User interface and method for viewing short messages on a wireless device

• US 20020015061A1
• Filed: 07/12/2001
• Published: 02/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/19/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Maguire, Michael
• Granted Patent: US 7,028,263 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/752
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2101/65 Telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/04 Real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]

Abstract

A user interface and method for viewing short messages on a wireless device includes a viewing screen, a processor, a memory device and a message software interface module. The memory device stores electronic messages that have been transmitted or received by the wireless device. The message software interface module is executed by the processor and (a) displays a current electronic message on the viewing screen, (b) filters each of the electronic messages stored in the memory device to identify one or more select messages meeting a pre-set criteria, and (c) displays the one or more select messages on the viewing screen along with the current electronic message.

Claims

1. A wireless device, comprising:

a viewing screen;

a processor;

a memory device that stores electronic messages that have been transmitted or received by the wireless device; and

a message software interface module executed by the processor that (a) displays a current electronic message on the viewing screen, (b) filters each of the electronic messages stored in the memory device to identify one or more select messages meeting a pre-set criteria, and (c) displays the one or more select messages on the viewing screen along with the current electronic message.

2. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria for the one or more select messages is configurable by a user of the wireless device.

3. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria is an address matching condition between an outside address of the one or more select messages and an outside address of the current electronic message.

4. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria is a time-frame selected by a user of the wireless device during which the one or more select messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

5. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria is a user-selected storage proximity range for the one or more select messages in relation to the current electronic message.

6. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria includes (a) an outside address for the one or more select messages that matches an outside address of the current electronic message, and (b) a time-frame selected by a user of the wireless device during which the one or more select messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

7. The wireless device of claim 1, wherein the pre-set criteria includes (a) an outside address for the one or more select messages that matches an outside address of the current electronic message, and (b) a user-selected storage proximity range for the one or more select messages in relation to the current electronic message.

8. A wireless device, comprising:

a viewing screen;

a processor;

a memory device that stores electronic messages that have been transmitted or received by the wireless device, wherein each stored electronic message includes indexing data; and

a message software interface module executed by the processor that (a) displays on the viewing screen a current electronic message, (b) locates one or more select messages by filtering each electronic message stored in the memory device to identify stored electronic messages having indexing data that falls within a pre-set storage proximity range in relation to the current electronic message, and (c) displays the one or more select electronic messages on the viewing screen along with the current electronic message.

9. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the pre-set storage proximity range is configurable by a user of the wireless device.

10. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the indexing data comprises ordinal values indicating the sequence in which the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

11. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the indexing data comprises an electronic time-stamp indicating the date the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the time-stamp further indicates the time the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

14. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein:

each electronic message stored in the memory device includes a sender address and a receiver address, one of which is the outside address; and

the current electronic message includes a current sender address and a current receiver address, one of which is the current outside address.

15. The wireless device of claim 14, wherein:

the message software interface module also determines whether the current electronic message is of an incoming type or an outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then the message software interface module locates the one or more select electronic messages by comparing the current sender address with both the receiver and sender addresses of each electronic message stored in the memory device; and

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then the software interface module locates the one or more select electronic messages by comparing the current receiver address with both the receiver and sender addresses of each electronic message stored in the memory device.

16. The wireless device of claim 14, wherein:

the message software interface module also determines (a) whether the current electronic message is of an incoming type or an outgoing type, and (b) whether each stored electronic message is of the incoming type or the outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then the message software interface module locates the one or more select electronic messages by comparing the current sender address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type; and

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then the message software interface module locates the one or more select electronic messages by comparing the current receiver address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type.

17. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein each electronic message stored in the memory device further includes indexing data, and the indexing data is used by the message software interface module to further limit the select electronic messages to electronic messages having indexing data falling within a pre-set storage proximity range.

18. The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the pre-set storage proximity range is configurable by a user of the wireless device.

19. The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the indexing data comprises ordinal values indicating the sequence in which the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

20. The wireless device of claim 17, wherein the indexing data comprises an electronic time-stamp indicating the date the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

21. The wireless device of claim 20, wherein the time-stamp further indicates the time the stored electronic messages were transmitted or received by the wireless device.

22. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the message software interface module further limits the one or more select electronic messages by comparing one or more keywords selected by a user of the wireless device with each electronic message stored in the memory device.

23. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the message software interface module locates the one or more select electronic messages by instead comparing one or more keywords selected by a user with each electronic message stored in the memory device.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria for the one or more select messages is configurable by a user of the wireless device.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria requires the one or more select messages to each include an outside address that matches a current outside address of the current electronic message.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria requires the one or more select messages to each have been transmitted or received within a time-frame selected by a user of the wireless device.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria requires the one or more select messages to each have been stored within a user-selected storage proximity range in relation to the current electronic message.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria requires the one or more select messages to each (a) include an outside address that matches a current outside address of the current electronic message, and (b) have been transmitted or received within a time-frame selected by a user.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the pre-set criteria requires the one or more select messages to each (a) include an outside address that matches a current outside address of the current electronic message, and (b) have been stored within a user-selected storage proximity range in relation to the current electronic message.

13. A wireless device, comprising:

a viewing screen;

a processor;

a memory device that stores electronic messages that have been transmitted or received by the wireless device, wherein each electronic message includes an outside address; and

a message software interface module executed by the processor that (a) displays on the viewing screen a current electronic message having a current outside address, (b) locates one or more select electronic messages by comparing the outside address of each electronic message stored in the memory device with the current outside address, and (c) displays the one or more select electronic messages on the viewing screen along with the current electronic message.

24. A method for displaying a current electronic message on a wireless device in context with one or more of a plurality of stored electronic messages, comprising the steps of:

filtering each stored electronic message to identify one or more select messages meeting a pre-set criteria; and

displaying the current electronic message on a viewing screen along with the one or more select messages meeting the pre-set criteria.

31. A method for displaying a current electronic message on a wireless device in context with one or more of a plurality of stored electronic messages, comprising the steps of:

identifying indexing data for each stored electronic message;

identifying current indexing data for the current electronic message;

comparing the current indexing data with the indexing data for each stored electronic message to identify stored electronic messages having indexing data that falls within a pre-set storage proximity range from the current indexing data; and

displaying the current electronic message on a viewing screen along with each of the stored electronic messages identified as having indexing data falling within the pre-set storage proximity range.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the pre-set storage proximity range is configurable by a user of the wireless device.

33. The method of claim 31, wherein the current indexing data and the indexing data for each stored electronic message are ordinal values.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein:

ordinal values are assigned when electronic messages are stored; and

if the current electronic message has not been stored, then it is assigned a next available ordinal value.

35. The method of claim 31, wherein the current indexing data and the indexing data for each stored electronic message are time-stamps.

37. The method of claim 36, comprising the further step of:

displaying the current outside address on the viewing screen.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein:

each stored electronic message includes a sender address and a receiver address, one of which is the outside address; and

the current electronic message includes a current sender address and a current receiver address, one of which is the current outside address.

39. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of comparing the current outside address with the outside address of each stored electronic message is performed by a method comprising the steps of:

determining whether the current electronic message is of an incoming type or an outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then comparing the current sender address with both the receiver and sender addresses of each stored electronic message; and

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then comparing the current receiver address with both the receiver and sender addresses of each stored electronic message.

40. The method of claim 38, wherein the step of comparing the current outside address with the outside address of each stored electronic message is performed by a method comprising the steps of:

determining whether the current electronic message is of an incoming type or an outgoing type;

determining whether each stored electronic message is of the incoming type or the outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then comparing the current sender address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type; and

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then comparing the current receiver address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type.

41. The method of claim 36, comprising the further step of:

appending to a related message list each of the stored electronic messages in which the outside address matches the current outside address.

42. The method of claim 36, comprising the further steps of:

identifying indexing data for each stored electronic message;

identifying current indexing data for the current electronic message;

comparing the current indexing data with the indexing data for each stored electronic message to identify stored electronic messages having indexing data that falls within a pro-set storage proximity range from the current indexing data; and

further limiting the stored electronic messages that are displayed on the viewing screen to those having indexing data that falls within the pre-set storage proximity range.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein the pre-set storage proximity range is configurable by the user of the wireless device.

44. The method of claim 42, wherein the current indexing data and the indexing data for each stored electronic message are ordinal values.

45. The method of claim 42, wherein the current indexing data and the indexing data for each stored electronic message are time-stamps.

36. A method for displaying a current electronic message on a wireless device in context with one or more of a plurality of stored electronic messages, comprising the steps of:

identifying a current outside address for the current electronic message;

identifying an outside address for each stored electronic message;

comparing the current outside address with the outside address of each stored electronic message; and

displaying the current electronic message on a viewing screen along with each of the stored electronic messages in which the outside address matches the current outside address.

46. A method for displaying a current electronic message on a wireless device in context with one or more of a plurality of stored electronic messages, comprising the steps of:

setting an electronic message being accessed by a user as the current electronic message;

determining if the current electronic message is of an incoming type or an outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then identifying a current sender address for the current electronic message;

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then identifying a current receiver address for the current electronic message;

identifying current indexing data for the current electronic message;

identifying a sender address and a receiver address for each stored electronic message;

determining whether each stored electronic message is of the incoming type or the outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the incoming type, then identifying stored electronic messages having a matching address by comparing the current sender address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type;

if the current electronic message is of the outgoing type, then identifying stored electronic messages having a matching address by comparing the current receiver address with (a) the sender address of each stored electronic message that is of the incoming type, and (b) the receiver address of each stored electronic message that is of the outgoing type;

identifying indexing data for each stored electronic message having a matching address;

comparing the current indexing data with the indexing data for each stored electronic message having a matching address to identify stored electronic messages having indexing data that falls within a pre-set storage proximity range from the current indexing data;

appending each stored electronic message to a related message list if the stored electronic message (a) has a matching address, and (b) has indexing data that falls within the pre-set storage proximity range from the current indexing data; and

displaying the current electronic message on a viewing screen along with each electronic message appended to the related message list.