WO2005109265A1

WO2005109265A1 - Messaging in a communication unit

Info

Publication number: WO2005109265A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/052114
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul Douglas
Original assignee: Motorola, Inc
Priority date: 2004-05-10
Filing date: 2005-05-10
Publication date: 2005-11-17
Also published as: GB2414088A; GB0410225D0

Abstract

A method (200) of generating a message comprises the steps of identifying (220) whether a message comprises a subject field containing no characters; processing data content of a message to be transmitted and introducing (230) textual data automatically into the subject field, in response to identifying no characters, and where the textual data is one or more of: message content; message type; an identity of a sender; and an intended recipient of the message. The message with the textual data automatically entered therein to the subject field is then transmit. A communication unit is also described. The automatic incorporating of textual data into the subject field, is convenient to a user and offers improved speed in authoring and sending a usefully labelled message. Furthermore, in the context of mobile phones, it provides a sensitive migration of a mobile phone user's experience from SMS to MMS or email messaging.

Description

MESSAGING IN A COMMUNICATION UNIT

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a communication unit, such as a mobile phone, and method of generating messages that have both a message body and a subject field. The invention is applicable to, but not limited to, the automatic generation of characters in a subject field in a message such as an email message or a multimedia message service ( MS) message.

Background of the Invention

In the field of data communications, and particularly in cellular communications, the ability to communicate via both voice and messaging has become very popular. "Messaging is an interactive service that offers user-to- user communication between individual users via storage units with ''store and forward', mailbox and/or message handling (e.g. information editing, processing and conversion) functions" as defined in ITU-T 1.113.

In the cellular communications field, a number of communication standards have been defined. One such standard is the global system for mobile communications

(GSM) , defined by the European Telecommunication

Standards Institute (ETSI) . Within the GSM standard, a supplementary messaging service has been defined. This service is offered in addition to normal voice communication. This service is known as a short message service (SMS) and is often used for sending and receiving brief ^λtext' messages. SMS comprises a short text string as a body of the message, with little other information, i.e. there is no ^subject' or ^λtitle' field within the message.

An enhanced messaging service (EMS) has also been standardised by ETSI to provide improved features within the context of GSM communication. EMS messaging supports the transmission and reception of more complex and more memory hungry media such as, small images and sounds, etc. More recently, multimedia message service (MMS) features have been standardised. MMS may comprise any form of message, including video, audio, as well as a text string as a body of the message. Notably, a substantial amount of other information is included, such as a ^Λsubject' field.

In the field of wireline communication, such as that predominantly between fixed communication units such as computers, messages are typically sent as email.

Very recently, both email and multimedia message service (MMS) message capabilities have been provided to mobile phone .

In both email and MMS messages a user/author typically enters characters in a subject' field within the message. So far, qwerty keyboards have been used to send email messages. Hence, the requirement for a user to manually input a subject field has not been deemed too inconvenient .

It is known that most receiving communication units can be configured to show the ^λtitle' or 'subject' of a received message in a synopsis or list. In this manner, a user does not have to read a whole message in order to identify the content of a particular message, i.e. a user's phone would display the subject (title) of a received MMS or email message, e.g. an internet-type message.

In messaging formats such as email and MMS messages, if a user has not entered characters in a subject' or title' field, a snapshot of the message is left blank and therefore provides no indication to a recipient of the message as to the message content. Therefore, in a general sense, the inventor of the present invention has appreciated that if a subject field is available in the message format, it is always useful to include a ^subject' or title' in that field.

The inventor of the present invention has further recognised and appreciated that the desire/requirement to input a subject field is more difficult on a mobile phone that has predominantly been supported by a standard 0-9 keypad user interface (UI) to input, say, SMS messages. In order to input a message using a standard 0-9 keypad, a plurality of key clicks are required to enter a majority of characters. By extending the use of a standard 0-9 keypad to email or MMS messages within the context of a mobile phone, this problem is exacerbated when having to or wanting to enter characters for a subject field. Extending the number of key clicks to send a message therefore becomes more cumbersome and dissuades a user from sending such messages. Thus, there exists a need in the field of the present invention to provide a communication unit and methods of generating messages, wherein the abovementioned disadvantages associated with prior art arrangements may be alleviated.

Statement of Invention

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of generating a message comprising the steps of identifying whether a message comprises a subject field containing no characters, processing data content of a message to be transmitted, and introducing textual data automatically into the subject field. The introduction of textual data is performed in response to identifying no characters, based on one or more of: (i) message content, wherein the message content relates to one or more time periods, one or more filenames within the message; an attachment and/or one or more web/email address (es); (ii) message type (iii) an identity of a sender; and (iv) an intended recipient of the message. The message with the textual data automatically entered therein is then transmitted.

In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage medium, as claimed in Claim 6. In accordance with a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication unit, as claimed in Claim 7.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication unit. The communication unit comprises a transmitter for transmitting a message and a signal processing function configured to construct a message for transmission. A message generation function within, or operably coupled to, the signal processing function and configured to automatically introduce textual data into an unused subject field of a message, in response to identifying no characters . The introduction of textual data is based on one or more of: (i) Message content, wherein the message content relates to one or more time periods, one or more filenames within the message; an attachment and/or one or more web/email address (es); (ii) Message type; (iii) An identity of a sender; and (iv) An intended recipient of the message. The message with the textual data automatically entered therein is then transmitted.

In essence, the inventive concepts of the present invention effectively propose to automatically generate text for a subject field, if a user has not already generated one.

Preferably, the step of introducing textual data automatically into the subject field is performed following a user initiating transmission of a message to be sent, and which does not contain textual data in a subject field. In this manner, there is no wastage of processing time in the automatic generation of textual data in the form of characters for a subject field, whilst a user may still intend generating a subject.

Furthermore, it is envisaged that the textual data is preferably based on message content and/or message type or an identity of a sender or an intended recipient of the message, to provide some intelligence in the automatic character-generation process. In the context of message content, it is envisaged that the intelligence may comprise identifying one or more nouns, time periods, filenames, attachments and/or email/web address (es) within the message. Alternatively, or in addition, the subject generation process comprises copying a number of characters from a body of the message into an unused subject field.

Advantageously, when applied to a wireless communication unit, such as a mobile phone operating with a standard 0- 9 keypad, the user does not have to waste time and effort in generating characters for a subject field for a message. This is particularly useful for users of mobile phones who are transitioning from sending short message service (SMS) messages, which do not include a subject field, to email or multimedia message service (MMS) messages, which do include a subject field.

Further features of the present invention are defined in the dependent Claims .

Brief Description of the Drawings Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a wireless communication unit adapted to generate a message, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of a process employed by a communication unit in the generation of a message in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Description of Preferred Embodiments

Referring now to FIG. 1, a block diagram of a wireless communication unit, such as a mobile phone and often referred to as a mobile station (MS) , is shown in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention. The MS 100 contains an antenna 102 preferably coupled to a duplex filter or antenna switch 104 that provides isolation between receive and transmit chains within the MS 100.

The receiver chain, as known in the art, includes receiver front-end circuitry 106 (effectively providing reception, filtering and intermediate or base-band frequency conversion) . The front-end circuitry 106 is serially coupled to a signal processing function 108. An output from the signal processing function 108 is provided to a user interface 110, which in a receiving context comprises a suitable output device, such as a screen or flat^" panel display.

The receiver chain also includes received signal strength indicator (RSSI) circuitry 112, which in turn is coupled to a controller 114 that maintains overall subscriber unit control. The controller 114 may therefore receive bit error rate (BER) or frame error rate (FER) data from recovered information. The controller 114 is also coupled to the receiver front-end circuitry 106 and the signal processing function 108 (generally realised by a digital signal processor (DSP) ) . In some embodiments, the controller functionality may be implemented by the signal processor function 108, as would be appreciated by a person skilled in the art.

The controller 114 is also coupled to a memory device 116 that selectively stores operating regimes, such as decoding/encoding functions, synchronisation patterns, code sequences, message handling software, and the like. A timer 118 is operably coupled to the controller 114 to control the timing of operations (transmission or reception of time-dependent signals) within the MS 100, particularly with regard to transmitting an e-mail, MMS message or similar in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As regards the transmit chain, this essentially includes an input device 134, such as a keypad, of the user interface 110. The user interface 110 is coupled in series via the signal processing function 108 through transmitter/ modulation circuitry 122 and a power amplifier 124 to the antenna 102. The transmitter/ modulation circuitry 122 and the power amplifier 124 are operationally responsive to the controller 114, and as such are used in the transmission of an e-mail or MMS message.

A skilled artisan will appreciate that the signal processing function in the transmit chain may be implemented as distinct from a signal processing function in the receive chain. Alternatively, a single processor 108 may be used to implement processing of both transmit and receive signals, as shown in FIG. 1. Clearly, the various components within the MS 100 can be realised in discrete or integrated component form, with an ultimate structure therefore being merely dependent upon the prevailing design considerations .

In the context of generating a message, in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the signal processing function 108 comprises an automatic subject generation function 144. In the context of transmitting a message that would benefit from a subject field or title being entered, such as an email or MMS message, the signal processing function 108 assesses the message to determine whether one or more characters have been entered in the appropriate field.

If no characters have been entered, the automatic subject generation function 144 may perform either of the following: (i) Simply copy a number of characters from the body of the message, say a first twenty characters, and add these copied characters to an unused subject field within the message; or (ii) Introduce characters to an unused subject field based on some form of intelligence. The intelligence may include, for example, introducing characters dependent upon the general message body content. In this manner, the signal processing function 108 is configured to process the general message body content to extract intelligently the particular characters to be copied. Such content may comprise identifying nouns, identifying time periods (day, pm, am, lunch, etc.), identifying filenames (if there is no text) , based on attachment titles and/or identifying web/email addresses.

When a user may want to send a confidential message, or a message containing sensitive subject matter, it is envisaged that the user may be provided with the ability to turn off the automatic generation of characters in a subject field. Such user interaction is preferably performed via the user interface, by pressing keys and traversing around a software-based menu-driven feature.

Dependent upon the intelligence contained in the wireless communication unit, it is envisaged that the signal processing function 108 may search for keywords/ phrases/common phrases that have been identified as such by the user. Alternatively, or in addition, the signal processing function 108 may be configured to search for keywords based on a number of historical messages. In this regard, a more complicated search and subject generation mechanism can be used, which may be offered on higher-tier phones . Although the inventive concepts of the present invention are described with reference to a mobile phone, a skilled artisan will appreciate that the inventive concepts apply equally to any communication unit able to send a message, such as a personal computer.

In addition, it is envisaged that a user may be provided with the ability to define a string length of characters to be copied, for example a short string if his/her typical messages are predominantly based on, say, meeting places and/or times of day. In this manner, a user is provided with the opportunity to customise his/her communication unit for the typical types of messages being sent.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the determination by the signal processing function 108 as to when to introduce characters into an unused subject field is preferably performed at transmission time, i.e. only when the user has decided to transmit the message. Thus, up until the time that a user has decided that (s)he will not select and enter a subject field, the option is left open to the user.

More generally, an algorithm to generate messages, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, may be implemented in a communication unit in any suitable manner. For example, new apparatus may be added to an existing communication unit, or alternatively existing parts of a conventional communication unit may be adapted, for example by reprogramming one or more processors therein. As such, the required adaptation may be implemented in the form of processor-implementable instructions stored on a storage medium, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, programmable read only memory (PROM) , random access memory (RAM) or any combination of these or other storage media.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a flowchart 200 illustrates a preferred method for encoding a message that has a main message body with a facility for automatically including a subject or title field. A user of a communication device, such as a mobile phone, inputs the message content that (s)he wishes to be sent by a data message service, such as entering textual data via a user interface (UI) , as shown in step 205. Alternatively, the user may have received a message that did not include characters in a subject field, and the user may wish to forward the message to a number of other communication units. In this context, the user would not input message content, but the forward routeing of the message could still incorporate an automatic generation of one or more characters in the unused subject field.

The user may also add a file attachment, say of a type of picture, video or sound, to the message or the received message, as shown in step 210. Upon initiation of transmission of the message in step 215, a message process function within the communication unit determines whether any text exists in the subject field, in step 220. If no text exists in the subject field, in step 220, the processor (or a function therein or operably coupled thereto) introduces textual data into a subject field of the message based on, say, the message content and/or message type, as shown in step 230. Alternatively, or in addition, the textual data (in the form of characters) may be introduced into the subject field of the message dependent upon the original sender of the message and/or an intended recipient, for example "picture to Bill from Ben" .

Once one or more characters in a subject field have been identified in step 220, or introduced in step 230, the message is transmitted in step 235. In this manner, a message can be generated with an automatic introduction of one or more characters in a subject field.

The inventive concepts are described in the context of email or GSM MMS messages. However, it is within the contemplation of the invention that alternative message formats can be used.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with- respect to a mobile phone comprising functionality to generate any message. However, it is within the contemplation of the invention that any communication unit capable of sending a message that would benefit from characters being entered into a subject field. The communication unit may be a fixed communication unit such as a stand-alone computer or networked computer or fixed telephone with messaging capability or a wireless communication unit capable of messaging, such as a personal data assistant (PDA) , portable radio, laptop computer, etc.

It will be understood that the communication unit and method of generating messages, as described above, tend to provide one or more of the following advantages : (i) Convenience to a user; (ii) Sensitively migrate a mobile phone user's experience from SMS to MMS or email messaging, with the automatic generation of a subject field; and (iii) Speed, i.e. time to author the message.

Whilst the specific and preferred implementations of the embodiments of the present invention are described above, it is clear that one skilled in the art could readily apply variations and modifications of such inventive concepts .

Thus, a communication unit and method of generating a message have been described wherein the aforementioned disadvantages associated with prior art means and methods have been substantially alleviated.

Claims

1. A method (200) of generating a message characterised by the steps of: identifying (220) whether a message comprises a subject field containing no characters; processing data content of a message to be transmitted; introducing (230) textual data automatically into the subject field based, in response to identifying no characters, based on one or more of: (i) message content, wherein the message content relates to one or more time periods, one or more filenames within the message; an attachment and/or one or more web/email address (es) ; (ii) message type (iii) an identity of a sender; and (iv) an intended recipient of the message; and transmitting (235) the message with the textual data automatically entered therein.

2. A method (200) of generating a message according to Claim 1, wherein the step of introducing (230) textual data automatically into the subject field is performed following a user of a communication unit initiating transmission of a message to be sent that does not contain textual data in a subject field.

3. A method (200) of generating a message according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the step of introducing (230) textual data automatically into the subject field further comprises the steps of: copying a number of characters from a body of the message; and adding these copied characters to an unused subject field.

4. A method (200) of generating a message according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the step of identifying (220) whether a message comprises a subject field containing no characters comprises the step of monitoring a user interface input by a processor to determine whether one or more characters have been entered into a subject field.

5. A method (200) of generating a message according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein the method is further characterised in that it is used by a wireless communication unit, for example a wireless communication unit using a 0-9 keypad user interface.

6. A storage medium storing processor-implementable instructions for controlling a processor to carry out the method of Claim 1.

7. A communication unit adapted to perform the steps of generating a message according to Claim 1.

8. A communication unit (100) comprising: a transmitter for transmitting a message; and a signal processing function (108) configured to construct a message for transmission; wherein the communication unit (100) is characterised by: a message generation function (144) within, or operably coupled to, the signal processing function (108) configured to automatically introduce textual data into an unused subject field of a message in response to identifying no characters, based on one or more of: (i) Message content, wherein the message content relates to one or more time periods, one or more filenames within the message; an attachment and/or one or more web/email address (es); (ii) Message type; (iii) An identity of a sender; and (iv) An intended recipient of the message.

9. A communication unit (100) according to Claim 8 further characterised by a user interface (110) operably coupled to the message generation function (144) , such that the message generation function (144) introduces textual data automatically into the subject field following a user of the communication unit (100) initiating transmission of a message that does not contain textual data in a subject field.

10. A communication unit (100) according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 further characterised by the message generation function (144) introducing textual data automatically into the subject field by copying a number of characters from a body of the message into an unused subject field.

11. A communication unit (100) according to Claim 8 or Claim 9 further characterised in that the communication unit (10) is one of: a cellular phone or portable or mobile radio, a personal digital assistant or a laptop computer.