WIRELESS, RADIO-FREQUENCY COMMUNICATIONS USING A HANDHELD COMPUTER

• US 20020109706A1
• Filed: 10/29/1998
• Published: 08/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Palm, Inc. (TCL Technology Group Corp.)
• Inventors: SIPHER, JOSEPH K., LINCKE, SCOTT D., MARIANETTI, RONALD III
• Granted Patent: US 6,590,588 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/700
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9577 Optimising the visualization of content, e.g. distillation of HTML documents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0442 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply asymmetric encryption, i.e. different keys for encryption and decryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for public-key encryption H04L9/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/045 wherein the sending and receiving network entities apply hybrid encryption, i.e. combination of symmetric and asymmetric encryption cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements using a plurality of keys or algorithms H04L9/14
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0471 applying encryption by an intermediary, e.g. receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/288 Distributed intermediate devices, i.e. intermediate devices for interaction with other intermediate devices on the same level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/561 Adding application-functional data or data for application control, e.g. adding metadata
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/566 Grouping or aggregating service requests, e.g. for unified processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/04 Protocols for data compression, e.g. ROHC
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/161 Implementation details of TCP/IP or UDP/IP stack architecture; Specification of modified or new header fields
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/162 involving adaptations of sockets based mechanisms secure socket layer H04L63/168
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/165 : Combined use of TCP and UDP protocols; selection criteria therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/326 : in the transport layer [OSI layer 4] H04L69/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 : in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/033 : of the user plane, e.g. user's traffic

Abstract

A communications device provides a user with a sensory cue that informs the user of certain characteristics of a subsequent action that includes data communications. By informing the user of the data communication characteristics before the user initiates the data communication action, the invention appropriately sets user expectations regarding the data communication characteristics. For example, one embodiment of the invention is implemented in a portable communications device with a screen. For subsequent actions that include wireless communications, the portable communications device simultaneously displays a wireless link icon sensory cue next to a user interface graphic element. The user interface element is used to initiate the subsequent action. The user interface element can be an operating system object having an embedded link type icon. The wireless link icon informs the user that the subsequent action corresponding to the user interface element requires wireless communication and the expense and time associated therewith. A method, a system and an apparatus for indicating characteristics of a subsequent action to a user before the user begins the subsequent action are provided.

Claims

1. A method for indicating characteristics of a subsequent action, the method implemented in a communications device having processing resources, the method comprising:

prior to a user beginning the subsequent action, the communications device processing resources providing a sensory cue corresponding to a set of subsequent action characteristics, the subsequent action includes data communications performed by the communications device, the set of subsequent action characteristics relate to the data communications; and

the sensory cue informing the user of the corresponding set of subsequent action characteristics.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein responsive to a user selection of the subsequent action, the communications device processing resources transmitting data from the communications device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device has an operating system object including a user interface element for selection of the subsequent action, the sensory cue embedded into the user interface element; and

responsive to a user selection of the user interface element, the communications device processing resources transmitting data from the communications device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the informing step includes the user perceiving the sensory cue.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the subsequent action characteristics correspond to factors enabling the user to determine whether to initiate the subsequent action.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the communications device processing resources provide at least one sensory cue for at least one subsequent action, each sensory cue corresponding to characteristics of the data communication including characteristics of a communication path used for the data communication, each sensory cue informs the user of the corresponding data communication characteristics.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sensory cue includes an image, the communications device includes a screen, and the method includes communications device processing resources displaying the image on the screen.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the sensory cue includes an image;

the communications device includes a screen;

the communications device has an operating system object including a user interface element for user selection of the subsequent action, at least one image embedded into the user interface element; and

the method includes the communications device simultaneously displaying the at least one image and the user interface element on the screen.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the sensory cue includes sounds;

the communications device includes an audio output, and

the method includes the communications device emitting the sounds from the audio output.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device includes a wireless client, the wireless client in communication with a proxy server;

the subsequent action corresponds to a hyperlink document, the hyperlink document disposed in a base document; and

the subsequent action includes transmitting packets of data from the client to the proxy server, each packet of data has a base document uniform resource locator followed by compressed data, the compressed data includes references to fields in the hyperlink document, and the compressed data includes a user interface element indicating the hyperlink document.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the subsequent action includes the communications device receiving an HTML message from a source of data, the HTML message comprising text and images.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device includes a wireless client and a screen, the wireless client adapted to communicate with a proxy server, the proxy server adapted to communicate with a source of data; and

the subsequent action includes the proxy server receiving a first message from the source of data, the receiving including;

the proxy server fetching the first message from the source of data;

the proxy server converting the first message into a second message, the second message includes data in a compact mark up language representing text and images;

the proxy server transmitting the second message to the wireless client, the second message comprising packets of data;

the wireless client extracting the compact mark up language data from the second message;

the wireless client passing the compact mark up language data to a content rendering layer; and

the wireless client rendering the compact mark up language data for viewing on the screen.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device processing resources include a wireless client; and

the subsequent action includes the wireless client requesting a hyperlink document, the hyperlink document indicated by a hyperlink in a base document, the requesting including the wireless client transmitting to a proxy server a compact representation of the hyperlink document, the compact representation of the hyperlink document including a base document uniform resource locator and a compact representation of the hyperlink.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device processing resources include a wireless client; and

wherein the subsequent action includes the communications device transmitting packets of data to a proxy server, the packets of data corresponding to a hypertext document, the hypertext document having fields, the transmitting including;

the communications device processing resources submitting to the wireless client compressed representations of data corresponding to the fields, the compressed representations formatted according to a compact transfer protocol; and

the wireless client transmitting the compressed representations in packets of data to the proxy server.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the communications device processing resources include a wireless client; and

the subsequent action includes the communications device transmitting packets of data to a proxy server, the transmitting including formatting each packet of data, the formatting including;

the wireless client determining that the destination of the packet of data is the proxy server, the packet of data comprising a message fragment encapsulated by a compressed user datagram protocol header;

the wireless client setting a first bit in the compressed user datagram protocol header to indicate that the destination of the packet of data is the proxy server;

the wireless client placing bit flags in the compressed user datagram protocol header, the bit flags indicating inclusion of optional user datagram protocol fields and inclusion of optional Internet protocol fields; and

the wireless client placing a source port number identifying the wireless client in the compressed user datagram protocol header.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the communications device includes a wireless client;

the subsequent action includes a transaction including securely transmitting packets of data from the wireless client to a proxy server, the transmitting including;

the wireless client encrypting a data encryption key using a proxy server public key to form an encrypted data encryption key, the data encryption key corresponding to a specific transaction between the wireless client and the proxy server;

the wireless client encrypting the packets of data using the data encryption key to form an encrypted message; and

the wireless client transmitting the encrypted message to the proxy server.

17. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications device simultaneously displays more than one user interface element on the screen.

18. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications device displays the at least one image proximally to the user interface element.

19. The method of claim 8, wherein the image comprises an icon, the icon informs the user of a link type for the data communications.

20. The method of claim 8, wherein the image comprises an icon, the icon informing the user of security measure attributes for the data communications.

21. The method of claim 8, wherein the communications device simultaneously displays more than one user interface element is on the screen, for user interface elements having at least one corresponding embedded image, each embedded image corresponds to a set of data communication characteristics, and the communications device displays each embedded image proximally to the corresponding user interface element.

22. The method of claim 11, wherein the receiving includes:

the communications device processing resources fetching the HTML message from the source of data;

the communications device processing resources compressing selected portions of the HTML message by translating the selected portions of the HTML message using a compact markup language;

the communications device processing resources passing compact markup language representations of the selected portions and HTML representations of unselected portions of the HTML message to a rendering layer in the communications device; and

the communications device processing resources rendering the selected portions and the unselected portions for viewing.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the communications device includes a screen;

the communications device processing resources include a viewer,

the compact representation of the hyperlink document includes a compact representation of the subsequent action characteristics;

the sensory cue comprising an image; and

the step of providing the sensory cue to the user includes;

the viewer evaluating the compact representation of subsequent action characteristics; and

the viewer displaying the image proximally to a corresponding user interface element, the corresponding user interface element adapted for user selection of the hyperlink and comprising an operating system data object, the image embedded in the operating system data object.

24. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the communications device includes a screen;

the communications device processing resources include a viewer,

the subsequent action characteristics include a link type;

the compact representation of the link type includes a link type bit;

the image comprises a link type icon; and

responsive to a value of the link type bit, the viewer displays a corresponding link type icon proximally to the user interface element.

25. The method of claim 13, wherein:

the communications device includes a screen;

the communications device comprises a palm-sized computer;

the subsequent action characteristics include a link type;

the compact representation of the subsequent action link type includes a link type bit;

the image comprises a link type icon;

responsive to the link type bit having a first value, the computer displays a wireless link icon proximal to the user interface element;

responsive to the link type bit having a second value, the computer displays no image corresponding to the link type; and

responsive to a user selection of the user interface element, the communications device initiates the subsequent action.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein the subsequent action characteristics correspond to factors enabling the user to determine whether to initiate the subsequent action.

28. The device of claim 26, wherein the communication device processing resources provide at least one sensory cue for at least one subsequent action, each sensory cue corresponds to characteristics of the data communication including characteristics of the communication path user for the data communication, each sensory cue informs the user of the corresponding data communication characteristics.

29. The device of claim 26, wherein:

the communications device has an operating system object including a user interface element for user selection of the subsequent action, the sensory cue embedded into the user interface element; and

responsive to a user selection of the user interface element, the client transmitting data from the communications device.

30. The device of claim 26, wherein the sensory cue comprises an image, the communications device includes a screen and processing resources, and the communications device processing resources adapted to display the image on the screen.

31. The device of claim 26, wherein:

the sensory cue includes an image;

the communications device includes a screen and processing resources;

the communications device has an operating system object including a user interface element for user selection of the subsequent action, at least one image embedded into the user interface element; and

the communications device processing resources adapted to simultaneously display the at least one image and the user interface element on the screen.

32. The device of claim 26, wherein:

the client comprises a wireless client;

the subsequent action includes the wireless client requesting a hyperlink document, the hyperlink document indicated by a hyperlink in a base document; and

the wireless client processing resources adapted to request the hyperlink document, the requesting including transmitting to a proxy server a compact representation of the hyperlink document, the compact representation of the hyperlink document including a base document uniform resource locator and a compact representation of the hyperlink.

33. The device of claim 26, wherein:

the client comprises a wireless client;

the subsequent action includes a transaction including securely transmitting packets of data from the wireless client to a proxy server;

the wireless client adapted to securely transmit the packets of data, the transmitting including;

encrypting a data encryption key using a proxy server public key to form an encrypted data encryption key, the data encryption key corresponding to a specific transaction between the wireless client and the proxy server;

the wireless client encrypting the packets of data using the data encryption key to form an encrypted message; and

the wireless client transmitting the encrypted message to the proxy server.

34. The device of claim 32, wherein:

the communications device includes a screen and processing resources, the communications device processing resources include a viewer,

the compact representation of the hyperlink document includes a compact representation of the subsequent action characteristics;

the sensory cue comprises an image; and

the viewer adapted to

evaluate the compact representation of subsequent action characteristics; and

display the image proximally to a corresponding user interface element, the corresponding user interface element adapted for user selection of the hyperlink and comprising an operating system data object, the image embedded in the operating system data object.

36. The system of claim 35, wherein responsive to a user selection of the subsequent action, the communications device initiating processing resources initiate the subsequent action.

37. The system of claim 35, wherein the subsequent action characteristics correspond to factors enabling the user to determine whether to initiate the subsequent action.

38. The system of claim 35, wherein:

a user interface element for selection of the subsequent action comprises a communications device operating system object, the sensory cue embedded into the user interface element;

responsive to a user selection of the user interface element, the client transmitting data from the communications device.

39. The system of claim 35, wherein:

the sensory cue includes an image;

the communications device;

includes a screen;

has an operating system object including a user interface element for user selection of the subsequent action, the image embedded into the user interface element; and

adapted to display the image and the user interface element on the screen.

26. A communications device including a client, the client comprising:

processing resources adapted to initiate a subsequent action, the subsequent action having characteristics, the subsequent action includes data communications performed by the client; and

processing resources adapted to indicate to a user, prior to the user initiating the subsequent action, the subsequent action characteristics, the indicating processing resources provide a sensory cue to the user corresponding to a set of subsequent action characteristics relating to the data communications, the sensory cue informs the user of the subsequent action characteristics.

35. A communications system comprising:

a source of data;

a communications device including a client, the client including;

processing resources adapted to initiate a subsequent action, the subsequent action having characteristics, the subsequent action including data communications performed by the client; and

processing resources adapted to indicate to a user, prior to the user beginning the subsequent action, the subsequent action characteristics, the processing resources adapted to indicate providing a sensory cue to the user corresponding to a set of subsequent action characteristics relating to the data communication; and

a server, in communication with the source of data and the client.