FR2779589A1 - Surveillance procedure using mobile telephone to monitor local noises - Google Patents

Abstract

The system uses a mobile phone to offer surveillance in any chosen location. The system for surveillance uses a mobile telephone in order to detect any abnormal noise within a monitored location. The procedure includes an initialisation phase during which a predetermined call number is put into memory within the mobile phone, and an alarm threshold is determined, so that noise above this threshold activates the alarm system. During the subsequent operational phase the telephone measures the level of noise detected by the microphone, and dials the pre-stored number if the noise level exceeds the predetermined threshold. The measurement of noise may be taken from the average of a series of measurements made over a number of cycles, and the alarm initiated only when this average exceeds a given level.

Description

The present invention relates to a method of monitoring a place

  any using a portable radio telephone of the type

  cordless telephone or cellular radio telephone.

  > Alarm systems are already known for vehicles of the automotive type in which a mobile radio telephone is connected to vehicle sensors capable of detecting abnormal events (opening of a vehicle door, violent impact of the vehicle). Following the detection of an abnormal event, the telephone automatically generates a] 0 call to a subscriber to the cellular radiocommunication system or

  a wired telephone system via the radiocommunications system.

  In this type of system, the telephone must be associated with external elements (sensors and battery) specific to the environment to be monitored, namely the vehicle. Consequently, the system is dedicated solely to monitoring a particular environment, and cannot be used as is for monitoring a

other environment.

  The object of the present invention is to propose a method of monitoring from only a portable radiocommunication telephone so as to

  allow surveillance of any location.

  This object is achieved according to the invention, a first object of which is a method of monitoring using a portable radiocommunication telephone, characterized in that it comprises an initialization phase comprising a storage step, in the telephone. handset, a predetermined phone number and a predetermined alarm threshold, as well as an operational phase during which the telephone makes a measurement of the level of surrounding noise, compares said measurement with the alarm threshold and automatically dials said predetermined call number when said measurement exceeds the alarm threshold. The invention also relates to a portable radiocommunication telephone comprising means for memorizing a predetermined call number, characterized in that it further comprises means for measuring the level of surrounding noise, means for comparing the measured noise level with a stored alarm threshold, and means for automatically dialing the predetermined call number when the measured noise level

  becomes higher than the alarm threshold.

  Advantageously, maximum advantage is taken of the already existing elements of the telephone by using the microphone as a means of measuring the level of surrounding noise.

  The invention will be better understood in view of the description given below in

  reference to the appended figures in which: - figure 1 schematically illustrates the constituent elements of a radiocommunication telephone likely to intervene in the implementation of the method according to the invention; - Figure 2 shows the succession of steps implemented in

  a preferred embodiment of the invention.

  A portable radiocommunication telephone 1 conventionally comprises, as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 1, an antenna 10 used for transmitting and receiving radiocommunication signals to or from either a base station of a mobile cellular network when the telephone considered is a so-called mobile telephone (for example of the GSM type), or from a private base station when the telephone considered is a so-called wireless telephone (for example of the DECT type). The antenna 10 is connected to a signal processing chain comprising a radio module 11 for processing signals at radio frequencies, and a module 12 for processing baseband signals. During a communication, the voice of the user of the telephone 1 is picked up by a microphone 13, then undergoes various processing operations which are not detailed here since they are well known to those skilled in the art, successively via the baseband processing module 12 and the radio module 11, before being transmitted in the form of radio frequency signals by the antenna 10. On the other hand, the voice signals received by the antenna 10 are filtered, amplified and demodulated by the radio module 11, then processed by the module 12 to be finally transmitted to an earpiece 14. The various operations are conventionally controlled by a microprocessor 15. The telephone also comprises a display screen 16, as well as a keyboard 17 conventionally comprising dialing keys and navigation means not shown, to allow the user to place a call and

  access various features offered by the phone.

  According to the invention, one of the functionalities offered by the telephone 1 consists of a so-called monitoring mode by which the telephone can measure, during an operational phase of the monitoring mode, the noise level of the environment in which it is located, and automatically generate the call to a predetermined number as soon as this noise level becomes higher than a predetermined alarm threshold. This functionality assumes that, on the one hand, the call number, and on the other hand, the alarm threshold beyond which the call must be triggered, have been entered and stored beforehand, during a phase initialization, in a memory 18 of the telephone. This memory can be an integral part of the telephone 1, or else, in the case of a mobile telephone, be contained in the subscriber identification module (SIM module) inserted in the telephone to allow its operation. Advantageously, the measurement of the noise level is carried out by means of the microphone 13 of the telephone 1. Thus, the new functionality offered according to the invention makes maximum use of the elements already existing and requires only implementations

inexpensive software.

  With reference to FIG. 2, the successive stages of a preferred implementation of the invention will now be detailed: It is assumed that the telephone 1 is in a so-called standby mode, namely a mode in which the telephone is under voltage and able to operate in sending or receiving calls. The monitoring mode offered by the telephone according to the invention can then be triggered by the user, for example by means of a dedicated key on the keyboard 17, from a menu offered on the screen 16 of the telephone, or any other means (activation by voice recognition if the

  phone has this function).

  When the monitoring mode is actually triggered, the microprocessor 15 advantageously controls the display on the screen of the alarm threshold stored in the memory 18. The alarm threshold can be presented to the user in the form of three ranges levels (low, medium, high), the values corresponding to these ranges having been memorized in the factory during the manufacture of the telephone. When using the phone and its monitoring mode for the first time, you can expect one of the level ranges to be displayed by default. The user can modify the alarm threshold if desired, for example by using the keys on the keyboard 17. During the following uses of the

  monitoring mode, the last memorized range will be displayed.

  Then, the microprocessor 15 controls the display on the screen 16 of the telephone number last stored by the user. When using the monitoring mode for the first time, the display screen has an empty field to be filled in by the user, for example by using the keys on the keyboard 17. In the same way as for the alarm threshold, the phone 1 then gives the option to enter

  and store a new phone number if desired.

  Once the previous initialization phase has ended, the telephone 1 advantageously offers the user the possibility of immediately launching the surveillance, or on the contrary of deferring it. To do this, the microprocessor 15 can for example control the display on the screen 16 of a message or of validation icons. If the user chooses to delay the launch of monitoring, the microprocessor 15 commands the return to standby mode. Otherwise, the operational phase of the monitoring mode is triggered by the microprocessor 15. During this operational phase, the surrounding noise level is measured, preferably by an already existing component, in this case the microphone 13. The microphone 13 transmits samples periodically, for example every second, to the microprocessor 15, which averages these samples over a predefined period, for example every two or three seconds. The average value is then compared to the last saved alarm threshold value. As long as this average value is below the alarm threshold, the microphone continues to provide noise level measurements. On the other hand, as soon as it becomes greater than the alarm threshold, the microprocessor 15 controls the automatic numbering of the last stored telephone number. The person receiving the call will then be able to hear, from their telephone, the sounds picked up by the microphone 13 of telephone 1, and

  make the necessary arrangements.

  Of course, the course presented with reference to Figure 2 is only a non-limiting example of implementation. In particular, certain steps can be inverted in the initialization phase, or implemented

  simultaneously, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (5)

  1. Monitoring method using a portable radiocommunication telephone, characterized in that it comprises an initialization phase comprising a step of memorizing, in the portable telephone, a predetermined call number and d '' a predetermined alarm threshold, as well as an operational phase during which the telephone performs a measurement of the surrounding noise level, compares said measurement to the alarm threshold and automatically dials said predetermined call number when said   measurement becomes greater than the alarm threshold.   2. Monitoring method according to claim 1, characterized in that said measurement corresponds to an average value over a cycle of periodic measurements. 3. Portable radiocommunication telephone comprising means (15, 17, 18) for memorizing a predetermined call number, characterized in that it further comprises means (13) for measuring the level of surrounding noise, means (15, 18) for comparing the measured noise level with a stored alarm threshold, and means (15, 18) for automatically dialing the predetermined call number when the measured noise level   becomes higher than the alarm threshold.   4. portable radiocommunication telephone according to claim 2,   characterized in that the measuring means comprise a microphone (13).   5. Portable radiocommunication telephone according to any one of the   Claims 3 and 4, characterized in that the storage means   have a memory area on an inserted subscriber identification module in the phone.