PERSONAL HUB PRESENCE AND RESPONSE

• US 20130316746A1
• Filed: 11/27/2012
• Published: 11/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: MILLER, Brian F., MENENDEZ, Jose, SAUHTA, Rohit
• Granted Patent: US 9,173,074 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/466
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/23 Reliability checks, e.g. acknowledgments or fault reporting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/20 Services signaling; Auxiliary data signalling, i.e. transmitting data via a non-traffic channel

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems for transmitting convenient messages to a recipient for rendering based on the recipient'"'"'s device availabilities. A recipient'"'"'s mobile device may be connected to a personal hub and/or earpiece devices configured to render various incoming communications, such as audio messages and visual messages. The incoming messages may be delivered to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and other connected devices that may render the contents of the incoming messages. A delivery confirmation message that describes the receipt and use of incoming messages may be generated and returned to a sender'"'"'s computing device. In an embodiment, the recipient'"'"'s devices may generate status information for describing the status of devices to a sender'"'"'s computing device. In an embodiment, the sender'"'"'s computing device may generate and transmit outgoing messages formatted based on the received status information and including metadata that instructs the recipient'"'"'s devices to render message content in particular manners.

Claims

1. A method for communicating delivery confirmation information related to received messages by a recipient'"'"'s mobile device, the method comprising:

obtaining, from a received message, instructions for rendering the received message on the recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

generating a delivery confirmation message reporting whether the received message was delivered and, when the received message was delivered, a manner in which the received message was delivered; and

transmitting the delivery confirmation message to a sender of the received message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein reporting the manner in which the received message was delivered includes reporting information describing at least one of an identity of a device that is associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, a first indicator of whether message contents of the received message were successfully rendered by the device associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and a second indicator of whether message contents of the received message were queued for rendering by the device associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the received message is one of an email, a whisper message, an SMS text message, an audio message, a visual message, a video call, a telephone call, and a message formatted for use with whisper software.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining, from a received message, instructions for rendering the received message on the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises:

decoding the received message to obtain metadata indicating a device on which the sender desires the received message to be rendered and at least one of sound and visual message contents;

determining whether the device indicated in the metadata is connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device; and

providing the at least one of sound and visual message contents to the device indicated in the metadata when that device is connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving input data from at least one of the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device in response to the received message; and

generating a response message based on the received input data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the received input data is at least one of an input on a graphical user interface and sensor data, wherein sensor data includes data received from a sensor selected from a group consisting of a touch sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

7. A computing device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform the method as recited in any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform the method as recited in any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. A computing device comprising:

means for obtaining, from a received message, instructions for rendering the received message on the recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

means for generating a delivery confirmation message reporting whether the received message was delivered and, when the received message was delivered, a manner in which the received message was delivered; and

means for transmitting the delivery confirmation message to a sender of the received message.

10. The computing device of claim 9, wherein means for generating a delivery confirmation message reporting the manner in which the received message was delivered includes means for reporting information describing at least one of an identity of a device that is associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, a first indicator of whether message contents of the received message were successfully rendered by the device associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and a second indicator of whether message contents of the received message were queued for rendering by the device associated with the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

11. The computing device of claim 9, wherein the received message is one of an email, a whisper message, an SMS text message, an audio message, a visual message, a video call, a telephone call, and a message formatted for use with whisper software.

12. The computing device of claim 9, wherein means for obtaining, from a received message, instructions for rendering the received message on the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises:

means for decoding the received message to obtain metadata indicating a device on which the sender desires the received message to be rendered and at least one of sound and visual message contents;

means for determining whether the device indicated in the metadata is connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device; and

means for providing the at least one of sound and visual message contents to the device indicated in the metadata when that device is connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

13. The computing device of claim 9, further comprising:

means for receiving input data from at least one of the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device in response to the received message; and

means for generating a response message based on the received input data.

14. The computing device of claim 13, wherein the received input data is at least one of an input on a graphical user interface and sensor data, wherein sensor data includes data received from a sensor selected from a group consisting of a touch sensor, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and a magnetometer.

15. A method of generating an outgoing message that includes instructions for rendering message contents on a recipient'"'"'s mobile device, comprising:

determining, based on received status information regarding the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

identifying a format and a message type for sending the outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

formatting the outgoing message according to the identified format and the identified message type;

generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device; and

transmitting the outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the status information regarding the recipient'"'"'s mobile device includes at least one of information describing a privileged status, a list of devices connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, information about recent activities of devices connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and sensor data.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the identified message type is selected from a group consisting of an email, a whisper message, an SMS text message, an audio message, a visual message, a video call, a telephone call, and a message formatted for processing with whisper service software.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device on which the outgoing message is to be rendered and whether the outgoing message is to be rendered audibly, visually, or tactilely.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a first portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered on a first device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a second portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered on a second device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

20. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a first portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered audibly via a first device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a second portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered visually on a second device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a vibration motor should be activated when rendering the outgoing message.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein identifying a format and a message type for sending the outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device is further based on:

determining whether the outgoing message includes an interrogatory posed by a sender;

prompting the sender to provide a set of recipient responses related to the interrogatory when the outgoing message includes the interrogatory; and

modifying the outgoing message to include the set of recipient responses based on an input received from the sender.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises generating metadata that indicates that each response in the set of recipient responses is to be rendered differently.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the set of recipient responses using at least one of large text, small text, colored text, blinking text, animated text, sound rendered on a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, an image rendered on a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and information defined within a configuration file.

25. A computing device comprising:

a memory; and

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is configured with processor-executable instructions to perform the method as recited in any one of claims 15 to 24.

26. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor to perform the method as recited in any one of claims 15 to 24.

27. A computing device comprising:

means for determining, based on received status information regarding the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to a recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

means for identifying a format and a message type for sending an outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device;

means for formatting the outgoing message according to the identified format and the identified message type;

means for generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device; and

means for transmitting the outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

28. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the status information regarding the recipient'"'"'s mobile device includes at least one of information describing a privileged status, a list of devices connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, information about recent activities of devices connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and sensor data.

29. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the identified message type is selected from a group consisting of an email, a whisper message, an SMS text message, an audio message, a visual message, a video call, a telephone call, and a message formatted for processing with whisper service software.

30. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device on which the outgoing message is to be rendered and whether the outgoing message is to be rendered audibly, visually, or tactilely.

31. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a first portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered on a first device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a second portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered on a second device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

32. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a first portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered audibly via a first device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device and a second portion of the outgoing message is to be rendered visually on a second device connected to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device.

33. The computing device of claim 27, wherein the generated metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message indicates that a vibration motor should be activated when rendering the outgoing message.

34. The computing device of claim 27, wherein means for identifying a format and a message type for sending the outgoing message to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device is further based on:

means for determining whether the outgoing message includes an interrogatory posed by a sender;

means for prompting the sender to provide a set of recipient responses related to the interrogatory when the outgoing message includes the interrogatory; and

means for modifying the outgoing message to include the set of recipient responses based on an input received from the sender.

35. The computing device of claim 34, wherein means for generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises means for generating metadata that indicates that each response in the set of recipient responses is to be rendered differently.

36. The computing device of claim 34, wherein means for generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the outgoing message based on the determined availabilities of message rendering devices coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device comprises means for generating metadata that includes instructions for rendering the set of recipient responses using at least one of large text, small text, colored text, blinking text, animated text, sound rendered on a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, an image rendered on a device coupled to the recipient'"'"'s mobile device, and information defined within a configuration file.