Direct access electronic mail (email) distribution and synchronization system with IMAP-idle implementation

• US 8,626,841 B2
• Filed: 01/31/2008
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Gorty, Suryanarayana M., Van Wely, Matthew
• Primary Examiner(s): Ibrahim, Mohamed
• Assistant Examiner(s): RICHARDSON, THOMAS W
• Application Number:
  US12/023,067
• Publication Number:
  US 20080256203A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,168 Days
• Field of Search: 709/206
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• 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

Abstract

The communications system includes a network engine that communicates with the plurality of a user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices via a communications network for sending and receiving emails. A direct access server is operative with the network engine for polling electronic mailboxes of users from an email source and retrieving electronic messages from the electronic mailboxes and pushing any electronic mailboxes to the network engine to selected users subscribed mobile wireless communications devices. The direct access server communicates with an email source using the internet message access protocol (IMAP) and IMAP-Idle supportable connections to accept real-time notifications such that when a connection limit is reached or exceeded to an email source, the direct access server disables IMAP-Idle connections to the email source.

Claims

1. A communications system, comprising:

a network engine comprising a processor configured to communicate with a plurality of user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices via a communications network for sending and receiving emails therefrom; and

a direct access server comprising a processor configured to operate with the network engine for polling different electronic mailboxes of users each corresponding to an email source and retrieving email from the electronic mailboxes and pushing any email through the network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices, and an IMAP-Idle manager configured to;

establish IMAP-Idle connections to each of the electronic mailboxes of each user using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for supporting real-time notifications,

for each of the electronic mailboxes, set a connection limit for the number of IMAP-Idle connections to each of the electronic mailboxes; and

when an IMAP-Idle connection limit to one of the electronic mailboxes is reached or exceeded, mark the one electronic mailbox as IMAP-Idle disabled, such that subsequent IMAP-Idle connection attempts will fail and an account associated with the one electronic mailbox will not be subscribed to in the future, preventing any future IMAP-Idle connections to the one electronic mailbox.

2. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein no IMAP-Idle connection can be made to an electronic mailbox of the email source when a connection limit has been reached.

3. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein if IMAP-Idle connection attempts to an electronic mailbox of an email source fail a predetermined number of times, said IMAP-Idle manager will not attempt to connect to the particular electronic mailbox using an IMAP-Idle connection.

4. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said IMAP-Idle manager is operative for determining whether an IMAP-Idle connection has been dropped when a secondary connection was in progress such that an IMAP-Idle connection is disabled.

5. The communications system according to claim 4, wherein said secondary connection comprises a connection for email polling.

6. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said IMAP-Idle manager is operative for issuing an IMAP fetch to check if new email was received.

7. A communications system, comprising:

a network engine comprising a processor configured to communicate with a plurality of user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices via a communications network for sending and receiving emails therefrom; and

a direct access server comprising a processor configured to operate with the network engine for polling electronic mailboxes of users each corresponding to an email source and retrieving email from the electronic mailboxes and pushing any email through the network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices, and an IMAP-Idle manager configured to;

establish IMAP-Idle connections to each of the electronic mailboxes that are subscribed by each user using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for supporting real-time notifications, for each of the electronic mailboxes, set a connection limit for the number of IMAP-Idle connections to each of the electronic mailboxes; and

when an IMAP-Idle connection limit to one of the electronic mailboxes is reached or exceeded, mark the one electronic mailbox as IMAP-Idle disabled, such that subsequent IMAP-Idle connection attempts will fail and an account associated with the one electronic mailbox will not be subscribed to in the future, preventing any future IMAP-Idle connections to the one electronic mailbox.

8. The communications system according to claim 7, wherein a user subscribes to enable IMAP-Idle connections upon subscribing to an electronic mailbox of an email source as an email service provider.

9. The communications system according to claim 7, wherein no IMAP-Idle connection can be made to an electronic mailbox of an email source when a connection limit has been reached.

10. The communications system according to claim 7, wherein if IMAP-Idle connection attempts to an electronic mailbox of an email source fail a predetermined number of times, said IMAP-Idle manager will not attempt to connect to the particular electronic mailbox using an IMAP-Idle connection.

11. The communications system according to claim 7, wherein said IMAP-Idle manager is operative for determining whether an IMAP-Idle connection has been dropped when a secondary connection was in progress such that an IMAP-Idle connection is disabled.

12. The communications system according to claim 11, wherein said secondary connection comprises a connection for email polling.

13. The communications system according to claim 7, wherein said IMAP-Idle manager is operative for issuing an IMAP fetch to check if new mail was received.

14. A communications method, comprising:

polling electronic mailboxes of users each corresponding to an email source from a direct access server comprising a processor;

retrieving email from the electronic mailboxes;

pushing any email through a network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices; and

establishing IMAP-Idle connections to each of the electronic mailboxes of each user using the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) for supporting real-time notifications when an IMAP-Idle connection limit to one of the electronic mailboxes is reached or exceeded mark the one electronic mailbox as IMAP-Idle disabled, such that subsequent IMAP-Idle connection attempts will fail and an account associated with the one electronic mailbox will not be subscribed to in the future, preventing any future IMAP-Idle connections to the one electronic mailbox.