KR100913288B1 - A mediating apparatus for combining a pluality of e-mails on wireless handset and method for confirming a e-mail by using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an integrated mail intermediary device connected via a wireless handset and a wireless network, and connected to a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers through a wired or wireless network. The apparatus comprises: first interfacing means wirelessly connected with the wireless handset to receive and respond to requests from the wireless handset; Second interfacing means connected to the specific mail server to download corresponding mail contents; Parsing means for dividing the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file; First conversion means for converting the divided mail header and the mail body into a predetermined format so that the wireless handset can be confirmed; Second conversion means for converting the attachment into a form viewable by the wireless handset; Control means for analyzing a request from the wireless handset to select a server to be connected from among a plurality of mail servers, to instruct division and conversion of downloaded mail contents, and to provide a response corresponding to the request from the wireless handset.

Integrated mail, address book, calendar

Description

Mail mediation device for wireless handset and method for checking mail using the same

The following drawings attached to this specification are illustrative of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and together with the detailed description of the invention to serve to further understand the technical spirit of the present invention, the present invention is a matter described in such drawings It should not be construed as limited to.

1 is an overall network diagram of a mail brokering system for a wireless handset according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed functional block diagram of the mail intermediary device of FIG. 1; FIG.

3 and 4 are flowcharts for explaining a mail confirmation method using a wireless handset according to the present invention.

5 is a menu flow diagram illustrating a process of confirming a desired mail using a wireless handset.

The present invention relates to a method for checking mail using a wireless handset, and more particularly, to a method for easily checking a plurality of web mails or private network mails having different accounts using a wireless handset.

Conventionally, in the case of e-mail, the user's PC was checked using a web or a separate mail client program (for example, Outlook Express).

However, such an email receiving method can only be checked in a user's PC, and it is impossible to check the email using a wireless handset such as a cellular phone. However, as the need to check the mail arrived in their account even on the move has been proposed a number of methods for checking the email over the wireless network.

Examples of such proposals include Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 0467544 (Message integrated management method in wired and wireless communication terminal device), Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 2003-42297 (E-mail management method in mobile communication terminal) and Republic of Korea Patent Publication 2003-1724 (a mobile office system using a portable information communication terminal and a unified messaging system and a method of implementing the same).

However, the above-mentioned prior arts only present methods of checking or managing email of a single specific mail account using a mobile communication terminal, and present a method of collectively managing received mails of a plurality of mail servers of a user account. Not.

In addition, the above-mentioned prior arts propose a method of confirming a body of an e-mail, but fail to present a method of confirming an attached file attached to an e-mail.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for collectively managing emails arriving at multiple mail servers of a user account using a wireless handset.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for easily viewing a mail body as well as an attached file on a wireless handset in checking POP3 mail via a wireless network. In particular, the present invention allows a user to view an image or HTML tag included in a mail body as a web page on a wireless handset.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and system for managing an address book or calendar information existing in a plurality of mail servers of a user account using a wireless handset.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be described below and will be appreciated by the practice of the invention. Furthermore, the objects and advantages of the present invention can be realized by means and combinations indicated in the appended claims.

In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus connected to a wireless handset and a wireless network according to the present invention, and connected to a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers in a network, receives a request from the wireless handset, First interfacing means wirelessly connected with the wireless handset to respond; Second interfacing means connected to the specific mail server to download corresponding mail contents; Parsing means for dividing the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file; First conversion means for converting the divided mail header and the mail body into a predetermined format so that the wireless handset can be confirmed; Second conversion means for converting the attachment into a form viewable by the wireless handset; Control means for analyzing a request from the wireless handset to select a server to be connected from among a plurality of mail servers, to instruct division and conversion of downloaded mail contents, and to provide a response corresponding to the request from the wireless handset.

In addition, the wireless handset according to the present invention is connected to a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers, and is stored wirelessly in a specific mail server by using a device for mediating the wireless handset and a specific mail server (hereinafter referred to as a mail intermediary device). A method of confirming incoming mail comprises the steps of: receiving a request for confirmation of incoming mail stored in a particular mail server from a wireless handset; Accessing a corresponding mail server based on the confirmation request; Downloading mail contents of a user account from the mail server; Dividing the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file; Converting the split mail header and mail body into a format suitable for the wireless handset; Storing the converted mail body and the attached file for the user; And sending the converted mail header list to the wireless handset.

The method also includes displaying the mail header list on a wireless handset; Accepting a request for confirmation of a mail body for a particular mail header from the wireless handset; And retrieving and extracting a mail body corresponding to the confirmation request, and transmitting the mail body corresponding to the confirmation request, and transmitting the mail body on the wireless handset. Receiving a transfer request for a file attached to the mail body; Extracting an attachment corresponding to the transfer request and converting the attachment into a form that the wireless handset can view; And transmitting the converted attachment on a wireless handset.

A mail brokering system according to the present invention includes a mail client program for wirelessly managing mail stored in a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers, and a file viewing program for viewing files attached to the mail. A wireless handset requesting confirmation of mail stored in a selected mail server among the plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers, and displaying a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file in a predetermined format; Receives a mail confirmation request from the wireless handset via a wireless network, accesses a selected mail server according to the request, downloads mail contents, and divides the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file, respectively. A mail intermediary device for converting into a designated format and transmitting the same to the wireless handset; And a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers connected to the mail relay device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, Fig. 1 shows a network configuration of a mail brokering system in which the present invention is realized.

As shown in the figure, the mail intermediary system 100 according to the present invention includes a wireless handset 110 and an integrated mail server 200 connected via a wireless network 120.

In addition, the integrated mail server 200 is networked with a plurality of web mail servers 320 and private network mail servers 340 via POP3 servers 310 and 330.

The wireless handset 110 typically includes a second generation or third generation mobile communication terminal, a PDA, a notebook computer capable of wireless data communication, a DMB phone, and the like. The wireless handset 110 according to the present invention is equipped with a mobile platform 111 such as, for example, Brew, WIPI, and the mail client APP 111a and the file viewing APP 111b as an application application operating on the platform. Include. Of course, the mail client APP 111a and the file viewing APP 111b may be directly installed on a system software (OEM program) or an operating system program regardless of a separate mobile platform 111.

The mail client 111a requests the confirmation of the received mail arriving at a specific mail server of the user account while connected to the integrated mail server 200 via the wireless network 120, and then the integrated mail server 200. Display the converted mail content transmitted from the screen. In addition, it performs a function of requesting and confirming the address book information and schedule management information for a specific mail server of the user account to the integrated mail server 200. In particular, when the mail client APP 111a displays the received mail on the screen of the wireless handset, the mail client APP 111a displays an image, an HTML tag, or the like as a web page.

The file viewing APP 111b is a specialized viewing program for displaying attachments of mail received by the mail client APP 111a in a predetermined format on the wireless handset 110.

The wireless network 120 typically includes a second generation or third generation mobile communication network, a wireless portable Internet network such as Wibro, or a wireless local area network (WLAN).

The integrated mail server 200 is a device that mediates access to mailboxes arriving at a plurality of web mail servers 320 and private network mail servers 340 of a user account using a wireless handset 110. It is intended to manage all web mail and private network mail in a unified way.

In particular, the integrated mail server 200 downloads the received mail, the address book or the schedule information existing in the specific web mail server 320 or the private network mail server 340 according to the request of the mail client APP 111a. Provided at 110.

The detailed configuration of this integrated mail server 200 will be described later in detail with reference to FIG.

The web mail server 320 provides a user PC with a service such as receiving and sending an e-mail using a web protocol such as HTTP or TCP / IP, for example, "daum, naver, empas, yahoo, nate", or the like. Means a server device.

In addition, the private network mail server 340 refers to an in-house mail server device for providing mail transmission and reception services to a group PC forming a network through an intranet, a local area information network (LAN), and the like.

Typically, for wireless handset 110 users, each will have their own account for multiple mail servers. Therefore, when the integrated mail server 200 of the present invention is used, it is possible to collectively check and manage all the received mails of the user account even without accessing the individual mail server.

In addition, although FIG. 1 illustrates a POP3 server separately from a web mail server or a private network mail server, when a web mail server or a private network mail server includes a module implementing the POP3 protocol, a separate POP3 server is required. You may not. In this case, the term mail server is defined as an integrated mail system that performs mail transmission and reception including both a POP3 server function and an SMTP server function.

Hereinafter, a detailed configuration of the integrated mail server 200 according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

The integrated mail server 200 according to the present invention receives a request from the mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset 110 and wirelessly provides mail contents (mail header and body) and attachments in response to the request. Mail receiving and conversion module 230 for downloading and converting incoming mail from POP3 server 310, 330 of handset module 220, web mail server 320 or private network mail server 340, address book of a specific user account Or IP connection unit 250 for IP access to the corresponding mail server or web server for downloading calendar information, a database 240 for storing and managing received mail, attachments, address book, calendar information, and each of these modules. Control unit 210 for controlling the.

The wireless handset module 220 is again composed of a mail client interface 221, a file converter 222 and a mail inquiry unit 223, the mail receiving and conversion module 230 is a POP3 interface 231 , A parser 232, and a mail converter 233, and the database 240 includes a mail storage 241, a file storage 242, an address book storage 243, and a schedule management storage 244. It is composed of

The mail client interfacing unit 221 is a means for receiving a mail reception request from the mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset, and transmitting the mail header, the mail body, and the converted attachment to the wireless handset 110 as a response. . In addition, the mail client interfacing unit 221 receives a request for receiving address book information or calendar information from the mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset and, as a response, exists in the database 240 or as a corresponding mail server or web server. Address book information or calendar information downloaded from the wireless handset 110 is provided.

The file converter 222 is a means for converting a file attached to a specific mail into a format viewable by the file viewing APP 111b of the wireless handset 110. That is, a file attached to a mail typically has extensions of 'doc', 'hwp', 'ppt', etc., and all these files are defined by a file format defined by the file viewing APP 111b of the wireless handset 110 (eg, For example, the extension 'fva').

The mail inquiry unit 223 retrieves a matching mail body from the database 240 as the user of the wireless handset 110 selects a specific mail header from the mail header list displayed on the mail client APP 111a. Means.

The POP3 interfacing unit 231 is a means for downloading all mails received under a specified account after accessing a specific POP3 server 310 or 330 according to the instruction of the control unit 210.

The parsing unit 232 divides each of the emails downloaded from the POP3 server 310 or 330 into mail headers, mail bodies, and attachment files, and then attaches the file to the file storage unit of the database 240. In step 242, the mail header and the mail body are forwarded to the mail conversion unit 233.

The mail converter 233 matches the mail header and the mail body (text, image, HTML tag) transmitted from the parser 232 to a format defined by the mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset 110. To convert.

The IP connection unit 250 receives an address book or calendar information by connecting to a corresponding mail server or a web server according to a request for receiving address book information or schedule information from the wireless handset 110 to receive address book information or schedule information. The storage unit 243 stores the scheduler storage unit 244.

The controller 210 performs the process shown in FIG. 3 to provide a suitable response by analyzing the request from the wireless handset 110 and controlling the corresponding functional module.

The mail storage unit 241 of the database stores a mail header and a mail body converted into a format designated by the mail conversion unit 233, and the file storage unit 242 is an attachment transmitted from the parser 232. The address book storage unit 243 and the schedule management storage unit 244 store the address book information and the schedule management information received through the IP connection unit 250 for each user.

The above-described integrated mail server 200 of FIG. 2 is described as collectively downloading the received mails of the user account using POP protocols (POP2 and POP3), dividing them and storing them. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to these examples, and it is also possible to download a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file separately using the IMAP protocol and provide the same to a wireless handset. In addition, the integrated mail server 200 may send mail to an SMTP server through a specific mail server (web mail server or private network mail server) according to a request of the wireless handset. That is, in the case of the mail server registered in the integrated mail server 200, the user may request transmission of the mail to the SMTP server of the desired mail server by using the wireless handset.

Hereinafter, a detailed procedure of the integrated mail checking method according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the configuration of the system and integrated mail server of the present invention and the flowcharts of FIGS. 3 to 5.

A user who wants to check his or her web mail or private network mail using his wireless handset 110 drives the mail client APP 111a (S101).

The mail client APP 111a displays a menu object M401 such as "1. mail reception, 2. address book, 3. schedule management" on the screen of the wireless handset. At this time, if the user selects "1. Receive mail", the mail client APP 111a displays a menu object M402 for selecting a mail server type such as "1. web mail, 2. private network mail".

At this time, when the user selects " 1. Web mail ", all the web mail server lists M403 registered in the mail client APP 111a (for example, 1. Empas, 2. Naver, 3. Yahoo. ... is displayed. Of course, if the user selects "2. Private network mail", a list of all registered private network mail servers will be displayed. (S103)

With the web mail server list displayed, the user selects the mail server to be checked (for example, '1. Empas') (S105).

If a specific mail server is selected, the mail client APP 111a requests login information M404 (ID, password) to authenticate the user. When the user enters the corresponding login information, the mail client APP 111a, together with the login information, sends a mail reception request (request to receive all mail existing in the inbox of the selected mail server) of the integrated mail server 200. The data is sent to the mail client interfacing unit 221 (S109).

The mail client interfacing unit 221 which receives the login information together with the mail reception request transmits the request to the controller 210 and temporarily stores the login information. The control unit 210 instructs the POP3 interfacing unit 231 to connect to the POP3 server 310 of a specific web mail server ('MPASS') according to the mail reception request (S111).

The POP3 interfacing unit 231 connects to the POP3 server 310 and transmits the temporarily stored login information to the POP3 server 310 according to the instruction of the control unit 210 (S113).

The POP3 server 310 authenticates the political party user based on the login information (S115), and downloads all the received mails assigned to the corresponding account to the POP3 interface 231 of the integrated mail server 200. (S117)

The downloaded received mail is divided into a mail header (for example, a sender, a subject, a received date, a size, etc.), a mail body, and an attached file by the parsing unit 232 (S119).

The parsing unit 232 that divides each received mail into a message header, a message body, and an attachment file stores the attachment file in the file storage unit 242 of the database 240, and stores the message header and the message body in a mail conversion unit ( 233) (S120).

The mail converter 233, which has received the mail header and the mail body from the parser 232, converts the header information and the body (text, image, HTML tag) information into a form that the mail client APP 111a can read. That is, the mail header and the body are converted into a predetermined format (S121).

The converted mail header and body are stored in the mail storage unit 241 of the database 240. When parsing and conversion of all received mails is completed, the controller 210 first stores all mail headers of the received mail. Provided to the wireless handset 110 through the interface unit 221 (S125).

The mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset that has received the mail header information displays the mail headers on the screen in a predetermined order (date order, sender order, etc.) as shown in M405 of FIG. The user who checks the subject of the received mail deletes the spam mail and selects the mail whose contents are to be checked. Accordingly, the mail client APP 111a requests the body for the specific mail from the mail client interfacing unit 221 of the integrated mail server. (S127)

The control unit 210 that receives the mail body request through the mail client interfacing unit 221 instructs the mail inquiry unit 223 to search for the body of the mail. Accordingly, the mail inquiry unit 223 searches the mail storage unit 241 of the database 240 to extract the corresponding mail body, and delivers the corresponding mail body to the wireless handset 110 via the mail client interfacing unit 221. (S129)

The mail client APP 111a of the wireless handset which has received the mail body from the integrated mail server 200 displays the mail body on the screen as shown in M406 of FIG.

In this case, an image, an HTML tag, and the like are displayed on the screen of the wireless handset as a web page. The title of the attached file is also displayed.

When the user who checks the contents of the mail body requests the transmission of the file attached to the body, the mail client APP 111a transmits the request to the mail client interfacing unit 221 of the integrated mail server 200. (S131) Upon receiving the request, the control unit 210 of the integrated mail server 200 searches the file storage unit 242 of the database 240, extracts the corresponding attachment file, and transfers the corresponding attachment file to the file conversion unit 222.

The file converter 222 converts the attached file into a format that can be displayed by the file viewing APP 111b of the wireless handset. For example, if the extension of the attached file is 'doc' or 'hwp', it is converted into a file with the extension 'fva', which is a predetermined format. The converted attachment is transferred to the file viewing APP 111b of the wireless handset through the mail client interfacing unit 221, and the file viewing APP 111b displays this on the screen of the wireless handset (S133).

Next, a method of checking and managing address book information or schedule information stored in a specific mail server or web server in a wireless handset according to a user's request will be briefly described.

A user who wants to check his / her address book or calendar information using his wireless handset 110 drives the mail client APP 111a.

The mail client APP 111a displays a menu object M401 such as "1. mail reception, 2. address book, 3. schedule management" on the screen of the wireless handset. At this time, if the user selects the menu "2. Address Book or 3. Schedule Management", the mail client APP 111a selects a mail server type such as "1. Web mail, 2. Private network mail" (M402). Is displayed.

At this time, when the user selects " 1. Web mail ", all the web mail server lists M403 registered in the mail client APP 111a (for example, 1. Empas, 2. Naver, 3. Yahoo. ... is displayed. Of course, if the user selects "2. Private network mail", a list of all registered private network mail servers will be displayed.

With the web mail server list displayed, the user selects a mail server to be checked (for example, '1. Empas').

If a specific mail server is selected, the mail client APP 111a requests login information M404 (ID, password) to authenticate the user. When the user inputs the corresponding login information, the mail client APP 111a transmits the address book information reception request or the calendar information reception request to the mail client interfacing unit 221 of the integrated mail server 200 in addition to the login information. do.

The mail client interfacing unit 221 receiving the login information together with the request for receiving the information transmits the request to the controller 210 and temporarily stores the login information. The control unit 210 instructs the IP access unit 250 to connect to a specific web mail server ('MPASS') or a web server according to the request for receiving the information.

The IP connection unit 250 inquires the IP address of the web server or the mail server according to the instruction of the control unit 210, and accesses the corresponding web server or the mail server based on the retrieved IP address. The temporary stored login information is transmitted along with the request for receiving the information.

The web server or the mail server authenticates the party user based on the login information, and downloads the address book information or the schedule management information stored for the user to the IP connection unit 250 of the integrated mail server 200.

The downloaded address book information or schedule management information is stored in a corresponding user storage area of the address book storage unit 243 or the schedule management storage unit 244 of the database 240.

The stored address book information or calendar information is provided to the wireless handset 110 through the mail client interface 221.

In the above described with reference to the accompanying drawings, preferred embodiments of the present invention in detail. However, embodiments of the present invention can be variously modified or applied by those skilled in the art, the scope of the technical idea according to the present invention should be determined by the claims to be described later will be.

According to the present invention, web mail or private network mail arriving at a plurality of different personal accounts can be managed and verified collectively through a single wireless handset. In particular, not only the mail body but also the attached file attached to the mail can be viewed through the wireless handset regardless of the file type.

In addition, the user's address book information and calendar information stored in the mail server or the web server can be checked and managed on the wireless handset through simple user actions.

Claims (11)

A device connected via a wireless handset and a wireless network, and connected to a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers by wire or wireless network. First interfacing means wirelessly connected with the wireless handset to receive and respond to requests from the wireless handset; Second interfacing means connected to a specific mail server selected from the plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers, and download corresponding mail contents; Parsing means for dividing the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file; First conversion means for converting the divided mail header and the mail body into a format identifiable by the wireless handset; Second conversion means for converting the attachment into a form viewable by the wireless handset; Analyze the request from the wireless handset, select a mail server to be connected from among the plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers, instruct division and conversion of mail contents downloaded from the selected mail server, and respond to requests from the wireless handset. And control means for providing a response. The method of claim 1, Requests from the wireless handset A mail intermediary device comprising mail server selection information and login information for the selected mail server. The method of claim 2, And a storage means for storing the converted mail body and the attached file for each user. The method of claim 1, The request from the wireless handset is a request for confirmation of address book information or calendar information of the user account, Means for downloading the address book information or the schedule management information by IP connection to a mail server storing the information according to the request of confirming the address book information or the schedule management information; And And a storage means for storing the downloaded information for the user. How to check incoming mail stored in a specific mail server wirelessly by using a device connected to a wireless handset and a plurality of web mail servers or private network mail servers to relay the wireless handset and a specific mail server (hereinafter referred to as a mail intermediary device). As Receiving a request for confirmation of received mail stored in a specific mail server from the wireless handset; Accessing the corresponding mail server based on the confirmation request; Downloading mail contents of a user account from the specific mail server; Dividing the mail contents into a mail header, a mail body, and an attached file; Converting the split mail header and mail body into a format viewable by the wireless handset; Storing the converted mail body and the attached file for the user; And Sending the list of converted mail headers to the wireless handset. The method of claim 5, wherein Displaying the converted list of mail headers on a wireless handset; Accepting a request for confirmation of a mail body for a particular mail header from the wireless handset; Querying and extracting the mail body corresponding to the confirmation request, and transmitting the mail body on the wireless handset. The method of claim 6, Displaying a mail body sent from the mail relay device on a wireless handset; Receiving a transfer request for a file attached to the mail body; Extracting an attachment corresponding to the transfer request and converting the attachment into a form that the wireless handset can view; And Transmitting the converted attachment on a wireless handset. The method of claim 7, wherein The mail body includes a text, an image and an HTML tag displayed on a wireless handset as a web page. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, In the request for confirmation of the received mail A mail confirmation method, comprising login information for the selected mail server as well as mail server selection information. The method of claim 9, The private network mail server is a device for providing mail transmission and reception services to a plurality of individuals connected to an intranet or a local area information network (LAN). delete

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