Method and apparatus for transmitting electronic mail attachments with attachment references
AssigneeIntel Corporation
InventorsRobert D. Beck, John Richardson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
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, 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.
Claims45
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.
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.
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.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.