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Claims  |
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What is claimed is:
1. A method for transmitting e-mail attachments from a sender of a network
to at least one recipient of the network, the method comprising the steps
of:
(a) storing an attachment in a storage means visible to the network and
relatively local to the sender, the attachment having a unique network
address;
(b) generating an attachment reference comprising the network address of
the attachment and attaching the attachment reference to a primary e-mail
message;
(c) transmitting the primary e-mail message and the attachment reference
from the sender to the at least one recipient, wherein the at least one
recipient is informed that the attachment is attached to the primary
e-mail message; and
(d) providing the at least one recipient with transparent retrieval of the
attachment by retrieving with a recipient of the at least one recipient
the attachment from the storage means when the recipient chooses to access
the attachment.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the attachment reference comprises a
uniform resource locator.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein the world-wide web is a networking
application running on the Internet for enabling communications between
nodes of the Internet.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a local-area
network (LAN).
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the network comprises a plurality of
interconnected WANs and LANs.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sender and recipient nodes of the
network used by sending and receiving users, respectively.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the storage means comprises a network
server.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the sender is connected to the network
through a first LAN and the recipient is connected to the network through
a second LAN.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein:
step (a) comprises the further steps of encrypting the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means and providing an encryption
key for decrypting the attachment; and
step (c) comprises the step of transmitting the attachment reference and
the encryption key from the sender to the at least one recipient.
11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of:
(e) decrypting with the recipient the attachment by using the encryption
key.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein:
step (a) comprises the further step of compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means;
the method further comprising the step of:
(f) decompressing with the recipient the attachment.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein:
step (a) comprises the further step of compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of:
(e) decompressing with the recipient the attachment.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein:
the at least one recipient comprises a plurality of recipients;
the attachment reference is relatively small in size compared to the
attachment; and
the attachment is a file comprising data.
16. An apparatus for transmitting e-mail attachments via a network to at
least one recipient of the network, wherein the apparatus is a sender of
the network, the apparatus comprising:
(a) means for storing an attachment in a storage means visible to the
network and relatively local to the sender, the attachment having a unique
network address;
(b) means for generating an attachment reference comprising the network
address of the attachment and for attaching the attachment reference to a
primary e-mail message; and
(c) means for transmitting the primary e-mail message and the attachment
reference to the at least one recipient, wherein the at least one
recipient is informed that the attachment is attached to the primary
e-mail message, wherein a recipient of the at least one recipient
comprises:
(1) transparent retrieval means for transparently retrieving the
attachment, comprising means for retrieving the attachment from the
storage means when the recipient chooses to access the attachment.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the network is the Internet.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the attachment reference comprises a
uniform resource locator.
19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the world-wide web is a networking
application running on the Internet for enabling communications between
nodes of the Internet.
20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the network comprises a local-area
network (LAN).
21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the network comprises a plurality of
interconnected WANs and LANs.
22. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sender and recipient are nodes
of the network used by sending and receiving users, respectively.
23. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the storage means comprises a
network server.
24. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the sender is connected to the
network through a first LAN and the recipient is connected to the network
through a second LAN.
25. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:
means (a) further comprises means for encrypting the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means and for providing an
encryption key for decrypting the attachment; and
means (c) comprises means for transmitting the attachment reference and the
encryption key to the at least one recipient.
26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the recipient further comprises:
(2) means for decrypting the attachment by using the encryption key.
27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein:
means (a) further comprises means for compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means;
the recipient further comprising:
(3) means for decompressing the attachment.
28. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:
means (a) further comprises means for compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means.
29. The apparatus of claim 28, wherein the recipient further comprises:
(2) means for decompressing the attachment.
30. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein:
the at least one recipient comprises a plurality of recipients;
the attachment reference is relatively small in size compared to the
attachment; and
the attachment is a file comprising data.
31. A storage medium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions for
transmitting e-mail attachments from a sender of a network to at least one
recipient of the network, wherein the plurality of instructions, when
executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:
(a) storing an attachment in a storage means visible to the network and
relatively local to the sender, the attachment having a unique network
address;
(b) generating an attachment reference comprising the network address of
the attachment and attaching the attachment reference to a primary e-mail
message;
(c) transmitting the primary e-mail message and the attachment reference
from the sender to the at least one recipient, wherein the at least one
recipient is informed that the attachment is attached to the primary
e-mail message; and
(d) providing the at least one recipient with transparent retrieval of the
attachment by retrieving with a recipient of the at least one recipient
the attachment from the storage means when the recipient chooses to access
the attachment.
32. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the network is the Internet.
33. The storage medium of claim 32, wherein the attachment reference
comprises a uniform resource locator.
34. The storage medium of claim 32, wherein the world-wide web is a
networking application running on the Internet for enabling communications
between nodes of the Internet.
35. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the network comprises a
local-area network (LAN).
36. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the network comprises a
plurality of interconnected WANs and LANs.
37. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the sender and recipient are
nodes of the network used by sending and receiving users, respectively.
38. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the storage means comprises a
network server.
39. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein the sender is connected to the
network through a first LAN and the recipient is connected to the network
through a second LAN.
40. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein:
step (a) further comprises the steps of encrypting the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means and providing an encryption
key for decrypting the attachment; and
step (c) comprises the step of transmitting the attachment reference and
the encryption key to the at least one recipient.
41. The storage medium of claim 40, wherein the plurality of instructions
cause the processor to perform the further step of:
(e) decrypting with the recipient the attachment by using the encryption
key.
42. The storage medium of claim 41, wherein:
step (a) further comprises the step of compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means;
wherein the plurality of instructions cause the processor to perform the
further step of:
(f) decompressing with the recipient the attachment.
43. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein:
step (a) further comprises the step of compressing the attachment before
storing the attachment in the storage means.
44. The storage medium of claim 43, wherein the plurality of instructions
cause the processor to perform the further step of:
(e) decompressing with the recipient the attachment.
45. The storage medium of claim 31, wherein:
the at least one recipient comprises a plurality of recipients;
the attachment reference is relatively small in size compared to the
attachment; and
the attachment is a file comprising data. |
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Claims |
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Description |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the transmission of electronic mail over
computer networks, and, in particular, to apparatuses and method for
providing for electronic mail attachments by reference rather than by
value.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
In computer network systems such as local-area networks ("LANs"), wide-area
networks ("WANs"), and the Internet and the world-wide web ("WWW") which
operates thereon, electronic mail ("e-mail") systems are often utilized to
facilitate communication between two users of the network. Each user has a
unique network address which may be used for routing and identifying
purposes in delivering an e-mail message from one user (the "sender") to
another user (the "recipient") on the network.
Often an e-mail message contains a relatively small amount of text or other
forms of data. One or more additional files of data, called "attachments,"
are often attached to the e-mail message. For example, a word processing
file or graphic file that is incompatible with the display capabilities of
the e-mail system or that is too large to be conveniently displayed by the
e-mail application program may be transmitted from the sender to the
recipient by attaching it to an e-mail message. The e-mail message may
introduce or explain the attachments attached thereto, for example. Thus,
the recipient receives the e-mail message plus any attached data files,
which may be opened, accessed, or utilized separately from the e-mail
message itself.
Such attachments are typically transmitted via the transmission medium of
the network "by value," which means that the actual data of a given
attachment is transmitted along with the primary e-mail message (or an
attachment may be transmitted independently, with no accompanying e-mail
message). One problem with current methods of transmitting e-mail
attachments is that, because of the potentially significant size of such
attachments, a large amount of network communications bandwidth can be
consumed in order to transmit such attachments. Costly network resources
may also be required as such message and attachments traverse several
nodes or elements of the network on the way from the sender to the
recipient node. Additionally, the memory storage devices of local nodes of
the network that often store such incoming e-mail messages and their
associated attached files may be overloaded by many incoming e-mail
messages.
Thus, prior art e-mail systems suffer from several disadvantages. There is,
therefore, a need for methods and systems for providing for attachments
for e-mail messages that more efficiently utilize processor and
communications medium bandwidth and memory storage in a computer
communications network.
SUMMARY
There is provided herein a method, apparatus, and storage medium for
transmitting e-mail attachments from a sender of a network to at least one
recipient of the network. According to a preferred embodiment of the
invention, an attachment is stored in a storage device visible to the
network and relatively local to the sender, the attachment having a unique
network address. An attachment reference is generated, comprising the
network address of the attachment. The attachment reference is transmitted
from the sender to the at least one recipient.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention
will become more fully apparent from the following description, appended
claims, and accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 shows a networked computer system in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 depicts a second networked computer system in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates a third networked computer system in accordance with a
preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates an e-mail message format in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 shows another computer network in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 shows an HTTP-only e-mail system in accordance with a preferred
embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the method of operation of the e-mail
system of FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
System Hardware
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown networked computer system 100, in
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Networked
computer system 100 comprises a plurality of nodes or personal computers
("PCs") 110, 120, 130. Personal computer or node 110 comprises a processor
116, memory 117, video camera 111, microphone 112, mouse 113, speakers
114, and monitor 115. Nodes 110, 120, 130 and other nodes of the network
are interconnected via medium 101. Medium 101 may be, for example, a
communication channel such as an Integrated Services Digital Network
("ISDN"). As will be understood, various nodes of a networked computer
system may be connected through a variety of communication media,
including local area networks ("LANs"), plain-old telephone lines
("POTS"), sometimes referred to as public switched telephone networks
("PSTN"), and the like. Various nodes of a network may also constitute
computer system users interconnected via a network such as the Internet.
As will be appreciated, each user of a network has a unique address or
identification within the network. As used herein, "user" may be utilized
interchangeably with a node of a network. Thus, each user or node has a
particular network address within a given network that uniquely identifies
the user or node. Those skilled in the art will understand, however, that
this usage is to be distinguished from an actual human user who may also
have a unique address, such as an e-mail address, that is not related to
the network address of any particular node of the network, since human
users can often access e-mail messages from arbitrary nodes within the
network. However a human user at a given point in time while using a
network uses a particular node having a unique network address as
discussed above.
Often a multi-point data conferencing system may be supported by such a
network, as well as the capability of transmitting e-mail messages from
one user to another. A plurality of multipoint conferencing units ("MCUs")
may thus be utilized, as will be understood by those skilled in the art,
to transmit data to and from various nodes or "endpoints" of the
conferencing system. Nodes and/or MCUs may be interconnected via an ISDN
link or through a local area network ("LAN"), in addition to various other
communications media such as nodes connected through the internet. Those
skilled in the art will appreciate that nodes of a conferencing system
may, in general, be connected directly to the communications medium such
as a LAN or through an MCU, and that a conferencing system may comprise
other nodes or elements such as routers, servers, and the like.
Processor 116 is preferably a general-purpose programmable processor, such
as an Intel.RTM. Pentium.TM. processor. Those skilled in the art will also
appreciate that processors of nodes of networked computer system 100 may
also be a special-purpose video processor such as the Intel.RTM. 82750PB.
As will be appreciated, the various peripherals and components of a node
such as those of node 110 may vary from those of other nodes. Thus, node
120 and node 130 may be configured identically to or differently than node
110, as will also be understood. It will further be understood that a node
may be implemented on any suitable computer system in addition to personal
computer systems.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a second networked computer system
200, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
System 200 illustrates a network such as LAN 201, which may be used to
interconnect a variety of users that may communicate with each other, for
example with e-mail messages. Attached to LAN 201 are a plurality of users
such as PCs 210, 211, 212. A user may also be connected to the LAN via a
server or other means (not shown). As will be appreciated, system 200
comprises other types of nodes or elements, such as centralized post
office server 220 and other routers, servers, and nodes. As will be
appreciated, a post office server is a special type of server typically
having a directory of the users or a subset of users on the LAN of which
the post office server is attached, and serves as a repository of incoming
mail for its users. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, in
prior art e-mail techniques, a sending user such as PC 210 desiring to
send and e-mail message with one or more attachments to a recipient such
as PC 212 transmits the e-mail message plus attachment to LAN 220 for
delivery to PC 212. The message and attachment are stored centrally at
post office server 220, which then communicates to PC 212 through LAN 201
to inform the user of PC 201 that it has received e-mail. When the user of
PC 212 selects an option running on a local version of an e-mail
application program compatible with LAN 201, the e-mail message and any
selected attachment are transmitted from centralized post office server
220 to PC 212 across LAN 201.
As explained hereinabove, this can lead to bandwidth problems. For example,
post office 220 may need to store a very large number of e-mail messages
and attachments as various users of the network send e-mail messages to
one another. This can utilize substantial amounts of processing bandwidth
of post office 220, and also requires communications bandwidth of LAN 201
to transmit such data to and from post office server 220. As will be
appreciated, a plurality of LANs such as system 200, or other networks or
users, may be further interconnected via other network links such as WAN
links. For instance, post office 220 may send and receive messages to and
from its own users such as PCs 210, 211, 212 to other particular users
interfaced to another post officer server of another LAN (not shown). Such
a linking of LANs through WAN or other links is illustrated in the
exemplary system of FIG. 3.
Referring now to FIG. 3, there is illustrated a third networked computer
system 300, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present
invention. System 300 illustrates a WWW system having communications
across a backbone communications network such as Internet 301, which may
be used to interconnect a variety of users that may communicate with each
other, for example with e-mail messages. As will be appreciated, the WWW
is a set of protocols operating on top of the Internet, and allows a
graphical interface system to operate thereon for accessing information
through the Internet. Attached to Internet 301 in the WWW are a plurality
of users such as PCs 317, 318, 327. Typically, a user is interfaced to
other nodes of the WWW through a WWW hyper text transport protocol
("HTTP") server such as servers 310, 320. As will be understood, the WWW
is a distributed type of application, characterized by the WWW HTTP, the
WWW's protocol, which runs on top of the Internet's transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol ("TCP/IP"). As will also be understood, the WWW
may thus be characterized by a set of protocols (i.e., HTTP) running on
the Internet as its "backbone." A web browser is an application of a user
of a network that, in WWW-compatible type network systems, allows users to
view such information and thus allows the user to search graphical and
text-based files that are linked together using "hypertext" links that are
embedded in documents or files available from servers on the network that
understand HTTP. As will be understood, when a given "web page" is
retrieved by a user from another source across the Internet, the document
retrieved may have various hypertext links embedded therein and a local
copy of the page is created local to the user. Thus, when a user clicks on
a hypertext link, the locally-stored information related to the selected
hypertext link is typically sufficient to allow the user's machine to open
a connection across the Internet to the server indicated by the hypertext
link.
As will further appreciated, more than one user may be coupled to each HTTP
server, for example through a LAN such as LAN 315 as illustrated with
respect to WWW HTTP server 310. As will further be appreciated, system 300
comprises other types of nodes or elements. As will be understood by those
skilled in the art, in prior art e-mail techniques, a sending user of a
network desiring to send an e-mail message with one or more attachments to
a recipient on the network transmits the e-mail message plus attachment
across the network (for example, a network such as Internet 301) through
various links and nodes of the network until it reaches the recipient
user.
As will be appreciated, a WWW HTTP server is an application running on a
machine, such as a PC. Thus, each user may be considered to have a unique
"server," as illustrated with respect to PC 327. Alternatively, a "server"
may be considered to be a server such as WWW HTTP server 310 which
provides access to the network for a LAN or plurality of nodes or
plurality of LANs.
E-Mail Attachments by Reference
One problem with automatically attaching attachments by value is that many
attachments are never read, viewed, or otherwise utilized by the recipient
of the e-mail. Thus, the storage, processing bandwidth, and communications
bandwidth resources utilized to transmit the attachment to the recipient
are often used inefficiently. In networks such as networked computer
system 200, this can lead to inefficient use of the storage and processing
bandwidth of any centralized post office and of the communications
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