The present invention relates to the management of network communicated information and, more specifically, to an application that provides for the visual display of a timeline that represents network communicated information and provides for the visual display of relational data pertaining to the communications.
The rapid growth of digital communication has made it possible for all kinds of digital information to be communicated amongst various types of wireless and wire line communication devices. For instance, the cellular or mobile telephone is no longer limited to telephonic voice communication and may include other means of digital communication, such as digital networking (i.e., Internet communication, electronic mail, text messaging, and the like). In addition, an increasing number of cellular telephones and other mobile wireless communication devices, such as portable computers, personal data assistants (PDAs) and the like, are being integrated with other means of capturing or producing digital media, such as digital cameras, digital audio recorders, digital video recorders and the like. Technological advances have made it possible for other digital devices, such as digital cameras, digital video recorders, digital audio devices and the like to be equipped with means for digital communication. As more and more digital devices possess the capability to digitally communicate with one another, the amount of digital information that will be communicated amongst these devices will increase at an alarming rate.
In addition to the onset of more and more digital devices possessing digital communication capabilities, the digital storage capacity of these devices is constantly increasing. In the near future the majority of mobile digital communication terminals may well be equipped with storage capacity in the gigabyte range or greater, allowing these devices to store an enormous amount of digital data. In this environment it will no longer be prohibitive from a memory capacity standpoint to store a voluminous amount communication files; i.e., email, voice messages, Short Message Service (SMS) messages, Multimedia Message Service (MMS) messages and the like. Additionally, larger memory capacity will provide for the storage of large file types, such as video, audio or other multidigital communications.
Over time, digital devices with large memory capacity possess the capability to acquire and store an enormous volume of digital communications. This is especially true as we enter a burgeoning digital communication era where more and more digital devices will possess the capability to communicate digitally. For example, in a future where more and multi-function digital devices have the capability to communicate digitally, the devices will be inundated with digital communications. The user of these devices, and all other digital devices capable of media storage, will desire an application that stores and manages the digital communications. A key attribute for such an application is user efficiency; because the user must be able to efficiently locate the digital communication. This task becomes more complicated as the digital device acquires more and more information in the form of digital communications.
An additional concern of handheld digital communication devices is that the display of such devices is typically minimal in size and applications that are implemented on the display must be able to be condensed and presented in a format that provides the user with accessibility to the functions of the application. It is typically easier and more efficient for the user of a handheld touch-screen display to search via a touch function, such as scrolling or the like, as opposed to searching via keystroke entry of text. Therefore, any application that manages digital communications on a handheld digital communication device must accommodate the typically small display of such devices and provide for an efficient means of locating the digital files with the management application.
In the digital communication environment where more and more digital devices, both wireless and wired, are equipped with a means for digital communication and where the storage capacity of these devices has become seemingly endless, the digital communication device will encounter and store innumerable digital communications. As such, the digital communication device will desire a means to access, store, manage and further communicate these digital communications in an efficient and user-friendly environment.
For example, if a digital communication device receives a digital communication, such as an email, a voice mail, an SMS/MMS message or the like, the user of the device would benefit greatly from an application that automatically places the file into a readily accessible storage area and where managing and accessing of the file in the future can occur efficiently, without the user having to spend a great deal of time searching for the digital communication. Additionally, the user of the device would benefit greatly from an application that provides ready access to a visual history of the communication in terms of related communications, editing history, or other relational parameters.
Therefore, the need exists to develop a digital communication management application that will provide for the visual presentation of communications, such that a user of the application can efficiently identify and access digital communications. In addition, the desired application should be capable providing a visual presentation of the relational information pertaining to the digital communications, such as the communication history, topic or title of the communication, author of the communication, relationship to other communications and the like.
The present invention provides for a digital communication management application implemented in an electronic device, such as a digital communication device. The digital communication management application provides for a communication presentation or view of the quantity of digital communications associated with specific time periods. In addition, the communication view provides the capability to distinguish between different digital communications based on a chosen digital communication characteristic. For example, the application may distinguish between incoming and outgoing communications or the application may distinguish between communication type (e.g., email versus voice mail, etc.) In addition, other digital communication characteristics may be graphically distinguished in the communication view. The chosen characteristic may be dictated by the configuration of the application or the chosen characteristic may be defined by the user of the application. In the topographic presentation the quantity of digital communications are represented graphically, typically in a line graph or bar graph type presentation. The quantity of digital communications may be defined by the number of digital communications or the storage volume of digital communications.
Additionally, the present invention provides for a communication management application that readily identifies, represents and provides access to related communications. The application provides for the user to identify the relational characteristic, such as communication history, communication author/originator, communication title/topic or the like. Once the characteristic is identified, such as via metadata associated with the communications, the application assembles the related communication grouping and visually presents the same to the user, typically in a relation view in conjunction with the time-line and communication views. As such, the digital communication management application provides the user an efficient means of locating digital communications, assessing quantity of digital communications in relation to time span and identifying and accessing communications that are related to one another.
In a first embodiment of the invention an application for providing access to digital communications on a digital device is defined. The application includes a computer readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions embodied in the medium. The computer-readable program instructions will include first instructions for generating a time-line view that segments time into time units and second instructions for generating a communication view that graphically represents digital communication quantity in relation to the time units presented in the time-line view. The time-line view will define periods of time and time units based on either configuration of the digital communication management application or user selection. The time periods and time units may be chosen from any period or unit, such as a year, month, week, date, hour, minute or the like. The period of time and time units will typically be optimized based on the quantity of digital communications that will be graphically displayed in the associated communication view.
The communication view will typically graphically distinguish between digital communications based on a chosen digital communication characteristic. For example, the communication view may distinguish between incoming and outgoing communications or the view may distinguish between the types of communications (i.e., email, voice mail, facsimiles, SMS, MMS, etc). The chosen digital communication characteristic may be determined by digital communication management configuration or the chosen digital communication characteristic may be specified by the user.
The second instructions of the application may further provide for representing a predetermined relationship between a selected digital communication and one or more related digital communications. The predetermined relationship will typically be determined by analyzing metadata information associated with the digital communications. Examples of predetermined relationships include, for example communication history, editing history, communication originator, communication author, communication title, communication topic and the like.
The application may additionally include third instructions for generating a preview view that displays at least a portion of a digital communication selected from the communication view. In addition, the preview view may include the display of the contents, or portions thereof, of previous and next in-time communications or related communications.
The communication view may further include a baseline representation for dividing the graphical representations into more than one portion of the communication view. Typically, the baseline representation will be a dividing line that divides the communication view into two portions, such as an upper portion and a lower portion. The baseline representation provides for the ability to divide the graphical representations provided in the communication view based on a chosen distinguishing digital communication characteristic. For example, digital communications of one type, such as audio communications, may be graphically represented on the upper portion of the view and digital communications of another type, such as text communications, may be graphically represented on the lower portion of the view.
The communication view may further include a zoom mechanism that provides for a detailed graphical representation of digital communications. The zoom mechanism will allow the user to view a more detailed topographic representation of digital communications. For example, in a standard communication view the digital communications may be represented by a line graph and in the zoomed-in detailed view the digital communications may be represented individually by icons in a bar graph format. Typically, the more detailed view will present a shorter time span and shorter time units within the time span. Additionally, the detailed view will provide for the digital communication representations to be more clearly delineated and in more detail than the standard view. The zoom mechanism may also provide for the digital communications to be accessed through detailed graphical representation of the digital communications.
The communication view may further include a focus mechanism that provides for the graphical representation of digital communications to be previewed and/or accessed by cursor movement in a vicinity of the graphical representation. By way of example, as a cursor is moved over a line graph representation of digital communications, the focus mechanism will display detail related to the digital communication associated with that portion of the line graph and will allow the user to access the digital communication via activation of the displayed detail.
The communication view may further include geometric identifiers, in the form of lenses, for identifying areas within the view that include digital communications that are responsive to a search conducted by the user. The digital communication management of the present invention will have a searchable database of metadata information related to each individual digital communication. A user may perform a keyword search or a filtering-type search to locate digital communications of interest. The communication view may display the results of such a search by presenting a lens over the area of the view in which the searched file or files reside. The lens may be altered in format to identify different search results or to signify the amount of searched files in the identifying area.
The communication view may further include a highlighting function that provides for the highlighting of time periods within the communication view to identify areas of user interest. For example, if the user of the application wishes to identify a time span related to a specific event in the user's life, the user may highlight the time span to accentuate the area and make it easier for the user to locate the time span when browsing in the communication view mode.
A further embodiment of the invention is defined by a digital device having a processing unit that executes computer-readable program instructions for accessing digital communications. The computer-readable program instructions include first instructions for generating a time-line view that segments time into time units and second instructions for generating a communication view that graphically represents digital communication quantity in relation to the time units presented in the time-line view. Additionally, the digital device will include a display in communication with the processing unit that presents the user access to digital communications through the time line and communication views.
The invention is further defined by a method for providing a communication view in a digital communication management application. The method includes the step of defining a time span and time units within the time span, determining the quantity of digital communications in the digital communication management application that are associated with the defined time units and providing a communication view that graphically represents the quantity of digital communications in the digital communication management application that are associated with the time units. The method may additionally include the step of defining a digital communication characteristic, determining the quantity of digital communications that include the digital communication characteristic, determining the quantity of digital communications having the characteristic that are associated with the defined time units and providing a communication view in conjunction with the time bar display. The communication view graphically represents the quantity of digital communications, by digital communication characteristic that are associated with the time units in the time bar.
As such, the digital communication management application of the present invention provides for a topographic presentation or view of the quantity of digital communications associated with specific time periods. In addition, the communication view provides the capability to distinguish between different digital communications based on chosen digital communication characteristic. In the topographic presentation the quantity of digital communications are represented graphically, typically in a line graph or bar graph type presentation. The application further provides for readily available and accessible information pertaining to related communications and providers for a user to identify relational characteristics. As such, the communication view of the digital communication management application provides the user of the diary an efficient means of locating digital communications and assessing quantity of digital communications in relation to time span.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the invention are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
The present invention provides for a communication management application implemented in an electronic device, such as a digital communication device. The communication management application provides the capability to manage all of the various communication types that are received by a digital communication device. By way of example, these communication types may include electronic mail (i.e., email), Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), facsimile, recorded telephone calls, voice messages and the like. In addition, these communication types may embody image files, audio files, video files, text files, and the like. The communication management application of the present invention provides an efficient and effective means for locating and accessing communications, as well as, analyzing relationships between related communications.
The digital communication management application provides for a communication presentation or view of the quantity of digital communications associated with specific time periods. In addition, the communication view provides the capability to distinguish between different digital communications based on a chosen communication characteristic. In certain embodiments, the chosen characteristic will be communication type, such as email, SMS, MMS, fax, voice message or the like or the chosen characteristic may be communication file type, such as image file, video file, audio file, text file, and the like. In addition, other communication characteristics may be graphically distinguished in the communication view. These other communication characteristics may include communications related to a specific individual, communications related to a specific group, communications related to a specific topic or communications related to a specific location.
In the communication presentation the quantity and/or density of digital communications are represented graphically, typically in a line graph, envelope curve, stacked area or bar graph type presentation. The number or quantity of digital communications may be defined by the number of communications or the storage volume occupied by the communications. As such, the communication view of the digital communication management application provides the user of the application an efficient means of locating digital communications and assessing quantity of digital communications in relation to time span.
The communication view will be adaptable, such that, the user may configure the communication view as the application dictates. For example, the user will be able to define the time span, such as a year, month, week, etc., that the communication view will encompass. Additionally, the user will be able to define the type of digital communications that will be presented in the communication view and the manner in which the digital communications are presented in the communication view.
Additionally, the communication view will provide the user with tools to efficiently assess and/or access files within the management application. In certain embodiments the management application will indicate, for selected digital communications, related or associated communications. The application may predefine the relationship characteristic or the user may define the relationship characteristic. Relationship characteristics include but are not limited to, communication history, edit history, communication author, communication sender, communication topic, communication title and the like.
In other embodiments of the invention, the graphical representation of digital communications will provide focus and zoom functions for the purpose of isolating a digital communication within a graph or providing access to a view of a portion of a time span, e.g., zooming from a year time span to a month time span or zooming from a month time span to a week time span. The focus function may allow for a cursor to be positioned over a segment or an area of the communication view to display more detailed representations of the digital communications associated with that portion of the communication view. Once a user has zoomed-in or focused-in to a desired digital communication, the user may be able to access the digital communication by mouse-type activation or predefined keystroke.
The communication view may also provide the user the ability to isolate regions within the time span of the view, in which, desired digital communications exist. In this regard, the application will provide for digital communications to be searched based on the unique metadata information that is connected to each digital communication. These searches may be in the form of keyword searches from the metadata database or filtering the digital communication database by a file characteristic, such as communication type, file size or the like. In the communication view the results of these searches may be presented as geometric icons displayed over an area of the communication view, herein referred to as a lens or any other means of graphically illustrating the search results within the communication view may be implemented. The size and shape of the lens or any other geometric identifier that illustrates the search results may vary.
The digital communication management application of the present invention may be implemented and executed on any electronic device that incorporates a display, such as a desktop or portable computer, cellular telephone, personal data assistant (PDA), digital camera, digital camcorder, e-book device, television, digital audio player or the like. In addition the digital communication management application may be implemented on electronic devices that are connected to an external display, such as a set-top box (STB), personal video recorder (PVR), digital video recorder (DVR) or the like. While in most implementations the digital device that executes the digital communication management application will be capable of any type of wireless or wireline network communication, such as wireless telecom, short range radio network, Bluetooth®, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Internet Protocol Data Casting (IPDC), Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB), Infrared Data Association (IrDa), Internet or the like, it is not required that the digital device be adapted to communicate via network. Devices that are capable of acquiring digital communications internally or accessing digital communications through memory devices (e.g., flash storage device, memory sticks, video and audio storage tapes, CD, DVD, removable hard disc device (HDD) and the like) are also applicable.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the digital communication management application will be embodied by a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions stored in the medium. The storage medium will typically be a memory device, such as flash ROM memory, HDD or the like. The programming instructions may be written in a standard computer programming language, such as C++, Java or the like. Upon execution by a processing unit as described below, the program instructions will implement the various functions of the digital communication management application as described below. The computer-readable program instructions include first instructions that will generate a time-line view that segments time into time units. The computer-readable program instructions also includes second instructions that will generate a communication view that graphically represents digital communication quantity in relation to the time units presented in the time-line view. The communication view may also graphically distinguish between digital communications of a chosen characteristic, such as digital communication type, topic, author, sender or the like. While the first and second instructions may be modules, objects or the like that communicate with one another, the instructions need not be discrete or separable portions of the program instructions and may be interspersed throughout if so desired.
The digital communications that are managed by the application of the present invention will typically have associated metadata, in the form of a timestamp, communication title, file name, location information, communication author, communication sender, objects in the digital communication, file type, file size or the like. The communication metadata will serve as the basis for associating the communication with an appropriate time, typically the time at which the communication was sent or received. In addition, and as explained in further detail below, communication metadata may also be relied upon to parse the overall collection of communications into a predetermined category of communications, search for communications of interest and to identify related communications.
The communication view 20 overlies the time-line view and graphically represents digital communication quantity in relation to the time units presented in the time-line view. In the illustrated embodiment, the digital communications have been sub-divided and presented according to whether the communication was an outbound communication or an inbound communication. The upper line graph 30 of the communication view represents the quantity of outgoing or sent communications and the lower line graph 40 represents the quantity of incoming or received communications. A centerline 50 divides the upper portion of the graph from the lower portion. In alternate embodiments, the communication view may omit the centerline, in such embodiments the presentation is a stacked area view. In alternate embodiments, the digital communications may be subdivided and presented according to other predefined criteria. Predefined criteria may include, but is not limited to, the type of communication, the file type, the communication author, the communication sender, the communication topic and the like.
In the illustrated embodiment, the user has selected a first communication 60. Selection of the communication may occur by input of a search query to a related search engine (not shown in
The
In addition to providing for an optional preview view 70, the contents of the selected communication 60 may be displayed in a pop-up type window or panel that is typically represented over the timeline view 10 and communication view 20.
In addition to providing an optional means for displaying the contents of the communication,
In the illustrated embodiment of
The view of
While the communication views of
The
In the
In the detailed view 300 the time-line view 310 defines a time span in terms of units of days, in this instance a twelve-day time span between 15 February and 26 February. The detailed view displays the digital communications associated with the area of interest 250. In the detailed view the digital communications are represented by icons 320. The icons may include a preview of the content of the digital communication, such as a thumbnail image of a portion of the digital communication, or the icon may include any other characteristic representation of the digital communication. As such, in this instance, the detailed communication view provides for the exact number of digital communications in the area of interest and an icon for each of the digital communications. In the depicted embodiment the standard faced icons 320A represent the same digital communication type that is represented by line graph 230 and the bold faced icons 320B represent the same digital communication type that is represented by line graph 220. It is also noted that the line graphs 220 and 230 are illustrated in the detailed view in blown-up, zoomed-in detail.
The icons 320 of the detailed view 300 will provide the user of the digital communication management application access to the full content of the digital communication. Typically, the user will activate the digital communication by mouse-type input or keystroke to display or otherwise access the digital communication in its entirety.
In the depicted embodiment of
In addition to the use of lens, the communication view may include color-coding or shading of specific regions within the communication view for the purpose of highlighting specific time periods of interest, typically time periods that a user will frequently visit to access associated digital communications. Color-coding and shading of time periods of interest may be defined by the user based on user preferences. For example, a user may desire to highlight a time period that corresponds to the birth period of a child. In this regard, the user may highlight the area as blue or pink for the purpose of easily identifying this area when trying to locate specific digital communications.
In addition, the highlighted area may be permanent and recalled to the communication view by a user whenever desired. Metadata information related to the highlighted areas is stored in the system and may be displayed and listed in a bookmark or annotation list.
A further embodiment of the invention is defined by a digital device that implements the digital communication management, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
The digital device 500 will include a processing unit 510, such as a processor, an application specific integrated circuit, analog and/or digital circuitry, or any other similar device that executes computer-readable program instructions for accessing digital communications. Wherein the program instructions and the digital communications are generally stored in memory device 520. The computer-readable program instructions will include first instructions 530 for generating a time-line view that segments time into time units, and second instructions 540 for generating a communication view that graphically represents digital communication quantity in relation to the time units presented in the time-line view. The second instructions may also provide for generating a communication view that distinguishes digital communications based on a chosen digital communication characteristic. In addition, the digital device will include, or may be in external communication with, a display 550 that is in communication with the processing unit and provides a presentation mechanism for the time-line view in conjunction with the communication view.
The present invention is also embodied in a method for representing media items in a communication view within a digital communication management application.
In alternate embodiments the method may include the steps of defining a digital communication characteristic, determining the quantity of digital communications that include the digital communication characteristic, determining the quantity of digital communications having the characteristic that are associated with the defined time units and graphically representing in the communication view quantity of digital communications, by digital communication characteristic, that are associated with the time units in the time bar. In this regard, the digital communications are not only presented in terms of their quantity associated by a time unit but are further distinguished based on digital communication characteristic, such as digital communication type or the like.
A further method is defined for providing a relational view of related digital communications in a digital device.
At step 720, a user will select a first digital communication from the timeline view. The first digital communication will serve as the root communication for all related communications. Typically, the first digital communication is determined by searching, scrolling or some other form of communication identification. Additionally the first communication may be selected by mouse-like cursor activation of a representation in the time-line view. At step 730, the method provides for the indication, within the timeline view, of one or more digital communications that are related to the first digital communication by a predetermined relational characteristic. Relational characteristics may include, but are not limited to, communication history, edit history, communication author, communication sender, communication title and communication topic. Indication may involve highlighting or color-coding the related communications, connecting the related documents by connection lines or any other form of visible or audible identification of the related communications.
The described embodiments of the present invention provide for a digital communication management application that provides for a topographic presentation or view of the quantity of digital communications associated with specific time periods. In addition, the communication view provides the capability to distinguish between different digital communications based on a chosen digital communication characteristic. In the topographic presentation the quantity of digital communications are represented graphically, typically in a line graph or bar graph type presentation. Additionally, the application provides for readily available and accessible information pertaining to related communications and provides for a user to identify relational characteristics. As such, the communication view of the digital communication management application provides the user an efficient means of locating digital communications and assessing quantity of digital communications in relation to time span.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.