Delayed display of message

• US 8,219,067 B1
• Filed: 09/19/2008
• Issued: 07/10/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: T-Mobile Innovations LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Communications Company LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Haldar, Debashis, Upadhyay, Piyush, Routt, William James, Subramanyan, Badri, Witzgall, John Chandler
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Justin
• Application Number:
  US12/233,703
• Time in Patent Office: 1,390 Days
• Field of Search: 455/466, 455/412.1, 455/412.2, 455/414.1
• US Class Current: 455/412.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A system, method, and computer-readable media are described for allowing a user to specify a desired time of delivery for a message (e.g., MMS message, SMS message). In one embodiment, a user interface is provided that allows the user to set a desired time of delivery while composing the message. The desired time of delivery is then included in the message. The recipient device places the message in a hidden folder until the desired time of delivery. Also, a messaging center may wait to deliver a messaging-waiting notification to the recipient until a low network usage period.

Claims

1. One or more non-transitory computer readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, performs a method of prioritizing transmission to a recipient device of a notification indicating a message is available for download, the method including:

receiving the message, wherein the message specifies within a message header a desired time of delivery;

checking a notification policy to determine when to deliver the notification to the recipient device, wherein the notification indicates the message is available for download, wherein the notification policy instructs delivery of the notification during a next low network usage time period upon determining that the desired time of delivery is after the next low network usage time period, and wherein the next low network usage time period is determined based on historical usage data and is defined in the notification policy as a time period;

determining that the notification will be sent during a low network usage time period that occurs between when the message was received and the desired time of delivery;

upon said determining that the notification will be sent during the low network usage time period, transmitting the notification to the recipient device during the low network usage time period;

receiving, from the recipient device, a request to communicate the message to the recipient device; and

communicating the message to the recipient device with the desired time of delivery specified within the message header.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the notification policy includes:

delivering the notification if current network usage is below a threshold amount.

3. The media of claim 1, wherein the notification policy includes:

delivering the notification without delay when the desired time of delivery is less than a threshold amount from a present time.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the message is one of a multimedia message service message and a short message service message.

5. The media of claim 4, wherein the desired time of delivery includes one or more of a time of day and a date.

6. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, performs a method of prioritizing transmission to a recipient device of a notification indicating a message is available for download, the method including:

receiving the message, wherein the message specifies within a message header a desired time of delivery;

checking a notification policy to determine when to deliver the notification to the recipient device, wherein the notification indicates the message is available for download, wherein the notification policy instructs delivery of the notification during a next low network usage time period upon determining that the desired time of delivery is after the next low network usage time period, and wherein the next low network usage time period is determined based on historical usage data and is defined in the notification policy as a time period; and

communicating the message to the recipient device with the desired time of delivery specified within the message header, wherein the recipient device does not notify a user that the message has been received until the desired time of delivery.

7. The media of claim 6, wherein the notification policy includes:

delivering the notification if current network usage is below a threshold amount.

8. The media of claim 6, wherein the notification policy includes:

delivering the notification without delay when the desired time of delivery is less than a threshold amount from a present time.

9. The media of claim 6, wherein the message is one of a multimedia message service message, and a short message service message.

10. The media of claim 9, wherein the desired time of delivery includes one or more of a time of day and a date.

11. One or more non-transitory computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed by a computing device, performs a method of prioritizing transmission to a recipient device of a notification indicating a message is available for download, the method including:

receiving the message, wherein the message specifies within a message header a desired time of delivery;

checking a notification policy to determine when to deliver the notification to the recipient device, wherein the notification indicates the message is available for download, wherein the notification policy instructs delivery of the notification during a next low network usage time period upon determining that the desired time of delivery is after the next low network usage time period, and wherein the next low network usage time period is determined based on historical usage data and is defined in the notification policy as a time period;

determining that the desired time of delivery is after the next low network usage time period;

determining that the notification will be sent during the next low network usage time period that occurs between when the message was received and the desired time of delivery;

delivering, during the next low network usage time period, the notification that indicates the message is available for download;

receiving, from the recipient device, a request to communicate the message to the recipient device; and

communicating the message to the recipient device with the desired time of delivery specified within the message header.

12. The media of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises delivering a notification that indicates the message is available for download when current network usage is below a threshold amount.

13. The media of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises delivering a notification that indicates the message is available for download without delay when the desired time of delivery is less than a threshold amount from a present time.

14. The media of claim 11, wherein the message is one of a multimedia message service message, and a short message service message.