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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
A wireless mobile phone, is provided with a couple of buttons and
complementary logic to facilitate entry and transmission of Morse
code representations of alphanumeric data. As a result, a user may
use the provided facilities to engage in non-verbal communication
for sensitive subject matters in the middle of a call. In one embodiment,
the complementary logic further facilitates echoing on a display,
alphanumeric data corresponding to any entered Morse code representations.
Additionally, each of the Morse code entry buttons includes one
or more light emitting diodes (LEDs), and the LEDs are lit to visually
echo the Morse code representations of any alphanumeric data entered
through a standard input keypad.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A wireless mobile phone comprising:
a transceiver to send and receive signals;
a body casing having a front surface and a side surface;
an input keypad disposed on said front surface of said body casing
to facilitate entry of alphanumeric data;
a first button disposed on said side surface of said body casing;
a second button disposed on said side surface of said body casing
adjacent to said first button; and
means coupled to the first and second buttons and to the transceiver
to facilitate entry of alphanumeric data in Morse code representations
using said first and second buttons, and transmission of said alphanumeric
data using said transceiver, wherein each of said first and second
buttons includes one or more light emitting diodes (LED), and said
means further lights said LEDs of said first and second buttons
to visually echo Morse code representations of alphanumeric data
entered through said input keypad.
2. The wireless mobile phone of claim 1, wherein said mobile phone
further comprises a display, and said means further echoes on said
display alphanumeric data represented by Morse codes entered using
said first and second buttons.
3. The wireless mobile phone of claim 1, wherein said mobile phone
further comprises an adapter interface to removably attach a device
capable of vibrating to said mobile phone, and to vibrationally
output alphanumeric data received through said transceiver using
said removably attached device capable of vibrating.
4. The wireless mobile phone of claim 3, wherein said alphanumeric
data are vibrationally outputted through vibrational manifestation
of the Morse code representations of the alphanumeric data.
5. A wireless mobile phone comprising:
a body casing having a front surface and a side surface;
an input keypad disposed on said front face of said front surface
to facilitate entry of alphanumeric data;
a first button disposed on said side surface of said body casing,
having first one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs);
a second button disposed on said side surface of said body casing,
adjacent to said first button, and having second one or more LEDs;
and
means coupled to the input keypad and the first and second buttons
to light said LEDs of said first and second buttons to visually
echo Morse code representations of alphanumeric data entered through
said input keypad.
6. A wireless mobile phone comprising:
a transceiver to send and receive signals;
a body casing having a top surface and a side surface;
a first button disposed on either said top surface or said side
surface of said body casing;
a second button disposed on the same top/side surface of said body
casing adjacent to said first button; and
means coupled to the first and second buttons and to the transceiver
to facilitate entry of alphanumeric data in Morse code representations
using said first and second buttons, and transmission of said alphanumeric
data using said transceiver, wherein each of said first and second
buttons includes one or more light emitting diodes (LED), and said
means further lights said LEDs of said first and second buttons
to visually echo Morse code representations of alphanumeric data
entered through said input keypad.
7. A wireless mobile phone comprising:
a transceiver to send and receive signals;
a body casing having a top surface and a side surface;
a first button disposed on either said top surface or said side
surface of said body casing;
a second button disposed on the same top/side surface of said body
casing adjacent to said first button; and
a micro-controller and associated memory, including programming
instructions stored in said memory, coupled to the first and second
buttons and to the transceiver to facilitate entry of alphanumeric
data in Morse code representations using said first and second buttons,
and transmission of said alphanumeric data using said transceiver,
wherein each of said first and second buttons includes one or more
light emitting diodes (LED), and said micro-controller further lights
said LEDs of said first and second buttons to visually echo Morse
code representations of alphanumeric data entered through said input
keypad.
8. In a wireless mobile phone, a method comprising:
receiving Morse code representations of alphanumeric data entered
using a first and a second button disposed on a top or side surface
of the mobile phone, said mobile phone also having an input keypad
disposed on a front surface to facilitate entry of alphanumeric
data; and
in response, electrically generating signals corresponding to digital
representations of said alphanumeric data entered through entry
of their Morse code representations using said first and second
buttons, and transmitting said alphanumeric data by electromagnetically
transmitting said generated signals, wherein each of said first
and second buttons includes one or more light emitting diodes (LED),
and said method further comprises lighting said LEDs of said first
and second buttons to visually echo Morse code representations of
alphanumeric data entered through said input keypad.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein said method further comprises
visually echoing on a display of said mobile phone said alphanumeric
data entered through entry of their Morse code representations using
said first and second buttons.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein said mobile phone further comprises
an adapter interface to removably attach a device capable of vibrating
to said mobile phone, and said method further comprises vibrationally
outputting alphanumeric data received through a transceiver of said
mobile phone using said removably attached device capable of vibrating.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein said alphanumeric data are
vibrationally outputted through vibrational manifestation of the
Morse code representation of the alphanumeric data.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wireless mobile phones.
More specifically, the present invention relates to complementary
features that enhance the usability of wireless mobile phones.
2. Background Information
Advances in integrated circuit and telecommunication technology
have led to wide spread adoption of wireless mobile client devices,
in particular, wireless mobile telephones. Wireless mobile phones
offer the advantage of enabling their users to be communicatively
reachable by their business associates, friends and family members,
wherever the users may be, as long as they are within the reach
of the service networks. Thus, even non-professionals are increasingly
dependent on their wireless mobile phones to meet their communication
needs.
With increased usage and reliance, often times, wireless mobile
phone users would find themselves in the dilemma of having to engage
in potentially sensitive conversations in a setting that is less
than desirable, privacy-wise. For examples, a user may find himself/herself
having to engage in an urgent personal or business conversation
at a bus stop while waiting for the next bus, or at an airport terminal
while waiting to board his/her flight. Under the prior art, a user
may have to elect to continue the private/sensitive conversation
in a less than private manner, switch to another form of communication,
such as email, or delay the communication. Each of these options
has disadvantages. Electing to proceed with the conversation in
a less than private manner may unduly expose private/sensitive information
to the public. Switching communication form is inconvenient. That
is true even if the user is in possession of a wireless mobile phone
capable of sending add receiving emails. The reason being, any switching
would likely at a minimum, disrupt the continuity of the communication.
Therefore, a more user-friendly approach to accommodating privacy
sensitive communication is desired.
Note: The term "wireless mobile phone" as used in herein
(in the specification and in the claims) refers to the class of
telephone devices equipped to enable a user to make and receive
calls wirelessly, notwithstanding the user's movement, as long as
the user is within the communication reach of a service or base
station. The term "wireless mobile phone" is to include
the analog subclass as well as the digital subclass (of all signaling
protocols).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A wireless mobile phone, is provided with at least two extra buttons
(in addition to the standard input keypad) and complementary logic
to facilitate entry of alphanumeric data via entry of their Morse
code representations, and transmission of the entered alphanumeric
data. As a result, a user may more naturally use the provided facilities
to engage in non-verbal communication for sensitive subject matters
in the middle of a call.
In one embodiment, the complementary logic further facilitates
echoing on a local display, alphanumeric data corresponding to the
entered Morse code representations. Additionally, each of the Morse
code entry buttons includes one or more light emitting diodes (LEDs),
and the LEDs are lit to visually echo the Morse code representations
of any alphanumeric data entered through the standard input keypad.
Further, in one embodiment, the wireless mobile phone includes
an adapter interface designed to be able to have a device capable
of vibrating removably attached to the wireless mobile phone to
facilitate the complementary logic to vibrationally output a text
message received, through vibrational manifestation of the text
message's Morse code representations.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The present invention will be described by way of exemplary embodiments,
but not limitations, illustrated in the accompanying drawings in
which like references denote similar elements, and in which:
FIGS. 1a-1b illustrate a wireless mobile phone of the present invention,
incorporated with the Morse code facilities in accordance with the
present invention, in accordance with two embodiments;
FIGS. 2a-2b illustrate the operational flow of the relevant aspects
of the Morse code logic provided to the wireless mobile phone of
FIGS. 1a/1b, in accordance with one embodiment; and
FIG. 3 illustrates an internal component view of the wireless mobile
phone of FIG. 1a/1b, in accordance with one embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In the following description, various aspects of the present invention
will be described. However, it will be apparent to those skilled
in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only
some or all aspects of the present invention. For purposes of explanation,
specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in
order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention.
However, it will also be apparent to one skilled in the art that
the present invention may be practiced without the specific details.
In other instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified
in order not to obscure the present invention. The phrase "in
one embodiment" will be used repeatedly, however the phrase
does not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, although it may.
Referring now to FIGS. 1a-1b, wherein two embodiments of a wireless
mobile phone 100 and 100', incorporated with the teachings of the
present invention are shown. As illustrated, in accordance with
the present invention, wireless mobile phone 100/100' is provided
with two extra buttons 120 and complementary logic (shown as ref.
330 in FIG. 3) to facilitate a user of phone 100/100' to enter and
send alphanumeric data, e.g. a text message. More specifically,
buttons 120 in conjunction with the complementary logic facilitate
a user in entering alphanumeric data through entry of their Morse
code representations (see Tables I-III), and causing the entered
alphanumeric data to be sent. One of buttons 120 is provided to
allow a user to enter the "dit" representation, while
the other is provided to allow the user to enter the "dah"
representation. The facilities may be employed in particular during
a call, thereby enabling the user to conduct all or a portion of
a call in a non-audible and more private manner.
TABLE I Morse Codes for Letters Letters Morse Code A ditdah B dahditditdit
c dahditdahdit D dahditdit E dit F ditditdahdit G dahdahdit H ditditditdit
I ditdit J ditdahdahdah K dahditdah L ditdahditdit M dahdah N dahdit
o dahdahdah p ditdahdahdit Q dahdahditdah R ditdahdit s ditditdit
T dah u ditditdah v ditditditdah w ditdahdah x dahditditdah Y dahditdahdah
z dahdahditdit
TABLE II Morse Code for Numbers Numbers Morse Code 0 dahdahdahdahdah
1 ditdahdahdahdah 2 ditditdahdahdah 3 ditditditdahdah 4 ditditditditdah
5 ditditditditdit 6 dahditditditdit 7 dahdahditditdit 8 dahdahdahditdit
9 dahdahdahdahdit
TABLE II Morse Code for Numbers Numbers Morse Code 0 dahdahdahdahdah
1 ditdahdahdahdah 2 ditditdahdahdah 3 ditditditdahdah 4 ditditditditdah
5 ditditditditdit 6 dahditditditdit 7 dahdahditditdit 8 dahdahdahditdit
9 dahdahdahdahdit
In one embodiment, the conventional operational setting selection
feature of phone 100/100' is enhanced to facilitate a user in selecting
an operational rate for processing and interpreting Morse codes,
e.g. 5 wpm, 13 wpm, 20 wpm and so forth. The different operational
rates facilitate usage by users of varying skill levels, from the
novice users to the more advanced users.
Preferably, buttons 120 are strategically placed on a side surface
of phone 100/100' to facilitate single-handed operation of phone
100/100'. That is, with the side surface placement of buttons 120,
a user may e.g. use two fingers of the same hand holding phone 100/100'
to manipulate buttons 120 to enter alphanumeric data of a text message
to be transmitted by entering their Morse codes. Thus a user may
be holding phone 100/100', engage in a verbal conversation, and
switch to sending the other calling party a non-verbal text message,
and then switch back to verbal conversation, all performed without
changing the position of phone 100/100' or altering the manner phone
1001100' is held. Phone 100/100' may be held next to the user's
ear or in any arbitrary position if an earpiece or a speaker is
used.
For the illustrated embodiments, which are designed for right-handed
users, buttons 120 are strategically placed on left side surface
119a of body casing 116 of phone 100/100'. In alternate embodiments,
designed for left-handed users, buttons 120 may be strategically
placed on right side surface 119b of body casing 116 of phone 100/100'
instead. In yet other alternate embodiments, buttons 120 may be
placed on the top surface at top end 118a.
Beside side surfaces 119a and 119b, and top end 118a, body casing
116 also has bottom end 118b as well as front surface 117/117'.
Note that side surfaces 119a and 119b, top and bottom ends 118a
and 118b, and front surface 117/117' are all objectively determined.
As illustrated, wireless mobile phone 100/100' also includes display
108/108'. Such a device necessarily has a reading orientation. By
definition, the surface upon which the display is disposed is the
front surface. The front surface in turn definitively defines the
left side surface and the right side surface. Further, such a device
necessarily has a display orientation, which definitively defines
top and bottom ends 118a and 118b. For example, textual data are
either rendered from left to right and top to bottom, as denoted
by arrows 140a and 140b, as in the case of the English language,
or right to left and top to bottom, as denoted by arrows 142a and
142b as in the case of the Hebrew language, or top to bottom and
right to left, as denoted by arrows 142b and 142a, as in the case
of the Chinese language. Thus the manner in which textual data are
rendered definitively defines which end is the top end, and which
end is the bottom end. Moreover, an element A of phone 100/100'
will necessarily be considered as above element B of phone 100/100',
and element B will necessarily be considered as below or beneath
element A, if element A is doser to the objectively determinable
top end of phone 100/100' (or element B is closer to the objectively
determinable bottom end of phone 100/100').
Continuing to refer to FIGS. 1a-1b, beside buttons 120 and the
complementary logic, phone 100/100' is otherwise intended to represent
a broad range of wireless mobile phones, including both the analog
as well as the digital types (of all signaling protocols). In addition
to buttons 120, the complementary logic, body casing 116/116' and
display 108/108' phone 100/100' further includes standard input
key pad 102/102' having a number of conventional alphanumeric keys,
"talk" and "end talk" buttons 104, cursor control
buttons 106, antenna 110/110', ear speaker 112, microphone 114 and
adapter interface 122.
The two embodiments differ in the relative disposition of antenna
110/110' to ear speaker 112, and the relative disposition of keypad
102/102' to display 108/108'. In the first embodiment, similar to
conventional prior art wireless mobile phones, antenna 110 and ear
speaker 112 are both disposed near top end 118a, whereas in the
second embodiment, unlike conventional prior art wireless mobile
phones, antenna 110' is disposed near bottom end 118b while ear
speaker 112 is disposed near top end 118a. Further, in the first
embodiment, similar to conventional prior art wireless mobile phones,
keypad 102 Is disposed In the lower half of phone 100 beneath display
108, whereas in the second embodiment, unlike conventional prior
art wireless mobile phones, keypad 102' is disposed in the upper
half of phone 100' above display 108'. In other words, except for
Morse code buttons 120 and the associated complementary logic of
the present invention, the first embodiment represents a wide range
of wireless mobile phones known in the art. Similarly, except for
Morse code buttons 120 and the associated complementary logic of
the present invention, the second embodiment is disclosed in co
pending application Ser. No. 09/767,526, contemporaneously filed,
entitled "A Wireless Mobile Phone with Inverted Placement of
Antenna and Keypad", which is hereby fully incorporated by
reference.
Further, for the illustrated embodiments, each of buttons 120 includes
light emitting diodes (LED). The LEDs are employed by the complementary
logic to visually echo the Morse code representations of alphanumeric
data entered through input keypad 102/102', thereby facilitating
a user in learning Morse code. In various embodiments, the present
invention also contemplates the conventional operational setting
feature of phone 100/100' will further be enhanced to facilitate
enabling/disabling of this "learn mode".
Additionally, as alluded to earlier, phone 100/100' includes adapter
interface 122 for removably attaching a variety of accessory devices
to phone 100/100'. Among these removably attachable accessory devices
include e.g. ear piece (not shown), and vibration device 132. Thus,
with the attachment of vibration device 132, the complementary logic
may vibrationally output received alphanumeric data through vibrational
manifestations of their corresponding Morse code representations.
As a result, a user may silently and vibrationally receive a text
message.
Referring now to FIGS. 2a-2b, wherein the operational flow (200)
of the relevant aspects of the complementary logic is shown. As
illustrated, during operation, the complementary logic continuously
checks and determines the operational state of phone 100/100', and
acts accordingly. For the illustrated embodiment, the complementary
logic first checks to determine if an input has been entered using
one of the Morse code buttons 120, block 202. If an input has been
entered, the complementary logic accumulates the Morse code input
received (until a letter, a number or a punctuation has been inputted),
using e.g. an accumulation buffer, block 204.
Back at block 202, if it is determined that a Morse code has not
been just inputted, the complementary logic determines if the operational
state is considered to be at a pause after a series of successive
Morse code inputs have been entered, block 206. If it is determined
that the operational state is at such a pause, the complementary
logic causes the corresponding alphanumeric data to be injected
into the data stream to be transmitted, resulting in their eventual
transmission, block 208. The complementary logic also causes the
corresponding alphanumeric data to be visually echoed on display
108/108' (based on the accumulated Morse code since the last "refresh"
of the accumulation buffer), block 208. Upon echoing, the complementary
logic also "clears" the accumulated Morse code inputs.
On the other hand if back at block 206, it was determined that
the operational state is not at such a pause, the complementary
logic further determines if alphanumeric data has just been entered
through input keypad 102/102', block 210. If it is so determined,
and assuming the earlier described "learn mode" is enabled,
the complementary logic causes the LEDs of buttons 120 to be lit
up accordingly (with a pattern of "dit" and "dah")
to visually echo the corresponding Morse codes of the entered alphanumeric
data, block 212.
Back at block 210, if it was determined that alphanumeric data
has not been just entered through input keypad 102/102', the complementary
logic further determines if alphanumeric data has just been received
from another device, e.g. another phone, block 214. The complementary
logic makes the determination by analyzing the received data stream.
If so and a vibration device is attached to phone 100/100', the
complementary logic vibrationally output the received alphanumeric
data by causing the vibration device to vibrationally manifest the
corresponding Morse code representation of the received alphanumeric
data, block 216.
In each case, upon accumulating an entered Morse code (block 204),
echoing the corresponding alphanumeric data of the entered Morse
code (block 208), echoing the Morse code of entered alphanumeric
data (block 212), or vibrationally outputting the Morse code representation
of received alphanumeric data (block 214), the complementary logic
continues operation back at block 202.
Thus, it can be seen from the above description, a user of phone
100/100' may advantageously use the facilities provided to enter
and send a text message, by entering their Morse codes, during a
call, thereby enabling the user to be able to selectively communicate
with the caller/callee in a non-verbal or more private manner.
FIG. 3 illustrates an architecture view of a wireless mobile phone
300, in accordance with one embodiment. As illustrated, wireless
mobile phone 300 includes elements found in conventional mobile
client devices, such as micro-controller/processor 302, digital
signal processor (DSP) 304, non-volatile memory 306, general purpose
input/output (GPIO) interface 308, transmit/receive (TX/RX) 312
(also known as transceiver), and adapter interface 316, coupled
to each other via bus 314 and disposed on a circuit board 320. Except
for the use of GPIO 308 to also interface Morse code buttons 120,
and the use of non-volatile memory 306 to host complementary logic
330, the elements are used to perform their conventional functions
known in the art. In particular, TX/RX 312 may support one or more
of any of the known signaling protocols, including but are not limited
to CDMA, TDMA, GSM, and so forth. Their constitutions are known.
Accordingly, the elements will not be further described.
Thus, a wireless mobile phone enhanced to enable its user to more
naturally communicate a message non-audibly during a call has been
described. While the present invention has been described in terms
of the above-illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will
recognize that the invention is not limited to the embodiments described.
The present invention can be practiced with modification and alteration
within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Thus, the description
is to be regarded as illustrative instead of restrictive on the
present invention. |