E-mail access from cellular/PCS phones using user agents

• US 6,393,296 B1
• Filed: 04/03/1997
• Issued: 05/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nokia of America Corporation (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Woo, Thomas Yat Chung, Sabnani, Krishan Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Nay
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vuong, Quochien B.
• Application Number:
  US08/832,086
• Time in Patent Office: 1,874 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412, 455/414, 455/418, 455/419, 455/466, 455/517, 455/566, 455/31.2, 455/445, 455/458, 455/461, 379/88.13, 340/825.44
• US Class Current: 455/466
• 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 51/226 Delivery according to priorities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals

Abstract

A method of accessing a text file comprised of individual messages from a cellular telephone comprises the steps of: accessing the text file; selecting one of the individual messages from the text file; formatting the selected message with a network resident user agent; sending the formatted message to the cellular telephone.

Claims

1. In a communication system operative to provide a wireless communications link between a mobile unit and a fixed network, wherein a set of communication services supported by said system includes a data transmission service operable to transmit data in a known format and said mobile unit includes a display adapted to accept and display alphanumeric characters in said known data format, and further wherein said data transmission service is provided on a non-interactive basis, a method for retrieval by said mobile unit of a message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than an address of said mobile unit, and provided in a format other than said known data format, comprising the steps of:

providing a software-implemented user agent in said fixed network operating as a proxy for said mobile unit and enabled to manage interface compatibility for messages exchanged between said mobile unit and said fixed network;

causing said user agent to select and retrieve a message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than a mobile unit address for a user associated with said user agent from a plurality of messages provided in said other format and stored at said destination address other than said mobile unit address, wherein neither the header nor the message data of the retrieved message includes an address translatable by said communication system for said user agent or for said mobile unit;

causing said user agent to convert said other format of said selected message to said known data format used by said mobile unit; and

transmitting said selected message from said user agent to said mobile unit.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said format conversion of said selected message includes a text to speech conversion for direct speech presentation of said selected message on the mobile unit.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said known data format of said selected message is a short-message-service format.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further comprising the step of notifying the mobile unit automatically upon the presence of an unread message.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the step of notifying is delayed for a predetermined time interval.

6. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the step of notifying is conditioned upon a priority of said unread message.

7. The method as recited in claim 4 wherein the step of notifying is conditioned upon an id of a sender of said unread message.

8. The method as recited in claim 1 comprising the additional step of replying to said selected message.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the step of replying comprises:

dictating a response;

formatting said response with said resident user agent; and

,

sending said formatted response to said mobile unit for reviewing.

10. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the step of formatting said response comprises formatting said response utilizing a speech to text conversion method for direct presentation on the mobile unit.

11. The method as recited in claim 9 wherein the step of formatting said response comprises formatting said response in a short message service format for display on the mobile unit display.

12. The method as recited in claim 9 further comprising the additional step of fowarding said response with a network resident agent.

13. In a wireless communications system operable to provide Short Message Service (SMS), a method for retrieval by a mobile unit in communication with said wireless communications system of a non-SMS formatted message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than an address of said mobile unit, said mobile unit having a display enabled to accept an alphanumeric message in an SMS format, said method comprising the steps of:

causing a software-implemented user agent established in a fixed network portion of said wireless system as a proxy for said mobile unit to select and retrieve a message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than a mobile unit address for a user associated with said user agent, wherein neither the header nor the message data of the retrieved message includes an address translatable by said communication system for said user agent or for said mobile unit;

causing said user agent to format said selected message for direct presentation on the mobile unit display in an SMS format;

sending said formatted message to the mobile unit, wherein said selected message is presented on the mobile unit display in the SMS format.

14. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the step of formatting comprises formatting said selected message utilizing a text to speech conversion method for direct presentation on the mobile unit.

15. The method as recited in claim 13 wherein the step of formatting comprises formatting said selected message in a short message service format for display on the mobile unit diplay.

16. The method as recited in claim 13 further comprising the step of notifying the mobile unit automatically upon the presence of an unread message.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the step of notifying is delayed for a predetermined time interval.

18. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the step of notifying is conditioned upon a priority of said unread message.

19. The method as recited in claim 16 wherein the step of notifying is conditioned upon an id of a sender of said unread message.

20. The method as recited in claim 13 comprising the additional step of replying to said selected message.

21. The method as recited in claim 20 wherein the step of replying comprises:

dictating a response;

formating said response with said resident user agent; and

, reviewing said formatted response.

22. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein the step for formatting said response comprises formatting said response utilizing a speech to text conversion method for direct presentation on the mobile unit.

23. The method as recited in claim 21 wherein the step of formatting said response comprises formatting said response in a short message service format for display on the mobile unit diplay.

24. The method as recited in claim 21 further comprising the additional step of fowarding said response with a network resident agent.

25. In a communication system operative to provide a wireless communications link between a mobile unit and a fixed network, wherein a set of communication services supported by said system includes Short Message Service (SMS) and said mobile unit includes a display adapted to accept and display alphanumeric characters in an SMS format, a method for retrieval by said mobile unit of a non-SMS formatted message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than an address of said mobile unit, comprising the steps of:

providing a software-implemented user agent in said fixed network operating as a proxy for said mobile unit and enabled to manage interface compatibility for messages exchanged between said mobile unit and said fixed network;

causing said user agent to select and retrieve a message addressed to and stored at a destination address other than a mobile unit address for a user associated with said user agent from a plurality of non-SMS formatted messages stored at said destination address other than said mobile unit address, wherein neither the header nor the message data of the retrieved message includes an address translatable by said communication system for said user agent or for said mobile unit;

causing said user agent to convert the non-SMS format of said selected message to the SMS format used by said mobile unit; and

transmitting said selected message from said user agent to said mobile unit.