KR100687507B1 - Apparatus and method for duplicating user input into a wireless communication device via command shortcuts - Google Patents

Abstract

The wireless communication device 101 is provided with a keypad 134 that allows a user to enter data such as alphanumeric sequences, timing and delay information associated with the destination. Data storage device 118 communicatively connected to keypad 134 stores information entered by the user. Processors 112 and 114 are communicatively connected to keypad 134 and data storage 118. In operation, the user enters information for storage in the data storage device 118 using the keypad 134. When dialing the destination, the user again uses the keypad 134 to select the information stored at a predetermined addressable memory location 120 in the data storage device 118. Processors 112 and 114 retrieve the selected information in response to a command from the user and transmit the retrieved information from wireless communication device 101 to the destination.

Wireless communication device, command shortcut key, keypad

Description

Apparatus and method for copying user input to a wireless communication device by a command shortcut {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DUPLICATING USER INPUT INTO A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICE VIA COMMAND SHORTCUTS}

Field of invention

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention generally relates to wireless communication devices, and more particularly, to apparatus and methods for copying user input to wireless communication devices by command shortcuts.

Background of the Invention

Wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones are quite popular. Wireless communication devices allow users to make and receive calls from virtually any location. Cellular telephones generally have many of the features currently found in conventional land-line telephones, but often require additional features and functionality to facilitate the use of cellular telephones.

As users of cellular phones usually use them while they are in a moving car or in an inconvenient place (such as walking in India or sitting in a restaurant), as a consideration of safety, practicality and courtesy, It is required to dial as much as possible the dialing of the destination phone number with the cellular telephone's keypad and to enter other information. For example, if a user is driving a car, it is very dangerous to dial the destination telephone number and pay attention to traffic at the same time.

To help address these safety concerns and provide additional convenience, many existing land-line and cellular telephones often include a feature called "speed-dialing". Speed-dialing involves storing a destination phone number that is preferred or frequently dialed in the phone's memory. When calling such a destination phone number, the user only needs to press one or two keys on the keypad to retrieve the stored destination phone number and automatically dial the destination phone number. Thus, the user is provided with a command shortcut that does not require entry of a long sequence of numbers making up a telephone number.

While speed-dialing provides some convenience for traditional land-line and cellular phones, speed-dialing is not possible for more extensive programming. Thus, it can be seen that the demand for programming performance of the wireless communication device is considerable. The present invention provides several advantages that are apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

Summary of the Invention

The present invention provides a wireless communication device having a keypad that allows a user to enter information including a destination telephone number and additional data. The data storage device is communicatively connected to the keypad and stores information entered by the user. A processor communicatively connected to the keypad and the data storage device retrieves information from the data storage device and transmits the retrieved information from the wireless communication device in response to a command from a user entered through the keypad. In one embodiment, the information stored in the data storage device comprises an alphanumeric sequence. In another embodiment, this information includes timing information in addition to the alphanumeric sequence.

Yet another embodiment provides a data storage device having a plurality of addressable memory locations. The addressable memory location has information stored there that can be individually identified by the corresponding keypad combination. The keypad is configured to allow a user to retrieve selection information from one of the addressable memory locations by entering a keypad combination to trigger the processor.

In another embodiment of the invention, the wireless communication device further comprises a display. The display displays a menu representing the information stored in the data storage device to allow the user to view this information. In yet another embodiment, the processor first establishes a wireless communication link to the destination individually by transmitting a destination telephone number and then triggers the transmission of additional data.

The present invention also provides a method of operating a wireless communication device. The method comprises storing information comprising a destination telephone number and additional data in an addressable memory location of a data storage device, assigning individual keypad combinations to corresponding addressable memory locations, one addressing Retrieving information at one of the addressable memory locations by entering a keypad combination corresponding to the possible memory location, and transmitting the retrieved information from the wireless communication device to a wireless communication link with a destination communication device associated with the destination telephone number. Establishing a step.

In addition, the method may further comprise displaying a menu representing information stored in the addressable memory location. Another embodiment includes using a keypad to enter a keypad combination that stores information in and retrieves the stored information at an addressable memory location. In another embodiment, the method further includes transmitting the information to the destination as a partial sequence of information and waiting for an acknowledgment from the destination before transmitting the subsequent portion of the information.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide an apparatus and method for transmitting information stored in a data storage device as part of an ongoing wireless communication link after establishing a wireless communication link.

Brief description of the drawings

1 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a wireless communication device of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the wireless communication device of FIG. 1.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiment

Embodiments of the present invention allow a user to program a wireless communication device with various alphanumeric data and other information, thereby substantially eliminating the need to manually enter a long sequence of information through the keypad of the wireless communication device each time a call is made. To remove it. That is, with existing land-line and cellular telephones, dialing of an overseas telephone number, access to a voice mail system, or access to various account information is often a number or other alphanumeric character once the connection with the destination telephone number is established. Requires long and complex sequences. For example, to access and use a voice mail system remotely, a user first dials the phone number of the voice mail system and then a series of password and alphanumeric commands to retrieve, listen to, store, or delete the voice mail message. You need to enter Embodiments of the invention described herein greatly simplify this type of telephone call.

The invention is implemented in the system 100 shown in the functional block diagram of FIG. System 100 may be included in wireless communication device 101 and implemented in a cellular telephone. The system 100 includes a housing that houses a transmitter 104 and a receiver 106 that enable the transmission and reception of data, such as voice communications, between the system 100 and a remote site, such as a cell site controller (not shown). 102 is provided. The transmitter 104 and receiver 106 may integrate into the transceiver 108. Antenna 110 is attached to housing 102 and electrically connected to transceiver 108. The operation of transmitter 104, receiver 106, and antenna 110 are well known and are not described herein. Although described herein as a cellular telephone, the principles of the present invention can be applied to various wireless communication apparatuses including, but not limited to, cellular / PCS, wireless telephones, existing radios, and the like. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any particular type of wireless communication device.

The wireless communication device 101 also includes a central processing unit (CPU) 112 that controls the operation of the system 100. The CPU 112 may perform all or only some of the tasks related to the operation of the system 100, in which case the remaining tasks are delegated to other processing devices included in the system 100. For example, the wireless communication device 101 can include, in addition to the CPU 112, a call processor 114 (call processor) for controlling the processing of outgoing and incoming calls. The call processor 114 may be located within the system 100 or may be remotely remote, such as a cell site (not shown). Call processor 114 may be a combination of hardware and software, and in some cases may be integrated with or as part of CPU 112. Hereinafter, specific functions of the call processor 114 will be described in detail. Here, for the sake of simplicity, it can be seen that the call processor 114 and the CPU 112 are used interchangeably and any one or both of these components can perform the various functions described herein. .

Wireless communication device 101 further includes a computer-readable medium, such as memory 116, that can include both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM). Part of the memory 116 may also include a nonvolatile RAM for storing information that should be present at the time the wireless communication device 101 is powered up. The memory 116 is generally used to store instructions and data for processing by the CPU 112 or the call processor 114, including the address of the information stored in the data storage device 118. The data storage device 118 is another memory in the wireless communication device 101 that stores, for example, user-entered alphanumeric sequences, timing and delay information. Although FIG. 1 shows that data storage 118 is separate from memory 116, those skilled in the art will appreciate that data storage 118 may be part of memory 116.

In addition, the data storage device 118 has a number (m) of addressable memory locations where user-input information can be stored and accessed by the CPU 112 or other processing unit, such as the call processor 114. And may be divided into 120. As described below, each addressable memory location 120 is stored with separate user-entered information and a corresponding keypad combination is assigned to allow a user to identify a particular addressable memory location 120, Allows you to retrieve and store the information stored there.

The wireless communication device 101 also includes a voice input device such as a microphone 122 and a voice output device such as a speaker 124. The microphone 122 and the speaker 124 operate in a conventional manner to provide two-way voice communication using the wireless communication device 101. The speaker 124 is driven by the drive signal generated by the output driver 126. The drive signal provided by the output driver 126 is converted into an audible signal by the speaker 124 to transmit the caller's voice to the user, or when an incoming call is being received by the user and an outgoing call ( Create an audible cue and alert to notify you when an outgoing call is taking place. Examples of audible queues and alarms that may be made by the output driver 126 and the speaker 124 include a ring to alert the user to an incoming call, a key to indicate when a key on the wireless communication device is pressed. Key beep, and a series of beeps that indicate when an alphanumeric sequence (eg, destination telephone number) is being automatically transmitted from the wireless communication device.

The timer circuit 128 operating by the timing software enables the user to program the wireless communication device 101 with timing and delay information. One function of the timer circuit 128 may be to assist in recording the timing and delay information input by the user. Another function of the timer circuit 128 may be to control the timing of data transmission from the transceiver 108 using timing and delay information. This transmission is described later.

The wireless communication device 101 also includes a display 130 for conveniently displaying the operation setting of the wireless communication device 101 as well as user-input data such as a destination telephone number and alphanumeric text. Such information may appear in menu 132 on display 130. In addition, as will be described in detail below, the menu 132 informs the user when information stored in the data storage device 118 has been retrieved and transmitted, or the user, together with a corresponding keypad combination, 118) may provide a list of information stored.

The keypad 134 is attached to the housing 102 for operation by a user who inputs information and commands to the wireless communication device 101. Keypad 134 provides a convenient input device that allows a user to enter and retrieve a destination phone number, command, and alphanumeric information. In an exemplary embodiment, the keypad 134 is used to input, record, store, and select alphanumeric sequences, timing and delay information, and other information to and from the data storage device 118. do.

The various components of the system 100 are connected together by the bus system 136 of the wireless communication device 101, which may include a power bus, a control bus, and a status signal bus in addition to the data bus. However, in FIG. 1, for the sake of clarity, these various buses are represented by the bus system 136.

2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the wireless communication apparatus 101 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Beginning at step 140, the user presses one or more keys on the keypad 134 of the wireless communication device 101 to enter the “RECORD” mode. The key (s) pressed during step 140 triggers the CPU 112 to store the memory 116 or data storage device 118 for storing the identity and timing of the keys on the keypad 134 that are subsequently pressed. To RECORD mode.

Next, in step 142, the user enters alphanumeric sequence, timing, and delay information using keypad 134. In step 142, the data entered by the user can be any combination and length of alphanumeric sequence, timing, and delay data. For example, the alphanumeric sequence can be a local destination phone number, a destination phone number with an extension number, or an international phone number. Longer alphanumeric sequences may include phone numbers with additional alphanumeric sequences corresponding to menu selections, account information, identification information, social security numbers, and the like. For example, if you want to program the wireless communication device 101 to allow a user to check voice mail, the alphanumeric sequence entered in step 142 is the telephone number of the voice mail system, the user's password, and (new voice mail). Menu selection of the voice mail system, such as the number "1" for checking a message, the number "2" for reviewing an existing voice mail message, the number "3" for deleting a voice mail message, and the like.

Another example of an alphanumeric sequence that can be recorded in step 142 is the information used for a long distance calling card. The user can access the calling card's access phone number, PIN (Personal Identification Number), account information indicated on the calling card, destination phone number, and (e.g., a recording system that is played after accessing the access phone number). Press 1 for more information. " Thus, the recording of the alphanumeric information and sequence in step 142 eliminates the need to manually enter all of the calling card information repeatedly each time the user makes a call.

In step 142, another type of alphanumeric sequence may be input and recorded. For example, if the user frequently checks the bank account information, the bank phone number, account number, social security number, and menu selections may be recorded in step 142, thus all of this information during subsequent phone calls to the user's bank. You do not have to enter it manually.

In step 142 there is no need to record the destination telephone number as part of the alphanumeric sequence. In other words, the information recorded in step 142 can be used in combination with a speed-dial phone number stored elsewhere in the wireless communication device 101. Thus, in operation, the user can speed-dial the destination telephone number by pressing a first set of keys on the keypad 134 (eg, simply sending the destination telephone number), and After the communication link is established, the user can press the second set of keys to send additional data to the destination as part of the ongoing communication, such as an alphanumeric sequence corresponding to a menu selection, password, and the like.

As described above, in addition to inputting an alphanumeric sequence at step 142, the user can also input timing and delay information. Such timing and delay information is useful, for example, in some voice mail systems that require the pre-recorded greeting or instructions of the voice mail system to be completed before the user can enter a menu selection. Accordingly, the wireless communication device 101 can be programmed such that in step 142, the time at which each digit of the alphanumeric sequence was input is recorded. For example, during the RECORD mode, the user may record the telephone number of the voice mail system and then wait 10 seconds before entering additional information through the keypad 134, which corresponds to the length of the voice mail greeting. do. After a 10-second delay, the user can record passwords, menu selections, and the like. During step 142, the timer circuit 128 operates with the CPU 112 or call processor 114 to trigger a software routine to store, together with the alphanumeric information itself, a delay between the pressed digits in the data storage device 118. do.

In another embodiment, the timer circuit 128 allows a user to input command information, such as the user can electronically set timing and delay during recording, rather than real time recording between pressing keys. It is possible to provide recording software that works together. For example, the user first enters the RECORD mode, enters the destination phone number, presses the "* 1" command to indicate to the software that the user wants to record the delay, and sets a 30-second delay. Is pressed by pressing " 2 ", which indicates to the software that the user has finished recording the delay and instructs the software to resume recording of the pressed digit. Thus, system 100 can accommodate a wide range of programming features.

Next, at step 144, the user presses one or more keys on keypad 126 to enter the " END RECORD " mode. This mode notifies the CPU 112 or the call processor 114 that the user has completed the entry of the information, and in step 146 the user selects and writes the addressable memory location 120 of the data storage device 118. Stored information. In step 148, the user assigns a name or keypad combination in relation to the recorded information. For example, if the user has programmed the wireless communication device 112 to store the telephone number and account number of the user's bank account, in step 148 the user can assign an alphanumeric keypad combination of the spelling "BANK".

Any alphanumeric sequence or name can be this keypad combination. For example, the keypad combination assigned to each of the addressable memory locations 120 may be as simple as a single-digit or double-digit number. In theory, a myriad of keypad combinations could be assigned to identify each addressable memory location. In practice, it is expected that the number of valid keypad combinations will be limited to the available number of addressable memory locations 120 of the data storage device. In addition, the data storage device 118 need not be physically located in the wireless communication device 101. The data storage device 118 may be located in a remote location, such as a cell site (not shown), to provide the user with additional memory locations that exceed the physical capacity allowed within the wireless communication device 101 itself. Thus, the information recorded by the user in step 142 is stored in the wireless communication device 101, at the cell site, or at both locations as long as the stored information is accessible by the CPU 112 or the call processor 114. Can be stored.

Various modifications are possible to the steps 144-148 shown in FIG. 2. For example, Figure 2 shows that the user entered the END RECORD mode in step 144 after recording one entry (e.g. one phone number) in step 142, but the user entered the END RECORD mode in step 144. It can be seen that any number of entries can be recorded in step 142 before entering. 2 shows that steps 146 and 148 occur after the user enters the END RECORD mode in step 144, but before step 144 the user enters the END RECORD mode, May be selected and assigned a name or keypad combination for the information recorded in step 148. Thus, embodiments of the present invention are not limited by the specific order of the steps shown in the flowchart of FIG.

In step 150, the user can view or select the recorded information stored in the data storage device 118 by scrolling through the menu 132 on the display 130. This is particularly useful when the user needs to store a large number of telephone numbers in several different addressable memory locations 120 and remember a keypad combination corresponding to a given addressable memory location 120. . The menu 132 may display an indication of the information stored in the keypad combination and the addressable memory location 120 associated with the keypad combination. Accordingly, the menu 132 may display a keypad combination of "BANK" along with sentence identification data such as "Verify Bank Account Information".

Instead of or in addition to scrolling through the menu 132 in step 150, and especially if the user has not stored too much information in the data storage device 118 (and thus does not need to remember several different keypad combinations) The user can retrieve information stored in a predetermined addressable memory location 120 by directly inputting a corresponding keypad combination or name related to the stored information using the keypad 134.

If the user sees and selects some stored information in step 150 and wishes to transmit the selected information, in step 152 the user selects one or more key (s) on the keypad 134 (such as the "SEND" key, not shown). Press. If the information includes the destination telephone number, the selection of the SEND key will trigger dial-up to the destination telephone number. The call processor 114 retrieves the selected information from the particular addressable memory location 120, extracts the destination telephone number from this selected information, and triggers a transmission to the destination telephone number by the transceiver 108. Thereby dialing up. Step 152 includes displaying indication data on menu 132 indicating that the user is calling the destination telephone number. In addition, the output driver 126 and the speaker 124 may also generate an audible sound indicating that transmission is occurring to the user.

Because the user often stores the destination telephone number as part of the alphanumeric sequence recorded in step 142, the transmission that occurs in step 152 may simply be dial up to the destination telephone number. If there is a timing and delay recorded by the user in step 142, then the transmission in step 152 will include the programmed timing and delay after the initial connection with the destination is established. The timer circuit 128 helps the transceiver 108 and other components of the wireless communication device 101 to transmit and process timing and delay. As described above, after the connection with the destination is established by speed-dialing the destination telephone number, pressing step on the keypad 134 transmits additional information as part of the ongoing communication. Step 152 may be complementary to the individual speed-dialing operation.

Embodiments of the invention provided herein may be modified in various different forms. For example, although it is described herein that the stored information is sent to the destination as a single sequence of information in step 152, it can be seen that the stored information can be sent to the destination in portions. This implementation may also be used when the call processor 114 of the wireless communication device 101 is programmed to receive an acknowledgment from the destination before transmitting the subsequent portion of the selected information. The following example illustrates this implementation. Call processor 114 transmits to a destination telephone number, such as a voice mail system, based on the first portion of information stored in data storage 118, selected by the user and containing the destination telephone number. Trigger Once a connection to the voice mail system is established, an acknowledgment (such as a voice mail greeting) is sent from the voice mail system to the wireless communication device 101. In response to the call processor 114 detecting this return transmission (eg, greeting / acknowledgement) from the voice mail system, the call processor 114 sends a second portion of the stored information, which may be the user's password. Trigger The call processor 114 then waits for the voice mail system to notify / send the receipt and authorization of the user password. When such an acknowledgment is received by the call processor 114, the call processor 114 sends a third portion of the stored information corresponding to the menu selection (such as a menu selection for listening to a new voice mail message). To send.

Thus, the foregoing descriptions of the disclosed embodiments of the present invention are not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed, and therefore, the invention may be modified in various forms based on the disclosure herein. Since specific embodiments and examples of the invention described herein are for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention. The present disclosure disclosed herein may be applied to other communication systems and devices as well as the exemplary wireless communication device.

In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed as limiting the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the description and claims. Instead, the scope of the invention is to be determined entirely by the following claims, which are to be construed in accordance with the established doctrines of the claims interpretation.

Claims (16)

A keypad for allowing a user to enter information including a destination telephone number and additional data, A data storage device communicatively connected to the keypad to store information input by a user; And And a processor communicatively connected to the keypad and the data storage device, The processor retrieves the information from the data storage device in response to a command from a user entered through the keypad and transmits the search information from a wireless communication device to wirelessly communicate with a destination communication device associated with the destination telephone number. And establish a link. A keypad for allowing a user to enter information related to a destination; A data storage device communicatively connected to the keypad, the data storage device storing the information input by a user; And A processor communicatively connected to the keypad and the data storage device, The processor retrieves the information from the data storage device in response to a command from a user entered through the keypad and after establishment of a wireless communication link as part of the wireless communication link in progress of the search information, the wireless communication. Transmitting from the device to the destination. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the information stored in the data storage device comprises an alphanumeric sequence. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the information stored in the data storage device includes timing information. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The data storage device has a plurality of addressable memory locations, The addressable memory location stores information individually identifiable by the corresponding keypad combination, And the keypad is configured to enable a user to input the keypad combination that triggers the processor to retrieve information selected from one of the addressable memory locations. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And a display for displaying a menu representing the information stored in the data storage device. The method of claim 1, And the processor first establishes the wireless communication link individually by transmitting the destination telephone number and then triggers the transmission of the additional data. Storing information including a destination telephone number and additional data in an addressable memory location of a data storage device associated with the wireless communication device, Assigning individual keypad combinations to corresponding addressable memory locations; Retrieving the information stored in the one addressable memory location by inputting the keypad combination corresponding to one of the addressable memory locations; And Transmitting the retrieved information from the wireless communication device to establish a wireless communication link with a destination communication device associated with the destination telephone number. Storing information in an addressable memory location of a data storage device associated with the wireless communication device; Assigning individual keypad combinations to corresponding addressable memory locations; Retrieving the information stored in the one addressable memory location by inputting the keypad combination corresponding to one of the addressable memory locations; And Transmitting the search information from the wireless communication device to a destination, And said retrieval information is transmitted after the establishment of a wireless communication link as part of said ongoing wireless communication link. The method according to claim 8 or 9, Storing user-input information in the addressable memory location comprises storing an alphanumeric sequence. The method according to claim 8 or 9, Storing user-input information in the addressable memory location comprises storing alphanumeric sequence and timing information. The method according to claim 8 or 9, Displaying a menu indicating said information stored at said addressable memory location. The method of claim 8, And transmitting the retrieval information comprises transmitting the destination telephone number individually to establish the wireless communication link with the destination and then transmitting the additional data. The method according to claim 8 or 9, And repeating the step of storing said information and assigning a separate keypad combination for additional information. The method according to claim 8 or 9, Using the keypad to enter the keypad combination for storing the information in the addressable memory location and for retrieving the stored information. The method according to claim 8 or 9, Transmitting the information as a partial sequence of information to the destination and waiting for an acknowledgment from the destination before transmitting a subsequent portion of the information.

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