WO2012092312A1

WO2012092312A1 - Method and apparatus for downloading data in an electronic device

Info

Publication number: WO2012092312A1
Application number: PCT/US2011/067463
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sindhu C.; Bhavana Bhat; Sreelakshmi Karinja RAGHAVENDRA; Gauri Shrikant DESHPANDE
Original assignee: Motorola Mobility, Inc.
Priority date: 2010-12-31
Filing date: 2011-12-28
Publication date: 2012-07-05

Abstract

A method and apparatus for downloading data in an electronic device is disclosed. The method comprises determining (304) that the electronic device is in a roaming mode. The method further identifies (306) raw data that includes text and at least one non-text object. Next, the method generates (308) reduced data from the raw data when the electronic device is in the roaming mode and downloads (310) the reduced data to the electronic device.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DOWNLOADING DATA IN AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to an electronic device and more particularly to a method and apparatus for downloading data in an electronic device.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In the present systems, an electronic device's browser downloads images when browsing web pages containing images. On some electronic devices or mobile devices with small displays, sometimes images take up more than half a screen of the display and reading an actual text becomes really difficult. The images may be related to advertisements or usual images of website banners which a user of the electronic device may not want to see always, and more particularly while the electronic device used by the user is in a roaming mode.

[0003] One reason of this is that it leads to lot of battery usage. Secondly, the images consume a lot more bandwidth compared to the text and the user's experience regarding the speed while in roaming would be really bad. Thirdly, the user may have to pay extra charges for the extra bandwidth usage while roaming on a different network, other than the user's home network.

[0004] Accordingly, there is a need for a method and apparatus for downloading data in an electronic device while the electronic device is in a roaming mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0005] The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views, together with the detailed description below, are incorporated in and form part of the specification, and serve to further illustrate embodiments of concepts that include the claimed invention, and explain various principles and advantages of those embodiments.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a schematic of a wireless communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. [0007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an electronic device in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

[0008] FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention.

[0009] Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

[0010] The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

Detailed Description

[0011] Before describing in detail the particular method and system for downloading data in an electronic device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, it should be observed that the present disclosure resides primarily in combinations of method steps and apparatus components related to the method and system for downloading data in an electronic device while the electronic device is in a roaming mode. Accordingly, the apparatus components and method steps have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the present disclosure, so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, having the benefit of the description herein.

[0012] An electronic device and a method of downloading data in the electronic device are disclosed herewith. The method includes determining that the electronic device is in a roaming mode. The method further identifying raw data that includes text and at least one non-text object. Next, the method generates reduced data from the raw data when the electronic device is in the roaming mode and downloads the reduced data to the electronic device.

[0013] FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic of a wireless communication system 100 in accordance with some embodiments. The wireless communication system includes one or more communication areas 102, 104, one or more base stations 106, 108, one or more electronic devices 1 10, 112, 114, 116, 1 18, 120 communicating with the base stations 106, 108 via the wireless links 122, 124, 126, 128, 130, and 132, a home agents (HA) 140, 142, and a mobile switching centre 134 communicating with the communications areas 102 and 104 via the wireless links 136 and 138.

[0014] In accordance with the embodiment, each communication area 102, 104 in the wireless communication system 100 refers to a geographical area which can support communication among various electronic devices 110-120.

[0015] In accordance with the embodiment, the base stations 106, 108 in the wireless communication system 100 are each configured to operate according to any of a number of different communication technologies including, but not limited to, 2G, 3G and 4G wireless communication technologies. These include Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division for Multiple Access (CDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), Wideband Code Division for Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and other communication technologies.

[0016] Further, an electronic device 110-120, may be any device used by an end user to communicate on the wireless communication system 100. Examples of electronic device 1 10-120 include wireless communication devices, wireless computing devices, portable radios, cell phones, personal digital assistants, cognitive radios and the like. The electronic device 110-120, for example, electronic device 1 10 in one of the communication areas 102, may be served by the base station 106. Also, the electronic device 1 10 may be registered to the home agent 140 of a home network, for example, in the communication area 102. The home agent may be router on home network of an electronic device that maintains information about the electronic device's current location.

[0017] The electronic devices 1 10-1 14 may use the communication area 102 as their home network and the electronic devices 110-1 14 are registered to the home agent 140 of their home network or communication area 102. Similarly, the electronic devices 116-120 are registered to a home agent 142 associated with their home network, such as communication area 104.

[0018] Further, the mobile switching centre (MSC) 134 may be communicatively coupled to the base stations 106-108 via wireless links 136, 138 and the MSC 134 enables the electronic devices 1 10-120 to roam out of their respective home networks, such as communication areas 102 and 104 and yet maintain connectivity. For example, the electronic devices 1 10-1 14 are in a home network while in the communication area 102. Similarly the electronic devices 116-120 are in a home network while in the communication area 104. When a user of an electronic device, for example, the electronic device 110 roams to a network different from the home network of the electronic device 110, the electronic device may be in a visited or a foreign network, such as in the communication area 104. Therefore, the electronic device 110 may be in a roaming mode while in the communication area 104. The roaming mode refers to extension of connectivity service of an electronic device in a location that is different from a home location where the service was registered. Roaming mode ensures that the electronic device is kept connected to the network without losing a connection.

[0019] Further, it is to be understood that FIG. 1 is provided merely for the purpose of illustrating the principles of the present invention. FIG. 1 is not intended to be a comprehensive schematic diagram of all of the components of such a communication system. Therefore, wireless communication system 100 may comprise various other configurations and still be within the scope of the present disclosure.

[0020] In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, while a user of the electronic device 1 10 may be browsing pages in the roaming mode, the user may not want to download non-text objects, for example, an image since that consumes more bandwidth and the user might have to pay extra charges for that. In such scenarios, if the electronic device 110 determines that the electronic device 110 may be in the roaming mode, the electronic device generates reduced data from a raw data. Herein the raw data indicates a data available on a page currently browsed by the user and that includes both text and one or more non-text objects. The electronic device 1 10 then downloads the reduced data to the electronic device, thus maintaining a rich user experience.

[0021] FIG. 2 is a block diagram 200 of an electronic device 202 in accordance with an embodiment. The electronic device 202 may be a cellular telephone, a messaging device, a mobile data terminal, a computer (laptop, desktop, hand-held, etc.), a personal digital assistant (with or without a wireless connection), a gaming console, or a wide variety of electronic devices with graphical user interfaces and physical buttons/keys. Any of these portable devices may be referred to as a mobile station, user equipment, or the like.

[0022] The block diagram 200 of the electronic device 202 includes various components. The exemplary components include a transceiver 204, an input device 206, a display device 208, a memory 210, and a processor 212, each capable of communicating with one or more components of the electronic device 202. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, all components are coupled to a bidirectional system bus 214.

[0023] In accordance with an embodiment, the transceiver unit 204 can be implemented as a transmitting and receiving component of the electronic device 202. The transceiver 204 enables the electronic device 202 to transmit and receive the RF signals through an antenna (not shown). In accordance with the embodiment, the transceiver 204 converts the RF signals received from the antenna to digital data for use by the processor 212. For example, the transceiver 204 receives a roaming indicator from the wireless communication system 100 through the antenna (not shown). Herein the roaming indicator indicates that the electronic device 202 is a roaming mode.

[0024] In accordance with an embodiment, the input device 206 may include a pointing device such as a joystick and buttons used on laptop or notebook computers, a track ball, a touch pad, a rocker switch, a touch screen, a TTY input device for disable persons, a Braille key input, or a pad for handwriting pen, for example. The input device 206 enables a user of the electronic device 202 to provide an input for the electronic device 202.

[0025] In accordance with an embodiment, the display device 208 may be any common display device, such as an LCD screen, a fluorescent display, a TFT display, or a CRT, for example. The display device 208 in a cellular phone type configuration may be used to display phone related functions such as name and number storage, speed dial information, or phone control and operation settings, for example, in pager or PDA type operational modes, the display device 208 may be used to provide a variety of graphics, images, text, or combinations thereof.

[0026] In accordance with the embodiment, the memory 210 may be used to store data and instructions for the operation of the processor 212. In the various embodiments, the memory 210 may be one or more separate components and/or may be partitioned in various ways for various purposes such as but not limited to, optimizing memory allocations, etc. Thus it is to be understood that the exemplary memory 210 illustrated in FIG.1 are for illustrative purposes only, for the purpose of explaining and assisting one of ordinary skill in understanding the various embodiments described herein.

[0027] Further, the processor 212 operates in conjunction with the data and instructions stored in the memory 210 to control the operation of the electronic device 202. The processor 212 may be implemented as a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, hard- wired logic and analog circuitry, or any suitable combination of these.

[0028] It is to be understood that FIG. 2 is for illustrative purposes only and is primarily for, although not solely for, explaining the information stored in memory for the various embodiments of an electronic device in accordance with the present disclosure, and is not intended to be a complete schematic diagram of the various components and connections there between required for an electronic device.

Therefore, an electronic device will comprise various other components not shown in FIG. 2, and/or have various other configurations internal and external, and still be within the scope of the present disclosure. Also, one or more of these components may be combined or integrated in a common component, or components features may be distributed among multiple components. Also, the components of the electronic device 202 may be connected differently, without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0029] Operationally, the transceiver 204 receives a roaming indicator from the wireless communication system 100, and more specifically from the MSC 134.

Herein, the roaming indicator indicates that the electronic device 202 may be in a roaming mode. The roaming mode refers to extension of connectivity service of an electronic device in a location that is different from a home location where the service was registered. Roaming mode ensures that the electronic device is kept connected to the network without losing a connection.

[0030] The transceiver 204 being connected to the processor 212 via the bidirectional bus 214 signals the processor 212 that the electronic device 202 is in the roaming mode. While the electronic device 202 is in the roaming mode, a user of the electronic device may be browsing pages, for example, browsing through a newspaper, a website, etc, and there may be a number of non-text objects apart from a text data which may consume lot of bandwidth during roaming. The user might not want to view the non-text data that consumes more bandwidth and reduces speed while browsing pages.

[0031] The processor 212 identifies raw data, for example, the data in a particular page currently browsed by the user of the electronic device. The raw data includes text and at least one-text data in the page currently browsed page by the user. The processor 212 then generates a reduced data that excludes one or more non-text objects in the raw data. In other words, the processor 212 generates text from the raw data. Further, the processor 212 downloads the reduced data which is then stored in the memory 210 of the electronic device 202. The display device 208 displays the reduced data to the user of the electronic device 202. Therefore, the user, while in roaming mode, can view the reduced data that excludes non-text objects. By reducing the raw data to text data the electronic device saves battery and bandwidth and gives a better browsing speed experience to the user as compared to experience while viewing the text and non-text objects in the roaming.

[0032] Fig. 3 is a flowchart for a method 300 for downloading data in an electronic device 202. Referring to FIG. 3, the method 300 starts at step 302. In accordance with an embodiment, the method 300 then determines 304 if the electronic device 304 may be in a roaming mode. In one embodiment, a transceiver 204 of the electronic device receives a roaming indicator via an antenna (not shown) from a wireless

communication network 100. Herein the roaming indicator indicates that the electronic device 202 may be in the roaming mode. The roaming mode refers to extension of connectivity service of an electronic device in a location that is different from a home location where the service was registered. Roaming mode ensures that the electronic device is kept connected to the network without losing a connection. In accordance with another embodiment, the method 300 determines that the electronic device 202 is in an international roaming mode. The international roaming mode refers to extension of connectivity of an electronic device in a foreign service provider's network.

[0033] On determining 304 that the electronic device 202 is in the roaming mode, the method 300 moves to a step of identifying 306 raw data that includes text and at least one non-text object. The non-text object includes a graphic object, a video, an image, an attachment, or the like.

[0034] The method 300 then moves to a step of generating 308 reduced data from the raw data when the electronic device 202 is in the roaming mode. In accordance with an embodiment, the generated reduced data may be a text data. In other words, the generated reduced data excludes all the non-text objects of the raw data. In accordance with another embodiment, the reduced data includes text data and a nontext object thumbnail contrary to an entire non-text object, for example, an image thumbnail contrary to an entire image. Further, the reduced data may be generated based upon a size of the text and the non-text object in the raw data.

[0035] The method 300 then downloads 310 the reduced data to the electronic device 202. The processor 212 of the electronic device downloads the reduced data to the electronic device. In accordance with an embodiment, a memory 210 of the electronic device 202 stores the reduced data downloaded by the processor 212. In accordance with an embodiment, a display device 208 of the electronic device 202 displays the downloaded data to a user of the electronic device 202. The method 300 then ends at 312.

[0036] Therefore, while in the roaming mode the electronic device 202 would allow the user of the electronic device to get only the text component and not an image of an inbound message or a webpage, thus saving the bandwidth.

[0037] In accordance with another embodiment, the user may be prompted to select if the user wants to download non-text objects while in the roaming mode. In case, the user requires to download the non-text objects user may chose to download the raw data including the text and non-text objects. Thus, the user can chose to download non-text objects based upon his requirement. [0038] In the foregoing specification, specific embodiments have been described. However, one of ordinary skill in the art appreciates that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of present teachings.

[0039] The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essential features or elements of any or all the claims. The invention is defined solely by the appended claims including any amendments made during the pendency of this application and all equivalents of those claims as issued.

[0040] Moreover in this document, relational terms such as first and second, top and bottom, and the like may be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "has", "having," "includes", "including," "contains", "containing" or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, contains a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises ...a", "has ...a", "includes ...a", "contains ...a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises, has, includes, and/or contains the element. The terms "a" and "an" are defined as one or more unless explicitly stated otherwise herein. The terms "substantially", "essentially",

"approximately", "about" or any other version thereof, are defined as being close to as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, and in one non-limiting embodiment the term is defined to be within 10%, in another embodiment within 5%, in another embodiment within 1% and in another embodiment within 0.5%. The term "coupled" as used herein is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly and not necessarily mechanically. A device or structure that is "configured" in a certain way is configured in at least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are not listed.

[0041] It will be appreciated that some embodiments may be comprised of one or more generic or specialized processors (or "processing devices") such as

microprocessors, digital signal processors, customized processors and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and unique stored program instructions (including both software and firmware) that control the one or more processors to implement, in conjunction with certain non-processor circuits, some, most, or all of the functions of the method and/or apparatus described herein. Alternatively, some or all functions could be implemented by a state machine that has no stored program instructions, or in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), in which each function or some combinations of certain of the functions are implemented as custom logic. Of course, a combination of the two approaches could be used.

[0042] Moreover, an embodiment can be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium having computer readable code stored thereon for programming a computer (e.g., comprising a processor) to perform a method as described and claimed herein. Examples of such computer-readable storage mediums include, but are not limited to, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a PROM (Programmable Read Only Memory), an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) and a Flash memory. Further, it is expected that one of ordinary skill, notwithstanding possibly significant effort and many design choices motivated by, for example, available time, current technology, and economic considerations, when guided by the concepts and principles disclosed herein will be readily capable of generating such software instructions and programs and ICs with minimal experimentation.

[0043] The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in various embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separately claimed subject matter.

Claims

We Claim:

1. A method for downloading data in an electronic device, the method comprising:

determining that the electronic device is in a roaming mode;

identifying raw data that includes text and at least one non-text object generating reduced data from the raw data when the electronic device is in the roaming mode; and

downloading the reduced data to the electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the electronic device is in an international roaming mode.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-text object includes at least one of a graphic object, a video, an image or an attachment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the generated reduced data excludes one or more non-text objects of the raw data.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the generated reduced data is a text data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein generating reduced data from the raw data further comprises:

generating the reduced data based upon a size of the text and non-text object in the raw data.

7. An electronic device, the electronic device comprising:

a transceiver receiving a roaming indicator, wherein the roaming indicator indicates that the electronic device is in a roaming mode;

a processor configured to identify raw data that includes text and at least one non-text object;

the processor further configured to generate reduced data from the raw data when the transceiver receives the roaming indicator and download the reduced data to the electronic device.

8. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the roaming indicator indicates that the electronic device is in an international roaming mode.

9. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the non-text object includes at least one of a graphic object, a video, an image or an attachment.

10. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the processor is configured to generate the reduced data based upon a size of the text and non-text object in the raw data.

1 1. The electronic device of claim 7, wherein the generated reduced data excludes one or more non-text objects of the raw data.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein the generated reduced data is a text data.

13. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising:

a display device configured to display the reduced data.

14. The electronic device of claim 7, further comprising:

a memory configured to store the reduced data downloaded by the processor.