Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02564676 2006-10-19
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR STORAGE OF ELECTRONIC MAIL
FIELD
[0001] The present application relates generally to electronic devices and to
a system and
method for storage of electronic mail.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Portable electronic devices such as wireless personal digital
assistants (PDAs),
smart telephones and laptop computers with wireless capabilities have gained
widespread use
for a variety of functions. Such devices are commonly used for communication
purposes
including transportation of data, and run on a wide variety of networks from
data-only networks
such as Mobitex and DataTAC to complex voice and data networks such as
GSM/GPRS,
CDMA, EDGE, UMTS and CDMA 2000 networks.
[0003] These portable electronic devices are commonly used for communication,
for
example, for sending and receiving electronic mail (e-mail), SMS messages
(short message
service, commonly referred to as text messages) and PIN messages (Personal
Identification
Number messages). For voice-enabled devices such as smart telephones for
example, voice
communication in the form of telephone calls can be initiated and received at
the portable
electronic devices.
[0004] Copies of e-mail messages sent and received are stored in a third-party
database
such as an Exchange TM database controlled by a server, for example, an
Exchange TM server.
During synchronization of a portable electronic device with a communication
system connected
to the Exchange server through a connector, the status of e-mails is
synchronized as well as the
folder in which e-mails are filed. For example, e-mails that are opened at the
portable electronic
device are deemed to be opened at the database. Changes in status such as a
change from
unopened to opened are therefore synchronized. With the exception of
synchronization of the
status of e-mails on the portable electronic device, e-mails on the Exchange
TM database are not
locally controlled by the portable electronic device.
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SUMMARY
[0005] According to one aspect, there is provided a method of storage of an e-
mail that
includes either receiving the e-mail at a portable electronic device or
sending the e-mail from the
portable electronic device. The e-mail is marked for saving at the portable
electronic device and
transmitted by radio communication for receipt by a server and for storage of
the e-mail in a
backup database.
[0006] According to another aspect, there is provided a portable electronic
device that
includes a receiver and transmitter for receiving and transmitting an e-mail;
a display for
displaying the e-mail; a user input for marking the e-mail for storage; a
memory for storage of
the e-mail; and a processor coupled to the receiver, the display, the user
input and the memory.
The processor causes the transmitter to transmit the e-mail by radio
communication for receipt
by a server and storage of the e-mail in a backup database, in response to the
e-mail being
marked for storage.
[0007] According to another aspect, there is provided a computer-readable
medium having
computer-readable code embodied therein, for execution by a processor, for
receiving an e-mail
at a portable electronic device or sending the e-mail from the portable
electronic device,
marking the e-mail for saving, at the portable electronic device, and
transmitting the e-mail by
radio communication for receipt by a sever and for storage of the e-mail in a
backup database.
[0008] Advantageously, electronic mail messages stored at a portable
electronic device can
be saved such that saved e-mail messages are not subject to memory management
operations
or clean-up operations. Thus, these e-mail messages are retained in memory at
the portable
electronic device. The e-mail messages are also backed up in a backup/restore
database so
that the saved e-mail messages can be restored to the portable electronic
device if ever they
are lost from the device memory.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The system and method for communication record logging will be better
understood
with reference to the following description and to the Figures, in which:
[0010] Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of a communication system and
portable
electronic device for storage of electronic mail in accordance with one
embodiment;
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[0011] Figure 2 is a block diagram of certain components within the electronic
device of
Figure 1;
[0012] Figure 3 is a block diagram of certain components within the
synchronization server of
Figure 1;
[0013] Figure 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating functions carried out at
both the portable
electronic device and the communication system of Figure 1, during storage of
electronic mail
according to one example;
[0014] Figure 5 shows a menu screen of an LCD display of the electronic device
of Figure 1;
[0015] Figure 6 shows a list of electronic mail messages screen of the LCD
display of the
electronic device of Figure 1;
[0016] Figure 7 shows a list of electronic mail messages including a submenu
screen of the
LCD display of the electronic device of Figure 1;
[0017] Figure 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating functions carried out at
both the portable
electronic device and the communication system of Figure 1, during storage of
electronic mail
according to another example;
[0018] Figure 9 shows a list of saved electronic mail messages including a
submenu screen
of the LCD display of the electronic device of Figure 1;
[0019] Figure 10 is a sequence diagram illustrating functions carried out at
both the portable
electronic device and the communication system of Figure 1 during removal of
an electronic
mail message from storage according to one example; and
[0020] Figure 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating functions carried out at
both the portable
electronic device and the communication system of Figure 1 during restore of
electronic mail to
the portable electronic device of Figure 1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Reference is first made to Figure 1, which shows a functional block
diagram of a
communication system indicated generally by the numeral 20 and a portable
electronic device
22. The communication system 20 provides for communications with portable
electronic
devices including the exemplary portable electronic device 22, as shown. The
portable
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electronic device 22 and the communication system 20 are operable to effect
communications
over a radio communications channel therebetween. Data originating at the
portable electronic
device 22 is communicated to the communication system 20 by way of the radio
communications channel. Similarly, data originating at the communication
system 20 is
communicated from the communication system 20 to the portable electronic
device 22 by way
of the radio communications channel, thereby providing data to the portable
electronic device
22.
[0022] For the purpose of illustration, the communication system 20 is
functionally
represented in Figure 1 and a single base station 24 is shown. The base
station 24 defines a
coverage area, or cell 26 within which communications between the base station
24 and the
portable electronic device 22 can be effectuated. It will be appreciated that
the portable
electronic device 22 is movable within the cell 26 and can be moved to
coverage areas defined
by other cells that are not illustrated in the present example. The
communication system 20
includes a base station 24 that is part of a wireless network and
infrastructure 28 that provides a
link to the portable electronic device 22. The wireless network and
infrastructure 28 includes a
number of base stations (not shown) that provide the other cells referred to
above. Data is
delivered to the portable electronic device 22 via wireless transmission from
the base station 24.
Similarly, data is sent from the portable electronic device 22 via wireless
transmission to the
base station 24.
[0023] Wireless networks and infrastructures include, for example, data-
centric wireless
networks, voice-centric wireless networks, or dual-mode wireless networks. For
the purpose of
the present exemplary embodiment, the wireless network and infrastructure 28
includes a dual-
mode wireless network that supports both voice and data communications over
the same
physical base stations.
[0024] The communication system 20 includes a relay device 30 that is
connected to the
Internet 29 that is, in turn, connected to the wireless network and
infrastructure 28. The relay
device 30 is also connected to a server 32. It will be understood that the
functions provided by
the relay device 30 and the server 32 can be embodied in the same device. The
server 32 is
also connected to an administration server 34, as shown. The administration
server 34 provides
administrative services to and control over the server 32.
[0025] The server 32 is functionally coupled to an e-mail (for example,
Exchange TM)
connector 37 for a third party database (for example, an Exchange-based
database) 39. The
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connector 37 receives commands from the server 32. It will be understood that
the connector
37 is a functional component and can be provided by way of an application on
the server 32.
Copies of e-mail messages sent from and received at the portable electronic
device 22 are
stored in the third-party database 39. During synchronization of the third-
party database 39 and
the portable electronic device 22, only status changes of e-mail messages are
synchronized
such that the status of e-mail messages at the portable electronic device 22
match the status of
the e-mail message copies stored at the third-party database.
[0026] The server 32 is also functionally coupled through a backup/restore
connector 36 to
a backup/restore database 38. Other connectors and databases can be provided,
for example,
for synchronization purposes. For the purpose of simplicity, such connectors
and databases are
not shown in Figure 1. The connector 36 receives commands from the server 32.
Again, it will
be understood that the connector 36 is a functional component and can be
provided by way of
an application on the server 32. The backup/restore database 38 is used for
storing data
records, including, for example, copies of e-mail messages sent from the
portable electronic
device 22 and received at the portable electronic device 22.
[0027] Referring now to Figure 2, a block diagram of certain components within
the portable
electronic device 22 is shown. In the present embodiment, the portable
electronic device 22 is
based on the computing environment and functionality of a wireless personal
digital assistant. It
will be understood, however, that the portable electronic device 22 is not
limited to a wireless
personal digital assistant. Other portable electronic devices are possible,
such as cellular
telephones, smart telephones, and laptop computers. Referring again to the
present
embodiment, the portable electronic device 22 is based on a microcomputer
including a
processor 40 connected to a read-only memory (ROM) 42 that contains a
plurality of
applications including, for example, an e-mail messaging application, a Web
browser
application, an address book application, a tasks application, a memo pad, a
calendar
application and others. The applications are executable by the processor 40 to
enable the
portable electronic device 22 to perform certain functions including, for
example, e-mail
message functions. The processor 40 is also connected to a random access
memory (RAM)
unit 44 and a persistent storage device 46 which are responsible for various
non-volatile storage
functions of the portable electronic device 22. The processor 40 receives
input from various
input devices including a keypad 48 and a trackwheel 49 or trackball (not
shown). The
processor 40 outputs to various output devices including an LCD display 50 and
a speaker 52.
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A microphone 54 and phone speaker 56 are connected to the processor 40 for
cellular
telephone functions. The processor 40 is also connected to an internal clock
58 and a modem
and radio device 60. The modem and radio device 60 is used to connect to
wireless networks
using an antenna 62. The modem and radio device 60 transmits and receives
voice and data
communications to and from the portable electronic device 22 through the
antenna 62.
[0028] The portable electronic device 22 is operable to effect two-way
communication of
voice and data. Thus, the portable electronic device 22 transmits and receives
voice
communications over the wireless network and infrastructure 28 via wireless
communications
with the base station 24 over a radio communications channel. Similarly, the
portable electronic
device 22 transmits and receives data communications over the wireless network
and
infrastructure 28 via wireless radio communications with the base station 24
over a radio
communications channel.
[0029] Reference is now made to Figure 3 which shows a block diagram of
certain
components within the server 32. Similar to the portable electronic device 22,
the server 32
includes a processor 66 connected to a read-only memory (ROM) 68 that includes
applications
executable by the processor 66 and enables the server 32 to perform certain
functions including
backing up data from the portable electronic device 22. The processor 66 is
also connected to a
random access memory (RAM) unit70 and a persistent storage device 72 which are
responsible
for various storage functions of the server 32.
[0030] It will be understood that the functions described herein can be
carried out in any
suitable manner. In the present example, the functions are carried out by
algorithms executable
by the processor 66. For example, the processor 66 of the server 32 is
operable to receive
communications generated by the portable electronic device 22 for delivery to
other electronic
devices. The processor 66 is operable to store e-mail messages in a
backup/restore table in a
backup/restore database and to delete the e-mail messages from the backup
database.
[0031] The portable electronic device 22 is operable to send and receive a
variety of
different communication types including e-mail messages from other portable
electronic devices
(not shown) connected to the wireless network and infrastructure 28.
[0032] It will be appreciated that the portable electronic device 22 and
server 32 are
operable to carry out many other functions, some of which are described below.
[0033] Reference is now made to Figure 4, which shows a sequence diagram
illustrating
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functions carried out at both the portable electronic device 22 and the
communication system 20
for storage of electronic mail according to one example of an embodiment of
the present
application. Coding of software for carrying out the steps illustrated is well
within the scope of a
person of ordinary skill in the art. In the present example, an e-mail message
is received at the
portable electronic device 22, from another electronic device. The e-mail
message is composed
and sent from the other electronic device (not shown) connected through the
internet 29 and the
relay 30 to the server 32. The e-mail message is received at the server 32 at
step 100. A copy
of the e-mail message is forwarded and stored in the ExchangeTM database 39,
as will be
understood by those skilled in the art. A copy of the e-mail message is also
processed by the
server 32 for transmission to the portable electronic device 22 and routed
from the server 32,
through the relay 30, the Internet 29 and the wireless network and
infrastructure 28, to the base
station 24 for transmission via a radio communication channel to the portable
electronic device
22 at step 102. It will be appreciated that the e-mail message is forwarded to
the base station
24 covering the cell in which the portable electronic 22 device is located.
[0034] The e-mail message is received at the portable electronic device 22 at
step 104. In
the present example, the portable electronic device emits a notification such
as an e-mail-
specific ring tone through the speaker 52, thereby notifying the user of
receipt of an e-mail
message at the portable electronic device 22. Referring to Figure 5, there is
shown an
exemplary menu screen that is displayed on the LCD display 50 of the portable
electronic
device 22. The exemplary menu screen includes a display clock that is updated
according to
the internal clock 58, and applications including an e-mail Messaging
application, a Web
browser, an Address book, a Tasks application, a Memo application and a
Calendar. The user
views the e-mail message by scrolling through the applications using the
trackwheel 49 or a
trackball and pressing inwardly on the trackwheel 49 or trackball to select
the e-mail messaging
application. Selection of the e-mail messaging application causes execution of
the e-mail
messaging application and a list of e-mail messages is displayed, including
previously sent and
received, opened and unopened e-mail messages that remain on the portable
electronic device,
as shown in the exemplary messaging applications screen of Figure 6.
[0035] Upon selection of an unopened e-mail message from the menu list screen,
a
submenu is displayed on the LCD display 50, displaying different options for
user selection,
including, for example, Open, Mark Opened, Save, Reply, Forward, Delete,
Compose, View
Saved Messages and Close. Referring, for exemplary purposes, to selection of
the e-mail
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received at step 104, the selection of this e-mail gives rise to the submenu
options Open, File,
Mark Opened, Save, Reply, Forward, Delete, Compose, and Close, as shown in
Figure 7.
Many of these options will be understood by those skilled in the art. For
example, selection of
the Open option opens the e-mail for viewing on the LCD display 50. Selection
of the Mark
Opened option marks the e-mail as opened on the list of e-mail messages screen
of Figure 6
and closes the submenu shown in Figure 7, returning to the list of e-mail
messages. Selection
of the Reply option initiates a new reply e-mail composition that is
automatically addressed to
the sender of the selected e-mail and includes the same subject line in the e-
mail header.
Selection of the Forward option initiates a new forward e-mail composition
that incorporates in
the new subject line the e-mail header of the selected e-mail. Selection of
the Delete option
deletes the e-mail from the list of e-mail messages screen. Selection of the
Compose option
initiates a new e-mail composition. Selection of the Close option closes the e-
mail application
and returns control to the menu screen shown in Figure 5. It will be
appreciated that if an e-mail
message marked as opened is selected, the Open and Mark Opened options are not
provided
in the submenu shown in Figure 7. Instead, a Mark Closed option is provided.
[0036] Selection of the Save option from the submenu options shown in Figure 7
marks the
selected message as saved by changing an indicator, such as a bit flag, on the
e-mail such that
during scheduled clean-up and memory management options, the e-mail marked as
saved
remains on the portable electronic device 22. Those e-mails not marked as
saved are subject to
deletion during clean-up and memory management operations. Such clean-up
operations can
be regularly carried out, for example, based on age of unmarked e-mail
messages, based on
the number of e-mail messages or size of e-mail messages in an "inbox" in the
portable
electronic device 22, or during low-memory conditions at the portable
electronic device 22.
Thus, an e-mail that is more than 60 days old, for example, and that is not
marked as saved, is
deleted from the portable electronic device 22. The corresponding copy of the
e-mail message
stored in the Exchange'''" database 39 is not deleted when the e-mail is
deleted from the
portable electronic device 22. It will be understood, however, that no further
status updates are
sent from the server to the portable electronic device 22. In this case the
server is notified of
the deletion on the portable electronic device 22 and therefore no further
updates are sent for a
deleted message.
[0037] Referring again to Figure 4, the e-mail message received at step 104 is
marked as
saved at step 106 by user selection of the e-mail messaging application from
the menu screen,
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followed by user selection of the e-mail message from the list of e-mail
messages and user-
selection of the Save option in the submenu, as described above. Upon
selection of the Save
option, the e-mail is marked as saved as described above and a copy of the
saved e-mail is
transmitted over a radio communication channel from the portable electronic
device 22 for
delivery to the server 32 at step 108.
[0038] The e-mail message is received at the base station 24 at step 110 and
forwarded
through the wireless network and infrastructure 28, the internet 29 and the
relay 30 to the server
32 of the communication system 20. The copy of the e-mail message is then
stored by the
server, in the backup/restore database 38 via the backup/restore connector 36.
The copy of the
e-mail message is stored in a backup/restore table on the backup/restore
database 38. This is
accomplished by first retrieving the backup/restore table from the
backup/restore database 38 at
step 112. The table includes e-mail message data including the fields from the
e-mail identified
by length and unique tag numbers. Such fields include, for example information
regarding the
sender (e-mail source), the recipient, the length of the e-mail message, a
time stamp, the body
of the message, a unique numeric e-mail identifier and others. The server adds
the information
in the form of contiguous binary data to the backup/restore table at step 114
and stores the table
in the backup/restore database at step 116.
[0039] Although the backup/restore table stored in the backup/restore database
38 is not
accessible to the user of the portable electronic device 22, the
backup/restore database 38 is
used to restore data to the portable electronic device 22 in the event of loss
of data at the
portable electronic device 22. Thus, in the event of memory loss at the
portable electronic
device 22, a synchronization session is invoked and the data stored in the
backup/restore
database 38 is restored on the portable electronic device 22, thereby
restoring all e-mail records
previously marked as saved by the user.
[0040] Reference is now made to Figure 8, which shows a sequence diagram
illustrating
functions carried out at both the portable electronic device 22 and the
communication system 20
for storage of electronic mail according to another example of an embodiment.
Coding of
software for carrying out the steps illustrated is well within the scope of a
person of ordinary skill
in the art. In the present example, an e-mail message is composed by the user
of the portable
electronic device 22 and sent to another electronic device. In order to send
an e-mail message
using the portable electronic device 22, the e-mail messaging application is
selected from the
menu screen shown in Figure 5, using the trackwheel 49, as described above
with reference to
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the first-described exemplary embodiment. For the purpose of the present
example, the
compose e-mail option is chosen from the submenu screen shown in Figure 7
after selection of
one of the e-mail messages in the list of e-mail messages. The e-mail is then
composed using
the keypad 48 (step 120). The destination e-mail address is entered and the
message is sent
by selection of a send command from another submenu, using the trackwheel 49.
The e-mail
message is then sent via a radio communications channel to the base station 24
(for the cell in
which the portable electronic device 22 is located) for delivery to the server
32, at step 122.
Upon sending the e-mail from the portable electronic device 22, a copy of the
e-mail message is
maintained at the portable electronic device 22 and is displayed in the list
of e-mail messages
described with reference to Figure 6 (step 124).
[0041] Referring again to Figure 8, the e-mail message is received at the base
station 24
and forwarded through the wireless network and infrastructure 28, the internet
29, and the relay
30, to the server 32 of the communication system 20 at step 126. A copy of the
e-mail message
is processed by the server 32 and forwarded and stored in the ExchangeTTM
database and the
message is routed through the internet 29 for delivery to the destination
electronic device at
step 128.
[0042] In the present example, the e-mail message that is maintained at the
portable
electronic device 22 is marked as saved at step 130 by user selection of the e-
mail message
from the list of e-mail messages and user-selection of the Save option in the
submenu, as
described above. Upon selection of the Save option, the e-mail is marked as
saved as
described above and a copy of the saved e-mail is transmitted over a radio
communication
channel from the portable electronic device 22 for delivery to the server 32
at step 132.
[0043] The copy of the e-mail message is received at the base station 24 and
forwarded
through the wireless network and infrastructure 28, the Internet 29 and the
relay 30 to the server
32 of the communication system 20, at step 134. Upon receipt of the copy of
the e-mail
message at the server 32, the backup/restore table is retrieved from the
backup/restore
database 38 at step 136. Again, the server 32 extracts e-mail information from
individual fields
of the copy of the e-mail message, adds the information to the backup/restore
table at step 138
and stores the table in the backup/restore database at step 140.
[0044] It will be appreciated that selection of the Save option from the
submenu options
shown in Figure 7 marks the sent message as saved such that during scheduled
clean-up and
memory management options, the e-mail marked as saved remains on the portable
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device 22. Further, in the event of memory loss at the portable electronic
device 22, a
synchronization session can be invoked to restore the data stored in the
backup/restore
database 38 to the portable electronic device 22, thereby restoring all e-mail
records previously
marked as saved by the user.
[0045] Selection of the View Saved Messages option from the submenu of Figure
7 results
in a list of e-mail messages marked as saved at the portable electronic device
22. Thus, only
those e-mail messages marked as saved are displayed.
[0046] Upon selection of a saved message from the list of e-mail messages
marked as
saved at the portable electronic device 22, a saved messages submenu is
displayed on the
LCD display 50, displaying different options for user selection, including,
for example, Open,
Mark Opened, Reply, Forward, Delete, Compose, and Close. Referring, for
exemplary
purposes, to selection of the e-mail marked as saved in the embodiment
described above with
reference to Figure 4, the selection of this e-mail gives rise to the saved
messages submenu
options, as shown in Figure 9. Again, many of these options will be understood
by those skilled
in the art and are described above. It will also be appreciated that if an e-
mail message marked
as opened is selected, the Open and Mark Opened options are not provided.
Instead, a Mark
Closed option is provided. In the present example, selection of the Delete
option removes the
saved message mark by changing a bit flag on the e-mail message, resulting in
removal of the
saved message from the list of e-mail messages marked as saved at the portable
electronic
device 22. The e-mail message is still displayed in the list of e-mail
messages described above
and shown in Figure 6, however.
[0047] Selection of the Delete option from the saved messages submenu for the
selected e-
mail message marked as saved at the portable electronic device 22 also results
in deletion of
the e-mail message information stored in the backup/restore table of the
backup/restore
database. Referring now to Figure 10, a sequence diagram is shown which
illustrates functions
carried out at both the portable electronic device 22 and the communication
system 20 during
deletion of e-mail from the backup/restore database according to one aspect of
an embodiment.
Coding of software for carrying out the steps illustrated is well within the
scope of a person of
ordinary skill in the art. The e-mail message saved, for example, at step 106
is then deleted
from the saved messages by user selection of the Delete option from the
submenu of Figure 9.
As described, the e-mail message is deleted from the saved messages, changing
the bit flag on
the e-mail message and resulting in removal of the saved message from the list
of e-mail
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messages marked as saved at the portable electronic device 22. Upon selection
of the Delete
option at step 142, a delete message command is also transmitted over a radio
communication
channel from the portable electronic device 22 for delivery to the server 32
at step 144.
[0048] The delete message command is received at the base station 24 and
forwarded
through the wireless network and infrastructure 28, the internet 29 and the
relay 30 to the server
32 of the communication system 20, at step 146. The copy of the e-mail message
previously
stored by the server 32 in the backup/restore database 38 via the
backup/restore connector 36
is then deleted from the backup/restore table. To delete the copy of the e-
mail message, the
backup/restore table is retrieved from the backup/restore database 38 at step
148. The server
32 deletes the information related to the e-mail selected for deletion in the
saved messages,
from the backup/restore table at step 150 and stores the table in the
backup/restore database at
step 152.
[0049] With the e-mail message no longer marked as saved (deleted from the
saved
messages menu), the e-mail message still exists on the portable electronic
device 22 and is
displayed in the list of e-mail messages described above with reference to
Figure 6, until the e-
mail message is deleted from the list of e-mail messages by selection of the
Delete option from
the submenu described with reference to Figure 7, or until the e-mail is
deleted during a clean-
up or memory management operation.
[0050] In the example described above with reference to Figure 10, the e-mail
message is
removed from the saved messages prior to deletion of the e-mail message from
the list of e-mail
messages shown and described with reference to Figure 6. The e-mail message
can be
deleted from the list of e-mail messages by selection of the Delete option
from the submenu of
Figure 7, while still retaining the message in the saved messages list. In
this case, a copy of the
e-mail message is saved in a collection of e-mail messages for which the
parent e-mail
message has been deleted. Therefore, the e-mail message is not displayed in
the list of e-mail
messages of Figure 7. When the user selects the View Saved Messages option of
Figure 7,
however, the saved messages list includes two collections of saved messages,
including all
those messages that are still present in the list of e-mail messages of Figure
6 that have been
marked as saved, and all those messages saved in the collection of e-mail
messages that have
been marked as saved and for which the parent e-mail message has been deleted.
(0051] For those e-mail messages that are saved in the collection of e-mail
messages that
have been marked as saved and for which the parent e-mail message has been
deleted, the
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message does not appear in the list of e-mail messages of Figure 6. In this
case, selection of
the Delete option in the saved messages submenu of Figure 9 does not simply
result in
changing the bit flag on the e-mail message. Instead, selection of the Delete
option results in
deletion of the e-mail from the portable electronic device.
[0052] Reference is made to Figure 11 to describe a restore operation to
restore saved
messages to the portable electronic device 22. Coding of software for carrying
out such steps is
well within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art. The portable
electronic device 22
receives a restore trigger at step 170, by, for example, selection of a
restore option on the LCD
display device 50. It will be understood that such a restore operation is
selected, for example, in
the event that data is lost from the portable electronic device 22. In
response to receipt of the
restore trigger, the processor 40 retrieves any e-mail message records from
the folder of the
database on which the saved e-mail records are stored in the portable
electronic device 22, at
step 172. The processor 40 generates a record hash for each e-mail message
marked as
saved at the portable electronic device 22 and then generates a group hash for
the folder,
based on the individual record hashes at step 174. Next, an initialize command
is transmitted
along with the group hash, from the portable electronic device 22 to the
communication system
20 over a radio communication channel, at step 176. The initialize command
initiates the
restore process at the server 32, identifies the e-mail backup/restore
database 38 for restoring
and provides session state information including a session state identifier.
The portable
electronic device 22 then awaits a response from the communication system 20.
[0053] The communication system 20 receives the initialize command along with
the group
hash at step 178 by receipt at the base station 24. The base station 24
forwards the initialize
command and the group hash to the server 32. As indicated above, the
initialize command
identifies the database for restore and provides session state information
including the session
state identifier. A session is thereby started with the portable electronic
device 22. In response
to receipt of the initialize command, the server 32 retrieves the
backup/restore table stored in
the backup/restore database 38 via the backup/restore connector at step 180.
Next, the
processor 66 of the server 32 generates record hashes, each record hash being
generated from
the fields of the individual e-mail records saved in the backup/restore table
of the backup/restore
database 38. From the record hashes, a group hash, referred to herein as the
locally generated
group hash, is generated at step 182. After generation of the locally
generated group hash, the
hash information of the group hash received from the portable electronic
device 22 is compared
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with the hash information of the corresponding locally generated group hash at
step 184. If the
comparison of the hash information indicates that the saved e-mail records
stored in the
database 40 on the portable electronic device 22 are not in mismatch with the
corresponding e-
mail records stored in the backup/restore table on the backup/restore database
38, then a
response is sent to the portable electronic device 22 to terminate the
backup/restore session at
step 186.
[0054] The response is received at the portable electronic device 22 at step
188 and the
backup/restore session is terminated at step 190.
[0055] If, on the other hand, the comparison of the hash information indicates
that the e-mail
message records are in mismatch, then a request for additional hash
information is generated
by the server 32 at step 192. The request for additional hash information is a
request for hash
information associated with the individual e-mail message records. The
additional hash
information is requested for each e-mail record of the e-mail messages marked
as saved at the
portable electronic device 22. After generation of the request for additional
hash information,
the request is then transmitted to the portable electronic device 22 at step
194.
[0056] Once the request for additional hash information is received at the
portable electronic
device 22 at step 196, each record hash generated at step 174 is transmitted
to the
communication system 20 over the radio communication channel at step 198.
[0057] The additional hash information is received at the communication system
20 and
delivered to the server 32 at step 200. In response to receipt of the
requested additional hash
information, each hash generated for each of the saved e-mail message records
at step 174 is
compared with a corresponding one of the locally generated hashes generated at
step 182 (step
202) and a determination is made as to which of the saved e-mail message
records, requires
restoring. Thus, e-mail message records that are not present in the saved
messages list on the
portable electronic device 22 but are present in the backup/restore table and
e-mail message
records in the backup/restore table that differ from those records at the
portable electronic
device 22 are transmitted to the portable electronic device 22 at step 204.
These e-mail
message records are received at the portable electronic device 22 at step 206
and at step 208,
the processor 40 of the portable electronic device 22 determines for each e-
mail message
record received, whether or not the e-mail message record exists in the saved
messages list. If
the e-mail message record does not exist in the saved messages list, the
processor 40 of the
portable electronic device 22 determines at step 210 whether or not the e-mail
message record
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exists in the list of e-mail messages (shown in Figure 6). If the e-mail
message record does not
exist in the list of e-mail messages, the e-mail message is saved in the
collection of e-mail
messages marked as saved for which the parent e-mail message has been deleted
(step 212),
thereby restoring the e-mail message to the portable electronic device 22. If,
on the other hand,
the e-mail message record does exist in the list of e-mail messages, the e-
mail message is
marked as saved by changing the bit flag on the e-mail as referred to above
(step 214). Thus,
the e-mail message is again marked as saved at the portable electronic device
22.
[0058] If at step 208, it is determined that the e-mail message record does
exist in the saved
messages list, the e-mail record present in the backup/restore table is
compared to the e-mail
message record at the portable electronic device 22. If the size of the e-mail
message record is
greater at the backup/restore table than that at the portable electronic
device 22, the processor
proceeds to step 212 and saves the e-mail message in the collection of e-mail
messages
marked as saved for which the parent e-mail message has been deleted. If, on
the other hand,
the size of the e-mail message record is greater at the portable electronic
device 22 than that at
the backup/restore table, then the e-mail message record is transmitted from
the portable
electronic device 22 for delivery to the server 32 for overwriting to update
the backup/restore
table at step 218. The e-mail message record is received at the server 32 at
step 220 and the
backup/restore table is updated at step 222. It will be appreciated that the
size of the e-mail
message at the portable electronic device 22 can be larger than the size of
the e-mail message
at the backup/restore table as a result of only portions of messages being
transmitted to the
portable electronic device 22 to reduce data transmission and reduce the
memory required for
storage of the messages. Thus, only a first portion of a large message is
transmitted until the
user requests more of the message. After the user requests more of the
message, further
message content is transmitted. When only a portion of the e-mail is received
and the e-mail
message is saved at step 106 of Figure 4, for example, the portion that is
received is
transmitted at step 108 to the server 32 and stored at the backup/restore
table. If the user later
requests more of the message at the portable electronic device 22, further
message content is
transmitted to the portable electronic device 22 and the message at the
portable electronic
device 22 is larger than the message at the backup/restore table.
[0059] While the embodiments described herein are directed to particular
implementations
of the system and method for storage of electronic mail, it will be understood
that modifications
and variations to these embodiments are possible. For example, the time period
for which a
CA 02564676 2006-10-19
saved message is stored in the backup/restore database or in the portable
electronic device can
be limited. Also, e-mail messages can be separated into separate tables at the
backup/restore
database based, for example, on the folder that the e-mail occupies on the
portable electronic
device. Thus, e-mails from different folders on the portable electronic device
are stored in
different tables at the backup/restore database. E-mail messages can also be
separated into
separate tables at the backup/restore database based on the service from which
the e-mail is
forwarded to the portable electronic device. Thus e-mail messages originally
addressed to two
different e-mail addresses that are forwarded to the same portable electronic
device are saved
in two separate tables at the backup/restore database.
[0060] In the embodiments described above, the portable electronic device
transmits the
saved e-mail messages to the communication system for storage by the server in
the
backup/restore database. It is contemplated, however, that a unique
identification of the e-mail
message can be transmitted so that, upon receipt by the server, the server
retrieves the e-mail
message from the ExchangeTM database 39. If, however, the e-mail message
cannot be
retrieved, the server then requests transmission of the e-mail message from
the portable
electronic device. Advantageously, this reduces the amount of data transmitted
wirelessly.
Also, rather than the portable electronic device performing the size
comparison of e-mail
messages as described in relation to step 216, the portable electronic device
can transmit a size
of the e-mail message record when the record hash is transmitted for delivery
to the server.
Thus, the size comparison is carried out by the server and the e-mail message
is not
transmitted to the portable electronic device until it is determined that the
message is to be
transmitted for storage at the portable electronic device.
[0061] It will be appreciated that the components of the portable electronic
device are
shown in Figure 2 for exemplary purposes only. Other portable electronic
device components
are possible. For example, rather than a trackwheel 49, as shown in Figure 2
and referred to in
the above description, the portable electronic device 22 can include a
trackball. The trackball
can be depressed as a means to provide additional user-input. The
microprocessor 40 receives
input from the trackball which is used for user selection of features from a
list or a table on the
LCD display 50 of the portable electronic device 22. Selection is carried out
by rolling the
trackball to roll a cursor (or highlighted region), for example, to the
desired selection and
pressing inwardly on the trackball. The portable electronic device 22 also
includes other
features, such as a battery, that are not shown.
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[0062] Many other modifications and variations may occur to those skilled in
the art. All
such modifications and variations are believed to be within the sphere and
scope of the present
application.
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