System and method for communicating electronic messages over a telephone network using acoustical coupling

In a communication system including a messaging server and a portable hand held remote device coupled with a telephone network, a method of communication between the remote device and the messaging server, the method comprising:

• receiving at the messaging server a message addressed to a user of the remote device;
• determining the remote device to which the message is to be transmitted;
• processing the message at the messaging server;
• storing the message in a message database;
• establishing a communication session between the remote device and the messaging server over the telephone network, wherein the remote device is acoustically coupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephone network;
• generating acoustical tones at the messaging server corresponding to the message to be sent to the remote device;
• communicating the acoustical tones from the messaging server to the remote device over the telephone network via the acoustical coupling;
• and
• retrieving the message from the acoustical tones at the remote device.

A messaging system for communicating messaging information comprising:

• a messaging server coupled to a telephone network;
• a hand held remote device acoustically coupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephone network;
• the remote device configured to generate an initial set of acoustical tones corresponding to setup information to be transmitted to the messaging server and to transmit the initial set of acoustical tones over the telephone network via the acoustic coupling;
• the remote device further configured to generate a first set of acoustical tones corresponding to a first set of information to be transmitted to the messaging server, and to transmit the first set of acoustical tones to the messaging server;
• the remote device further configured to receive a second set of acoustical tones from the messaging server, and to convert the second set of acoustical tones to a second set of information;
• and
• wherein the messaging server comprises:
• a processor;
• a memory accessible to the processor, the memory configured to store electronic message;
• a network interface module configured to receive the initial set of acoustical tones transmitted by the remote device, and to convert the initial set of acoustical tones to the setup information;
• the network interface module further configured to receive the first set of acoustical tones transmitted by the remote device, and to convert the first set of acoustical tones to the first set of information;
• the network interface module further configured to generate the second set of acoustical tones corresponding to the second set of information, and to communicate the second set of acoustical tones to the remote device over the telephone network via the acoustical coupling;
• an information processing module configured to establish a session between the remote device and the messaging server based on the setup information transmitted by the remote device;
• and
• the information processing module further configured to perform processing based on the first set of information and the setup information, to perform forward error correction on the first set of information and to determine the second set of information to be transmitted to the remote device.

A messaging system for communicating messaging information comprising:

• a messaging server coupled to a telephone network;
• at least one portable hand held remote device acoustically coupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephone network, the remote device configured to initiate a communication session with the messaging server over the telephone network and via the acoustical coupling, and to receive messages from the messaging server;
• and
• wherein the messaging server comprises:
• a processor;
• a memory coupled with the processor;
• a mail processing module configured to receive a message addressed to a user of the remote device, the mail processing module further configured to determine the remote device to which the message is to be transmitted, the mail processing module further configured to process the message;
• and
• a network interface module configured to generate acoustical tones corresponding to the message to be sent to the remote device, and to communicate the acoustical tones to the remote device over the telephone network via the acoustical coupling during the communication session between the remote device and the messaging server.

A computer program product for communicating electronic messages between a messaging server and a portable hand held remote device coupled with a telephone network, the product comprising:

• code for providing a message database accessible to the messaging server for storing electronic messages;
• code for establishing an acoustical coupling between the remote device and the telephone network without requiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephone network;
• code for generating an initial set of acoustical tones at the remote device corresponding to setup information to be transmitted to the messaging server;
• code for transmitting the initial set of acoustical tones to the messaging server via the acoustical coupling and over the telephone network;
• code for receiving the initial set of acoustical tones and converting them to setup information at the messaging server;
• code for establishing a session between the remote device and the messaging server based on the setup information;
• code for generating a first set of acoustical tones at the remote device remote corresponding to a first set of information to be communicated from the remote device to the messaging server;
• code for transmitting the first set of acoustical tones from the remote device to the messaging server via the acoustic coupling and over the telephone network;
• code for converting the first set of acoustical tones to the first set of information at the messaging server;
• code for performing processing at the messaging server based on the first set of information, the processing including performing forward error correction on the first set of information;
• code for assembling, at the messaging server, a second set of information to be communicated to the remote device based on the first set of information and the setup information;
• code for generating a second set of acoustical tones at the messaging server corresponding to the second set of information;
• code for transmitting the second set of acoustical tones from the messaging server to the remote device over the telephone network;
• code for receiving at the remote device the second set of acoustical tones via the acoustical coupling and converting the second set of acoustical tones to the second set of information;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium that stored the codes.

A computer program product for communicating electronic messaging information between a messaging server and a portable hand held remote device coupled with a telephone network, the product comprising:

• code for receiving at the messaging server a message addressed to a user of the remote device;
• code for determining the remote device to which the message is to be transmitted;
• code for processing the message at the messaging server;
• code for storing the message in a message database;
• code for establishing a communication session between the remote device and the messaging server over the telephone network, wherein the remote device is acoustically coupled to the telephone network without requiring a wired connection between the remote device and the telephone network;
• code for generating acoustical tones at the messaging server corresponding to the message to be sent to the remote device;
• code for communicating the acoustical tones from the messaging server to the remote device over the telephone network via the acoustical coupling;
• code for retrieving the message from the acoustical tones at the remote device;
• and
• a computer-readable storage medium that stores the codes.