METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR SENDING AND PROCESSING A MESSAGE
The present invention relates to methods any system for communication messages and in particular relates to communication of messages through electronic devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
In today’s world, electronic devices are known to generate messages for communication to other similar devices. Such messages includes messaging through various communication platform such as short messaging service (SMS) facility, shared calendar applications, e-mails and web enabled applications such as social networking websites, chat messenger applications etc.

Yet, owing to one or more reasons, one or more messages which have been already delivered either remain un-read or unattended. In relation to the message being unattended, the same can be in many forms including by way of example, the recipient failing to send a confirmation of receipt, the recipient failing to take an appropriate action, etc.

The sender has the option of sending a reminder message, or resending the original message or sending a fresh message through any of the communication platform available to him. Especially for sending a reminder message and re-sending the original message, the sender is compelled to visit the platform from which he previously sent the message. On the other hand, in case of sending fresh message, the sender is required to perform a lot of manual tasks on any of the communication platforms available to him, which are also available to the recipient.

This in-turn leads to ever increasing expenses owing to messaging based charges, wastage of time, and further accumulation of messages at the outbox of the sender and the inbox of the recipient.

In a scenario where the sender has communicated a number of messages through multiple communication platforms (e.g. social networking site, Chat service, e-mail and SMS), and is waiting for response in respect of one or more of them (which he has not received from the recipient), then the sender is compelled to identify as to which message he is awaiting a response. Such an action can be time consuming, non-user friendly and is subject to human errors.

Likewise, the recipient would like to receive a reminder message, which is able to clearly identify all actions which are pending at his end.

One of the prior art publications describes providing a short message reminding method that displays the reminder based messages over the screen during the during a ringing voice call. The method comprises the steps of: the user mobile phone receiving a call; detecting whether unread SMS message sent by present calling number exists in an inbox; if not, displaying the call by known manner; if so, displaying the calling number or name of calling person and content of SMS message on the ringing call display screen.

The aforesaid prior art however merely caters to detecting presence of unread SMS messages sent by the caller and displaying such unread SMS messages. The aforesaid method also cannot cater to SMS message which has been read, but not attended. Furthermore, there is no guarantee that caller has made a call to remind the recipient about the unread SMS.

Accordingly, there is need to provide a method which enables for delivery of message which can act to bring to the notice of the recipient one or more messages which have been already delivered and remain un-read or unattended.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION:
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to enable a single message based communication from a sender to a recipient for fetching and displaying a set of previously sent messages at an electronic device of said recipient.

It is another object of the present invention to enable an automatic generation of aforesaid message communication at the sender’s electronic device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:
Accordingly the present invention provides a method of sending a message. In the proposed method, a sender’s electronic device receives a selection of at least one recipient from the sender. Thereafter, the sender’s electronic device automatically generates a first message. The generated message is then sent to an electronic device associated with the recipient, such that the first message is adapted to trigger automatic fetching of a second message set, which comprises previously sent messages by the sender to the recipient. As a result of such automatic fetching, the second message set is displayed on the electronic device associated with recipient. In other embodiment, the first message set may trigger invocation of a number of communication platforms and thereafter trigger automatic fetching of the second message set through the invoked platforms.

Further, in another embodiment, the present invention provides a method of processing a message. In the proposed method, a recipient’s electronic device receives a first message from an electronic device associated with a sender. As a result, an automatic fetching of a second message set, as previously sent by the sender to the recipient, is triggered at the recipient’s electronic device. Thereafter, the second message set is automatically displayed at the electronic device associated with the recipient.

To further clarify advantages and features of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof, which is illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail with the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of Figures:
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which like characters represent like parts throughout the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a flow chart corresponding to sending a message in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 shows a detailed internal construction of an apparatus in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a flow chart corresponding to sending a message in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 shows a flow chart corresponding to receiving a message in accordance with a third embodiment of the invention;
Figure 5 shows a detailed internal construction of an apparatus in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 6 shows a detailed internal construction of the apparatus in accordance with figure 2, and 5 of the present invention;
Figure 7 shows an exemplary block diagram pertaining to the apparatus in accordance with a first and second embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 8 shows an exemplary control flow diagram implemented within the block diagram representation of Fig. 7;
Figure 9 represents an exemplary user interface representation pertaining to the control flow diagram represented in Fig. 8;
Figure 10 shows an exemplary block diagram pertaining to the apparatus in accordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 11 represents an exemplary control flow diagram implemented within the block diagram representation of Fig. 10;
Figure 12 represents a template of a message to be displayed as the outcome of the present invention; and
Figure 13 represents an exemplary representation of the message based on the template depicted in Fig. 12.
Figure 14 represents another exemplary user interface representation pertaining to the control flow diagram represented in Fig. 8.

Further, skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the drawings are illustrated for simplicity and may not have been necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the flow charts illustrate the method in terms of the most prominent steps involved to help to improve understanding of aspects of the present invention. Furthermore, in terms of the construction of the device, one or more components of the device may have been represented in the drawings by conventional symbols, and the drawings may show only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the drawings with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having benefit of the description herein.

Detailed Description:
For the purpose of promoting an understanding of the principles of the invention, reference will now be made to the embodiment illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended, such alterations and further modifications in the illustrated system, and such further applications of the principles of the invention as illustrated therein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in the art to which the invention relates.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory of the invention and are not intended to be restrictive thereof.

Reference throughout this specification to “an aspect”, “another aspect” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrase “in an embodiment”, “in another embodiment” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process or method that comprises a list of steps does not include only those steps but may include other steps not expressly listed or inherent to such process or method. Similarly, one or more devices or sub-systems or elements or structures or components proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other devices or other sub-systems or other elements or other structures or other components or additional devices or additional sub-systems or additional elements or additional structures or additional components.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The system, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Now referring to figure 1, it can be seen that the present invention provides a method of sending a message, said method comprising:
receiving (step 102), by an electronic device associated with a sender, a selection of at least one recipient;
automatically generating (step 104), by the electronic device associated with the sender, a first message; and
sending (step 106), by the electronic device associated with the sender, the first message thus generated to an electronic device associated with the recipient;
wherein the first message is adapted to trigger (108) automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient and display the second message set on the electronic device associated with recipient.

In another embodiment of the invention, the invention further comprises fetching (step 112) identification data of the sender and including the same in the first message.

In still another embodiment, the identification data of the sender comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the second message set includes one or more messages as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via one or more communication platforms.

In yet another embodiment, the one or more communication platforms include email platform, a calendar platform, a SMS platform, a voice call platform, a messenger platform and a social networking based platform.

In another embodiment, the present invention further comprises receiving (step 110), by the electronic device associated with the sender, selection of one or more communication platforms from the sender.

In yet another embodiment, the selection of the one or more communication platforms is received from the sender during a process of setting the electronic device.

In a further more embodiment of the invention, the selection of the one or more communication platforms is received from the sender after receiving the selection of at least one recipient.

In another embodiment, the one or more communication platforms are automatically selected by the electronic device associated with the sender.

In another embodiment, the first message is sent via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform.

In another embodiment, the electronic device associated with the sender and/or the electronic device associated with the recipient is a telephone device

In another embodiment of the invention, the selection of at least one recipient is received in the form of a pinch signal.

Referring to figure 2, the present invention also provides an electronic device (200) associated with a sender for sending a message, said electronic device comprising:
a selection handling module (202) for receiving a selection of at least one recipient;
a message generation module (204) for automatically generating a first message, the first message being adapted to trigger automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient and display the second message set on an electronic device associated with recipient; and
a transmission module (206) for sending the first message thus generated to the electronic device associated with the recipient.

The electronic device (200) as shown in Figure 2, and more particularly, the message generation module (204) can be instead configured to send a message that invokes one or more communication platforms, trigger automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the one or more communication platforms and display the second message set on an electronic device associated with recipient.

Now referring to figure 3, it can be seen that the present invention provides a method of sending a message for invoking one or more communication platforms, the method comprising:
receiving (step 302), by an electronic device associated with a sender, a selection of at least one recipient;
automatically generating (step 304), by the electronic device associated with the sender, a first message; and
sending (step 306), by the electronic device associated with the sender, the first message thus generated to an electronic device associated with the recipient;
wherein the first message is adapted to invoke (step 308) one or more communication platforms, and automatically fetch a second message set previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the one or more communication platforms and display the second message set on the electronic device associated with recipient.

Now referring to figure 4, it can be seen that the present invention provides a method of processing a message, the method comprising:
receiving (step 402), by an electronic device associated with a recipient, a first message from an electronic device associated with a sender;
triggering (step 404), by the electronic device associated with the recipient, automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient; and
automatically displaying (step 406), by the electronic device associated with the recipient, the second message set.

In another embodiment, the triggering step (404) can be instead configured to invoke (step 414) one or more communication platforms for automatically fetching a message set previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the invoked communication platforms.

In another embodiment of the invention, the invention further comprises fetching (step 410) a first level identification data of the sender from the first message.

In still another embodiment, the first level identification data of the sender comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the invention further comprising fetching (step 412) second level identification data associated with the sender from a memory device forming part of the electronic device associated with a recipient.

In yet another embodiment, the second level identification data comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

In another embodiment, the first level identification data of the sender is different from the second level identification data of the sender.

In yet another embodiment, the second message set includes one or more messages as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via one or more communication platforms.

In a further more embodiment of the invention, the one or more communication platforms include email platform, a calendar platform, a SMS platform, a voice call platform, a messenger platform and a social networking based platform.

In another embodiment, the first message comprises identification of the one or more communication platforms.

In another embodiment, the first message is received via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform.

In another embodiment, the electronic device associated with the sender and/or the electronic device associated with the recipient is a telephone device

Referring to figure 5, the present invention also provides an electronic device (500) associated with a recipient for processing a message, the device comprising:
a receiver module (502) for receiving a first message from an electronic device associated with a sender;
a message handling module (504) for triggering automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient; and
a display module (506) for displaying the second message set.

The electronic device (500), and more particularly the message handing module (504) can be instead configured to invoke one or more communication platforms for automatically fetching the second message set previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the invoked communication platforms.

Referring to figure 6, yet another typical hardware configuration of the system 200, 500, comprising the message generation module 204 and the message handling module 504, respectively, is shown in the form of a computer system. The computer system can include a set of instructions that can be executed to cause the computer system to perform any one or more of the methods disclosed. The computer system may operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., using a network, to other computer systems or peripheral devices.

In a networked deployment, the computer system may operate in the capacity of a server or as a client user computer in a server-client user network environment, or as a peer computer system in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. The computer system can also be implemented as or incorporated into various devices, such as a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile device, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a communications device, a wireless telephone, a land-line telephone, a control system, a camera, a scanner, a facsimile machine, a printer, a pager, a personal trusted device, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any other machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further, while a single computer system is illustrated, the term "system" shall also be taken to include any collection of systems or sub-systems that individually or jointly execute a set, or multiple sets, of instructions to perform one or more computer functions.

The computer system may include a processor 602 e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), or both. The processor 602 may be a component in a variety of systems. For example, the processor 602 may be part of a standard personal computer or a workstation. The processor 602 may be one or more general processors, digital signal processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, servers, networks, digital circuits, analog circuits, combinations thereof, or other now known or later developed devices for analysing and processing data The processor 602 may implement a software program, such as code generated manually (i.e., programmed).

The computer system may include a memory 604, such as a memory 604 that can communicate via a bus 608. The memory 604 may be a main memory, a static memory, or a dynamic memory. The memory 604 may include, but is not limited to computer readable storage media such as various types of volatile and non-volatile storage media, including but not limited to random access memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable read-only memory, flash memory, magnetic tape or disk, optical media and the like. In one example, the memory 604 includes a cache or random access memory for the processor 602. In alternative examples, the memory 604 is separate from the processor 602, such as a cache memory of a processor, the system memory, or other memory. The memory 604 may be an external storage device or database for storing data. Examples include a hard drive, compact disc ("CD"), digital video disc ("DVD"), memory card, memory stick, floppy disc, universal serial bus ("USB") memory device, or any other device operative to store data. The memory 604 is operable to store instructions executable by the processor 602. The functions, acts or tasks illustrated in the figures or described may be performed by the programmed processor 602 executing the instructions stored in the memory 604. The functions, acts or tasks are independent of the particular type of instructions set, storage media, processor or processing strategy and may be performed by software, hardware, integrated circuits, firm-ware, micro-code and the like, operating alone or in combination. Likewise, processing strategies may include multiprocessing, multitasking, parallel processing and the like.

As shown, the computer system may or may not further include a display unit 610, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a flat panel display, a solid state display, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a projector, a printer or other now known or later developed display device for outputting determined information. The display 610 may act as an interface for the user to see the functioning of the processor 602, or specifically as an interface with the software stored in the memory 604 or in the drive unit 616.

Additionally, the computer system may include an input device 612 configured to allow a user to interact with any of the components of system. The input device 612 may be a number pad, a keyboard, or a cursor control device, such as a mouse, or a joystick, touch screen display, remote control or any other device operative to interact with the computer system.

The computer system may also include a disk or optical drive unit 616. The disk drive unit 616 may include a computer-readable medium 622 in which one or more sets of instructions 624, e.g. software, can be embedded. Further, the instructions 624 may embody one or more of the methods or logic as described. In a particular example, the instructions 624 may reside completely, or at least partially, within the memory 604 or within the processor 602 during execution by the computer system. The memory 604 and the processor 602 also may include computer-readable media as discussed above.

The present invention contemplates a computer-readable medium that includes instructions 624 or receives and executes instructions 624 responsive to a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network 626 can communicate voice, video, audio, images or any other data over the network 626. Further, the instructions 624 may be transmitted or received over the network 626 via a communication port or interface 620 or using a bus 608. The communication port or interface 620 may be a part of the processor 602 or may be a separate component. The communication port 620 may be created in software or may be a physical connection in hardware. The communication port 620 may be configured to connect with a network 626, external media, the display 610, or any other components in system or combinations thereof. The connection with the network 626 may be a physical connection, such as a wired Ethernet connection or may be established wirelessly as discussed later. Likewise, the additional connections with other components of the system may be physical connections or may be established wirelessly. The network 626 may alternatively be directly connected to the bus 608.

The network 626 may include wired networks, wireless networks, Ethernet AVB networks, or combinations thereof. The wireless network may be a cellular telephone network, an 802.11, 802.16, 802.20, 802.1Q or WiMax network. Further, the network 626 may be a public network, such as the Internet, a private network, such as an intranet, or combinations thereof, and may utilize a variety of networking protocols now available or later developed including, but not limited to TCP/IP based networking protocols.

In an alternative example, dedicated hardware implementations, such as application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices, can be constructed to implement various parts of the system.

Applications that may include the systems can broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. One or more examples described may implement functions using two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals that can be communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Accordingly, the present system encompasses software, firmware, and hardware implementations.

The system described may be implemented by software programs executable by a computer system. Further, in a non-limited example, implementations can include distributed processing, component/object distributed processing, and parallel processing. Alternatively, virtual computer system processing can be constructed to implement various parts of the system.

The system is not limited to operation with any particular standards and protocols. For example, standards for Internet and other packet switched network transmission (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP/IP, HTML, HTTP) may be used. Such standards are periodically superseded by faster or more efficient equivalents having essentially the same functions. Accordingly, replacement standards and protocols having the same or similar functions as those disclosed are considered equivalents thereof.

In the following paragraphs a detailed description about exemplary implementation of the aforesaid method and device and exemplary manifestations of the results flowing out of the present invention are provided. It should however, be understood every implementation of the method and device and every manifestation of the invention results need not follow the scenario as mentioned in the following paragraphs. Thus, the scope of the claims is intended to be restricted only on the basis of the claims and their equivalents and not on the basis of the examples provided herein below.

EXEMPLARY IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION:
Referring to Fig. 7, a block diagram of a sender’s electronic device 700 incorporating the method (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3) has been depicted, such that the sender’s electronic device also corresponds to the device 200 as described in Fig. 2. The electronic device 700 may be a mobile phone, tablet computer, or any wired or wireless electronic communication device, and includes a contact utility application 702, which may be an electronic address book comprising a list of registered contact members or simply a call register ‘log’ depicting a list of contact numbers (incoming and outgoing). Further, the device 700 includes a gesture handling module 704, which corresponds to both the selection handling module 202 and the message generation module 204 and a messaging utility 706 that corresponds to the transmission module 206.

The Gesture Handling Module 704 is linked with both the Contacts utility 702 application and the messaging utility 706 within the electronic device 700.The messaging utility 706 may be a message transmission facility in a mobile phone to communicate the text messages either through the circuit switching or packet switching. Such text message is sent via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform as available to the communication devices

Referring to Fig. 8, an exemplary control flow diagram as implemented within the electronic device 700 has been shown.

At step 802, the gesture handling module 704 awaits a user driven gesture to be made in respect of any contact (whether in address book or call register log). In an example, as depicted in Fig 9, such gesture may be made over a touch-sensitive surface of a mobile phone over a screen portion that represents a contact member present in the address book. The gesture may be made intuitively based on a human instinct elaborated as follows.

In a real day to day life, a human being physically pinches a fellow human being as a reminder. Such gesture could mean to serve as a reminder, an alert, to invoke attention or to symbolize something indirectly. Accordingly, in an example, the gesture as executed over the touch sensitive surface of the mobile phone may be intuitively executed as a “pinch” over a screen space representing the details (e.g. image, phone number of the contact, etc). However, in other example, such gesture may be made as swiping action, a single tap, a double tap, a stylus based action or any other like action known in terms of touch screen surface.

In other examples, in case of joystick and keypad based electronic devices or mobile phones, a single key-stroke after navigating to a desired contact detail (intended to be pinched) may represent a gesture. Moreover, the gesture may also be executed in terms of a non-address contact that may figure in call register log of the mobile phone. Likewise, gesture may also be made in respect of contact details managed in other formats by a tablet or any other like communication enabling electronic device.

At step 804, as soon as a gesture event (say pinch) happens, the gesture handling module 704 changes its state to an active state and ascertains the context of the pinch gesture. In case the pinch has been executed in term of a contact (address book or non-address book), the gesture handling module proceeds ahead to the step 806. Else, the control remains at the step 804.

At step 806, the gesture handling module 704 converts the gesture indication into the form of a text message to be sent to the recipient. For such purpose, the gesture handling module 704 presents a user interface for seeking sender’s choice for “a set of platforms” which have to be queried at the recipients’ end. Such set of platforms denote the platforms through which the sender may have been sent to the recipient. Such platforms can be SMS platform, MMS platform, e-mail platform, chat platforms or social networking site based platforms.

In order to facilitate such selection, the user interface includes a list of communication platforms comprising web-based utilities (e.g. social networking site, chat platform), messaging utility, calendar utility, email, etc. that have been employed as a media for communicating brief or detailed messages towards the recipient. The sender may opt for a particular option or more than one option. As elaborated later in the description, such selection enables the recipient device to eventually see pre-communicated messages within the selected platforms and check whether any of such pre-communicated message has been left un-read or un-attended.

In other example, said user interface need not be presented to the sender by the gesture handling module 704 and instead the options based on the communication platforms are pre-configured within the mobile phone 700 as a part of the factory settings.

Accordingly, the gesture handling module 704 generates a text message based upon the options selected through the user interface or pre-configured options within the mobile phone. In an example, a text message with content”
f
is prepared based upon sender’s selection of the option “social networking site based platform” through the user interface shown in Fig 9. In other example, in case all of the options within the user interface are selected by the sender, and the text message as generated may be:
mc1c2ft
wherein, ‘m’ denotes messaging, ‘c1’denotes shared calendar, ‘c2’ denotes chat messaging platforms, ‘f’ denotes social network website 1, and ‘t’ social network website 2. In other example, simply binary formats like 10010 etc are generated.

In other example, the gesture handling module 704 may generate text message in the format of a class 0 message/flash message to be perceived by the receiver’s device.

At step 808, the text message as generated in step 806 is communicated to the message utility 706 of the device 700 for transmission (e.g. wireless) to the recipient’s electronic device.

In an implementation, the message utility 706 may additionally fetch an identification data related to the sender and include the same in said generated text message. Such identification data of the sender includes a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

Referring to Fig. 9, an exemplary user interface representation 900 is shown based on the control flow diagram depicted in Fig. 8. As shown in the figure is a contact list based control 902 (e.g. a graphical user interface button), that upon activation displays a list of registered contact members (904-912) in an address book of the device 700. To initiate a gesture, the sender may execute a pinch gesture (represented by 914) over the touch sensitive surface of the device 700 corresponding to a particular contact member, say 908. Such pinch based gesture may be made by a double finger (preferable adjacent fingers of the same hand) action, and may be visualized by a real life pinch performed by a human being to a fellow human being. Alternatively, the pinch based gesture may also be visualized as a squeezing action that can be produced by any two adjacent fingers of a human hand.

As a result of such gesture, the user interface representation 900 now presents a pop up window 916, wherein such pop up window is titled “pinching selected contact”. Within such pop up window 916, a list of communication platforms e.g. messaging 918, calendar 920, chat platform 922, social networking website (1) 924, social networking website (2) 926, is presented. Such platforms are also accompanied by corresponding cheque boxes to select one or more platforms. In another implementation, instead of said cheque boxes (928-938), a set of radio buttons may be instead provided to select a singular option. Accordingly, one or more platforms may be selected as per the discretion of the sender. In other embodiment, the pop up window 916 may never be displayed in case the platform selection is automatically performed by the device 700. In such a scenario, the platform selection is configured as per the factory settings of the device 700.

Referring to Fig. 10, a block diagram of a recipient’s electronic device 1000 incorporating the method (Fig. 4) has been depicted, such that the recipient’s electronic device 1000 corresponds to the device 500 as described in Fig. 5. The electronic device 1000 may be a mobile phone or a tablet computer. The device 1000 includes a messaging utility 1002 that corresponds to a receiver module 502 and facilitates receipt of incoming messages that have been communicated either through the circuit switching or packet switching. The messaging utility 1002 may receive such text message via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform as available to the communication devices.

The device 1000 further includes a pinch handling module (PHM) 1004 that corresponds to the message handling module 504 and a display module 1006 that corresponds to the screen display utility 506.

Referring to Fig. 11, a control flow diagram implemented within the electronic device 1000 of Fig. 10 has been shown.

At step 1102, the pinch handling module 1004 awaits any incoming “gesture” driven message. The pinch handling module 1004 is closely integrated with the messaging utility 1002 to keep track on any incoming “gesture” driven message. As long as no gesture based message is arrived, the pinch handling module remains in the “wait” state.

At step 1104, the recipient’s electronic device 1000 receives the “gesture” based text message through the messaging utility 1002. Accordingly, the pinch handling module 1004 turns to an active state and the control flows to the step 1106.

At step 1106, the pinch handling module 1004 starts processing the gesture based message for the purposes of eventually displaying a set of results. As an initial step, the pinch handling module 1004 attempts to extract a first level identification data of the sender from the received gesture based message. Such first level identification data of the sender comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

However, such an attempt to fetch first level identification data may not be successful owing to kind of information present within the received “gesture” based message and may be compensated by instead accessing a second level identification data with respect to the sender as described later.

As shown in figure 11, and in an example, the pinch handling module 1004 starts referring different utilities like contact utility 1108, shared calendar utility 920, messaging utility 918 that may be specific to mobile phone’s 1000 internal memory and supported within the mobile phone 1000 through circuit switched connection pertaining to the mobile phone 1000. In addition, the pinch handling module 1004 also refers web-based utilities 922, 924, 926, which are rendered by world-wide web (internet) and implemented within the mobile phone 1000 through packet switching.

Further, the reference to aforesaid utilities like shared calendar utility 920, messaging utility 918, web-based utilities 922, 924, 926 is made by the module 1004 based on the sender selected communication platforms (selection done in the user interface depicted in Fig. 9). Accordingly, based upon such selection, the module 1004 may also instead refer selected utilities out of such utilities. In other example, there may be no option selection over such user interface by the sender, owing to pre-configuration of such options within the sender’s and the recipient’s electronic devices 700, 1000 as a part of the factory settings. In such a scenario, the module 1004 only refers the utilities that correspond to such pre-configured platforms.

Further, as far as referring contact utilities 1108 is concerned, the module 1004 ascertains whether the received “gesture” based message has been sent through any of the existing contact members that are registered within the electronic address book of the device 1000. If yes, then the module 1004 extracts a second level identification data in the form of name, image, e-mail id, profile data or and other details associated with the identified contact member, from the internal memory of the device 1000, as a first result. In case no contact member is identified within the address book, then the module 1004 simply proclaims an MSISDN associated with the received “gesture” based message as a sole first result. In another example, the module 1004 may retrieve sender’s aforesaid details from internet so as to yield a first result

As far as referring calendar utilities 920 is concerned, the module 1004 ascertains whether the sender associated with the received “gesture” based message has announced any upcoming event (slated to happen in a near or far future) that is relevant for the recipient. If yes, then the concerned event or events are proclaimed as second result. Else, the second result is declared as null.

As far as referring messaging utilities 918 is concerned, the module 1004 ascertains whether the sender associated with the received “gesture” based message has communicated any SMS or other analogus message in the recent past (say in the past one week or two weeks). If yes, then the concerned message or messages are proclaimed as third result. Else, the third result is declared as null.

As far as referring web-based utilities 922, 924, 926 is concerned, the module 1004 ascertains whether the recipient’s mobile phone 1000 is eligible for packet switched connection. If yes, then the module 1004 queries various web-enabled communication platforms like social networking websites, chat platforms etc. Again, choice among such platforms is made depending upon the sender selected communication platform as done through the user interface in Fig. 9. In other example, there may be no platform selection over such user interface by the sender, owing to pre-configuration of such platforms within the sender’s and the recipient’s electronic devices 700,1000 as a part of the factory settings. In such a scenario, the module 1004 only refers the web-enabled platforms that correspond to such pre-configured platforms.

Further, upon querying different web based utilities 922, 924, 926, the messages (e.g. social networking website message, chat platform message) posted by the sender towards the recipient in the recent past (say in the past one week or two weeks) are extracted and proclaimed as a fourth result. In case a particular web enabled communication application (say social networking website 1) is suffering from a delayed server response, then messages extraction from such application is put on hold and re-attempted prior to expiry of a pre-defined time period.

The aforesaid first till fourth results may each indicate sender details, a single message or a combination of messages. For example, the fourth result may be largely a combination of messages.

Finally, in step 1110, the module 1004 constructs a single message set comprising the aforesaid four results that denote sender’s details or a number of distinct messages. Accordingly, the module 1004 sends such message set towards the screen display utility 1006 of the recipient’s mobile phone 1000 for rendering a final display.

Further, a particular message may be relevant to the single message set to be displayed, but may not be initially figure within the single message sent, owing to technical constraints. In case such message gest extracted before the expiry of a pre-defined time frame, then such message gets appended to the finally displayed message set in real time.

A format of such rendered display and a corresponding exemplary representation has been depicted in the representation of the forthcoming figures 12 and 13, respectively. Such display as depicted in these may be understood as exemplary representation of results.

Referring to Fig. 12, a template 1200 of the final output which is displayed to the user has been depicted. As shown, the template 1200 represents a format of representation of a set of messages. Such set comprises sender details 1202 in the form of a sender MSISDN, sender’s image, sender’s name, sender’s e-mail id etc. In addition, another section referred to as result data 1204 represents the results (or pre-communicated messages) as obtained from the messaging utility, calendar utility, and the web-based utility during the step 1104 in Fig. 11.

The information and messages, which may or may not be extracted in time by the module 1004 owing to various constraints as already explained in Fig. 11, have been marked as “optional”. However, in a preferred aspect of the invention, the final output or the message set shall contain at least one contact detail fetched in respect of the received “gesture indication” and at least one pre-communicated message fetched from at least one utility depicted in Fig. 11.

Referring to Fig. 13, a display 1300 rendered over the electronic device 1000 of the recipient is shown. Such display represents an application of the template as shown in Fig. 12 and represents an actually displayed output to the recipient through the recipient’s electronic device 1000. The contact details (e.g. sender image) are represented by 1302, whereas the set of fetched messages is represented by 1304.

Moreover, in case a particular message or detail relevant to the displayed message is fetched after a time delay, then the display may be appended with such delayed message in real time, provided that the extraction has been performed within a pre-defined time-limit.

As shown in the exemplary figure 13, the message set includes a sender image, a recent SMS received from the sender, a forthcoming event as announced by the sender through the shared calendar application or the calendar utility, sender’s recent communication made through chat messaging platform, and sender’s recent messages made through social networking websites 1 and 2.

Referring to Fig. 14, another exemplary gesture execution in respect of the device 700 has been shown. As already elaborated in Fig. 9, upon clicking upon a contact list based control (graphical button) 902, a list of registered contact members (904-912) is displayed. Here in Fig. 14, instead of generating a pinch gesture, one or more taps (represented by the symbol 1402) may be made for selecting any of the displayed contacts (904-912) that correspond to the list of registered contact members in the address book of the device 700. The multiple taps may correspond to single tap action, double tap action, or a prolonged touch etc. In other implementation, where the touch sensitive surface is absent, keypads and joysticks may be used for executing the selection of any of the displayed contacts (904-912).

It is envisaged that the present invention facilitates a simultaneous fetching of messages at the recipient’s end, wherein a reply to at least one of such pre-communicated messages is imminently sought by the sender. Accordingly, upon seeing a sequence of such “pending messages” within his electronic device, the recipient is able to gauge an importance/seriousness and take an imminent action towards replying the same.

Moreover, the sender is substantially saved from the hassle of visiting various communication platforms to re-post already sent messages or sending reminders. Usually, an action of such magnitude is undertaken by the sender to showcase that the sender needs an urgent reply to at least one of already sent messages. However, as the present invention triggers a simultaneous retrieval of pre-communicated messages upon receiving s simple “intuitive gesture” or “pinch” based action made by the sender, the sender is greatly benefitted.

Further, the present invention sends the “gesture” based message as a simple SMS, thereby maintaining a quick communication of “gesture” message from sender to the recipient. Moreover, while the recipient is observing a display of sender’s pre-communicated messages fetched from various utilities, the display gets updated in real with additional sender’s pre-communicated messages that have been fetched after a time delay.

In a scenario, where the recipient’s electronic device runs short of an internet connection, the present invention still enables fetching and display of those pre-communicated messages that use circuit switching as a communication means.

The drawings and the forgoing description give examples of embodiments. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that one or more of the described elements may well be combined into a single functional element. Alternatively, certain elements may be split into multiple functional elements. Elements from one embodiment may be added to another embodiment. For example, orders of processes described herein may be changed and are not limited to the manner described herein. Moreover, the actions of any flow diagram need not be implemented in the order shown; nor do all of the acts necessarily need to be performed. Also, those acts that are not dependent on other acts may be performed in parallel with the other acts. The scope of embodiments is by no means limited by these specific examples. Numerous variations, whether explicitly given in the specification or not, such as differences in structure, dimension, and use of material, are possible. The scope of embodiments is at least as broad as given by the following claims.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have been described above with regard to specific embodiments. However, the benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any component(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 feature or component of any or all the claims.

CLIAMS:We Claim:

1. A method of sending a message, the method comprising:
receiving (step 102), by an electronic device associated with a sender, a selection of at least one recipient;
automatically generating (step 104), by the electronic device associated with the sender, a first message; and
sending (step 106), by the electronic device associated with the sender, the first message thus generated to an electronic device associated with the recipient;
wherein the first message is adapted to trigger (step 108) automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient and display the second message set on the electronic device associated with recipient.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
fetching (step 112) identification data of the sender and including the same in the first message.

3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the identification data of the sender comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second message set includes one or more messages as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via one or more communication platforms.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more communication platforms include email platform, a calendar platform, a SMS platform, a voice call platform, a messenger platform and a social networking based platform.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
receiving (step 110), by the electronic device associated with the sender, selection of one or more communication platforms from the sender.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the selection of the one or more communication platforms is received from the sender during a process of setting the electronic device.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the selection of the one or more communication platforms is received from the sender after receiving the selection of at least one recipient.

9. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the one or more communication platforms are automatically selected by the electronic device associated with the sender.

10. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first message is sent via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electronic device associated with the sender and/or the electronic device associated with the recipient is a telephone device.

12. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selection of at least one recipient is received in the form of a pinch signal.

13. A method of sending a message for invoking one or more communication platforms, the method comprising:
receiving (step 302), by an electronic device associated with a sender, a selection of at least one recipient;
automatically generating (step 304) , by the electronic device associated with the sender, a first message; and
sending (step 306), by the electronic device associated with the sender, the first message thus generated to an electronic device associated with the recipient;
wherein the first message is adapted to invoke (step 308) one or more communication platforms, automatically fetch a second message set previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the one or more communication platforms and display the second message set on the electronic device associated with recipient.

14. A method of processing a message, the method comprising:
receiving (step 402), by an electronic device associated with a recipient, a first message from an electronic device associated with a sender;
triggering (step 404), by the electronic device associated with the recipient, automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient; and
automatically displaying (step 406), by the electronic device associated with the recipient, the second message set.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, further comprising:
fetching (step 410) first level identification data of the sender from the first message.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the first level identification data of the sender comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, further comprising:
fetching (step 412) second level identification data associated with the sender from a memory device forming part of the electronic device associated with a recipient.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the second level identification data comprises one or more of: a MSISDN number associated with the sender, an e-mail identification associated with the sender, an image associated with the sender, a name associated with the sender, a nickname associated with the sender, data extracted from a profile associated with the sender.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the first level identification data of the sender is different from the second level identification data of the sender.

20. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the second message set includes one or more messages as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via one or more communication platforms.

21. The method as claimed in claim 20, wherein the one or more communication platforms include email platform, a calendar platform, a SMS platform, a voice call platform, a messenger platform and a social networking based platform.

22. The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the first message invokes (step 414) one or more communication platforms for automatically fetching a message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via one or more communication platforms.

23. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first message is received via any of SMS platform, USSD platform, a MMS platform, a rich text platform, or internet based data communication platform.

24. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the electronic device associated with the sender and/or the electronic device associated with the recipient is a telephone device.

25. A electronic device (200) associated with a sender for sending a message, the device comprising:
a selection handling module (202) for receiving a selection of at least one recipient;
a message generation module (204) for automatically generating a first message, the first message being adapted to trigger automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient and display the second message set on an electronic device associated with recipient; and
a transmission module (206) for sending the first message thus generated to the electronic device associated with the recipient.

26. An electronic device (200) associated with a sender for sending a message for invoking one or more communication platforms, the device comprising:
a selection handling module (202) for receiving a selection of at least one recipient;
a message generation module (204) for automatically generating a first message, the first message being adapted to invoke one or more communication platforms, trigger automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient via the one or more communication platforms and display the second message set on an electronic device associated with recipient; and
a transmission module (206) for sending the first message thus generated to the electronic device associated with the recipient.

27. An electronic device (500) associated with a recipient for processing a message, the device comprising:
a receiver module (502) for receiving a first message from an electronic device associated with a sender;
a message handling module (504) for triggering automatic fetching of a second message set as previously sent by the sender to the recipient; and
a display module (506) for displaying the second message set.
,TagSPECI:FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
The present invention relates to methods and system for communicating messages and in particular relates to communication of messages through electronic devices.