Method and system for the phased retrieval of data

• US 20060031300A1
• Filed: 08/29/2003
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke KPN NV
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke KPN NV
• Inventors: Groten, Dirk, Kock, Martijn Willem Maria
• Application Number:
  US10/523,879
• Publication Number:
  US 20060031300A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/107 Computer-aided management of electronic mailing [e-mailing]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 Parsing or analysis of headers

Abstract

In a method of retrieving electronic messages the server (2) sends the header and the first N text characters of th message body to the terminal device (1), while holding back any remaining text and any attachments. The server also sends a first flag indicative of any remaining text characters and a second flag indicative of any attachments to the terminal device. The user (5) of the terminal device can then decide to retrieve more text characters and/or any attachments. This phased message retrieval avoids downloading oversized messages and thus saves bandwidth. The terminal device (1) may be a handheld device, for example a mobile telephone or a PDA.

Claims

1. A method of retrieving an electronic message from a server (2) using a terminal device (1), the message (20) comprising a header (21) and a body (22) capable of containing characters, the method comprising the steps of:

establishing a communications link (6) between the server and the terminal device,

the server transmitting the header (21) and the first N characters (24) of the body to the terminal device, where N is a predetermined integer, while holding back any attachments (23),

the server transmitting a flag (30) indicative of any remaining characters (24) of the body and/or any attachments (23) to the terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flag (30) comprises a first flag (31) indicative of any remaining characters and a second flag (32) indicative of any attachments (23).

3. The method according to claim 1, comprising the further step of:

the terminal device (1) requesting, in response to the flag (30), the server (2) to transmit a further P characters (24) and/or a selected attachment (23).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the integer N is determined by the server.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the server (2) erases the message after transmitting if there is no remaining text and no attachments.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the server (2) retains the message if any remaining text or any attachments are not yet transmitted.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the server (2) stores messages in a mailbox having a limited capacity, and wherein a partially transmitted messages is erased if additional mailbox capacity is required.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the terminal device (1) is a mobile handset or a PDA.

9. A system (10) for retrieving electronic messages, the system comprising a server (2) and a terminal device (1), wherein the messages (20) comprise a header (21) and a body (22) capable of containing characters, the server and the terminal device being capable of establishing a communications link (6), wherein

the server is arranged for transmitting the header (21) and the first N characters (24) of the body to the terminal device, where N is a predetermined integer, while holding back any remaining characters and any attachments,

the server is arranged for transmitting a flag indicative of any remaining characters (24) of the body and any attachments (23) to the terminal device.

10. The system according to claim 9, wherein the flag (30) comprises a first flag (31) indicative of any remaining characters (24) and a second flag (32) indicative of any attachments (23).

11. The system according to claim 9, wherein the terminal device (1) is arranged for requesting, in response to the flag (30), the server (2) to send a further P characters (24) and/or a selected attachment (23).

12. A terminal device (1) for use in the system (10) of claim 9, the terminal device being capable of:

establishing a communications link (6) with a server (2),

receiving the header (21) and the first N characters of the body (22) of a message (20), and

receiving a flag (30) indicative of any remaining characters of the body (22) and any attachments (23) to the terminal device,

which terminal device (1) is arranged for requesting, in response to the flag, the server to send a further P characters and/or a selected attachment.

13. The terminal device according to claim 12, arranged for mobile telephony.