HK1098263A - Efficient new e-mail discovery - Google Patents

Description

Efficient new email discovery

Technical Field

The present invention relates to the field of electronic mail (e-mail). More particularly, the present invention relates to efficient notification of new email arrival by an email server to an email client.

Background

Typical electronic mail (e-mail) systems use a mail server, usually controlled by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or other administrator of the electronic mail service, and a mail client located on each user's machine. Mail servers typically have permanent access to the Internet and other external networks and public data communication networks. The mail server stores and manages the user's e-mails. Mail for each authorized user on the system is maintained in a separate storage structure commonly referred to as an inbox. Fig. 1 is a block diagram illustrating such a design. A mail server 100 connected to a Local Area Network (LAN)102 may store incoming e-mails addressed to the LAN, while another mail server 104 may be part of a public or private Wide Area Network (WAN) 106. The mail server 100 may be periodically polled by desktop mail clients 108a, 108b, portable/handheld mail clients 110, and/or portable computer mail clients 112. A firewall 114 may be connected between the LAN 102 and the WAN 104. Desktop and laptop computers 116a, 116b may be connected to the WAN 104 via a dial-up connection 118 or a dedicated connection 120. In addition, a desktop or laptop computer 122 and/or portable/handheld computing/communication device 124 may be connected to the WAN 104 via wireless connections 126a, 126 b.

Mail received at the mail server is typically processed based on the recipient address identified within the email. Once the recipient is known, the mail server assigns a unique identifier to the piece of email, for example, typically using the IMAP4 standard. The identifier is unique in each mail user's inbox such that each message in the inbox has a different identifier. These unique identifiers are typically assigned according to known algorithms. In this manner, the mail server is able to provide email storage and management for a large number of authorized email clients.

Each user may then use the mail client to retrieve the email from the mail server. The mail client may only be able to periodically access the Internet, or other external networks and public data communication networks. The mail client may maintain a local copy of the selected email corresponding to the user. The mail client accesses the server to retrieve mail from the inbox. This is accomplished by providing authorization credentials to authorized mailboxes. This may be repeated periodically to allow the mail client to download and/or copy newly received emails to local storage. This is typically referred to as "polling".

Typically, polling involves a mail client requesting a complete list of all email header information. The complete list of all titles is then compared to the client's locally stored record. If there are any discrepancies, the client may initiate a data transfer to synchronize the mail client's records with the mail server's records. This may include downloading new mail items that exist on the mail server but not on the mail client, and deleting old mail items that exist on the mail client but no longer exist on the mail server (e.g., if the email has been recalled).

Each such polling event results in a large amount of data transfer between the mail server and the mail client. Furthermore, each polling event requires less but significant computing resources from the mail server. To ensure a short delay between the time when the mail server receives a new mail and the time when the mail client knows that the new mail arrives, frequent polling is required. However, frequent polling increases the communication capacity requirements of the network, as well as the use of computing resources on the mail server. For wireless connections, bandwidth is increasingly important and this problem is therefore more pronounced.

During a polling event, a mail client typically requests header information for all messages on the server corresponding to that particular mail client. It then compares the unique identifiers of these download titles with the messages stored on the mail client (i.e., the messages it previously downloaded). Any unique identifier contained in the download header that is not stored on the mail client represents a new mail. Here, the mail client may also compare other header information, such as message status, to determine if a previously downloaded message has changed on the mail server side (e.g., if it has been deleted because it was sent incorrectly). The mail client may then request that the mail server send it all messages corresponding to unique identifiers that it has inferred to be "new". This process is commonly referred to as synchronization.

In addition, polling typically involves a client first establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with a mail server placed behind an enterprise firewall. Establishment of a VPN session typically requires generation of encryption keys, exchange of encryption key data, initiation of data encryption services, exchange of authorization credentials, and initiation of session state. On an RF-based connection, it typically requires the handheld client to make multiple explicit radio access attempts or radio time slot requests/reservations/assignments. Once the complete list of email header information has been downloaded, the client disconnects the VPN session. If the client determines that there are any differences between the header information and the locally stored records (e.g., new mail), it re-establishes the VPN session to the mail server, downloads new or changed mail, deletes old mail, downloads another complete list of email headers to confirm the correction, and then disconnects the VPN session.

There is a need for a solution that reduces the amount of bandwidth required to retrieve new e-mail from a mail server. There is also a need to reduce the amount of bandwidth used to re-establish a VPN session at each polling event.

Disclosure of Invention

By using the unique identifier assigned to an email, new emails can be identified in an efficient manner to speed polling times. The unique identifier of the most recently received mail of the mail client or a predicted value therefor may be compared with the last unique identifier to be assigned by the mail server. If the identifiers are equal, no new message is received and the mail client does not need to download any headers, which saves a lot of bandwidth. When the identifiers are not equal, the mail client only needs to download the new title, which also saves bandwidth.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the detailed description, serve to explain the principles and implementations of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a typical mail server and client system;

fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a unique identifier and its relationship between a mail server and a mail client according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for efficiently receiving notification of new e-mail from a mail server according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for efficiently receiving notification of new e-mail from a mail server according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the invention are described herein in the context of a system of computers, servers, and software. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that: the following detailed description of the invention is merely illustrative, and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other embodiments of the present invention will readily suggest themselves to such skilled persons having the benefit of this disclosure. Reference will now be made in detail to implementations of the present invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings and the following detailed description, the same reference numerals will be used to refer to the same or like parts.

In the interest of clarity, not all of the routine features of the implementations described herein are shown and described. It will, of course, be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made in order to achieve the developer's specific goals, such as compliance with application-and business-related constraints, and that these specific goals will vary from one implementation to another and from one developer to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such a development effort might be complex and time-consuming, but would nevertheless be a routine undertaking of engineering for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

In accordance with the present invention, the components, process steps, and/or data structures may be implemented using a variety of operating systems, computing platforms, computer programs, and/or general purpose machines. Moreover, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that devices of a less general purpose nature, such as hardwired devices, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or the like, may also be used without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive concepts disclosed herein.

The present invention provides a solution that allows new e-mails to be identified in an efficient way in order to speed up the polling times. The unique identifier of the most recently received mail of the mail client may be compared with the last unique identifier to be assigned by the mail server. If the identifiers are equal, no new message is received and the mail client does not need to download any headers, which saves a lot of bandwidth. When the identifiers are not equal, the mail client only needs to download the new title, which also saves bandwidth.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a unique identifier and its relationship between a mail client and a mail server according to an embodiment of the present invention. The mail server 200 may manage multiple mailboxes 202, 204 serving multiple mail clients. Each mailbox 204 may contain one or more mail records 206. Each record 206 may be associated with an identifier. Each identifier may be assigned by the mail server and guaranteed to be unique within the mailbox. In this example, mailbox 204 includes N +2 mail records uniquely identified with UID values from 1 to N + 2. In this example, inbox A may be associated with mailbox 208 on the illustrated mail client 210.

In many cases, email users are primarily concerned about the arrival of new emails. While old emails may have their status changed (e.g., if the mail server is instructed to recall an erroneously sent email), this is rarely the case and is not noticeable to the user. Furthermore, the user is not interested in old emails that are not modified within the user's inbox on the mail server. These items may have been previously downloaded and previously stored on the mail client.

In view of this, in embodiments of the present invention, the mail client may record the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item in its local store. It may then issue a query to the mail server requesting a determination of the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item within the server's inbox. In embodiments of the invention this may be achieved by simply sending a request to the server for the status of the unique identifier. The server may then simply locate the most recently received mail item and check its unique identifier. However, where the algorithm for assigning a unique identifier to a new mail piece is known, the determination of the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail piece within the inbox of the mail server may be inferred from a response that does not directly contain the unique identifier. In this embodiment, the mail client may request the value of the next UID to be assigned and, once it is received, modify it according to an algorithm. For example, in the conventional IMAP4 protocol, a 32-bit unique identifier is simply incremented by 1 for each new mail piece received by the mail user. In this case, the return value indicating the unique identifier value to be assigned next can be used to predict the value of the last unique identifier value to be assigned. In this example, that may be achieved by subtracting 1 from the next unique identifier value to be assigned. However, this is only an example and one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any type of algorithm may be used.

If the local value of the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item on the mail client is the same as the value of the last unique identifier assigned by the mail server corresponding to the mail client, there is no newly received e-mail. The mail client does not need to continue operation.

The mail server has received a new e-mail if the local value of the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item on the mail client differs from the value of the last unique identifier assigned by the mail server corresponding to the mail client. In this case, the mail client may then proceed to retrieve the new e-mail, or proceed with other operations as appropriate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the query for the unique identifier is a short command and may be concatenated with the necessary mail command session open and close commands. The concatenated command set is still shorter and can fit better into a single data communication packet. This reduces data communication access overhead and reduces transfer latency. The unique identifier challenge response is short since no additional unnecessary message header information is required. This reduces the processing load on the email server and minimizes data communication traffic.

Further, as described above, in typical mail client implementations, a new Virtual Private Network (VPN) session is established and torn down for each mail server poll. In embodiments of the present invention, a single VPN session may be maintained for an indefinite period of time, thereby eliminating the need to tear down and reestablish VPN sessions between polling events. In an embodiment of the invention, this may be achieved by periodically sending a short no-operation (NOOP) command to the server to keep the VPN session active. In another embodiment of the invention, the bandwidth reduced by the inspection of new mail enabled by the above solution allows the client to set the polling rate at a much higher rate than is typical. In this embodiment, the polling rate may be sufficiently high to keep the VPN session active without the need for NOOP commands.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server according to an embodiment of the invention. The method may be performed in whole or in part at a mail client. At 300, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session may be established with a mail server. At 302, information regarding the most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to the mail client may be requested from the mail server. This may include requesting the status of the unique identifier from the mail server. This may also include concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands, for example, to fit within a single communication packet. At 304, the most recently assigned unique identifier may be compared to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item at the mail client. At 306, if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item, a new mail may be retrieved from the mail server for the mail client. At 308, a message may be periodically sent to the mail server to keep the VPN session active. Alternatively, the polling frequency may simply be set high enough to keep the VPN session active. The requesting, comparing, and retrieving function as a poll and may also be used to keep the VPN session alive. Because with the present invention, each poll takes up less bandwidth, it may allow setting a higher polling frequency than in a traditional mail client environment.

Fig. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server according to another embodiment of the invention. The method may be performed in whole or in part at a mail client. At 400, a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session may be established with a mail server. At 402, a value corresponding to a next unique identifier to be assigned for the mail client may be requested from the mail server. This may include concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands, for example, to fit within a single communication packet. At 404, the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier may be compared to a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, where the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier may be based on the value. By applying the inverse of the known unique identifier assignment algorithm to this value, the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier can be determined. At 406, if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item, a new mail may be retrieved for the mail client from the mail server. At 408, a message may be periodically sent to the mail server to keep the VPN session active. Alternatively, the polling frequency may simply be set high enough to keep the VPN session active. The requesting, comparing, and retrieving function as a poll and may also be used to keep the VPN session alive. Because with the present invention, each poll takes up less bandwidth, it may allow setting a higher polling frequency than in a traditional mail client environment.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for efficiently receiving notification of new e-mail from a mail server according to an embodiment of the present invention. This may be located in whole or in part at the mail client. VPN session establisher 500 may establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with a mail server. A most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester 502 connected with the VPN session establisher 500 may request information from the mail server regarding the most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to the mail client. This may include requesting the status of the unique identifier from the mail server using the unique identifier status requestor 504. This may also include: the request and mail command session open and close commands are concatenated, for example, to fit within a single communication packet using the mail command session open and close command and request concatenator 506. A most recently assigned unique identifier-a unique identifier comparator 508 associated with a mail item most recently received by the client is coupled to the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor 502, the comparator 508 can compare the most recently assigned unique identifier with the unique identifier associated with the mail item most recently received at the mail client. The new mail receiver 510 is connected to the most recently assigned unique identifier-unique identifier comparator 508 associated with the most recently received mail item of the client, and if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item, the new mail receiver 510 can retrieve the new mail of the mail client from the mail server. Messages may be periodically sent to the mail server to keep the VPN session active. Alternatively, the polling frequency may simply be set high enough to keep the VPN session active. The request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater 512 is connected to the server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned, the server next unique identifier to be assigned-the unique identifier comparator associated with the mail item most recently received by the client, using the request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater 512, the request, compare, and retrieve are used as polls, and the new mail retriever may also be used to keep the VPN session active. Because with the present invention, each poll takes up less bandwidth, it may allow setting a higher polling frequency than in a traditional mail client environment.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an apparatus for efficiently receiving notification of new e-mail from a mail server according to another embodiment of the present invention. This may be located in whole or in part at the mail client. The VPN session establisher 600 may establish a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server. A server next unique identifier value to be assigned requestor 602, connected to the VPN session establisher 600, may request a value corresponding to the mail client's next unique identifier to be assigned from the mail server. This may include concatenating the request with the mail command session open and close command, for example, to fit within a single communication packet, using the mail command session open and close command with the requesting connector 604. A server next unique identifier to be assigned-unique identifier comparator 606 associated with the mail item most recently received by the client-is connected to the value requestor 602 of the server next unique identifier to be assigned-the comparator 606 can compare the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier with the unique identifier associated with the mail item most recently received at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier can be based on the value. By applying the inverse of the known unique identifier assignment algorithm to this value, the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier can be determined. The new mail retriever 608 is connected to the server next unique identifier to be assigned-the unique identifier comparator 606 associated with the most recently received mail item for the client-and if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item, the new mail retriever 608 may retrieve the new mail for the mail client from the mail server. Messages may be periodically sent to the mail server to keep the VPN session active. Alternatively, the polling frequency may simply be set high enough to keep the VPN session active. The request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater 610 is connected to the server next unique identifier value requestor 602 to be assigned, the server next unique identifier to be assigned-the unique identifier comparator 606 associated with the mail item most recently received by the client, using the request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater 610, the request, compare, and retrieve are used as polls, and the new mail retriever 608 can also be used to keep the VPN session active. Because with the present invention, each poll takes up less bandwidth, it may allow setting a higher polling frequency than in a traditional mail client environment.

While embodiments and applications of this invention have been shown and described, it would be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that many more modifications than mentioned above are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims.

Claims

(modification according to article 19 of the treaty)

1. A method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the method comprising:

requesting information from the mail server about a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client, the most recently assigned unique identifier being assigned by the mail server to an email most recently received by the mail server;

comparing the most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a status requesting a unique identifier from the mail server.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: the requesting, comparing, and retrieving are repeated periodically at a rate equal to a predetermined polling frequency.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting comprises concatenating a request generated from the request with mail command session open and close commands.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

9. A method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the method comprising:

requesting from the mail server a value corresponding to a next unique identifier of a mail client to be assigned by the mail server;

comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier to a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier does not equal the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is determined by applying a reverse of a known unique identifier assignment algorithm to the value.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: the requesting, comparing, and retrieving are repeated at a rate equal to the polling frequency.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the requesting comprises concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

17. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

a most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor;

a most recently assigned unique identifier-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, connected to said most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester; and

a new mail retriever connected to said most recently assigned unique identifier-a unique identifier comparator associated with the mail item most recently received by the client.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor comprises a unique identifier status requestor.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session establisher connected to the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

a request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater coupled to the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester, the most recently assigned unique identifier-unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, and the new mail retriever.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor comprises a mail command session open and close command and a requesting connector.

22. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

a server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned;

a server next unique identifier to be assigned-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client-connected to said server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned; and

a new mail retriever connected to said server next unique identifier to be allocated-a unique identifier comparator associated with the mail item most recently received by the client.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session establisher connected to the server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater connected to said server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned, said server next unique identifier to be assigned-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, and said new mail retriever.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned comprises a mail command session open and close command and a requesting connector.

26. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

means for requesting information from the mail server regarding a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client, the most recently assigned unique identifier being assigned by the mail server to an electronic mail most recently received by the mail server;

means for comparing said most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at said mail client; and

means for retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for requesting a status of a unique identifier from the mail server.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising: means for establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: means for periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: means for periodically repeating the requesting, comparing, and retrieving at a rate equal to a predetermined polling frequency.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for concatenating a request generated from the request with mail command session open and close commands.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

34. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

means for requesting from a mail server a value corresponding to a next unique identifier of a mail client to be assigned by the mail server;

means for comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

means for retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is determined by applying a reverse of a known unique identifier assignment algorithm to the value.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: means for establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising: means for periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising: means for repeating the requesting, comparing, and retrieving at a rate equal to a polling frequency.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for interfacing the request with mail command session open and close commands.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

42. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mail from a mail server, said method comprising:

requesting information from the mail server about a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client, the most recently assigned unique identifier being assigned by the mail server to an email most recently received by the mail server;

comparing the most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

43. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mail from a mail server, said method comprising:

requesting from the mail server a value corresponding to a next unique identifier of a mail client to be assigned from the mail server;

comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier to a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier does not equal the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

Claims (43)

1. A method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the method comprising:

requesting information from the mail server about a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client;

comparing the most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a status requesting a unique identifier from the mail server.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: the requesting, comparing, and retrieving are repeated at a rate equal to the polling frequency.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the requesting comprises concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

9. A method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the method comprising:

requesting a value corresponding to a next unique identifier to be assigned of a mail client from the mail server;

comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier to a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier does not equal the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is determined by applying a reverse of a known unique identifier assignment algorithm to the value.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising: the requesting, comparing, and retrieving are repeated at a rate equal to the polling frequency.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the requesting comprises concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

17. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

a most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor;

a most recently assigned unique identifier-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, connected to said most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester; and

a new mail retriever connected to said most recently assigned unique identifier-a unique identifier comparator associated with the mail item most recently received by the client.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor comprises a unique identifier status requestor.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising: a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session establisher connected to the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising:

a request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater coupled to the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requester, the most recently assigned unique identifier-unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, and the new mail retriever.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the most recently assigned unique identifier server information requestor comprises a mail command session open and close command and a requesting connector.

22. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

a server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned;

a server next unique identifier to be assigned-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, said comparator connected to said server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned; and

a new mail retriever connected to said server next unique identifier to be allocated-a unique identifier comparator associated with the mail item most recently received by the client.

23. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session establisher connected to the server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned.

24. The apparatus of claim 22, further comprising:

a request, compare, and retrieve polling frequency repeater connected to said server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned, said server next unique identifier to be assigned-a unique identifier comparator associated with a mail item most recently received by a client, and said new mail retriever.

25. The apparatus of claim 22, wherein the server next unique identifier value requestor to be assigned comprises a mail command session open and close command and a requesting connector.

26. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

means for requesting information from the mail server regarding a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client;

means for comparing said most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at said mail client; and

means for retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for requesting a status of a unique identifier from the mail server.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, further comprising: means for establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: means for periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising: means for repeating the requesting, comparing, and retrieving at a rate equal to a polling frequency.

31. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

32. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for concatenating the request with mail command session open and close commands.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

34. An apparatus for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mails from a mail server, the apparatus comprising:

means for requesting from the mail server a value corresponding to a next unique identifier to be assigned to a mail client;

means for comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

means for retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is determined by applying a reverse of a known unique identifier assignment algorithm to the value.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, further comprising: means for establishing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) session with the mail server prior to the request.

37. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising: means for periodically sending a message to the mail server to keep the VPN session alive.

38. The apparatus of claim 36, further comprising: means for repeating the requesting, comparing, and retrieving at a rate equal to a polling frequency.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein said polling frequency is set high enough such that said VPN session remains active in response to said requesting, comparing, and retrieving.

40. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for requesting comprises means for interfacing the request with mail command session open and close commands.

41. The apparatus of claim 40, wherein the request for the connection is enclosed within a single communication packet.

42. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mail from a mail server, said method comprising:

requesting information from the mail server about a most recently assigned unique identifier corresponding to a mail client;

comparing the most recently assigned unique identifier with a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the most recently assigned unique identifier is not equal to the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.

43. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform a method for efficiently receiving notifications of new e-mail from a mail server, said method comprising:

requesting a value corresponding to a next unique identifier to be assigned of a mail client from the mail server;

comparing the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier to a unique identifier associated with a most recently received mail item at the mail client, wherein the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier is based on the value; and

retrieving a new mail for the mail client from the mail server if the predicted most recently assigned unique identifier does not equal the unique identifier associated with the most recently received mail item.