Abstract:
A system for updating multiple copies of a software program on respective multiple devices includes a system for responding to a notification of a first copy of the software program in a first one of the devices; a system for sending a notification responded signal to a second one of the devices by the first device that the notification has been responded to; and a system for automatically preventing a duplicate of the notification from occurring in a second copy of the software program on the second device based upon the notification responded signal received by the second device from the first device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to responding to notifications and, more particularly, to prevent or respond to duplicate notifications in a software program or application on respective multiple devices.  
         [0003]     2. Brief Description of Prior Developments  
         [0004]     If a user has calendars in multiple devices synchronized, such as two mobile devices and a personal computer (PC), a calendar alarm can pop-up in all devices at the same time. Responding to all three alarm notifications in each device separately is annoying and time consuming. No earlier solutions, other than manual dismissal of notifications on each device, are known.  
         [0005]     There is a desire to provide a system which can update software programs or applications on respective multiple devices when a response to a notification is entered by a user in one of the devices, thus, eliminating the need to manually dismiss the notifications on each of the other devices.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a system for updating multiple copies of a software program on respective multiple devices is provided including a system for responding to a notification of a first copy of the software program in a first one of the devices; a system for sending a notification responded signal to a second one of the devices by the first device that the notification has been responded to; and a system for automatically preventing a duplicate of the notification from occurring in a second copy of the software program on the second device based upon the notification responded signal received by the second device from the first device.  
         [0007]     In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a system for updating multiple copies of a software program on respective multiple devices is provided comprising a system for responding to a notification of a first copy of the software program in a first one of the devices; a system for sending a notification responded signal to a second one of the devices by the first device that the notification has been responded to; and a system for automatically responding to a duplicate of the notification in a second copy of the software program on the second device based upon the notification responded signal received by the second device from the first device.  
         [0008]     In accordance with one method of the present invention, a method of updating multiple copies of a software program on respective multiple devices is provided comprising responding to a notification of a first copy of the software program in a first one of the devices; sending a notification responded signal to a second one of the devices by the first device that the notification has been responded to; and automatically preventing a duplicate of the notification from occurring in a second copy of the software program on the second device based upon the notification responded signal received by the second device from the first device.  
         [0009]     In accordance with another method of the present invention, a method of updating multiple copies of a software program on respective multiple devices is provided comprising responding to a notification of a first copy of the software program in a first one of the devices; sending a notification responded signal to a second one of the devices by the first device that the notification has been responded to; and automatically responding to a duplicate of the notification in a second copy of the software program on the second device based upon the notification responded signal received by the second device from the first device. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]     The foregoing aspects and other features of the present invention are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of components and steps in a device incorporating features of the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating coupling of the device shown in  FIG. 1  to one or more second devices;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of components and steps used in one of the second devices shown in  FIG. 2 ;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  is a block diagram of method steps used with features of the present invention; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  is a diagram of a system using features of the present invention with multiple mobile communications devices. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a block diagram of a system  10  incorporating features of the present invention. Although the present invention will be described with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention can be embodied in many alternate forms of embodiments. In addition, any suitable size, shape or type of elements or materials could be used.  
         [0017]     This invention relates to multiple device ownership or use by a same user, and corresponding user interface notifications happening in several devices. This invention enables the user to respond to an alarm notification only on one device, which then communicates the response to the other devices. This system can, in turn, automatically close the corresponding alarm notifications in the other devices with the given response, or cancel showing the corresponding notifications if they haven&#39;t shown yet. This invention can be generalized so that any notification or user interaction associated to a same event, and happening on multiple devices, can be responded to by using only one device. This invention requires that the devices are somehow connected to each other. The connection media may be, for example, Bluetooth, USB, TCP/IP, Infrared, etc. The connection may be active at the time of alarm or notification happening, or can occur later after it has happened. The alarm or notification is associated with a unique event identifier which is common between all related devices. All devices can implement the same protocol which at least describe the event identifier and response identifier.  
         [0018]     The present invention relates to synchronization in a multi-device environment. In the future a person may have more than one mobile devices in use (one in work, one in free time, etc.) that all should be synchronized with each other and with a separate device such as a personal computer (PC). There is a need that a user should be able to respond to (e.g. calendar alert) via one device without a need to acknowledge the same event notification from each device.  
         [0019]      FIG. 1  shows a software program or application  12  which is adapted to send a notification or alarm  14  to the user. For example, the program  12  could comprise a calendar or scheduling program, such as Microsoft® Outlook®, MEETING MAKER, OfficeTalk®, PDA or Palm® software, or even a web based system such as MyAppointments.net. The notification could be a task reminder or calendar event, or any other suitable type of alarm or notification. When the notification  14  takes place, the user of the device can respond to the notification as indicated in block  16 . This response then deactivates the notification or resets the notification for a future time and/or date. When the user responds to the notification, the program  12  receives a signal as indicated by line  18  and, in addition, the device generates a notification responded signal  20 . The notification responded signal  20  could be generated by the program  12  or any other suitable system inside the device. The notification responded signal  20  is adapted to be sent from the device to at least one other device.  
         [0020]     Referring also to  FIG. 2 , the system  10  is shown inside a first device  22 . The first device  22  can send the notification responded signal  20  to one or more second devices  24  by a connection  23 . The connection  23  could comprise any suitable type of connection including, for example, Bluetooth, USB, TCP/IP, Infrared, Internet, Intranet, or use of a mobile telephone communications system. The receiving device(s)  24  comprises a copy of the software program or application  12 . The copy  26  could be a same version of the original software program or application  12  or could be a different version, so long as the original  12  and the copy  26  use compatible notification or alarm systems. The program/application  26  could comprise a calendar or scheduling program, such as for example Microsoft® Outlook®, MEETING MAKER, OfficeTalk®, PDA or Palm® software, or even a web based system such as MyAppointments.net. The original  12  and the copy or receiving program/application  26  could be different programs/applications, so long as they use compatible notification or alarm systems. The programs/applications could be adapted to run on different operating systems; such as WINDOWS, WINDOWS CE, LINUX, PSION EPOC, and PALM OS for example.  
         [0021]     Referring also to  FIG. 3 , when the notification responded signal  20  is received by the second device(s)  24 , the signal  20  is sent to the program or application  26 . The program or application  26  uses the signal to either prevent a duplicate of the notification  14  from occurring in the second device(s)  24  as indicated by block  28 , or automatically responds to the duplicate of the notification as indicated by block  30  if the notification has already occurred in the second device  24 . The software/application  26  or another component of the device  24  could be adapted to perform one or both of these operations  28 ,  30 .  
         [0022]     With the present invention, when a user responses to the notification  14  (e.g. calendar alarm) in a first device  22 , the device  22  can send the response to the other devices  24  using an agreed protocol and an active connection media; the connection  23 . The device(s)  24  receiving the response can find a notification having the same identifier as in the response, and feeds the response to the similar application (or piece of software) in the receiving device  24 ; the similar program/application to that which initiated the notification in the sending device  22 . The application in this other device then uses the response as it was given by the user in the first device. This is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . The user responds to the notification in the first device as indicated by block  32 . The first device sends the notification responded signal as indicated by block  34 . The notification responded signal can then be used by the receiving device to either automatically prevent a duplicate or equivalent of the notification in the receiving device as indicated by block  36 , or automatically respond to a duplicate or equivalent of the notification by the receiving device as indicated in block  38 .  
         [0023]     It is possible to synchronize locally between a mobile device such as a mobile telephone and a PC, and remotely between the mobile terminal and a network server. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/661,779 filed Sep. 11, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, teaches how two terminals can be synchronized by using special profiles for activation. This does not teach acknowledging notifications, but generally about synchronization. The present invention provides a feature which enables a person to respond concentradetly to application notifications occurring in several devices in a same time.  
         [0024]     Referring now also to  FIG. 5 , one scenario of use of the present invention with a mobile communications device will be described. In this scenario the first device  22  comprises a mobile telephone or communicator. The device  22  could comprise any type of mobile electronic apparatus such as, for example, a mobile telephone, a personal data assistant (PDA), a mobile communicator, a laptop or notebook computer, or a mobile game player. In the embodiment shown, the mobile device  22  comprises an antenna  40 , a transceiver  42 , a controller  44 , and a user interface  46 . The mobile device  22  obviously comprises other components. For example, in a mobile telephone or mobile communicator the mobile device  22  comprises a display screen, a battery, a microphone and a speaker or sound transducer. The present invention could also be used with mobile devices that are not in just one piece. The mobile device could be ubiquitous in a sense that storage memory is outside the core device and perhaps has some other components as well. The present invention could be used with a virtual device with all the components existing, but not all in the same “place”.  
         [0025]     The transceiver  42  and antenna  40  are adapted to communicate by means of a link  48  through a mobile communications system  50  as part of the connection  23 . In the embodiment shown, the link  48  comprises a wireless link, such as a radio frequency link. The air interface standard may conform to, for example, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) air interface, or a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) air interface, or a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) air interface, or GSM, or 3G. In alternate embodiments, features of the present invention could be used with any suitable type of air interface standard. In an alternate embodiment, features of the present invention could be used with a wired communications system, such as a land line telephone system. The wireless telecommunications system establishes the wireless link  48  to couple the mobile device  22  to a base transceiver station (BTS) of the exemplary network operator  52 .  
         [0026]     The network operator generally comprises a mobile switching center (MSC) for connecting to a telecommunications network, such as a public switched telephone network or PSTN, at least one base station controller (BSC), and a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTS) that transmit in a forward or downlink direction both physical and logical channels to the mobile device  16  in accordance with a predetermined air interface standard. A reverse or uplink communication path exists from the mobile device  22  to the network operator, and conveys mobile station originated access requests and traffic, such as voice and possible packet data traffic.  
         [0027]     The network operator can include a Message Service Center (MSCT) that receives and forwards messages from the mobile device  22 , such as Short Message Service (SAS) messages, or any wireless messaging technique including Email and supplementary data services. In an alternate embodiment, features of the present invention could be used with any suitable type of network operator system.  
         [0028]     The mobile device  22  also contains a wireless section that includes a digital signal processor (DSP), or equivalent high-speed processor, as well as the wireless radio frequency (RF) transceiver  42  comprising a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver is coupled to the antenna  40  for communication with the network operator. In an alternate embodiment, features of the present invention could be used with any suitable type of wireless communications device or mobile phone. Data transfer can occur between the mobile device  22  and the one of the other devices  24  by means of the mobile communications system  50  and connection  23 .  
         [0029]     The connection  23  could comprise a server  54  with a memory  56 . The server  54  can be used to temporarily store the notification responded signal  20  in the event any of the links  58 ,  60  of the connection  23  to the other devices  24  is not active. When the links  58 ,  60  become active, the server  54  can then forward or send the signal  20  to the device(s)  24 . In an alternate embodiment, the mobile communications system  50  could comprise the server  54  used for temporarily storing the notification responded signal  20 . The system for sending the notification responded signal is preferably adapted to send the notification responded signal to the plurality of second devices at substantially a same time.  
         [0030]     As noted above, the server  54  could be located in the mobile communications system  50  or the connection  23 . The connection  23  could comprise any suitable type of connection such as, for example, a telephone line, a cable line, satellite dish, an Internet connection, a wireless link, etc. or a combination or two or more of these. In the embodiment shown, one of the second devices  24  is a second mobile telephone or communicator  62 . The link  58  comprises a wireless link. The other one of the second devices  24  is a personal computer  64 . The link  60  comprises a connection such as a DSL connection or a cable modem connection.  
         [0031]     With this embodiment the two second devices  62 ,  64  comprise a program or application with a notification feature similar to the notification feature in the mobile telephone  22 . When the user responds to the notification in the mobile telephone  22 , the mobile telephone  22  is able to send the notification responded signal to the other devices  62 ,  64  via the connection  23  and links  58 ,  60 . Thus, the present invention can prevent a duplicate or similar notification from occurring in the devices  62 ,  64  or, if they have already occurred before the notification responded signal is received by the devices  62 ,  64 , then allow the devices  62 ,  64  to automatically respond to those notification(s) in the devices  62 ,  64  when the notification responded signal is received.  
         [0032]     It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the invention. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. Accordingly, the present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.