U.S. patent application number 10/500269 was filed with the patent office on 2005-06-16 for user interface and method of viewing unified communications events on a mobile device.
Invention is credited to Maguire, Michael, Zinn, Ronald Scotte.
Application Number | 20050130631 10/500269 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 23340467 |
Filed Date | 2005-06-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050130631 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Maguire, Michael ; et
al. |
June 16, 2005 |
User interface and method of viewing unified communications events
on a mobile device
Abstract
A method for viewing communications events on a mobile device
which includes a user interface, a communications event handler,
and a communications event database is disclosed herein. The
communications event handler interfaces with the database and the
user interface to provide a user of the mobile device with a
communications event history associated with the correspondent of
an incoming communications event. Additionally the communications
event handler interfaces with the database and the user interface
to provide a user of the mobile device with a communications event
history for a specified correspondent. When a communication event
is received, the communication events history associated with the
correspondent is presented on the user interface. This gives the
advantage that the user of the mobile device is, able to determine
the context of the communicaion event.
Inventors: |
Maguire, Michael;
(Kitchener, CA) ; Zinn, Ronald Scotte; (Kitchener,
CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
STEPHEN D. SCANLON
JONES DAY
901 LAKESIDE AVENUE
CLEVELAND
OH
44114
US
|
Family ID: |
23340467 |
Appl. No.: |
10/500269 |
Filed: |
June 24, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
December 23, 2002 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CA02/02030 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60342130 |
Dec 26, 2001 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
455/414.1 ;
379/120; 379/88.19; 379/88.22; 379/88.23; 455/412.2; 455/415;
707/999.202; 707/999.203 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/2746 20200101;
H04M 1/7243 20210101; H04M 2250/60 20130101; H04M 1/72445 20210101;
H04M 1/575 20130101; H04M 1/72436 20210101; H04W 4/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/414.1 ;
455/415; 455/412.2; 379/088.19; 379/088.22; 379/088.23; 379/120;
707/203 |
International
Class: |
H04M 003/42; H04M
001/64; H04M 015/00; G06F 017/30 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of processing a communications event in a mobile device
having a user interface, the method comprising: identifying a
correspondent associated with the communications event; retrieving,
from a communications event database, a communications event
history associated with the identified correspondent, the
communications event history including a plurality of prior
communications events with the identified correspondent, the prior
communications events including a plurality of event types; and
displaying the retrieved communications event history of the
identified correspondent using the user interface of the mobile
device.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying is
preceded by the step of determining a communications event type for
the communications event.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the determined communications
event type of the communications event is selected from a list
including telephony based voice communications events, e-mail
communications events, short messaging service communications event
and wireless applications protocol communications event.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the communications event is an
incoming communications event, and further including the step of
receiving the incoming communications event prior to identifying
the correspondent.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of event types
include at least two of a telephony based voice communications
event type, an e-mail communication event type, a short messaging
service communications event type and a wireless applications
protocol communications event type.
6. The method of claim 4, further including the step of adding the
incoming communications event to the communications event history
in the communications event database.
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of receiving an incoming
communications event includes one of: receiving a telephony based
phone call; receiving an incoming email message; and receiving an
incoming short messaging service (SMS) message.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of identifying the
correspondent includes one of: extracting a phone number from call
display information; extracting an email address from the header of
an email message; and extracting an originating address from a SMS
message.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of identifying further
includes cross referencing one of the extracted phone number, the
extracted email address and the extracted originating address, with
entries in an address book accessible to the mobile device.
10. The method of claim 7, further including a step of controlling
the user interface to provide the user with communications event
handling options.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of controlling the
user interface includes providing the user an option to either
ignore or answer an incoming telephony based call.
12. The method of claim 11, further including the step of updating
the communications event database to reflect a status of the
incoming call.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of displaying
communications event handling options includes displaying the
option to either read or ignore one of the incoming email message
and the incoming SMS message.
14. The method of claim 13, further including the step of updating
the communications event database to reflect the status of one of
the incoming email message and the incoming SMS message.
15. A mobile device, comprising: a transceiver for transmitting and
receiving communications events; a communications event database
for storing a plurality of communications event histories, each of
the plurality of communications event histories being associated
with one of a plurality of correspondents; a communications event
handler for identifying a correspondent in response to a
communications event and for retrieving the associated
communications event history for the identified correspondent; and
a user interface for displaying the communications event history of
the identified correspondent.
16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the communications event
handler includes a communications event type identifier for
identifying the type of the communications event from a list
including telephony based voice communications events, e-mail
communications events, short messaging service communications event
and wireless applications protocol communications event.
17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the user interface is a
display, and the communications event handler includes a display
controller for controlling the display to display the retrieved
communications event history.
18. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the communications event
handler includes a correspondent identifier for identifying the
correspondent of an incoming communications event.
19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the correspondent
identifier is connected to the transceiver for receiving call
display information, and includes means for identifying the
correspondent of an incoming communications event based on the
received call display information.
20. The mobile device of claim 19, wherein the correspondent
identifier includes an address book interface for cross-referencing
the received call display information with entries in an address
book accessible to the mobile device to identify the
correspondent.
21. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the correspondent
identifier includes header parsing means for parsing the header of
one of a received email message and a received SMS message to
extract an originating address, and includes means for identifying
the correspondent of an incoming communications event based on the
extracted originating address.
22. The mobile device of claim 21, wherein the correspondent
identifier includes an address book interface for cross referencing
the extracted originating address with entries in an address book
accessible to the mobile device to identify the correspondent.
23. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the communications event
handler includes a user interface controller for controlling the
user interface to provide a user with communications event handling
options.
24. The mobile device of claim 23, wherein the communications event
handler includes means for updating the communications event
database to reflect the status of an incoming call.
Description
[0001] This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S.
Provisional Application No. 60/342,130 filed on Dec. 26, 2001, and
is hereby incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates generally to a user interface for
messaging. More particularly, the invention relates to user
interfaces for displaying a communications event in context with
select stored communications events.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Most cellular networks such as Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) and Global Service Mobile (GSM) networks support data
services in addition to standard telephony based services. Short
Messaging Service (SMS) and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) are
data centric services available on many cellular networks. Data
networks, such as MobiTeX.TM., Datatac.TM., as well as advanced
networks such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Universal
Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Enhanced Data for GSM
Enhancement (EDGE) and 1.times.that overlay cellular networks,
allow an appropriately configured mobile device to offer data
services such as e-mail, web browsing, as well as SMS and
Multimedia messaging service (MMS) messaging, and WAP data
sessions.
[0004] Communications events include telephone calls, both sent and
received, SMS messages both sent and received, e-mail
correspondences both sent and received, and wireless application
protocol sessions, among other data based transactions. Each
communications event has at least two parties, the user of the
mobile device and at least one correspondent. Each correspondent
can have multiple contact addresses, such a work phone number, a
home phone number, a mobile phone number, an SMS address, and a
plurality of email addresses.
[0005] Mobile devices were originally intended to provide telephony
services, and have, with the addition of data centric features,
become complex to operate. The user interfaces currently available
for viewing the history of communications events on a mobile
device, typically only enable a user to view a history of one type
of communications events, or a subset thereof, and from that
history view the contents of a communications event. This makes
sense in a voice only environment, but the addition of data
services has exposed this interface paradigm as insufficient.
[0006] FIG. 1 illustrates a user interface 10 of the prior art.
User interface 10 displays a notification 12 that a new message,
such as an e-mail or SMS message has been received. The user of the
mobile device is presented with the option to either exit the
notification 14, or read the received message 16. This user
interface does not permit the user to view the context in which the
received message should be interpreted.
[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates a second user interface of the prior art
18. User interface 18 illustrates a list of recent telephone calls.
Once again the user is presented with the option to exit 14, and
additionally is given the option to place a call 22 to one of the
recent callers, or to delete 20 a caller from the list of recent
calls. Call lists of this type provide either separate lists of
sent and received calls, or provide an integrated list of sent at
received calls.
[0008] Presently, when a mobile device receives an incoming
communications event, such as an SMS message, the only information
provided to the user is that an SMS message has been received. This
notification may indicate the originating SMS address. The user can
then either view the SMS message, or scroll through a collective
in-box of SMS messages to determine the last SMS message received
from the same originating address. If the user wishes to view the
last SMS message sent to the party originating the incoming SMS
message, the user must check the SMS out box on the mobile device.
Additionally, if the user would like to check to see when the last
call made to the SMS originating address, or received from the
originating SMS address occurred on, the user must check either the
incoming or outgoing call logs. If email services are integrated in
the mobile device, an additional list must be examined. This
provides a plurality of different lists that a user must examine to
determine the communications event history concerning a
correspondent. If a correspondent has multiple contact addresses,
viewing all communications events with the correspondent is further
complicated.
[0009] It is, therefore, desirable to provide a method and system
for handling communications events in a manner that provides the
user of a mobile device with the context of the communications
event through a presentation of the communications event history
associated with a given correspondent.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] It is an object of the present invention to obviate or
mitigate at least one disadvantage of previous communications event
handling systems.
[0011] In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method
of handling a communications event in a mobile device having a user
interface. The method includes identifying, in a communications
event database, a correspondent associated with the communications
event, retrieving, from the communications event database, a
communications event history associated with the correspondent and
controlling the user interface to provide the retrieved
communications event history to a user.
[0012] In an embodiment of the first aspect of the present
invention, the step of identifying is preceded by the step of
determining a communications event type for the communications
event, where the communications event type of the communications
event is selected from a list including telephony based voice
communications events, e-mail communications events, short
messaging service communications event and wireless applications
protocol communications event. In another embodiment of the present
invention, the communications event is an incoming communications
event, and the method further includes the step of receiving the
incoming communications event prior to identifying the
correspondent. In another embodiment of the present invention, the
user interface is a display, and the step of controlling the user
interface includes displaying the retrieved communications event
history on the display. In yet a further embodiment of the present
invention, the method includes adding the incoming communications
event to the communications event history in the communications
event database. In embodiments of the present invention, receiving
an incoming communications event and identifying the correspondent
includes one of receiving a telephony based phone call and
extracting a phone number from call display information, receiving
an incoming email message and extracting an email address from the
header of an email message and receiving an incoming short
messaging service (SMS) message and extracting an originating
address from a SMS message. In a further embodiment of the present
invention, identifying the correspondent further includes cross
referencing one of the extracted phone number, the extracted email
address and the extracted originating address, with entries in an
address book accessible to the mobile device. In yet a further
embodiment of the present invention the method includes the step of
controlling the user interface to provide the user with
communications event handling options, where controlling the user
interface can include providing the user an option to either ignore
or answer an incoming telephony based call, or read or ignore one
of the incoming email message and the incoming SMS message. Another
embodiment of the present invention includes updating the
communications event database to reflect a status of the incoming
communications event after providing the user with communications
event handling options.
[0013] In a second aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a mobile device, having a user interface and a transceiver
for transmitting and receiving communications events. The mobile
device includes a communications event database, and a
communications event handler. The communications event database is
for storing a communications event history associated with a
correspondent. The communications event handler is in communication
with the communications event database for retrieving from the
communications event database the communication event history in
response to a communications event, and is for controlling the user
interface to provide the retrieved communication event history to a
user.
[0014] In an embodiment of the second aspect of the present
invention, the communications event handler includes a
communications event type identifier for identifying the type of
the communications event from a list including telephony based
voice communications events, e-mail communications events, short
messaging service communications event and wireless applications
protocol communications event. In another embodiment of the second
aspect of the present invention, the user interface is a display,
and the communications event handler includes a display controller
for controlling the display to display the retrieved communication
event history. In another embodiment of the present invention,
communications event handler includes a correspondent identifier
for identifying the correspondent of an incoming communications
event, and the correspondent identifier is connected to the
transceiver for receiving call display information, and includes
means for identifying the correspondent of an incoming
communications event based on the received call display
information, and includes header parsing means for parsing the
header of one of a received email message and a received SMS
message to extract an originating address, and includes means for
identifying the correspondent of an incoming communications event
based on the extracted originating address. In a further
embodiment, correspondent identifier includes an address book
interface for cross referencing the received call display
information and the extracted originating address with entries in
an address book accessible to the mobile device to identify the
correspondent. In yet another embodiment of the second aspect of
the present invention, the communications event handler includes a
user interface controller for controlling the user interface to
provide a user with communications event handling options and also
includes means for updating the communications event database to
reflect the status of an incoming call.
[0015] In a third aspect of the present invention, there is
provided a communications event handler for integration in a
communication device having a user interface. The communications
event handler includes a database interface and a user interface
controller. The database interface is for communicating with a
communications event database to retrieve a communications event
history associated with a correspondent in response to a
communications event. The user interface controller is for
receiving the retrieved communications event history from the
database interface, and for controlling the user interface to
provide the retrieved communication event history to a user.
[0016] Other aspects and features of the present invention will
become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review
of the following description of specific embodiments of the
invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] Embodiments of the present invention will now be described,
by way of example only, with reference to the attached Figures,
wherein:
[0018] FIG. 1 illustrates a communications event handling system of
the prior art;
[0019] FIG. 2 illustrates a communications event history listing of
the prior art;
[0020] FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the present
invention;
[0021] FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an alternate method of
the present invention;
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary system of the present
invention;
[0023] FIG. 6 illustrates a data flow for a mobile device of the
present invention; and
[0024] FIG. 7 illustrates a data flow for a mobile device of the
present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] Generally, the present invention provides a method and
system for tracking originating, and received, communications
events on a mobile device. By tracking received and transmitted
communications events, a mobile device can provide a user with the
context of the communication with any party.
[0026] In the present invention a mobile device provides an
integrated user interface through which a user can view
communications events in which a particular correspondent has
partaken. A mobile device of the present invention makes use of a
communications event database to track all incoming and outgoing
communications events with various correspondents.
[0027] The present invention provides a unified view of
communications events, so that a user can determine the context of
any received communications event, or can determine the context of
a communications event to be placed. Thus, upon receipt of a SMS
message, or other communications events, after identifying the type
of the communications event, in addition to notifying the user that
a message has been received, the mobile device will present the
user with a listing of the most recent communications events that
are associated with the originating address of the message. The
user is also given the option of viewing information about the
prior communications events, which would include viewing prior SMS
messages, viewing information about the data received for a
wireless application protocol browsing session, or the call length
and dates of any placed or received calls. This information will
allow the user to better contextualise the content of the new
message. In a presently preferred embodiment, the user is able to
set criteria that must be matched by the properties of an incoming
communications event in order for the retrieval of the
communications event history to begin. This allows the user the
ability to only be presented with a communications event history
for selected correspondents, and selected types of communications
events.
[0028] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary method of the present
invention. In step 100, the mobile device receives a communications
event. Preferably, as a part of receiving the communications event
in step 100, the mobile device identifies the communications event
as one of a set of known communications event types including a
phone call, an e-mail message and an SMS message, among other known
types of communications events. Upon receipt of the communications
event, the mobile device identifies the correspondent in the
communications event in step 102. The identification of the
correspondent is preferably carried out using call display, a
signalling system 7 (SS7) type feature if the communications event
is a phone call, through an analysis of an e-mail header if the
communications event is an e-mail message or through parsing the
header information in a SMS message. Upon identifying the
correspondent in step 102, the mobile device uses the
correspondent's identification to retrieve and display a
communications event history detailing the communications event the
correspondent has been involved with in step 104. The
communications event history retrieved in step 104 is typically
retrieved from a database either in the mobile device, or
accessible to the mobile device, that is used to track
communications events. Upon retrieval of the communications event
history from the database, the mobile device displays the
communications event history to the user. Preferably, the
displaying of the information to the user allows the user to view
prior SMS and e-mail messages to determine the context of a
received message. Additionally, the user is preferably able to view
a listing of all sent and received calls involving the
correspondent along with the time and date at which the call
occurred, the length of the call if the call was answered, and an
indication if the call was or was not answered. In a presently
preferred embodiment of the present method of the invention, the
mobile device displays a summary of communications events with the
correspondent that both originated from, and were received by the
mobile device. It is, however, fully contemplated that in certain
embodiments the user is presented with only incoming, or outgoing
communications events in the summary. It is preferable that the
user be provided with an option to view incoming and outgoing
messages on a single display, only incoming messages, or only
outgoing communications events.
[0029] One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that when the
mobile device of the present invention receives a communications
event in step 100 the communications event can be any of a number
of event types. Typically, upon receiving a communications event in
step 100, the mobile device analyses the incoming event and
determines its specific type. This determination of the
communications event type can be performed in numerous ways
understood by those skilled in the art. One such method involves
determining the communications event type based on the channel over
which the communications event was received. For example, if the
device supports GSM communications as well as GPRS communications,
and the mobile device is capable of supporting voice, SMS, e-mail
and WAP type communications events, a communications event received
over a GPRS communications channel will be either a WAP or e-mail
based communication, whereas a communications event received over
the GSM communications channel will be either an SMS or voice type
communications event. After narrowing the selection to the two
choices based on the communications channel, the mobile device can
parse the header associated with the incoming communications event
to determine its specific type. For example, a WAP data session and
an email message typically conform to different standard formats,
and based on an analysis of the format, a determination can be
made. The differentiation between an SMS message and a telephony
based voice communications event is known in the art, and can be
easily implemented. It is envisioned that on advanced networks all
data and voice traffic will be carried on the same channel, much as
both voice and data are carried in a Voice-over-IP data network. In
such a network, header information associated with datagrams, or
other data units, provide identification of the different types of
communications event. One skilled in the art will readily
appreciate that a number of alternate method can be implemented
without departing from the scope of the present invention.
[0030] FIG. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of the method of
FIG. 3. In the method illustrated in FIG. 4, steps 100, 102, and
104 remain the same. Additionally, in step 106 after a
communications event has been received the communications event is
added to the database of the mobile device. This step can be
performed at any point in the process, and is shown as following
the receipt of the communications event as a matter of preference.
In step 108, the mobile device presents a user interface that
allows the user to either ignore or answer an incoming telephone
call, or alternatively to either read a message or exit the
notification in the case of a received SMS, or e-mail message. It
is preferable that these options be presented along with the
retrieved communications event history, so that the user can make a
decision as to what to do with the incoming communications event
based on the event history. In step 110, the database is updated to
reflect the communications event status.
[0031] As described above, the user interface preferably indicates
to the user whether or not a SMS or e-mail message has been read,
or replied to, and whether or not a call was answered. These
factors are collectively described as the status of a message. In
step 110, the database is updated to reflect whether or not the
user chose to ignore or answer a call in step 108, or whether the
user chose to read the message or exit the notification in step
108. In a presently preferred embodiment, the identification of the
correspondent in step 102 is preformed by cross-referencing the
information obtained through either call display, the analysis of
the e-mail header, or the analysis of the SMS message to determine
the originating address from which the communications event was
placed, with information contained in an address book accessible to
the mobile device. It is common for numerous correspondents to have
a variety of contact addresses, including telephone numbers
corresponding to cellular phones, home phones, and office phones,
as well as a plurality of e-mail, and SMS addresses. Through
cross-linking of the correspondent identification information
obtained in step 102 with the address book of the mobile device, it
is possible to provide the user of the mobile device with a
communications event history that includes all correspondence, and
telephone calls made to, or answered from the identified
correspondent.
[0032] FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of mobile device 112
according to the present invention. Mobile device 112 preferably
includes database 116, transceiver 118, processor 122, and display
120. In alternate embodiments of the present invention, mobile
device 112 does not include database 116, and instead accesses a
central server which hosts database 116 through a wireless link. In
additional embodiment, mobile device 112 either includes an address
book having a plurality of contact addresses for a variety of
correspondents, or has access to such an address book using a
wireless connection. Communications event software interface module
126 is preferably a software application executed by processor 122,
and is a specific example of a communications event handler
according to the present invention. It is contemplated that the
communications event handler can be implemented as a separate
hardware component, which may or may not implement software based
routines. In a further embodiment, the communications event handler
can be hardware enabled and integrated with processor 122.
[0033] Database 116 is preferably structured to have at least one
table 128. In table 128, four data fields are identified. The first
identified data field is status 130. Status field 130 indicates
whether or not an e-mail or SMS message has been read, or whether
or not a telephone call was answered. Type field 132 denotes the
type of communications event of the record. Type 132 is used to
identify whether the communications event was an e-mail message, a
telephone call, or an SMS message. In a presently preferred
embodiment, the type field also indicates whether the
communications event originated from, or was received by mobile
device 112. The third entry in table 128 is data field 134. The
data field 134 contains information about the communications event
of this record. In a presently preferred embodiment, the data field
for a SMS or e-mail message would include the body of the message.
For a telephone call, in a presently preferred embodiment, data
field 134 would indicate the time that the call was placed, and the
duration of the call. The final field of Table 128 is index 138.
One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that a number of
indexing mechanisms can be employed in either relational, or flat
file, database types. The use of index 138 is to be able to easily
identify and find a record related to a specific call. One skilled
in the art will recognize that a number of entries in this Table
will be introduced as the mobile device 112 begins communications
events with various correspondents. One skilled in the art will
recognize that in conjunction with an address book accessible by
mobile device 112, the index field 138 and status field 130 can be
correlated to determine a communications event history for a number
of different correspondents. Transceiver 118 is used to both
transmit and receive communications events. Upon receipt of a
communications event, transceiver 118 begins to pass data to
processor 122. In conjunction with communications event software
interface module 126, processor 122 performs the method illustrated
in FIG. 3. As a result, processor 122 interacts with display 120
upon receipt of a communications event and after querying database
116. Thus, processor 122 uses display 120 to provide interface 124.
Interface 124 illustrates a date and time, as well as the number of
e-mail, SMS, WAP, and telephone call type communications events
between the mobile device and the correspondent. As is illustrated
in interface 124, the status field 130, the type field 132, and
data field 134 of table 128 are used to provide the user with an
indication that unread mail messages exist, sent mail messages,
received mail messages and placed calls have been made between the
mobile device and the correspondent.
[0034] Transceiver 118 can be replaced by separate transmitters and
receivers, and is intended to allow the mobile device to receive
communications over a wireless link. Presently preferred
embodiments of the present invention employ transceivers capable of
receiving CDMA voice communication as well as 1.times.data
communications, in an alternate embodiment, the transceiver is
designed to receive GPRS, and GSM data and voice services,
respectively. One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that a
transceiver capable of receiving a variety of other combinations of
voice and data protocols are contemplated in the present
invention.
[0035] Display 120 is preferably a liquid crystal display, and may
optionally be a touch sensitive liquid crystal display, so that a
user can be provided with user interface acknowledgement buttons on
the screen of the device itself. Implementations of graphical
interfaces on liquid crystal displays, and touch sensitive liquid
crystal displays will be well understood by those skilled in the
art of mobile device design. It is fully contemplated that though
mobile device 112 has been described herein as having display 120,
that display 120 can be replaced with other user interfaces.
Examples of such user interfaces include audio interfaces and
dynamic Braille pads for use by individuals with visual
impairments.
[0036] Processor 122 is connected to the database 116, and is
capable of performing database queries on database 116 to obtain
information from the call event database 116. Additionally,
processor 122 is connected to an address book so that the
identified correspondent from step 102 can be cross-referenced to
the address book and match to a name in the address book. This will
allow mobile device 112 to provide the user with a call event
history from the call event database 116 that includes all
communications events in which the identified correspondence has
partaken, regardless of the communication address used by the
correspondent. Upon identifying the correspondent through
cross-referencing the address book, processor 122 queries
communications event database 116 to obtain a listing of all
communications events between the user of the mobile device and the
identified correspondent. The results of this query are then
formatted and provided to the user on display 120.
[0037] In a presently preferred embodiment of the system
illustrated in FIG. 4, the communications event software interface
module 126 includes a communications event type identifier. The
identifier is for determining the type associated with the
communications event. The identified type is stored in type field
132 in database 116. In the illustrated embodiment, the identifier
is preferably a software routine, and in a more generic
implementation is, a module in the communications event
handler.
[0038] FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a data flow of
the present invention. A pre-defined trigger event 140, such as an
incoming SMS message is used as a preset criterion 142. At least
one criterion 144 is set in the preset criteria 142. The at least
one criteria 144 may be communication from a specific party. In
this case, preset criteria 142 would correspond to both the
triggered event, the receipt of a SMS message, and the at least one
criterion 144, correspondence with a given individual. This would
set the preset criteria 142 as correspondence with a certain
individual via a SMS message. Preset criteria 142 is used, in a
presently preferred embodiment, so that only communications events
fitting a predefined profile will results in the retrieval of a
communications event history from database 116. In alternate
embodiments of the present inventions, all communications events
will result in the retrieval of a communications event history from
database 116 using a method, such as the one illustrated in FIG. 3.
Transceiver 118 is used by mobile device 112 to receive a
communications event. Upon receipt of any communications event the
preset criteria is compared to the received communications event.
If the preset criteria 142 and the received communications event
from transceiver 118 match, the process proceeds through the flow
to decision 148, where a determination is made of whether or not
the communications event matches the preset criteria. If the
communications event matches the preset criteria, mobile device 112
proceeds to step 150 where the selected communications event is
added to the unified communications event list in step 156, which
is stored in database 116. At this point, mobile device 112 marks
the communications event as processed in step 152. If the next
communications event did not match the preset criteria in decision
148, mobile device 112 would have proceeded to mark the
communications event as processed 152 without selecting the
communications event and adding it to the unified communications
event list 156. Following the marking of the communications event
as processed in step 152, a decision is made as to whether or not
all communications events have been processed in decision 154. If
all outstanding communications events have not been processed,
mobile device 112 returns to step 148. Otherwise, in conjunction
with the unified communications event list 156, which is obtained
from database 116, user interface 124 is provided on display
120.
[0039] The comparison as illustrated, in FIG. 6, to determine
whether or not a set of criteria has been matched, will now be
illustrated in FIG. 7 in greater detail with reference to the
embodiment of the table 128 as shown in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 illustrates
database 116 which has contains table 128 having fields for status
130, type 132, data 134 and an index 138. The at least one criteria
144 is predetermined by the user. Upon receipt of an incoming
communications event, the at least one criteria is compared to the
status 130, type 132, data 134, and index 138 of the incoming
communications event. If the event matches the status criteria in
158, it is then compared to the type criteria in step 160. If in
step 160, the event matches the type criteria, it is further
compared to the data criteria in 162, and pending successful
completion of the event matching the data criteria, the event is
matched to the index criteria in step 164. If in any of the
comparisons 158, 160, 162 or 164, the event is not matched to one
of the criteria, mobile device 112 proceeds to a does not match
state 168. If all of these comparisons are successful, mobile
device 112 proceeds to a match state 166. Upon reaching a match
state 166, processor 122 queries database 116 to retrieve the
communications event history. If does not match state 168 is
reached, processor 122 waits for the next communications event. The
order as implied by FIG. 7 is not a required order, and the
comparisons can be carried out in any order or in parallel. The
presently illustrated order was selected for simplicity, and is to
be considered merely exemplary in nature.
[0040] As described above, a presently preferred embodiment of the
present invention cross-links the correspondent identification
information with information contained in an address book
accessible to mobile device 112. This allows the address book
information to be used to link SMS addresses, telephone numbers for
cellular, home and work phones, a plurality of e-mail addresses,
and WAP accessible sites associated with a single individual or
entity, to each other. This cross-linking of address based
information allows a user to properly put in context all
communication with the individual from whom a message has been
received.
[0041] In many mobile devices 112, the ability to integrate with a
centralized e-mail server, using such standard protocols as the
point of presence (POP) protocol is used to provide a seamless
transition between the mobile device 112 and the central e-mail
account. In this case, a user of the mobile device 112 is able to
reply to e-mail messages from either a desktop computer, or mobile
device 112 seamlessly. In a presently preferred embodiment, the
mobile device 112 is updated through contact with a central server
to reflect that e-mail messages replied to from the desktop have
been replied to. Thus, the user of the mobile device 112 will be
able to completely determine the context of a received message.
[0042] In an exemplary embodiment, all communications events
including messages and calls originating from the mobile device,
messages received and sent from a desktop computer, and all other
communications events accessible to the mobile device are stored in
a database 116. Database 116 is preferably integrated with the
mobile device 112, though it is fully contemplated that database
116 can reside in a central server and be accessed wirelessly by
mobile device 112. The implementation of such a system will be well
understood by those skilled in the art.
[0043] The database 112 preferably tracks the type 132 of
communications event, the data 134 contained in the communications
event, and preferably a status 130 of the event. The type of the
event 132 typically denotes whether it was a telephone call, a SMS
message, an e-mail message, a WAP data transmission, or other data
based transaction. The type field 132 also indicates whether the
communication was received by the user of the mobile device, or
originated from the user of the mobile device. The data field 134
typically contains the body of an e-mail message, the body of a SMS
message, information related to the WAP data transmission, or call
length, as appropriate. The status 130 of the message typically
indicates whether a placed or received call was answered, or if a
received message was replied to. One skilled in the art will
readily appreciate that it is preferable to index this data with an
index field 138, however, the implementation of an index is purely
optional, though understood by one skilled in the art. Thus, in
operation, a mobile device 112 of the present invention will
receive a communications event and prior to displaying notification
of this event, be it an e-mail message, a SMS message, or a
telephone call, the processor of the mobile device queries the
database 116 using the calling number as a key. The calling number
is typically transmitted to the processor of the mobile device
using such services as call display, or visual call waiting, which
will be well understood to those skilled in the art. The query to
the database 116 using the incoming number or address, as a search
perimeter will result in a query response containing a list of all
communications events between the mobile device 112 or any account
associated with mobile device 112, and the incoming address. This
information is then presented to the user on the display 120 of the
mobile device so that prior to answering a telephone call the user
will know the date of the last communication. Alternatively, if a
received SMS message is generating the notification, the user is
provided with the context of the SMS message as a result of being
able to view prior SMS messages, prior e-mail messages, and is also
presented with the dates of the last call initiated to the SMS
originating address.
[0044] In a presently preferred embodiment, the communications
event history retrieved from database 116 is sorted
chronologically, so that the newest information is presented at the
top of the list. Additionally, a summary of the number of e-mail
messages, SMS messages, WAP sessions, and telephone calls between
the mobile device 112 or any account associated with it, and the
party originating the message is presented.
[0045] One skilled in the art will readily appreciate that database
116 can be either a relational database, or a flat file database.
Although the use of a relational database provides numerous
benefits understood by those skilled in art, it is conceivable that
an implementation of the present invention can be provided through
the use of a flat file database. Additionally, one skilled in the
art will readily appreciate that a number of methods of
implementing the present invention using a relational database
exist. For exemplary purposes, one such method is presented. It
should be understood by those skilled in the art, that the
presented method is intended to be exemplary, and not limiting of
the scope of the present invention.
[0046] In a non-illustrated embodiment, any event, regardless of
whether it is a communications event or any other event detectable
by the mobile device 112, can trigger the message software
interface module to use a particular pre-set criteria 142 to
display select communications events in the communications event
history. For example, in a mobile device 112 having an integrated
date book, when a conference call scheduled in a datebook occurs,
processor 122 triggers the communication software interface module
126 with pre-set criteria 142 to preferably select and represent a
pending outgoing conference call communications event with higher
priority than other select communications events. Alternatively,
when mobile device 112 receives a communication, such as an e-mail
message, SMS message, WAP page response, voice/video call,
processor 122 triggers the communication software interface module
126 with pre-set criteria 142 to preferably select and represent
the received communications event with higher priority than other
select communications events.
[0047] The pre-set criteria can also match communications event
data. For instance, to view all communications events sent to or
received from a particular contact, the pre-set criteria may
include matching select communications event data with all of the
specific contact information found in an address book entry for the
contact. As an example, consider all communications events sent to
or received from a stockbroker. Contact information for the
stockbroker is preferably kept in the address book. Preferably,
each address book entry contains a variety of fields that can be
mapped to one or more communications addresses supported by the
mobile device. In the entry corresponding to the stockbroker, for
example, if the following fields are defined: telephone number,
mobile phone number, fax number, email address, and URL's; then an
example preferable mapping to message types follows. The phone,
mobile, and fax numbers are mapped to voice and/or video
communications events. The mobile number is additionally mapped to
an SMS address for SMS type communications events. The email
address is mapped to email communications events. The URL's are
mapped to corresponding communications event types. For instance an
http URL can be mapped to web and/or WAP, whereas an FTP URL (File
Transfer Protocol) can be mapped to an ftp communications event.
All communications events, including phone calls, SMS
communications events, emails, web communications events, WAP
communications events or other communications events that match at
least one field in the stockbroker contact entry of the address
book would then be selected by the communications event software
interface module 126, and would be displayed. Preferably, the
presentation of the retrieved data from database 116 would show the
contact name, such as "stockbroker" as defined by the preset
criteria 142.
[0048] In another embodiment, the communications event software
interface module 126 may identify related stored communications
events by comparing the communications event data of each stored
communications event 128 with keywords selected by the user. This
alternative method of matching the current communications event
with select stored communications events 128 may be implemented by
itself, or as a means of further limiting the select communications
events identified by the other methods described above. To continue
the previous stockbroker example, further pre-set criteria can be
added to create a further filter that operates on the select
communications events, for instance. The communications event data
in the new filter may include stock quotes obtained via WAP using
an URL as well as notes taken during phone calls with the
stockbroker. The user may therefore decide to choose pre-set
criteria that, as well as matching contact information, further
matches a regular expression, such as for example, the keywords
"buy" or "sell". By allowing the user to configure the pre-set
criteria, the communications event software interface module 126
unifies communications events based on pre-set criteria which are
important to the user at a specific point in time, for instance,
allowing the user to unify a stock pick provided by a stockbroker
over a phone call or e-mail with a stock quote retrieved
subsequently by the user via WAP in order to take a decision to
either communicate a buy, sell, or hold directive to his
stockbroker or to a trading system.
[0049] Thus far the system of the present invention has been
described as integrated in mobile device 112, it will be understood
by one skilled in the art that a software implementation of the
present invention can be executed on a number of different
platforms, or packaged for use on different platforms. In one such
example, a desktop computer can be configured to use the
communications event handler of the present invention to provide a
communications event history for received email messages.
Additionally, the desktop computer may be attached to an SMS modem
so that it is capable of receiving SMS messages and can then
provide a communications event history to a user to permit the user
to determine the context of a received SMS message. Additionally,
the desktop computer can be configured so that it is in
communication with a Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) telephone,
so that all incoming and outgoing calls are recorded to the
communications event database 116. In such an implementation, the
communications event handler would use a communications event
database interface to communicate with either a local or remote
communications event database 116 to retrieve the communications
event histories associated with correspondents identified using
either call display information, or addressing information
extracted from the header of an incoming e-mail or SMS message.
[0050] The above-described embodiments of the present invention are
intended to be examples only. Alterations, modifications and
variations may be effected to the particular embodiments by those
of skill in the art without departing from the scope of the
invention, which is defined solely by the claims appended
hereto.
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