Patent Publication Number: US-2007112927-A1

Title: Apparatus and method for transmitting a message

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2005-0109314, filed on Nov. 15, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to message communication, and more particularly, to one-to-many message communication.  
      2. Description of the Background Art  
      Currently, email and other message services are widely popular forms of communication, both for business and for personal uses. Email and other message services are currently provided over the Internet and over mobile telecommunication networks. As the processing capabilities of mobile devices and the bandwidth available to mobile devices have improved, many mobile communication network operators have transitioned from supporting only voice communication to embracing data communication applications.  
      A message service user may perform a one-to-one message communication, in which the user sends a message to a single recipient. Alternately, the user may perform a one-to-many message communication, in which the user broadcasts a single message to multiple recipients. A one-to-many message communication is a popular method of sending information to multiple people who share a common interest. Many companies use a one-to-many message communication for advertising and public relations. Messages may have different class types, such as advertisement, information or personal. Further, message notification allows an immediate or deferred retrieval of messages.  
      However, conventional one-to-many message communication only allows a single message to be broadcasted to a group of recipients. If a user wants to send an additional message to a subgroup of the group of recipients, he must write and transmit the additional message separately.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      One of the features of the present invention is that it allows a user to transmit an additional message to a specific subgroup of recipients in a one-to-many message transmission.  
      To achieve at least these features, there is provided an apparatus for transmitting a message which includes a message generator in which a data structure is generated. The data structure includes a plurality of address fields, and each address field includes at least one message recipient address. The message generator generates a message which includes a common message field and a hidden message field. The apparatus also includes a controller which controls transmission of the generated message to message recipient addresses entered into the plurality of address fields.  
      The message generator may generate a first message which includes a common message entered into the common message field and a second message which includes the common message and a hidden message entered into the hidden message field. The plurality of address fields may include a first address field and a second address field. The controller may control transmission of the first message to at least one message recipient address entered into the first address field and transmission of the second message to at least one message recipient address entered into the second address field.  
      The message generator may set contents entered into the hidden message field to be visible only to recipients whose addresses are entered into a specific address field of the plurality of address fields. The controller may control transmission of the generated message to all of the message recipient addresses included in each of the plurality of address fields.  
      The data structure may be a table including a recipient input structure and a message input structure. The recipient input structure may include the plurality of address fields, and the plurality of address fields may include a first address field and a second address field. Recipients whose addresses are entered into the second address field may receive a common message and a hidden message. Recipients whose addresses are entered into the second address field may receive a hidden message.  
      The message input structure may include a common message field and a hidden message field. A hidden message entered into the hidden message field may be visible only to specific recipients.  
      There is also provided a method for transmitting a message which includes entering at least one message recipient address into a first address field and entering at least one message recipient address into a second address field, entering a first message into a first message field and entering a second message into a second message field, transmitting the first message to each message recipient address entered into the first address field, and transmitting the first and second messages to each message recipient address entered into the second address field.  
      The second message may be transmitted only to a message recipient address entered into the second address field. The method may also include transmitting the second message to each message recipient address entered into the first address field, where the second message is visible only to a message recipient address entered into the second address field.  
      There is also provided a method for transmitting a message which includes entering at least one message recipient address into a first address field and entering at least one message recipient address into a second address field, entering a common message and a hidden message, and transmitting the common message and the hidden message to each message recipient address entered into the first and second address fields, where the hidden message is visible only to a message recipient address entered into the second address field.  
      There is also provided a computer-readable medium which stores a program for generating messages The program includes an address entry code segment that allows entry of at least one message recipient address into a first address field and entry of at least one message recipient address into a second address field, a message entry code segment that allows entry of a first message into a first message field and entry of a second message into a second message field, and a transmission control code segment that controls transmission of the first message to each message recipient address entered into the first address field and controls transmission of the first and second messages to each message recipient address entered into the second address field.  
      The program may include a message generating code segment that generates a message, addressed to each message recipient address entered into the first address field, which includes the first message but not the second message, and generates a message, addressed to each message recipient address entered into the second address field, which includes the first message and the second message. The program may include a message generating code segment that generates a message, addressed to each message recipient address entered into the first and second address fields, which includes the first message and the second message, where the second message is visible only to a message recipient address entered into the second address field. The first and second address fields and the first and second message fields may be included in a single data structure. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings, which are given by illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary apparatus for transmitting a message according to an aspect of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary structure of a table into which data for transmitting messages to different groups of recipients is entered according to an aspect of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing a process of transmitting different messages to different groups of recipients according to an aspect of the present invention; and  
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing an alternate process of transmitting different messages to different groups of recipients according to an aspect of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary apparatus for transmitting a message according to an aspect of the present invention. The apparatus includes an input unit  10 , a message generation unit  20 , a control unit  30  and a transmission unit  40 . The message generation unit  20  generates messages which are addressed to recipient addresses entered by a user through the input unit  10 . The control unit  30  controls the transmission unit  40  to transmit messages generated by the message generation unit  20 . The apparatus may be implemented in a variety of terminals which are capable of transmitting messages, such as, for example, text message or emails. For example, the apparatus may be implemented in a computer, a personal digital assistant, a mobile phone, and the like.  
       FIG. 2  illustrates an exemplary structure of a table  300 , generated in the message generation unit  20 , into which data for transmitting messages to different groups of recipients is entered according to an aspect of the present invention. The table  300  shown in  FIG. 2  includes a recipient input structure  310  and a message input structure  350 . The recipient input structure  310  includes a first address field  320 , into which the addresses of a first group of recipients is entered, and a second address field  330 , into which the addresses of a second group of recipients is entered. Each group of recipients includes one or more recipients. The addresses of the recipients may include, but are not limited to, a telephone number or email address, for example. The message input structure includes a common message field  360 , into which a common message is entered, and a hidden message field  370 , into which a hidden message is entered. The common message is destined for the first and second groups of recipients, and the hidden message is destined for only the second group of recipients.  
       FIG. 3  is a flow chart showing a process of transmitting different messages to different groups of recipients according to an aspect of the present invention.  
      The process shown in  FIG. 3  begins when a user runs a message service application (S 10 ). For example, a user may open a messaging service application on his mobile handset. The user then enters, via input unit  10 , the addresses of a first group of recipients into the first address field  320 , and enters the addresses of a second group of recipients into the second address field  330  (S 20 ).  
      For example, suppose the user is a leader of a group who wishes to send a common message to all of the members of his group (e.g., members A, B, C, D, F, F and G), and send a separate message to only the members of his group who have not paid their dues (e.g., members E, F and G). In this case, the user would enter the addresses (e.g., telephone number, email address, etc.) of members A, B, C and D into the first address field  320 , and enter the addresses of members E, F and G into the second address field  330 .  
      The user then enters, in the common message field  360 , via input unit  10 , a common message to be transmitted to all of the addresses in the first and second address fields  320  and  330 , and enters, in the hidden message field  370 , a hidden message to be transmitted only to the addresses in the second address field  330  (S 30 ).  
      For example, the user may enter a meeting date and time and an agenda into the common message field  360 , and enter a request to pay dues in the hidden message field  370 .  
      The message generation unit  20  then generates a first message which is to be transmitted to the addresses of the first group of recipients (e.g., members A, B, C and D) listed in the first address field  320 , and generates a second message which is to be transmitted to the second group of recipients (e.g., members E, F and G) listed in the second address field  330  (S 40 ). The first message includes the common message stored in the common message field  360 , and the second message includes both the common message and the hidden message stored in the hidden message field  370 .  
      Thus, in the above example, the members who have paid their dues (A, B, C and D) will receive a message notifying them of the meeting date and time and agenda, and the members who have not paid their dues (E, F and G) will receive a message notifying them of the meeting date and time and agenda, as well as a message requesting them to pay their dues.  
      The message generation unit  20  informs the control unit  30  when it has generated the messages. The control unit  30  then controls the transmission unit  40  to transmit the generated messages (S 50 ).  FIG. 2  illustrates the messages  400  which are transmitted by the transmission unit  40 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , first message  410  is transmitted to the first group of recipients, and second message  420  is transmitted to the second group of recipients.  
       FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing an alternate process of transmitting different messages to different groups of recipients according to an aspect of the present invention.  
      Steps  110 ,  120  and  130  of the process illustrated in  FIG. 4  correspond to steps  10 ,  20  and  30 , respectively, of the process illustrated in  FIG. 3 . However, the process of  FIG. 4  differs from the process of  FIG. 3 , in that the message generation unit  20  generates a single message which is to be transmitted to all of the recipients of the first and second groups (S 140 ). The single message includes the common message stored in the common message field  360  and the hidden message stored in the hidden message field  370 . Although the hidden message is thus transmitted to all of the recipients of the first and second groups, it is set so that it is visible to only the recipients of the second group.  
      The message generation unit  20  informs the control unit  30  when it has generated the messages. The control unit  30  then controls the transmission unit  40  to transmit the generated messages (S 150 ).  
      Of course, the order of inputting the recipient addresses (S 20 , S 120 ) and inputting the common and hidden messages (S 30 , S 130 ) by the user in the processes described above may be switched. That is, step S 30  may be performed before step S 20 , and step S 130  may be performed before step S 120 .  
      The present invention, as described above, thus allows a user to transmit special additional information to specific recipients in a convenient fashion when transmitting information using one-to-many message communication.  
      As the present invention may be embodied in several forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof, it should also be understood that the above-described embodiments are not limited by any of the details of the foregoing description, unless otherwise specified, but rather should be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims, and therefore all changes and modifications that fall within the metes and bounds of the claims, or equivalents of such metes and bounds are therefore intended to be embraced by the appended claims.  
      In accordance with various embodiments of the present disclosure, the methods described herein may be implemented by software programs executable by a processor. The present disclosure contemplates a computer-readable medium that includes instructions or receives and executes instructions responsive to a propagated signal. The term “computer-readable medium” shall include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by a processor to perform any one or more of the methods or operations disclosed herein.  
      In a particular non-limiting, exemplary embodiment, the computer-readable medium can include a solid-state memory such as, for example, a memory card or other package that houses one or more non-volatile read-only memories. Further, the computer-readable medium may be a random access memory or other volatile re-writable memory. Accordingly, the disclosure is considered to include any one or more of a computer-readable medium or a distribution medium and other equivalents and successor media, in which data or instructions may be stored.  
      The illustrations of the embodiments described herein are intended to provide a general understanding of the structure of the various embodiments. The illustrations are not intended to serve as a complete description of all of the elements and features of apparatus and systems that utilize the structures or methods described herein. Many other embodiments may be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the disclosure. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived from the disclosure, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure and the figures are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.  
      One or more embodiments of the disclosure may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any particular invention or inventive concept. Moreover, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any subsequent arrangement designed to achieve the same or similar purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all subsequent adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the description.  
      The above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments which fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of the present invention is to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the following claims and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.