WO2002082281A2

WO2002082281A2 - Remote data synchronization

Info

Publication number: WO2002082281A2
Application number: PCT/IL2002/000270
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dov Moran; Gidi Elazar
Original assignee: M-Systems Flask Disk Pioneers Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-04-04
Filing date: 2002-04-01
Publication date: 2002-10-17
Also published as: WO2002082281A3; AU2002255231A1

Abstract

A device, a method and a system for remote access and synchronization of data, particularly for e-mail messages. The present invention enables such remote access and subsequent display of the synchronized data at alocal computational device. Instead, a portable device is operated by the user, in order to access the data from the remote data resource. Optionally, the portable device then transmits the data to the local computational device being operated by the user. Alternatively, some type of display capability is included within theportable device itself. In either situation, the portable device preferably features wireless data transmission capability. The wireless data transmission capability is optionally integrally provided within the portable device, but alternatively is provided through communication with a separate device for wireless data transmission.

Description

REMOTE DATA SYNCHRONIZATION

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device, a system and a method for remote data synchronization, and in particular for such a device, system and method which would enable remotely received data to be coordinated with a local computational device of the user, regardless of the physical location of the user, particularly for synchronization of e-mail messages.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The Internet provides an international network for connecting many different computational devices, and therefore provides an unprecedented opportunity for remote access to a resource by a user. For example, a user who is traveling is potentially able to access data at the remote location, as well as e-mail (electronic mail) messages and so forth. However, the secure provision of such access from a remote point has proven to be difficult. Currently, only partial solutions are available. For example, the user is able to store data through the World Wide Web, at a remote Web server, which can then be retrieved at the remote location. E-mail messages can also be similarly retrieved. Unfortunately, these solutions do not enable the user to re-create the familiar working environment of the computer of the user. For example, users typically adjust the hardware settings of their computer in order to conform with their own preferences. Similarly, software programs which the user regularly accesses also have various settings for preferences, which can be adjusted in order to meet the needs of the user. All of these settings are not available for the user at the remote location.

Other requirements for communication through the Internet are also not currently met. For example, the identity of the user must be authenticated for secure access to remote resources, regardless of the physical location of the user. Currently, most forms of access control, whether to a specific data resource or more general access to a network, are implemented as software programs, which have a number of disadvantages. For example, these programs may be "'hacked" or overcome by an unauthorized user, who can then gain access to the data. Such a disadvantage has become more acute with the advent of networks, distributed data storage and "client-server" applications, all of which increase the number of potential access points. Such an increased number of access points also potentially increase the ability of an unauthorized user to gain access to such resources. Thus, software programs are clearly not adequate protection for data stored in a networked environment with multiple access points. Unfortunately, the two goals of both providing secure data storage and data storage which is accessible at multiple locations, such that the user can access the data at more than one access point, are directly contradictory, as permitting access to the data from multiple access points significantly decreases the security of the data A third important aspect of data storage is personalization, such that the user who owns the data is able to access it quickly and easily, yet such access is blocked to other, non-authorized users None of these aspects is satisfied by currently available solutions which are known in the art

Clearly, a better solution would enable the user to maintain access to stored data in a distributing computing environment, in which multiple access points are available, such as through a network, for example Such a solution would be particularly useful for maintaining synchronization of data, such as e-mail messages for example, in order for the user to both be able to receive the most current data, and also to be able to determine which data is actually the most current set Unfortunately, such a solution is not currently available

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other objects, aspects and advantages will be better understood from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, wherein

FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary portable device according to the present invention,

FIG 2 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for operating the device of Figure 1 for e- mail synchronization according to the present invention, and

FIG 3 is a schematic block diagram of a second exemplary embodiment of the device of Figure 1 according to the present invention

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The background art does not teach or suggest a device, a system and a method for remote data synchronization The background art does not teach or suggest such a device, system and method which would enable remotely received data to be coordinated with a local computational device of the user, regardless of the physical location of the user The background art does not teach or suggest such a device, system and method which are useful for synchronization of e-mail messages

The present invention overcomes these deficiencies of the background art by providing a device, a method and a system for remote access and synchronization of data, particularly for e- mail messages. The present invention enables such remote access and subsequent display of the synchronized data at a local computational device, without requiring access of the remote data resource by the local computational device itself. Instead, a portable device is operated by the user, in order to access the data from the remote data resource. The portable device is preferably also able to synchronize the accessed data, such that the retrieved data is somehow marked or otherwise differentiated at the data resource itself from data which has not been so retrieved from the remote data resource, for example by being marked as "old" or otherwise deleted.

Optionally, the portable device then transmits the data to the local computational device being operated by the user, such that in one embodiment, the portable device is separate from that local computational device. The local computational device would therefore not necessarily be required to be portable. Alternatively, some type of display capability is included within the portable device itself. The portable device optionally and more preferably features wireless data transmission capability, for example through a cellular telephone. It should be noted that wireless data transmission includes at least one of data transmission and reception through wireless communication, but preferably includes both data transmission and reception. The wireless data transmission capability is optionally integrally provided within the portable device, but alternatively is provided through communication with a separate device for wireless data transmission. According to preferred embodiments of the present invention the wireless data transmission capability may be implemented through the use of readily available technology, such as cellular communication technology, which is optionally analog (e.g. AMPS, etc.), but is preferably digital (e.g. CDMA, TDMA, GSM, iMode and so forth) or alternatively satellite- based technologies such as Iridium or Globalstar. According to preferred embodiments of the present invention, as a device, the portable device preferably features sufficient computational power and resources to perform various tasks. The minimal components of the preferred implementation of the portable device include a data processor, a non-volatile memory component, and a connector for connecting the portable device to an external, but local, host computational device. Preferably, the connector features a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface controller and a USB connector, for connecting the portable device to the USB bus of the external local host computational device. Alternatively and preferably the connector features a FireWire™ interface controller and a FireWire™ connector, for connecting the Portable device to the FireWire™ bus of the external local host computational device

Alternatively and preferably, communication between the portable device and the host computational device may be performed through a wireless connection Preferably, the wireless connection features communication by infrared signals, more preferably featuring IrDa technology More preferably, the wireless connection features communication by radio signals Still more preferably, the wireless radio connection features Bluetooth technology Also preferably, the non-volatile memory component is a flash memory device with a flash memory controller

Optionally and more preferably, the portable device features a set of instructions for communicating with the remote data resource Most preferably, the remote data resource is an e-mail server, such that the instructions include commands for downloading e-mail messages from the e-mail server, and optionally and most preferably, for transmitting new e-mail messages through the e-mail server Optionally and preferably, the instructions also include commands for comparing and updating other data that may be stored on the portable device or on the remote data resource or on both More preferably, the other data also includes details of potential email addressees

According to the present invention, there is provided a portable device for synchronizing data with a remote resource, comprising (a) a wireless transmission component for transmitting data to, and receiving data from, the remote resource, (b) a non-volatile memory for storing at least one instruction for synchronizing the data with the remote resource and for storing the data received from the remote resource, and (c) a CPU for executing the at least one instruction for synchronizing the data

Preferably, the portable device further features (d) a computer connector for connecting to an external host computer, such that synchronization of the data is performed with the external host computer and such that the external host computer displays the received data More preferably, the computer connector includes a USB (universal serial bus) connector and controller Alternatively and preferably the connector features a FireWire™ interface controller and a FireWire™ connector, for connecting the Portable device to the FireWire™ bus of the external local host computational device Alternatively, communication between the portable device and the host computational device may be performed through a wireless connection Preferably, the wireless connection between the portable device and the host computational device features communication by Infrared signals, more preferably featuring IrDa technology More preferably, the wireless connection between the portable device and the host computational device features communication by radio waves Still more preferably, the wireless radio connection between the portable device and the host computational device features Bluetooth technology

Optionally, the wireless transmission component includes a cellular telephone chip set Also optionally, the wireless transmission component further communicates with an external wireless device for transmitting and receiving data More preferably, the external wireless device is a cellular telephone

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a system for synchronizing data with a remote resource, comprising (a) an external host computational device for displaying the data, and (b) a portable device for synchronizing data with the remote resource, comprising (I) a wireless transmission component for transmitting data to, and receiving data from, the remote resource, (n) a non-volatile memory for storing at least one instruction for synchronizing the data with the remote resource and for storing the data received from the remote resource, (in) a CPU for executing the at least one instruction for synchronizing the data, and (iv) a computer connector for connecting to the external host computational device Preferably, the computer connector includes a USB (universal serial bus) connector and controller Alternatively and preferably, the computer connector includes a FireWire™ connector and controller

Alternatively, communication between the portable device and the external computational device may be performed through a wireless connection Preferably, the wireless connection features communication by Infrared signals, more preferably featuring IrDa technology More preferably, the wireless connection features communication by radio signals Still more preferably, the wireless radio connection features Bluetooth

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method for synchronizing data with a remote data resource, comprising providing a portable device for communicating with the remote data resource, the portable device including a wireless communication component for wireless communication with the remote data resource, initiating a connection to the remote data resource by the portable device, retrieving data from the remote data resource by the portable device, and synchronizing the data with the remote data resource to indicate that the data has been retrieved

Preferably, the remote data resource is an e-mail server, and the data includes e-mail messages Optionally and preferably the data also includes details of potential addressees

Hereinafter, the terms "computer user" and "user" both refer to the person who operates a computer, which is in communication with a data storage device

Hereinafter, the terms "computer" or "computational device" refer to a combination of a particular computer hardware system and a particular software operating system Examples of such hardware systems include those with any type of suitable data processor Hereinafter, the terms "computer" or "computational device" include, but are not limited to, personal computers (PC) having an operating system such as DOS, Windows™, OS/2™ or Linux, Macintosh™ MacOS computers, computers having JAVA™-OS as the operating system, and graphical workstations such as the computers of Sun Microsystems™ and Silicon Graphics™, and other computers having some version of the UNIX operating system such as AIX™ or SOLARIS™ of Sun Microsystems™, a PalmPilot™, a PilotPC™, or any other handheld device, any other device featuring known and available operating system, as well as any type of device which has a data processor of some type with an associated memory Hereinafter, the term "Windows™" includes but is not limited to Wιndows95™, Windows NT™, Wιndows98™, Windows CE™, Windows 2000, Windows Millennium and any upgraded versions of these operating systems by Microsoft Corp (USA)

For the present invention, a software application could be written in substantially any suitable programming language, which could easily be selected by one of ordinary skill in the art The programming language chosen should be compatible with the computer by which the software application is executed, and in particularly with the operating system of that computer Examples of suitable programming languages include, but are not limited to, C, C++ and Java Furthermore, the functions of the present invention, when described as a series of steps for a method, could be implemented as a series of software instructions for being operated by a data processor, such that the present invention could be implemented as software, firmware or hardware, or a combination thereof

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is of a device, a method and a system for remote access and synchronization of data, particularly for e-mail messages The present invention enables such remote access and subsequent display of the synchronized data at a local computational device, without requiring access of the remote data resource by the local computational device itself Instead, a portable device is operated by the user, in order to access the data from the remote data resource The portable device is preferably also able to synchronize the accessed data, such that the retrieved data is somehow marked or otherwise differentiated at the data resource itself from data which has not been so retrieved from the remote data resource, for example by being marked as "old" or otherwise deleted.

Optionally, the portable device then transmits the data to the local computational device being operated by the user, such that in one embodiment, the portable device is separate from that local computational device. The local computational device would therefore not necessarily be required to be portable. Alternatively, some type of display capability is included within the portable device itself. In either situation, the portable device preferably features wireless data transmission capability, for example through a cellular telephone. The wireless data transmission capability is optionally integrally provided within the portable device, but alternatively is provided through communication with a separate device for wireless data transmission.

The principles and operation of a device, a system and a method according to the present invention may be better understood with reference to the drawings and the accompanying description, it being understood that these drawings are given for illustrative purposes only and are not meant to be limiting. Furthermore, although the following discussion centers upon a removable device, which is preferably connected to a USB bus, it is understood that this is for the purposes of description only and is not intended to be limiting in any way.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of an illustrative, exemplary portable device according to the present invention. A portable device 10 features a CPU 12 for executing instructions, such as a request to read data for example. CPU 12 is optionally a microprocessor. Preferably, CPU 12 is connected to a bus 14, which is a local bus. CPU 12 is more preferably able to read these instructions from a non-volatile memory component 16, which is most preferably implemented as a flash memory component. In addition, CPU 12 preferably has access to a volatile memory component, such as a RAM (random access memory) 18.

Portable device 10 is preferably able to communicate with an external, local host computational device (not shown) through a connector of some type, shown for the purposes of description only and without any intention of being limiting as a USB connector 20 with an associated USB controller 22. USB controller 22 may optionally be implemented with the USS- 820TD-DB chip (Lucent Inc., USA), while USB connector 20 may optionally be obtained from ACON (http://www.acon.com.tw ), for example. Of course, other types of computer connectors are also possible, including but not limited, to Bluetooth, FireWire™, or IrDa, for example. According to the implementation of portable device 10, which is shown in Figure 1 , portable device 10 also features a wireless transmission component 24.

Optionally and preferably, wireless transmission component 24 features an antenna 26 for transmitting and receiving wireless data signals, for example from a cellular telephone network. Antenna 26 is connected to an RF (radio frequency) unit 28, which actually performs the transmission and reception of the wireless signals, such as radio and/or other types of signals. RF unit 28 is connected to a signal processor 30, which in conjunction with a digital processor 32 performs the necessary signal processing for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Briefly, digital processor 32, as an example of a suitable DSP (digital signal processing) chipset, co-ordinates the voice, SMS (short message system) and other data transmission features of a cellular telephone. Digital processor 32 processes speech, and handles voice activity detection, as well as discontinuous transmission and reception typical of a Packet Switched telephone Network (PSTN). A first portion of digital processor 32 amplifies the input signal received from the microphone, while a second portion of digital processor 32 converts this microphone voice signal from "analogue" to "digital". The digital conversion is necessary because the cellular standard for all modern systems is for a completely digital system.

The voice processing of digital processor 32 is preferably performed in tandem with highly sophisticated compression technique mediated by signal processor 30, which is the "CODEC" (compressor/decompressor) portion of the cellular telephone components.

Signal processor 30 instantly transfers this "compressed" information to RF unit 28, which is essentially the transmit and receive section of wireless transmission component 24, then sends out the voice or data information over the air and on to the nearest cellular base station. As previously described, preferably such a transmission is performed through antenna 26. Ultimately, the data information is transmitted to the final destination, such as the remote data resource (not shown). The incoming data also travels much the same route, although such data is first uncompressed from the incoming digital form into an audible analogue form for voice data. These components are also used as a modem, operated by an appropriate piece of firmware. The digital processor translates digital data packets into appropriate PSTN messages representing MODEM information. Those are processed by the signal processor and sent through the RF module. Data received is then processed by that procedure, but in reverse.

For portable device 10 of Figure 1, particularly with regard to the particular preferred implementation of wireless transmission component 24 which is shown, optionally and more preferably, an API (application programming interface) to digital processor 32 is provided (not shown) Such an optional API would enable CPU 12 to control the activity of digital processor 32 as the master processing unit, while digital processor 32 would be the slave processing unit Preferably (and typically for cellular telephone chip components), the API is provided through digital processor 32 itself Optional commands could include an "initiate connection" command for transmission to digital processor 32 by CPU 12 Next, digital processor 32 provides the required parameters, such as telephone number, operation mode, and connection parameters, for enabling a connection to be made between portable device 10 and the remote data resource for example (such as an e-mail server). After the connection has been established, data is received through wireless transmission component 24. After the necessary data has been received, CPU 12 preferably instructs digital processor 32 to close down and cease operation

The actual process of receiving data from the remote data resource depends upon the type of data, and hence upon the type of communication protocol for communicating with the remote data resource According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, the portable device of Figure 1 is used for at least receiving e-mail messages More preferably, the portable device is used to synchronize e-mail messages, such that the user is able to determine which e-mail messages have been previously received through the portable device Most preferably, the user is also able to transmit new e-mail messages through the portable device, thereby enabling the user to use a particular e-mail server for all transmission and reception of e- mail messages from a remote location, if desired Optionally and more preferably still the portable device is also used for receiving details of potential email addressees More preferably, the portable device is used to synchronize details of potential email addressees, such that details of potential email addressees are made identical on the portable device and on the remote data resource

In order for the portable device to be able to communicate with the e-mail server, certain communication protocols are preferably followed The following description in Figure 2 concerns an exemplary method for both operating the portable device of Figure 1, and also for communicating with a remote e-mail server as the remote data resource Of course, a similar method could be used for other types of remote data resources, by changing those portions of the method which are particular to a certain communication protocol, as could be easily performed by one of ordinary skill in the art

As shown, for the illustrative method of Figure 2, the user first activates the portable device, such that the CPU executes at least one instruction stored on the non-volatile memory As a result, the wireless transmission component is activated, and attempts to initiate the connection with the remote data resource, in this case an e-mail server Preferably, information required for initiating this connection, such as a telephone number for a dial-up modem connection to the e-mail server, is also stored on the non-volatile memory Optionally and alternatively, the user enters this information directly to the portable device manually Also optionally and alternatively, the receiving base station for the wireless transmission component could support a "roaming" service, in which dial-up connectivity is automatically provided to a local cellular company and through that company to a local ISP (Internet Service Provider), or alternatively directly to an ISP, which would then connect to the desired remote e-mail server for the user Next, the wireless transmission component connects to the remote e-mail server, for example as described above with regard to Figure 1 Communication is then preferably performed according to a standard e-mail communication protocol POP3, SMTP and IMAP are the most common such e-mail protocols based on TCP/IP

The Post Office Protocol, version 3 (POP3) is the most commonly used protocol used for retrieving email messages on the Internet The technical specifications can be found in RFC

1225, which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein Each POP3 session consists of three stages authorization, transaction, and update A session is a structured conversation between the POP3 server and the client user agent, which in this example is the portable device of the present invention (or more precisely, the set of instructions executed by that device, which may be considered to be the portable device client) In each stage, POP3 commands are sent from the client portable device to the POP3 server, and the server sends a reply code (+OK or -ERR) back to the client The reply codes may be followed by additional information about the reply

During the authorization stage, the portable device sends authorization information (user name/password) to the e-mail server, and if allowed is granted access to the e-mail data The relevant commands are USER, PASS

Example

Client USER gidi Server +OK

Client PASS Abracadabra

Server +OK For the transaction stage, the actual e-mail messages are retrieved by the portable device. Commands are: STAT, LIST, TOP, NOOP, RETR, DELE, and RSET

Example: Client: RETR 3

Server: +OK 450 octets

Server: <The server transmits the message to the client>

Server:

The final stage is the update stage, in which the portable device closes the connection to the remote e-mail server. Commands are: QUIT

Example: Client: QUIT Server: +OK

A second type of e-mail communication protocol, which is preferably also supported by the portable device in addition to POP3, but which is optionally supported in place of POP3, is the IMAP protocol. IMAP is a superset of POP3. One of its advantages is that it enables management of e- mail messages on the server, whereas POP3 allows only offline management. Additionally IMAP permits retrieval of parts of the information (e.g. only e-mail message headers), email folders and more. IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol. It is a method of accessing electronic mail or bulletin board messages that are kept on a (possibly shared) mail server. In other words, it permits a "client" email program, such as the previously described instruction set of the portable device of the present invention, to access remote message stores as if they were local.

The subset of the available commands of IMAP which are preferably supported by the portable device of the present invention include, but are not limited to: CAPABILITY NOOP LOGOUT AUTHENTICATE LOGIN SELECT EXAMINE

CREATE DELETE RENAME SUBSCRIBE UNSUBSCRIBE LIST LSUB STATUS APPEND CHECK CLOSE EXPUNGE SEARCH FETCH STORE COPY UID Here is an example from IMAP RFC RFC2060, for retrieving a message

C A654 FETCH 2 4 (FLAGS BODY[HEADER FIELDS (DATE FROM)])

S * 2 FETCH

S * 3 FETCH . ..

S * 4 FETCH

S A654 OK FETCH completed

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the most widely used protocol to send messages by Message Transfer Agents (MTA) on the Internet MTAs are client or server programs that perform email services, such as sending or receiving mail for a host computer The protocol is designed to transfer mail independently of any specific transmission subsystem

Sender MAIL FROM <john@elton net - Receiver 250 OK

Sender RCPT TO <paul@mcartney.org~- Receiver. 250 OK

Sender- DATA Receiver 354 Start mail input, end with <CRLF> <CRLF> Sender It was many and many a year ago Sender In a kingdom by the sea Sender Receiver 250 OK WAP (wireless application protocol) uses existing Internet standards for communication with wireless device, and as such could optionally be implemented with the portable device of Figure 1, in addition to or alternatively in replacement for, one of the previously described e- mail communication protocols The WAP architecture was designed to enable standard off-the- shelf Internet servers to provide services to wireless devices In addition, when communicating with wireless devices, WAP uses many Internet standards such as XML, UDP, and IP The WAP wireless protocols are based on Internet standards such as HTTP and TLS, but have been optimized for the unique constraints of the wireless environment

Therefore, the instruction set of the portable device of Figure 1 can optionally implement a WAP client, who may connect to a WAP server at the service provider, and make use of the Internet infrastructure for email related protocols.

The Java 2 micro-edition (J2ME) is a Java runtime environment developed for use in a wide range of limited resource devices, including pagers, cellular phones, digital set-top boxes and car navigation systems.

The Mobile Information Device Profile (MIDP) is a set of Java APIs which, together with the Connected, Limited Device Configuration (CLDC), provides a complete J2ME application runtime environment targeted at mobile information devices, such as cellular phones and two-way pagers. Mail4ME f http : //mail4me . enhydra. or g/ as of 3 March 2002) is a lightweight implementation of the POP3 and SMTP protocols - including MIME support and with IMAP support to come - allowing wireless J2ME/MIDP devices to access the Internet e-mail service.

Therefore the instruction set of the portable device of Figure 1 which according to preferred embodiments of the present invention is able to execute the JJ2ME runtime environment, can optionally and preferably be implanted using the MaiWMe API as described above.

Preferably, the portable device is permitted to at least receive data from the remote data resource, after which the connection to the remote e-mail server is ended. Optionally, only portions of e-mail messages (such as headers) are received, and/or the e-mail messages are optionally filtered according to one or more criteria, as determined by instructions stored on the non-volatile memory of the portable device. For example the user could optionally request only to download e-mail messages which are sent from certain e-mail addresses, and/or which have other characteristics.

Next, the e-mail messages are displayed to the user. According to a first illustrative implementation, the messages are displayed to the user through a display device, which is a feature of the portable device itself, such as a display screen for example.

According to a second illustrative implementation, the portable is connected by the user to an external computational device for displaying the e-mail messages. Such an external computational device could optionally be a cellular telephone, or other device with cellular telephone capabilities, as described with regard to Figure 3 below.

However, preferably the user connects the USB connector (or other computer connector) of the portable device to a local host computational device, which is implemented as some type of computer (even if only as a palm-top size computer). It should be noted that the portable device is preferably highly portable, such that the user could easily carry the portable device to each external, local host computational device to which the portable device is to be connected Next, the portable device performs a handshake procedure with the host computational device, through the USB interface of the portable device and the USB bus of the host computational device Such handshake procedures are well known in the art, and could easily be implemented with the instructions stored on the portable device by one of ordinary skill in the art

The interaction between the portable device and the local host computational device depends upon the particular implementation, as a number of implementations may optionally be used with the present invention According to a first such implementation, the portable device communicates with the local host computational device as a passive storage device, such that all reading and writing activities for data are performed from the CPU of the local host computational device to the non-volatile memory component of the portable storage device For this implementation, the local host computational device would preferably retrieve and display the e-mail messages to the user Also optionally and preferably, the user would also be able to "send" new e-mail messages, by entering the necessary information through the local host computational device However, the actual transmission of the e-mail messages would more preferably be performed by the portable device, most preferably after disconnecting from the local host computational device In order to assist this implementation, optionally and preferably, a software module would also be copied to the local host computational device, for example by a manual action of the user This software module, which could be implemented as a full software program but which is more preferably designed as a specific "plug-in" or addition to an existing software program on the local host computational device, would then cause the local host computational device to read e-mail messages from the portable device, and also preferably to 'send" e-mail messages to the portable device

Alternatively, rather than causing the portable device to appear as passive storage to the local host computational device, the portable device could optionally be installed as an active component For example, the portable device could appear as a network interface component or at least would appear as such to the local host computational device The existing and/or temporarily installed (preferably from the portable device) e-mail software would then more preferably "download" e-mail messages from, and "send" new e-mail messages to, the portable device as though the portable device is a network connector to the e-mail server As previously described, preferably the instruction set executed by the portable device includes instructions for communication according to various e-mail message protocols, and as such could also optionally assume the role of the e-mail server in such a communication protocol. The disadvantage of such an "active" implementation is that the installation process to the local host computational device is more difficult and may potentially cause problems with the operation of the local host computational device.

In any case, preferably the portable device is able to connect to the local host computational device such that the user can send and retrieve e-mail messages in a transparent manner, and such that the e-mail messages are synchronized with the remote e-mail server as previously described.

Figure 3 shows a second exemplary implementation of the device of Figure 1, as a component to be connected to a pre-existing device for wireless communication, such as a cellular telephone for example. As shown, a portable device 34 features all of the components of Figure 1, with the exception of wireless transmission component 24. Instead, portable device 34 connects to a wireless device such as a cellular telephone 36 for data transmission and/or reception. Preferably, the connection between portable device 34 and cellular telephone 36 is a physical connection, more preferably featuring a standard technology, such as FireWire™. Alternatively and preferably , the connection between portable device 34 and cellular telephone 36 is a wireless connection, more preferably using Infrared signals, most preferably featuring IrDa technology. The operation of portable device 34 is otherwise preferably similar as for Figures 1 and 2.

It will be appreciated that the above descriptions are intended only to serve as examples, and that many other embodiments are possible within the spirit and the scope of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS

1 A portable device for synchronizing data with a remote resource, comprising

(a) a wireless transmission component for transmitting data to, and receiving data from, the remote resource,

(b) a non-volatile memory for storing at least one data file , and

(c) a CPU for executing said at least one instruction for synchronizing the data

2 The portable device of claim 1, further comprising

(d) a computer connector for connecting to an external host computer, such that synchronization of the data is performed with said external host computer and such that said external host computer displays the received data

3 The portable device of claim 2, wherein said computer connector includes a USB (universal serial bus) connector and controller

4 The portable device of claim 2, wherein said computer connector includes a FireWire ™ connector and controller

5 The portable device of claim 2, wherein said computer connector includes technology for short distance wireless communication

6 The portable device of claim 5, wherein said short distance wireless communication uses Infra Red signals

7 The portable device of claim 6, wherein said technology for said wireless communication is IrDa technology

8 The portable device of claim 5, wherein said short distance wireless communication uses radio signals

9 The portable device of claim 8, wherein said technology for said wireless communication is Bluetooth technology

10 The portable device of claim 1, wherein said wireless transmission component includes a cellular telephone chip set

1 1 The portable device of claim 1, wherein said wireless transmission component further communicates with an external wireless device for transmitting and receiving data

12 The portable device of claim 1 1, wherein said external wireless device is a cellular telephone

13 The portable device of claim 1, wherein said non-volatile memory also stores information for synchronizing said data on said non-volatile memory with data from the remote resource

14 A system for synchronizing data with a remote resource, comprising

(a) an external host computational device for displaying the data, and

(b) a portable device for synchronizing data with the remote resource, comprising (I) a wireless transmission component for transmitting data to, and receiving data from, the remote resource, (ii) a non-volatile memory for storing at least one instruction for synchronizing the data with the remote resource and for storing the data received from the remote resource, (in) a CPU for executing said at least one instruction for synchronizing the data, and (iv) a computer connector for connecting to said external host computational device

15 The system of claim 14, wherein said computer connector includes a USB (universal serial bus) connector and controller

16 A method for synchronizing data with a remote data resource, comprising providing a portable device for communicating with the remote data resource, said portable device including a wireless communication component for wireless communication with the remote data resource; initiating a connection to the remote data resource by said portable device; retrieving data from the remote data resource by said portable device; and sending data to the remote data resource from said portable device; and synchronizing the data with the remote data resource to indicate that the data has been retrieved by said portable device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the remote data resource is an e-mail server, and the data includes e-mail messages.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein synchronizing the data with the remote data resource includes synchronizing e-mail messages with said e-mail server, and wherein said e- mail messages are synchronized by at least marking said e-mail messages on said e-mail server as being retrieved.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein said e-mail messages are deleted from said e- mail server after being retrieved.

20. The method of claim 17 where the data further includes at least one detail of at least one e-mail address.