Patent Publication Number: US-2007117539-A1

Title: Notification of a received message in a wireless mobile communication device based upon authentication

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention generally relates to mobile communication, and more specifically to a method and an apparatus for providing a notification of a received message based upon authentication of the received message in a wireless mobile communication device.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      In today&#39;s wireless mobile communication systems, a user of a mobile wireless communication device can often communicate by sending and receiving Short Messages through Short Message Service (“SMS”). For certain types of wireless mobile communication devices, such messaging services as Cell Broadcast Service (“CBS”) and Multimedia Messaging Service (“MMS”) may also be available. In case of a national emergency or local emergency such as a hurricane or tornado, the above mentioned messaging services may be employed by an appropriate authority to reach and notify the affected public having such wireless devices. At the same time, for the wireless device users, there is a risk of receiving falsified emergency messages or simply unwanted messages such as spam messages.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary block diagram of a wireless communication network in which a wireless mobile communication device in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments may be practiced;  
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the process in a wireless mobile communication device for providing a notification of a received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments;  
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary block diagram of a wireless mobile communication device configured to provide a notification of an authenticated received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments; and  
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary flowchart illustrating the process in a wireless communication network for providing a notification to a wireless mobile communication device of a received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments.  
    
    
     DETAIL DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      A wireless mobile communication device receives a message, which is designed to reach as many subscribers as possible in a targeted area. The message may be urgent in nature, such as a natural disaster in the targeted area or other emergency situations which the general public in the vicinity needs to be made aware of. Such an emergency message may be provided through messaging services such as the Short Message Services (“SMS”), Cell Broadcast Service (“CBS”) and Multimedia Messaging Service (“MMS”). To avoid notifying the user of the wireless mobile communication device if the message is falsified or a spam, the wireless mobile communication device evaluates the authenticity of the received message. If the received message is authenticated, then the wireless mobile communication device provides a notification that an urgent message has been received. Although a mechanism, known as Message Class zero, exists in SMS and CBS specifications to indicate to the wireless mobile communication device that a particular received short message should be displayed immediately, the user of the mobile device can override the Message Class Zero setting, allowing the mobile device not to have such messages displayed immediately. To provide an immediate notification of an emergency message, the wireless mobile communication device may override the user setting to provide an immediate notification upon authenticating the received message.  
       FIG. 1  is an exemplary block diagram of a wireless communication network  100  in which a wireless mobile communication device (“mobile device”)  102  in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments may be practiced. The wireless communication network  100  is shown to have a plurality of mobile devices (three mobile devices  102 ,  104 , and  106  are shown for simplicity), which are capable of wirelessly communicating with a fixed base station  108 . The fixed base station  108  is connected to an emergency center  110 , such as police, fire department, local government, or any agency having authority to provide a wide area notification of situations of the public concern such as a tornado  112  approaching the mobile devices  102 ,  104 , and  106 .  
       FIG. 2  is an exemplary flowchart  200  illustrating the process in the mobile device  102  for providing a notification of a received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments. In block  202 , the mobile device  102 , which is registered in the wireless communication network  100 , receives a message having a predefined characteristic. The predefined characteristic may be a digital signature provided by the message originator, a predefined bit set by the message originator, or any other mechanism that can be used by the mobile device  102  to determine the authenticity of the message. The message may be urgent in nature, such as a warning of the tornado  112  approaching, requiring an immediate attention of the user of the mobile device  102 , and may be a CBS message, a MMS message, an SMS message, or any message that is configured to reach a plurality of mobile devices registered in the wireless communication network  100 . To avoid notifying the user of the mobile device  102  of falsified or spam type of unauthorized messages, the mobile device  102  evaluates authenticity of the received message based upon the predefined characteristic in block  204 . If the mobile device  102  is unable to authenticate the received message in block  204 , meaning that the received message originated from a source unauthorized to utilize such a wide transmission method, then the process terminates in block  206 . However, if the received message is authenticated in block  204 , meaning that the urgency of the received message is genuine, the mobile device  102  determines in block  208  whether a local notification setting, such as the Message Class Zero setting, of the mobile device  102  needs to be overridden in order to provide an immediate notification of the received message. If the local notification setting needs to be overridden, the mobile device  102  overrides the local notification setting in block  210 , and provides an immediate notification of the authenticated received message in block  212 . If the local notification setting is determined not needing to be overridden, the mobile device  102  provides an immediate notification of the authenticated received message in block  212 . The notification of the received message provided by the mobile device  102  may be any one of various types of notifications including a visual notification such as an indicator light turning on or flashing, an audible notification such as an alert being activated, a motional notification such as the mobile device  102  vibrating, and the displaying of the authenticated received message.  
       FIG. 3  is an exemplary block diagram  300  of the mobile device  102  configured to provide a notification of an authenticated received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments. The mobile device  102  has a central processing unit (“CPU”)  302 , which is configured to control overall functionality of the mobile device  102 , including a local notification setting of the mobile device  102  such as the Message Class Zero setting, which allows a delayed notification of the received message. A receiver  304  is coupled to the CPU  302 , and is configured to receive a message having a predefined characteristic from the fixed base station  108 . A message authenticator  306  is coupled to the receiver  304 , and is configured to evaluate authenticity of the received message based upon the predefined characteristic. As previously described, the predefined characteristic may be any mechanism that can be used by the mobile device  102  to determine the authenticity of the message, and the message may be urgent in nature requiring an immediate attention of the user of the mobile device  102 , and may be any message that is configured to reach a plurality of mobile devices registered in the wireless communication network  100 . A setup over-rider  308  is coupled to the CPU  302  and. the message authenticator  306 , and is configured to override the local notification setting of the mobile device  102  if the received message is authenticated. A notification provider  310  is coupled to the message authenticator  306 , and is configured to provide a notification of the received message if the received message is authenticated. By overriding the local notification setting by the setup over-rider  308 , the notification provider  310  is capable of immediately providing the notification of the received message upon the authentication of the received message. The notification of the received message provided by the notification provider  310  in the mobile device  102  may be any one of various types of notifications including a visual notification such as an indicator light turning on or flashing, an audible notification such as an alert being activated, a motional notification such as the mobile device  102  vibrating, and the displaying of the authenticated received message.  
       FIG. 4  is an exemplary flowchart  400  illustrating the process in the wireless communication network  100  for providing a notification to the mobile device  102  of a received message in accordance with at least one of the preferred embodiments. In block  402 , the wireless communication network  100  receives a message having a predefined characteristic, which provides authenticity of the message, from the emergency center  110 . The emergency center  110  may be police, fire department, local government, or any agency having authority to provide a wide area notification of situations of the public concern such as a tornado  112  approaching the mobile devices  102 ,  104 , and  106 . The message may be a CBS message, a MMS message, an SMS message, or any message that is configured to reach a plurality of mobile devices registered in the wireless communication network  100 . In block  404 , the wireless communication network  100  transmits the message through the fixed base station  108 . The message causes the mobile device  102 , which receives the message, to authenticate the message based upon the predefined characteristic in block  406 . In block  408 , the message further causes the mobile device  102  to override a local notification setting, such as the Message Class Zero setting, upon authenticating the message, and causes the mobile device  102  to immediately provide a notification of the message upon authenticating the message in block  410 . The notification of the message may be any one of various types of notifications including a visual notification such as an indicator light turning on or flashing, an audible notification such as an alert being activated, a motional notification such as the mobile device  102  vibrating, and the displaying of the authenticated received message.  
      While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not so limited. Numerous modifications, changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.