Patent · US Expired

Method and apparatus for providing electronic mail services during network unavailability

US6289212A · kind A · utility

286Cited by
18References
38Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateOct 13, 1998
Grant dateSep 11, 2001
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 13, 2018

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W4/12
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Improved techniques for providing electronic mail services across a network are disclosed. A mail server and its clients communicate through a network. Although the mail server centrally manages the electronic mail services, the clients are able to themselves locally perform certain electronic mail services when the network is unavailable. Accordingly, clients seeking to perform electronic mail services no longer endure significant delays when the network is unavailable. The network can be unavailable for a variety of reasons, including: congestion, out of range, network failure, etc. The network can be wired or wireless. The invention is particularly well suited for networks having sporadic connectivity, high latencies or excessive traffic.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.