Transmitter-receiver for electronic mail that provides convenience to a user receiving mail services from various mail service providers at different terminals and different places

• US 6,272,530 B1
• Filed: 06/12/1997
• Issued: 08/07/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Horiuchi, Yasuhide, Terasaki, Satoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Rinehart, Mark H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C.
• Application Number:
  US08/873,561
• Time in Patent Office: 1,517 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206, 709/207, 709/224, 709/223, 709/245, 379/93.24, 379/93.15, 379/100.08, 379/88.13, 379/88.12, 379/88.14, 379/100.06, 379/88.27, 379/88.25, 379/88.22
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles
• 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 67/565 Conversion or adaptation of application format or content adding application control or application functional data H04L67/561
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

The object of the present invention is to provide A transmitter-receiver enables a user to send a mail in an optimal mode even to a portable terminal with lower functional capability without a need for awareness of a plurality of mail service providers. The transmitter-receiver notifies of arrival of the mail at an optimal communication cost depending on the importance of the mail, and unifies a plurality of mail spools. The unified mail spools are controlled by a spool integration unit. The transmitter-receiver according to the present invention comprises a terminal response unit for inquiring capability of a user terminal and a data form converting unit, and the mail is sent in an optimal form to the user terminal. In case the content of the mail cannot be read perfectly, it is designed in such manner that the mail is not deleted from the spool, and arrival of the mail is notified to the user at an optimal communication cost depending on the importance of the mail and position information of the user.

Claims

1. A transmitter-receiver for transmitting and receiving mails to and from a user terminal by an electronic mail system, comprising:

a plurality of mail spools for retaining mails transmitted from said user terminal, each of said mail spools having a spool number,

wherein each mail in said mail spools is managed in accordance with said spool number and a mail number assigned to said mails; and

a spool integration unit for integrating said plurality of mail spools and for making it possible to gain access to each of said mail by regarding said plurality of mail spools as a single spool,

said spool integration unit including;

means for determining, among said plurality of mail spools, any mail spools where a mail designated to be read out is stored,

means for converting a reading command for reading out a mail from a single spool into a reading command for reading out a mail from each of said spools which have been determined by said means for determining,

further means for determining whether or not plural mails retained in said plurality of mail spools have a same mail ID given by a transmitter, and

means for assigning the same mail number to plural identical mails having the same mail ID.

2. A transmitter-receiver according to claim 1, wherein said spool integration unit comprises further means for converting the reading command to a reading command for reading out a mail from only one of the plurality of spools which have been determined by said means for determining in case two or more spools where mails designated for reading are present.

3. A transmitter-receiver according to claim 1, further comprising a position information control unit having information relating to positions and communication channels accessible by the user;

and

communication mode selecting means for selecting which communication channel the user should use for communication based on the information from the position information control unit to provide control information for a communication channel which the user can access by recording a place where the user having said user terminal is currently present.