KR20090038274A - Apparatus for receiving e-mail and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

An e-mail receiving apparatus and a method therefor are provided to save the storage space of a communication terminal of a user. An input module(110) receives an ID and password from a user. A communication module(120) transmits the inputted ID and password to an email server. A controller(130) performs the user authentication by using the transmitted ID and password and checks the recipient type of the e-mail sent to the authenticated user. According to the confirmed recipient type, the controller selectively receives the header only or the whole of the e-mail through the communication module. In case the recipient type is the recipient, the whole e-mail is received. In case the recipient type is one of the reference or hidden reference, the e-mail header is received.

Description

Apparatus for receiving e-mail and method

The present invention is an apparatus and method for receiving an email using wired or wireless communication. In particular, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for selectively receiving an entire email or a header depending on the type of recipient of an email account.

Recently, the use of the Internet has become commonplace, and transmission and reception of email (E-mail, E-mail) using the Internet has become common. That is, the users may access or send an e-mail to another person by accessing an e-mail server using an e-mail account (ID). The email receiving method between the email server and the communication terminal uses an email receiving protocol.

E-mail sending and receiving methods include a web mail using a web browser, a method using an e-mail receiving protocol such as IMAP (Internet Messaging Access Protocol), POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3), and the like. Related matters are described in detail in Korean Patent Publication No. 2007-0059544.

When a user composes an e-mail, the contents of the recipient ID, subject, body, etc. according to the recipient type should be written. Here, the recipient type is one of Receive (To), Reference (Cc), and Bcc (Bcc). To means a person who receives an email, and a CC (Carbon Copy) is a person who receives a copy of an email. The other recipients can see the IDs specified by receipt and reference. Bcc (Blind Carbon Copy) is the recipient of a copy of an email, but no other recipients can verify the identity specified as the blind carbon copy.

Looking at the data structure of an email, an email generally consists of a header and a body. The header contains a bibliography of the e-mail, including the name and e-mail address of the recipient, sender, cc and bcc, the time of departure and time difference from GMT standard time, and the e-mail subject. It includes. The body is what the sender wants to convey in the email, which is the main content of the email.

Recently, as a means of business processing and communication between individuals, e-mail is generalized, and the amount of e-mail sent and received by individuals is very high. As a result, spam and advertising e-mail are increasing day by day. In addition, the importance or work-related relevance of the e-mail differs depending on the type of recipient in the work e-mail. That is, when the recipient type of the received email is a recipient, the email is important for the recipient and is highly relevant in terms of work. However, if the recipient type of the received email is Cc or Bcc, the email is usually of no importance to the recipient and is less relevant in business terms. Therefore, when a user accesses an e-mail server and receives an e-mail without considering the recipient type, a waste of storage space occurs, and a communication load and an associated cost increase due to receiving e-mail related data. there is a problem.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to download the entire email only for important and highly relevant emails among the emails, when the communication terminal accesses the email server and receives the emails, and downloads only the email headers for the emails that are not. And providing a device.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus that can reduce storage space associated with email and reduce communication load and cost.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method of receiving an email from an email server to a communication terminal, the process of authenticating a user by transmitting an ID and password from the communication terminal to the email server, and sending it to the authenticated user. Checking a recipient type of the received email, and optionally receiving a header or the whole of the email to the communication terminal according to the confirmed recipient type.

In addition, the present invention for achieving the above object is a method for receiving an email from the push email server to the communication terminal, the process of receiving a user authentication by transmitting a pre-registered ID and password from the push email server to the email server, Checking a recipient type of an e-mail sent to the authenticated user, selectively receiving a header or an entire e-mail header to the push e-mail server according to the confirmed recipient type, and receiving the received e-mail at the push e-mail server It includes a method for receiving an email comprising the step of sending to the communication terminal.

In addition, the communication terminal of the present invention for achieving the above object is an input module for receiving an ID and password from the user, a communication module for transmitting the received ID and password to the email server, the ID sent to the email server And a control unit for receiving user authentication using a password, checking a recipient type of an e-mail sent to the authenticated user, and selectively receiving a header or the whole of the e-mail through the communication module according to the confirmed recipient type. Characterized in that.

In addition, the push e-mail system of the present invention for achieving the above object is a push e-mail server for storing a pre-registered ID and password, authenticate the user by using the ID and password transmitted by the push e-mail server, the push A mail server that receives a request from an e-mail server and confirms a recipient type of an e-mail sent to the authenticated user, a header of the e-mail selectively received and sent from the e-mail server according to the confirmed recipient type, or the whole Characterized in that it comprises a communication terminal for receiving.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. That is, the present invention is to receive the entire email or to selectively receive only the header of the email data according to the recipient type. Therefore, since the entire e-mail is not received depending on the recipient type, the storage space of the user's communication terminal can be saved. In the case of using a pay-as-you-go system according to the communication system, the fee varies depending on the amount of data or packet to communicate. In view of this point, the present invention has the effect of saving the communication load and the communication fee. In particular, a portable communication terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) has a large storage space limitation. And, in wireless communication, the rate plan is often a pay-as-you-go. Therefore, the effect of the present invention is very great in the environment of the above-mentioned portable communication terminal and wireless communication.

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

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for selectively receiving an entire e-mail or a header according to a recipient type of an e-mail account using wired or wireless communication.

The communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention refers to various electronic devices having a wired or wireless communication function, and include a personal computer (PC), a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), and a smart phone. And various electronic devices such as the like.

First, a configuration of an apparatus for selectively receiving an entire e-mail or a header according to a recipient type of an e-mail account using wired or wireless communication according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a block diagram showing a communication terminal and an e-mail server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1 and 2, the communication terminal 100 provides a user with a function of sending and receiving an e-mail from the e-mail server 170, and stores the user's e-mail to work on the e-mail stored after a certain time. It provides maintenance and repair function. The communication terminal 100 may use a protocol such as POP3 or IMAP when receiving an email, and may use a protocol such as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) when transmitting.

The communication terminal 100 receives an ID (ID, Identification) and password (Password) from the user, and transmits it to the email server 170 to receive a user authentication for the ID. Then, the communication terminal 100 confirms the recipient type of the e-mail sent to the authenticated user. In addition, the communication terminal 100 selectively receives the header or the whole of the data of the e-mail according to the confirmed recipient type.

The communication terminal 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes an input module 110, a communication module 120, a control unit 130, a memory unit 140, a display unit 150, and an audio processing unit 160.

The input module 110 may generally receive various inputs from a user, and transmit an input value to the controller 130. The input values received from the user may execute various functions of the communication terminal 100 or serve as parameters of these functions. In particular, in the present invention, the input module 110 receives an ID and a password required for user authentication. The input module 110 may include various forms such as a keypad, a touch pad, a touch screen, and the like.

The communication module 120 performs a function of communicating data and voice information with various devices, including wired and wireless, with peripheral devices under the control of the controller 130. That is, the communication module 120 transmits and receives various commands, data, and voice information between the communication terminal 100 and the e-mail server 170. In particular, the communication module 120 transmits data such as ID and password received through the input module 110 to the e-mail server 170, and transmits and receives commands and results related to the e-mail receiving protocol. In addition, the communication module 120 performs a function of downloading the entire email header and the email.

The controller 130 performs a function of controlling the overall function of the communication terminal 100, and generally uses a micro-processor. The controller 130 controls devices such as the input module 110, the communication module 120, the memory 140, the display 150, and the audio processor 160 in the communication terminal 100 to control the communication terminal ( 100) to perform this unique function. In particular, the control unit 130 receives the user authentication from the e-mail server 170, the communication terminal 100 confirms the recipient type of the e-mail sent to the authenticated user, and according to the confirmed type the header or the whole of the e-mail It manages the commands of the mail receiving protocol related to the whole process, including the process of receiving selectively. The e-mail transmission and reception protocol is a standard for commands and responses related to e-mail transmission and reception, maintenance, and maintenance between an e-mail server and a communication terminal, and enables various types of e-mail servers and communication terminals to be compatible with each other.

As described above, the recipient type is one of Receive (To), Reference (Cc), and Bcc (Bcc). This type of recipient can be checked through the header of the email. The controller 130 receives the entire e-mail when the recipient type is reception, and receives the e-mail header when the recipient type is one of the reference or the blind reference. Optionally, the configuration may be configured to receive the entire e-mail when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, and an e-mail header when the recipient type is a blind reference.

The memory unit 140 serves to store data such as data or parameters required for the program itself or the program. That is, the memory unit 140 stores a user's ID and password, and stores data related to the e-mail received from the e-mail server 170.

The display unit 150 performs a function of showing various visual information to the user. The display unit 102 functions to provide visual information to the user while interacting with the user such as an input process and an output process. The display unit 102 may include various forms such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a light emitting diode (LED). In addition, the audio processor 160 performs a function of providing a variety of sound information to the user, and includes a speaker, headphones and a headset.

The e-mail server 170 exchanges e-mails with other servers, and stores and manages the received e-mails, and provides e-mail transmission / reception services to the communication terminal 100 accessing the e-mails.

The router 175 plays a role of delivering a packet used for communication using the Internet 180.

The mobile communication access network 185 serves as an access network that provides an interface so that the communication terminal 100 can connect to the Internet 180. In the case of the synchronous mobile communication terminal, a packet control function (PCF), a packet data serving node (PDSN), a base transceiver subsystem (BTS), and a base station controller (BSC) are located in the mobile communication access network 185, thereby providing a communication terminal ( 100 allows the Internet 180 to connect. In the case of an asynchronous mobile communication terminal, a Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN), a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), a NodeB, and a Radio Network Controller (RNC) are located in the mobile communication access network 185, whereby the communication terminal 100 To connect to the Internet 180.

A configuration of a push email system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a push email system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the email server 320 exchanges emails with another server, and stores and manages received emails, and sends and receives emails to a communication terminal 300 or a push email server 310 that accesses the emails. Provide service.

The push e-mail server 310 periodically checks an e-mail through the e-mail server 320 using an e-mail receiving protocol for a pre-registered ID and password, receives a newly received e-mail, and then displays the contents. It serves to send to the communication terminal 300. In particular, the recipient type of the newly received e-mail is checked, and accordingly, the header or the whole of the e-mail is selectively received and stored through the e-mail server 320, and then transmitted to the communication terminal 300. In this case, the general email is a kind of pull email because the user receives the email stored in the email server 320 using the communication terminal 300. In the case of push email, a push email server 310 is received by the user and receives a newly received email stored in the email server 320, and then periodically to the communication terminal 300 for the email. The e-mail is notified.

The communication terminal 300 provides a user with a function of sending and receiving an e-mail from the e-mail server 170, and provides a maintenance and maintenance function so that the user can work on the stored e-mail again after a certain time by storing the user's e-mail. do. The communication terminal 100 may use a protocol such as POP3 or IMAP when receiving an email, and may use a protocol such as SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) when transmitting. In particular, the communication terminal 300 receives an e-mail header or the entire e-mail header periodically sent by the push e-mail server 310.

The network configuration 330 enables wired and wireless communication between the e-mail server 320, the push e-mail server 310, and the communication terminal 300, as described above.

Next, a method of receiving an email according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 2. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving an email according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present invention, the POP3 protocol will be described as an example, and may be applied to other protocols.

The communication terminal 100 connects to the email server 170 by wire or wireless communication through the communication module 120, and then transmits an ID and a password. In step S410, the ID is transmitted to the e-mail server 170 using an ID as a “USER” command and a password as a “PASS” command.

The e-mail server 170 authenticates the user by using the ID and password received from the communication terminal 100. The communication terminal 100 transmits the authentication result of the corresponding ID and password to the communication terminal 100.

If the authentication is successful, the communication terminal 100 requests the status of the email to the email server 170 and receives the result. That is, the communication terminal 100 may check the number of e-mails of the user and all the e-mail sizes stored in the e-mail server 170 through the "STAT" command.

Next, the communication terminal 100 requests and receives the unique ID of the email from the email server 170. That is, the communication terminal 100 may request and confirm a unique identifier for each email of the user stored in the email server 170 through a "UIDL" (Unique ID Listing) command.

Next, the communication terminal 100 requests and receives the header of the email from the email server 170. That is, the communication terminal 100 may request and confirm the header of the user's email stored in the email server 170 through the “TOP” command.

The communication terminal 100 may confirm the recipient type of the email through the header of the received email received from the email server 170. (S460) As described above, the recipient type is one of Receive (To), Reference (Cc), and Bcc (Bcc).

The communication terminal 100 selectively receives the e-mail header or the whole from the e-mail server 170 according to the recipient type. In operation S470, the controller 130 receives the entire e-mail when the destination type is reception, and receives the e-mail header when the destination type is one of a reference or a blind reference. Alternatively, when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, the entire e-mail is received, and when the recipient type is a blind reference, the e-mail header may be received. If only the header of the email is received, the header of the email has already been received and there is no additional data to receive. However, when receiving the entire e-mail, only the body of the e-mail may be additionally received, or the entire e-mail may be received including the e-mail header. You can download the entire e-mail including the header by using the "RETR" command.

Next, a method of receiving an e-mail using a push e-mail server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described. This will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 3. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving an email by using a push email server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The user registers with the push e-mail server 310 an ID and password for receiving a push e-mail service. In this process, the user may additionally register necessary information such as information about the email server 320, a period for receiving a push email service, and information about the communication terminal 300. The communication between the communication terminal 300 and the push email server 310 may be performed in various ways, including wired and wireless.

The push email server 310 transmits the registered ID and password to the email server 320. If the user registers a cycle of the push email service, the operation may be performed according to the cycle. In addition, communication between the push e-mail server 310 and the e-mail server 320 may be made in a variety of ways, including wired, wireless.

The email server 320 undergoes a user authentication process using the ID and password received from the push email server 310. That is, a process of checking whether the user is an authenticated user is compared with a database of IDs and passwords stored in the e-mail server 320. However, if the user authentication is not successful in step S530, the push e-mail server 310 goes through step S520 again, this reconfirmation process is typically limited to a certain number of times.

If the user authentication is successful in step S530, the push email server 310 checks the email header for the newly delivered email to the authenticated user, and determines whether the recipient type is To. (S540)

If the confirmed recipient type is To, the push email server 310 receives the entire email from the email server 320. However, when the recipient type is a reference Co or a blind reference Bcc, the push email server 310 receives an email header from the email server 320. (S560) If necessary, the entire e-mail may be received when the recipient type is To or Co, and the mail header may be received when the recipient type is Bcc. The push e-mail server 310 transmits the received e-mail or the header to the communication terminal 300. When there are a plurality of newly received e-mails by the user's ID, the recipient type of each e-mail is checked to selectively receive the entire e-mail or the header for each e-mail.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram illustrating a communication terminal and an email server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a push email system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving an email according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of receiving an email by using a push email server according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (20)

In the method for receiving an email from the email server to the communication terminal, Authenticating a user by transmitting an ID and a password from the communication terminal to the e-mail server; Checking a recipient type of an e-mail sent to the authenticated user; Selectively receiving a header or the whole of an email to the communication terminal according to the confirmed recipient type; Method for receiving an email comprising a. The method of claim 1, And wherein the recipient type is one of To, Cc, or Bcc. The method of claim 2, Receiving the entire email if the recipient type is reception, and receiving an email header if the recipient type is one of a reference or a blind reference. The method of claim 2, Receiving the entire e-mail when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, and receiving an e-mail header when the recipient type is a blind reference. The method according to claim 2 to 4, A method for receiving an email, characterized in that the step of authenticating a user, checking a recipient type, and receiving is performed using wired or wireless communication. In the method for receiving an email from the push email server to the communication terminal, Authenticating a user by transmitting a pre-registered ID and password from the push email server to the email server; Checking a recipient type of an e-mail sent to the authenticated user; Selectively receiving the header or the entirety of the email to the push email server according to the confirmed recipient type; And sending the received email from the push email server to the communication terminal. The method of claim 6, And wherein the recipient type is one of receive, reference or blind carbon copy. The method of claim 6, Receiving the entire e-mail when the recipient type is reception; and receiving an e-mail header when the recipient type is one of a reference or a blind reference. The method of claim 6, Receiving the entire e-mail when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, and receiving an e-mail header when the recipient type is a blind reference. The method of claim 6, A method of receiving an email, characterized in that the process of authenticating a user, checking a recipient type, receiving and sending uses a wired or wireless communication. An input module for receiving an ID and a password from a user; A communication module for transmitting the received ID and password to an e-mail server; Receive user authentication using the ID and password sent to the e-mail server, confirm the recipient type of the e-mail sent to the authenticated user, and determine the header or the entire e-mail header according to the confirmed recipient type. And a control unit selectively receiving through the communication terminal. The method of claim 11, And receiving the entire e-mail when the recipient type is a reception, and receiving an e-mail header when the recipient type is one of a reference or a blind reference. The method of claim 11, And receiving the entire e-mail when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, and receiving an e-mail header when the recipient type is a blind reference. The method according to claim 12 or 13, Communication terminal characterized in that the email receiving protocol is one of IMAP, POP3. The method according to claim 12 or 13, Communication terminal, characterized in that the communication module using a wired or wireless communication. A push email server for storing a pre-registered ID and password; An email server for authenticating a user using an ID and a password transmitted by the push email server, and receiving a request of the push email server and confirming a recipient type of an email sent to the authenticated user; A communication terminal for receiving, by the push e-mail server, a header or the whole of an e-mail selectively received and sent from the mail server according to the confirmed recipient type; Push email system comprising a. The method of claim 16, And the push e-mail server receives the entire e-mail when the recipient type is a reception, and receives an e-mail header when the recipient type is one of a reference or a blind reference. The method of claim 16, And the push e-mail server receives the entire e-mail when the recipient type is one of receiving or referring, and receives an e-mail header when the recipient type is a blind reference. The method of claim 17 or 18, Push email system, characterized in that the email receiving protocol is one of IMAP, POP3. The method of claim 17 or 18, Push email system, characterized in that the communication method using a wired or wireless communication.

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