DIRECT ACCESS ELECTRONIC MAIL (EMAIL) DISTRIBUTION AND SYNCHRONIZATION SYSTEM WITH OUT-OF-COVERAGE NOTIFICATION

• US 20080256204A1
• Filed: 01/31/2008
• Published: 10/16/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/13/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: TeamOn Systems Incorporated (Blackberry Limited)
• Inventors: Virk, Sarinder, KAMAT, Harshad N.
• Granted Patent: US 8,407,298 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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

A communications system includes a network engine that communicates with a plurality of user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices and operative for determining when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate with the network engine. A direct access server is operative with the network engine and polls electronic mailboxes of the users and retrieves electronic messages from the electronic mailboxes and pushes any electronic messages through the network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices. The direct access server suspends polling of those electronic mailboxes of a user when a mobile wireless communications device associated with a user has been determined to be out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate so as to preserve polling resources within the direct access server.

Claims

1. A communications system, comprising:

a network engine that communicates with a plurality of user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices and operative for determining when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate with the network engine; and

a direct access server operative with the network engine for polling electronic mailboxes of users and retrieving electronic messages from the electronic mailboxes and pushing any electronic messages through the network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices, wherein said direct access server is operative for suspending polling of those electronic mailboxes of a user when a mobile wireless communications device associated with the user has been determined to be out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate so as to preserve polling resources within the direct access server.

2. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said network engine further comprises a worker module that accepts email from the direct access server and any mail routers and formats email for communication across a communications network and a relay module that receives messages from the worker module and pushes the messages to mobile wireless communications devices through the communications network.

3. The communications system according to claim 2, wherein said relay module is operative for pushing back messages to the worker module when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned-off and messages cannot be pushed to such device.

4. The communications system according to claim 3, wherein said relay module pushes back messages to a worker module on a per message basis such that every message the worker submits to the relay module can be pushed back to the worker module.

5. The communications system according to claim 3, wherein said worker module is operative for maintaining a record of the number of messages pushed back from the relay module and determining from the number of pushed back messages whether the mobile wireless communications device in which intended messages have been pushed back is out-of-coverage.

6. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said network engine is operative for sending an out-of-coverage or in-coverage flag to the direct access server indicating that the mobile wireless communications device to which emails are intended is out-of-coverage or turned-off.

7. The communications system according to claim 1, wherein said direct access server is operative to resume polling of those electronic mailboxes to which polling has been suspended when the associated mobile wireless communications device of the user is in-coverage or turned on and able to resume communications.

8. A communications system, comprising:

a network engine that communicates with a plurality of user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices and operative for determining when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate with the network engine and generate out-of coverage and in-coverage notification; and

a direct access server operative with the network engine for polling electronic mailboxes of users and retrieving electronic messages from the electronic mailboxes and pushing any electronic messages through the network engine to selected user subscribed mobile wireless communications devices, wherein said direct access server is operative for receiving the out-of coverage and in-coverage notifications from the network engine and suspending polling of those electronic mailboxes of a user after receiving an out-of-coverage notification so as to preserve polling resources within the direct access server, wherein said direct access server is operative for fail-safe polling said network engine for the status of mobile wireless communications devices that are deemed to be out-of-coverage or turned off and in-coverage.

9. The communications system according to claim 8, wherein said direct access server comprises a source scheduler module that schedules a polling interval for electronic mailboxes, wherein said fail-safe polling is triggered by said polling interval.

10. The communications system according to claim 9, wherein said network engine further comprises a worker module that accepts email from the direct access server and any mail routers and formats email for communication across a communications network, wherein said source scheduler module communicates with said worker module to send notifications to send worker module as a fail safe poll.

11. The communications system according to claim 8, wherein said network engine further comprises a worker module that accepts email from the direct access server and any mail routers and formats email for communication across a communications network and a relay module that receives messages from the worker module and pushes the messages to mobile wireless communications devices through the communications network.

12. The communications system according to claim 11, wherein said relay module is operative for pushing back messages to the worker module when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned-off and messages cannot be pushed to such device.

13. The communications system according to claim 12, wherein said relay module pushes back messages to a worker module on a per message basis such that every message the worker submits to the relay module can be pushed back to the worker module.

14. The communications system according to claim 12, wherein said worker module is operative for maintaining a record of the number of messages pushed back from the relay module and determining from the number of pushed back messages whether the mobile wireless communications device in which intended messages have been pushed back is out-of-coverage or turned off.

15. The communications system according to claim 8, wherein said network engine is operative for sending an out-of-coverage or in-coverage flag to the direct access server indicating that the mobile wireless communications device to which emails are intended is out-of-coverage or turned-off.

16. The communications system according to claim 8, wherein said direct access server is operative to resume polling of those electronic mailboxes to which polling has been suspended when the associated mobile wireless communications device of the user is in-coverage or turned on and able to resume communications.

17. A communications method, comprising:

determining when a user subscribed mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate with a network engine as a module that pushes emails received from a direct access server to the mobile wireless communications device;

polling electronic mailboxes of the user from the direct access server;

retrieving electronic messages from the electronic mailboxes;

pushing any electronic messages through the network engine to a user subscribed mobile wireless communications device;

determining when the mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned off and unable to communicate; and

suspending polling of those electronic mailboxes belonging to the user.

18. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises formatting email for communication within a worker module that accepts email from the direct access server and receiving email messages within a relay module from the worker module and pushing the messages from the relay module to the mobile wireless communications device through a communications network.

19. The method according to claim 18, which further comprises pushing back messages to the worker module from the relay module within a when a mobile wireless communications device is out-of-coverage or turned-off and messages cannot be pushed to such device.

20. The method according to claim 19, which further comprises pushing back messages on a per message basis.

21. The method according to claim 19, which further comprises maintaining a record of the number of messages pushed back from the relay module and determining from the number of pushed back messages whether the mobile wireless communications device in which intended messages have been pushed back is out-of-coverage or turned off.

22. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises sending an out-of-coverage or in-coverage flag to the direct access server indicating that the mobile wireless communications device to which emails are intended is out-of-coverage or turned-off.