Delta code messaging

• US 20070005807A1
• Filed: 11/30/2005
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Symbian Software Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Wong, Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 7,587,458 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content

Abstract

A method of communication of digital messages with improved efficiency through the use of the transfer of difference data between devices. In one aspect of the invention, the difference data communicated is between different generations of a derived message sequence such as an email thread. In another aspect of the invention, the messages are encoded by means of a codebook, and the difference data communicated is between different versions of the codebook. In this second aspect of the invention, the codebooks may automatically utilise the difference data to adapt their efficiency, and the codebooks may be automatically customised for specific individuals or groups.

Claims

1. A method of transmitting a digital message from a first computing device to a second computing device by means of

a. the first device identifying a data set that can be associated with a digital message which is stored on both the first and second devices;

b. the first device generating a modified version of the said data set;

c. the first device generating a set of difference information from a comparison between the modified data set and the original data set;

d. the first device transmitting the said difference information together with supplementary data; and

e. the second device using the difference information and the supplementary data in combination with its copy of the data set to reproduce the digital message.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein

a. one of the computing devices is selected to comprise a messaging electronic mail server;

and

b. the other computing device is selected to comprise a messaging client of the said server.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein

a. the digital message is an email which is either a reply to or the forwarding of a previously received message email;

b. the identified data set is the previously received message email;

c. the modified data set is the digital message; and

d. the supplementary data includes a unique identifier enabling the previously received message email to be identified by the second computing device.

4. A method according to claim 2 wherein

a. the digital message is an email;

b. the identified data set is a standard codebook; and

wherein

c. the first computing device

i. identifies a first set of data elements found in the digital message email which are found in the standard codebook;

ii. identifies a second set of data elements found in the digital message email which are not found in the standard codebook but which could be more efficiently represented if they had been found;

iii. constructs an extended codebook which includes the second set of data elements; and

iv. replaces both the frist and the second sets of data elements with code vectors pointing to the identical data elements in the temporary extended codebook;

d. the modified version of the data set is the extended codebook used to encode the digital message;

e. the supplementary data includes the encoded email digital message; and

f. the second computing device, on receiving the difference data

v. constructs a temporary extended codebook by applying the set of differences to the standard codebook; and

vi. replaces all code vectors in the encoded digital message email included with the supplementary data with the corresponding data elements from the extended codebook.

5. A method according to claim 4 as applied to a set of messages.

6. A method according to claim 4 as applied either to binary and/or text messages.

7. A method according to claim 4 wherein

a. more that one codebook is common to the first and second computing devices;

b. the first computing device is able to determine the most efficient codebook to use;

c. the first computing device includes a unique identifier for the codebook used for the supplementary data; and

d. the second computing device identifies the codebook to use from the supplementary data.

8. A method according to claim 7 wherein a mechanism such as the Session Initiation Protocol is used to determine the codebooks common between itself and the second computing device.

9. A method according to claim 4 wherein

a. the first computing device identifies a further set of data elements that, over a number of iterations of the method, frequently appear in the said second set of data elements;

b. the first computing device communicates data elements of the said further set of the second computing device, by means including but not limited to

i. tagging those data elements in the temporary extended codebook;

or

ii. tagging code vectors that point to them; and

c. both the first and the second computing devices extend the standard codebook by adding the further set of data elements.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein a messaging server keeps difference data specific to certain of its clients that can be applied to a standard codebook in order to generate an extended version of the said standard codebook for use with each of those clients.