U.S. patent application number 10/512551 was filed with the patent office on 2005-10-13 for system and method for selection of messaging settings.
This patent application is currently assigned to Research In Motion Limited. Invention is credited to Robertson, Ian M..
Application Number | 20050228864 10/512551 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 29270643 |
Filed Date | 2005-10-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050228864 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Robertson, Ian M. |
October 13, 2005 |
System and method for selection of messaging settings
Abstract
A method and system of selecting messaging settings on a
messaging client are provided. When an outgoing message to be sent
from the messaging client is addressed to a message recipient, the
messaging client accesses a data store to determine whether
specific messaging settings have been stored for the message
recipient. If specific messaging settings have been stored for the
message recipient, the messaging client selects the specific
messaging settings for the message recipient to control the message
characteristics of the outgoing message.
Inventors: |
Robertson, Ian M.;
(Waterloo, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
DIMOCK STRATTON LLP
20 QUEEN STREET WEST SUITE 3202, BOX 102
TORONTO
ON
M5H 3R3
CA
|
Assignee: |
Research In Motion Limited
295 Phillip Street
Waterloo
ON
N2L 3W8
|
Family ID: |
29270643 |
Appl. No.: |
10/512551 |
Filed: |
October 25, 2004 |
PCT Filed: |
April 24, 2003 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/CA03/00606 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60375449 |
Apr 26, 2002 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206 ;
709/217 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 51/14 20130101;
H04L 63/168 20130101; H04W 12/03 20210101; G06Q 10/107 20130101;
H04L 63/12 20130101; H04W 12/106 20210101; H04W 4/12 20130101; H04L
51/28 20130101; H04L 51/04 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
709/206 ;
709/217 |
International
Class: |
G06F 015/16 |
Claims
What is claimed as the invention is:
1. A method of selecting messaging settings on a messaging client,
comprising the steps of: composing an outgoing message (92);
addressing the outgoing message to a message recipient (94);
determining whether specific messaging settings have been
established for the message recipient (96); and selecting the
specific messaging settings to control message characteristics of
the outgoing message where specific messaging settings for the
message recipient have been established (98), characterised by: the
steps of addressing, determining, and selecting being repeated for
each of a plurality of message recipients; detecting conflicting
messaging settings between the messaging settings selected for the
plurality of message recipients (102); and resolving any detected
conflicting messaging settings (104).
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of addressing comprises
the step of selecting an address book entry in an address book.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of determining comprises
the step of determining whether the specific messaging settings are
stored in the address book entry.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein: the step of determining
comprises the step of determining whether the address book entry
identifies the specific messaging settings in a data store
accessible by the messaging client; and the step of selecting
comprises selecting the specific messaging settings identified in
the address book entry from the data store.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein: the step of addressing comprises
the step of manually entering an address of the message recipient
using a user interface associated with the messaging client; and
the step of determining comprises the steps of: determining whether
the address is stored in an address book entry in an address book;
and determining whether specific messaging settings are stored in
the address book entry where the address is stored in an address
book entry in the address book.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein: the step of addressing comprises
the step of manually entering an address of the message recipient
using a user interface associated with the messaging client, the
address comprising a user name and a domain name; and the step of
determining comprises the step of determining whether specific
messaging settings for the domain name are stored in a data store
accessible by the messaging client.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein: the outgoing message is a reply
message to a message received at the messaging client from a
message sender; and the step of addressing comprises the step of
inserting an address from the received message as the message
recipient.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of determining comprises
the steps of: determining whether the inserted address is stored in
an address book entry in an address book; and determining whether
specific messaging settings are stored in the address book entry
where the inserted address is stored in an address book entry in
the address book.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the inserted address is an
address of the message sender.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of resolving detected
conflicting messaging settings comprises the steps of: alerting a
user to the detected conflicting messaging settings; prompting the
user to choose which of the conflicting messaging settings should
be selected; and controlling the message characteristics of the
outgoing message based on the choice by the user.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of resolving the
detected conflicting messaging settings comprises the step of
preparing a plurality of outgoing messages, each of the outgoing
messages having message characteristics controlled by each of the
conflicting messaging settings.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of message
recipients comprise a distribution list.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein: the message recipient is a
distribution list including a plurality of message recipients; and
the step of determining comprises the step of determining whether
specific messaging settings have been established for the
distribution list.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the message characteristics
comprise one or more characteristics selected from the group
consisting of: message format, message font, common message text,
message signing, and message encryption.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the message signing and the
message encryption are signing and encryption according to Secure
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/M/ME).
16. The method of claim 14, wherein the message signing and the
message encryption are signing and encryption according to Pretty
Good Privacy (PGP).
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the messaging client operates on
a wireless mobile communication device.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the messaging client operates on
a personal computer system.
19. A system for selecting messaging settings, comprising: a data
store (52) configured to store a plurality of specific messaging
settings (59); and a messaging client (60) configured to send
messages, each of the messages having message characteristics and
being addressed to a message recipient, to access the data store to
determine whether specific messaging settings have been stored for
the message recipient to which a message is addressed (100), and to
select the specific messaging settings for the message recipient to
control the message characteristics of the message where specific
messaging settings have been stored for the message recipient (98),
characterised by: the steps of addressing, determining, and
selecting being repeated for each of a plurality of message
recipients; the messaging client configured to detect conflicting
messaging settings between the messaging settings selected for the
plurality of message recipients (102) and to resolve any detected
conflicting massaging settings (104).
20. The system of claim 19, wherein: the data store is further
configured to store default messaging setting; and the messaging
client is further configured to select the default messaging
settings to control the message characteristics of the message
where specific messaging settings have not been stored in the data
store for the message recipient.
21. The system of claim 19, wherein the system is implemented in a
device selected from the group consisting of: a personal computer
system, a handheld electronic device, a wireless mobile
communication device, a mobile telephone having data communication
functionality, a two-way pager, a voice communication device, a
data communication device, and a dual-mode communication
device.
22. The system of claim 19, wherein the messaging client is a
secure messaging client configured to send secure and unsecure
messages.
23. The system of claim 22, wherein the message characteristics
comprise secure messaging characteristics selected from the group
consisting of: message signing and message encryption.
24. The system of claim 19, wherein: the data store comprises an
address book (56) configured to store address book entries for a
plurality of contacts; each of the plurality of address book
entries comprises an address field and a messaging settings field
for an associated contact; and the messaging settings field in each
address book entry is configured to store specific messaging
settings for the associated contact.
25. The system of claim 19, wherein: the system further comprises
an address book data store configured to store address book entries
for a plurality of contacts; each of the plurality of address book
entries comprises an address field and a messaging settings field
for an associated contact; and the messaging settings field in each
address book entry is configured to store specific messaging
settings for the associated contact.
26. The system of claim 19, wherein: the system further comprises
an address book data store configured to store address book entries
for a plurality of contacts; each of the plurality of address book
entries comprises an address field and a messaging settings field
for an associated contact; and the messaging settings field in each
address book entry is configured to store an identifier of specific
messaging settings for the contact stored in the data store.
27. The system of claim 19, wherein: the specific messaging
settings comprise specific messaging settings for message
recipients and specific messaging settings for distribution lists,
each distribution list comprising a plurality of message
recipients; and the messaging client is further configured to
access the data store to determine whether specific messaging
settings have been stored for a distribution list to which a
message is addressed, and to select the specific messaging settings
for the distribution list to control the message characteristics of
the message where specific messaging settings have been stored for
the distribution list.
28. The system of claim 19, further comprising: a user interface
configured to receive input from a user, wherein a message is
addressed to a message recipient responsive to an input from the
user.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] This invention relates generally to the field of secure
electronic messaging, and in particular to selecting messaging
configuration settings on a messaging client.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Known secure messaging software clients, such as e-mail
software applications operating on desktop computer systems, can
use only one set of messaging settings at a time. Messaging
settings may be established by using a mouse, a keyboard or another
input device, for example, to configure such message
characteristics as formats, fonts, and common text that should
appear in all outgoing messages, as well as secure messaging
characteristics such as message signing and encryption. Although a
user may establish more than one group of settings, only one group,
previously selected as current or default settings, controls
messaging operations on a messaging client at any time. In order to
configure different message characteristics for an outgoing message
than those established in the current settings, the current
settings must be over-ridden or another group of settings must be
selected. These operations tend to be cumbersome, particularly when
message characteristics must be changed frequently, such as when
the addressees of outgoing messages have different messaging
capabilities.
[0005] U.S. Pat. No. 6,157,954 describes a method for changing a
public key for electronic business cards in which a user may be
permitted to override the automatic selection of a fax number or e
mail address
[0006] U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,306 describes a method and structure to
provide an electronic address book which allows information to be
efficiently sent to users of both electronic mail and facsimile
transmission.
SUMMARY
[0007] According to one aspect of the invention, a method of
selecting messaging settings on a messaging client is provided. The
method includes the steps of composing an outgoing message,
addressing the outgoing message to a message recipient, determining
whether specific messaging settings have been established for the
message recipient, selecting the specific messaging settings to
control message characteristics of the outgoing message where
specific messaging settings for the message recipient have been
established, detecting conflicting message settings between
messaging settings selected for the plurality of message
recipients, and resolving any detected conflicting messaging
settings.
[0008] A system for selecting messaging settings is also provided
in accordance with another aspect of the invention. The system
includes a data store configured to store a plurality of specific
messaging settings, and a messaging client configured to send
messages, each of the messages having message characteristics and
being addressed to a message recipient, to access the data store to
determine whether specific messaging settings have been stored for
the message recipient to which a message is addressed, to select
the specific messaging settings for the message recipient to
control the message characteristics of the outgoing message where
specific messaging settings have been stored for the message
recipient, to detect conflicting message settings between messaging
settings selected for the plurality of message recipients, and to
resolve any detected conflicting messaging settings. The messaging
client may be configured to send both secure and unsecure
messages.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary messaging
system.
[0010] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a secure e-mail
message exchange in a messaging system.
[0011] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wireless mobile communication
device implementing an automatic messaging setting selection
system.
[0012] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary address book
entry that supports messaging settings selection.
[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of selecting
messaging settings on a messaging client.
[0014] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless mobile communication
device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0015] Messaging settings may control general message
characteristics such as message format and fonts for both unsecure
messages and secure messages. Unsecure messages include, for
example, classical e-mail messages that are exchanged between
messaging clients through the Internet. Secure message
characteristics such as message signing and encryption may also be
controlled by establishing message settings. Secure messages may be
signed with a digital signature, encrypted, or both signed and
encrypted, and possibly also processed in other ways by a message
sender or intermediate system between a message sender and a
messaging client which receives the secure message. For example, a
secure message may be signed, encrypted and then signed, or signed
and then encrypted by a message sender according to variants of
Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME). A secure
message could similarly be encoded, compressed or otherwise
processed either before or after being signed and/or encrypted.
Thus, a group of message settings may include general message
settings, secure message settings, or both.
[0016] A messaging client allows a system on which it operates to
receive and possibly also send messages. Messaging clients may
operate on a computer system, a handheld device, or any other
system or device with communications capabilities. Many messaging
clients also have additional non-messaging functions.
[0017] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary messaging system
in which the present invention may be implemented. The system 10
includes a Wide Area Network (WAN) 12, coupled to a computer system
14, a wireless network gateway 16, and a corporate Local Area
Network (LAN) 18. The wireless network gateway 16 is also coupled
to a wireless communication network 20, in which a wireless mobile
communication device 22 ("mobile device") is configured to
operate.
[0018] The computer system 14 may be a desktop or laptop personal
computer (PC), which is configured to communicate to the WAN 12,
the Internet, for example. PCs, such as computer system 14,
normally access the Internet through an Internet Service Provider
(ISP), an Application Service Provider (ASP), or the like.
[0019] The corporate LAN 18 is an example of a network-based
messaging client. It is normally located behind a security firewall
24. Within the corporate LAN 30, a message server 26, operating on
a computer behind the firewall 24 serves as the primary interface
for the corporation to exchange messages both within the LAN 18,
and with other external messaging clients via the WAN 12. Two known
message servers 26 are Microsoft.TM. Exchange server and Lotus
Domino.TM. server. These servers 26 are often used in conjunction
with Internet mail routers to route and deliver mail messages. The
message server 26 may also provide additional functionality, such
as dynamic database storage for calendars, to do lists, task lists,
e-mail, electronic documentation, etc.
[0020] The message server 26 provides messaging capabilities to the
corporation's networked computer systems 28 coupled to the LAN 18.
A typical LAN 18 includes multiple computer systems 28, each of
which implements a messaging client, such as Microsoft Outlook.TM.,
Lotus Notes, etc. Within the LAN 18, messages are received by the
message server 26, distributed to the appropriate mailboxes for
user accounts addressed in the received message, and are then
accessed by a user through a messaging client operating in
conjunction with a computer system 28.
[0021] The wireless gateway 16 provides an interface to a wireless
network 20, through which messages may be exchanged with a mobile
device 22. Such functions as addressing of the mobile device 22,
encoding or otherwise transforming messages for wireless
transmission, and any other required interface functions are
performed by the wireless gateway 16. The wireless gateway may be
configured to operate with more than one wireless network 20, in
which case the wireless gateway 16 may also determine a most likely
network for locating a given mobile device user and track users as
they roam between countries or networks.
[0022] Any computer system 14, 28 with access to the WAN 12 may
exchange messages with a mobile device 22 through the wireless
network gateway 16. Alternatively, private wireless network
gateways, such as wireless Virtual Private Network (VPN) routers
could also be implemented to provide a private interface to a
wireless network. For example, a wireless VPN implemented in the
LAN 18 provides a private interface from the LAN 18 to one or more
mobile devices 22 through the wireless network 20. Such a private
interface to mobile devices 22 via the wireless network gateway 16
and/or the wireless network 20 may also effectively be extended to
entities outside the LAN 18 by providing a message forwarding or
redirection system that operates with the message server 26. Such a
redirection system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,219,694, which
is hereby incorporated into this application by reference. In this
type of redirection system, incoming messages received by the
message server 26 and addressed to a user of a mobile device 22 are
sent through the wireless network interface, either a wireless VPN
router, the wireless network gateway 16, or some other interface,
to the wireless network 20 and to the user's mobile device 22.
Another alternate interface to a users mailbox on a message server
26 is a Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) gateway. In one such
implementation, a list of messages in a user's mailbox on the
message server 26, and possibly each message or a portion of each
message, is sent to the mobile device 22 through a WAP gateway.
[0023] A wireless network 20 normally delivers messages to and from
mobile devices 22 via RF transmissions between base stations and
mobile devices 22. The wireless network 20 may, for example, be:
(1) a data-centric wireless network, (2) a voice-centric wireless
network, or (3) a dual-mode network that can support both voice and
data communications over the same infrastructure. Recently
developed wireless networks include: (1) the Code Division Multiple
Access (CDMA) network, (2) the Groupe Special Mobile or the Global
System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) networks, and (3) third-generation (3G) networks,
such as Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) and
Universal Mobile Telecommunications Systems (UMTS), which are
currently under development. GPRS is a data overlay on the existing
GSM wireless network, which is used in many parts of the world.
[0024] Examples of data-centric networks include: (1) the
Mobitex.TM. Radio Network ("Mobitex"), and (2) the DataTAC.TM.
Radio Network ("DataTAC"). Examples of known voice-centric networks
include Personal Communication Systems (PCS) networks like CDMA,
GSM, and Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems that have
been available in North America and world-wide for nearly 10
years.
[0025] The mobile device 22 may be a data communication device, a
voice communication device such as a mobile telephone with data
communications functionality, or a multiple-mode device capable of
voice, data and other types of communications. An exemplary mobile
device 22 is described in further detail below.
[0026] Perhaps the most common type of messaging currently in use
is e-mail. In a standard e-mail system, an e-mail message is sent
by an e-mail sender, possibly through a message server and/or a
service provider system, and then routed through the Internet to
one or more message receivers. E-mail messages are normally sent in
the clear and typically use Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
headers and Multi-purpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) body
parts to define the format of the e-mail message.
[0027] In recent years, secure messaging techniques have evolved to
protect both the content and integrity of messages, such as e-mail
messages. S/MIME and Pretty Good Privacy.TM. (PGP.TM.) are two
public key secure e-mail messaging protocols that provide for both
encryption, to protect data content, and signing, which protects
the integrity of a message and provides for sender authentication
by a message receiver. In addition to utilizing digital signatures
and possibly encryption, secure messages may also or instead be
encoded, compressed or otherwise processed. It will be appreciated
by those skilled in the art that the techniques described herein
are in no way restricted to the above secure messaging schemes, or
even to secure messaging. Secure messaging settings represent an
illustrative example of one type of messaging settings to which the
selection techniques of the present invention are applicable. It
should also be appreciated that these techniques are applicable to
other types of messaging than email, including instant messaging
and Short Messaging Service (SMS), for example.
[0028] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a secure e-mail
message exchange in a messaging system. The system includes an
e-mail sender 30, coupled to a WAN 32, and a wireless network
gateway 34, which provides an interface between the WAN 32 and a
wireless network 36. A mobile device 38 is adapted to operate
within the wireless network 36.
[0029] The e-mail sender 30 may be a PC, such as 14 or 28 in FIG.
1, or a mobile device, on which a messaging client operates to
enable e-mail messages to be composed and sent. The WAN 32, the
wireless network gateway 34, the wireless network 36, and the
mobile device 38 are substantially the same as similarly-labelled
components in FIG. 1.
[0030] According to a public key signature scheme, a secure e-mail
message sender 30 typically signs a message by using the senders
signature private key to perform an encryption or some other
transformation operation on a message or a digest of the message to
generate a digital signature in accordance with a signature
algorithm. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although
completion of a digital signature algorithm requires a secret key
known only to the message sender, portions of some signature
algorithms, such as generating a digest of parts of a message using
Secure Hashing Algorithm 1 (SHA-1) or Message Digest algorithm 5
(MD5), for example, do not involve the secret key.
[0031] The digital signature is then appended to the outgoing
message. In addition, a digital Certificate (Cert) of the sender,
which includes the senders signature public key and sender identity
information that is bound to the public key with one or more
digital signatures, and possibly any chained Certs and Certificate
Revocation Lists (CRLs) associated with the Cert and any chained
Certs, may also be included with the outgoing message.
[0032] The example secure e-mail message 40 sent by the e-mail
sender 30 includes a component 42 including the senders Cert, Cert
chain, CRLs and digital signature and the signed message body 44.
In the S/MIME secure messaging technique, Certs, CRLs and digital
signatures are normally placed at the beginning of a message as
shown in FIG. 2, and the message body is included in a file
attachment. Messages generated by other secure messaging schemes
may place message components in a different order than shown or
include additional and/or different components. For example, a
signed message may include addressing information, such as "To:"
and "From:" email addresses, and other header information.
[0033] When the secure e-mail message 40 is sent from the e-mail
sender 30, it is routed through the WAN 32 to the wireless network
gateway 34. Although the e-mail sender 30 sends the message 40
directly to the wireless network gateway 34, in an alternative
implementation the message is instead delivered to a computer
system associated with the mobile device 38 and then sent to the
mobile device 38 by the associated computer system. As described
above, in a further alternative embodiment, the message is routed
or redirected to the mobile device 38 through the wireless network
36 via a wireless VPN router or other interface.
[0034] The receiver of the signed message 40, the mobile device 38,
checks the digital signature 42 using the sender's signature public
key (in a public key signature scheme) and a signature verification
algorithm corresponding to the signature algorithm used by the
message sender 30. If the secure message 40 was encrypted or
otherwise processed by the sender 30 after being signed, then the
mobile device 38 first decrypts or performs other inverse
processing operations on the message before signature verification
is performed. If encryption or processing was performed before
signing, however, inverse processing such as decryption is
performed after signature verification.
[0035] In order to verify the digest signature, the receiver 38
retrieves the signature public key of the sender 30, generally by
extracting the public key from the sender's Cert 42 attached to the
message 40, and then performs the signature verification algorithm
using the retrieved public key. The secure message 40 shown in FIG.
2 includes the sender's Cert 42, from which the sender's public key
can be extracted. The sender's public key may also be retrieved
from a local store, for example where the public key was extracted
from an earlier message from the sender 30 and stored in a key
store in the receiver's local store. Alternatively, the public key
may be retrieved from the sender's Cert stored in a local store, or
from a Public Key Server (PKS). A PKS is a server that is normally
associated with a Certificate Authority (CA) from which a Cert for
an entity, including the entity's public key, is available. A PKS
might reside within a corporate LAN such as 18 (FIG. 1), or
anywhere on the WAN 32, Internet or other network or system through
which message receivers may establish communications with the
PKS.
[0036] The Cert, Cert chain and CRLs 42 are used by a receiver to
ensure that the senders Cert is valid, i.e., that the Cert has not
been revoked or expired, and is trusted. A Cert is often part of a
Cert chain, which includes a user's Cert as well as other Certs to
verify that the users Cert is authentic. For example, a Cert for
any particular entity typically includes the entity's public key
and identification information that is bound to the public key with
a digital signature. Several types of Cert currently in use
include, for example, X.509 Certs, which are typically used in
S/MIME, and PGP Certs, which have a slightly different format. The
digital signature in a Cert is generated by the issuer of the Cert,
and can be checked by a message receiver as described above. A Cert
may include an expiry time or validity period from which a
messaging client may determine if the Cert has expired. Each Cert
may also be checked against a CRL to ensure that the Cert has not
been revoked.
[0037] If the digital signature in a message sender's Cert is
verified, the Cert has not expired or been revoked and the issuer
of the Cert is trusted by a message receiver, then the digital
signature of the message is trusted by the message receiver. If the
issuer of the Cert is not trusted by the receiver, then the message
receiver may trace a certification path through the Cert chain to
verify that each Cert in the chain was signed by its issuer, whose
Cert is next in the Cert chain, until a Cert is found that was
signed by a root Cert from a source trusted by the receiver, such
as from a large PKS. Once a root Cert is found, then a signature
can be trusted, because both the sender and receiver trust the
source of the root Cert. This trust mechanism is used, for example,
in S/MIME. Although other messaging schemes, including PGP, for
example, may use different trust mechanisms, the present invention
is in no way dependent upon a particular signature scheme or trust
mechanism.
[0038] At the e-mail sender 30, secure messaging characteristics,
message signing in the message 40, may be controlled by messaging
settings, either default messaging settings or a currently selected
group of messaging settings established by a user, or by
over-riding default or current messaging settings. In known
systems, whenever a message having different message
characteristics than those specified in a current group of message
settings is to be sent from a messaging client, a different group
of messaging settings must be selected or current setting must be
over-ridden.
[0039] Frequent messaging settings changes are not only tedious and
time consuming, but are also prone to error. For example, some
secure messaging clients may be configured to exchange either
secure or unsecure messages with other messaging clients. However,
as described above, known messaging clients allow only a single
group of messaging settings to be active at any time. Therefore,
when a secure messaging client exchanges messages with unsecure
messaging clients relatively often, a user of the secure messaging
client may normally select only general messaging settings as
default messaging settings to ensure that sent messages may be
processed by unsecure messaging clients. Then, when a secure
message is to be sent to a secure messaging client, a different
group of settings is selected or the current general messaging
settings are over-ridden, so that a secure message is sent. When a
user forgets to select secure messaging settings or over-ride
general messaging settings, a message that was intended to be sent
securely is sent in the clear. This situation may be particularly
undesirable when such a message contains confidential or otherwise
sensitive information. Similarly, when secure messaging settings
are used as default settings and not over-ridden when a message is
to be sent to an unsecure messaging client, the unsecure messaging
client will be unable to process the secure message and the message
sender must re-transmit the message in an unsecure format. In most
cases, however, a sender is not aware that a recipient is unable to
process a received message until the recipient informs the sender
that the message could not be processed. As such, re-sending is not
typically performed in a timely manner, which is a substantial
problem when a message includes time-critical information.
[0040] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wireless mobile communication
device implementing an automatic messaging setting selection
system.
[0041] The mobile device 38 includes a memory 52, a messaging
client 60, a user interface (UI) 62, and a wireless transceiver
64.
[0042] The memory 52 is a writeable store such as a RAM into which
other device components and systems may write data, and preferably
includes a storage area for a Cert store 54, an address book 56 in
which messaging contact information is stored, an application data
storage area 58 which stores data associated with software
applications on the mobile device 38, and a settings store 59 which
stores messaging settings. Data stores 54, 56, 58 and 59 are
illustrative examples of stores that may be implemented in a memory
52 on mobile device 38. The memory 52 may also be used by other
device systems in addition to those shown in FIG. 3, and used to
store other types of data.
[0043] The messaging system 60 is connected to the wireless
transceiver 66 and is thus enable for communications via a wireless
network.
[0044] The UI 64 may include such UI components as a keyboard or
keypad, a display, or other components which accept inputs from or
provide outputs to a user of the mobile device 38. A mobile device
38 typically includes more than one UI, and the UI 64 therefore
represents one or more user interfaces.
[0045] The messaging client 60 stores received Certs to the Cert
store 54 and also retrieves stored Certs from the Cert store 54.
Certs are normally stored in the Cert store 54 in the format in
which they are received, but may alternatively be parsed or
otherwise translated into a storage format before being written to
the store 54. Certs may be received with secure messages, requested
from a Cert source such as a PKS via the wireless transceiver 64,
or loaded onto the mobile device 38 through a communications
interface such as a serial port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port,
an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) port, an 802.11 module, or a
Bluetooth.TM. module, from a similarly equipped external system, a
PC for example. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that
"802.11" and "Bluetooth" refer to sets of specifications, available
from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers,
relating to wireless LANs and wireless personal area networks,
respectively. Cert loading from further sources my be supported via
such other interfaces as a smart card reader or a Secure Digital
(SD) port. As described above, a public key in a Cert may be
required for sending or receiving secure messages.
[0046] The address book 56 stores contact information, at least
some of which is preferably used by the messaging client 60 in
messaging operations. Entries in an address book 56 are typically
most often used for addressing messages to be sent from a messaging
client. Address book entries are also used to replace addressing
information, such as an e-mail address, with a personal or familiar
name when a message that is received from a sender for which an
address book entry exists in the address book 56 is displayed to a
user of the mobile device 38. An address book entry can typically
be created either manually, for example by inputting contact
information or selecting an address from a received message using a
UI 62, or automatically, such as by configuring the messaging
client 60 to store contact information when a message is received
from a sender for which no entry exists in the address book 56.
Contact information could also possibly be extracted and stored in
the address book 56 when a new Cert is stored to the Cert store 54,
as described in the co-pending International Patent Application
Serial No. PCT/CA03/00406, entitled "Certificate Information
Storage System And Method", assigned to the assignee of the present
application and incorporated herein by reference.
[0047] The settings store 59 stores messaging settings which
control the characteristics of outgoing messages sent from the
mobile device 38. The settings store 59 may store more than one
group of messaging settings, although in known systems, only one
previously selected group of settings is active at any time. A
typical messaging client determines which group of messaging
settings was previously selected and uses the settings to control
the characteristics of an outgoing message.
[0048] The messaging client 60, however, is configured to provide
for selection of messaging settings for each outgoing message. This
feature may be enabled, for example, for each address book entry.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary address book entry
that supports messaging settings selection.
[0049] The address book entry 70 includes multiple contact
information fields, for a first name 72, a last name 74, an e-mail
address 76, a mailing address 78, other contact information 80, and
messaging settings 82. An actual address book entry may contain
more, fewer or different fields than those shown in FIG. 4, and
some fields in an address book entry may possibly be blank. For
example, the messaging client 60 may require only an e-mail address
76 in order to use an address book entry 70 to address an outgoing
message and may thus use an address book entry 70 if other fields
are blank. The messaging client 60, or alternatively other device
components, may be configured to use other fields in the entry 70
when they are populated. The absence of information in one or more
fields in an incomplete address book entry preferably does not
preclude use of other populated fields in the address book
entry.
[0050] The content of fields 72 through 78 will be apparent from
the labels in FIG. 4. The field 80 may include such other contact
information as a telephone number, a fax number, and the like for
an associated contact. The messaging settings field 82 preferably
includes a group of messaging settings to be used to control the
characteristics of any messages sent to the contact to which the
entry 70 corresponds. Messaging settings are preferably manually
configurable by a user of the mobile device 38, using a UI 62 such
as a keyboard and a settings function of the messaging client 60,
for example. Address book entries may instead be configured to
allow editing thereof to establish or change messaging settings.
Once established for a contact, messaging settings are stored in
the messaging settings field 82. Alternatively, as described in
further detail below, messaging settings may be stored in another
data store or memory, and a memory pointer or other identifier that
may be used to access the stored messaging settings is stored in
the settings field 82.
[0051] When the address book 56 includes entries having a messaging
settings field 82, messaging settings are selected for each message
that is to be sent by the messaging client 60 based on a message
addressee.
[0052] In operation, a message is composed on the mobile device 38
using UIs 62 such as a keyboard and a display. The messaging client
60 is normally configured to send new messages and reply messages,
and also to forward received messages. When a recipient for an
outgoing message is selected from the address book 56, before or
after the message has been composed or possibly while the message
is being composed, the messaging client 60 accesses the messaging
settings field 82 in the address book entry 70 to determine the
messaging settings that should be used to control message
characteristics of the outgoing message.
[0053] The messaging settings field 82 may contain either the
actual messaging settings for messages addressed to the particular
contact to which the address book entry 70 corresponds, or possibly
an identifier or pointer to a group of messaging settings that have
been established and stored in the memory 52, in the settings store
59 for example. If the messaging settings field 82 includes an
identifier or pointer, then the messaging client 60 accesses the
settings store 59 to select the corresponding settings to control
message characteristics. The use of such an identifier or pointer
reduces the overall memory storage space required when a group of
messaging settings is used for several contacts in an address book
56. In this case, the actual settings are stored in the settings
store 59 only once and then accessed and used each time a
corresponding identifier or pointer is found in an address book
entry. For example, a user may wish to establish common messaging
settings to be used for every contact having an e-mail address
associated with a particular domain. The user may then establish
the common messaging settings, in the settings store 59 for
example, and include a pointer or messaging settings name in each
address book entry having an e-mail address associated with that
domain. In this particular example, the messaging client 60 may
instead be configured to determine a domain name of a recipient
e-mail address of an outgoing message and then access the settings
store 59 to determine whether common messaging settings have been
established for the domain name.
[0054] As described above, messaging settings may control general
message characteristics, such as formats and fonts, as well as
secure message characteristics, such as signing and encryption.
When the selected messaging settings dictate that a secure message
is to be sent, the messaging client 60 retrieves any required keys
and processes the outgoing message as specified in the selected
messaging settings. For example, when the selected messaging
settings, contained or identified in the messaging settings field
82, specify that a signed and then encrypted S/MIME message is to
be sent, then the messaging client 60 may use its own private key
to generate a digital signature for the message, generate a session
key, and use the session key to encrypt the message and the digital
signature, retrieve a public key or Cert for the message recipient
from the Cert store 54, and encrypt the session key with the public
key.
[0055] This technique for selection of messaging settings allows a
user of the messaging client 60 to establish preferred messaging
settings for each contact for which an entry has been created and
stored in the address book 56. Each time a message is sent to such
a contact, the preferred messaging settings are selected and used,
so that a user is not required to manually over-ride default or
currently active messaging settings. Once messaging settings have
been selected for a message, the messaging client preferably
displays a settings indicator so that a user of the messaging
client can quickly determine how the message will be sent. A
settings indicator may be a messaging settings name, a type of
message such as "signed S/MIME", or some other indicator from which
the selected messaging settings will be apparent to the user.
[0056] Messaging settings may be established for a contact, by
manually configuring settings using a UI 62 for example, based on
the relationship between the user of a messaging client 60 and the
contact. For example, a user may establish messaging settings for
only general message characteristics for personal contacts if
message security is not important for message exchange with
personal contacts. The same user may establish messaging settings
for both general and secure message characteristics for business
contacts. For instance, when message exchange with internal
business contacts in the same company are already secure, when an
encryption scheme is used for all communications between corporate
users, or when all user workstations operate within a network
behind a firewall, for example, a user may establish messaging
settings to specify that outgoing messages should only be signed
using S/MIME. The user may also establish another group of
messaging settings for external business contacts to specify that
messages to any such contacts should be encrypted and signed using
PGP, for example. Other criteria may also be used to determine the
particular messaging settings that are established for any contact
in an address book 56.
[0057] Many messaging clients permit a user to create distribution
lists including multiple contacts. Messaging settings may
preferably be established for such distribution lists separately
from those for each contact in the list. When a single contact is
addressed directly in an outgoing message, the messaging settings
associated with that contact are selected and used to control
message characteristics of the outgoing message. If the same
contact appears in a distribution list that is used to address
another outgoing message, then messaging settings for the
distribution list are selected. The use of such distribution list
messaging settings avoids contention between conflicting messaging
settings for contacts in the list. Such settings conflicts are
effectively resolved by a user when distribution list messaging
settings are established. In a further enhancement of basic
distribution list settings implementation, the messaging client 60
is configured to identify conflicting messaging settings between
any contact and a distribution list to which the contact is added,
and to alert a user to the conflict. The user is then able to
establish appropriate distribution list messaging settings, drop
the contact from the distribution list, edit messaging settings for
the contact, or take some other action to resolve the conflict.
[0058] A similar messaging settings conflict resolution scheme may
also be implemented when an outgoing message is separately
addressed to multiple recipients, by configuring the messaging
client 60 to alert a user to any conflicting messaging settings for
the recipients, whether the recipients are multiple contacts with
respective messaging settings, multiple distribution lists with
distribution list messaging settings, or some combination of
contacts and distribution lists. The user then selects the
messaging settings that should be applied to the outgoing message.
The messaging client 60 preferably allows a user to specify that
the messaging settings associated with each recipient should be
applied to the outgoing message, in which case the messaging client
60 generates different versions of the outgoing message having
different message characteristics according to recipient messaging
settings. Where distribution list messaging settings are not
enabled or established, then this feature also provides for
resolution of messaging settings conflicts between contacts in a
distribution list when a composed message is addressed to the list
instead of when the list is created.
[0059] The use of contact-specific messaging settings,
group-specific messaging settings and/or distribution list-specific
messaging settings as described above preferably does not preclude
the use of default messaging settings. For example, a user may
establish certain messaging settings to control message
characteristics when no messaging settings have been established
for one or more recipients of an outgoing message, such as when a
new recipient e-mail address is entered manually or a user replies
to a message received from a contact for which no address book
entry exists.
[0060] The default messaging settings may also be used even when
specific messaging settings have been established, when the default
and specific messaging settings relate to different messaging
characteristics. A user may thereby control some message
characteristics with default settings and other characteristics
with specific settings. In the event of a conflict between the
default and specific messaging settings for any message
characteristics, the specific settings preferably take precedence,
although a messaging settings conflict resolution scheme as
described above may instead be used.
[0061] Many messaging clients 60 allow a user to set recipient
addresses in outgoing messages in different ways. Recipient
addresses may be selected from an address book 56 as described
above, but addresses may also be entered by a user using a UI 62
such as a keyboard or keypad, or inserted by the messaging client
60, when an outgoing message is a reply message for example.
Messaging settings selection when a recipient address is selected
from an address book 56 has been described above. When an address
is entered manually or inserted by the messaging client 60,
however, the messaging client 60 preferably accesses the address
book 56 and possibly the settings store 59 to determine whether
messaging settings for the address, or similar addresses, have been
established. If an address book entry which includes the address is
found, then messaging settings specified or identified in the
address book entry are selected for the outgoing message. Where
messaging settings have been stored to the settings store 56 for a
domain name in an email address, a company or division name, or
some other identifier associated with the address, then those
settings are selected. Thus, messaging settings selection need not
be dependent upon addressing an outgoing message by recipient
address selection from an address book 56.
[0062] Messaging settings selection preferably does not prevent a
user from over-riding currently selected messaging settings. In
some circumstances, a user may wish to over-ride default or
selected messaging settings. For instance, if a personal message is
to be sent to an external business contact for which messaging
settings have been established to specify that outgoing messages to
the contact should be signed and encrypted, then the user may wish
to over-ride the messaging settings to send an unsecure message.
Similarly, when no specific messaging settings have been
established for a recipient of an outgoing message, a user may
over-ride default messaging settings to control message
characteristics of the outgoing message.
[0063] The messaging client 60 may be configured to detect when
default or specific messaging settings are over-ridden, and to
prompt the user to decide whether stored messaging settings should
be updated to reflect the resultant new messaging settings. If
specific messaging settings are over-ridden, then the specific
messaging settings may be updated. When default messaging settings
are over-ridden, then the resultant messaging settings may be used
to update specific messaging settings, if they exist, or if not, to
establish new specific messaging settings, for the outgoing message
recipient(s) for which messaging settings were over-ridden.
[0064] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of selecting
messaging settings on a messaging client.
[0065] The method begins at step 92 when a message is composed.
When the message is addressed to one or more intended recipients at
step 94, the messaging client determines whether specific settings
have been established for the recipients. If so, then the specific
settings are selected, and optionally displayed, at step 98.
Otherwise, default settings, if any, are selected at step 100. Any
of the schemes described above may be used at step 96 to determine
whether specific settings have been established, including checking
an address book entry when a recipient address is selected from an
address book, or searching an address book and settings store when
a recipient address is entered manually or inserted by the
messaging client.
[0066] When more than one recipient is addressed in an outgoing
message, steps 96 through 100 are repeated for each recipient, and
messaging settings conflicts are detected at step 102. Detected
settings conflicts are then resolved at step 104, by alerting a
user to the conflict and prompting the user to choose which message
settings should be applied, for example.
[0067] If any specific settings are over-ridden by the user,
whether to resolve a settings conflict or to change message
settings for the outgoing message, as determined at step 106,
existing default or specific messaging settings may be updated, or
new specific messaging settings may be created, at step 108. If no
settings have been over-ridden or messaging settings have been
created or updated if required, the method proceeds to step 110, in
which a message is prepared under the control of the messaging
settings and sent to any addressed recipients. When the outgoing
message is addressed to more than one recipient and different
messaging settings are to be used to control message
characteristics of the outgoing message, more than one message,
each having different message characteristics, is prepared and sent
at step 110.
[0068] FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a wireless mobile communication
device. The mobile device 600 is preferably a two-way communication
device having at least voice and data communication capabilities.
The device preferably has the capability to communicate with other
computer systems on the Internet. Depending on the functionality
provided by the device, the device may be referred to as a data
messaging device, a two-way pager, a cellular telephone with data
messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet appliance or a data
communication device (with or without telephony capabilities).
[0069] The dual-mode device 600 includes a transceiver 611, a
microprocessor 638, a display 622, a non-volatile memory 624, a RAM
626, auxiliary input/output (I/O) devices 628, a serial port 630, a
keyboard 632, a speaker 634, a microphone 636, a short-range
wireless communications sub-system 640, and may also include other
device sub-systems 642. The transceiver 611 preferably includes
transmit and receive antennas 616, 618, a receiver (Rx) 612, a
transmitter (Tx) 614, one or more local oscillators (LOs) 613, and
a digital signal processor (DSP) 620. Within the non-volatile
memory 624, the device 100 preferably includes a plurality of
software modules 624A-624N that can be executed by the
microprocessor 638 (and/or the DSP 620), including a voice
communication module 624A, a data communication module 624B, and a
plurality of other operational modules 624N for carrying out a
plurality of other functions.
[0070] As described above, the mobile device 600 is preferably a
two-way communication device having voice and data communication
capabilities. Thus, for example, the mobile device 600 may
communicate over a voice network, such as any of the analog or
digital cellular networks, and may also communicate over a data
network. The voice and data networks are depicted in FIG. 6 by the
communication tower 619. These voice and data networks may be
separate communication networks using separate infrastructure, such
as base stations, network controllers, etc., or they may be
integrated into a single wireless network.
[0071] The communication subsystem 611 is used to communicate with
the network 619. The DSP 620 is used to send and receive
communication signals to and from the transmitter 614 and receiver
612, and may also exchange control information with the transmitter
614 and receiver 612. If the voice and data communications occur at
a single frequency, or closely-spaced set of frequencies, then a
single LO 613 may be used in conjunction with the transmitter 614
and receiver 612. Alternatively, if different frequencies are
utilized for voice communications versus data communications, then
a plurality of LOs 613 can be used to generate a plurality of
frequencies corresponding to the network 619. Although two antennas
616,618 are depicted in FIG. 6, the mobile device 600 could be used
with a single antenna structure. Information, which includes both
voice and data information, is communicated to and from the
communication module 611 via a link between the DSP 620 and the
microprocessor 638.
[0072] The detailed design of the communication subsystem 611, such
as frequency band, component selection, power level, etc., is
dependent upon the communication network 619 in which the mobile
device 600 is intended to operate. For example, a mobile device 600
intended to operate in a North American market may include a
communication subsystem 611 designed to operate with the Mobitex or
DataTAC mobile data communication networks and also designed to
operated with any of a variety of voice communication networks,
such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA, PCS, etc., whereas a mobile device 600
intended for use in Europe may be configured to operate with the
GPRS data communication network and the GSM voice communication
network. Other types of data and voice networks, both separate and
integrated, may also be utilized with the mobile device 600.
[0073] Depending upon the type of network 619, the access
requirements for the dual-mode mobile device 600 also vary. For
example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC data networks, mobile devices
are registered on the network using a unique identification number
associated with each device. In GPRS data networks, however,
network access is associated with a subscriber or user of a mobile
device 600. A GPRS device typically requires a subscriber identity
module ("SIM"), which is required in order to operate the mobile
device 600 on a GPRS network. Local or non-network communication
functions (if any) may be operable, without the SIM, but the mobile
device 600 will be unable to carry out any functions involving
communications over the network 619, other than any legally
required operations, such as `911` emergency calling.
[0074] After any required network registration or activation
procedures have been completed, the mobile device 600 may send and
receive communication signals, preferably including both voice and
data signals, over the network 619. Signals received by the antenna
616 from the communication network 619 are routed to the receiver
612, which provides for such operations as signal amplification,
frequency down conversion, filtering, channel selection, and analog
to digital conversion. Analog to digital conversion of the received
signal allows more complex communication functions, including
digital demodulation and decoding, for example, to be performed
using the DSP 620. In a similar manner, signals to be transmitted
to the network 619 are processed by the DSP 620 to modulate and
encode the signals, for example, and the processed signals are then
provided to the transmitter 614 for digital to analog conversion,
frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission
to the communication network 619 via the antenna 618. Although a
single transceiver 611 is shown in FIG. 6 for both voice and data
communications, the mobile device 600 may include two distinct
transceivers, such as a first transceiver for transmitting and
receiving voice signals, and a second transceiver for transmitting
and receiving data signals, or multiple transceivers for operation
in different operating frequency bands.
[0075] In addition to processing the communication signals, the DSP
620 also provides for receiver and transmitter control. For
example, the gain levels applied to communication signals in the
receiver 612 and transmitter 614 may be adaptively controlled
through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in the DSP
620. Other transceiver control algorithms could also be implemented
in the DSP 620 in order to provide more sophisticated control of
the transceiver 611.
[0076] The microprocessor 638 preferably manages and controls the
overall operation of the mobile device 600. Many types of
microprocessors or microcontrollers could be used for this part,
or, alternatively, a single DSP 620 could be used to carry out the
functions of the microprocessor 638. Low-level communication
functions, including at least data and voice communications, are
performed through the DSP 620 in the transceiver 611. Other,
high-level communication applications, such as a voice
communication application 624A, and a data communication
application 624B may be stored in the Flash memory 624 for
execution by the microprocessor 638. For example, the voice
communication module 624A may provide a high-level user interface
operable to transmit and receive voice calls between the mobile
device 600 and a plurality of other voice devices via the network
619. Similarly, the data communication module 624B may provide a
high-level user interface operable for sending and receiving data,
such as e-mail messages, files, organizer information, short text
messages, etc., between the mobile device 600 and a plurality of
other data devices via the network 619. On the mobile device 600, a
messaging client may operate in conjunction with the data
communication module 624B in order to implement the techniques
described above.
[0077] The microprocessor 638 also interacts with other device
subsystems, such as the display 622, the non-volatile memory 624,
the random access memory (RAM) 626, the auxiliary input/output
(I/O) devices 628, the serial port 630, the keyboard 632, the
speaker 634, the microphone 636, the short-range communications
subsystem 640 and any other device subsystems generally designated
as 642. The components 628, 632, 634, and 636 are examples of the
types of subsystems that could be provided as the UIs 62 (FIG. 3).
The modules 624A-N are executed by the microprocessor 638 and
provide a high-level interface between a user of the mobile device
and the mobile device. This interface typically includes a
graphical component provided through the display 622, and an
input/output component provided through the auxiliary I/O devices
628, the keyboard 632, the speaker 634, or the microphone 636.
[0078] Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 6 perform
communication-related functions, whereas other subsystems may
provide "resident" or on-device functions. Notably, some
subsystems, such as the keyboard 632 and the display 622 are used
for both communication-related functions, such as entering a text
message for transmission over a data communication network, and
device-resident functions such as a calculator or task list or
other PDA type functions.
[0079] Operating system software used by the microprocessor 638 is
preferably stored in a persistent store such as the non-volatile
memory 624. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the
non-volatile memory 624 may be implemented, for example, as a Flash
memory device, a battery backed-up RAM, or a non-volatile memory
chip and associated controller. Other suitable components or
arrangements that provide data retention when power is lost will
also be apparent to those skilled in the art. In addition to the
operating system and communication modules 624A-N, the non-volatile
memory 624 may also include a file system for storing data. A
storage area is also preferably provided in the non-volatile memory
624 to store public keys, a private key, and other information
required for secure messaging. The operating system, specific
device applications or modules, or parts thereof, may be
temporarily loaded into a volatile store, such as RAM 626 for
faster operation. Moreover, received communication signals may also
be temporarily stored to RAM 626 before permanently writing them to
a file system located in the non-volatile memory 624.
[0080] An exemplary application module 624N that may be loaded onto
the dual-mode device 600 is a personal information manager (PIM)
application providing PDA functionality, such as calendar events,
appointments, and task items. This module 624N may also interact
with the voice communication module 624A for managing phone calls,
voice mails, etc., and may also interact with the data
communication module 624B for managing e-mail communications and
other data transmissions. Alternatively, all of the functionality
of the voice communication module 624A and the data communication
module 624B may be integrated into the PIM module.
[0081] The non-volatile memory 624 preferably provides a file
system to facilitate storage of PIM data items on the device. The
PIM application preferably includes the ability to send and receive
data items, either by itself, or in conjunction with the voice and
data communication modules 624A, 624B, via the wireless network
619. The PIM data items are preferably seamlessly integrated,
synchronized and updated, via the wireless network 619, with a
corresponding set of data items stored or associated with a host
computer system, thereby creating a mirrored system for data items
associated with a particular user.
[0082] The mobile device 600 may also be manually synchronized with
a host system by placing the mobile device 600 in an interface
cradle, which couples the serial port 630 of the mobile device 600
to the serial port of the host system. The serial port 630 may also
be used to enable a user to establish messaging settings through an
external device or software application, to download other
application modules 624N for installation, and to load Certs, keys
and other information onto a device. This wired download path may
be used to load an encryption key onto the device, which is a more
secure method than exchanging encryption information via the
wireless network 619.
[0083] Additional application modules 624N may be loaded onto the
mobile device 600 through the network 619, through an auxiliary I/O
subsystem 628, through the serial port 630, through the short-range
communications subsystem 640, or through any other suitable
subsystem 642, and installed by a user in the non-volatile memory
624 or RAM 626. Such flexibility in application installation
increases the functionality of the mobile device 600 and may
provide enhanced on-device functions, communication-related
functions, or both. For example, secure communication applications
may enable electronic commerce functions and other such financial
transactions to be performed using the mobile device 600.
[0084] When the mobile device 600 is operating in a data
communication mode, a received signal, such as a text message or a
web page download, is processed by the transceiver 611 and provided
to the microprocessor 638, which further processes the received
signal for output to the display 622, or, alternatively, to an
auxiliary I/O device 628. A user of mobile device 600 may also
compose data items, such as email messages, using the keyboard 632,
which is preferably a complete alphanumeric keyboard laid out in
the QWERTY style, although other styles of complete alphanumeric
keyboards such as the known DVORAK style may also be used. User
input to the mobile device 600 is further enhanced with a plurality
of auxiliary I/O devices 628, which may include a thumbwheel input
device, a touchpad, a variety of switches, a rocker input switch,
etc. The composed data items input by the user may then be prepared
as specified in selected messaging settings and transmitted over
the communication network 619 via the transceiver 611.
[0085] When the mobile device 600 is operating in a voice
communication mode, the overall operation of the mobile device 600
is substantially similar to the data mode, except that received
signals are output to the speaker 634 and voice signals for
transmission are generated by a microphone 636. Alternative voice
or audio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording
subsystem, may also be implemented on the mobile device 600.
Although voice or audio signal output is accomplished primarily
through the speaker 634, the display 622 may also be used to
provide an indication of the identity of a calling party, the
duration of a voice call, or other voice call related information.
For example, the microprocessor 638, in conjunction with the voice
communication module 624A and the operating system software, may
detect the caller identification information of an incoming voice
call and display it on the display 622.
[0086] The short-range communications subsystem 640 may include any
of the Cert loading interfaces described above for example,
including an infrared device, an 802.11 module, a Bluetooth module,
a USB port, an SD port, and a smart card reader. Although described
above as Cert loading interfaces, these interfaces are also
commonly used to transfer other types of data.
[0087] The above description relates to one example of the present
invention. Many variations will be apparent to those knowledgeable
in the field, and such variations are within the scope of the
invention as described and claimed, whether or not expressly
described.
[0088] For example, a messaging settings selection system or method
may also be configured to store and access information other than
messaging settings. Where a messaging client is enabled for both
sending and receiving messages, characteristics of received
messages provide an indication of the capabilities of a messaging
client used by a sender. If a signed and encrypted S/MIME message
is received from a particular sender, then it is likely that the
sender's messaging client supports all of the S/MIME variants. As
such, it may be useful to store messaging capabilities in addition
to messaging settings, in an address book entry, a settings store,
or a separate messaging capabilities store. Stored messaging
capabilities may then be accessed and displayed to a user, for
example, when a settings conflict is identified. Where specific
messaging settings for a message addressee differ from those of
another message addressee for the same message, stored messaging
capabilities provide an indication as to whether the addressee
might support the messaging settings of the other addressee.
Capabilities information allows a user to make an informed decision
as to how such messages with settings conflicts could or should be
sent. Another possible application of messaging capabilities is in
determining whether any discrepancy exists between established
specific messaging settings for a contact and the types of
messaging settings that appear to be supported by the contact. A
user could be prompted to set secure messaging settings for a
contact in an address book entry when a secure message is received
from a contact for which no messaging settings, or only general
messaging settings, have been established.
[0089] In addition, although a wireless mobile communication device
is shown in FIG. 6 and described as one possible messaging client,
the invention may also be implemented in other messaging clients,
including those operating on or in conjunction with desktop,
laptop, and networked computer systems.
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