Method and device for managing mobile telephone messages

[0001] The present invention starts out from the species set forth in the independent claim 1.

[0002] Smart cards are used as subscriber identity modules (SIM) in mobile equipment. In addition to identifying and authorizing the network subscriber, the smart-card module assumes, inter alia, the role of a portable data storage unit for, e.g. call numbers or short messages in the form of text. These short messages are transmitted by the so-called Short Message Service (SMS) and can include up to 160 characters.

[0003] As an alternative, the short messages can also be stored in the terminal, but then the advantage of being able to use them in different terminals together with the smart card module is lost.

[0004] Since the non-volatile storage space on the smart card module is limited (<16 . . . 32 kByte) and various other data and functions are stored in this memory, the number of short messages that can be saved in this smart card module is limited. It normally lies in the range of approximately 10 to 20. In contrast to the smart card module, there is indeed no technology-dependent upper limits for the size of the memory of the terminal, but even in this case, the economical design of the resources of the terminal will lead to the amount of memory for the short messages being limited. In both the smart card module and the terminal, the user has to manually delete the short messages no longer needed when the memory is completely full. A time-consuming sequence of operations is usually required to accomplish this.

[0005] Value-added services such as traffic and travel information or mobile banking (account statement) have been offered for some time, in particular by SMS. In connection with such services, the number of short messages received will markedly increase in the future and therefore require increased action on the part of the user to delete short messages.

[0006] Since no action by the user is necessary for receiving a short message, the memory may also be filled without the user initially noticing it. In addition, the user may miss perfectly desirable short messages, since no additional message can be received when the memory is completely full.

[0007] The present invention allows the messages stored in the terminal or smart card module to be managed in an automated manner, and thus substantially relieves the user of the manual management. Since messages that do not satisfy the predefined validity criteria are deleted or not stored in the first place, the unchecked total occupation of the nonvolatile memory is prevented, which means that the user does not miss any newly received messages due to a full memory. The deletion of messages may also be used to obtain a better overall view of the messages to be looked at.

[0008] In addition, the management of the messages may also include sorting them, which means that the messages may also be saved and/or displayed according to sorting criteria, e.g. according to priority, and therefore, they become easier for the user to monitor. The most important or most recent message may be displayed at the top position in the display field.

[0009] Temporal information, spatial information, and information about the source, the content, or the importance of the message may be used as reference information, and as validity criteria and/or sorting criteria. This allows the messages to be managed in a highly intelligent and user-friendly manner, which may also be adapted to personal wishes and then renders subsequent, manual intervention in the management largely unnecessary.

[0010] Thus, there may be general and personal priorities for managing the messages. For example, the importance may belong to the general priorities for traffic information. Emergency messages such as Danger, person driving in the wrong direction have a higher priority than warning messages such as Fog formation. The personal priorities may be made up of the personal preferences of the user. Thus, sports reports may be more important to one user than stock exchange reports, while the reverse is true for another user.

[0011] The messages in the terminal may be managed by the terminal itself, by the smart card module, or even in a remote-controlled manner, via the mobile radio network. The latter alternative particularly presents itself to general priorities. Thus, the priority of traffic information, e.g. during major events, may be increased in this region.

[0012] Advantageous further refinements of the present invention are specified in the dependent claims.

[0013] An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is represented in the drawing and explained in detail in the following description. The figures in the drawing show:

[0014] FIG. 1 a schematic representation of a mobile radio communication terminal having functional blocks.

[0015] FIG. 2 a flowchart of the management.

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a mobile radio communication terminal 2, which is inscribed in a mobile radio communication network 1 and receives a short message 4. A smart card module 3, which contains a nonvolatile memory 6, is plugged into a mount fixture of mobile radio communication terminal 2. This nonvolatile memory 6 is suitable for storing short messages.

[0017] In the exemplary embodiment, short message 4 is not generally stored in nonvolatile memory 6, but only after passing a test of its validity. In order to render this test possible, a reference information item 5 is transmitted as a part of the short message, or as an addition to it. A processing module 7 interprets and tests this reference information 5, using a validity criterion. If the validity criterion is satisfied, then the short message 4 having reference information item 5 is stored in nonvolatile memory 6. It may also be provided that short messages 4 previously stored are examined in intervals or in response to the occurrence of events. If the validity criterion is then not satisfied, then the short message 4 in question is automatically removed from nonvolatile memory 6.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the management. A time requirement or the occurrence of an event gives rise to a test trigger 8, which triggers a validity test 9 of the received or stored short message. In this case, a reference information item 11, which is a part of the short message, is compared to a validity criterion 12. If validity criterion 12 is satisfied, then the short message is valid, is stored, and is later reexamined when test trigger 8 is activated. If the validity criterion 12 is not fulfilled, then the short message is invalid and is not stored or, if previously stored, erased from memory 10. In addition to a validity criterion 12, a sorting criterion, which controls the allocation to memory locations or to positions on a display field, may also be provided.

[0019] The validity/sorting criterion may be a temporal reference, e.g. time frame or limit, a spatial reference, e.g. a prefix plus area code or mobile radio cell, or the presence or absence of other short messages in the memory.

[0020] The temporal reference may be linked to a temporal reference information item in the short message, or to the receiving time of the short messages, e.g. automatically delete all short messages that are more than one week old.

[0021] The spatial reference may be a cell or a list of cells. To this end, the smart card module may extract from the terminal the information as to which cell the terminal is situated in. However, the spatial reference may also be a prefix plus area code of the corresponding fixed network region, e.g. 05121 for Hildesheim, a list of area codes, or a group of area codes (e.g. 05* for all area codes that begin with 05). Other information such as cities, regions, e.g. Harz or Weserbergland, or states, is also conceivable by carrying out the appropriate conversion in the terminal or smart card module, but is more complicated.

[0022] The test of the criteria may also be triggered as a function of time, e.g. every two hours, spatially triggered, e.g. during each change of cells, triggered by events, e.g. when the memory is full and a new short message is received, or triggered by combination of these. An automated validity test of all short messages by an action of the user, e.g. delete all short messages that are invalid, is likewise conceivable.

[0023] The validity test/sorting may take place directly in the unit, namely the terminal or the smart card module, in which the short messages are stored. However, it may also be carried out by the terminal for the smart card module, or by the smart card module for the terminal. It is also conceivable for the validity test, i.e. the selective deletion of a group of short messages, to be triggered via the mobile radio network.