GB2408174A

GB2408174A - External control of operation modes of portable communication devices

Info

Publication number: GB2408174A
Application number: GB0326630A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Richard Ormson
Original assignee: NEC Technologies UK Ltd
Current assignee: NEC Technologies UK Ltd
Priority date: 2003-11-14
Filing date: 2003-11-14
Publication date: 2005-05-18
Also published as: GB0326630D0

Abstract

The invention relates to portable communication devices that operate in a plurality of different operational modes and a method of switching between modes in response to an external control signal. In particular, the invention relates to mobile phones and controlling their operation in environments or locations that are sensitive to radio interference or where normal functioning of the mobile phone is undesirable. The method includes sending a control signal via the radio interface that prompts the mobile handset to switch to an appropriate mode of operation. A time-duration may be associated with such commands. Mobile terminals that are not designed for such external control may be sent an SMS message requesting the user to manually switch to the desired mode. In one embodiment, GPS technology is utilised to determine location. In another embodiment, Bluetooth <RTM> technology is used to send control signals.

Description

MODE CONTROL IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION DEVICES

This invention relates to mode control in portable communication devices such as mobile telephones and in particular to switching between modes such as silent mode and other predefined operational modes.

In many situations mobile communication devices such as mobile phones are a nuisance. Examples of such places are theatres and cinemas. Modern mobile phones and communication devices support various different operating modes, generally including a silent mode to allow them to remain active when they are in areas where the noise they generate is undesirable. However, there is a requirement for users to select the most appropriate mode when they enter an area such as a theatre or cinema or restaurant and this is not always done. Even when it is done the user does not always select the most appropriate mode and this can be very irritating for others nearby.

There are other examples where mobile phones can be dangerous. For example on aircraft and near medical electronic equipment they should be switched off. All phones are provided with an off button but customers do not always use it.

Various network jammers are available which could be used to interfere with phones in such areas. However, these are illegal to use in most countries and in the areas where safety is an issue would not have the desired effect since they cause more transmission not less.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention there is provided a portable communication device having a so plurality of different operational modes responsive to an 2 - external mode control signal to switch between operational modes.

The invention is defined with more precision in the appended claims to which reference should now be made.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of the circuitry required in a mobile communication device embodying the lo invention; Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of a second embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 3 shows a third embodiment of the invention.

In order to produce a mobile communication device which is responsive to external mode control signals the most important changes are in the device itself. The device must be able to accept a change to the operational mode of the device from external sources, or to generate them itself as a result of external conditions. Existing devices are already able to change modes in response to key presses. It should, therefore, be possible to modify them so that they can also change modes in response to external commands. These commands may, for example, originate in the cellular network and pass through the protocol stack of the handset in the same way as other commands. Alternatively, the commands may originate in the handset itself.

Another fundamental requirement of any such system is that the device must also be able to return to the original lo user selected operating mode when the conditions requiring it to be in a different mode have been removed. Thus, two mode settings need to be maintained in the device, current mode (which is enabled) and the user selected mode which - 3 must be stored while the device is responding to external selection signals.

Changes also need to be made in the network technology used to ensure that the appropriate mode control signals can be transmitted to the handset. There are a number of ways in which this can be done and these are explained below with reference to the various figures.

In fig. 1 there is shown schematically the components required within a mobile communication device in an lo embodiment of the invention. This comprises an antenna 2 and a signal decoder 4. The signal decoder comprises a conventional cellular modem-radio and protocol stack. The protocol stack has been adapted to handle additional commands relating to mode control. No changes are required to the radio. Commands received by the protocol stack relating to mode control are passed to a mode controller 6. This mode controller is also responsive to user inputs from a keypad provided on the device. When a mode control signal is received from the decoder 4 the so mode controller determines whether or not it is being instructed to change the operating mode of the mobile communication device. If it is, the mode controller implements the appropriate changes, such as switching from general mode to silent mode. In doing this, it sends data relating to an existing user selected mode to a mode memory 8. This stores the user selected mode until such time as the decoder 4 sends a further mode control signal to the mode controller instructing it to use the user selected mode. There are two ways of generating a mode So control signal within a cellular system. The preferred method is to add a field to the broadcast channel to contain the mode control signal. This can then be simply implemented at the network without using any specific messaging. It does not have any significant effect on as network loading and if it is added then it can be added to all cells, hence enabling other cells to send a signal instructing the device to revert to user selected mode.

Of course the mode control could also be affected by individuals signalling to each handset known to be in the area, but this is clearly less efficient.

In order to ensure that only devices within a predetermined area such as a theatre or a cinema are responsive to the mode control signals, a small low power transmission and reception cell is established covering lo only the area in question. Mobile devices within that cell will then be responsive to mode control signals broadcast by that cell. In e.g. a cinema or theatre the selected mode would be silent. In a hospital the mode needs to be selected to Doffs or "no transmission", if that mode is supported by the handset. No calls can be made or received in this state but network signals can continue to be received so that the device will be aware when it is in a position when it can switch back to user selected mode.

so This solution is particularly useful in the aircraft scenario since an aircraft is a metal cylinder and it is therefore very easy to provide a very low power cell on board which is much stronger than any other cells the handset can receive as a result of the shielding provided by the aircraft body.

A second embodiment is shown in fig. 2. At the mobile device a position detector 10 which may be GPS position detector is provided. A position signal provided by the position detector 10 is then provided to the mode so controller 6. A message sent over the network advises the mode controller 6 of locations within each cell where mobile devices should be caused to change to a different operation. Thus, each time the device enters a new cell this information can be provided by the network and stored - 5 - in the mode controller. Then, when the mobile moves to a position where the mode has to be changed the mode controller automatically implements this. Again, the user selected mode is stored in mode memory 8. Clearly the same principle could be applied to other locations determining existence. For those that operate entirely within the handset, the GPS module can be directly replaced. For location systems where the calculation is performed in the network there are two options. Firstly, lo the calculated location could be notified to the handset by signalling in the normal way and the handset would then decide whether to change modes in the same way as was indicated for the internal GPS module. Alternatively the decision to change mode could be made within the network and just the outcome of the decision notified.

Fig. 3 shows a further embodiment in which the mobile device also has either a Wi-Fi or a bluetooth receiver. A Wi-Fi or bluetooth decoder 12 receives data including a mode control signal which it supplies to the mode controller 6 which uses it in a manner corresponding to that in fig. 1.

Both bluetooth and wireless networks are low power short range radio technologies and as such are ideally suited to exerting control over a small area. They can be used to send explicit commands to each handset or can be implemented using a broadcast type system.

Finally, existing handsets need to be considered. These can only be accommodated under a message based version of the system. If the handset does not include the necessary So modification to respond automatically to mode control signals then an SMS signal has to be sent to the user to ask them to change the mode manually. So that the network knows which handsets to message a small change is needed - 6 - to the network sign on procedure. When a handset first connects to a network it sends a great deal of information regarding its capabilities. It is necessary to add a field to this information indicating support of automatic mode control and which modes are supported. If the field is not present in the sign on information from the given mobile or the required mode is indicated as not supportive then the network knows it must message that handset individually to effect mode change. This is of course is lo far from ideal as the user may simply choose to ignore the message.

All of the embodiments disclosed above can be modified further by making the mode change time dependent. For example, in a cinema the mode control may only be is implemented when the film starts and reverting to the user selected mode when the film finishes. This requires coordination between the controlling mechanism of the film and the operation of the mechanism used to select modes at the handset. - 7 -

Claims

Claims 1. A portable communication device having a plurality of different

operational modes and responsive to external mode control signals to switch between operational modes.
2. A portable communication device according to claim 1 in which the external mode control signal is a signal transmitted on a cell in a cellular communication system.

lo
3. A portable communication device according to claim 1 or 2 including means to store data relating to a user selected mode and means to switch operational mode to the user selected mode in response to the external mode control signal
4. A portable communication device according to claims 1, 2 or 3 in which the device includes means for determining the position of the device and the external mode control signal includes position data and switching between operational modes is dependent on the position of the device and the position data in the external mode control signal.
5. A portable communication device according to any preceding claim in which the device includes a Bluetooth receiver/transmitter and a local Bluetooth transmitter sends the external mode control signal.
6. A portable communication device according to any of claims 1 to 4 in which the device includes a WI-FI receiver/transmitter and a local WI-FI transmitter sends the external mode control signal. - 8
7. A portable communication device substantially as herein described with reference to any one of figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings.