HK1022202B - Method of providing information concerning a message to a user of a selective call receiver - Google Patents

Description

Method for providing information relating to a message to a user of a selective call receiver

The present invention is directed to selective call receivers (referred to herein as SCRs), and more particularly to methods for providing useful information to a user of an SCR.

SCRs are popular for those who need to remain effective and reliable in communicating with others. A relatively simple SCR may receive and store a telephone number that the communications service sends to the SCR. The SCR alerts its user that a message (in this case a telephone number) has been received and can be displayed. Typically, the user causes the SCR to display the message and the user then completes a circuit call to the number displayed by his SCR.

In some cases, the user may recognize that the displayed telephone number belongs to a spouse, a colleague, or the like. In other cases, the user may forget with whom the telephone number is associated, particularly because some people have several telephone numbers, such as a home number, a work telephone number, a hotel telephone number, a cell phone telephone number, and the like. It would be advantageous if the user's SCR could recognize a received telephone number, or other form of identification data, and inform the user of the identity of the person from whom the message originated, or the location from which the message originated.

A concomitant problem is that users prefer to set their SCRs to sound an alarm at a given time. If the user sets his SCR to send many audible alerts to notify him of many things, he may forget which things he is when the audible alert. It would be further advantageous if the user could be automatically notified of the cause of any audible alarm.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the construction of an SCR operating in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sketch showing a portion of the memory of an SCR illustrating an example of stored information, an

Fig. 3A, 3B, 4 and 5 are flow charts illustrating how the CPU of the SCR is programmed to enable it to perform the transactions of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 1, there is illustrated in block diagram form an SCR10 constructed in accordance with the operation of the present invention. Many of the individual hardware in the SCR10 is conventional and will not be discussed in further detail.

The illustrated SCR10 includes an antenna 12, an RF (radio frequency) demodulator 14, and a digital decoder 16, which are used to receive incoming messages containing data and decode the messages. Such data may take the form of numeric (e.g., without limitation, telephone numbers), character-to-number text, or voice data. In the exemplary operation described herein, it is assumed that the message received by the SCR is a telephone number.

The message received by the antenna 12 is demodulated by a conventional demodulator 14 to provide demodulated analogue data as input to a decoder 16, which decoder 16 may also be of conventional construction.

The signal output from the decoder 16 is decoded digital data and is provided as an input to a processor 18, which processor 18 may be, for example, a model MC68HC05 processor manufactured by Motorola, inc. As described below, the processor 18 is programmed to cause the SCR10 to operate in accordance with the present invention.

The processor 18 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 20 and a ROM (read only memory) 22 that stores programs of instructions for the CPU. The processor also includes an external port 24 to couple signals from the CPU20 to a display driver 26. The display driver drives a display 28, which may be a conventional liquid crystal display, which displays the decoded message.

To generate a user alert in response to receipt of a message, the CPU is coupled to an input of an alert generator 30, an output of the alert generator 30 being coupled to an input of a speaker driver 32. A speaker 34 is coupled to the output of the speaker driver 32 to generate an audible alert upon receipt of a message to the SRC 10.

Timers 36 are coupled to the CPU20 to provide a time base for collecting data from the digital decoder 16 at predetermined intervals, and also to define the duration of the alert.

In order for the user to control the various functions of the SCR10, there is a user control mechanism. In the illustrated embodiment, the user controls are in the form of executable buttons titled reading 38, selecting 40, next item 42, and previous item 44, which are coupled to the CPU through a button interface 46 and an external port interface 48. The buttons may be used to cause a received message to appear on the display 28 (read 38 with the buttons), scroll the message with the buttons 42 and 44, exit the function of reading the message with the selection button 40, and turn to other functions related to the present invention as will be described below.

The processor 18 also includes a RAM (random access memory) 50, which is comprised of the following memory elements: a record look-up table 52, a message memory 54 and a program memory 56.

The message memory 54 stores the received and decoded messages. The program memory 56 serves as an intermediate result memory for temporarily storing new messages (before storing in the message memory 54) or results calculated by the CPU 20.

The log look-up table 52 contains information that will be described below as being used when the SCR10 is operating according to a recommended operating method.

The SCR10 also includes a microphone 58 coupled to an input of a conventional voice input module 60. The purpose of the microphone 58 is to allow the user to dictate a voice recording which is then received by the voice input module 60 and converted to a form that can be understood by the CPU 20. Under the control of the CPU20, the voice recording is stored in a normal voice storage unit 62 for future playback in the speaker 34. The speech input module 60 and the speech storage unit 62 may be separate units as illustrated, or they may be combined into a single unit. They are available from ISD corporation of San Jose, california, usa.

In operation, the SCR10 receives the first message sent to it. This first message contains data referred to herein as identification data. Examples of identifying data are a telephone number, a name, or other data that identifies the originator of the message, the location from which the message originated, or any other relevant parameter.

In some cases, the message being sent will contain only one telephone number, in which case the message and the identification data are equivalent. In another case, the message sent will contain a telephone number or a name embedded in the text of a longer message, such as "call 734-. "in this latter example, the identification data is" 734- "8000".

According to a preferred method of operation, after the SCR10 receives the first transmitted message containing the identification data, the SCR10 displays the received message and asks the user, via a prompt on the display 28, whether to generate a voice recording associated with the received message. If the user agrees, the user speaks a voice recording to microphone 58 relating to the first received message. The SCR10 causes this voice recording to be stored in the voice storage unit 62 for later playback. The speech recording is stored in the speech storage unit 62 in such a way that the speech recording is still associated with the recognition data contained in the first message. This voice recording can then be released later to interpret subsequently received messages containing the same identification data.

An example may illustrate this recommended procedure. If the first message 61 only has the telephone number "731-4772". This message is stored in a message memory 54 and displayed on the display 28 according to the user's requirements. The identification data 63 contained in the message 61 is "731-4772", which is shown in fig. 2, stored at location 1 in the record look-up table 52.

Again, if the user does not initially know that this telephone number "731-4772" is the working telephone number of his parent. When the user places a telephone call to "731-" 4772 ", he sees that this telephone number is the telephone number of his parent's workplace. After the telephone call is completed, the user decides to enter a voice recording to illustrate the meaning of the telephone number. To do this, the user invokes the voice recording input function of the SCR10 with a control button and speaks "satay from work" to the microphone 58. This statement is stored as a voice recording 67 in the voice storage unit 62 at position 1. The CPU20 establishes a link (indicated by dashed line 64) between the stored voice recording 67 and the identification data 63 associated with the voice recording. This link may be established using software pointers familiar to those skilled in the art.

Now assume that the user calls the telephone number indicated in the first message, but the telephone does not respond, and the user deletes the first message. This results in the first message 61 being deleted from the message memory 54 but the identification data 63 in the first message is still stored in the record look-up table 52. Also, the corresponding voice recording 67 is still stored in the voice storage unit 62.

The SCR10 can then receive and store the transmitted messages 69 and 71 which are displayed in the usual manner and for which there is no user-generated voice recording. The parent of the subsequent user sends a second message 73 to the SCR10 with identification data identical to that of the first message, i.e. telephone number "731-. The SCR10 checks the second message 73 for a match between the identification data of the first and second messages. In the case of this example, a match is found. The CPU20 interprets the meaning of this match as that the voice recording 67 originally stored in association with the identification data 63 of the first message should also be linked to the second message 73 (and any subsequent messages containing the same identification data).

When the CPU20 causes the second message 73 to be displayed, it is proposed to simultaneously generate a user-recognizable indication of the stored voice recording associated with the displayed message and which can be released. The user-recognizable indicia are preferably icons displayed on the display 28. In this way, the user is alerted that a stored voice recording is available for reproduction, thereby interpreting the second message in return. If the user wishes to hear the voice recording, he presses the select button 40, whereupon the CPU20 issues the voice recording 67 through the speaker 34.

The preceding example illustrates that the method of the invention proposes to display the first transmitted message 61 before receiving a user generated voice recording 67 associated with the first message. After receiving the voice recording 67, the SCR stores this voice recording in association with the identification data contained in the first message. Thereafter, the SCR receives and displays a second transmitted message 73 containing the same identification data as contained in the first message. The stored voice recording 67 is associated with the identification data contained in the second transmitted message and is preferably posted to illustrate the second transmitted message 73 when the second transmitted message 73 is displayed.

The portion of the flowchart of fig. 3A and 3B in which the present invention recommends programming the CPU20 of the SCR. At step 66 (fig. 3A), a message sent by the service provider is received by SCR10 and stored in its message memory 54. At step 68, a determination is made as to whether any of the identification data in the received message matches any of the identification data previously stored in the record look-up table 52. If a match is found, it means that a message with matching identification data has been received from before and the voice recording is stored in association with the received message. Step 70 associates this stored same voice recording with the current message, meaning that this voice recording is recognized by the CPU as being issuable to interpret the current message.

A next step 72 updates the record look-up table 52 to indicate which voice record can be deleted when the voice storage unit 62 is full. For example, the CPU may store an indication of the most recently used voice recording to ensure that it is not deleted. Alternatively, the CPU may store an indication of the number of times each voice recording was issued and when space needs to be added in the voice storage unit 62, it may delete those least frequently used voice recordings. The stored voice recordings may also be deleted according to a first-in-first-out order.

At step 74, the current message is displayed on the display 28 in response to the user pressing the read 38 button.

Returning to step 68, if the current message does not contain identification data that matches the identification data in the look-up table of preexisting records, the routine of displaying the current message from step 68 to step 74 has no voice recording associated with it.

Step 76 asks whether there is a stored voice recording associated with the current message. If the previously stored voice recording is associated with the current message at step 70, the answer "yes," and the routine proceeds to step 80 to generate a voice recording alert to notify the user that an existing voice recording is appropriate for providing information related to the current message. The alert may be an audible alert or, preferably, an icon displayed on the display 28, or both. If the user indicates that he wishes to play back the stored voice recording (step 82), it is played back (distributed) according to a next step 84. The published voice recording is stored with a previous message containing identification data that matches the identification data of the current message.

After reading the current message, the user may choose to delete it from the message memory 54 as per step 86. If the user agrees to delete, the routine proceeds to step 88. In this step the last received message is deleted from the message memory 54, but any identification data it contains remains in the record look-up table 52. In this way, future messages containing matches to the identification data may use the voice recording stored in association with the retained identification data. The associated voice recording stored in the voice storage unit 62 is also maintained, at least temporarily.

In a next step 90, the user may choose to delete the already issued voice recording according to step 84. If the user refuses to delete, then this part of the program ends; if the user agrees to delete, the voice recording is deleted in step 92.

There are many situations with an incoming message and its identification data is not linked to a previously stored voice recording. However, the user may attach a voice recording for later messages containing matching identification data. The portion of the program that allows the user to make such a selection begins at step 76 where it is determined that the currently received message does not contain identification data that matches already stored identification data associated with a stored voice recording, and the program executes steps 76 through 94 (fig. 3B) where the user is asked (via display 28) whether a voice recording is to be appended. If the answer is "no" this part of the program ends, but if the answer is "yes" the program executes step 96. Here, the user speaks a voice recording into the microphone 58. Step 98 then asks the user whether to accept the message. If not, the voice recording is deleted and the process repeats steps 96 and 98 giving the user the opportunity to store another voice recording.

When the voice recording is acceptable, step 100 asks whether the voice storage unit 62 is full. If not, the program branches to step 104 where the voice recording is stored in association with its identification data stored in the recording look-up table 52. If the record lookup table is full, step 102 deletes a previously stored voice record. The deleted voice recording may be the least recently used or the least consistently used one. Other criteria may be used to select the voice recording to be deleted.

Another method of storing the recognition data and the corresponding voice recording will be described later. This method may be used in place of, or in addition to, the method described above.

According to this alternative method, the user enters known identification data, e.g., a known telephone number, into the memory of the SCR that is desired to be included in a future received message. The SCR10 stores this identification data in memory. The user then dictates a voice recording associated with the identification data, which the SCR stores in association with the identification data. For example, the user may wish to receive at least one message containing the telephone number "555-1800" in the future, and the user knows that this telephone number is the person in charge of his work. He enters this phone number into the SCR's record look-up table 52 using one or more of the buttons 38-44, in conjunction with the usual display prompts. When prompting whether to enter a voice recording, the user speaks a sentence "remember to pick up a new production plan" into the microphone 58. The SCR stores this utterance in its speech storage unit 62 in association with the telephone number "555-1800".

Later, when a transmitted message is received, the SCR determines whether any of the messages contain identification data that matches the identification data stored in memory. If a match is found, the SCR10 makes the stored voice recording available for release for interpretation as the received message. It is suggested that when the SCR10 finds matching identification data (e.g. the same telephone number), the user be informed by an icon and/or an audible alert that a voice recording is applicable and that the voice recording be issued on demand by the user.

It is clear that this alternative method of storing the recognition data and the voice recording, and issuing the voice recording-one can be performed according to the flow chart of fig. 3, except that the order of receiving the message and storing the recognition data and the voice recording associated therewith differs. Any required changes to the flow diagram will be apparent to the pedestrian in light of the following discussion.

Clearly storing the identification data and the voice recordings associated therewith, and making the voice recordings available for distribution, may significantly aid the user of the SCR. Voice recording helps the user recall the identity of the person sending the message, or any other thing useful to the user. Since voice recordings are actually made by the user, the user can store habitual recordings that contain information that is of particular interest to the user, and can be altered by the user when encountering changing circumstances, making the SCR particularly valuable.

Another aspect of the invention is to store a voice recording associated with the alert. According to this aspect of the invention, the user operates the user control mechanism of the SCR to set an alarm to be output at the user specified time. The alert may be generated by a speaker 34 to produce an alert sound and/or by a display 28 to display an alert icon or message. At the same time, the user dictates a voice recording, which is stored in the voice storage unit 62 in association with the designated alert time. When the specified time comes, the SCR10 outputs an alert and issues a stored voice recording indicating the alert. An example is described in connection with fig. 4, which shows how the CPU20 is better programmed to perform this aspect of the invention.

The program begins at step 106, which causes display 28 to display a prompt "set alert? ". If the user agrees to set an alert, he enters the time at which he wishes to output the alert (step 108). For example, a user has a meeting at 11 am and may enter an alert time of 10: 45 as a reminder for the meeting. This information is entered by the user into the SCR as a previous telephone number entry and stored in RAM 50. Step 110 then asks whether to attach a voice recording at the set time. If the answer is "yes", the program executes step 112 in which the user speaks a voice recording. Using the previous example, the voice recording may be said to be a "11 AM with Martha meeting. "

Step 114 gives the user the opportunity to change the voice recording. If a change is required, steps 112 and 114 are repeated until the user accepts the voice recording. The accepted recording is then stored (step 116) in the speech storage unit 62.

As shown in fig. 5, the CPU20 is programmed to generate an alert reminder and issue a corresponding voice recording. At step 118, a determination is made as to whether the current time is equal to the set alarm time. This step is repeated until a set time has elapsed, at which point step 120 is performed, generating an alert reminder. The next step 122 asks whether a voice recording is associated with the alert. If the answer is "yes," the routine executes step 124 to cause the associated voice recording to be posted.

The use of a voice recording in conjunction with an alert significantly increases the value of the SCR to its user. With this feature, the user of the SCR need not worry about forgetting any of the generated alarms. His own voice recording announces to him the reason for the alarm or reminds him of something of interest to him. This is particularly important for users who often use the alert function to remind them of many meetings, take medications at particular times of the day, and so forth. Combining voice recording/alerting capabilities with the ability to issue voice recordings to interpret received messages adds further value to the SCR.

Although the invention has been described with respect to a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the invention. It is therefore intended that all such modifications and variations be considered as within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims (10)

1. In a selective call receiver that receives transmitted text-containing messages, a method of providing a user of the selective call receiver with information relating to a message, the method comprising:

receiving a first transmitted message, the text of which contains identification data;

receiving a voice recording generated by a user associated with the first transmitted message; and

the voice recording and the recognition data are stored in an interrelated manner.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 including displaying the first transmitted message prior to receiving the voice recording.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein receiving a user-generated voice recording and storing the voice recording and identification data prior to receiving the first transmitted message, the steps further comprising:

finding a match between the stored identification data and the identification data in the first transmitted message, and

if a match is found, the stored voice recording is released to interpret the first transmitted message.

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, including receiving and displaying a second transmitted message containing the identification data, and issuing a voice recording to interpret the second transmitted message.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4, comprising associating the stored identification data with the identification data contained in the second transmitted message, and wherein the voice recording is issued when the second transmitted message is displayed.

6. A method as claimed in claim 4, comprising displaying the second transmitted message on demand by the user and generating a user-recognisable indication that a voice recording is available for the second transmitted message.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

setting an alarm output at a set time; and

a record of the alert voice generated by the user is stored in association with the alert.

8. The method as recited in claim 7 further comprising:

an alarm output at a set time; and

an alert voice recording is issued to interpret this alert.

9. In a selective call receiver that receives transmitted text-containing messages, a method of providing a user of the selective call receiver with information relating to a message, the method comprising:

receiving a first transmitted message, the text of which contains identification data;

displaying the first transmitted message;

receiving a voice recording generated by a user associated with the first transmitted message; and

storing the voice recording and the recognition data in an interrelated manner;

receiving and storing a second transmitted message containing the identification data;

displaying the second transmitted message; and

this identification data is issued to interpret the second transmitted message.

10. A method as claimed in claim 9, comprising associating the stored voice recording with the identification data contained in the second transmitted message, and wherein the voice recording is issued when the second transmitted message is displayed.