`
`(19) World Intellectual Property Organization
`
`International Bureau
`
`(43) International Publication Date
`28 March 2002 (28.03.2002)
`
`PCT
`
`(10) International Publication Number
`WO 02/25890 A2
`
`(51) International Patent Classification’:
`
`HO04L 29/00
`
`(21) International Application Number:
`
`PCT/USO1/26907
`
`(22) International Filing Date: 29 August 2001 (29.08.2001)
`
`(25) Filing Language:
`
`(26) Publication Language:
`
`English
`
`English
`
`(30) Priority Data:
`60/233,501
`60/237,616
`60/268,824
`
`19 September 2000 (19.09.2000)
`3 October 2000 (03.10.2000)
`14 February 2001 (14.02.2001)
`
`US
`US
`US
`
`(71) Applicant (for all designated States except US): RE-
`SEARCHIN MOTIONLIMITED[CA/CA]; 295 Phillip
`Street, Waterloo, Ontario N21. 3W8 (CA).
`(71) Applicants and
`(72) Inventors: HIND, Hugh, R. |GB/CA|; 610 Wissler Road,
`
`Waterloo, Ontario N2K 3Z2 (CA). KNOWLES,Michael
`[CA/CA]; 235 Beaver Creek Road, Waterloo, Ontario N2T
`289 (CA). NAQVI, Noushad [CA/CA]; 120 Shadeland
`Cr., Kitchener, Ontario N2M 2H9 (CA). BAJAR, David
`[CA/CA]; 283 Resurrection Drive, Kitchener, Ontario
`N2N 3H4 (CA). BURNS, Tony [CA/CA]; 3101 Parkgate
`.
`:
`.
`Crescent, Burlington, Ontario L7M 1R1 (CA). PAT-
`TERSON,Ian [US/CA]; 25 Alice Crescent, Patersburg,
`Ontario NOB 2HO (CA). LEWIS, Allan [CA/CA]; 212
`Grand River Blvd., Kitchener, Ontario N2A 3G6 (CA).
`MOUSSEAU, Gary |CA/CA]; 493 Heatherhill Place,
`Waterloo, Ontario N2T 1H7 (CA). LAZARIDIS, Mihal
`[CA/CA]; 263 Carrington Place, Waterloo, Ontario N2T
`2K1 (CA).
`
`(74) Agents: COCHRAN,David,B.etal.; Jones, Day, Reavis
`& Pogue, North Point, 901 Lakeside Avenue, Cleveland,
`OH 44114 (US).
`
`[Continued on next page]
`
`(54) Title: SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PUSHING INFORMATION FROM A HOST SYSTEM TO A MOBIEL DATA COM-
`MUNICATION DEVICE IN A WIRELESS DATA NETWORK
`
`100
`
`PHYSICAL
`CRADLE DEVICE
`
`
`
`|
`
`(57) Abstract: A system and method for redirecting data from
`a host system (or messaging server) to one or more mobile
`data communication devices via a wireless packet data net-
`work is provided in which the wireless packet data network
`dynamically assigns addresses to the one or more mobile data
`communication devices on an as-needed basis. A redirector
`application operating at the host systemis configured by each
`user to continuously redirect certain data to the wireless packet
`data network, as the data is received (or otherwise altered) at
`the host system. Two methods are provided for communicat-
`
`ing the redirected data from the network to the mobile device.
`Inafirst method, the mobile device is configured to period-
`ically contact a storc-and-forward server within the wireless
` 7DESKTOPSYSTEM OR |
`
`network, which, when contacted, assigns a network address to
`the mobile device and then transmits the stored, redirected data
`COMPANY FiRewaLL
`{NETWORK SERVER
`to the mobile device. In a second method, the network trans-
`160
`mits a connection request command to the mobile device via
`a parallel voice network, or via a command channel, or other
`type of low-bandwidth data channel. The mobile device then
`contacts the data network and requests a network address so
`that the store-and-forward server can send the redirected data
`to the mobile device.
`
`WO02/25890A2
`
`
`
` ORIGINAL VOICE A
`WIRELESS NETWORK 4?
`
`1
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`APPLE 1004
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`1
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`APPLE 1004
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`WO 02/25890
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`A2
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`TUNATAA
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`(81) Designated States (national): AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU,
`AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, BZ, CA, CH, CN, CO, CR, CU,
`CZ, DE, DK, DM, DZ, EC, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH,
`GM,HR,HU,ID,IL,IN,IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC,
`LK, LR, LS, LI, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW,
`MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK,
`SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, ZA,
`ZW.
`
`patent (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK,ES, FI, FR, GB, GR,IE,
`TT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OAPT patent (BF, BJ, CF,
`CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GQ, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD,
`TG).
`
`Published:
`— without international search report and to be republished
`upon receipt of that report
`
`(84) Designated States (regional): ARIPO patent (GH, GM,
`KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), Eurasian
`patent (AM,AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), European
`
`For two-letter codes and other abbreviations, refer to the "Guid-
`ance Notes on Codes andAbbreviations" appearing at the begin-
`ning ofeach regular issue ofthe PCT Gazette.
`
`2
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`
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`WO 02/25890
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`PCT/US01/26907
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`System and Methodfor Pushing Information from a
`
`Host System to a Mobile Data Communication Device
`
`in a Wireless Data Network
`
`CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
`
`This
`
`application claims priority from United States Provisional
`
`Applications S/N 60/268,824, filed on February 14, 2001, S/N 60/237,616, filed
`
`on October 3, 2000, and S/N 60/233,501, filed on September 19, 2000. This
`
`10
`
`application also claims priority from, and is a continuation-in-part of, United
`
`States Patent Application S/N 09/528,495, filed on March 17, 2000 which is a
`
`continuation of S/N 09/087,623, filed on May 29, 1998, now United States Patent
`
`No. 6,219,694. The complete disclosure of each of these provisional and utility
`
`applications, and the issued patent, including drawings and claims,
`
`is hereby
`
`15
`
`incorporated into this application by reference.
`
`1.
`
`Field of the Invention
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`The present invention is directed to the field of data communications in a
`
`20
`
`wireless network. More specifically,
`
`the invention relates to a system and
`
`method for communicating information to a mobile communication device
`
`(“mobile device”) within a wireless data network (such as an IP based wireless
`
`data network) and also for replicating information between a host system (or a
`
`host system with an associated messaging server) and the mobile device via the
`
`25
`
`wireless data network.
`
`2.
`
`Description of the Related Art
`
`Wireless data networks are known in this field. Early wireless data
`
`networks include the Mobitex network and the Datatac network. These early
`
`30
`
`networks provided limited data capacity and also required to have fixed addresses
`
`for each mobile device. Such a fixed address is also knownas a “static” network
`
`address. Recently, however, new types of wireless data networks have emerged
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`3
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`having much greater data bandwidth. These new data networks, such as the
`
`GPRSnetwork, may utilize the Internet Protocol (IP) for routing data to a mobile
`
`device. The inherent addressing limitations of the IP protocol (and other similar
`
`packet protocols) typically limit the use of have static addressing in these types of
`
`data networks, thus leading to a dynamic addressing scheme.
`
`In this type of
`
`addressing scheme, a pool of available network addresses is dynamically
`
`assigned to a much greater pool of user devices depending on which devices are
`
`accessing the network at a given instant.
`
`As described in more detail in the co-pending, and co-owned application
`
`10
`
`S/N, a wireless data network can be coupled to one or more redirector
`
`applications for enabling real-time mirroring (or redirection) of user data items
`
`from a user’s office computer (or corporate server) to the user’s mobile device.
`
`In such a redirector application, user data items, such as e-mail messages,
`
`calendar events, etc., are received at the user’s office computer, which then
`
`15
`
`redirects (or mirrors) the data items to the user’s mobile device via the wireless
`
`data network.
`
`It would be advantageous to extend this redirection system to
`
`operate with newer wireless data networks such as the General Packet Radio
`Service (“GPRS”) network, or other networks that may utilize a packet protocol,
`
`such as IP, in which the wireless data network dynamically assigns network
`
`20
`
`addresses on an as-needed basis.
`
`SUMMARY
`
`A system and method for redirecting data to one or more mobile data
`
`communication devices via a wireless packet data network is provided in which
`
`the network dynamically assigns network addresses
`
`to the mobile data
`
`25
`
`communication devices on an as-needed basis. A redirector program preferably
`
`operating at a host system continuously redirects data to the wireless packet data
`
`network, as the data is received (oraltered) at the host system. Two methodsare
`
`provided for communicating the redirected data from the wireless networkto the
`mobile device.
`In a first method, the mobile device is configured to periodically
`
`30
`
`contact a store-and-forward server (or gateway) operating in conjunction with the
`
`wireless network, which, when contacted, transmits the data to the mobile device.
`
`In a second method,
`
`the wireless network transmits a connection request
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`command to the mobile device via a parallel voice network, or via a control
`
`channel on the data network, or via some other type of low-bandwidth data
`
`channel. The mobile device then contacts the wireless data network and requests
`
`a network address so that the store-and-forward server can send the data to the
`
`mobile device.
`
`In this second embodiment the presence of a “push bearer’
`
`channel is preferred. A push bearer network is defined as a network that can
`
`provide an address for the wireless device that is statically defined and always
`
`reachable. The push bearer network can have low capacity and very limited
`
`bandwidth, as is the case with the Short Message Service (SMS) messaging, used
`
`10
`
`on many wireless networks.
`
`The redirector program enables a user to redirect (or mirror) certain user-
`
`selected data items (or parts of data items) from the host system to the user’s
`
`mobile data communication device upon detecting that one or more user-defined
`
`triggering events has occurred. Also operating at the host system are various sub-
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`15
`
`systems that can be configured to create triggering events, such as a screen saver
`
`sub-system or a keyboard sub-system, as well as sub-systems for repackaging the
`
`user’s data items for transparent delivery to the mobile device, such as a TCP/IP
`
`sub-system or one or more E-Mail sub-systems. Other sub-systemsfor creating
`
`triggering events and repackaging the user’s data items could also be present at
`
`20
`
`the host system.
`
`Using the redirector program, the user can select certain data items for
`
`redirection, such as E-mail messages, calendar events, meeting notifications,
`
`address entries, journal entries, personal reminders, etc. Having selected the data
`
`items for redirection, the user can then configure one or more event triggers,
`
`25
`
`which are sensed by the redirector program to initiate redirection of the user’s
`
`data items. These user-defined triggers (or event triggers) may include external
`
`events,
`
`internal events and networked events. Examples of external events
`
`include: recciving a message from the user’s mobile data communication device
`
`to begin redirection; receiving a similar message from some external computer,
`
`30
`
`sensing that the user is no longerin the vicinity of the host system; or any other
`
`event that is external to the host system.
`
`Internal events could be a calendar
`
`alarm, screen saver activation, keyboard timeout, programmable timer, or any
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`other user-defined event that is internal to the host system. Networked events are
`
`user-defined messages that are transmitted to the host system from another
`
`computer coupled to the host system via a networkto initiate redirection.
`
`the redirector program
`In addition to the functionality noted above,
`provides a set of software-implemented control functions for determining the
`
`type of mobile data communication device and its address (if a static address is
`
`used), for programming a preferred list of message typesthat are to be redirected,
`
`and for determining whether the mobile device can receive and process certain
`types ofmessage attachments, such as word processoror voice attachments.
`|
`The determination of whether a particular mobile device can receive and
`
`10
`
`process attachmentsis initially configured by the user of that mobile device at
`
`the host system. This configuration can be altered on a global or per message
`basis by transmitting a command message from the mobile device to the host
`
`system. If the redirector is configured so that the mobile device cannot receive
`
`15
`
`and process word processor or voice attachments, then the redirector program
`
`routes these attachments to an external machine that is compatible with the
`
`particular attachment, such as an attached printer or networked fax machine or
`
`telephone. Other types of attachments could be redirected to other types of
`
`external machines in a similar fashion, depending upon the capabilities of the
`
`mobile device. For example, if a user is traveling and receives a message with an
`
`attachment that the user's mobile device can process or display, the user may,
`from a mobile communications device, send a command message to the host
`
`system indicating that that attachment should be sent to a fax machineat a hotel
`
`where the user will be spending the evening. This enables the user to receive
`
`25
`
`important E-mail attachments as long as the host system is provided with
`
`sufficient
`
`information about
`
`the destination where the attachment
`
`is to be
`
`forwarded,
`
`Once an event has triggered redirection of the user data items, the host
`
`system repackages these items in a mannerthat is transparent to the mobile data
`communication device, so that the data at the mobile device appears similar to the
`
`30
`
`same data at the user’s host system. The preferred repackaging method includes
`wrapping the user data items in an E-mail envelope that corresponds to the
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`address of the mobile data communication device, although, alternatively, other
`
`repackaging methods could be used with the present invention, such as special-
`purpose TCP/IP wrapping techniques, or other methods of wrapping the user
`selected data items. The repackaging method preferably results in a shared E-
`
`mail address for the user’s host system and the user’s mobile device. To a
`
`recipient of an E-mail generated at either the host or the mobile device, it appears
`as though the E-mail was generatedat the host system. The repackaging method
`also provides encryption/decryption and compression/decompression.
`
`In an alternative system and method, the redirector program executes at a
`
`10
`
`network server, and the server is programmed to detect numerous redirection
`
`event triggers over a local area network (“LAN”) from multiple user desktop
`systems coupledto the server via the LAN. The server can receive internal event
`triggers from each of the user desktops via the LAN, and can also receive
`
`external event
`
`triggers,
`
`such as messages
`
`from the users’ mobile data
`
`15
`
`communication devices. In response to receiving oneofthesetriggers, the server
`
`redirects the user’s data items to the proper mobile data communication device.
`
`The user data items and addressing information for a particular mobile device can
`
`be stored at the server or at the user’s desktop system. Using this alternative
`
`20
`
`This
`configuration, one redirector program can serve a plurality of users.
`alternative configuration could also include an Internet or
`Intranet-based
`redirector program that could be accessible through a secure webpage or other
`
`user interface.
`
`In another alternative configuration of the present invention, a redirector
`
`the user’s mobile data
`program operates at both the host system and at
`communication device.
`In this configuration, the user’s mobile device operates
`
`25
`
`similarly to the host system, described below, and is configured in a similar
`fashion to redirect certain user-selected data items from the mobile device to the
`
`user’s host system (or some other computer) upon detecting an event trigger at
`the mobile device.
`This configuration provides two-way redirection of
`information from the host to the mobile device and from the mobile device to the
`
`30
`
`host.
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`The present
`
`invention can be used with many types of mobile data
`
`communication devices, including two-way pagers, cellular telephones having
`
`data messaging capabilities, PDAs,
`
`laptops, palmtops, or any other type of
`
`wireless communicator.
`
`These wireless communicators may be dual-mode
`
`devices that operate on both voice and data networks, such as a communicator
`
`capable of sending and receiving voice signals over a voice networklike GSM,
`
`and also capable of sending and receiving data signals over a data network like
`
`GPRS. Or,
`
`the wireless communicator may be a single-mode device that
`
`operates on just a data network (like GPRS), or it may be a multimode device
`
`10
`
`capable of operating on some other combination of voice and data networks.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 is a system diagram showing the redirection of user data items
`
`from a user’s desktop PC (host system) to the user’s mobile data communication
`
`device, where the redirector software is operating at the user’s desktop PC.
`
`15
`
`FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing the redirection of user data items
`
`from a network server (host system) to the user’s mobile data communication
`
`device, where the redirector software is operating at the server.
`
`FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the interaction of the redirector
`
`software with other components of the host system in FIG. 1 (the user’s desktop
`
`20
`
`PC) to enable the pushing of information from the host system to the user’s
`
`mobile data communication device.
`
`FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the redirector
`
`software operating at the host system.
`
`FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the steps carried out by the mobile data
`
`25
`
`communication device to interface with the redirector software operating at the
`
`host system.
`
`FIG.6 is a system diagram showing the.basic components of an IP based
`
`wireless data network, such as the GPRS network, for use with the present
`
`invention.
`
`30
`
`FIG.7 is a detailed illustration of how addresses are dynamically assigned
`
`and how data tunnels are created and used within an IP based wireless network.
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`8
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`FIG. 8 sets forth the steps to redirect data items over the IP based wireless
`
`network to a mobile device.
`
`FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram that depicts how a store-and-forward
`
`gateway handles incoming data from redirector programs going to mobile
`
`devices.
`
`FIG. 10 is a continuation of FIG. 9, and is a data flow diagram of how a
`
`mobile address to IP address mapping database is updated with external and
`
`imternal events.
`
`FIG.
`
`11 is a data flow diagram of the mobile device’s logic for
`
`10
`
`communicating with the store-and-forward gateway.
`
`FIG. 12 is an illustrative system diagram of a proposed dual mode device
`
`that could be used with the invention.
`
`FIGS. 13a and 13b are sequence diagramsillustrating actions taken at the
`
`mobile, DHCP and store and forward gateway after a connection request
`
`15
`
`command is made to the mobile.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Referring now to the drawings, FIG.
`
`1 is an example system diagram
`
`showingthe redirection of user data items (such as message A or C) from a user’s
`
`20
`
`office PC (host system) 10 to the user’s mobile data communication device 24,
`where the redirector software 12 is operating at the user’s PC. Message A in
`
`FIG. 1 represents an internal message sent from desktop 26 to the user’s host
`
`system 10 via LAN 14. Message C in FIG.
`
`1 represents an external message
`
`from a senderthat is not directly connected to LAN 14, such asthe user’s mobile
`
`25
`
`data communication device 24, some other user’s mobile device (not shown), or
`
`any user connected to the Internet 18. Message C also represents a command
`
`message from the user’s mobile data communication device 24 to the host system
`10. As described in moredetail in FIG. 3, the term “host system” 10 preferably
`
`includes, along with the typical hardware and software associated with a
`
`30
`
`workstation or desktop computer, the redirector program 12, a TCP/IP subsystem
`
`42, a primary message store 40, an E-mail subsystem 44, a screen saver
`subsystem 48, and a keyboard subsystem 46. The E-mail subsystem may be
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`composed of one or more message servers (not necessarily the same type of
`
`messageserver) linked via communication means for the purposes of sending and
`
`receiving E-mail between workstations in the LAN,the Internet, and one or more
`
`Intranets or other proprietary private networks.
`
`In FIG. 1, the host system 10 is the user’s desktop system, typically
`
`located in the user’s office. The host system 10 is connected to a LAN 14, which
`
`also connects to other computers 26, 28 that may be in the user’s office or
`
`elsewhere. The LAN 14, in turn, is connected to a wide area network (“WAN”)
`
`18, such as the Internet, which is defined by the use of the Transmission Control
`
`Protocol/Internet Protocol
`
`(“TCP/IP”)
`
`to exchange information, but which,
`
`alternatively, could be any other type of WAN. The connection of the LAN 14 to
`
`the WAN 18 is via high bandwidth link 16, typically a T1 or T3 connection. The
`
`WAN18, in turn, is connected to a variety of gateways 20 via connections 32. A
`
`gateway forms a connection or bridge between the WAN 18 and someother type
`
`of network, such as an RF wireless network, cellular network, satellite network,
`
`or other synchronousor asynchronousland-line connection.
`
`In the example of FIG. 1, a wireless gateway 20 is connected to the
`
`Internet for communicating via wireless link 22 to a plurality of wireless mobile
`
`data communication devices 24. For the purposes ofthis application description
`
`20
`
`the term store-and-forward gateway 140 will also be used in place of the term
`
`wireless gateway 20. In an embodiment, the store and forward gateway may be
`
`referenced as a Access Point Name (APN) as defined on a network like GPRS.
`
`Also shown in FIG. 1 is external machine 30, which could be a FAX machine, a
`
`printer, a system for displaying images (such as video) or a machine capable of
`
`25
`
`processing and playing audio files, such as a voice mail system. The present
`
`invention includes the ability to redirect certain message attachments to such an
`
`external machine 30 if the redirector-program configuration data reflects that the
`
`mobile device 24cannot receive and process the attachments, or if the user has
`
`specified that certain attachments are not to be forwarded to mobile device 24,
`
`30
`
`even if such device can processthose attachments. By way of example, consider
`
`an E-mail sent to a user that includes three attachments -- a word processing
`
`document, a video clip and an audio clip. The redirection program could be
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`configured to send the text of the E-mail to the mobile device, to send the word
`
`processing document to a networked printer located near the user, to send the
`
`video clip to a store accessible through a secure connection through the Internet,
`
`and to send the audioclip to the user's voice mail system.
`
`The preferred mobile data communication device 24 is a hand-held two-
`
`way wireless paging computer, a wirelessly enabled palm-top computer, a mobile
`
`telephone with data messaging capabilities, or a wirelessly enabled laptop
`
`computer, but could, alternatively be other types of mobile data communication
`
`devices capable of sending and receiving messages via a network connection 22.
`
`10
`
`Although it is preferable for the system to operate in a two-way communications
`
`mode, certain aspects of the invention could be beneficially used in a "one and
`
`one-half" or acknowledgment paging environment, or even with a one-way
`
`paging system. The mobile data communication device 24 includes software
`
`program instructions that work in conjunction with the redirector program 12 to
`
`15
`
`enable the seamless, transparent redirection of user-selected data items. FIG. 4
`
`describes the basic method steps of the redirector program 12, and FIG. 5
`
`describes the steps of the corresponding program operating at the mobile device
`
`24,
`
`One example of a dual-mode device is shown in FIG. 12. The mobile
`
`20
`
`communication device 24 shown in Fig.
`
`12 is preferably a
`
`two-way
`
`communication device having at least voice and data communication capabilities.
`
`The device preferably has the ability to communicate with other computer
`
`systems on the Internet. Depending on the functionality provided by the device,
`
`the device may bereferred to as a data messaging device, a two-way pager, a
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`cellular telephone with data messaging capabilities, a wireless Internet appliance
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`or a data communication device (with or without telephony capabilities).
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`Where the device 24 is enabled for two-way communications, the device
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`will incorporate a communication subsystem 1911, including a receiver 1912, a
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`transmitter 1914, and associated components such as one or more, preferably
`embedded or internal, antenna elements 1916 and 1918, local oscillators (LOs)
`1913, and a processing module such asadigital signal processor (DSP) 1920. As
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`will be apparent to those skilled in the field of communications, the particular
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`design of the communication subsystem 1911 will be dependent upon the
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`communication network in which the device is intended to operate. For example,
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`a device 24 destined for a North American market may include a communication
`subsystem 1911
`designed
`to
`operate within
`the Mobitex™ mobile
`communication system or
`the DataTAC™ mobile communication system,
`whereas a device 24 intended for use in Europe may incorporate a General Packet
`Radio Service (GPRS) communication subsystem 1911.
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`Network access requirements will also vary depending upon the type of
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`network 1919. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks, mobile
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`devices 24 are registered on the network using a unique personal identification
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`number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRS networks, however,
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`network access is associated with a subscriber or user of a device 24. A GPRS
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`device therefore requires a subscriber identity module (not shown), commonly
`
`referred to as a SIM card, in order to operate on a GPRS network. Without a SIM
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`card, a GPRS device will not be fully functional. Local or non-network
`communication functions (if any) may be operable, but the device 24 will be
`unable to carry out any functions involving communications over the network
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`1919. When required network registration or activation procedures have been
`completed, a device 24 may send and receive communication signals over the
`network 1919. Signals received by the antenna 1916 through a communication
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`network 1919 are input to the receiver 1912, which may perform such common
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`receiver functions as signal amplification, frequency down conversion, filtering,
`
`channel selection and the like, and in the example system shown in Fig. 19,
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`analog to digital conversion. Analog to digital conversion of a received signal
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`allows more complex communication functions, such as demodulation and
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`decoding to be performed in the DSP 1920. In a similar manner, signals to be
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`transmitted are processed, including modulation and encoding, for example, by
`the DSP 1920 and input to the transmitter 1914 for digital to analog conversion,
`frequency up conversion,
`filtering, amplification and transmission over the
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`communication network 1919 via the antenna 1918.
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`The DSP 1920 not only processes communication signals, but also
`
`provides for receiver and transmitter control. For example, the gains applied to
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`communication signals in the receiver 1912 and transmitter 1914 may be
`adaptively controlled through automatic gain control algorithms implemented in
`
`the DSP 1920.
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`The device 24 preferably includes a microprocessor 1938, which controls
`
`the overall operation of the device. Communication functions, including at least
`data and voice communications, are performed through the communication
`subsystem 1911. The microprocessor 1938 also interacts with other device
`subsystems, such as the display 1922,
`flash memory 1924, random access
`memory (RAM) 1926, auxiliary input/output (I/O) subsystems 1928, serial port
`1930, keyboard
`1932,
`speaker
`1934, microphone
`1936,
`a
`short-range
`communications subsystem 1940 and any other device subsystems generally
`
`designated as 1942.
`Some of the subsystems shown in FIG. 12 perform communication-
`
`related functions, whereas other subsystems may provide “resident” or on-device
`
`functions. Notably, some subsystems, such as keyboard 1932 and display 1922,
`for example, may be used for both communication-related functions, such as
`entering a text message for transmission over a communication network, and
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`device-resident functions, such as a calculator ortasklist.
`
`Operating system software used by the microprocessor 1938is preferably
`stored in a persistent store, such as flash memory 1924, which may alternately be
`a read only memory (ROM)orsimilar storage element. Those skilled in the art
`will appreciate that the operating system, specific device applications, or parts
`thereof, may be temporarily loadedinto a volatile store, such as RAM 1926. It is
`contemplated that received communication signals may also be stored to RAM
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`1926.
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`The microprocessor 1938, in addition to its operating system functions,
`preferably enables execution of software applications.on the device. A
`predetermined set of applications that control basic device operations, including
`at least data and voice communication applications, for example, may be installed
`on the device 24 during manufacture. A preferred application that may be loaded
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`onto the device may be a personal information manager (PIM) application having
`the ability to organize and manage data items relating to the device user such as,
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`but not limited to, e-mail, calendar events, voice mails, appointments, and task
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`items. Naturally, one or more memory stores would be available on the deviceto
`facilitate storage of PIM data items on the device. Such PIM application would
`preferably have the ability to send and receive data items, via the wireless
`network.
`In a preferred embodiment,
`the PIM data items are seamlessly
`integrated, synchronized and updated, via the wireless network, with the device
`user’s corresponding data items stored. or associated with a host computer system.
`Further applications may also be loaded onto the device 24 through the network
`1919,
`an auxiliary I/O subsystem 1928,
`serial port
`1930,
`short-range
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`communications subsystem 1940 or any other suitable subsystem 1942, and
`installed by a user in the RAM 1926 or preferably a non-volatile store for
`execution by the microprocessor 1938. Such flexibility in application installation
`increases the functionality of the device and may provide enhanced on-device
`
`functions, communication-related functions, or both. For example,
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`communication applications may enable electronic commerce functions and other
`
`such financial transactions to be performed using the device 24.
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`In a data communication mode, a received signal, such as a text message
`
`or web page download, will be processed by the communication subsystem 1911
`and input to the microprocessor 1938, which will preferably further process the
`received signal for output to the display 1922, or alternatively to an auxiliary I/O
`device 1928. A user of device 24 may also compose data items, such as email
`
`messages, for example, using the keyboard 1932, whichis preferably a complete
`alphanumeric keyboard or telephone-type keypad, in conjunction with the display
`1922 and possibly an auxiliary I/O device 1928. Such composed items may then
`be transmitted over a communication network through the communication
`
`subsystem 1911.
`For voice communications, overall operation of the device 24 is
`
`substantially similar, except that received signals would preferably be output to a
`speaker 1934 and signals for transmission would be generated by a microphone
`1936. Alternative voice or audio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message
`recording subsystem, may also be implemented on the device 24. Although voice
`or audio signal output is preferably accomplished primarily through the speaker
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`1934, the display 1922 may also be used to provide an indication ofthe identity
`
`of a calling party,
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`the duration of a voice call, or other voice call related
`
`information for example.
`
`The serial port 1930 in Fig. 12 would normally be implemented in a
`personal digital
`assistant
`(PDA)-type
`communication device
`for which
`synchronization with a user’s desktop computer (not shown) may be desirable,
`but is an optional