Transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to portable phone or information terminal

• US 6,434,405 B1
• Filed: 07/28/1999
• Issued: 08/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Innovations Ltd Hong Kong (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Sashihara, Toshiyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Congvan
• Application Number:
  US09/362,949
• Time in Patent Office: 1,112 Days
• Field of Search: 455/557, 455/558, 455/550, 455/556, 455/466, 455/414, 455/403, 455/412, 455/425, 455/575, 455/186.1
• US Class Current: 455/557
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/95 Retrieval from the web
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3816 Mechanical arrangements for accommodating identification devices, e.g. cards or chips; with connectors for programming identification devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3833 Hand-held transceivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72409 by interfacing with external accessories hands-free H04M1/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72445 for supporting Internet browser applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2207/18 wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/14 including a card reading device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/387 using subscriber identification cards
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/5307 for recording messages comprising any combination of audio and non-audio components
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or an information terminal is provided, by which operations for transmitting and receiving data to and from the information terminal as a server can be automatically performed without connecting the portable phone and the information terminal via a cable and without monitoring the radio signal quality by the user. When the card is attached to the portable phone, the card selects a period during which the radio wave has a good condition and acts as the information terminal so as to retrieve information such as e-mail stored in a server via the portable phone, and to transmit information stored in advance in the card to such a server according to a request. When the card is attached to the information terminal, the card acts as a server so as to transmit and receive the information to and from the information terminal.

Claims

1. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or an e-mail terminal, wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card monitors the radio signal quality and acts as an agent for the e-mail terminal so as to receive e-mail addressed to the current user, stored in a mail server, via the portable phone and to transmit e-mail, stored in the card in advance, to the mail server according to a request while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and

when the card is attached to the e-mail terminal,

the card functions as a mail server so as to transmit and receive e-mail to and from the e-mail terminal.

2. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or an e-mail terminal wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card monitors the radio signal quality and acts as an agent for the e-mail terminal so as to receive e-mail addressed to the current user, stored in a mail server, via the portable phone and to transmit e-mail, stored in the card in advance, to the mail server according to a request while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and

when the card is attached to the e-mail terminal,

the card functions as a mail server so as to transmit and receive e-mail to and from the e-mail terminal, and wherein,

the transmitting and receiving card comprises;

a memory for storing e-mail data and setting information relating to the e-mail data;

mail receiving means for retrieving the setting information, necessary for receiving the e-mail, stored in the memory, and requesting the mail server to transmit the e-mail address to the user, and for storing e-mail transmitted from the mail server in the memory;

mail transmitting means for retrieving, if the memory stores e-mail to be transmitted, said e-mail and setting information necessary for transmitting the e-mail, stored in the memory and transmitting the retrieved data to the mail server;

memory reading reception means for receiving a data retrieval request, from the portable phone or the e-mail terminal to the memory, and information on the target data;

memory writing reception means for receiving a data storing request, from the portable phone or the e-mail terminal to the memory, and data to be stored, and storing the data in the memory;

mail receiving reception means for transmitting e-mail stored in the memory to the e-mail terminal when receiving a request from the e-mail terminal for receiving the e-mail from the mail server; and

mail transmitting reception means for storing e-mail transmitted form the e-mail terminal in the memory when receiving a request from the e-mail terminal for transmitting the e-mail to the e-mail server.

3. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a Web browser terminal, wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card monitors the radio signal quality and obtains a Web document

having a uniform resource locator format, designated by the current user, from a hyper text transfer protocol server while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and

when the card is attached to the Web browser terminal,

the card transmits the obtained Web document to the Web browser terminal so that the user can see the document.

4. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a Web browser terminal, wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card obtains a Web document having a uniform resource locator format, designated by the current user, from a hyper text transfer protocol server, and

when the card is attached to the Web browser terminal,

the card transmits the obtained Web document to the Web browser terminal so that the user can see the document, and the card comprises;

hyper text transfer protocol transmitting means for obtaining the Web document having the uniform resource locator format, designated by the user, when the card is attached to the portable phone; and

hyper text transfer protocol reception means for obtaining a hyper text transfer protocol request when the card is attached to the Web browser terminal, and transmitting data corresponding to the request to the Web browser terminal.

5. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a database search terminal, wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card monitors the radio signal quality and transmits a search request input by the current user to a database server designated by the user while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and obtains a search result returning from the database server while the monitored radio signal quality is good, and

when the card is attached to the database search terminal,

the card acts as the database server so as to transmit a search result to the database search terminal, as a response to a search request transmitted from the database search terminal to the database server.

6. A transmitting and receiving card selectively attached to a portable phone or a database search terminal, wherein:

when the card is attached to the portable phone,

the card transmits a search request input by the current user to a database server designated by the user, and obtains a search result returning from the database server, and

when the card is attached to the database search terminal,

the card acts as the database server so as to transmit a search result to the database search terminal, as a response to a search request transmitted from the database search terminal to the database server, and

the card comprises;

database search means, operated when the card is attached to the portable phone, for transmitting a search request input by the current user to a database server designated by the user, and obtaining a search result returning from the database server; and

search result providing means, acting as the database server when the card is attached to the database search terminal, for transmitting a search result to the database search terminal, as a response to a search request transmitted from the database search terminal to the database server.