Patent Application
20080260134
Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program product for outputting audio data during a communication, and, more particularly, to an apparatus, a method, and a computer program product for causing a pre-defined audio composition to emanate at least temporarily during an at least bilateral communications state and substantially contemporaneously from each of first and second communications devices involved in the at least bilateral communications state.
“Ring tone” refers to the sound made by a telephone to provide notification of an incoming call. Traditionally, ring tones utilized in standard telephones have consisted of standard sounds, such as buzzing or ringing. However, with the more recent advent and expanding use of cellular telephones and other mobile terminals, it has become common to customize the ring tone or ring tones associated with a given mobile terminal. This practice has grown to the point where the sale of ring tone data and software has become a significant business. However, while a personalized ring tone tends to provide enjoyment for the user of a mobile terminal associated with the personalized ring tone, this enjoyment does not extend to others that may communicate with the user. That is, callers to a mobile terminal having a personalized ring tone have no way to hear the personalized ring tone associated with their call.
In light of the foregoing background, provided are improved apparatuses, methods, and computer program products for providing output of a predefined audio composition during an at least bilateral communications state between at least two communications devices, such as during a voice call. The output is provided substantially contemporaneously at each communications device. By providing the output to the communications devices substantially contemporaneously, respective users of the communications devices may together experience the audio composition.
In one aspect, a method is provided that involves initiating an at least bilateral communications state, such as an at least bilateral audio communications state, between a first communications device and a second communications device. A pre-defined audio composition is caused to emanate at least temporarily during the bilateral communications state and substantially contemporaneously from each of the first and second communications devices. The audio composition may be selected from the group consisting of a song, a voice, a commercial recording, a user-generated series of musical notes, and a user-compiled series of sounds. Further, the audio composition may be caused to sound at a volume that is reduced when compared to a standard volume, and/or at a volume that reduces over a time that may be selectable via the first communications device.
In one embodiment, the first communications device may receive a request from the second communications device to initiate the bilateral communications state. In response to receiving the request, the audio composition may sound at the first communications device as an audible call notification. The bilateral communications state may then be initiated in response to the request. An identity associated with the second communications device may be detected, and the audio composition may be selected from a plurality of available audio compositions based on the identity associated with the second communications device.
In another aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes an input unit configured to accept data. A communications unit communicates with the input unit and is configured to send and receive data. As such, the communications unit may thereby support an at least bilateral communications state between the apparatus and a separate communications device. The apparatus also includes an audio output unit and a processing unit. The processing unit communicates with the communications unit and the audio output unit. The processing unit is configured to cause the audio output unit to output a pre-defined audio composition at least temporarily during the bilateral communications state, as well as to cause the communications unit to substantially contemporaneously send the audio composition to the separate communications device.
In yet another aspect, a computer program product is provided that includes a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein. The computer-readable program code portions include a first and a second executable code portion. The first executable code portion initiates an at least bilateral communications state between a first communications device and a second communications device. The second executable code portion causes a pre-defined audio composition to emanate substantially contemporaneously from each of the first and second communications devices at least temporarily during the bilateral communications state.
In still another aspect, an apparatus is provided that includes input means for accepting data. Communications means communicate with the input means, the communications means sending and receiving data and thereby supporting an at least bilateral communications state between the apparatus and a separate communications device. Audio output means for outputting at least some of the data received by the communications means are also included. Processing means communicate with the communications means and the audio output means, the processing means causing the audio output means to output a pre-defined audio composition at least temporarily during the bilateral communications state. The processing means also cause the communications means to substantially contemporaneously send the audio composition to the separate communications device.
Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:
The present inventions now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, these inventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.
Referring to
Referring to
Communications device 102 may further include communications means, such as a communications unit 112, configured to send and receive data. For example, communications unit 112 may include a transceiver and/or a network connection, such as a wireless network connection, a wide area network connection, a local area network connection, and/or an Internet connection. Communications unit 112 may thereby support a bilateral communications state between communications device 102 and a separate communications device, such as communications device 104 (
Communications unit 112 may be in communication with input unit 108 and audio output unit 110, such that communications unit 112 may receive at least some data via the network to be outputted by audio output unit 110 and may send data via the network that has been accepted by or entered with input unit 108. Communications unit 112, so configured, may therefore support a bilateral communications state consisting of an ongoing voice call between, say, two cellular telephones. However, communications device 102 may include any of a variety of output components, including a display, such that the bilateral communications state may involve the exchange of any of a variety of data forms, including audio data, video data, and/or textual data.
Processing means, such as a processing unit 114, may communicate with input unit 108, audio output unit 110, and communications unit 112. Processing unit 114 may be, for example, a programmable microprocessor, a digital signal processor, integrated circuitry including, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), firmware, or some combination thereof. Processing unit 114 may be configured to cause audio output unit 110 to output a pre-defined audio composition at least temporarily during a bilateral communications state and to cause communications unit 112 to substantially contemporaneously send the same audio composition to a separate communications device, such as communications device 104 (
In some embodiments, processing unit 114 may cause the audio composition to be outputted and sent automatically, while in other embodiments, processing unit 114 may require receipt of a signal prompting the output and transmission of the audio output (e.g., depression of a designated key (not shown) on communications device 102). In some embodiments, processing unit 114 may prompt a user to consider providing manual authorization for the audio output. In still other embodiments, processing unit 114 may not be configured to cause communications unit 112 to send the audio composition to a separate communications device, but instead may transmit an indication of the audio composition to be outputted at the separate communications device. The audio composition may then be retrieved by the separate communications device, possibly from a memory of the separate communications device or from another source in the network. Alternatively, processing unit 114 may cause communications unit 112 to transmit an indication of the audio composition to a server that subsequently provides the audio communication to the separate communications device.
A pre-defined audio composition is any sound or group of sounds that is stored by the communications unit 112 or elsewhere for subsequent use. Possible examples of pre-defined audio compositions include a song, a voice, a commercial recording, a user-generated series of musical notes, a user-compiled series of sounds, and the like. Generally, there is no limit on what may be used as an audio composition.
In one embodiment, the bilateral communications state may be an ongoing phone call between communications device 102 and a separate communications device 104. Processing unit 114 may cause audio output unit 110 to output, say, a song that is heard in parallel with the conversation associated with the ongoing phone call. Processing unit 114 may also cause communications unit 112 to send the same song to separate communications device 104 for output in parallel with the audio conversation of the ongoing phone call. The song may be outputted substantially contemporaneously at communications devices 102 and 104, such that users at both ends may experience the song together and in unison. The song may be outputted at a volume that is reduced when compared to a standard volume. The standard volume may be chosen to be the volume of a typical conversation or the volume at which most persons prefer to hear conversations, thereby allowing the song to be heard in the background of an ongoing conversation between users of communications devices 102, 104 without hindering the conversation.
Processing unit 114 may be configured to detect requests from separate communications devices for the initiation of bilateral communications. In response to such detected requests, processing unit 114 may prompt the output an audio composition as a notification of the request. As an example, processing unit 114 may detect an incoming phone call being received by communications unit 112 from communications device 104 (
Processing unit 114 may control the output of the audio composition in a variety of ways. For example, processing unit 114 may cause the volume of the audio composition to reduce over time, say, such that the audio composition “fades out.” The time over which the audio composition volume is reduced may be user-selectable. Alternatively, the audio composition may be caused to play until completion, may be caused to play until a user-specified indication of termination is received (e.g., via user input 108), or may be caused to play continuously throughout a state of bilateral communications such as an ongoing phone call.
Referring to
At Block 202, a first cellular telephone may receive a request from a second cellular telephone to initiate a bilateral communications state, in this case a phone call. At Block 204, an identity associated with the second (requesting) cellular telephone may be detected. For example, the second cellular telephone may transmit, perhaps in conjunction with the call request, a unique identification number that may be extracted from the call request. At Block 206, an audio composition, such as a song, is selected, perhaps from a library of available songs, based on the identity associated with the second cellular telephone. For example, each potential caller or calling device may be associated with a unique song from a song library.
At Block 208, the selected song can be audibly outputted as a notification of the call or as a “ring tone.” This notification signals to a user of the first (receiving) cellular telephone that a call is available to be answered. At Block 210, a bilateral communications state may be initiated by answering the incoming call. Once the bilateral communication state has been initiated, at Block 212 the selected song can be caused, perhaps automatically, to emanate substantially contemporaneously from each of the first (receiving) and second (requesting) cellular telephones. As such, the song may be audibly outputted in parallel with the audio of the phone conversation, for all parties to the conversation to hear. The audio output of the song following call initiation may be at a volume that is less than the volume of call notification, and may be at a volume that is lower than a standard volume, such as the volume for a typical conversation. The song may sound temporarily during the conversation, or may play continuously throughout the conversation. In cases where the song is temporarily played, at Block 214 the song can be caused to fade out by reducing the volume of the song to zero, thereby leaving only the conversation.
As described above and as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be configured as a system, an apparatus, or a method. Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may be comprised of various means including entirely of hardware, entirely of software, or any combination of hardware and software. Furthermore, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program instructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatuses (i.e., systems) and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implemented by various means including computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus create a means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including computer-readable instructions for implementing the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that the instructions that execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart block or blocks.
Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support combinations of means for performing the specified functions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. It will also be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-based computer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.
