Patent Application
20080074488
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of embodiments of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward.
Embodiments herein can be implemented in a wide variety of exemplary ways in various devices such as in personal digital assistants, cellular phones, laptop computers, desktop computers and the like. Generally speaking, pursuant to these various embodiments, a method, system or device can include a means for determining the context or modes of the various devices utilized by a user which can further include determining personal preferences and a manner of sharing such information. Such a system can increase productivity by reducing or suppressing intrusive or interruptive inputs into a communication session.
Background knowledge and sensed information utilized in a context aware system in an interaction mode can help determine what a user uses the most or prefers over time in different environments. Such a system can possibly determine what information is important to remember over time by logging and recording the person's active communication mode(s) or applications and noting interactions over time. A user engaging in email or Instant Messaging (IM) or Netmeeting may not want to be interrupted by an audible alert from a cellular phone and might prefer such alert as an incoming IM message or email instead. The user can decide whether such alert should be shared with some or all participants rather than intrusively providing an audible alert that can be heard by possibly all participants in a conference call for example.
Referring to
As an example, when a user is in the midst of an IM conversation on a computer, the method 100 can either suppress incoming calls to a non-participant device such as a cellular phone or can suppress the ringing on the cellular phone. The determination can be done by checking user preferences for quiet conversation associated to a calendar entry indicative of a current meeting or conference call before any phone gives audible ring. Thus, only silent modes of alerts and communication on all of a user's devices can be engaged or activated when the user is in a conference, meeting, or other setting calling for silence. Note, all laptop or desktop audibles can be similarly set for silent mode so that no loud sounds indicating new emails coming in, or Windows O/S booting, or extraneous or mimicked typing sounds will avoid disturbing the user or other participants in a communication session. Optionally, the silent mode at one participant can cause or trigger a control signal for all participants in a communication session to transmit control signals to their respective non-participant devices within their respective vicinities. The silent mode can also optionally control or block any audio or sounds associated with pop-up screens or advertisements or WAV files that a user may be opening while typing on a computer or surfing a website when multi-tasking during a conference call. The silent mode can also be useful in a Master-Slave muting scenario when a teacher or presenter desires to mute all students or participant devices in order to avoid disruptive interruptions. Thus, a facilitator or presenter may want to mute all devices in a formal business presentation or a manager may want to mute all employee devices when engaged in a staff meeting. Thus the “master” can be programmed to override all participant slave device mute settings.
Referring to
The processor can be further programmed to detect the communication event by detecting an instant messaging session, a telephone conference, a video conference, an audio-visual conference, or a calendared event on an electronic calendar. The electronic calendar can be on one of the communication devices (204 or 206) or can optionally reside in the server 202. The processor can be further programmed to send the wireless control signal by causing any remaining participant devices among the participant devices to send a wireless control signal to any non-participant devices detected by the remaining participant devices. For example, if participant device or communication device 204 detects the non-participant device 208 within the vicinity of device 204 and there is a conference call or other communication event requiring a quiet mode, the system 200 can be programmed to cause any other non-participant devices (210 and 212) to receive a control signal 220 from other participant devices (206).
Such embodiments can address personal communication preference modes based upon a user's current interaction mode and context. If the user is currently in a meeting or a work setting interacting with several others, then inaudible alerts and communication mechanisms for all other users having interaction with non-participant devices can be activated or deactivated as needed by the user or automatically via a broadcast mechanism the user can activate themselves, or a sensor can automatically determine the context/setting and user's current interaction modes such as a teleconference or calendared meeting and automatically deactivate or activate all audible user feedback mechanisms as desired.
Embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated in any wireless or wireline communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, and the like and also within any software application (NETMEETING/WEBEX, internet conferencing, digital audio/video playback) that helps the user communicate directly or indirectly with other users on wireless or wireline communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices can tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of a plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and communicate over that channel(s).
The machine may comprise a server computer, a client user computer, a personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, personal digital assistant, a cellular phone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a control system, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine, not to mention a mobile server. It will be understood that a device of the present disclosure includes broadly any electronic device that provides voice, video or data communication. Further, while a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
The computer system 600 can include a controller or processor 602 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU, or both), a main memory 604 and a static memory 606, which communicate with each other via a bus 608. The computer system 600 may further include a presentation device such as a video display unit 610 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a flat panel, a solid state display, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 600 may include an input device 612 (e.g., a keyboard), a cursor control device 614 (e.g., a mouse), a disk drive unit 616, a signal generation device 618 (e.g., a speaker or remote control that can also serve as a presentation device) and a network interface device 620. Of course, in the embodiments disclosed, many of these items are optional.
The disk drive unit 616 may include a machine-readable medium 622 on which is stored one or more sets of instructions (e.g., software 624) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein, including those methods illustrated above. The instructions 624 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 604, the static memory 606, and/or within the processor 602 during execution thereof by the computer system 600. The main memory 604 and the processor 602 also may constitute machine-readable media.
Dedicated hardware implementations including, but not limited to, application specific integrated circuits, programmable logic arrays and other hardware devices can likewise be constructed to implement the methods described herein. Applications that may include the apparatus and systems of various embodiments broadly include a variety of electronic and computer systems. Some embodiments implement functions in two or more specific interconnected hardware modules or devices with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules, or as portions of an application-specific integrated circuit. Thus, the example system is applicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.
In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, the methods described herein are intended for operation as software programs running on a computer processor. Furthermore, software implementations can include, but are not limited to, distributed processing or component/object distributed processing, parallel processing, or virtual machine processing can also be constructed to implement the methods described herein. Further note, implementations can also include neural network implementations, and ad hoc or mesh network implementations between communication devices.
The present disclosure contemplates a machine readable medium containing instructions 624, or that which receives and executes instructions 624 from a propagated signal so that a device connected to a network environment 626 can send or receive voice, video or data, and to communicate over the network 626 using the instructions 624. The instructions 624 may further be transmitted or received over a network 626 via the network interface device 620.
While the machine-readable medium 622 is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present disclosure. The terms “program,” “software application,” and the like as used herein, are defined as a sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system. A program, computer program, or software application may include a subroutine, a function, a procedure, an object method, an object implementation, an executable application, an applet, a servlet, a source code, an object code, a shared library/dynamic load library and/or other sequence of instructions designed for execution on a computer system.
In light of the foregoing description, it should be recognized that embodiments in accordance with the present invention can be realized in hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. A network or system according to the present invention can be realized in a centralized fashion in one computer system or processor, or in a distributed fashion where different elements are spread across several interconnected computer systems or processors (such as a microprocessor and a DSP). Any kind of computer system, or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the functions described herein, is suited. A typical combination of hardware and software could be a general purpose computer system with a computer program that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computer system such that it carries out the functions described herein.
In light of the foregoing description, it should also be recognized that embodiments in accordance with the present invention can be realized in numerous configurations contemplated to be within the scope and spirit of the claims. Additionally, the description above is intended by way of example only and is not intended to limit the present invention in any way, except as set forth in the following claims.
