Method of Associating Groups of Classified Source Addresses with Vibration Patterns

Abstract

In a meeting or group event, people having a portable device, such as a cell phone or pager, may wish to be discretely notified when an important message is received, an urgent call comes in from a selected person or a selected group of people, or to be alerted to an upcoming important event without any audible alert to disturb the meeting or group event. To convey such a notification, a tactile alert is provided by vibrating the portable device according to a unique vibration pattern associated with the received communication. When a communication is received, a group identification (ID) is assigned based on the communication being a member of a classified group of source addresses. The portable device associates the group ID with a unique vibration pattern. To provide the alert, the portable device is vibrated according to the unique vibration pattern.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a wireless device vibration controller;

FIG. 3A illustrates a graph of a first drive voltage pattern for a vibration unit;

FIG. 3B illustrates a graph of a second drive voltage pattern for a vibration unit;

FIG. 4 illustrates a configuration process for configuring a vibration controller;

FIG. 5 illustrates a process for intelligent vibration (IV) operation for receiving incoming calls; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a process for intelligent vibration (IV) operation for receiving incoming messages.

Claims

1. A method for conveying a tactile alert on a portable device, the method comprising: assigning a group identification (ID) for a communication received from a classified source address;associating the group ID with a unique vibration pattern; andvibrating the portable device according to the unique vibration pattern.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device is a cell phone and the communication is a phone call.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device is a cell phone and the communication is a text message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the portable device is a cell phone and the communication is a time alert for an upcoming event.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the portable device is a pager.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique vibration pattern is a user specified vibration pattern.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique vibration pattern is a Morse code vibration pattern.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the unique vibration pattern is a no vibration pattern.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising: determining the classified source address as an elevated response source address; andassociating the elevated response source address with an elevated response vibration pattern as the unique vibration pattern.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising: determining the time period between communications received from the same elevated response source address to generate a time urgency indication; anddetermining the unique vibration pattern based on the time urgency indication.

11. The method of claim 9 further comprising: determining the number of communications from the same elevated response source address to generate a repetition urgency indication; anddetermining the unique vibration pattern based on the repetition urgency indication.

12. The method of claim 4 further comprising: classifying selected phone numbers into groups;establishing a plurality of vibration patterns; andassociating a vibration pattern with one of the groups of selected phone numbers.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising: establishing a set of elevated response criteria; andassociating an elevated response criteria with each group of selected phone numbers.

14. An apparatus for conveying a tactile alert on a portable device, the apparatus comprising: a receiver configured to receive an incoming communication;a processor complex having a processor and program memory configured to execute alert processing tasks;an alert processing component configured to have one or more alert processing tasks for classifying the incoming communication and to determine a unique vibration pattern for the classified incoming communication; anda vibration unit configured to vibrate the portable device according to the unique vibration pattern to convey the tactile alert.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the incoming communication is a phone call and the alert processing component comprises: a signal protocol processing task configured to determine a calling phone number for the received incoming communication;a determine contact group task configured to determine if the calling phone number is associated with a contact group; anda determine vibration pattern task configured to select a vibration pattern based on a determined contact group.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the incoming communication is a text message and the alert processing component comprises: a text message processing task configured to determine a message source address for the received incoming communication;a determine contact group task configured to determine if the message source address is associated with a contact group; anda determine vibration pattern task configured to select a vibration pattern based on a determined contact group.

17. A computer readable medium including program code stored thereon, comprising: program code for assigning a group identification (ID) for a communication received from a classified source address or time alert;program code for associating the group ID with a unique vibration pattern; andprogram code for vibrating the portable device according to the unique vibration pattern to convey the tactile alert.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 17 further comprising: program code for selecting, based on the group ID, a unique vibration pattern from a file containing a set of unique vibration patterns.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 18 further comprising: program code for selecting, based on the group ID, an elevated response modifier criteria from a file containing a set of elevated response modifier criteria.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 17 further comprising: program code for generating a modified vibration pattern based on a vibration pattern selected from a file containing a set of unique vibration patterns and an elevated response modifier criteria selected from a file containing a set of elevated response modifier criteria; andprogram code for providing the modified vibration pattern to a vibration unit driver to vibrate the portable device according to the modified vibration pattern.