may be accomplished, for instance, through hardware, through software, or through a combination of both hardware and software. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

THAT WHICH IS CLAIMED

1 A language translation system comprising an interface server configured to receive a communication from a communication device, a registration database configured to store a plurality of identifying information, including a language of a sending user and a preferred language of a receiving user, a language database configured to store language information, and a language translation server configured to translate a portion of the communication from the language of the sending user to the preferred language of the receiving user at least partially based on language information from the language database

2 The system according to claim 1 , additionally comprising a protocol database configured to store protocol information, and a protocol conversion server configured to convert a protocol of the communication to a preferred device protocol of the receiving user at least partially based on protocol information from the protocol database, wherein the interface server is configured to identify the protocol of the communication and the preferred device protocol of the receiving user, and the plurality of identifying information further includes the preferred device protocol of the receiving user

3 A language translation system comprising an interface server configured to receive a communication from a communication device, identify a protocol of the communication, and identify a preferred device protocol of a receiving user, a registration database configured to store a plurality of identifying information, including the preferred device protocol of the receiving user, a protocol database configured to store protocol information, and a protocol conversion server configured to convert the protocol of the communication to the preferred device protocol of the receiving user at least partially based on protocol information from the protocol database

4 A method for translating a communication comprising the steps of receiving the communication, identifying at least one of a language of a sending user and a language of the communication, identifying a language of a receiving user, translating the communication, if the at least one of the language of the sending user and the language of the communication is different from the language of the receiving user, to form a modified communication, and transmitting the modified communication to the receiving user 5 The method according to claim 4, wherein the translating step includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, translating the text segments into translated text segments, and concatenating the syntactical code segments and the translated text segments to form the modified communication

6 The method according to claim 5, wherein the translating step further includes the step of analyzing the text segments with a context sensor

7 The method according to claim 4, further comprising the steps of identifying a protocol of the communication, identifying a preferred device protocol of the receiving user, and converting the protocol of the communication into the preferred device protocol of the receiving user if the protocol of the communication is different from the preferred device protocol of the receiving user

8 The method according to claim 7, wherein the converting step includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, parsing the syntactical code segments into individual syntax segements, converting the individual syntax segments into converted individual syntax segments, forming the converted individual syntax segments into converted syntactical code segments, updating termination strings as necessary in the syntactical code segments, and concatenating the converted syntactical code segments with the text segments to form the modified communication

9 The method according to claim 8, wherein the converting step further includes the step of optimizing the syntax of the modified communication using a syntactical language optimizer

10 A method for converting a protocol of a communication comprising the steps of receiving the communication, identifying the protocol of the communication, identifying a preferred device protocol of a receiving user, converting the protocol of the communication into the preferred device protocol of the receiving user, if the protocol of the communication is different from the preferred device protocol of the receiving user, to form a modified communication, and transmitting the modified communication to the receiving user 11 The method according to claim 10, wherein the converting step includes the steps of parsing the communication into syntactical code segments and text segments, parsing the syntactical code segments into individual syntax segments, converting the individual syntax segments into converted syntax segments, forming the converted syntax segments into converted syntactical code segments, updating termination strings as necessary in the syntactical code segments, and concatenating the converted syntactical code segments with the text segments to form the modified communication

12 The method according to claim 11 , wherein the converting step further includes the step of optimizing the syntax of the modified communication using a syntactical language optimizer

13 A method for translating web content, comprising the steps of receiving a request for web content from a requesting user, transmitting the request for web content to a server, identifying a language of the requesting user, identifying a language of the web content, translating text of the web content, if the language of the requesting user is different from the language of the web content, to form a modified web content, and transmitting the modified web content to the requesting user

14 The method according to claim 13, further comprising the steps of identifying a device protocol of the requesting user, identifying a protocol of the web content, and converting the protocol of the web content to the device protocol of the requesting user, if the protocol of the web content is different from the device protocol of the requesting user, to form the modified web content

15 The method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of optimizing a syntax of the modified web content using a syntactical language optimizer