System and method for pushing information from a host system to a mobile data communication device

Abstract

A system and method for pushing information from a host system to a mobile data communication device upon sensing a triggering event is disclosed. A redirector program operating at the host system enables a user to continuously redirect certain user-selected data items from the host system to the user's mobile data communication device upon detecting that one or more user-defined triggering events has occurred. The redirector program operates in connection with event-generating applications and repackaging systems at the host system to configure and detect a particular user-defined event, and then to repackage the user-selected data items in an electronic wrapper prior to pushing the data items to the mobile device.

What is claimed:  
     
         1 . A method of redirecting data items from a messaging host system to a user's mobile device, comprising the steps of: 
 detecting a new data item for the user at the messaging host system;    forwarding a copy of the new data item to a redirector host system;    determining whether the new data item should be redirected from the redirector host system to the user's mobile device; and    if the new data item should be redirected, then packaging the new data item into an electronic envelope and transmitting the electronic envelope to the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 storing the new data item in a user's inbox coupled to the messaging host system.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the detecting step includes the steps of: 
 determining whether a new data item has been received at the messaging host system for a particular user; and    checking a forwarding file coupled to the messaging host system to determine whether the particular user's data items should be redirected to the redirector host system.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the forwarding file includes a list of system addresses where the user's data items should be forwarded by the messaging host system.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 forwarding a copy of the new data item to the user's inbox on the messaging host system.    
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 configuring a set of filtering rules for use by the redirector host system in determining whether the new data item should be redirected to the user's mobile device; and    providing an access mechanism that allows the user to remotely configure and reconfigure the filtering rules.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 configuring a user profile database for use by the redirector host system in determining whether the new data item should be redirected to the user's mobile data device; and    providing an access mechanism that allows a system administrator of the messaging host system to remotely configure and reconfigure the user profile database.    
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving the electronic envelope at the user's mobile device;    extracting the new data item from the electronic envelope; and    storing the new data item within the memory of the mobile device.    
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 preparing a reply data item at the mobile device that is related to the new data item;    packaging the reply data item into an electronic envelope and transmitting the electronic envelope to the redirector host system.    
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the electronic envelope is addressed using the electronic address of the redirector host system.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the steps of: 
 extracting the reply data item from the electronic envelope at the redirector host system;    reconfiguring the addressing information associated with the reply data item; and    transmitting the reconfigured reply data item to the messaging host system.    
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising the steps of: 
 receiving the reconfigured reply data item at the messaging host system; and    storing the reply data item in a user's inbox coupled to the messaging host system.    
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising the steps of: 
 extracting the reply data item from the electronic envelope at the redirector host system;    reconfiguring the addressing information associated with the reply data item; and    transmitting the reconfigured reply data item to a destination system using an electronic address included in the reply data item.    
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 providing the user's mobile device with an interface to a wireless data network;    forwarding the electronic envelope from the redirector host system to a wireless gateway system; and    transmitting the electronic envelope from the wireless gateway system to the user's mobile device using the wireless data network.    
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of: 
 transmitting a deactivation message from the user to the redirector host system; and    upon receiving the deactivation message, prohibiting the redirection of data items for the user sending the deactivation message.    
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes the steps of: 
 accessing a user profile database including a list of authorized users; and    checking whether the user associated with the new data item is an authorized user to determine whether the new data item should be redirected to the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes the steps of: 
 accessing a filter rules database including a list of filters to be applied to data items for a particular user; and    applying the filters to the new data item to determine whether the new data item should be redirected to the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the packaging step includes the step of addressing the electronic envelope using the electronic address of the user's mobile device.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the data items are E-mail messages, and the messaging host system is an E-mail host system.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user's mobile device is a laptop computer.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user's mobile device is a two-way paging computer.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 21 , wherein the two-way paging computer includes a wireless network interface for communicating with the redirector host system via a wireless data network.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22 , wherein the redirector host system is coupled to the wireless data network via a wireless gateway system.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the electronic envelope is addressed using the wireless data network address of the two-way paging computer.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the messaging host system is an Internet Service Provider.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein the data items are E-mail messages, and the Internet Service Provider includes a mail server program.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the Internet Service Provider further includes a forwarding database coupled to the mail server program for detecting whether a new data item received at the mail server should be forwarded to a redirector host system, and for determining the electronic address of that redirector host system.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the messaging host system and the redirector host system are coupled via the Internet.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the access mechanism for remotely configuring and reconfiguring the filtering rules is a web-page interface.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the access mechanism for remotely configuring and reconfiguring the user profile database is a web-page interface.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of: 
 configuring a user profile database for use by the redirector host system in determining whether the new data item should be redirected to the user's mobile data device; and    storing, within the user profile database, the electronic address of the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , further comprising the steps of: 
 storing, within the user profile database, information regarding the type and configuration of the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the packaging step further includes the steps of: 
 converting the new data item into a compressed format; and    placing the compressed new data item into an electronic envelope that is addressed using the electronic address of the user's mobile device.    
     
     
         34 . A method of redirecting E-mail messages from a messaging host system to a user's wireless mobile device, comprising the steps of: 
 detecting an E-mail message for the user at the messaging host system;    forwarding a copy of the E-mail message from the messaging host system to a wireless redirector host system;    receiving the forwarded E-mail message at the wireless redirector host system and applying a set of user-defined filtering rules that determine whether or not to redirect the E-mail to the user's wireless mobile device via a wireless network coupled to the wireless redirector host system; and    if the filtering rules determine that the E-mail message is of the type that should be redirected, then redirecting the E-mail to the user's wireless mobile device by packaging the E-mail message in an electronic envelope that includes the wireless network address of the user's wireless mobile device.    
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising the steps of: 
 providing a filter rules database for storing the user-defined filter rules; and    providing an interface mechanism to the filter rules database through which the user may define and re-define the filtering rules.    
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the interface mechanism is a web page interface.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 36 , wherein the web page interface includes an activation/deactivation switch for turning on/off the operation of the wireless redirector host system for a particular user.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising the step of: 
 accessing a user profile database coupled to the wireless redirector host system to verify that the user associated with the E-mail message is an authorized user.    
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 38 , further comprising the step of: 
 providing an access mechanism that allows a system administrator of the messaging host system to remotely configure and reconfigure the user profile database.    
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the messaging host system is an Internet Service Provider (ISP).  
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 40 , wherein the ISP and the wireless redirector host system communicate via the Internet.  
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the wireless redirector host system and the wireless mobile device communicate through a wireless gateway system and a wireless communication network.  
     
     
         43 . A system for redirecting data items from a network to a user's wireless mobile device, comprising: 
 a messaging host system coupled to the network for receiving data items associated with a particular user and for forwarding the received data items to a predetermined address on the network; and    a redirector host system associated with the predetermined address for receiving the forwarded data items from the messaging host system and for redirecting those data items to the user's wireless mobile device.    
     
     
         44 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the network is the Internet.  
     
     
         45 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the messaging host system further includes: 
 a sendmail program for receiving and transmitting user data items; and    a forwarding file containing a list of authorized user's of the system, and the predetermined address to which the messaging host system will forward each user's data items.    
     
     
         46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the messaging host system further includes a local data store for storing the data items of user's having accounts on the messaging host system.  
     
     
         47 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the redirector host system further includes: 
 a redirector software program for determining whether certain data items should be redirected to the user's wireless mobile device;    a filter rules database containing filtering rules to apply to the received data items for a particular user; and    a user profile database containing a list of authorized users.    
     
     
         48 . The system of  claim 47 , wherein the redirector host system further includes a wireless data store for storing the forwarded data items.  
     
     
         49 . The system of  claim 43 , wherein the data items are E-mail messages and the messaging host system is an E-mail server.  
     
     
         50 . The system of  claim 43 , further comprising: 
 a wireless gateway system coupled to the redirector host system and a wireless data network for receiving the redirected data items and for transmitting those data items to the user's wireless mobile device via the wireless data network.    
     
     
         51 . The system of  claim 43 , further comprising: 
 a filter rules database containing filtering rules to apply to the data items forwarded to the redirector host system, the filtering rules setting forth a list of data item characteristics that determine whether the redirector host system will redirect the data item.    
     
     
         52 . The system of  claim 51 , further comprising: 
 an interface document coupled to the filter rules database for enabling the remote configuration of the filtering rules for a particular user.    
     
     
         53 . The system of  claim 52 , wherein the interface document is a web page.  
     
     
         54 . A method of operating a host system configured to redirect E-mail messages from the Internet to a user's wireless mobile device, comprising the steps of: 
 receiving an E-mail message from the Internet for a particular user;    accessing a user profile database to determine whether the particular user is an authorized user of the host system;    if the user is an authorized user, then accessing a filter rules database to apply a set of user-defined filtering rules to the E-mail message that dictate whether the E-mail message is the type of message that the user wants to have redirected to its wireless mobile device; and    if the E-mail message clears the filtering rules, then repackaging the E-mail message into an electronic envelope including the address of the user's wireless mobile device and forwarding the electronic envelope to a wireless gateway system for transmission onto a wireless data network associated with the user's wireless mobile device.