Sender- specified delivery customization

• US 6,643,684 B1
• Filed: 10/08/1998
• Issued: 11/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Snap, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Malkin, Peter Kenneth, Yu, Philip Shi-lung
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Application Number:
  US09/168,248
• Time in Patent Office: 1,853 Days
• Field of Search: 709/204, 709/205, 709/206, 709/207, 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 709/218, 709/230, 709/238, 709/239, 709/240, 379/905, 379/90.01
• US Class Current: 709/206
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00209 Transmitting or receiving image data, e.g. facsimile data, via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network, the internet, I-fax
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32037 Automation of particular transmitter jobs, e.g. multi-address calling, auto-dialing
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3209 according to the called number
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/3333 during transmission, input or output of the picture signal; within a single document or page
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3214 of a date
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3215 of a time or duration
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3222 of processing required or performed, e.g. forwarding, urgent or confidential handling
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/33342 of transmission mode
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 2201/3335 Speed or rate
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 379/905 Fax mail

Abstract

A system and method that enables a given sending user to specify a set of delivery policies and have them used for the electronic delivery of a given message, the message potentially having several heterogeneous parts (e.g., text and pictures) each of which is handled differently, and delivered to multiple heterogeneous devices (e.g., PCs, Smartphones, fax machines), and possibly to several distinct recipients. The factors with which a sender can qualify their delivery policies include: time/date, transmission cost; whether the transmission can be forwarded; receiving device capability; and network reliability, speed, and security transmission. Methods are also provided enabling a sender to specify that particular transmissions be redirected or copied, e.g., “send fax copy to my broker and my accountant.” In one embodiment, the delivery policies may be specified using PICS.

Claims

1. In a computer network of heterogeneous nodes including at least one sending device and one or more receiving devices having potentially different capabilities for receiving transmissions from the at least one sending device, a method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly, comprising the steps of:

associating sender specified policies with a particular communication for delivery of content to one or more said receiving devices;

receiving from a sending device the sender-specified policies associated with the particular communication for delivery of content to the one or more said receiving devices, wherein at least one of said receiving devices is distinct from the sending device;

breaking the transmissions into component parts;

determining handling protocols for the component parts; and

completing the particular communication for delivery of content to the one or more said receiving devices based on the sender-specified policies associated with said particular communication, wherein the component parts are delivered to one or more said receiving devices according to the handling protocols.

2. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sending devices include a personal data assistant (PDA).

3. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes, prior to the step of completing, the step of transmitting the sender-specified policies and the content to one or more processors, said one or more processors forwarding the content to one or more said receiving devices in accordance with the sender-specified policies.

4. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the receiving devices include a personal data assistant (PDA).

5. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component parts are identified based on data types.

6. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the data types include ASCII text.

7. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the data types include GIF image file.

8. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component parts are identified based on XML.

9. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the component parts are identified based on MIME.

10. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by factors including date and time.

11. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by factors including functional periods of time.

12. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by factors including cost of transmission.

13. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by factors including instructions to forward transmission.

14. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by factors including a capability of the receiving devices.

15. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the content delivery policies are qualified by constraints of the capability of the receiving devices, the constraints including device types.

16. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the device types include a facsimile.

17. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the device types include a pager.

18. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 15, wherein the device types include a personal data assistant (PDA).

19. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability of the receiving devices includes network reliability.

20. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability of the receiving devices includes network speed.

21. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability of the receiving devices includes monitor display capabilities.

22. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 21, wherein the monitor display capabilities include screen color resolution.

23. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 21, wherein the monitor display capabilities include screen pixel resolution.

24. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability of the receiving devices includes audio capabilities.

25. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 14, wherein the capability of the receiving devices includes securable transmission path.

26. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies include an instruction to redirect the content to another user.

27. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies include an instruction to mask the content.

28. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are specified using the PICS.

29. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 28, wherein the content delivery policies are retrieved from a remote device.

30. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are specified using the RDF.

31. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are included within a transmission.

32. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 31, wherein the transmission includes an SMTP header, and wherein the content delivery policies are included within the SMTP header.

33. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 31, wherein the transmission includes an HTTP header, and wherein the content delivery policies are included within the HTTP header.

34. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies are specified by administrators at a location of one or more said processors.

35. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein a sender requests a transmission to be sent to one or more devices based on the content delivery policies.

36. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

generating notifications of transmissions based on policies.

37. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 36, wherein the step of generating notifications, include sending a page.

38. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies include abstract terms referencing devices in logical groups.

39. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

enabling and including one or more digital signature(s) with the content delivery policies to verify authenticity.

40. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 39, wherein the digital signatures are enabled by using the DSIG 1.0.

41. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content delivery policies include characterization of transmissions.

42. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

maintaining logs of all transmissions.

43. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

enabling and including one or more digital signature(s) with the content delivery policies to verify authenticity.

44. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

informing the sender whether and where the transmissions were redirected.

45. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

informing the sender of a failure to deliver a transmission.

46. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

retrying transmissions for a predetermined period of time at a predetermined frequency.

47. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes:

encrypting transmissions data based on the specified content delivery policy, before the step of communicating.

48. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the method further includes enabling a requester to specify delivery preferences.

49. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 48, wherein the method further includes defaulting to the delivery preferences specified by the requester, if the sender does not specify content delivery policies.

50. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 48, wherein the method further includes resolving conflicts between the sender specified delivery policies and the requester specified delivery preferences.

51. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 50, wherein the step of resolving conflicts includes automatically selecting to execute the sender specified delivery policies over the requester specified delivery preferences.

52. The method for senders to specify content delivery policies and to deliver content accordingly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the computer network of heterogeneous nodes includes the Internet.

53. In a computer network of heterogeneous nodes including sending devices and receiving devices having potentially different capabilities, a sender-specified delivery customization system for enabling a sender to specify content delivery policies, comprising:

associating means for enabling a sender to associate one or more delivery policies with content to be communicated to one or more said receiving devices, the content to be sent from at least one of said sending devices;

means for communicating the content to one or more said receiving devices based on the delivery policies,

a processor device for receiving a transmission including the content with associated delivery policies, the processor including means for breaking the transmission into component parts, and determining how each component parts should be handled;

wherein the sender is enabled to specify handling protocols for the component parts for delivery to at least one of said receiving devices which is distinct from said at least one of said sending devices, said processor further delivering the component parts to receiving devices according to the handling determination.

54. The sender-specified delivery customization system as claimed in claim 53, wherein the means for communicating further includes:

a policy buffer for storing the delivery policies;

a data buffer for storing the content associated with the delivery policies; and

an instruction buffer for storing cross-reference indicator for associating the delivery policies with the content; and

a sender-specified delivery handler for analyzing the delivery policies and the associated content;

wherein the sender-specified delivery handler populates the policy buffer, the data buffer, and the instruction buffer according to the analysis.

55. The sender-specified delivery customization system as claimed in claim 54, wherein the sender-specified delivery handler further includes:

a policy reading handler for reading the delivery policies and writing the delivery policies to the policy buffer;

a data parsing handler for reading the content, parsing the content into data components and storing the data components in the data buffer;

an instruction determining handler for cross-referencing the data components in the data buffer with the policies in the policy buffer, the instruction determining handler further determining one or more delivery instructions associated with the data components; and

delivery handler for executing said one or more delivery instructions,

wherein the content is delivered to one or more said receiving devices according to the delivery policy.

56. The sender-specified delivery customization system as claimed in claim 55, wherein the delivery handler further includes one or more threads running simultaneously, said one or more threads executing said one or more delivery instructions, wherein a plurality of the delivery instructions is executed simultaneously.

57. The sender-specified delivery customization system as claimed in claim 55, wherein the system further includes a database for storing the delivery policy and the content.

58. A computer program product embodied in a computer-readable medium for implementing sender-specified delivery policies in a computer network of heterogeneous nodes including at least one sending device and one or more receiving devices having potentially different capabilities, comprising:

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to associate one or more sender-specified delivery policies with content to be communicated to the one or more receiving devices,

computer readable program code means additionally causing the computer to break the transmission into component parts, and determine how each component parts should be handled;

computer readable program code means for causing a computer to communicate the component parts to the one or more receiving devices based on the one or more sender-specified delivery policies and deliver the component parts to receiving devices according to the handling determination,

wherein at least one of the receiving devices is distinct from the sending device.