Converged Address Book System for Cross-Device Contact Sharing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current address book systems face interoperability issues and inconsistent user experiences across devices, particularly for mobile devices, due to the lack of a unified system architecture and functionality for managing, sharing, and interacting with contact information across various devices and networks.
Innovation Solution
A converged address book system with a network-based architecture that includes a server and client interface, utilizing protocols like HTTP and SIP for communication, and XML-based data management to enable contact search, subscription, sharing, and interaction with legacy systems, providing a consistent method for accessing and managing contact information across devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a unified network-based address book system is implemented, then interoperability and user experience consistency are improved, but device complexity and client memory footprint increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary that hosts the address book data and handles complex operations. The client device only needs lightweight software that communicates with the server through standardized protocols, thereby improving interoperability without significantly increasing client complexity. The server acts as the mediator that manages the address book system centrally.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the address book system from a device-centric model to a network-centric model by introducing a new dimension (network layer). Instead of each device maintaining its own address book independently, the system elevates the address book management to the network level, allowing multiple devices to access a unified address book through the network infrastructure.
2Speed
If address book data is stored locally on each device, then access speed is improved, but data synchronization and sharing across devices become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the address book data from multiple devices into a single centralized location on the server. Instead of each device maintaining separate address book copies, all devices access and contribute to a unified address book stored on the server, enabling seamless data sharing and synchronization across the network while maintaining fast access through local caching mechanisms.
3Adaptability or versatility
If legacy address book systems are integrated into the converged system, then system versatility is improved, but integration complexity and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces protocol translation layers and gateway components as intermediaries between legacy address book systems and the converged network-based system. These intermediaries handle the complexity of integration by translating between different protocols and data formats, allowing legacy systems to be integrated without significantly increasing the complexity of the core converged system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies or representations of legacy address book data in the standardized format required by the converged system. Instead of directly integrating complex legacy systems, the patent copies the essential data and functionality into the new system's format, maintaining compatibility while simplifying the integration process.
4Use of energy by moving object
If over-the-air traffic is optimized for mobile devices, then energy consumption is reduced, but client functionality and data processing capabilities are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts complex data processing and address book management functions from the mobile client and relocates them to the server. The client device only needs to handle basic user interface interactions and simple communication protocols, significantly reducing energy consumption while the server handles the computationally intensive tasks of data synchronization, search, and management.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of sharing contacts within a converged address book system having a converged address book server, the method receiving from a requestor, at the converged address book server, a request for a contact to be shared with a recipient identified in the request; obtaining contact information for the contact from a repository; and delivering the shared contact to the recipient. Also, a method for interaction with a legacy address book system from a network based converged address book system, the method receiving a request to import legacy address book data from a legacy address book system; contacting the legacy address book system and supplying access parameters; retrieving data from the legacy address book system; and storing the imported data in a network based address book storage.