AU2004218691A1 - Mobile Data-Centric Device Interlinking System and Method - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 28/5/91 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Name of Applicant: Address for service is: Lavandoo SA WRAY ASSOCIATES Level 4, The Quadrant 1 William Street Perth, WA 6000 Attorney code: WR Invention Title: Mobile Data-Centric Device Interlinking System and Method The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me:- -2- MOBILE DATA-CENTRIC DEVICE INTERLINKING SYSTEM AND METHOD SBackground of the Invention 0 This invention relates to device interlinking systems, and, more particularly, to systems for linking devices which disparate connection protocols for data sharing.

Cardscan.com, Newsoft.com, Iris.com and Worldcard.com offer products 0_ that encode textual material via scanning of business cards for use in contact management systems.

0 10 Nokia Corporation, Siemens, Samsung, Motorola and others offer several software programs, such as, Nokia Data suite etc to facilitate data linking between mobile phones and PC/laptops, using different connectivity technologies such as cable connections, "BLUETOOTH TM or infrared data transmission.

Manufacturer of PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) bundle software (e.g.

"ACTIVE SYNC TM, Palm Desktop) with their devices to synchronize data residing on the mobile device and the user's PC/laptop.

US Patent No. 5,907,815 to Grimm et al, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, describes a solution to the dual problems of mobility and portability associated with using a portable telephone in combination with a portable computer. A portable telephone is constructed to fit within a cavity in a portable computer. When fully inserted into the computer, the portable telephone is physically connected to the portable computer by a latching mechanism and communicates with the portable computer by means of a computer/portable telephone interface that electrically connects the portable telephone to the portable computer. In one embodiment of the invention, the portable telephone serves as the portable computer's modem and function while installed in the computer. Thus, the portable phone facilitates the transmission and reception of data between the portable computer and another computer connected to the telephone system.

However, all such solutions are isolated, non-integrated solutions which only partially solve the problem of seamless interconnectivity. It is the user's own -3o responsibility to apply the features of the isolated software products to solve his 0 c problem of managing the data residing on the various devices in a consistent way.

-4,0 O There is no support of a workflow management or workflow optimization system

O

to guide the user. In addition, most of the offered products are either hardware, brand or manufacturer-bound which offer no universal, manufacturer-independent _solution for the user's mobile PC world. None of the offered solutions places the NO mobile phone in the center of its feature and functional scope apart from synching o00 information between the PC PDA and mobile phone, and none of the offered solutions comprehensively implements essential workflows. The gaps in the 0 10 current product offerings are illustrated below in Table 1: Oq-, ua k itehrui~lF N C.NCQtclt TABLE 1 In addition, with solutions of the prior art, the required information is often not available on the personal digital device primary and secondary mobile phone car phone, PDA). All too frequently, the user does not have the correct contact information in his mobile phone memory, on his SIM card or in his car phone as the busy professional simply doesn't have the time required to update all this disparate information on all his devices. This is due to the fact that the amount of memory of personal digital devices is limited and transferring data to theses devices is a cumbersome process which can often only be managed by IT experts.

In addition all users using new DECT phones at home with the capability to send receive SMS do need to have access to manage and customize their address and -4contact information out of one databank eg OUTLOOKTM in the Office, c, OUTLOOK EXPRESS T M at home) SFurther, many users are burdened with having to carry around many business cards held together by elastic bands due to the fact that entering contact information into the PC without any automization tool is cumbersome and _ineffective.

INDServer-based applications, such as the "BLACKBERRY TM handheld, a 00 very different technology, being a server-based application, are built around the core e-mail function and do integrate some applications. Although such applications provide another approach to access the required information when necessary, the drawback of this approach is that an online connection to the server is required. Further, many of these applications force the user to type SMS messages using a small keyboard. Still further, the Data input of address and contact information is not globally addressed. For example, the user's second and third phone can not be managed through the Blackberry solution. In this application, the user besides the extraordinary costs connected with using the Blackberry has basically an e-mail system with integrated mobile phone, a solution only useful for a very small captive market.

Lack of data compatibility of current solutions often means that a user has electronic contact information strewn about in different devices, such as their PC's personal information system, like Microsoft OUTLOOKTM, a proprietary contact database on their mobile phone or on a proprietary databank bundled with a scanning device to digitalize business cards.

Lack of interlinkability often means that if one device is lost or stolen, critical contact information and other data may be lost forever.

Further, businessmen who frequently travel in different countries may have more than one phone latest research in Europe shows that 56% of all Business customers have two SIM cards, 18% already possess 3 SIM cards), due to the different communications infrastructures and standards supported in a given country or having a private and business phone. In addition more then 18% have either a further mobile or car phone. This leads to further fragmentation of mobile information, and thus, aggravates the problems of data synchronization and data c management.

-4,0 a What is needed therefore is a comprehensive solution taking both hardware and software into account, concentrating on providing their customers with a total, integrated solution to optimize the user's workflow. More specifically, what is _needed is such a system that offers the necessary hardware and software in one, O fully integrated package, having one user interface, one learning process, one 00 registration process, one SKU, build around stable functioning soft and hardware to be used by non technical or IT minded persons.

Summary of the Invention A computerized method, encoded on a computer-readable medium, implements a comprehensive solution for mobile data-centric device interlinking based on the principles of ease of use, convenience, and integration. The method includes the basic steps of data acquisition, data management and data output.

Data acquisition is accomplished through the use of a business card scanner, an infrared device, and a dual SIM card reader. Data management is accomplished through data operations performed on a computer having a logical database, such operations including verifying and sychronizing data between electronic devices and providing for direct input of data into the system. Data output is provided via a printer, a GUI, or other output device, with the goal of optimizing contact management/ networking /active or passive reachability between the PC and mobile world.

In another feature, a comprehensive solution is attained to the interconnectivity of a variety of devices.

An object of the invention is to conveniently interlink mobile data between disparate devices for the purpose of maintaining contact information, managing tasks, as well as permitting professional SMS/Mobile Messaging, CRM and team management, using a personal computer.

Brief Description of the Drawings -6- 0 FIG. 1 is a schematic, block diagram of system of the invention.

N, FIG. 2 is a schematic, block diagram of the architecture of the method of the o invention.

0 FIG. 3 is a schematic, block diagram of the method of the invention.

FIGs. 4A to 4C are screen prints of the GUI of the system help of the invention.

FIG. 5A to 5B are screen prints of the Outlook T M -based GUIs of the invention.

O FIG. 6A is a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of printed contact 00 information of the invention.

FIG. 6B is a schematic flow diagram of the business card characterization submethod of the invention.

FIG. 6C is a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of electronic contact information located on mobile phones.

FIG. 6D is a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of electronic contact information located on Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) as well as transferring electronic contact information to PDAs.

FIG. 6E is a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of notes in form of short messages located on mobile phones.

FIG. 6F is a flow chart of the submethod of managing (creation, modification, and deletion) of aspect-specific sets of contact information, called groups.

FIG. 6G is a flow chart of the submethod of printing contact information in various agenda formats.

FIG. 611 is a flow chart of the submethod of printing contact information in various label formats.

FIG. 61 is a flow chart of the submethod of transferring notes in form of short messages to mobile phones.

FIG. 6J is a flow chart of the submethod of sending notes in form of short messages to single contacts or sets of contacts.

FIG. 6K is a flow chart of the submethod of transferring contact information in form of phone book entries to mobile phones.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the product family of the invention, as well as the hierarchy of product offerings.

-7- FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the functions and advantages of the invention ,l SDetailed Description of the Preferred Embodiment N, Referring to FIG. 1, in which a block diagram of a typical system 20 of the invention (referred to as the "ALL4LOOP"TM system) for practicing the various _embodiments of the present invention, the contact management method 60 is O comprised in system software (referred to as the ALL4LOOPTM system software) 00 encoded on a computer readable medium, and manages contact data on a mobile data-centric basis. The computer system 20 includes a computer 22, a display device 24, an input device 26 such as a keyboard, a primary storage device 30, a secondary storage device 32., a high quality IrDA business card reader 33, an infrared device 35 and a specialized double slot SIM card reader 37 which includes a first slot 39 for a normal small SIM card 41 as well as a second slot 43 for a credit card sized SIM card After loading of software encoded with the method 60 of the invention, the display device 24 displays a graphical user interface 34 for facilitating the display of text and graphics for the user. Display devices 24 include printers and computer display screens such as a CRT, LED displays, and LCDs. Input devices 26 are numerous and include keyboards and pointing devices such as a mouse 27 having a left mouse button 28 and a right mouse button 29, a trackball, lightpens, thumbwheels, digitizing tablets, microphones using voice recognition software, and touch screens and pads.

The computer 22 includes a CPU 36 as well as other components with which all who are skilled in the art are familiar. For a detailed discussion of these components and their interaction, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,254, the content of which is incorporated by reference. The secondary storage 32 supports the contact management method 60, preferably HTTP-compliant, as well as a number of Internet access tools. The secondary storage 32 may also support other Internet services including mail transfer protocol (SMTP), e-mail, file transfer protocol network transfer protocol ("NNTP") or "usenet" and remote terminal access (Telnet). The CPU 36 fetches computer instructions from primary storage -8through an interface 40 such as an input/output subsystem connected to a bus 42. A logical relational database 53a manages data and relations to be stored in Sprimary storage 30 and be accessed via file-server protocol. The computer 22 can N, be, but is not limited to, an "IBM" computer, a product of International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, or any computer compatible with the IBM PC computer systems based on the Pentium T M series processor of Intel OCorporation or compatible processors, or any of the "SPARC" station or "ULTRA" 00 workstation computer systems available from Sun Microsystems, Inc. of Mountain View, Calif., any "MACINTOSH" computer systems based on a "POWERPC" processor and available from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. The CPU 36 utilizes an operating system which, depending on the hardware used, may be DOS, "WINDOWS "WINDOWS 95" "WINDOWS 98", "WINDOWS 2000", "AIX", "LINUX", or any other suitable operating system.

The CPU 36 executes these fetched computer instructions. Executing these instructions enables the CPU 36 to retrieve data or write data to the primary storage 30, display information on one or more display devices 24, receive command signals from one or more input devices 26, or transfer data to secondary storage 32. Those skilled in the art understand that primary storage 30 and secondary storage 32 can include any type of computer storage including RAM, ROM, application specific integrated circuits ("ASIC") and storage devices which include magnetic and optical storage media such as a CD-ROM.

The primary storage 30 stores a number of items including the method and a runtime environment 46. The runtime environment 46 typically is an operating system (mentioned above) which manages computer resources, such as memory, disk or processor time, required for the method of the invention to run.

The runtime environment 46 may also be a message passing system, a microkernel, dynamic loadable linkable module(s), or any other system which manages computer resources.

The scanner 33 acquires contact information from paper-based business cards. The Infrared device 35 connects any recognized data-capable phone 47 to the system 9 The philosophy upon which the system 20 of the invention is based is the c understanding that a target customer's needs are best met through reliable and o mature technology offering specific benefits and workflow integration, as illustrated below in Table 2:

LOOP

I e s Core reieEf aeofUe 1 ct building E wbM 00 blocks/ i Design iPhilosophy! i 0 0 W Wfiiiiii ii i Ii 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 TABLE 2 It is envisioned that by application of the core premises of Ease of Use, Convenience and Integration, the platform of the system of the invention and usercentric software will not only integrate new objects MMS, safety,) but also create very attractive interfaces to the platforms of mobile operators.

The system of the invention should enhance mobility through next generation IRDA/Bluetooth, USB Dongles, IRDA/Penwrite.

One embodiment of the method 60 of the invention is primarily implemented on data-capable (non-smart phone) mobile phones 47. The method of course must be implemented in software that must be updated to support new models/classes of mobile handsets, new objects data synchronization out of Outlook, MMS, new Java applications for high end mobile phones etc joint development with Mobile-operators (voice- and image streaming, safety of data transmission, data link offerings with external databases).

Referring now to FIG. 2, the architecture of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention comprises four layers: the graphical user interface 34, the processes 10 the bases functionality 48 (connectors), and the physical devices 33, 47, 52, 53.

CI The connector layer 48 is at the center of the ALL4LOOPTM software architecture. It builds the bridge between the business processes and the features offered by the various mobile devices. The connector layer comprises: •O activities 49 and functions 50, and 00 9 connectors 51.

C 10 Activities 49 and functions 50 represent technology-independent business activities and functions on which the processes are built. They define the contract between the business processes and the devices.

The connectors 51 provide the implementation of the activities and functions on the basis of a specific technology or device. For each device 33, 47, 52, 53 which is supported by the method and system of the invention, a specific connector 51 is provided. Depending on the user's system configuration in form of the chosen PIM 52, mobile phone and PDA 47, the system 20 and method 60 of the invention is dynamically configured to adapt to the user's environment.

Implementation of the invention requires specialized connectors 51, including a specialized phone connector and a PDA connector. In addition, System 20 and method 60 of the invention uses existing, proven and widely used technologies in order to provide an integrated comprehensive solution.

The following connectors are build on third party products: 9 Scanning Connector: MEDIAARCH TWAIN Wizard, NewSoft Cad Recognition SDK; PIM Connector: Address Magic SDK; and Printer Connector: Windows Printing API.

The Devices 11 Through use of standard communications protocols, the system 20 and c method 60 of the invention supports, for example, the following devices: o e TWAIN-based scanners,

O

Personal Information Management Systems (PIMs), like Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express and Lotus Notes, Sdata-capable mobile phones, IN PDAs based on the Palm Computing Platform and Windows 00 SCE/Pocket PC, and Sprinters.

N, 10 All devices offer the ability to be accessed via specific APIs or protocols.

For example, scanners may be controlled via the TWAIN standard, PIMs by their specific APIs, mobile phones via open standards like the AT or OBEX standard or proprietary protocols, PDAs by a Palm Conduit or an ActiveSync service provider, and printers may be steered using the Windows Printing API.

These heterogeneous access technologies are encapsulated by connectors of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention to offer the features of the devices to the process layer in a homogeneous way, here in form of activities and functions.

Differentiators This section lists the most relevant facts which differentiate the system and method 60 of the invention from other products in the mobile world: The system 20 and method 60 of the invention covers all phases of the life cycle of mobile information. Other products concentrate on specific data, e.g. contact information, or on devices delivered by specific manufacturers.

The invention is a comprehensive solution consisting of best in class hardware, fully integrated and proprietary software, one registration -12process, one learning interface, fully supported by easy to understand, easy r, to manage, easy to follow processes and process steps within the various -4,0 Sworkflows. Colors indicate the successful completion of each step or if non successful bring up a context sensitive help system User can manage and utilize various user profiles and various differing mobile devices, user can add superior functions and features to his Outlook IDor Outlook Express features such as innovative Group management, Group 00 organization, printing and CRM features and functions all build around his single database, without the need to manage a second or even third different 10 one 9 Easy Back up and restore functions and features of all the different users mobile devices 9 The system 20 and method 60 of the invention makes the desktop mobile by allowing user to efficiently manage his mobile devices from his desktop 9 The customer-centric approach to define the scope of the application is unique. Competitors are either device-centric (supporting only specific devices (mobile phone, PDA, technology centric (supporting specific Bluetooth, WLAN) or feature centric (supporting only specific process steps with specific functionality scanning, synchronization).

9 After the system installation, the user can at any time re-customize the system 20 and method 60 of the invention to fit to his amended system context (new mobile phone, additional phone, new contact database etc.) This is different from most other systems where configuration and workprocess support is different or re-configuration of the system is not allowed.

The system 20 and method 60 of the invention does not manage a redundant copy for the contact information; it directly works on the user's original contact database.

The system 20 and method 60 of the invention covers the whole live cycle of mobile information, such as contact information, notes, and pictures, by an overall workflow. Referring now to FIG. 3, the workflow 60 consists of several sub-processes 80a, 82a, and 84a which share information via a central, logical 13 database 53a located on the users computer 22. The logical database 53a is split up into several physical storage areas 53b each containing a different type of o information. One key aspect of this invention is that the physical storage areas 53b 0 are interchangeable. From a software architectural point of view this is achieved by decoupling the application and the physical storage area via database access layer, which provides generic functions for database access. The application then IDaccesses the physical storage area via this layer without "knowing" to which type 00 of database the request is send to. This requires a concrete implementation of the database access layer for each supported physical storage area. The concrete implementation transforms the generic access functions to corresponding calls to the physical storage area. In consequence depending on the user's computer configuration, the physical storage area 53b containing contact information may, among other possibilities, be MICROSOFT OUTLOOK T M

OUTLOOK

EXPRESS

T M or LOTUS NOTES T M The sub-processes described below unify data during the acquisition phase 80 and perform device-specific transformation during data output 84. Sub-processes related to the data management phase 82 do not change data. Thus, the method 60 includes the basic steps of data acquisition data management 82 and data output 84. Data acquisition 80 is controlled by a sub-process 8a, controlling the business card scanner 33, the infrared interface device 35, and the dual SIM card reader 37. Data management 82 is accomplished through data operations performed via a sub-process 82a on a computer 22 utilizing a logical database 53a, a physical storage area containing specific types of information, such operations including verifying and sychronizing data between electronic devices 33, 35, 37, 47, 52, and 53 and providing for direct input of data, via, for example, the keyboard 26 into the system 20. Data output 84 is controlled via a sub-process 84a and is provided via a printer 53, a GUI 34, or other output device, with the goal of optimizing contact management/ networking /active or passive reachability between the PC and mobile world.

The following itemization comprises more detail of the the sub-processes 80, 82, and 84 of the method 60 of the invention. New processes may of course be provided in subsequent software releases: 14 r, Phase: "Data Acquisition" o o Acquisition of printed contact information (business cards, see Fig.

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C 6A) o Acquisition of electronic contact information located on mobile phones (see Fig. 6C).

IDo Acquisition of electronic contact information located on Personal 00 Digital Assistants (PDAs, see Fig. 6D) o Acquisition of notes in form of short messages located on mobile C, 10 phones (see Fig. 6E) SPhase: "Aspect-specific Data Management" 82: o Managing (creation, modification, and deletion) of aspect-specific sets of contact information, called groups (see Fig. 6F).

SPhase "Device-specific Output" 84: o Printing contact information in various agenda formats(see Fig. 6G)..

o Printing contact information in various label formats(see Fig. 6H).

o Transferring notes in form of short messages to mobile phones(see Fig. 61).

o Sending notes in form of short messages to single contacts or sets of contacts (see Fig. 6J).

o Transferring contact information in form of phone book entries to mobile phones (see Fig. 6K).

o Transferring contact information to Personal Digital Assistants (see also Fig. 6D).

Backup: Trouble Shooting 15 The system 20 and method 60 of the invention includes every element necessary to set-up and run the system properly Scanner, Software, Infraredo Device) within the system, via internet, via a help-line.

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Management and Control of heterogeneous mobile device context and system _components

INO

00 Management of context of heterogeneous mobile devices: a. Unique approach of keeping PC as the center of control to manage the mobile information on any device (PC, mobile phone, PDA etc.), thus leveraging existing IT- or telecom infrastructure, and covering the vast majority of mobile devices.

b. Core features to implement these approaches: communication with mobile device takes into consideration the feature set of the specific mobile device linked to the PC.

the system 20 and method 60 of the invention provides features to avoid or work-around limitations of the specific mobile device (e.g.

status information concerning storage situation, selective download to avoid storage restrictions) This is e.g. achieved by querying storage capacity restrictions capacity of the storage in terms of the maximum number of entries which can be stored, the maximum length of entry names) from the mobile phone using the AT command set instead of hard coding this key data into the software, maintaining a knowledge base in the software which contains information on restrictions on supported memory areas (In general the system of the invention supports the mobile phone's internal memory as well as the memory located on the SIM card.

Due to technical limitations of the mobile phone not all memory areas are accessible for specific mobile phones) of the mobile phones.

16 S- the system 20 and method 60 of the invention provides specific features to r, enhance the use of the mobile device: SSMS to user groups, back-up and archiving capability for SMS, and upload of pictures to PC.

c. System architecture buffers the complexity of the mobile device D landscape 00 Referring again to FIG. 2, the strict separation of business level activities and functions and their technology/device specific implementation in form of the connectors is the key concept which enables the invention to hide the heterogeneity of mobile device landscape to the user. Users work with contacts, notes and other data types in a unified way, independent of the type of the device the information is subsequently stored on. The connectors perform the device specific processing of the data.

d. Adaptation to changes in the mobile device world The system 20 and method 60 of the invention will adapt to changes in the mobile device market place. Using an internet-upgrade process, the user can always be sure that the ALL4LOOPTM system 20 and method 60 can communicate with the latest devices. From the software architecture's point of view, changes in the mobile word, e.g. through the availability of new protocols or new devices, may result in new connectors. The user processes are not affected in this case, because the separation of activities and their specific implementation (the connectors) buffers this kind of change from the user. Of course, there may be changes in the mobile landscape which have effect on all four layers of the software, e.g. the availability of new data types like MMSs. These result in new activities that may gracefully be integrated into the processes of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention and the GUI through incremental software development.

17 cl Unique approach: o The method of the invention uniquely covers the entire workflow, and is a

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0 total system approach. The modular- and component-based software architecture allows the flexible integration of external software components or exchange components against other components. The system 20 and method 60 of the IDinvention is thus a comprehensive solution to Mobile Information Management in 00 five dimensions: I. workflow, II. mobile devices, III. data IV. users, and V. packaging.

The next sections give an overview of each dimension.

I. Coverage of the entire workflow The system 20 and method 60 of the invention covers all phases of the life cycle of information in the context of mobile devices, i.e.

acquisition, organization, and processing.

For each phase, the system 20 and method 60 of the invention implements processes and functions, which are customized to the kind of data and the concrete mobile device, the user is currently working with (see FIGS. 6A-6L).

Table 3, below, provides an overview of the processes and functions which the system 20 and method 60 of the invention performs. Items marked italic represent processes, which are available via specific wizards of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention.

18 Contacts Notes/SMS Pictures/MMS Acquisition Scanning and Scanning Scanning automatic card and OCR Download recognition Manual input from PDA Manual input Download Download Download from from PDA from PDA Receive as mobile Download from SMS phone mobile phone Receive as

MMS

Organization Organize contacts Organize Organize into aspect notes into pictures in specific groups aspect galleries specific folders Processing Print in paper Print Print agenda formats Upload to Upload to Print in label PDA PDA formats Upload to Upload to Upload to PDA mobile mobile Upload to mobile phone phone phone Send as SMS Send as

MMS

TABLE 3: Overview of processes and functions of the system 20 and method of the invention 19 In addition, the system 20 and method 60 of the invention implements a process to initialize and reconfigure the system setup which is also available via a o wizard of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention.

0 II. Coverage of the vast majority of mobile devices IDThe system 20 and method 60 of the invention supports every data-capable 00 (ETSI GSM 07.05 for sending/receiving SMS and ETSI GSM 07.07 for accessing the phonebook) mobile phone independent of its generation or manufacturer (roughly 80% of the products on the market) and all PDAs based on the Palm computing platform and Windows CE/Pocket PC. By this broad compatibility, the system 20 and method 60 of the invention tries not to lock-in the customer to devices of a specific manufacturer. The system 20 and method 60 of the invention provides the user the ability to switch from one device to another without losing his personal information and without the burden to relearn or reinstall a specific application.

III. Management of all types of information The system 20 and method 60 of the invention enables the user to manage all types of information in the context of mobile devices, e.g. but not limited to contact information, appointments, notes/SMS, pictures/MMS.

IV. User-centric The system 20 and method 60 of the invention is a solution for all kind of PC users, from novice users to IT professionals. For this, the system 20 and 20 method 60 of the invention provides two kinds of graphical user interfaces customized to the specific needs of the type of the customer: ,0 o the Wizards of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention and 0 the Explorer of the system 20 and method 60 of the invention.

The Wizards of the System and Method of the Invention 00 Referring now to FIG. 4A-4C, novice users and people not using the system and method 60 of the invention on a regular base are guided throughout the C 10 processes with the help of a graphical user guidance system. The guidance system gives an overview of the chosen process (lower part of the dialog) and uses color codes in order to indicate to the user the actual status of the processing.

Successfully completed steps are indicated in green, steps, which resulted in an error, are marked red, and steps, which are due to environmental circumstances not relevant for the chosen process, are grayed out. In each step, depending on the status of the processing and the kind of the linked devices, the user gets situation and context specific feedback and support via the "Help" button.

The Explorer of the System and Method of the Invention Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the "ALL4LOOP" T M Explorer is the user interface customized for power users. Using the well-known tree view on the left and the data area on the right, the user gets quick access to all kind of information. Functions are available via a standard menu bar, a tool bar and context/pop-up menus. The main advantage lies in the fact that the method 60 of the invention is a true Outlook Outlook Express Booster with the system 20 and method 60 accessible and manageable out of the Outlook bar.

Microsoft OutlookTM Integration The system 20 and method 60 of the invention additionally supports a third group of users. Users reliant on Microsoft OutlookTM may use the graphical user 21 interface of this product to access their contact database in the known manner. The C system 20 and method 60 of the invention added-value features, like automized O (field specific) processing of business cards, enhanced grouping features, transfer of contact information from and to the mobile phones, are seamlessly made available to theses users via an Microsoft OutlookTM add-on. This means, that the _added-value features are directly available via the graphical user interface of the ND Microsoft OutlookTM product.

00 V. Packaged as a Comprehensive Solution The system 20 and method 60 of the invention is a comprehensive solution consisting of hardware and software components, which are integrated into a single system. Besides the ALL4LOOP software, the system of the invention is bundled with a special-purpose scanner to acquire contact information from paperbased business cards and an Infrared device, which connects every data-capable phone to the system. Of course, any other twain scanner and connectivity technology, e.g. serial or USB cable, and Bluetooth, can be used in combination with the system 20 and method 60 of the invention.

Leveraging existing IT- or telecom infrastructure The system 20 and method 60 of the invention being workflow centered, process driven is designed to leverage past investments in IT- or telecom infrastructure, because the system 20 and method 60 of the invention integrates and optimizes elements of the existing user IT- or telecom infrastructure.

Objective: avoiding investment, avoiding excessive effort for installation and learning while adding core new functionalities to existing hardware and software of the user, being at the same time capable of overcoming the existing technology gaps of the users different hard- and software at home and in the office.

22 Because of using open standards and a generic database access layer, the c system 20 and method 60 of the inventionTM is able to use any TWAIN compatible o flatbed scanner (TWAIN is the most frequently supported communication standard 0 concerning scanners), can be integrated linked to any contact database (MS-

OUTLOOK

T M OUTLOOK EXPRESS T M LOTUS NOTES T M Supports Microsoft windows 98 2 nd ed, 2000, 2002, 2003 XP, ME and any data capable IDmobile device.

00 The Business card scanner 33 is preferably a PRESTO T M BizCard Reader, Model 800U, made by NewSoft of China, as described in US Patents 6,275,309 and 6,054,707, the contents of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto and relied upon.

Referring now to FIG. 6A, the printed contact information sub-process of the method 60 includes a number of substeps. In a first substep 90, the sub-process 80a checks for the presence of a business card, by, using for example, a position transducer or a light circuit, and if no card is detected the substep continues its attempts to detect the presence of the card. In a second substep 92, when a business card is detected, the sub-process 80a scans the card and attempts to validate the image. In a third substep 94, if the image is not OK, then the sub-process 80a prompts the user to modify scanning options and recommences substep 92. In a fourth substep 96, the sub-process 80a querries the user as to whether he or she wishes to scan another card. In a fifth substep 100, the sub-process 80a automatically processes the images for each image, resulting in the creation of a set of contact objects stored in main memory, each representing one of the processed images of business cards. In a sixth step 102, for each contact, the sub-process 80a searches for existing contacts, for each contact, validates field assignments, and merges information with existing contact, if any. In a seventh step 104, the sub-process 80a queries the user as to whether he or she wishes to store the contact, storing the contact if the user so indicates, or discarding the contact if the user so indicates.

Referring now to FIG. 6B, a business card scanning sub-method of the invention considers the language and the country of the business card in order to 23 determine how text block of the business card are assigned to contact fields, like r, first name, last name, street, ZIP code, city. This sub-method includes the o following steps

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,11. Determine the country of the business card on the basis of a database of country names like "Germany", "Switzerland", "Deutschland", or "Suisse".

The language of the country is detected through comparison with a country IDdatabase listing in one column all the different names of that country in 00 languages for which the method 60 has a dictionary database (otherwise, a generic rule set is used). The detected language determines the language context of the business card.

2. Select the country specific or generic rule set. This rule set contains a set of text patterns which are typically contained in the fields of a business card.

The rules set comprises e.g. the ZIP codes of the country, typical first names and last names, patterns of phone numbers to differentiate fixed line and mobile numbers, etc.

3. Perform the assignment of text blocks of the business card to fields of the contact. This is done by applying the text patterns to the recognized text blocks. In this process, fields which have a language-sensitive characteristic are optionally translated, at the option of the user. Other fields, such as the name field and the street field are not translated as these comprise proper names.

Referring now to FIG. 6C, the mobile phone contact information acquisition sub-process 109 includes a number of substeps. In a first substep 110, the sub-process 82a enables the user to select the memory area from which to read entries. In a second substep 112, the sub-process 82a checks for a mobile phone 47, and if no phone is available, the substep attempts to establish a PC to phone connection. In a third substep 114, the sub-process 82a reads phone entries from selected memory area. In a fourth substep 116, for each entry, a characterization subroutine 117 is performed. In a first substep 118 of the characterization subroutine 117, the sub-process 82a checks whether the entry was created by an ALL4LOOP session. These entries are ignored. In a 24 second substep 120 of the characterization subroutine 117, if the entry was not C created by an ALL4LOOP session, the subprocess 82a checks whether the Sentry has already been processed. Entries which are not generated by the

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method 60 of the invention but which have been processed by a previous run of the characterization subroutine 117 are ignored. In addition, with the previous check, this test filters only entries of the memory area which are labelled ID"FIXME". In a third substep 122 of the characterization subroutine 117, if the 00 entry has not before been processed, the sub-process 82a creates a contact whose name equals the entry name and whose phone number equals the phone number of the entry. In a fourth substep 124, the characterization subroutine 117 searches for duplicate contacts in the database 53a by, for example, comparing contacts and labelling contacts as duplicate where the names are equal and the last three digits of the phone number are also equal. In a fifth substep 126 of the characterization subroutine 117, for each duplicate, the subprocess 82a optionally merges contacts. For each duplicate, the user may merge the original contact created from the phone book entry and the duplicate entry found in the database. In a sixth substep 128 of the characterization subroutine, the sub-process 82a queries the user as to whether he wishes to store the contact into the database 53a or not, and then executes the chosen action.

Referring now to FIG. 6D, a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of electronic contact information located on PDAs is shown.

Referring now to FIG. 6E, a flow chart of the submethod of acquisition of notes in form of short messages located on mobile phones is shown Referring now to FIG. 6F, a flow chart of the submethod of managing of aspect-specific sets of contact information, called groups.

Referring now to FIG. 6G, a flow chart of the submethod of printing contact information in various agenda formats is shown (ref nos.

Referring now to FIG. 61, a flow chart of the submethod of printing contact information in various label formats is shown.

25 Referring now to FIG. 61, a flow chart of the submethod of transferring C notes in form of short messages to mobile phones is shown.

SReferring now to FIG. 6J, a flow chart of the submethod of sending notes in

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form of short messages to single contacts or sets of contacts is shown.

Referring now to FIG. 6K, a data transfer sub-process 81 of the invention _includes several substeps. In a first substep 140, the sub-process 81 enables a IDuser to select a memory area 53b (shown in FIG. In a second substep 142, 00 the sub-process 81 checks for a mobile phone 47, and if no phone is available, the substep attempts to establish a PC to phone connection. In a third substep 144, the sub-process 81 enables a user to select a contact group to transfer. In a fourth step 146, the sub-process 81 executes a group processing routine for each contact of a selected group, for each phone number of the contact as follows: create a phone book entry (which includes an entry name, a phone number, and a flag which indicates if the phone number was invalid), (b) encode entry name and store it in entry, store phone number in entry, (d) check phone number and if valid, end group processing routine, otherwise add "invalid" flag to entry. Note that in step above, the encoded name of the entry is built on the basis of the identifier of the selected group, the last name, and the first name of the contact FRI FOG, where FRI is the identifier of the selected group. In a fifth substep 148, the sub-process 81 enables a user to select entries to transfer. At this point in the sub-process 81, the user may edit invalid phone numbers. In a sixth substep 150, the subprocess 81 generates a preview of phone book contents. In a seventh substep 152, the sub-process 81 queries the user as to whether the content is acceptable.

In an eighth step 154, if the content is acceptable, the sub-process 81 transfers the entries. In a ninth step 156, the sub-process 81 checks whether the process was completed successfully, and if so, it ends, else the sub-process displays an error message to the user and establishes a PC to phone connection to attempt the transfer again.

In an advantage, a horizontal process model, process path and GUI look and feel is used, together with integration of key functions and features such as 26 Handset management, One total system approach, Process model to link PC and c mobile world with various phones, PDAs etc.

O In another advantage, key workflows are optimized by

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a tight integration of various access technologies for databases and personal digital devices (mobile phones and PDAs) 0 an easy-to-use graphical user interface which guides the user through workflows in an optimal fashion.

00 In another advantage, Mobile Operators are better able to assure that they provide customer solutions to their most important user groups with high 10 contractual ARPU's (Average Return per User, see page 8) and low churn rate.

Mobile operators benefit through The system of the invention from increased revenues through sales of the system of the invention, increased SMS and data traffic on their own network through use of the system of the invention, and new service bundles such as automated Address-Data-Updating.

In another advantage, the process implements contextual scanning working with proprietary country specific card content rules as opposed to traditional mainly language-based models. The system 20 and method 60 of the invention helps ensure that no translation from a third party databank eg Cardscan is needed to manage all the users contacts. All scanned contacts will directly being entered in the users PIM ("Personal Information Manager"), databank such as

OUTLOOK

T M OUTLOOK EXPRESS T M and LOTUS NOTES T M The system and method 60 of the invention gives the user the opportunity with an advanced post-editing-process to easily, conveniently edit address contact information after scanning directly in the users chosen existing PIM. The system 20 and method also helps to make the users PIM become the data-manager for all portable mobile devices.

Referring to FIG. 7, a schematic diagram of the product family of the invention, as well as the hierarchy of product offerings is shown.

Referring to FIG. 8, aadvantages of the invention are summarized: 1. A mobile centric application that is easy to use: significantly enhancing "OUTLOOK/OUTLOOK EXPRESS"TM 27 1. Covers the whole workflow ri ii. Platform and user interface with easy to use functions and o features Siii. Immediate operational efficiency, time and cost savings iv. Network oriented: Power SMS, CRM, Sales force and _Team management IND 2. One universal solution, one unique user interface, all necessary hard- and 00 software already included; 3. Single platform convergence with PC/Laptop, mobile phone, car phone and PDA; 4. Universal handset and manufacturer independent feature management; Easy access to state of the art technology on PC/Laptop; 6. Ease ofuse, convenience and integration; 7. Saves time and effort through automation and integration of whole workflows; 8. One-time-learning: Devices, connectivity, types of Information change while the GUI stays the same.

9. Increased security, privacy and extended storage capability of mobile data on user's PC/ Laptop In another advantage, the invention manages the data input through advanced scanning technology into the users PIM, eg OUTLOOKTM).

In another advantage, the invention adds value to the scanned contact information through sophisticated grouping functions, communication functions such as intelligent phone number check, giving the user in a single software application.

In another advantage, the invention adds the functionality of a mini CRM solution with customized listings of contact information, and customised label printing etc.

In another advantage, the invention provides an artitecture for the intelligent management synchronization of data with the various mobile phones PC 28 constraints eg PC Office: XP, OUTLOOK T M Sony Ericcson phone, PC Home CI 2000, OUTLOOK EXPRESS T M

NOKIA

TM phone) with various user profiles.

o Multiple variations and modifications are possible in the embodiments of

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the invention described here. Although certain illustrative embodiments of the invention have been shown and described here, a wide range of modifications, changes, and substitutions is contemplated in the foregoing disclosure. In some IND instances, some features of the present invention may be employed without a o00 corresponding use of the other features. The scope of the invention extends to personal digital devices in general. Scanners, PIMs, and data-capable mobile phones are merely examples of personal digital devices which can be managed by or integrated into the invention. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the foregoing description be construed broadly and understood as being given by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope of the invention being limited only by the appended claims.Throughout the specification, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

Claims (1)

1. 6. A computerized method linking devices for the management of mobile data substantially as herein described. 30 Q 7. A computerized system encoded using a computerized method as claimed in claim 6. O 00 0