Methods and apparatus for organizing and presenting contact information in a mobile ...

37 Pages·2013·2.81 MB·English

US007620404B2
(12) Unlted States Patent (10) Patent N0.2 US 7,620,404 B2
Chesnais et a1. (45) Date of Patent: Nov. 17, 2009
(54) METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR 6,968,052 B2 11/2005 Wullert, II
ORGANIZING AND PRESENTING CONTACT 6,973,299 B2 * 12/2005 Apfel .................... .. 455/412.2
INFORMATION IN A MOBILE 7,424,541 B2 * 9/2008 Bourne ..................... .. 709/227
COMMUNICATION SYSTEM 2002/0067308 A1 6/2002 Robertson
2004/0017376 A1 1/2004 Tagliabue et a1.
(76) Inventors: Pascal Chesnais, 152 New Bridge Rd., * ggchabathum. et al' "" " 455/560
eha et a1.
Sudbum MA (Us) 01776; Sean 2005/0143096 A1 6/2005 Boesch
Wheeler, Harley 81., l, BOSIOII, 2005/0143909 A1 6/2005 OI-Want
MA (Us) 02124; Steven Pomeroy, 41 2005/0233776 A1 10/2005 Allen et a1.
Edge Hill Rd., Chestnut Hill, MA (US) 2006/0010395 A1 * l/2006 Aaltonen .................. .. 715/779
02467 2006/0148532 A1 * 7/2006 Schnurr .................... .. 455/567
2006/0150119 A1 7/2006 Chesnais
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this _ _
patent is extended or adjusted under 35 * ClIed by eXamlner
U'S'C' 154(1)) by 476 days' Primary ExamineriTan Trinh
(21) Appl' No‘: 11611473 (74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm4( }aZdinski & Associates, PC
(22) Filed: Dec. 22, 2005 (57) ABSTRACT
(65) Prior Publication Data Methods and apparatus for gathering, organizing and display
ing contact information in a mobile communications net
US 2007/0150444 A1 Jun‘ 28’ 2007 Work. In one embodiment, a method for operating a mobile
communication netWork includes an information server and a
(51) Int. Cl. mob1l. e commun1c. at1. ons dev1. ce coupled to the serv1. ce v1. a a
H04Q 7/20 (2006.01) _ _ _ W1.r eless connect1. on. The method compr1.s es transm1.t t1. ng a
(52) US. Cl. ............... .. 455/456.1, 455/440, 455/414.2, location identi?er message including a Current location from
45 5/4563 the mobile communications device to the server via the Wire
(58) Field of Classi?cation Search ---------- -- 455/4141’ less link. The mobile device also transmits a list of contacts to
455/400’ 466: 567’ 4142’ 4561’ 4563’ 4565’ the server via the Wireless link. The contacts are matched With
455/422~1> 560> 418> 457; gig/222573’ 220016 the location using a location database maintained for other
_ _ _ > mobile communications devices in order to generate a list of
See apphcanon ?le for Complete Search hlstory- proximate users. Alternatively, the contact list can be based
(56) References Cited upon cognitive or psychographic proximity (versus merely
physical proximity). The list of proximate users is transmitted
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS to the mobile communications device, and the list is displayed
in an easily perceived fashion based on user preferences.
6,362,778 B2 3/2002 Neher
6,819,919 B1* 11/2004 Tanaka .................. .. 455/4141
6,950,649 B2 9/2005 Videtich 28 Claims, 13 Drawing Sheets
402 w
RECEIVE POSITION LOCATION INFORMATION
FOR AN MOD
I
UPDATE A DATABASE OF MCDs AND
ASSOCIATED LOCATIONS
I
406 W
RECEIVE CONTACTS LIST FOR THE MCD I
I
DETERMINE THE LOCATION OF THE
CONTACTS
I
j
410 x
SELECT A SET OF CONTACTS
412 \i CLUSTER CONTACTS I
414 +
i TRANSMIT THE CONTACTS TO THE MCD
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US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 1 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
100-‘
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1 2 3
4 5 6
104—-/
FIG. 1
US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 2 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
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US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 3 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
300 a
START
302
\\ INITIAL REGISTRATION
304
\ LOGIN
TRANSMIT POSITION LOCATEON INFO
30s
\ LOAD ROSTER
REQUEST UNCACHED BUDDY VCARDS
REcEIvE LIST OF SELECTED OONTAOTS
REOEIvE LIST OF CLUSTERS
DISPLAY LIST OF SELECTED CONTACTS
I
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FIG. 3
US. Patent
Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 4 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
J r/ 400
L START
I
RECEIVE POSITION LOCATION INFORMATION
FOR AN MCD
I
UPDATE A DATABASE OF MCDs AND
ASSOCIATED LOCATIONS
I
RECEIVE CONTACTS LIST FOR THE MCD
I
DETERMINE THE LOCATION OF THE
CONTACTS
I
SELECT A SET OF CONTACTS
I
CLUSTER CONTACTS
I
TRANSMIT THE CONTACTS TO THE MCD
I
L 1
FIG. 4
US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 5 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
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US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 6 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
j; LOGGING IN
USER CLIENT SERVER
I *LOGIN* INITIALIZE STREAM >JT
SUCCESS
4
REQUEST
AUTHENTICATION FIELDS’
{AUTHENTICATION FIELDS}
4
=
E'REQUE'ST REGISTRATION;
"PLEASE LOGIN"
{LOGIN INFO} D AUTHENTICATION
{MAIN SCREEN} SUCCESS
FIG. 6
US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 7 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
i LOAD ROSTER
USER CLIENT SERVER
I *LOAD MAIN SCREEN" GET ROSTER l
{USER'S ROSTER}
CHECK CACHE
<——| FOR VCARDS
REQUEST vCARDS
{vCARDS}
FIG. 7
US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 8 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
i REQUEST VCARD
usER CLIENT SERVER
*ACTIVATE vCARD OBJECT* REQUEST OBJECT VCARD(S)[
a
{vCARD(S)}
T T T
FIG. 8
US. Patent Nov. 17, 2009 Sheet 9 0f 13 US 7,620,404 B2
i BUDDIES NEAR LANDMARKS
usER CLIENT sERvER
{CONTINUED FROM GET BUDDIES
LOADING THE RosTER} + LANDMARKS l
2.
{BUDDIES AND VECTORS}
‘
REQUEST LANDMARK
vcARDs _
{voARDs} E
T T T
FIG. 9