WO2020208406A1

WO2020208406A1 - Method and portable device for organizing contacts for a user's communications with a view to a subsequent connection

Info

Publication number: WO2020208406A1
Application number: PCT/IB2019/053014
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert James
Original assignee: Saronikos Trading And Services, Unipessoal Lda
Priority date: 2019-04-12
Filing date: 2019-04-12
Publication date: 2020-10-15

Abstract

Method for organizing a contact set (190) of a user (10) with a view to a subsequent connection, with an acquisition phase, wherein data about the connections are acquired through acquisition means, including at least one time instant (101) when a contact (100) was contacted by said user (10), a selection phase to select, after processing said contact set (190), at least one contact sub-set (150) from said contact set (190) based on said connection data and a time datum representing a current time instant (1) to provide said contact sub-set (150) to said user (10), wherein said acquisition, selection and provision phase are entirely carried out within a portable communication device (200), wherein said provision phase comprises a presentation phase to present, through interfacing means (220), with said at least one contact sub-set based on said time datum representing a current time instant (1).

Description

METHOD AND PORTABLE DEVICE FOR ORGANIZING CONTACTS FOR A USER’S COMMUNICATIONS WITH A VIEW TO A SUBSEQUENT CONNECTION

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a method for organizing a contact list for a user’s communications, and to a portable communication device adapted to implement said method.

Portable devices currently being used by a user for communicating, such as, for example, smartphones, typically have a communication contact list comprising, for instance, other user’s telephone numbers or e-mail addresses. Typically such lists are sorted in alphabetical order and may contain hundreds of contacts. Many smartphones permit organizing the contact lists in chronological order of outbound and inbound calls, or may generate short lists (speed-dial lists) only including those contacts which were contacted most frequently. When a user wants to contact another user included in his/her contacts, i.e. when a user wants to make a call or a video call or wants to send a text or an e-mail to another user, he/she typically searches for the corresponding contact in the speed-dial list; if that contact is not found, the user can search for it by browsing the chronologically sorted list of calls. Alternatively, the user may browse the contact list or search for a specific user by using suitably designed search functions, e.g. by inputting the name or number of the user to be contacted. If the contact searched for is not included in the speed-dial list, this method of contact organization results in a waste of time for the user, especially when, while searching for a contact, the user does not remember the exact name, as previously recorded, or the number of the user to be contacted. Published international patent application no. WO 2017/116334 A1 by TURKCELL TEKNOLOJI ARASTIRMA VE GELISTIRME ANONIM SIRKETI describes a system for proposing contacts for calling a user. Such system consists of the user’s communication device, which can make calls, and a database, contained in a remote server, adapted to contain information about outbound calls and rules for future call organization.

This system comprises:

- an acquisition phase, wherein the user’s habits relating to calls made through the user’s communication device are determined and stored into the memory of a remote server located at the telephone carrier’s premises;

- a selection phase, wherein the remote server analyzes the period (time) when calls were made by the user in the past, through the user’s communication device;

- a provision phase, wherein the remote server contacts the user and proposes contacts to be called through notifications sent from the server itself to the user’s communication device.

The present prior art, as described above, suffers from a number of drawbacks, which will be highlighted below.

First of all, it should be noted that the method proposed in said patent application requires interaction between two devices, i.e. the user’s communication device and the remote server, which are also distant from each other. Another drawback of the system discussed in the above-mentioned patent application is due to the necessity of entrusting the remote server with the task of analyzing the calls made by a user. Should any problems arise, for example, in the connection between the communication device and the remote server, the system will not be able to propose to a user, in a correct and timely manner, the contacts to be called, because of information that has been only partially received or not received at all by the remote server. Another drawback of the above-mentioned system lies in overloading of the remote server, due to a large number of users, and hence a large number of contacts, that the server should be able to handle. In this respect, the remote server should be adequately sized for handling all contacts, resulting in increased system installation and maintenance costs. A further drawback of the system disclosed in the above-mentioned patent application may come from the management of the privacy of the contacts stored in the remote database. The data about the contacts of all users should be protected against theft by unauthorized third parties. In this regard, the remote server should implement measures for protecting the information contained in the database, resulting in increased system management costs. Yet another drawback of the above-mentioned system relates to the transmission of notifications to the user from the remote server, which might be inappropriate and might distract the user when he/she is performing dangerous activities, e.g. while the user is driving a vehicle, or when the user is busy for unplanned events that cannot be controlled by the system. It should also be taken into account that, since this service is provided to the user by the telephone carrier, a fee will inevitably be charged.

Lastly, it should be taken into account that nowadays phone calls (whether for voice, video or data) are increasingly widespread which are made through proprietary applications downloaded to the communication device, such as WhatsApp, Duo, and so on. Such calls are not logged by the remote server operated by the telephone carrier, in that they are not phone calls using the switched telephone network, but applications exploiting the packet connection of the communication device. Consequently, any calls made through such applications will be totally unknown to the telephone carrier, just like any calls occurring between two different applications.

For example, a database created in a remote server at the telephone carrier’s premises, according to the above-mentioned patent application, will not be able take into account the calls made by the user through applications such as WhatsApp. Vice versa, a database created on a remote server for an application like, for example, WhatsApp, will not be able to take into account any calls made through a telephone carrier or from another application, e.g. Duo. The presence of different remote servers, disconnected from one another, causes data fragmentation that makes the technical solution described in the above-mentioned patent application wholly ineffective, and therefore unsuitable for functionally solving the technical problem at the basis of the present invention.

Therefore, a need is felt for facilitating a user in searching for contacts to be contacted, by assisting him/her in finding the users to be called.

It is one object of the present invention to solve these and other problems of the prior art, in particular by providing a portable communication device with a technical measure that allows organizing a user’s contact list with a view to a subsequent connection, so that the user can easily find and use a contact involved in a previously made call or a previously sent message.

It is another object of the present invention to propose to the user of a portable communication device a list of previously contacted contacts on the basis of the condition of use of the portable communication device.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a technical measure that allows organizing a short list of a user’s contacts, for a portable communication device, without resorting to any remote servers and databases. The invention is based on that fact that, very often, some users included in the contact list are always called at about the same time: for example, the family when leaving work or during the lunch break, or the girlfriend to say good morning or good night, and so on.

The invention described herein is applicable to all those portable devices which allow a user to contact the users included in a contact list or set. Such a device may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, and so on. Such a device can save the contact list into a memory, and comprises communication means, user interfacing means, and processing means configured for executing:

- an acquisition phase, wherein data about the connections established by said user are acquired, which include at least one time instant when a contact contained in said contact set (190) was contacted by said user,

- a selection phase, wherein processing means select, after processing said contact set, at least one contact sub-set from said contact set on the basis of said connection data and on the basis of a time datum representing a current time instant,

- a provision phase, wherein said contact sub-set is provided, through said processing means, to said user,

wherein said acquisition phase, selection phase and provision phase are entirely carried out within a portable communication device, wherein said provision phase comprises a presentation phase, in which said user is presented, through interfacing means, with said at least one contact sub-set on the basis of said time datum representing a current time instant. In this manner, a user can see, e.g. on the display of a smartphone, one or more contact sub sets or sub-lists listing the contacts that were contacted on the previous days immediately before or after the current time. Therefore, the invention described herein facilitates the user in finding those contacts that he/she usually calls during specific periods of the day.

Further advantageous features of the present invention will be set out in the appended claims, which are an integral part of the present description.

The invention will now be described in detail through some non-limiting examples of embodiment with particular reference to the annexed drawings, wherein:

- Figure 1 shows a contact set for a user’s communications;

- Figure 2 shows an exemplary block diagram of a portable communication device allowing a user to contact the users included in the contact set of Figure 1; - Figure 3 shows an exemplary flow chart of a process carried out by the device of Figure 2, for organizing the contact set of Figure 1 in accordance with the invention;

- Figures 4a and 4b respectively show an example of organization of the communication contact set of Figure 1 and an example of presentation of the organized communication contact list on the device of Figure 2.

With reference to Figure 1, the communication contact list or set 190 of a user 10 comprises a plurality of contacts 100, which allow the user 10 to establish connections over at least one switched telephone network and/or over at least one packet network. The contacts 100 may be, for example, telephone numbers, addresses for making VOIP calls, or e-mail addresses of other users, etc. With each contact 100, data about connections established by the user 10 are associated, including, for example, the time instant 101 (time and/or date) when the contact 100 was contacted and the time instant when the connection 106 ended. The time instants 101, 106 may be indicated, for example, in the hh:mm:ss-DD/MM/YYYY format, where h, m, s, D, M, Y are, respectively, the numerals representative of the hours, minutes, seconds, day, month and year, as in the following example: 10:23:55-20/11/2016. Alternatively, the time instant 106 indicating when the connection ended may be replaced with a time interval indicating the duration of the connection, e.g. expressed in minutes and seconds.

Also with reference to Figure 2, there is shown a portable communication device 200 that allows organizing a contact set 190 of a user 10 with a view to a subsequent connection. It comprises outside communication means 210, interfacing means 220 for interfacing with the user 10, memory means 230 and processing means 240. These may be interconnected over a communication bus 201. The communication device 200 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, etc.

The outside communication means 210 allow establishing a communication channel towards a communication device belonging to another user included in the set 190 of contacts 100. The communication means 210 comprise, for example, a Wi-Fi module, a GSM and/or EDGE and/or 3G and/or 4G and/or 5G module or an ETHERNET module.

The interfacing means 220 for interfacing with the user 10 allow the user 10 to interact with the portable communication device 200. These comprise output and input means, such as, for example, a display and an alphanumerical keyboard or, alternatively, a touchscreen displaying an alphanumerical keyboard and interactive symbols.

The memory means 230 allow saving the information created and received by the portable communication device 200 and the instructions implementing the present embodiment of the invention, and may comprise, for example, a flash-type solid-state memory. The information includes the set 190 of contacts 100 of the user 10 and the corresponding connection data, whereas the instructions stored in the memory means 230 will be described in detail below with reference to the flow chart of Figure 3.

The processing means 240 allow processing the information and the instructions stored in the memory means 230, and may comprise, for example, an ARM-type processor.

A further embodiment of the invention may be implemented, for example, as a computer program product comprising portions of software code which can be loaded into a memory of a smartphone, a tablet or a PC equipped with communication means, such as, for example, the Wi-Fi system, the GSM system, and so on.

Also with reference to Figure 3, the following will describe a method for organizing the contact set 190 of the user 10 with a view to a subsequent connection in accordance with the present embodiment of the invention.

At step 310, the processing means 240 initialize the portable communication device 200. For example, during this step the processing means 240 may start a counter, e.g. a register of the ARM processor, for creating a clock of the portable communication device 200 adapted to generate connection data associated with a contact 100. This clock may be synchronized with the current time, e.g. by using a time synchronization service available through the communication means 210, such as, for example, a service using NTP (Network Time Protocol).

At step 320, the processing means 240 acquire, through acquisition means, the data about the connections established by the user 10, which include, for example, the time instant 101 (time and/or date) when the contact 100 was contacted and the time instant 106 when the connection was terminated. Connections may be established by the user 10 over at least one switched telephone network, managed by at least one telephone carrier, and/or over at least one packet network, e.g. by using at least one application that allows making VOIP calls and/or sending text messages, such as, for example, WhatsApp. Such data may be acquired through acquisition means, such as, for example, the communication bus 201, which allows the processing means 240 to read the memory means 230. The connection data are generated by the processing means 240, for example, upon operations carried out during a call made to a user included in the contact set 190. For example, when the user 10 calls another user, the processing means 240 record into the memory means 230 the time instant 101 when the call is made. Likewise, when the call ends the processing means 240 record into the memory means 230 the time instant when the call is terminated. Alternatively, the processing means 240 may start a counter, e.g. a register of the ARM processor, in order to quantify the time interval indicating the duration of the connection, e.g. for a call made through an application like WhatsApp or a call made through a telephone carrier, starting from the time instant 101 when the call is initiated. In this case, the processing means 240 record into the memory means 230, instead of the time instant 106 when the call ends, the time interval indicating the duration of the connection, e.g. the counter value expressed in minutes and seconds. As an alternative, the processing means 240 may calculate the connection time interval as a difference between the time instant 101 when the contact is contacted and the time instant 106 when the connection is terminated. In another embodiment of the invention, the user 10 may send a message to another user, e.g. an SMS text, an MMS message, an e-mail or a message sent through an application, e.g. WhatsApp. In this case, the processing means 240 will record into the memory means 230 the time instant 101 when the message is sent.

At step 330, the processing means 240 process said contact set (190), thereby selecting at least one contact sub-set 150 from the set 190 of contacts 100 on the basis of the connection data, e.g. selecting those contacts 100 with whom connections were established in the past at a time instant 101 following or preceding the current time instant 1. The latter may be, for example, the current time in the hh:mm:ss format, i.e. considering the numerical digits representing the hours, minutes and seconds of the current day. The selection may be made by comparing the numerical digits representing the hours, minutes and seconds of the time instant 101 when the contact 100 was contacted on one or more days before the current day. In a further embodiment of the invention, the contact sub-set 150 may also be selected, for example, by dividing the twenty-four hours corresponding to the duration of one day into one or more time slots, each one defined as one or more time intervals expressed, for example, in minutes. In this case, the contact sub-set 150 will consist of those contacts 100 with whom connections were established in the past at a time instant 101 within a time interval corresponding to a given time slot, following or preceding the current time instant 1. In this manner, the processing means 240 can select the contacts 100 of the contact sub-set 150 within that time slot that includes the current time instant 1, and/or within one or more time slots not including the current time instant 1, which may be adjacent to the time slot that includes the current time instant 1. During the selection phase, the processing means 240 may count the number of occurrences of a contact 100, i.e. the number of times a selected contact 100 was contacted on one or more days before the current day. In the selection phase, the processing means 240 may also sort the contacts 100 of each contact sub-set 150 according to, for example, the number of occurrences of the contacts 100 included in the contact sub-set 150. Alternatively, the processing means 240 may sort the contacts 100 of each contact sub-set 150 according to, for example, the time interval indicating the duration of the connection through which the contacts 100 were contacted. In a further embodiment of the invention, the contacts 100 of each contact sub-set 150 may be sorted on the basis of a combination between the number of occurrences and the time interval indicating the duration of the connection established with the contacts 100, e.g. according to a value calculated as a function of a linear combination between the number of occurrences and the time interval indicating the duration of the connection established with the contacts 100. The contacts 100 may be sorted, for example, in ascending order of the number of occurrences or the time interval indicating the duration of the connection established with the contacts 100, or a combination thereof. The outcome of the selection phase will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 4a.

At step 340, the processing means 240 carry out a provision phase, wherein the user 10 is provided with at least one contact sub-set 150, e.g. by transferring the data of said contact sub-set 150 from the memory means 230 to the interfacing means 220 via the communication bus 201. During this phase, the processing means 240 may carry out a presentation phase to present the user 10, e.g. upon the latter’s request, with at least one contact sub-set 150 through the interfacing means 220. The outcome of the presentation phase will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 4b.

At step 350, the processing means 240 verify if any errors were made during the acquisition, selection and provision phases, respectively described at steps 310, 330 and 340. In the affirmative case, the processing means 240 will carry out step 360, wherein they will display for the user 10 an appropriate error message on the interfacing means 220 and stop the execution of the instructions for implementing the method described herein. In the negative case, i.e. if the processing means 240 verify the absence of any errors during the phases of the method described at steps 310, 330 and 340, the processing means 240 will verify if the information about the contact set 190 and the corresponding connection data has been updated, e.g. after a new (or existing) contact 100 has been contacted by the user 10. In the affirmative case, the processing means 240 will carry out the acquisition phase described at step 320; otherwise, they will carry out the selection phase described at step 330.

Figure 4a shows an example of organization of the contact set 190 of Figure 1, wherein two contact sub-sets 150, 151 include the contacts 100 selected on the basis of the current time instant 1 and the time instant 101 when the contacts 100 were contacted 101. The current time instant 1 and the time instant 101 when the contact 100 was contacted may be in the hh:mm format, i.e. with a time resolution of one minute. The contacts 100 are selected, for example, by considering the data about the connections established on up to seven days before the current day. The current day and the seven previous days may be divided, for example, into twenty-four time slots, each one sixty-minute wide, starting, for example, at midnight (00:00).

The processing means 240 select, for example, the contacts 100 included in the time slot that includes the current time instant 1, and also those included in the previous and next ones. As the current time instant 1 changes, the processing means 240 will select contacts 100 included in different time slots. For example, assuming that the current time instant 1 is 19:30, the processing means 240 will select those contacts 100 that were contacted, on the seven days before the current day, within the time slot that includes the current time instant 1, i.e. 19:00-19:59, and will also select those contacts 100 that were contacted within the previous time slot (18:00-18:59) and within the next time slot (20:00-20:59). As the current time instant 1 changes, the contacts 100 will be selected by the processing means 240 from different time slots. For example, if the current time 1 is 01:30, the current time slot will be 01:00-01:59, while the previous and next ones will be, respectively, 00:00-00:59 and 02:00- 02:59. As the current time instant 1 changes, the processing means 240 will select the two contact sub-sets 150, 151 in the time slot that includes the current time instant 1 and in the next and previous time slots. For example, assuming that the current time instant 1 is 19:30, the contact sub-set 150 may include the contacts 100 contacted before the current time instant and included in the previous time slot (18:00-18:59) and in the current one (19:00- 19:59), while the contact sub-set 151 may include the contacts 100 contacted after the current time instant 1 and included in the next time slot (02:00-02:59) and in the current one (19:00-19:59). The contacts 100 included in the contact sub-sets 150, 151 may be sorted in ascending order, e.g. according to the time interval indicating the duration of the connection, for calls, or according to the number of occurrences of the contacts 100, for messages like, for example, SMS texts.

Figure 4b shows an example of the device 200 represented in Figure 2, e.g. a smartphone, wherein the processing means 240 present the two contact sub-sets 150, 151 of Figure 4a, which are displayed on interfacing means 220, e.g. a touchscreen. Such presentation may occur upon request from the user 10, e.g. by activating, via a command, at least one option for displaying the different contact sub-sets 150, 151 available to the user 10. Said at least one visualization option may be determined according to criteria, set during the selection phase, for selecting and sorting the contact sub-sets 150, 151. In this manner, the user 10 can display said contact sub-sets 150, 151 according to the number of connection occurrences, the width of the time slots, and so on. The interfacing means 220 may show to the user 10 the current time instant 1 and the two contact sub-sets 150, 151, in which the contacts 100 are sorted according to, for example, the number of occurrences in ascending order. In the example of Figure 4b, the contact 100 associated with the user user_3 is the one that, for example, on the seven days before the current day was contacted most often, compared to the other users within the time slots 20-21 and 19-20. The time instant displayed by the interfacing means 220, corresponding to 20:53, may be determined among the time instants 101 when the user user_3 was contacted on the previous days, e.g. it may be determined by considering that time instant 101 when the contact 100 was contacted which is nearest to the current time instant 1, and so on for the other contacted contacts 100.

In a further embodiment of the invention, the interfacing means 220 may also display the contact 100 that was contacted last and the corresponding time instant 101 when said contact was contacted.

The advantages of the present invention are apparent in the light of the above description. The method and communication device according to the present invention advantageously allow organizing a user’s contact list in a manner such that the user will be easily able to find a contact associated with a call previously made at a given time or with a message previously sent.

A further advantage of the present invention lies in the fact that it proposes to the user a list of previously contacted contacts on the basis of the current time.

A further object of the present invention lies in the fact that it provides a technical measure that allows organizing a user’s contact list, for a portable communication device, without resorting to any remote servers and databases.

Of course, without prejudice to the principle of the invention, the forms of embodiment and the implementation details may be extensively varied from those described and illustrated herein merely by way of non-limiting example, without however departing from the protection scope of the present invention as set out in the appended claims.

Claims

1. Method for organizing a contact set (190) of a user (10) with a view to a subsequent connection, comprising:

- an acquisition phase, wherein data about the connections established by said user (10) are acquired through acquisition means, including at least one time instant (101) when a contact (100) contained in said contact set (190) was contacted by said user (10),

- a selection phase, wherein processing means (240) select, after processing said contact set (190), at least one contact sub-set (150) from said contact set (190) on the basis of said connection data and on the basis of a time datum representing a current time instant (1),

- a provision phase, wherein said contact subset (150) is provided, through processing means (240), to said user (10),

said method being characterized in that

said acquisition phase, selection phase and provision phase are entirely carried out within a portable communication device (200), wherein said provision phase comprises a presentation phase, in which said user (10) is presented, through interfacing means (220), with said at least one contact sub-set (150) on the basis of said time datum representing a current time instant (1).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said connections established by said user (10) are made over at least one switched telephone network and/or over at least one packet network.

3. Method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein, during the selection phase, said contact sub-set (150) is determined by selecting those contacts (100) with whom connections were established in the past at said time instant (101), which follows or precedes said current time instant (1).

4. Method according to claim 3, wherein, during the selection phase, said contact sub-set (150) is determined by selecting those contacts (100) for whom said time instant (101) is within at least one time interval.

5. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein said connection data also comprise a time interval indicating the duration of the connection through which said contacts (100) were contacted.

6. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein, during the selection phase, the contacts (100) of said contact sub-set (150) are sorted according to the number of occurrences of said contacts (100) in said contact sub-set (150).

7. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein, during the selection phase, the contacts (100) of said contact sub-set (150) are sorted according to said time interval indicating the duration of the connection through which said contacts (100) were contacted.

8. Method according to one or more of the preceding claims, wherein, during the selection phase, the contacts (100) of said contact sub-set (150) are sorted according to a combination of said number of occurrences and said time interval indicating the duration of the connection through which said contacts (100) were contacted.

9. Portable communication device (200) adapted to organize a contact set (190) of a user (10) with a view to a subsequent connection, said device comprising communication means (210) that allow establishing a communication channel with a communication device belonging to another user included in said contact set (190), memory means (230) that allow storing said contact set (190), interfacing means (220) that allow said user (10) to interact with said portable communication device (200), and processing means (240) configured for executing:

- a provision phase, wherein said contact sub-set (150) is provided, through processing means (240), to said user (10),

said device being characterized in that

said acquisition phase, selection phase and provision phase are entirely carried out within said portable communication device (200), wherein said provision phase comprises a presentation phase, in which said user (10) is presented, through said interfacing means (220), with said at least one contact sub-set (150) on the basis of said time datum representing said current time instant (1).

10. Device according to claim 9, characterized in that said connections established by said user (10) are made over at least one switched telephone network and/or over at least one packet network.

11. Portable communication device (200) comprising communication means (210), interfacing means (220), memory means (230) and processing means (240) adapted to implement the method according to one or more of claims 1 to 8.

12. Device according to one or more of claims 9 to 11, characterized in that said presentation phase may occur upon request from said user (10) by activating, via a command, at least one option for displaying said at least one contact sub-set (150) available to said user (10).