WO2013149398A1

WO2013149398A1 - Method and apparatus for providing missed call alert

Info

Publication number: WO2013149398A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/073592
Authority: WO
Inventors: Song Liu; Peng Lan; Deshuai YIN; Xuan GUO
Original assignee: Nokia Corporation
Priority date: 2012-04-06
Filing date: 2012-04-06
Publication date: 2013-10-10
Also published as: CN104335611A

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for providing missed call alert are provided. One of the methods comprises: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message (S202); obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call (S204); and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information (S206). Another method comprises: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call (S502); and sending the message to the callee (S504). There are provided apparatuses, computer-readable storage mediums and computer program products for providing missed call alert.

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING MISSED CALL ALERT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to telephone communication. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and apparatuses for providing Missed Call Alert (MCA).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] With developments in the field of telephone communication, various techniques are proposed for supporting a user's daily communication. For example, the user may contact others via a landline telephone or a wireless telephone. Nowadays, wireless communication devices may be equipped with one or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and they provide the user with more flexibility in communication.

[0003] However, there exists a situation that the user at the caller side cannot reach a target user at a callee side. Reasons for an unreachable callee may be, for example, a communication device at the callee side is power off, the communication device is not in a service area, or the callee is engaged in another call. Specifically, when the communication device at the callee side is a Dual-S Dual-Standby phone, the above situation occurs even more frequently. In this situation, if SEVI 1 is employed in one call, SIM 2 will be unreachable. It is because a radio frequency function of the device is occupied by SIM 1 and SIM 2 will not be available until the call on SIM 1 is ended.

[0004] Recently, there has been proposed a service for providing missed call notification. In this service, when an operator network detects that a callee is unreachable in establishing a voice communication, the operator will create a normal Short Message Service (SMS) message in plain text and send it to the callee. Although this solution may solve the above problem to a certain extent, new application program should be developed and deployed at the operator network side and the user at the callee side has to pay for this service. Further, the user may possibly delete the SMS message indicating a missed call when this message is hidden in spam messages. Moreover, usually the SMS message is like "A subscriber 1390***1000 called at 19:10, 2012-01-01." Before calling back, the user has to first copy the number "1390***1000" from the text message and then paste it as a to-be-dialed number, it is a waste of time and energy; besides, it is difficult for the user to identify the calling user from plain numbers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In view of the foregoing problems in the existing approaches, there is a need in the art to provide a method and apparatus for providing missed call alert that can reduce or eliminate a need of modifying configurations at the operator network.

[0006] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0007] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and sending the message to the callee.

[0008] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; means for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and means for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0009] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: means for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and means for sending the message to the callee.

[0010] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0011] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and sending the message to the callee.

[0012] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method of providing missed call alert.

[0013] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method of providing missed call alert.

[0014] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising: program code instructions for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; program code instructions for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and program code instructions for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0015] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising: program code instructions for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and program code instructions for sending the message to the callee. [0016] Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Embodiments of the invention are presented in the sense of examples and their advantages are explained in greater detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0018] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a wireless communication environment in which the methods and apparatuses of the present invention may be implemented;

[0019] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Fig. 3A schematically illustrates an example of data structure of a modified Short Message Service (SMS) message according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3B schematically illustrates an example of data structure of a normal SMS message according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Fig. 4 A schematically illustrates an interface of the missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4B schematically illustrates details of each entry in the missed call log according to one embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0023] Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a flowchart implemented by respective apparatuses for providing missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention; and

[0024] Fig. 7A schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for providing missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 7B schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for providing missed call alert according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Various embodiments of the present invention are described in detail with reference to the drawings. The flowcharts and block diagrams in the figures illustrate the apparatus, method, as well as architecture, functions and operations executable by a computer program product according to the embodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagram may represent a module, a program, or a part of code, which contains one or more executable instructions for performing specified logic functions. It should be noted that in some alternatives, functions indicated in blocks may occur in an order differing from the order as illustrated in the figures. For example, two blocks illustrated consecutively may be actually performed in parallel substantially or in an inverse order, which depends on related functions. It should also be noted that block diagrams and/or each block in the flowcharts and a combination of thereof may be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based system for performing specified functions/operations or by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0026] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a wireless communication environment in which the methods and apparatuses of the present invention may be implemented. Caller 1 110 ... caller N 112 may originate calls to callee 1 120 ... callee M via an operator network 130. It is appreciated that the wireless communication device (as illustrated with reference number 110) and landline telephone (as illustrated with reference number 112) are only examples of callers, and those skilled in the art can use other devices as long as the caller may dial the callee 's number and set up a call. And the callees are not limited to common wireless communication devices with one or more SIM cards but also include other devices capable of implementing telephone communication such as smart phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) and the like.

[0027] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information. It is appreciated that this embodiment provides a method for processing a Missed Call Alert (MCA) message in providing missed call alert.

[0028] Fig. 2 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method according to one embodiment of the present invention. The flow starts at block S202, at which step it is determined that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message. In this embodiment, the message is a MCA message indicating that the caller has tried to originate a call with the callee but the callee is unreachable. It is appreciated that this step focuses on determining whether the received message is a MCA message and further processing steps will be initiated when the message is a MCA message.

[0029] At block S204, indication information associated with the call is obtained from the message. The indication information may comprise various kinds of information, most important of all, information relevant to creating a missed call entry, for example who has called and so on, should be included in the indication information.

[0030] At block S206, a missed call entry is created in a missed call log based on the indication information. It is appreciated that the missed call entry in the missed call log is identical to that of a common missed call. And the missed call entry may be prompted to the user at the callee side such that the user may call back in an easier and much effective way without a serial of boring operations of copy and paste.

[0031] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information comprises at least one of: identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated. In creating the missed call entry, it requires information on the caller and time associated with the call. The above identification may comprise phone number of the caller or other information that can uniquely identify the caller, and the timestamp may comprise date and time. Those skilled in the art can design specific format of the identification and the timestamp according as necessary.

[0032] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information may further comprise: a sequence number indicating sequence mformation for sending the message. In order to transfer the MCA message in a much reliable manner, the message may be sent two or more times in case of a failure or failures occurring in the transmission. Once the message is sent again, the sequence number encoded in the message may be increased. In one embodiment, the identification, timestamp together with the sequence number are adopted to indicate one missed call so as to avoid duplicated MCA message. For example, if the callee receives two MCA message having same identification and timestamps but with different sequence numbers, those two MCA messages actually refer to a same missed call. It is appreciated that a plurality of MCA messages indicating a plurality of missed calls may have same sequence number.

[0033] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the determining that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call according to the message may further comprise: determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator. The predefined indicator may be a flag, with different lengths, located in various positions in the message as long as it can distinguish the MCA message from a common SMS message.

[0034] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the message is a normal Short Message Service (SMS) message or a modified SMS message. If a normal SMS message is used, the predefined indicator may be encoded into a certain portion of the body of the message; or if a modified SMS message is used, a particular field in the header of the message may be configured to the predefined indicator. It is appreciated that when a header of a normal SMS message is modified, it is no longer a normal SMS message in compliance with 3 GPP technical specification therefore it is referred as a modified SMS message.

[0035] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator further comprises at least one of: determining that a body of the message is encoded with a first predefined indicator when the message is a normal SMS message; and determining that a header of the message is encoded with a second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message. One basic principle in this determining step is to check whether the predefined indicator exists in the message regardless of whether a normal or a modified SMS message is use.

[0036] It is appreciated that the predefined indicator may have specific formats according to the types of the SMS messages. Fig. 3 A schematically illustrates an example of data structure of a modified Short Message Service (SMS) message according to one embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3B schematically illustrates an example of data structure of a normal SMS message according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] As illustrated in Fig. 3A, in a modified SMS message, the TP-PID (Protocol Identifier) field 312A in the header 31 OA of the message may be set to "0x60," to indicate that the message is a MCA message; while in a normal SMS message as illustrated in Fig. 3B, the MCA-FLAG field 322B in the body 320B of the message may be set to "0xF9E8D7C6B5A4." In Fig. 3 A and 3B, the "(o)" below each field of the message represents an unit for measuring a size of each field is "octet." It is appreciated that the value "0x60" in the TP-PID field is only one example of the predefined indicator and those skilled in the art may use another value as selected from the reserved values 0x60 - 0x7B for the TP-PID field in 3GPP technical specification as along as the value may indicate a MCA message. It is appreciated that the above value of the predefined indicator in the body (such as "0xF9E8D7C6B5A4") is only one example and those skilled in the art may adopt other values as long as these values enable an identification of the MCA message.

[0038] From the illustration in Fig. 3A, the body 320A of the message includes, for example 4 fields, i.e., a MCA-SEQ field 322A for representing the sequence number, a MCA-TS field 324A for representing the timestamp, a MCA-PN field 328A for representing the identification (such as the telephone number), and a MCA-PNL field 326A for representing the length of the identification. Once the TP-PID field 312A in the header 310A of the message is assigned to the predefined indicator, the method of the present may detect that the message is a MCA message, and the above information carried in respective fields may be used in creating the missed called alert. Only slight modifications should be made to the current 3GPP technical specification so as to support the modified SMS message.

[0039] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the determining that the header of the message is encoded with the second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message further comprises: determining that a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message is filled with the second predefined indicator. From the above description, when a modified SMS message is used, the step for verifying a MCA message is to determine whether a certain indicator (in the above example, "0x60") exists in the PID field.

[0040] From the illustration in Fig. 3B, the body 320B of the message includes, for example 5 fields, i.e., MCA-FLAG field 322B for representing that the message is a MCA message, a MCA-SEQ field 324B for representing the sequence number, a MCA-TS field 326B for representing the timestamp, a MCA-PN field 330B for representing the identification (such as the telephone number), and a MCA-PNL field 328B for representing the length of the identification. Once the MCA-FLAG field 322B in the body 320B of the message is assigned to the predefined indicator, the method of the present may detect that the message is a MCA message.

[0041] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the TP-DCS

(Data Coding Scheme) field 312B in the header 310B of the message may be set to, for example, a binary mode. The TP-DCS field in the header indicates the data coding scheme of the SMS message. It is appreciated that when a normal SMS message is adopted for indicating the MCA message, the MCA message is compatible with the current communication environment and it is unnecessary to modify the current operator network and communication standards.

[0042] Although the example as illustrated in Fig. 3B use the first six octets to indicate the MCA flag, those skilled in the art may adopt fewer or more octets. Further, the location of the MCA-FLAG field 322B is not limited to the first one in the body 320B, those skilled in the art may select other locations. In other words, those skilled in the art may rearrange locations of respective fields in the body 320A and 320B.

[0043] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the message is received from a caller that originates the call. In response to the caller having tried but failed to contact the callee, the callee is informed of the callee being unreachable. At this time, the caller may construct the MCA message and sent it to the callee. The present invention aims at providing a missed call alert by interpreting the received MCA message and does not concern a resource of the MCA message. In other words, the MCA message may be received from the caller or from other third party entities capable of generating such a MCA message.

[0044] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method further comprising: displaying the missed call entry as a missed call alert. Fig. 4A schematically illustrates an interface of the missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention; and Fig. 4B schematically illustrates details of each entry in the missed call log according to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in block 41 OA, the manner of displaying the missed call alert is the same as that of displaying a common missed call. When the user at the callee side clicks the "show" button, another interface with each missed call entry may be prompted to the user.

[0045] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the telephone number of the caller carried in the MCA message may be translated into a name according to a contact list. For example, in block 410B, the first missed call entry is display with a name "Alan," and with respect to a telephone number that is not recorded in the contact list, the number "1390***1000" is displayed.

[0046] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the callee of the call is a communication device with one or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards. As previously mentioned, the Dual-S Dual-Standby phone or a phone with multiple SIMs is more likely to be unreachable, thus the method is suitable for the communication device with one or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.

[0047] The above description has detailed the implementations at the callee side, hereinafter reference should be made to Fig. 5 in describing the implementations for generating and sending the MCA message. According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method, comprising: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and sending the message to the callee. In this embodiment, there is provided a method for generating and sending a MCA message in providing missed call alert.

[0048] Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a flowchart of a method according to another embodiment of the present invention. At block S502, a message is generated in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call. As mentioned in previous, the generated message is a MCA message indicating that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call. At block S504, the message is sent to the callee. Afterwards, the above method for processing a MCA message in providing missed call alert may be started in response to having received the MCA message. [0049] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: encoding into the message indication information associated with the call. It is appreciated that the indication information are data used in creating a missed call entry thus it should include various respects of the missed call.

[0050] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information comprises at least one of: identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information may further comprise: a sequence number indicating sequence information for sending the message. Definitions of contents in the indication information are identical to the above description, and those skilled in the art may refer to former paragraphs of the present invention and implemented the method.

[0051] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: encoding into the message a predefined indicator. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the encoding into the message the predefined indicator further comprises: encoding into a body of the message a first predefined indicator; or encoding into a header of the message a second predefined indicator. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the encoding into the header of the message the second predefined indicator further comprises: filling a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message with the second predefined indicator. Descriptions of the indication information have been provided with reference to Fig. 3A and 3B and details are omitted here.

[0052] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the method is implemented at the caller that originates the call. It is appreciated that the present invention does not intend to limit the method to the caller side, instead, it may be implemented at another third party entity. For example, if the caller is a landline telephone incapable of sending SMS message in a wireless manner, then this telephone may request a third party entity to send such a MCA message.

[0053] Hereinafter, a method for providing missed call alert will be detailed with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 schematically illustrates a flowchart implemented by respective apparatuses in method for providing missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] The flow starts at block S602 where a caller originates a call to a callee. At block S604, it is determined whether the callee is reachable or not, the caller in a wireless communication environment may be informed from the operator network whether the callee is unreachable. If the result of S604 is "No" then the flow ends, in this scenario, a normal call is set up between the caller and the callee. When the result of S604 is "Yes" then the flow proceeds to block S606, where the caller generates and sends to the callee a MCA message. Next, the flow proceeds to block S608, where the callee receives and interprets the MCA message. At blocks S610 and S612, when the received message is a new MCA message that has not been received before, the flow proceeds to block S614; otherwise the flow is ended. At block S614, the callee creates a missed call entry in a missed call log according to indication information carried in the MCA message, and then the callee displays the missed entry as a missed call alert at block S616. In response to the missed call alert, a use at the callee side may call back at block S618.

[0055] It is appreciated that operations from S602 to S606 substantially correspond to the method illustrated in Fig. 5 and operations from S608 to S618 substantially correspond to the method illustrated in Fig. 3.

[0056] Fig. 7 A schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for providing missed call alert according to one embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: determining means 71 OA for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; obtaining means 720A for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating means 730 for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0057] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information comprises at least one of: identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated.

[0058] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information further comprises: a sequence number indicating sequence information for sending the message.

[0059] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for determining that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call according to the message further comprises: means for determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator.

[0060] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the message is a normal Short Message Service (SMS) message or a modified SMS message.

[0061] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator further comprises at least one of: means for determining that a body of the message is encoded with a first predefined indicator when the message is a normal SMS message; and means for determining that a header of the message is encoded with a second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message.

[0062] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for determining that the header of the message is encoded with the second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message further comprises: means for determining that a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message is filled with the second predefined indicator.

[0063] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the message is received from a caller that originates the call.

[0064] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus further comprising: means for displaying the missed call entry as a missed call alert.

[0065] Fig. 7B schematically illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus for providing missed call alert according to another embodiment of the present invention. According to this embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: generating means 710B for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and sending means 720B for sending the message to the callee.

[0066] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: means for encoding into the message indication information associated with the call.

[0067] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information comprises at least one of: identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated.

[0068] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the indication information further comprises: a sequence number indicating sequence information for sending the message.

[0069] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: means for encoding into the message a predefined indicator.

[0070] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for encoding into the message the predefined indicator further comprises: means for encoding into a body of the message a first predefined indicator; or means for encoding into a header of the message a second predefined indicator.

[0071] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the means for encoding into the header of the message the second predefined indicator further comprises: means for filling a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message with the second predefined indicator.

[0072] According to one embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is implemented at the caller that originates the call.

[0073] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0074] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and sending the message to the callee.

[0075] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method for processing a MCA message in providing missed call alert.

[0076] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method for generating and sending a MCA message in providing missed call alert.

[0077] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising: program code instructions for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message; program code instructions for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and program code instructions for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

[0078] According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising: program code instructions for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and program code instructions for sending the message to the callee.

[0079] Based on the above description, the skilled in the art would appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in an apparatus, a method, or a computer program product. Thus, the present invention may be specifically implemented in the following manners, i.e., complete hardware, complete software (including firmware, resident software, microcode, etc), or a combination of software part and hardware part as generally called "circuit," "module," or "system" herein. Further, the present invention may also adopt a form of computer program product as embodied in any tangible medium of expression, the medium comprising computer-usable program code.

[0080] Any combination of one or more computer-usable or computer-readable mediums may be used. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be for example, but not limited to, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, means, device, or propagation medium. More specific examples (non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium comprise: an electric connection having one or more leads, a portable computer magnetic disk, hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, a transmission medium for example, supporting internet or intranet, or a magnetic storage device. It should be noted that the computer-usable or computer readable medium may even be a paper printed with a program thereon or other suitable medium, because the program may be obtained electronically by electrically scanning such paper or other medium, and then compiled, interpreted or processed in a suitable manner, and if necessary, stored in a computer memory. In the context of the present document, a computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be any medium containing, storing, communicating, propagating, or transmitting a program available for an instruction execution system, apparatus or device, or associated with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A computer-usable medium may comprise a data signal contained in a base band or propagated as a part of carrier and embodying a computer-usable program code. A computer-usable program code may be transmitted by any suitable medium, including, but not limited to, radio, wire, cable, or RF, etc.

[0081] A computer program code for executing operations of the present invention may be written by any combination of one or more program design languages, the program design languages including object-oriented program design languages, such as Java, Smalltalk, C++, etc, as well as conventional procedural program design languages, such as "C" program design language or similar program design language. A program code may be completely or partly executed on a user computer, or executed as an independent software package, partly executed on the user computer and partly executed on a remote computer, or completely executed on a remote computer or server. In the latter circumstance, the remote computer may be connected to the user computer through various kinds of networks, including local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN), or connected to external computer (for example, by means of an internet service provider via Internet).

[0082] Further, each block in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams of the present invention and combination of respective blocks therein may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, a dedicated computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, thereby generating a machine such that these instructions executed through the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus generate means for implementing functions/ operations prescribed in the blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams.

[0083] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable medium capable of instructing the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to work in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium generate a product including instruction means for implementing the functions/ operations prescribed in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams.

[0084] The computer program instructions may also be loaded on a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that a series of operation steps are implemented on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, to generate a computer-implemented process, such that execution of the instructions on the computer or other programmable apparatus provides a process of implementing the functions/operations prescribed in the blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams.

[0085] Though the exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described herein with reference to the drawings, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to these accurate embodiments, and a person of normal skill in

! 7 the art can make various modifications to the embodiments without departing from the scope and principle of the present invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included in the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

L A method, comprising:

determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message;

obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of:

identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and

a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein the indication information further comprises: a sequence number indicating sequence information for sending the message.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the determining that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call according to the message further comprises: determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator.

5. The method of Claim 4, wherein the message is a normal Short Message Service (SMS) message or a modified SMS message.

6. The method of Claim 5, the determining that the message is encoded with a predefined indicator further comprises:

determining that a body of the message is encoded with a first predefined indicator when the message is a normal SMS message; or

determining that a header of the message is encoded with a second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the determining that the header of the message is encoded with the second predefined indicator when the message is a modified SMS message further comprises: determining that a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message is filled with the second predefined indicator.

8. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the message is received from a caller that originates the call.

9. The method of any of Claims 1-3, further comprising: displaying the missed call entry as a missed call alert.

10. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the callee of the call is a communication device with one or more Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards.

11. A method, comprising:

generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and

sending the message to the callee.

12. The method of Claim 11, wherein the generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: encoding into the message indication information associated with the call.

13. The method of Claim 12, wherein the indication information comprises at least one of:

identification indicating a caller that originates the call; and

a timestamp indicating time when the call is originated.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein the indication information further comprises: a sequence number indicating sequence information for sending the message.

15. The method of any of Claims 11-14, wherein the generating the message in response to a determination that the callee of the call is unreachable to the caller of the call further comprises: encoding into the message a predefined indicator.

16. The method of Claim 15, wherein the encoding into the message the predefined indicator further comprises:

encoding into a body of the message a first predefined indicator; or

encoding into a header of the message a second predefined indicator.

17. The method of Claim 16, wherein the encoding into the header of the message the second predefined indicator further comprises: filling a Protocol Identifier (PID) field of the header of the message with the second predefined indicator.

18. The method of any of Claims 11-14, wherein the method is implemented at the caller that originates the call.

19. An apparatus, comprising:

means for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message;

means for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and

means for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

means for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and

means for sending the message to the callee.

21. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message;

obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and

creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

22. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor and at least one memory including compute program code, the memory and the computer program code configured to cause the apparatus to: generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and

sending the message to the callee.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method as claimed in any of Claims 1-10.

24. A computer-readable storage medium having executable computer-readable program code instructions stored therein, the instructions enable a data processing device to implement the method as claimed in any of Claims 11-18.

25. A computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising:

program code instructions for determining that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call according to a message;

program code instructions for obtaining from the message indication information associated with the call; and

program code instructions for creating a missed call entry in a missed call log based on the indication information.

26. A computer program product, comprising at least one computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program code portion stored thereon, the computer readable program code portion comprising:

program code mstructions for generating a message in response to a determination that a callee of a call is unreachable to a caller of the call; and

program code instructions for sending the message to the callee.