Unified management method of various types of messages of a personal information terminal

• US 7,603,379 B2
• Filed: 04/10/2002
• Issued: 10/13/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Seung Ho, Kang, Yun Gyu, Kim, Sang Bum, Jung, Byung Hak, Shin, Yong Soo, Pan, Su Young
• Primary Examiner(s): Wassum; Luke S
• Application Number:
  US10/118,943
• Publication Number:
  US 20020152220A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,743 Days
• Field of Search: 707 1- 10, 709217-219
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/066 Format adaptation, e.g. format conversion or compression
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/922 Communications
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of displaying several types of messages all together through a single window and of enabling a user to write and transmit a message with no consideration of message type. This unified message management method displays various types of messages all together along with their respective message types through a single window, converts the type of a written message, if needed, to match it to a protocol determined based on information written in its field distinguishing a message type, and transmits the type-converted message, whereby a user can confirm all types of received messages at a time and user'"'"'s inconvenience that a message type to write should be distinguished in advance prior to choosing a message input screen can be removed.

Claims

1. A method of preparing and transmitting a message in a mobile personal information terminal, the mobile personal information terminal being capable of preparing and transmitting a plurality of different types of messages, the different types of messages having different message fields, respectively, the method comprising:

preparing a written message on a display of the mobile personal information terminal for transmission to an intended recipient, the written message belonging to one type of the plurality of different types of messages;

reading information stored in the mobile personal information terminal about the intended recipient of the written message;

checking whether the read information corresponds to the one type;

displaying a notifying message on the display of the mobile personal information terminal if the read information does not correspond to the one type;

converting the written message in the mobile personal information terminal to another type of the plurality of different types of messages if the read information does not correspond to the one type;

transmitting the converted written message to the intended recipient, wherein converting the written message in the mobile personal information terminal to another type of the plurality of different types of message comprises;

asking a user whether to convert the written message to the another type; and

converting the message to the another type.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of different types of messages include a SMS type defined by a mobile communication network and an e-mail type defined by a data network.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein checking whether the read information corresponds to the one type comprises regarding that the read information is matched with the one type if the read information is composed of numeric data and the one type is a SMS type or if the read information includes a symbol indicative of a mail account and the one type is an e-mail type.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the personal information terminal comprises a communication module capable of transmitting/receiving wireless signals.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting receiver information for the written message based on a mapping table pre-stored in the mobile personal information terminal of telephone numbers and email addresses when the user request type conversion.

6. A method of preparing and transmitting a message in a mobile personal information terminal, the mobile personal information terminal being capable of preparing and transmitting a plurality of different types of messages, the different types of messages having different message fields, respectively, the method comprising:

preparing a written message on a display of the personal information terminal for transmission to an intended recipient, the written message belonging to one type of the plurality of different types of messages;

reading information stored in the personal information terminal about the intended recipient of the written message;

checking whether the read information corresponds to the one type;

converting the written message in the mobile personal information terminal to another type of the plurality of different types of messages if the read information does not correspond to the one type and creating a new message based on the read information; and

transmitting the converted written message and the new message, wherein the new message is to notify that the type-converted message has been sent to the intended recipient.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the converting comprises copying the read information to the created new message as a destination of the created new message.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of different types of messages include an SMS type defined by a mobile communication network and an e-mail type defined by a data network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the checking comprises checking whether the written message is longer than a predetermined size, if the read information comprises numeric data.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the converting is conducted if a user requests to convert.

11. The method of claim 6, further comprising

slicing the written message into maximum-sized message segments allowable in the one type and transmitting the message segments sequentially, if a user requests not to convert at a selecting stage provided by the converting step.

12. The method of claim 6, wherein the personal information terminal comprises a communication module capable of transmitting/receiving wireless signals.