JP2003525540A - System and method for changing the function of an electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] A system for changing the functionality of an electronic device 10 including a first mechanism for WWing hardware modules 12, 14, 16 capable of spatially separating different functional blocks of the electronic device. . The second mechanism interfaces with the hardware modules via spatially reconfigurable communication links 38,40. In certain embodiments, the spatially reconfigurable communication link is an infrared or optical link. The system of the present invention applies to the configuration of an integrated device 10 having a wireless transceiver 34 and a first circuit 16 for a user interface that receives input signals and generates output signals. The second circuit 18 processes the input signal and provides an output signal to the first circuit. The third circuit sets up local wireless communication between the first circuit and the second circuit. In the embodiment shown, the first circuit receives an audio input signal and the second circuit processes the audio input signal. The first circuit includes a speaker for outputting an audio signal, and the fourth circuit provides an optical user interface. The third circuit sets up local wireless communication between the first, second, third and / or fourth circuits. The second circuit includes mechanisms for performing call processing and diagnostic services 34, 28, and the third circuit includes a point-to-point local transfer system such as Bluetooth.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to wireless communication systems. In particular, the invention relates to devices such as wireless telephone devices having separable functional components.

[0002]

[Prior art]

Portable electronic devices are in widespread use in a variety of applications, including wireless communication by laptop or palmtop computers and wireless telephone devices. Such applications require user-friendly devices that provide the user with flexible features.

Different users often use the device for different applications. For example, a user using a laptop computer with a wireless card and antenna receives stock market quotes from the quote service. Another user may access the internet through an internet service provider. As a result, the device must provide flexible functionality.

Flexible functionality is typically provided by software installed on a computer within the device. For example, a laptop computer can operate software ranging from image editing to software calculation. The wireless telephone device may include special address books and phone book software. While the ability of such devices to run various software programs provides improved flexibility and functionality, unfortunately such devices often lack the flexible hardware functionality.

Hardware functionality, such as wireless data reception and user interface features, is typically configured with permanently fixed hardware or circuitry, resulting in a relatively inflexible hardware configuration. is there. Hardware is usually not easily modified or adjusted to meet the needs of different applications. The lack of hardware flexibility often results in inefficient devices. For example, a laptop computer with a wireless card and antenna can be used for communication over the Internet. However, the antenna is usually in close proximity to the computer, resulting in interference between the signal transmitted by the antenna and the digital signal and noise generated within the computer. Such interference reduces system performance. Fixed wireless cards and antennas limit the user's ability to adjust, either by using different hardware settings for the antenna or by separating the antenna from the computer.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

In automotive applications, it is difficult to read the displayed information because the vehicle driver must keep their line of sight on the road. The inflexibility of the hardware limits the ability to change the telephone user interface to, for example, a heads-up display provided in an automobile.

Accordingly, there is a technical need for systems and methods that provide improved functionality for portable electronic devices. Further, there is a need for a system that provides an improved user interface and improves the flexibility of wireless communication hardware.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

This technical need is solved by a system that modifies the functionality of the electronic device of the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, the system of the present invention is configured for use by a wireless telephone and comprises a first mechanism for separating different functional blocks of a communication device into spatially separable hardware modules. . The second mechanism interfaces with the hardware module via a spatially reconfigurable communication link. In a particular embodiment, the spatially reconfigurable communication link is an infrared link or an optical link.

The system of the present invention is applied to the configuration of an integrated circuit device having a first circuit that provides a user interface for receiving an input signal. The first circuit also provides an output signal via the user interface. The second circuit processes the input signal and provides the output signal to the first circuit. The third circuit sets up local wireless communication between the first circuit and the second circuit. A wireless transceiver connected to the second circuit facilitates wireless transfer of input and output signals to and from various wireless communication systems providing a variety of services.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first circuit receives an audio input signal and the second circuit processes the audio input signal. The first circuit comprises a speaker for outputting an audio signal and comprises a fourth circuit for providing an optical user interface, for example a head-up display of a motor vehicle.

The third circuit sets up local wireless communication between the first, second, third and / or fourth circuits. The second circuit contains the mechanism for performing call processing and diagnostic services. The third circuit includes a point-to-point local transfer system such as Bluetooth.

The superior design of the present invention is obtained by a second mechanism configured in a third circuit that interfaces hardware modules of various devices via a spatially reconfigurable communication link. This facilitates modification of the hardware functionality of electronic devices and significantly increases the flexibility of such devices. This improves the interchangeability between the various functional blocks of the electronic communication device and allows the customer to order various compatible functional modules from different manufacturers and combine them into one integrated circuit device. Such increase manufacturing flexibility.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Although the present invention will be described with reference to exemplary embodiments for particular and specific applications,
It should be understood that the present invention is not so limited. Those skilled in the art will recognize, by accessing the description provided herein, additional variations, applications and embodiments within the scope and additional areas in which the present invention may be effectively utilized.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a portable communication device 10 of the present invention.
For clarity, various components such as amplifiers, filters, automatic gain control circuits, mixers and other circuits have been omitted in FIG. However, one of ordinary skill in the art, without undue experimentation or departing from the scope of the invention,
You will be aware of where and how the additional components are constructed.

The device 10 includes a wireless device 12 having a remote user interface 14 and a remote audio interface 16. The wireless device 12 includes a local telephone infrared (IR) module 18 connected to a telephone computer 20. Telephone computer 20 is a CDMA (code division multiple access) transceiver for making wireless calls through a wireless CDMA communication system and associated service provider (not shown).
Connected to 34.

The computer has data transfer and over-the-air (OTA) services 22, call management services 24, voice encoding and decoding services 26, and diagnostic services.
Run software to perform various functions, including 28. The diagnostic service 28 includes software for making Markov calls by the wireless telephone device 12 and for performing other telephone and communication system tests. Call management services 24 include address and phone book software. Data transfer and OTA services 22 include browsers and Internet access software such as dialup software. The various services 22, 24, 26, 28 can be easily implemented in software by those skilled in the art.

The remote user interface 14 includes a local IR module 30. The remote user interface 14 is configured as a vehicle heads-up display in the particular embodiment of this specification.

The remote audio interface 16 includes a local audio IR module 32. Remote audio interface 16 includes a microphone and car stereo in the particular embodiment shown here.

The wireless device 12 can be adapted from existing wireless telephone devices by the addition of appropriate IR interface software implemented in the local telephone IR module 18 and computer 20, which interface software is application specific. , Can be designed and developed by those skilled in the art to meet the needs of a given application.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that CDMA transceiver 34 may be replaced by another type of transceiver, such as an analog advanced mobile phone system (AMPS) transceiver without departing from the scope of the invention. Will be done.

In operation, telephone computer 20 operates software to perform data transfer and OTA services 22, call management services 24, voice encoding and decoding services 26, and diagnostic services 28. The person skilled in the art is
It will be appreciated that some of 26, 28 may be omitted and replaced by other services, or other services may be added without departing from the scope of the present invention. The telephone computer 20 may run an operating system such as Windows CE® to facilitate software management.

Software running on the telephone computer 20 communicates with the user of the device 10 via a wireless service provider (not shown) that provides data and OTA services 22 using a CDMA transceiver 34 and associated antenna 36. . An external computer (not shown) may be plugged into the wireless telephone device 12 via a data interface adapter (not shown) to facilitate the telephone diagnostic test.

Required software implemented in internal hardware of telephone computer 20 and CDMA transceiver 34 to perform services 22, 24, 26, 28 via a conventional user interface and audio interface (not shown). Routines are known in the art. The device 10 of the present invention provides services 22, 24, via the remote user interface 14 and remote audio interface 16 of the present invention
Use additional software to implement 26, 28.

This additional software runs on the telephone computer 20 and facilitates data flow between the interfaces 14 and 16 by the local IR modules 18, 30, 32. Each local IR module 18, 30, 32 includes an IR transceiver and driver, as described in detail below, and includes a first IR link 38 between the local telephone IR module 18 and the local interface IR module 30, and a local telephone. Data is transferred by a second IR link 40 between the IR module 18 and the local audio IR module 32.

The user also uses the device 10 for a heads-up display of incoming and / or outgoing call information for automatic wireless access to map services, etc. of a vehicle through the wireless telephone device 12. You may. Access is provided by link 38 between radiotelephone device 12 and one or more additional devices such as interface devices 14 and 16.
And by the local radio channel represented by 40.

Without deviating from the scope of the present invention, data links other than infrared, such as fiber optic links or other types of radio frequency links, may be wireless telephone devices 12
And may be used to transfer data between user interface devices 14 and 16.

When a user of the wireless telephone device 12 enters a vehicle with user interfaces 14, 16 and activates the wireless telephone device 12, the wireless telephone device 12 uses the vehicle's head-up display as the screen of the telephone device 12. Then, the car stereo and the microphone 16 are used as the speaker and the microphone of the telephone device.

The heads-up display 14 can display information related to calls made by the wireless telephone device 12 and other software running on the telephone computer 20. The use of the car head-up display 14
Helps the user of device 10 to keep their eyes on the road. The head-up display 14 of a car is also a large, easy-to-read display as compared to a conventional fixed telephone display.

The portable electronic communication device 10 adds a local telephone IR module 18, additional telephone interface software to the telephone computer 20, and a local IR module 30 to the vehicle heads-up display 14 and the car stereo and microphone 16. By installing 32 and 32, it can be configured from a normal wireless telephone device. User interfaces 14 and 16 may require additional application-specific hardware or software to effectively use IR links 38 and 40 for communication between devices. Links 38 and 40 can be configured by a local point-to-point transfer system such as Blue Tooth.

The present invention enables the development of various small wireless modules, handsets or similar devices that can communicate to other remote devices via a local point-to-point radio frequency (RF) link. Such a device, which can be configured as a small modem, PCMCIA, compact name flash card, etc., can directly interface with one or more remotely connected devices, which provides another user for the device.

The present invention provides a keypad by connecting the devices by a point-to-point RF link,
It makes it possible to develop very compact radiotelephone devices with traditional input / output elements such as screens, speakers and microphones.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of the link 40 that interfaces between the modules 16 and 12 of the portable electronic communication device 10 of FIG. The remote audio interface 16 includes a car stereo 50 and a microphone 52, both connected to a microchip 54, which executes IR interface software. The microchip 54 is connected to the local IR module 30. Local IR module 30 includes an IR driver 56 connected to a microchip 54. The IR driver 56 is connected to an IR transceiver 58, which is connected by a data link 40 to the local telephone IR module 32 of the radio telephone device 12.
To transmit and receive IR signals to and from the IR transceiver 60 included in the. The local telephone IR module 32 includes a telephone IR driver 62, which is connected to the telephone computer 20 executing additional interface software similar to that executed by the microchip 54 of the remote audio interface 16.

In operation, the user audio interface functionality required by the software running on the telephone computer 20 or other telephone hardware is performed via the remote audio interface device 16. For example, during a telephone conversation, user input voice data from a microphone is provided to the microchip 54 and processed for transmission by the wireless IR link 40 to the wireless telephone device 12.
The wireless telephone device 12 receives voice data via the local telephone IR module 32,
Subsequently, the voice data is processed to obtain the CDMA transceiver 34 and antenna of FIG.
Processed by the telephone computer 20 and / or other hardware (not shown) for wireless transmission by 36.

Similarly, the antenna 36 and transceiver 34 of FIG. 1 may receive voice data from other parties, which may be IR linked via the local telephone IR module 32.
Processed by telephone computer 20 and / or other hardware (not shown) for transmission by 40. The local audio IR module 30 in the remote audio interface 16 receives the audio data and transfers it to the microchip 54, where it is processed by the stereo speaker 50 to produce an acoustic output.

The IR interface software operating on the microchip 54 is I
The R-link 40 facilitates the use of the microphone 52 and the stereo 50 as input and output devices by the wireless telephone device 12.

The use of the interface software running on the IR modules 30 and 32 and the associated microchip 54 and telephone computer 20 allows the different functional blocks of the wireless telephone device 12, such as the user interface 16, to operate separately. To enable. This improves the hardware functionality by increasing the user's ability to operate the modules 14, 16 of FIG. 1, facilitating their replacement with other modules, IR modules and suitable interface software. Is adapted for use according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the portable electronic communication device of the present invention using a wireless link 74 to an external IR / optical transceiver 76. The external IR / optical transceiver 76 is connected to a wireless telephone device 78 by a fiber optic cable 80.

Laptop computer 72 includes a laptop IR transceiver and interface card 82, the construction of which is well known in the art and wireless link 74.
Allows the IR between the laptop computer 72 and the external IR / optical transceiver 76.
Transfer the signal. External IR / optical transceiver 76 transmits signals received from laptop computer 72 by wireless link 74 to wireless telephone device 78. The wireless telephone device 78 includes an optical interface adapter, as described in detail below,
Facilitates communication with the laptop computer 72 via an external IR / optical transceiver 76.

The software running on the laptop computer 72 uses the wireless telephony device 78 over the wireless link 74 as an external IR / optical transceiver 76, fiber optic cable 80 and associated interface as a wireless modem. The required software can be easily configured by those skilled in the art.

The various interface components 82, 76, 80 allow the wireless telephone device 78 to be operated remotely from the computer 72, which computer 72 is used by the wireless telephone device 78 to transmit and receive wireless signals. It is a source of unwanted noise that occupies a frequency band. As a result, unwanted interference is limited and the performance of wireless telephone device 78 is improved. The external IR / optical transceiver 76 increases the flexibility of the hardware.

With the advent of digital telephones, the use of computers by wireless telephones became possible,
It allows remote access to standard services available via telephone lines. The present invention facilitates the use of wireless data links, which allows the wireless telephone and the computer to be used separately. This has the advantage that the telephone and associated transceiver can be located remotely from the computer. This reduces interference with computer generated transceiver signals.

The present invention contemplates modularizing the telephone device into functional blocks that are grouped by usage model for the telephone. For example, in a configuration of the invention, the wireless telephone device maintains wireless interference between the telephone transceiver and the associated acoustic device, as described in detail below. The transceiver may be attached to the user's belt, or may be a purse strap, glasses (described in detail below), a pen,
It may be a familiar item such as another device. The user is somewhat relieved of the hassle of using a wireless telephone.

The device 70 of FIG. 3 provides another example, which includes a semi-static IR / optical transceiver 76, which is connected to a remotely connected device such as a laptop computer 72 by a wireless link 74. connect.

The present invention can also be used to develop devices with functional blocks grouped according to power requirements, such as grouped batteries and transmit antennas. The receiver and associated antenna, which requires only low power, can be located elsewhere. This allows the development of remote power sources.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the fiber optic interface between the wireless telephone device 78 and the external IR / optical transceiver 76 of the device of FIG. The interface is from left to right,
It includes an IR transceiver 90 and associated IR driver (not shown), a transceiver fiber optic data interface adapter 92, a fiber optic cable 80, a telephone data interface adapter 94, and a cellular telephone device 78.

The transceiver fiber optic data interface adapter 92, from left to right,
It includes an RS-232 to TTL (Transistor Transistor Logic) driver 96. The driver 96 includes a TTL to RS-232 driver (not shown). The TTL driver 96 is connected to a first photodetector 98 and a first optical transmitter 100 in parallel.

The fiber optic cable 80 connects the first photodetector 98 to the second phototransmitter 102 and the first phototransmitter 100 to the second photodetector 104, and these 2 photo detectors
Both 104 and optical transmitter 102 are located in optical data interface adapter 94. The second photodetector 104 and the second phototransmitter 102 are connected to the cellular telephone device 78 by a standard connection system.

In this particular embodiment, fiber optic cable 80 is a duplex plastic fiber optic cable. RS-232 to TTL driver 96 and first
The interface between the photodetector 98 and the first optical transmitter 100 is a standard interface known in the art. Driver from RS-232 to TTL
96 is a product number ADM202EARW, dual R manufactured by Analog Devices, Inc.
It is an S-232 driver / receiver. Photodetectors 98 and 104 are Siemens SFH55
1 / 1-V-1 Plastic optical fiber integrated photodetector. Optical transmitters 100 and 10
2 is a Siemens SFH96V plastic optical transmission diode. Duplex plastic optical fiber cable 80 is Mitsubishi EHV4002 1000 micron 2 plastic optical fiber cable.

In operation, the TTL data directed from the IR transceiver 90 to the cellular telephone 78 is transferred to the standard bus driver RS-232 to TTL driver 96. The TTL data is formatted for RS-232 serial transmission and transferred to the first optical transmitter 100. The first optical transmitter 100 converts the electrical serial data into optical serial data, which is sent by the fiber optic cable 80 to the second photodetector 104 where it is converted back to the original electrical signal. It is then transferred to the cellular telephone device 78. The cellular telephone device 78 then processes the electrical serial data by circuitry such as a baseband processor (not shown) in a baseband chip (not shown).

Similarly, the serial data transferred from the cellular telephone device 78 to the IR transceiver 90 is guided to the second optical transmitter 102 where it is converted into optical serial data, and the first optical detection is performed by the optical fiber cable 80. To the instrument 98 where it is detected and converted to electrical serial data. The electrical serial data is transferred to the RS-232 to TTL driver 96 where it is converted to TTL format. The TTL data is then transferred to IR transceiver 90 for further processing.

The RS-232 to TTL driver 96 can be replaced with other types of drivers without departing from the scope of the invention. Also, the RS-232 to TTL driver 96 location may be changed to the cellular telephone optical data interface adapter 94. Still other additional drives may be included in interface adapters 92 and 94 and / or IR transceivers without departing from the scope of the present invention.
90 or contained within the cellular telephone device 78.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of a portable electronic communication device 110 of the present invention, which uses acoustic sections 112 that are separately modularized on spectacles 114. Acoustic section 112 includes microphone 116 and speaker 118, and speaker 118
Is connected to an acoustic interface attachment configured as a small chip as described in detail below. Special wireless telephone device 120 is IR adapter 12
Includes 2.

In operation, the wireless telephone device 120 uses the acoustic section 112 on the spectacles 114 to perform acoustic user interface functions. The microphone 116 and speaker 118 are replaced with a conventional spatially fixed microphone and speaker (not shown). The required information and control signals are transferred between the acoustic section 112 and the wireless telephone device 120 by wireless infrared electromagnetic energy.

FIG. 6 is a detailed diagram of the necessary interface circuitry 130 used by the portable electronic communication device 110 of FIG. The acoustic section 112 includes a microphone 116 and a speaker 118 connected to a communication circuit 132. Communication circuit 132 is the first IR adapter
It is connected to the first IR interface card 136 of 134. The first IR interface card 136 is connected to the first IR transceiver 138. The first IR transceiver 138 is connected to the second I / O of the wireless telephone device 120 via the IR link 74.
It is connected to the R adapter 122. The second IR adapter 122 is a telephone computer
It is connected to 20, which communicates with an additional user interface 144 and a CDMA transceiver 34.

In operation, acoustic information is input to the communication circuit 132 from the microphone 116.
The acoustic information is transferred to the telephone computer 20 via IR adapters 134 and 122, where it is processed as a software voice command or processed via CDMA transceiver 34 and antenna 36 for transmission to an external party.

Similarly, computer 20 processes voice and other signals received by CDMA transceiver 34. Subsequently, the acoustic signal is transferred to the speaker 114 to output a voice or other acoustic signal.

The configuration of communication circuits such as communication circuit 132 and IR adapters 134 and 122 are well known in the art.

The present invention has been described above with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art can recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments by accessing this teaching without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Accordingly, such applications, variations, and embodiments are intended to be within the scope of the present invention and protected by the following claims.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]   1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a portable electronic communication device of the present invention. FIG.

2 is a more detailed block diagram of the interfaces between the modules of the portable electronic communication device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of a portable electronic communication device of the present invention that uses a wireless interface to a wireless telephone.

4 is a more detailed block diagram of a fiber optic interface between a wireless telephone and an external IR / optical transceiver of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a third embodiment of the portable electronic communication device of the present invention using a separable, modularized acoustic section.

6 is a more detailed block diagram showing the necessary interface circuits used by the portable electronic communication device of FIG.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE, TR), OA (BF , BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, G M, KE, LS, MW, MZ, SD, SL, SZ, TZ , UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AG, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, B Z, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK , DM, DZ, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS, J P, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR , LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, MZ, NO, NZ, PL, PT, R O, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ , TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW (72) Inventor Wallace, Raymond Sea             California, United States             92103 San Diego, Lark Sutri             4040 F term (reference) 5K027 AA11 HH26                 5K067 AA41 BB04 EE02 EE37 KK17                 5K102 AA11 AB09 AB15 AL23 [Continued summary] Point-to-point local transfer system It

Claims (28)

[Claims] 1. A first means for separating different functional blocks of a communication device into a spatially separable hardware module, and a first interface for interfacing with said hardware module via a spatially reconfigurable communication link. A system for changing the function of an electronic device including the means of 2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the spatially reconfigurable communication link is an infrared link. 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the spatially reconfigurable communication link is an optical link. 4. The system of claim 3, wherein the optical links are constituted by fiber optic cables. 5. A user interface unit for receiving an input signal and outputting an output signal, a unit for processing the input signal and outputting the output signal to the user interface unit, and the user interface unit. Integrated circuit device comprising means for setting up local wireless communication with the means for processing the input signal. 6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a wireless transceiver in communication with the means for processing the input signal. 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the user interface means includes first means for receiving a voice input signal. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the means for processing the input signal comprises second means for processing the audio input signal. 9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein said user interface means includes third means for outputting an audio signal. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the user interface means further comprises fourth means for providing an optical user interface. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the optical user interface means is a head-up display of an automobile. 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the local wireless communication setting means performs communication among the first, second, third, and / or fourth means. 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the means for processing the input signal includes means for providing call processing services. 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the means for processing the input signal further comprises means for performing diagnostic services. 15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the means for performing the call processing service and the means for performing the diagnostic service include software operating in the processing means. 16. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said local wireless communication setting means includes a point-to-point local transfer system. 17. The electric device according to claim 16, wherein the point-to-point local transfer system is Bluetooth. 18. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the local wireless communication is radio frequency communication. 19. A wireless modem, a local point-to-point radio frequency transfer system, one or more user interfaces interfaced via the local point-to-point radio frequency transfer system, and a diagnostic or audio interface. An integrated circuit device that uses a modem and wireless services provided by a service provider. 20. At an interface to different functional blocks of a portable electronic device, a first means for receiving and transmitting signals, and a signal by wireless or optical link between said first and second means. Second means for receiving and transmitting, a third means for performing the first function of the portable electronic device, a fourth means for performing the second function of the portable electronic device, and the first For communicating between the third means and the fourth means by interfacing the means of the third means with the third means and the second means with the fourth means. An interface having a fifth means for causing the interface. 21. In a modularized portable electronic device, a first hardware module for performing a first function and a second function configured to use the first function. A second hardware module for performing, and electrically communicating with the first hardware module for transmitting and receiving a first signal of a first predetermined frequency, the first hardware A first transceiver for transferring a second signal to and from a module based on the first signal; and a first transceiver at a first predetermined frequency in electrical communication with the second hardware module. 1 signal is transmitted and received between the first transceiver and the second transceiver by a wireless or optical interface, and the second transceiver and the second hardware And has a portable electronic device and a second transceiver for transferring the third signal based on said first signal with the module. 22. The device of claim 21, wherein the first predetermined frequency is an infrared frequency. 23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first hardware module is a laptop computer. 24. The device of claim 23, wherein the second hardware module is a wireless telephone device. 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the second hardware module comprises an antenna and a wireless card for wireless communication with the first hardware module. 26. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the first hardware module comprises a computer. 27. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein the second hardware module includes a user interface. 28. A method of modularizing the functions of an electronic device, wherein different functional blocks of a communication device are separated into spatially separable hardware modules, and the hardware modules are spatially reconfigurable communication. A method of modularizing the functionality of an electronic device including the step of interfacing with a link.