HK1031019A - Communication device and method of use - Google Patents

Description

Communication device and method of use

The present invention relates generally to communication devices, and in particular to wireless communication devices having displays and methods of using the same.

When a message is received in a communication device such as a pager, the pager will alert by sounding an alert tone and/or displaying a symbol (icon) of the received message. If the message has not been read after it has been received, some pagers will provide a flashing symbol indicating to the user that he has not read the message stored in memory. Some pagers may also be programmed with an alert warning of an audio alert at regular intervals.

A problem with these prior art devices is that they do not provide an indication of the time (length of time that a message has been received but not yet presented) that a message has not been presented (unread or heard), and the pager simply prompts the user that he has some of the messages stored in the pager. There is therefore a need in the art for a communication device and method that can provide a user with an indication of the length of time from which the message was received by the communication device but has not yet been presented to the user.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a pager in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a front view of a pager showing a display and control portion of the pager in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a display portion of the pager shown in fig. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an embodiment taken in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is another display of the pager shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is another display of the pager shown in fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to fig. 1, there is shown a simplified block diagram of a communication device, such as a selective call receiver or pager 100, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Pager 100 includes a main power supply 102 which preferably takes the form of a rechargeable battery such as a nickel cadmium (NiCd) battery. Battery 102 provides power to all pager circuits. Pager 100 also includes an antenna 104 that receives a Radio Frequency (RF) signal of the modulated selective call signal and provides the signal to conventional receiver circuitry 108 for demodulation. The microcontroller or microprocessor 110 processes the demodulated signal to decode an address and the selected message data contained therein. The controller 110 may take any of a variety of known forms and commercially available microprocessors or microcontrollers, such as the Motorola 68HC05 microcontroller.

Once the data is recovered, the message data may be stored in a memory or storage area 112 (message buffer) for presentation by an output device 106, such as a color Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)106 or an audio sensor 114. In the preferred embodiment, the display 106 comprises a color LCD display, although other types of color displays known in the art may be utilized. The display portion 106 also includes all of the display driver hardware required to drive an LCD color display as is well known in the art.

In normal operation, the pager's controller 110 compares the decoded addresses contained in the received signal using the predetermined address or addresses stored in memory to determine whether the message is intended for that pager. After the message has been received, the user is alerted using alert mechanism 114 if the decoded address is associated with the or each predetermined address. The alert mechanism 114 typically takes the form of an audio sensor or the like. If pager 100 has a silent mode set, no audible alert is given when a message is received. Alternatively, if vibration device 118 is equipped, sound pager 100 in place of the audible alert may vibrate when an incoming message is received. The display 106 will automatically provide a message on the display if the received signal contains selection message data, or when the selection is made manually, by the user actuating a control 116 comprising a switch or the like. In the case of receiving voice or other types of audio messages, these messages may be stored in RAM or provided to the user via the pager's speaker or audio sensor 114.

In fig. 2, a front view of pager 100 in accordance with the present invention is shown. In the particular pager shown, user controls 116 include left/right direction keys 208, up/down direction keys 202, a read/reset/power key 204, and a function selection key. User control 116 allows the user of the pager to set all of the pager user's selectable features and functions, allowing the user to review and delete individual messages that have been received. Referring now to fig. 3, an alternate display for pager 100 in accordance with the present invention is highlighted. The color LCD display 106 in the standard standby mode displays an icon 302 of the date and "power on" of the time and current time zone. Preferably, if a message has been received but has not yet been presented (read or heard) to the user, the "power on" icon 302 will begin to flash. In accordance with the present invention, icon 302 or another icon depending on the pager's design will change color depending on the time or how long the presentation has been received but not yet provided to the user.

In fig. 4, a flowchart highlights the process of color change making up the icon 302, since the length of time the undisplayed message remains stored, not read or heard, in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The following examples will be discussed in connection with an text or digital message that may be read by a user, although it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the same procedure may be applied to a voice or audio message that may be heard by the communication device.

A determination is made at step 402 whether a message has been received. If a message has been received, the icon 302 begins to blink at step 404, indicating that a message has been received and stored, but has not been read or provided to the user by the user. In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the icon 302 will flash starting in black, which is the standard color used to provide the message on the display 106. At step 406, a determination is made whether the received message has been read. The controller 110 determines whether the received message has been read by the user by determining whether a switch to "read" the message, which in this embodiment is switch 204, has been activated. If it is determined that the received message has been read by the user, the icon 302 is stopped from flashing at step 414.

If the received message has not been read, a determination is made at step 408 as to whether a first time duration has elapsed (e.g., 10 minutes) since the message was received but not read. If it is determined at step 408 that the first time duration has elapsed, then at step 410 the icon 302 is changed color. As an example, change from a standard black to green. At step 412, it is again determined whether the received message has been read, as was done at step 406. If the message has been read, the icon 302 stops flashing and is reset to black at step 414.

If the message has not yet been read at step 412, a determination is made at step 416 as to whether a second time duration, e.g., 30 minutes, has elapsed during which the received message has not yet been read by the user. If, at step 416, it is determined that the second time duration has elapsed, then the icon 302 causes a color change again, from green to yellow as one example. If, in the step of determining whether a message has been read, if so, the icon 302 is stopped from flashing and the color changes from yellow back to black at step 414. The above-described programs are executed by the controller 110 and the programs used are preferably stored in a "one-chip" Read Only Memory (ROM). Preferably, the controller 110 also includes an on-board timer so that tracking of each of the first and second time durations discussed in steps 408 and 409 may be maintained.

The routine shown in figure 4 may continue for as many cycles as deemed appropriate. For example, if a rotation of a third time duration is added to the program, the yellow color may be changed to red, and so on. Although the present invention can support any number of color changes, in most cases three or four color changes may be sufficient to give the user the perception of a length of time for which a message has not been read. The predetermined time duration (e.g., steps 408 and 416 in the above example) may be adjusted to suit the design of a particular pager or the desires of the user. For example, as an example, the first color change may occur after 30 minutes instead of 10 minutes. These time thresholds may be programmed into pager 100 during the manufacture of the pager, or preferably user-programmable into pager 100, in such a way that each individual user can control the duration of the color change. Preferably, the user will also be able to program the color of the icon 302 that changes for each duration that he likes.

Instead of changing the color of an icon, such as the icon 302, the properties of other displays 106, such as the display background color 502, may also change over time as shown in FIG. 5. Other attributes of the display 106 that cause a color change that may indicate when a message is not read include, but are not limited to, the backlight of the display, the location of characters on the display, the location of the display screen 504, and the like.

After a message has been received but not yet read, the pager user is provided with a quick indication of how long it has been since the message was received by the user by changing the color of an attribute of the display 106, such as icon 302, over time.

In the case where several pages have been received but not yet read, different icons 602 as shown in fig. 6 may be used to provide the user with the length of time each individual message has been received but not yet read. In this example, the number "1" may serve as an indicator of a first message received, the number "2" may serve as an indicator of a second message received, and so on. In this example, each individual digit ("1", "2", "3), etc.) may be changed to a different color depending on how long the messages have been received but not read.

Although the preferred embodiment has been described in connection with a selective call machine, such as a pager, other communication devices that receive messages, such as cellular telephones, PCS telephones, trunked radio telephones, and the like, may benefit from the present invention. In addition, while the above-described embodiments emphasize the receipt of binary, textual, and character messages that can be displayed on the display 106, the present invention may also be utilized where voice or sound (e.g., music, etc.) messages are received and stored. The invention may also be utilized, for example, in the case of a voice pager or other communication receiver capable of receiving and storing voice messages. In this particular case, the received messages will not be considered for provision to the user if they are not notified via the speaker or other sound generating means of the communication receiver. The same process of determining the length of time since the message has been received can also be used for voice messages.

It is also worth noting here that the start of the time for determining the change of color of the display may be triggered by the reception of the message or the storage of the message or other criteria. This disclosure discloses only the specific design requirements that are required for the design of a particular communication device.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes, variations, substitutions and equivalents may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims (20)

1. A method of changing the color of a portion of a display for a communication device, comprising the steps of:

receiving a message in a communication device;

storing the message;

determining a length of time that a message has been stored but not yet provided to a user of the communication device; and

if the message has not been provided to the user for a predetermined duration of time, the color of a portion of the display of the communication device is changed.

2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the portion of the display of the communication device that causes the color change comprises an icon presented on the display.

3. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of the display of the communication device that causes the color change comprises a backlight that is presented to the display.

4. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the portion of the display of the communication device that causes the color change comprises a background color presented on the display.

5. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the message comprises a voice message.

6. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the message comprises a binary message.

7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the message comprises a character message.

8. The method as defined in claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

receiving the second message at the communication device;

storing the second message;

determining a length of time that a second message has been stored but not yet presented; and

changing the color of the second portion of the display of the communication device if the second message has not been presented for the predetermined duration of time.

9. The method defined in claim 2 wherein the second portion of the display of the communication device that causes the color change comprises a second icon appearing on the display.

10. A communication device, comprising:

a receiver section for receiving a message;

storage means coupled to the receiver portion for storing the received message;

a display; and

a controller coupled to the storage device and the display, the controller responsive to receipt of the message, determining a length of time since the message has been received and has not been provided to the display, and causing an attribute of the display to change color if the received message has not been displayed for a predetermined duration of time.

11. A communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the display attribute that causes the color change comprises an icon appearing on the display.

12. The communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the display attribute that causes the color change comprises a portion of an entire display area of the display.

13. A communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the display attribute that causes the color change comprises a background color of the display.

14. A communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the display further comprises a backlight and the display attribute that causes the color to change comprises the backlight of the display.

15. A communication device as defined in claim 10, wherein the communication device comprises a selective call receiver.

16. A method of alerting a user of a communication receiver having a display when a message has been received but not yet provided to the user:

receiving a message at a communication device;

determining a length of time that has elapsed since the message has been received; and

the property color of the display is changed if the message has been received for more than a predetermined duration of time and has not been provided to the user of the communication device.

17. The method as defined in claim 16 wherein the step of varying comprises:

if the time that the message has been received exceeds a predetermined duration of time and has not been provided to the display, the color of the icon presented on the display is changed.

18. The method defined in claim 16 wherein the attribute that causes the color to change comprises a portion of a viewing area of the display.

19. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the message comprises a voice message and the message is deemed not to be provided to the user if, after being received, it is not clearly pronounced by the communication receiver.

20. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein the message is deemed not to be provided to the user if the message is provided to a display of the communication receiver.