Portable Device Email Attachment Pre-fetching

Solution Overview

Problem

Portable electronic devices experience significant delays in displaying email attachments due to server processing time and network speed, often exceeding 20-30 seconds, which is undesirable for users.

Innovation Solution

A method where the portable electronic device sends an initial data request to a server, which builds a graph structure representing the attachment, reconstructs it, and sends an initial chunk of data in a viewer-readable format to the device before the user requests to view the attachment, allowing immediate display of the first portion and subsequent chunks upon user request.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of time

If the attachment data is fetched from the server only when the user requests to view it, then the server processing time and network transmission time are minimized (no unnecessary processing), but the user experiences a significant delay of 20-30 seconds before the attachment is displayed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser waiting timeVSAvoidserver processing energy

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-fetching an initial chunk of attachment data from the server and storing it in the portable device's memory before the user actually requests to view the attachment. This initial data chunk is sufficient to allow immediate display of the attachment content, eliminating the 20-30 second delay. The server processes and sends this initial chunk in advance, so when the user requests the attachment, the data is already available locally for immediate display.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Speed

If the complete attachment data is downloaded to the portable device before display, then the display speed is maximized (no waiting time), but the device memory requirements and data transmission energy consumption increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveattachment display speedVSAvoiddevice memory usage

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies segmentation by dividing the attachment data into multiple chunks: an initial chunk that is pre-fetched and stored on the portable device, and subsequent chunks that are fetched on-demand when the user views the attachment. This segmentation allows the system to optimize between pre-fetching enough data to enable immediate display while avoiding the need to download and store the entire attachment file, thus reducing device memory requirements while maintaining fast display speed.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent applies local quality by ensuring that the specific portion of data needed for immediate display (the initial chunk) is stored locally on the portable device, while the rest of the attachment data remains on the server and is fetched only when needed. This localized storage approach optimizes the display speed for the critical initial viewing without requiring the device to store the complete attachment file.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Loss of time

If the attachment data is fetched on-demand when the user requests to view it, then the network energy consumption is minimized (no unnecessary data transmission), but the user experiences a significant delay before the attachment is displayed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser waiting timeVSAvoidnetwork energy consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-fetching an initial chunk of attachment data from the server and storing it in the portable device's memory before the user actually requests to view the attachment. This initial data chunk is sufficient to allow immediate display of the attachment content, eliminating the 20-30 second delay. The server processes and sends this initial chunk in advance, so when the user requests the attachment, the data is already available locally for immediate display.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS9070114B2Method for receiving email attachment on a portable electronic device

Publication Date: 2015.06.30 MALIKIE INNOVATIONS LTD

AI summary

A method for downloading an attachment to an attachment viewer of a portable electronic device includes: sending an initial data request from the attachment viewer to a server in response to receipt of an email message including the attachment, building and storing a graph structure within the server representing a map of the attachment, encapsulating the graph structure in data having an attachment viewer readable format and sending an initial chunk of the data to the attachment viewer, the initial chunk of the data being stored on the portable electronic device. The initial chunk of the data is received by the portable electronic device prior to a request to view the attachment being selected by a user.