WO2001086509A1

WO2001086509A1 - Improved data transfer system and method

Info

Publication number: WO2001086509A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/015078
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael R. Watson; Raymond O. Chock; T. Allan Hamilton; Patrick A. O'hearn
Original assignee: Zilog, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-05-09
Filing date: 2001-05-09
Publication date: 2001-11-15

Abstract

An Improved Data Transfer System and Method is disclosed. Also disclosed is a system and method that enables a device to filter data prior to transmitting it to another device with which it is in communication. In filtering data to be sent, the sending device first receives a connectivity package from the device to receive the sent data, and then conducts its filtering responsive to the data contained within the connectivity package. As disclosed, the connectivity package may include information about the receiving device's processing, display, setup and communications capabilities, or additional information pertinent to the receiving device's ability to handle transmitted data.

Description

IMPROVED DATA TRANSFER SYSTEM AND METHOD

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to communication between electronic devices and, more specifically, to an Improved Data Transfer System and Method

2. Description of Related Art

It is common for a traveling user of e-mail and other Internet services to notice that different types of electronic appliances are capable of handling widely different and sometimes limited subsets of data as compared to that data that is capable of being managed and viewed on a personal computer. For example, when using a "palmtop" computer to read e-mail, it is frequently impossible to read anything more than text-based messages, even if attachments to the e-mail were created in a parent version of the palmtop's software. Furthermore, while there is an increasing number of World Wide Web-capable appliances available to access e-mail and other remote data, the difference is that the capabilities of the devices make simple consistent viewing of much of this data confusing and impractical, hi particular, the different capabilities of the appliance may make the convenient transfer and thereafter viewing of many types of data impossible and inconsistent.

Figure 1 depicts common classes of electronic devices. As can be seen by the examples shown in Figure 1, there are a variety of different classes of electronic devices that are capable of communicating with one another. The class of very thick devices 10 will typically include a server 12, such as a network server for the World Wide Web or an internal network server. Another example is a desktop computer 14, such as is commonly available to an employee in a modern workplace. Another member of the class of very thick devices 10 is a conventional portable computer or laptop computer 16. The members of the class of very thick devices 10 have similar capacities (as it pertains to the processing and display of data) to permit virtually unlimited capability of data transfer and manipulation between one another.

The class of thick devices 18 comprises examples such as a digital audio device 20 that is capable of sending and receiving digital audio files over networks and other communications paths. Other examples of the class of thick devices 18 are digital cameras 22 and high resolution printers 24. All of these thick devices are certainly very capable in terms of size and speed of data transfer, but might be limited in type of data transfer due to their particular application. Members of the class of thin devices 26 are commonly personal digital assistants 28 and lower resolution printers 30. These devices are extremely limited in their capacities and the format of data in which they are capable of receiving.

Finally, the class of very thin devices 32 conventionally includes the cellular phone 34 (although many of these are expanding their capabilities to be included in the class of thin or even thick devices), a messaging pager 36 and even messaging watches 38. Of course other devices might be classified within the aforementioned classes. It should be understood that these classes are merely exemplary.

If we now turn to Figure 2, we can examine how the different data content or attributes that are defined by these appliances of Figure 1 might affect a device's ability to transfer and display data. Figure 2 depicts the variety of different device capabilities and other factors affecting device performance. As was described above, the different types of clients or appliances include very thin, thin, thick and very thick. Any one of these clients will have different attributes, for example, the display or user interface capability, the appliance's processing power, the internal memory or storage capability and further the mode of data entry and/or security provided by the appliance. Other aspects that might affect the optimum data transfer mode for these appliances deals with the content that the appliance is designed to interact with. For example, World Wide Web-capable devices are typically configured to display HTML pages or other data. If the purpose or designed application for the device is to create documents, conventional document formats are many times a limitation of the device. Furthermore, other devices are configured to display images or alternatively personal information management data, and even financial information. Finally, other aspects or characteristics of the device will affect its transfer preferences. These are the content description languages where a tag in the content description language precedes the data itself; the tag content provides the ability and format of the attached data. If the device is incapable of interacting with a particular content description language (for example the device is HTML-capable, but not WAP-capable), it will be unable to efficiently receive and display much of the desired data. Prior to the system of the present invention, this was a common annoyance with which users had to deal.

What is needed is a system and method that will optimize the content of data to be transferred from a sending device to a receiving device that recognizes the limitations of the receiving device and then interactively revises the data prior to its being sent, such that the optimal content for the particular receiving device is utilized, without permanently altering the source of the sent data.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In light of the aforementioned problems associated with the prior methods and devices, it is an object of the present invention to provide an Improved Data Transfer System and Method. The preferred system and method will enable a device to filter data prior to transmitting it to another device with which it is in communication, hi filtering data to be sent, it is an object that the sending device first receive a connectivity package from the device to receive the sent data, and conduct any filtering responsive to the data contained within the connectivity package. It is a further object that the preferred connectivity package should include information about the receiving device's processing, display, setup and communications capabilities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of which:

Figure 1 depicts common classes of electronic devices; Figure 2 depicts the variety of different device capabilities and other factors affecting device performance; Figure 3 is an example of the processor of the present invention as it might optimize communications between two exemplary devices of Figure 1; and

Figure 4 depicts the optimization process of the device of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention and sets forth the best modes contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Various modifications, however, will remain readily apparent to those skilled in the art, since the generic principles of the present invention have been defined herein specifically to provide an Improved Data Transfer System and Method.

The present invention can best be understood by initial consideration of Figure 3. Figure 3 is an example of the processor of the present invention as it might optimize communications between two exemplary devices of Figure 1. As can be seen, in this case, the server 12 A is in communication with the personal digital assistant 28 A. In this example, the personal digital assistant 28 A is receiving data from the server 12 A, such as might occur in a conventional e-mail receiving scenario. Within each device 12A and 28A is located a filter processor 40 and 42. The filter processor 40 within the server 12A is configured to receive a connectivity package from the receiving device filter processor

42, and thereafter modifying or filtering the data to be transmitted such that it is the optimum format for the receiving device 28A. In particular, the connectivity package that is transmitted f om the receiving device 28 A to the sending device 12A prior to a data transfer will define or inform the sending device 12A of the capability of the receiving device. Likewise, the sending device filter processor 40 will transmit a connectivity package of its own. Some of the pertinent considerations that will be contained within each connectivity package are the relative "fitness" of the clients, the display processing and storage capabilities of the client, an analysis of the allowable payload for the appliance and the features of the communications path 44. Other aspects may include the security requirements for the payload and even the unit time cost of maintaining the communications path 44 between the devices 12A and 28 A. Finally, an analysis will be conducted by the processors 40 and 42 as to the compatibility of the actual content to be transferred. In one preferred embodiment, the user might be permitted to select or change certain aspects of the connectivity package in response to personal preference or other issues. In particular, the user may decide to simply download text-type information even though his or her device might be capable of graphical or audio information. This might be done in a situation where the user desires to manually shorten the time of transfer. Another example of a scenario in which the processors 40 and 42 might respond to a particular environment involves one in which a high resolution digital camera (see Figure 1) was to connect to a low resolution printer (see Figure 1) by application of the processor of the present invention. At the time of the connection, the devices would exchange their capabilities and the camera would send a pre-processed low resolution version of its data to the printer such that the printer is actually capable of outputting the data. If we now turn to Figure 4, we can examine the preferred process involved in optimizing the transfer of data between the devices of the example of Figure 3. Figure 4 depicts the optimization process of the device of the present invention. First, the connection is established 100, after which the receiving device creates the connectivity package which addresses all of the aspects or variables discussed

above in connection with Figure 3, including the reliability and speed of the communications path 44. Once the receiving device content filter processor 42 has created a connectivity package, it is transmitted to the sending device 104. The sending device 104 then assesses the client conduit and content attributes and choices contained within the connectivity package 106. The sending device content filter processor then converts and/or filters the content based on the attributes or choices provided within the connectivity package 108. The sending device then, and only then, transfers the content to the receiving device 110. As a result of engaging in this process, all data will be transferred in the most optimum form and containing the most optimum content for a particular receiving device and connection capacity. Furthermore, as a result, no matter what the user is connecting to, the data that is being received will always be in the same form. This will eliminate the confusion associated with erroneous or incompatible or simply variations in formats for received data.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat Is Claimed Is:

1. A system for optimizing data transfer between at least two electronic devices in communication with one another over a communications path, said devices defining processing and display capabilities, said system comprising:

at least one content filter processor means operable within one said device, said processor means configured to receive a connectivity data package from a second said device and responsively filter or convert data prior to transferring data to said second device via said communications path.

2. The system of Claim 1, wherein said content filter processor means is responsive to a connectivity data package where said connectivity data package comprises information pertinent to the processing and display capabilities of said second device.

3. The system of Claim 2, wherein the communications path further defines a communications capability, and said content filter processor means is responsive to said communications capability.

4. The system of Claim 1, wherein said each device includes a said content filter processor means, said processor means configured to create a said connectivity package and to further responsively convert or filter data prior to transferring said data.

5. The system of Claim 4, wherein the communications path further defines a communications capability, and said content filter processor means are responsive to said communications capability.

6. A method for optimizing communications between electronic devices, comprising the steps of:

establishing communications between said devices via a communications path; transmitting a connectivity data package from a first said electronic device to a second said electronic device;

said second device converting transmissible data responsive to said connectivity data package; and

said second device transmitting said converted transmissible data to said first device.

7. The method of Claim 6, further comprising a creation step prior to said first transmitting step, wherein a first said electronic device creates a connectivity data package.

8. The method of Claim 7, wherein said creation step further comprises said first device compiling said connectivity data package responsive to the processing and display capabilities of said first device.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein said converting step is further responsive to the characteristics of the communications path.

10. The method of Claim 9, wherein said creation step is further responsive to user input.

11. The method of Claim 9, wherein said converting step is further responsive to the content of said transmissible data.

12. An improved data transfer system for optimizing data transfer between a pair of devices in communication with one another via a communications path defining a communications capability, said devices defining device capabilities and user preferences, comprising:

a first said device requesting data to be transmitted from a second said device;

said first device creating a connectivity package for transmitting to said second device via said communications path, said connectivity package comprising data related to the device capabilities and the user preferences;

said second device preparing data for transmission responsive to said request; said second device converting said prepared data responsive to said connectivity package; and

said second device transmitting said converted requested data to said first device via said communications path.

13. The system of Claim 12, wherein said connectivity package further comprises data related to said communications capability.

14. The system of Claim 12, wherein said second device converting is further responsive to said communications capability.