Ulllted States Patent [19]
`Beck et al.
`
`US005903723A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,903,723
`*May 11, 1999
`
`[54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`TRANSMITTING ELECTRONIC MAIL
`ATTACHMENTS WITH ATTACHMENT
`
`5,418,908
`5,530,852
`5,550,976
`
`5/1995 Keller et al. ..................... .. 395/20036
`6/1996 Meske, Jr. et al. .
`395/200.36
`8/1996 Henderson et al.
`395/200.31
`
`REFERENCES
`
`5,608,786
`
`3/1997 Gordon . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
`
`. . . .. 370/352
`
`[75] Inventors: Robert D- Beck; John Richardsolh
`both of Portland’ Oreg-
`
`3/1997 Morikawa ............................. .. 707/200
`5,613,108
`5 632018 5/1997 Otorii ................................. .. 395/200.3
`5,675,507 10/1997 Bobo, II .... ..
`395/200.36
`
`.
`_
`.
`.
`[73] Assrgnee. Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, Calif.
`
`5,768,505
`577717355
`
`6/1998 Gilchrist et al.
`6/1998 Kuzma
`
`.. 395/20031
`395/200'62
`
`[*1 Notice:
`
`This patent issued on a Continued pros_
`ecution application ?led under 37 CFR
`1.53(d), and 1s sublect to the twenty year
`?gtzarm provlslons of 35 USC'
`'
`[21] Appl. NO.Z 08/576,506
`[22] Filed:
`Dec. 21, 1995
`
`Int. Cl.6 .................................................... .. G06F 17/30
`[51]
`[52] US. Cl. ................................ .. 395/200.3; 395/200.31;
`395/200.35; 395/200.75; 707/10
`[58] Field of Search ....................... .. 395/20001, 200.02,
`395/200-03, 20006, ZOO-08> ZOO-09> 20036,
`200~44> 200~47_200~5> 200~75> 200~76>
`20031; 707/10’ 104
`References Cited
`
`[56]
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,781,901
`
`7/1998 KuZma .................................... .. 707/10
`
`Primary Examiner_zarni Maung
`Assistant Examiner—Bharat Barot
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—William H. Murray; N. Stephan
`Kmsena
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A method, apparatus, and storage medium for transmitting
`e-mail attachments from a sender of a network to at least one
`recipient of the network. According to a preferred
`embodiment, an attachment is stored in a storage device
`visible to the network and relatively local to the sender, the
`attachment having a unique network address. An attachment
`reference is generated, comprising the network address of
`the attachment. The attachment reference is transmitted
`from the sender to the at least one recipient.
`
`5,406,557
`
`4/1995 Baudoin ........................... .. 395/20036
`
`45 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
`
`@
`SENDER BROWSES HOME
`PAGE OF RECIPIENT;
`SELECTS E~MAIL
`
`SET UP HTML PAGE
`
`SENDER STORES
`ATTACHMENT LOCALLY
`
`N 703
`
`uP'L AND MESSAGE
`TNFORMATION SUPPLIED TO
`HTML PAGE BY SENDER
`
`MESSAGE AND URL
`HYPER-TEXT LINK ADDED
`TO RECIPIENT'S MAIL PAGE
`
`N 705
`
`READ
`ATTACHM ENT?
`
`706
`
`'1 RECTPIENT RETRIEVES
`ATTACHMENT V|A |NTERNET
`FROM SENDER USTNG URL
`
`N 707
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 1 of 16
`
`Groupon, Inc.
`Exhibit 1007
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 1 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`02
`
`0:
`
`0m
`
`w oi
`on_
`
`:_
`
`N:
`
`mzoImomoi w x
`
`>m02w2 gm:
`
`1888mm T5
`
`mMDOE
`
`
`
`mOCZOE /\lm:
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 2 of 16
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 2 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`FIG. 2
`
`y
`
`212
`
`POST
`OFFICE
`
`220
`
`210
`
`211
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 3 of 16
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 3 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`FIG. 3
`
`w
`
`317
`
`315
`
`318
`
`WVSVEVRV‘EEP m31o
`
`INTERNET
`
`301
`
`WVSVMLTP “320
`
`327
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 4 of 16
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 4 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`400
`—
`
`E-MAIL
`PRIMARY
`
`MESSAGE
`
`ATTACH.
`REF.
`
`410
`
`POINTER
`
`420
`
`)
`<
`ATTACHMENT
`
`www HTTP
`SERVER
`
`401
`
`402
`
`320
`
`506
`
`5%
`
`. O
`
`502
`
`503
`
`.
`
`' '
`
`Q
`
`A“. ' 501‘
`505
`
`O
`
`535
`
`536
`
`.
`
`'
`0 Q
`Q Q
`540
`
`Q
`
`532
`538
`
`O 530
`‘
`gOw '
`Q Q
`. Q
`.
`550
`O 546
`o
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 5 of 16
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 5 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`6%
`
`615"
`
`612
`
`611—/\ ATTACHMENT
`
`SENDER
`
`www HTTP
`SERVER
`
`601
`
`630
`
`627/\ URL
`
`_/'\
`626
`MESSAGE
`HTML PAGE
`www HTTP SERvER ‘625
`
`@620
`
`RECIPIENT @622
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 6 of 16
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`May 11,1999
`
`Sheet 6 0f 6
`
`5,903,723
`
`FIG. 7
`199
`SENDER BROWSES HOME
`PAGE OF RECIPIENT;
`SELECTS E—MAIL
`
`I
`
`/\—701
`
`SET UP HTML PAGE
`
`/\—702
`
`I
`
`SENDER STORES
`ATTACHMENT LOCALLY
`
`,\_703
`
`I
`
`URL AND MESSAGE
`INFORMATION SUPPLIED TO N704
`HTML PAGE BY SENDER
`
`I
`
`MESSAGE AND URL
`HYPER-TEXT LINK ADDED N705
`TO RECIPIENT’S MAIL PAGE
`
`READ
`ATTACHMENT?
`
`706
`
`RECIPIENT RETRIEVES
`ATTACHMENT VIA INTERNET N707
`FROM SENDER USING URL
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 7 of 16
`
`

`

`1
`METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
`TRANSMITTING ELECTRONIC MAIL
`ATTACHMENTS WITH ATTACHMENT
`REFERENCES
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`5,903,723
`
`2
`having a unique netWork address. An attachment reference
`is generated, comprising the netWork address of the attach
`ment. The attachment reference is transmitted from the
`sender to the at least one recipient.
`
`The present invention relates to the transmission of elec
`tronic mail over computer networks, and, in particular, to
`apparatuses and method for providing for electronic mail
`attachments by reference rather than by value.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
`
`In computer netWork systems such as local-area netWorks
`(“LANs”), Wide-area netWorks (“WANs”), and the Internet
`and the World-Wide Web (“WWW”) Which operates thereon,
`electronic mail (“e-mail”) systems are often utilized to
`facilitate communication betWeen tWo users of the netWork.
`Each user has a unique netWork address Which may be used
`for routing and identifying purposes in delivering an e-mail
`message from one user (the “sender”) to another user (the
`“recipient”) on the netWork.
`Often an e-mail message contains a relatively small
`amount of text or other forms of data. One or more addi
`tional ?les of data, called “attachments,” are often attached
`to the e-mail message. For example, a Word processing ?le
`or graphic ?le that is incompatible With the display capa
`bilities of the e-mail system or that is too large to be
`conveniently displayed by the e-mail application program
`may be transmitted from the sender to the recipient by
`attaching it to an e-mail message. The e-mail message may
`introduce or explain the attachments attached thereto, for
`example. Thus, the recipient receives the e-mail message
`plus any attached data ?les, Which may be opened, accessed,
`or utiliZed separately from the e-mail message itself.
`Such attachments are typically transmitted via the trans
`mission medium of the netWork “by value,” Which means
`that the actual data of a given attachment is transmitted
`along With the primary e-mail message (or an attachment
`may be transmitted independently, With no accompanying
`e-mail message). One problem With current methods of
`transmitting e-mail attachments is that, because of the poten
`tially signi?cant siZe of such attachments, a large amount of
`netWork communications bandWidth can be consumed in
`order to transmit such attachments. Costly netWork
`resources may also be required as such message and attach
`ments traverse several nodes or elements of the netWork on
`the Way from the sender to the recipient node. Additionally,
`the memory storage devices of local nodes of the netWork
`that often store such incoming e-mail messages and their
`associated attached ?les may be overloaded by many incom
`ing e-mail messages.
`Thus, prior art e-mail systems suffer from several disad
`vantages. There is, therefore, a need for methods and sys
`tems for providing for attachments for e-mail messages that
`more ef?ciently utiliZe processor and communications
`medium bandWidth and memory storage in a computer
`communications netWork.
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`SUMMARY
`
`There is provided herein a method, apparatus, and storage
`medium for transmitting e-mail attachments from a sender
`of a netWork to at least one recipient of the netWork.
`According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an
`attachment is stored in a storage device visible to the
`netWork and relatively local to the sender, the attachment
`
`65
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the
`present invention Will become more fully apparent from the
`folloWing description, appended claims, and accompanying
`draWings in Which:
`FIG. 1 shoWs a netWorked computer system in accordance
`With a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 2 depicts a second netWorked computer system in
`accordance With a preferred embodiment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 3 illustrates a third netWorked computer system in
`accordance With a preferred embodiment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 4 illustrates an e-mail message format in accordance
`With a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 5 shoWs another computer netWork in accordance
`With a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
`FIG. 6 shoWs an HTTP-only e-mail system in accordance
`With a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
`FIG. 7 is a How chart illustrating the method of operation
`of the e-mail system of FIG. 6.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`System HardWare
`Referring noW to FIG. 1, there is shoWn netWorked
`computer system 100, in accordance With a preferred
`embodiment of the present invention. Networked computer
`system 100 comprises a plurality of nodes or personal
`computers (“PCs”) 110, 120, 130. Personal computer or
`node 110 comprises a processor 116, memory 117, video
`camera 111, microphone 112, mouse 113, speakers 114, and
`monitor 115. Nodes 110, 120, 130 and other nodes of the
`netWork are interconnected via medium 101. Medium 101
`may be, for example, a communication channel such as an
`Integrated Services Digital NetWork (“ISDN”). As Will be
`understood, various nodes of a netWorked computer system
`may be connected through a variety of communication
`media, including local area netWorks (“LANs”), plain-old
`telephone lines (“POTS”), sometimes referred to as public
`sWitched telephone netWorks (“PSTN”), and the like. Vari
`ous nodes of a netWork may also constitute computer system
`users interconnected via a netWork such as the Internet. As
`Will be appreciated, each user of a netWork has a unique
`address or identi?cation Within the netWork. As used herein,
`“user” may be utiliZed interchangeably With a node of a
`netWork. Thus, each user or node has a particular netWork
`address Within a given netWork that uniquely identi?es the
`user or node. Those skilled in the art Will understand,
`hoWever, that this usage is to be distinguished from an actual
`human user Who may also have a unique address, such as an
`e-mail address, that is not related to the netWork address of
`any particular node of the netWork, since human users can
`often access e-mail messages from arbitrary nodes Within
`the netWork. HoWever a human user at a given point in time
`While using a netWork uses a particular node having a unique
`netWork address as discussed above.
`Often a multi-point data conferencing system may be
`supported by such a netWork, as Well as the capability of
`transmitting e-mail messages from one user to another. A
`plurality of multipoint conferencing units (“MCUs”) may
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 8 of 16
`
`

`

`3
`thus be utilized, as Will be understood by those skilled in the
`art, to transmit data to and from various nodes or “end
`points” of the conferencing system. Nodes and/or MCUs
`may be interconnected via an ISDN link or through a local
`area netWork (“LAN”), in addition to various other commu
`nications media such as nodes connected through the inter
`net. Those skilled in the art Will appreciate that nodes of a
`conferencing system may, in general, be connected directly
`to the communications medium such as a LAN or through an
`MCU, and that a conferencing system may comprise other
`nodes or elements such as routers, servers, and the like.
`Processor 116 is preferably a general-purpose program
`mable processor, such as an Intel® PentiumTM processor.
`Those skilled in the art Will also appreciate that processors
`of nodes of netWorked computer system 100 may also be a
`special-purpose video processor such as the Intel®
`82750PB. As Will be appreciated, the various peripherals
`and components of a node such as those of node 110 may
`vary from those of other nodes. Thus, node 120 and node
`130 may be con?gured identically to or differently than node
`110, as Will also be understood. It Will further be understood
`that a node may be implemented on any suitable computer
`system in addition to personal computer systems.
`Referring noW to FIG. 2, there is shoWn a second net
`Worked computer system 200, in accordance With a pre
`ferred embodiment of the present invention. System 200
`illustrates a netWork such as LAN 201, Which may be used
`to interconnect a variety of users that may communicate
`With each other, for example With e-mail messages. Attached
`to LAN 201 are a plurality of users such as PCs 210, 211,
`212. Auser may also be connected to the LAN via a server
`or other means (not shoWn). As Will be appreciated, system
`200 comprises other types of nodes or elements, such as
`centraliZed post of?ce server 220 and other routers, servers,
`and nodes. As Will be appreciated, a post of?ce server is a
`special type of server typically having a directory of the
`users or a subset of users on the LAN of Which the post office
`server is attached, and serves as a repository of incoming
`mail for its users. As Will be understood by those skilled in
`the art, in prior art e-mail techniques, a sending user such as
`PC 210 desiring to send and e-mail message With one or
`more attachments to a recipient such as PC 212 transmits the
`e-mail message plus attachment to LAN 220 for delivery to
`PC 212. The message and attachment are stored centrally at
`post of?ce server 220, Which then communicates to PC 212
`through LAN 201 to inform the user of PC 201 that it has
`received e-mail. When the user of PC 212 selects an option
`running on a local version of an e-mail application program
`compatible With LAN 201, the e-mail message and any
`selected attachment are transmitted from centraliZed post
`of?ce server 220 to PC 212 across LAN 201.
`As explained hereinabove, this can lead to bandWidth
`problems. For example, post of?ce 220 may need to store a
`very large number of e-mail messages and attachments as
`various users of the netWork send e-mail messages to one
`another. This can utiliZe substantial amounts of processing
`bandWidth of post of?ce 220, and also requires communi
`cations bandWidth of LAN 201 to transmit such data to and
`from post of?ce server 220. As Will be appreciated, a
`plurality of LANs such as system 200, or other netWorks or
`users, may be further interconnected via other netWork links
`such as WAN links. For instance, post of?ce 220 may send
`and receive messages to and from its oWn users such as PCs
`210, 211, 212 to other particular users interfaced to another
`post of?cer server of another LAN (not shoWn). Such a
`linking of LAN s through WAN or other links is illustrated in
`the exemplary system of FIG. 3.
`
`15
`
`25
`
`35
`
`45
`
`55
`
`65
`
`5,903,723
`
`4
`Referring noW to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a third
`netWorked computer system 300, in accordance With a
`preferred embodiment of the present invention. System 300
`illustrates a WWW system having communications across a
`backbone communications netWork such as Internet 301,
`Which may be used to interconnect a variety of users that
`may communicate With each other, for example With e-mail
`messages. As Will be appreciated, the WWW is a set of
`protocols operating on top of the Internet, and alloWs a
`graphical interface system to operate thereon for accessing
`information through the Internet. Attached to Internet 301 in
`the W are a plurality of users such as PCs 317, 318, 327.
`Typically, a user is interfaced to other nodes of the WWW
`through a WWW hyper text transport protocol (“HTTP”)
`server such as servers 310, 320. As Will be understood, the
`WWW is a distributed type of application, characteriZed by
`the WWW HTTP, the WWW’s protocol, Which runs on top
`of the Internet’s transmission control protocol/Internet pro
`tocol (“TCP/IP”). As Will also be understood, the WWW
`may thus be characteriZed by a set of protocols (i.e., HTTP)
`running on the Internet as its “backbone.” AWeb broWser is
`an application of a user of a netWork that, in WWW
`compatible type netWork systems, alloWs users to vieW such
`information and thus alloWs the user to search graphical and
`text-based ?les that are linked together using “hypertext”
`links that are embedded in documents or ?les available from
`servers on the netWork that understand HTTP. As Will be
`understood, When a given “Web page” is retrieved by a user
`from another source across the Internet, the document
`retrieved may have various hypertext links embedded
`therein and a local copy of the page is created local to the
`user. Thus, When a user clicks on a hypertext link, the
`locally-stored information related to the selected hypertext
`link is typically sufficient to alloW the user’s machine to
`open a connection across the Internet to the server indicated
`by the hypertext link.
`As Will further appreciated, more than one user may be
`coupled to each HTTP server, for example through a LAN
`such as LAN 315 as illustrated With respect to WWW HTTP
`server 310. As Will further be appreciated, system 300
`comprises other types of nodes or elements. As Will be
`understood by those skilled in the art, in prior art e-mail
`techniques, a sending user of a netWork desiring to send an
`e-mail message With one or more attachments to a recipient
`on the netWork transmits the e-mail message plus attachment
`across the netWork (for example, a netWork such as Internet
`301) through various links and nodes of the netWork until it
`reaches the recipient user.
`As Will be appreciated, a WWW HTTP server is an
`application running on a machine, such as a PC. Thus, each
`user may be considered to have a unique “server,” as
`illustrated With respect to PC 327. Alternatively, a “server”
`may be considered to be a server such as WWW HTTP
`server 310 Which provides access to the netWork for a LAN
`or plurality of nodes or plurality of LANs.
`E-Mail Attachments by Reference
`One problem With automatically attaching attachments by
`value is that many attachments are never read, vieWed, or
`otherWise utiliZed by the recipient of the e-mail. Thus, the
`storage, processing bandWidth, and communications band
`Width resources utiliZed to transmit the attachment to the
`recipient are often used inef?ciently. In netWorks such as
`netWorked computer system 200, this can lead to inef?cient
`use of the storage and processing bandWidth of any central
`iZed post of?ce and of the communications bandWidth of the
`netWork. In netWorks such as computer system 300, again
`the interconnection netWork 301 may be utiliZed inef?
`
`Ex. 1007 - Page 9 of 16
`
`

`

`5,903,723
`
`10
`
`15
`
`5
`ciently as messages are transmitted that are never used by
`the recipient, needlessly consuming processing and commu
`nications resources. Therefore, in the e-mail system ?les are
`attached by reference instead of by value, as described in
`further detail hereinbeloW.
`Referring noW to FIG. 4, there is illustrated an e-mail
`message format 400 in accordance With a preferred embodi
`ment of the present invention. In the e-mail message format
`400 of the present invention, When a user such as PC 210 of
`FIG. 2 Wishes to send an attachment With an e-mail message
`to a user such as PC 212, the e-mail message 401 is
`transmitted along With a relatively small attachment refer
`ence 402, instead of actually transmitting the entire attach
`ment ?le along With e-mail message 401 as is done in prior
`art e-mail systems. Thus, instead of transmitting the attach
`ment by value, the attachment is transmitted “by reference.”
`As Will be appreciated, attachment reference 402 comprises
`a pointer 410 that points to the actual location of the
`attachment 420. In a preferred embodiment, this location of
`the attachment 420 is typically a storage medium relatively
`local to the sending user so that feWer netWork resources are
`utiliZed in transmitting and storing the attachment, espe
`cially if a recipient does not actually require the attachment.
`Thus, the attachment 402 is stored “locally” to the sending
`user, Which means that the attachment need not be trans
`mitted across as many netWork links and elements as Would
`be needed to reach the recipient user. To store attachment
`420 locally in a system using at least one centraliZed post
`of?ce, such as system 200, the attachment is stored on PC
`210 itself. PC 210 must thus be “visible” to LAN 201, so that
`a recipient such as PC 212 may retrieve attachment 420,
`When desired, from PC 210 via LAN 201 using attachment
`reference 402.
`An attachment or e-mail may be distributed to multiple
`users as Well. For example, e-mail message 401 is transmit
`ted by PC 210 via LAN 201 to PC 212 and PC 211. As Will
`be appreciated, e-mail message 401 may be temporarily
`stored in centraliZed post of?ce server 220 before being
`further transmitted to PCs 211 and 212 via LAN 201. If the
`user of PC 210 also Wishes to attach an attachment 420, then
`this attachment 420 and e-mail message 401 are created, but
`attachment 420 is not transmitted to either post of?ce 220 or
`to PCs 211 or 212 via LAN 201. Rather, at this point
`attachment 420 is stored in PC 210 itself, or in an associated
`or connected memory storage means, and attachment refer
`ence 402 is created to be transmitted as an attachment With
`e-mail primary message 401 to recipient PCs 211, 212. As
`Will be appreciated, depending upon the con?guration of the
`e-mail system applicable to LAN 201 and its user nodes,
`e-mail message 401 and its attachment reference 402 are
`transmitted to recipient PCs 211 and 212 in the standard
`manner, eg either directly, across LAN 201, or through the
`intermediary node of post of?ce 220.
`If the user of any recipient PC 211 or 212 desires to access
`the attachment, the attachment reference 402 Will enable the
`local recipient PC to retrieve the attachment 420 directly
`over LAN 201 from Where it is stored in PC 210. In a
`preferred embodiment, this retrieval of attachment 420 does
`not need to go through post office 220.
`To store attachment 420 locally in a system Where users
`are interfaced to a netWork via local servers, such as in
`system 300, attachment 420 is stored in the local WWW
`HTTP server, as illustrated in FIG. 4. For instance, if PC 327
`desires to transmit e-mail primary message 401 and attach
`ment 420 to PC 317, then attachment 420 is stored in a ?le
`server of W HTTP server 320, Which is “visible” to the
`WWW over the Internet 301, and attachment reference 402
`
`6
`is generated Which comprises a uniform resource locator
`(“URL”) pointer to the location of attachment 420 Within
`WWW HTTP server 320. E-mail primary message 401 With
`attached attachment reference 402 are then transmitted to
`recipient PC 317 across Internet 301 in the standard manner,
`and PC 317 may the use attachment reference 402 to access
`attachment 420 When desired.
`In this manner, netWork bandWidth and resources are
`utiliZed more ef?ciently as there is no need to actually
`transmit the attachment 420 over the netWork unless a
`recipient of the corresponding e-mail message 401 is inter
`ested in vieWing or otherWise using attachment 420.
`In a preferred embodiment, attachment references are
`relatively small and approximately constant in siZe, for
`example on the order of 100 to 200 bytes. The actual
`attachment such as attachment 420 of e-mail format 400 is
`stored in a ?le storage means that is coupled to LAN 201 and
`that is visible to any server or user coupled to LAN 201, so
`that any recipient user’s PC may retrieve attachment 420 if
`desired. Connecting to a node that is “visible” to the netWork
`is also sometimes referred to as opening a socket to the node.
`As Will be understood by those skilled in the art, an
`attachment reference 402 comprises a ?le reference suitable
`for locating attachment 420. For example, With LAN 201
`serving as a netWork under a WWW-compatible netWorking
`standard (for example, using the WWW’s TCP/IP and
`WW HTTP), attachment reference 402 comprises a
`WWW-type ?le reference, referred to as a uniform resource
`locator (“URL”) that refers, or points, to the actual attach
`ment ?le 420. As Will be understood, attachment reference
`402 is either a logical pointer or logical path that indicates
`either Where the attachment, or a copy of it, resides. As Will
`further be appreciated by those skilled in the art, a URL is
`a logical path used in the WWW HTTP. Attachment refer
`ence 402 may also comprise information that indicates What
`options Were used to produce the stored attachment ?le 420,
`for example Whether and/or hoW the attachment ?le 420 is
`compressed or encrypted.
`As Will also be appreciated, attachment 420 may be
`compressed (to minimiZe storage space and netWork band
`Width consumed) and/or encrypted (for privacy) before
`storing in WWW HTTP server 221 or before being trans
`mitted from WWW HTTP server 221 to a recipient PC’s
`respective WWW HTTP server. When e-mail message 401
`and attachment reference 402 are received by a user of the
`netWork such as the user of PC 212, an application program
`running on PC 212 is able to retrieve attachment 420 using
`attachment reference 402. As Will be understood, this
`retrieval may be made transparent to the user of PC 212. For
`instance, the user of PC 212 may be informed by PC 212 that
`a ?le 420 is “attached” to a recently-received e-mail mes
`sage 401. If the user decides to vieW, launch, copy or
`otherWise utiliZe attachment 420, then PC 212 reads a copy
`of attachment 420 from W HTTP server 221, decom
`presses and decrypts attachment 420 as necessary, creates a
`local copy of attachment 420 just as if attachment 420 had
`originally been attached by value to e-mail message 401, and
`launches the appropriate application corresponding to the
`?le type of attachment 420 (for example, a graphical vieWer
`program may be launched to alloW the vieWing of attach
`ment 420 if attachment 420 is a graphics ?le). As Will be
`appreciated, in general a sender such as PC 210 must have
`access to some netWork server so that it is able to store the
`attachment ?le 420 in a directory on the netWork server,
`Where the directory in Which the attachment 420 is stored is
`visible to the netWork via the netWork server so that the
`attachment ?le 420 is accessible by recipient users of the
`netWork.
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`7
`Alternatively, instead of the retrieval of attachment 420
`being made transparent to the user of PC 212, the user may
`be given the option to vieW information about the remotely
`stored attachment 420 before deciding to fetch this attach
`ment. Additionally, as Will be appreciated, an attachment
`may in alternative preferred embodiments be automatically
`deleted after being accessed by the recipient or by all of the
`recipients, Where multiple recipients receive the e-mail
`message; or after a given time limit, such as 90 days. As Will
`also be understood, one additional advantage of the present
`attachment by reference invention is that the locally-stored
`attachment may in some embodiments be updated if
`necessary, in some cases before a recipient has decided to
`read the attachment. Thus, although an attachment is dis
`tributed at a particular time before subsequent changes are
`made, at least some intended recipients may get a more
`up-to-date copy of the attachment When they ?nally decide
`to read the e-mail attachment.
`Because the attachment ?le is stored on a WWW HTTP
`server or otherWise in a memory storage means local to the
`sending user but visible to other users of the netWork, it may
`be desirable to ensure that unauthoriZed WWW users broWs
`ing the WWW HTTP server are unable to obtain a usable
`copy of the attachment ?le. One method for accomplishing
`such security is to store attachment 420 in encrypted form.
`The encryption key is transmitted With the original e-mail
`message 401 (e.g., stored Within e-mail primary message
`401, Within attachment reference 402, or attached as a
`separate decryption key attachment to e-mail primary mes
`sage 401 or to attachment reference 402). Thus, an unau
`thoriZed user is unable to decipher the actual contents of
`attachment ?le 420, While a recipient of e-mail message 401,
`for Whom access to attachment 420 is intended, Will be able
`to access attachment 420 since e-mail message 401 is
`accompanied by the corresponding decryption key. As Will
`be appreciated, other encryption techniques may be utiliZed
`as Well for these and related purposes, such as public/private
`key techniques that also alloW attachments to be digitally
`signed for authentication purposes and to verify the attach
`ment’s integrity.
`As Will be understood, in alternative preferred embodi
`ments of the present invention, a plurality of ?le attachments
`may be attached to an e-mail message in accordance With the
`present invention. In this case a corresponding plurality of
`attachment references may be attached to the e-mail mes
`sage for independent access by a recipient of any or all of the
`attachment ?les. In further alternative preferred
`embodiments, an attachment reference may be transmitted
`to a recipient Without accompanying an e-mail message, so
`that, effectively, an e-mail message itself comprises the
`attachment reference.
`E-Mail System Filter for Attachment by Reference or by
`Value
`There is also provided herein a system and method by
`Which an e-mail system can decide Whether to attach an
`attachment to an e-mail message by reference or by value.
`As Will be appreciated, in some situations a use of automatic
`attachment by reference of each attachment to each e-mail
`message transmitted may tend to increase the load on the
`netWork. In the present e-mail system it is determined
`Whether to distribute a given attachment by reference or by
`value by establishing a cost ?gure, as explained in more
`detail hereinbeloW.
`Referring noW to FIG. 5, there is illustrated another
`computer netWork 500, in accordance With a preferred
`embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, netWork
`500 comprises a plurality of LANs such as LANs 501, 530,
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`540. LAN 501 interconnects a plurality of local users such
`as sending user 502 and recipient user 503. The lines
`radiating from each LAN represent subnets such as subnet
`506 Which connect a subset of the LAN ’s users to the LAN.
`Different LANs are typically connected to each other via
`WAN links such as WAN link 520. Some LANs may also be
`intercoupled via coupled subnets, as illustrated With respect
`to the coupling of subnet 536 of LAN 530 With subnet 546
`of LAN 540 at junction 550. For purposes of transmitting
`e-mail messages and attachments to and from users on
`different LANs, post office servers such as post of?cer
`servers 505 and 535 are utiliZed to interface via the WAN
`link, as illustrated in FIG. 5. As Will be appreciated, on some
`LANs more than one post office may be utiliZed to handle a
`subset of the users of the LAN. Thus, a sender 502 may
`transmit e-mail to a recipient 503 on the same LAN by
`utiliZing the services of LAN 501 and post of?ce 505, as Will
`be appreciated by those skilled in the art and as further
`described hereinabove.
`HoWever, often a user such as sender 502 Wishes to send
`e-mail to a recipient such as recipient user 532, Which is a
`member of another LAN. When this is to be performed,
`typically an e-mail message is transmitted from sender 502
`through subnet 506 to LAN 501, and therethrough to post
`of?ce 505. Post office 505 then further transmits the e-mail
`message via WAN 520 to post of?ce 535, Which then
`delivers the e-mail to recipient 532 via its respective subnet
`538. Alternatively, if each post of?ce 505, 535 operates in
`centraliZed fashion so that it stores the contents of e-mail
`messages that are read by local users of the respective LAN,
`the primary traffic may be betWeen post offices and over
`WANs, rather than to or from the individual users via their
`local LAN s. As Will be appreciated, WAN 520 may comprise
`a distributed netWork such as the Internet, or other medium
`of communication. Thus, several LAN s and post of?ces may
`need to be traversed before an e-mail message reaches its
`ultimate destination LAN and user.
`In the e-mail system ?lter of the present invention, post
`of?ces of the netWork system can convert a ?le attachment
`by value to a ?le attachment by reference, and vice-v