Patent Application
20060149869
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for quickly connecting a network real-time communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and a method that can quickly log on to a real-time communication system software on a computer by remote control, and perform dialing procedure, thereby connecting to one or more counter communication end. In this manner, one can conveniently conduct conversation, exchange electronic mails, or short messages with other people.
The development of electronic and network technology has been widely applied to message transmission. One such example is the development of electronic mail (e-mail) system. In addition to the conventional telephone communication system, one can now send and receive e-mail from almost anywhere at anytime, so long as the network connection is available. However, by using an e-mail system, one can perform real-time conversation neither by using audio signals nor by sending and receiving texts. Therefore, there is developed a network phone.
Network phone is developed to perform audio communication via the Internet. The fundamental working principle of the network phone is converting audio signals to digital information, transmitting the digital information to a network computer or a telephone of the receiver via the network, and converting the received digital information back to the original audio at the receiver end. Such a communication model requires only the payment of the broadband or dialup service. No matter how far away the receiver is located, there is no need to pay extra communication fees for long-distance and international phone calls. However, a series of installation procedure should be performed before one can use the network phone. In addition, both the sender and the receiver are required to install some proper hardware and software. For many users, this technical threshold is part of the reasons why the conventional network phone is not as popular as expected. Therefore, other real-time communication systems, such as the MSN® messenger, the Yahoo® messenger, SKYPE® and the Yahoo® BB are developed. Since the above real-time communication systems include powerful functions, such as real-time message transmission, audio chatting room (conference call), file transmission, e-mail transmission and video communication, they have become one of the most popular communication systems. However, the real-time communication systems described above are limited to the operation in front of a computer. One can not activate the connection and perform any operation by remote control or other means. This location restriction is rather inconvenient.
The present invention is to provide a portable communication control device that is separable from a signal receiving device. The communication control device can quickly initiate the real-time communication system software to form communicable connection with the network by following only some simple steps. The user can use the communication control device to call a communication counter end and input data, thereby enhancing the convenience of real-time network communication and conversion.
In order to achieve the above and other objectives, the apparatus and the method for quickly connecting a real-time communication system of the present invention includes a communication control device that can be inserted into a signal receiving device. The communication control device includes an initiation button, a hot key and an input unit, so as to input the control commands and data to a computer via an emission unit. The initiation button initiates the real-time communication system software installed in the controlled device to achieve network connection. The hot key can trigger the real-time communication system software entering into a dialing mode. The input unit comprises a plurality of input buttons and an enter key. The signal receiving device includes a retaining groove disposed thereon for inserting therein the communication control device. In this manner, the communication control device is highly accessible and unlikely to be misplaced.
In order to better understanding the features and technical contents of the present invention, the present invention is hereinafter described in detail by incorporating with the accompanying drawings. However, the accompanying drawings are only for the convenience of illustration and description, no limitation is intended thereto.
Referring to
The communication control device 1, as shown in
In one particular embodiment of the present invention, the initiation button 10, the hot key 12, and the symbol shortcut button 13 are configured to be a single button. That is, the control button is set to perform the function of initiation button 10 during the initiation process for remotely actuating the real-time communication system software in the signal receiving device. After the real-time communication system software has been properly initiated, the control button is automatically converted to perform the function of the hot key 12. One can employ the hot key 12 for initiating the system software entering into the dialing mode. After entering into the dialing mode, the control button is automatically converted into the “@” symbol shortcut button. Therefore, the same quick operation and input function are achieved.
In other particular embodiments, the initiation button 10 and the hot key 12 are configured into a single control button. Alternatively, the initiation button 10 and the symbol shortcut button 10 can be configured into a single control button. Similarly, the hot key 12 and the symbol shortcut button 13 can be configured into a single control button.
The real-time communication system software that can be quickly initiated via the initiation button 10 and the hot key 12 is one selected from the MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, SKYPE, and Yahoo BB. One of the real-time communication system software is configured to enter into the dialing mode by using the initiation button 10 and the hot key 12. However, it is appreciated that the initiation button 10 and the hot key 12 can initiate more than one of the above real-time communication system software. Furthermore, the initiation button 10 can be configured to initiate the real-time communication system software that is the most often initiated during a predetermined time period. Moreover, the main body 11 of the communication control device 1 can include a plurality of control groups, each including an initiation button 10 and a hot key 12 to initiate a designated real-time communication system software.
The communication control device 1 described above employs the initiation button 10 and the hot key 12 to initiate the real-time communication system software and enter into the dialing mode. One can employ the input buttons 141 of the input unit 14 and the ENTER button 142 to enter into the dialing operation. In order to ensure the correctness of each dialing information, the input dialing information needs to go through a confirmation procedure, thereby preventing dialing errors.
The confirmation procedure described above can be realized by further disposing a display unit 15 on a surface of the main body 11 of the communication control device 1, as shown in
As shown in
In one embodiment of the present invention, the signal receiving device 2 is a portable computer, as shown in
The communication control device 1 can be integrated to a remote control device that is used for presentation. On the other hand, the main body 11 can include some function buttons that can remotely control presentation software.
According to the apparatus for quickly connecting a network real-time communication system described above, a method for quickly connecting a network real-time communication system is hereinafter disclosed and described. As shown in
The communication control device 1 is taken out from the retaining groove 21 of the signal receiving device 2, and is manipulated by the user. The communication control device 1 establishes a one-way control signal transmission connection with the signal receiving device 2, i.e. the computer, via a connection port, e.g. a universal serial bus (USB) port, as shown in step 300.
By pressing the initiation button 10 of the communication control device 1, a signal to initiate the real-time communication system software is generated. The initiation signal is transmitted through the emission unit 10 to initiate the designated real-time communication system software of the signal receiving device 2, as shown in step 302. The real-time communication system software can also be initiated directly from the input unit of the signal receiving device 2, as shown in step 302′.
By using the hot key 12 of the communication control device 1, the real-time communication system software enters the dialing mode, as shown in step 304. The real-time communication system software entering into the dialing mode is confirmed in step 306. If the real-time communication system software did not enter into the dialing mode, then repeat or abandon the initiation procedure, as shown in step 306′.
By using the input unit 14 of the communication control device 1, one can input or select the stored dialing information of the receiving end. If the communication control device 1 does not have a display unit 15, the confirmation of input data is performed through the monitor of the signal receiving device 2. If the communication control device 1 includes a display unit 15, the confirmation procedure is then performed through the display unit 15.
The signal receiving device 2 confirms that the signals received are from signal receiving unit 20 of the counter communication control device 1. The signal receiving unit 20 then receives the dialing information from the communication control device 1. The dialing information is then converted to the dialing information recognizable to the real-time communication system software, as shown in step 310.
After confirming the correctness of the dialing information described above, the ENTER button 142 is pressed to complete the dialing procedure, as shown in step 312.
After executing the dialing procedure by the real-time communication system software and completing the connection with the communication counter end (as shown in step 314), one can then conduct conversation with anyone at the communication counter end by using an audio transmission unit, e.g. ear phone and microphone (not shown). During the conversation, one can further select and perform other functions.
If the connection fails with the communication counter end when executing the dialing procedure through the real-time communication system software, one should then restart the dialing procedure, as shown in step 318, or give up dialing, as shown in step 320.
Since, any person having ordinary skill in the art may readily find various equivalent alterations or modifications in light of the features as disclosed above, it is appreciated that the scope of the present invention is defined in the following claims. Therefore, all such equivalent alterations or modifications without departing from the subject matter as set forth in the following claims is considered within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
