Patent Application
20090029734
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to communications devices and systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices and systems used for mobile communications.
2. Background Art
Mobile communication devices are widely used and heavily relied upon by substantially all strata of modem society for activities ranging from socialization to commercial transaction. Although at one time the perceived advantages of mobile communications may have focused on the convenience and enhanced personal security flowing from an ability to communicate more or less independently of location, other benefits are heavily emphasized today. For example, mobile communication devices are increasingly being utilized to enable multi-tasking activities. Mobile telephones, for instance, once used primarily to communicate from a remote location, are now frequently used to communicate while traveling to and from a remote location, or while performing a task in a remote location. To draw a specific example from common experience, the sight of drivers simultaneously using cellular telephones while operating an automobile has become ubiquitous on the roads and freeways.
While enabling greater productivity, the use of mobile communication devices to multi-task includes some undesirable consequences. At their most benign, these consequences include inconveniences associated with the hands-on aspect of operating a mobile device while performing, or trying to perform, a routine task. More ominous, however, are the very real safety concerns, both to device users and to bystanders, arising from their use during the performance of potentially dangerous activities. In response to those concerns, several states and municipalities have enacted laws prohibiting the use of mobile communication devices while driving a motor vehicle, for example.
Conventional solutions for making mobile devices safer and more convenient to use, rely on systems utilizing wired or wireless headsets to permit hands-free operation of the device. As an example of a conventional implementation for hands-free mobile communication,
Typical operation of mobile communication system 100 requires that mobile telephone 102 and mobile headset 108 be separately charged by respectively, external phone charger 106 and external headset charger 114. When both mobile telephone 102 and mobile headset 108 are charged and synchronized with one another, the two devices may communicate using radio frequency, in a manner well known in the art, to enable hands-free operation of mobile telephone 102. Depletion of the power stored in either phone battery 104, in mobile telephone 102, or battery 110, in mobile headset 108, however, terminates hands-free operation, and requires replenishment of the depleted battery charge by the respective external charger prior to resumption of hands-free use.
A primary advantage provided by this conventional implementation is that hands-free operation of mobile telephone 102 is, in principle, enabled. However, drawbacks associated with this conventional implementation have significant practical consequences that compromise effective enablement. For example, the conventional implementation tends to be cumbersome and lack portability due to its reliance on separate external chargers for the mobile telephone 102 and the mobile headset 108. As a result, to be fully portable, the system requires access to two separate external chargers, which must consequently be carried by the user of the system. Otherwise, the usefulness of the system is limited by the operational capacity of the component device with the least functional longevity between charges, typically the mobile headset in standby mode, because of its smaller battery.
Battery size has additional implications for the mobile headset because a lower limit on its physical dimensions may be determined by the size of the battery needed to power it for an operationally desirable period of time. Because the conventional implementation typically requires a mobile headset battery to store a charge sufficient for multiple uses, a mobile headset must be large enough to physically accommodate a battery having the required capacity. Moreover, by relying on separate external charging devices for mobile telephone 102 and mobile headset 108, the conventional implementation requires at least four discrete component devices for uninterrupted operation of the mobile communication system. The practical disadvantage to that constraint includes sub-optimal mobile communication system portability, as mentioned previously, as well as vulnerability of the system as a whole to loss or misplacement of just one of those four required component devices—a scenario made ever more likely by the constantly increasing proliferation of gadgets an average user may be expected to possess.
A mobile communication device and system with modular audio accessory, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in the claims.
The features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art after reviewing the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present invention is directed to a mobile communication device and system with modular audio accessory. Although the invention is described with respect to specific embodiments, the principles of the invention, as defined by the claims appended herein, can obviously be applied beyond the specifically described embodiments of the invention described herein. Moreover, in the description of the present invention, certain details have been left out in order to not obscure the inventive aspects of the invention. The details left out are within the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art.
The drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely example embodiments of the invention. To maintain brevity, other embodiments of the invention, which use the principles of the present invention, are not specifically described in the present application and are not specifically illustrated by the present drawings. It should be borne in mind that, unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals.
As discussed previously in conjunction with
In the embodiment of
According to the present embodiment, modular audio accessory 208, which can be for example, a wireless headset, wireless earpiece, or a Bluetooth device, can be stored, when not in use, by placement into compartment 216 in mobile telephone 202. In addition, power connector 212 on modular audio accessory 208 can be connected to power port 214, located in compartment 216, wherein battery 210 is charged by phone battery 204. Dashed line 218 in
In the event that phone battery 204 becomes depleted, it may be charged using phone charger 206, in which event battery 210 of modular audio accessory 208 is charged through phone battery 204, when connected to power port 214. Yet, in other embodiments, battery 210 of modular audio accessory 208 may directly be connected to phone charger 206 through power port 214 for charging battery 210. It should also be noted that, unlike mobile communication system 100 in
Although in the present embodiment, modular audio accessory 208 is utilized in conjunction with mobile telephone 202, in other embodiments modular audio accessory 208 can be utilized with other mobile communication devices. Those alternative mobile communication devices may include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones, cordless telephone handsets, wireless computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital audio players, and video game consoles, for example.
As may be seen from
Comparison of the mobile communication systems shown in
Turning to
In a manner similar to that for mobile communication system 200 shown in
Thus, the present invention enhances and extends the functionality of hands-free mobile communication systems, by increasing their portability and reducing their vulnerability to inoperability from a number of practical disadvantages associated with conventional implementations. By modular incorporation of an audio accessory into a mobile device, the present invention improves system portability and ease of use. By providing a fully integrated power source to support both a mobile device and a modular audio accessory, the present invention allows the modular audio accessory to be concurrently stored and charged when not in use. Integration of the power source offers the additional advantages of reduced modular audio accessory size, and decreased likelihood of hands-free system inoperability due to lost, misplaced, or discharged component devices.
From the above description of the invention it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts of the present invention without departing from its scope. Moreover, while the invention has been described with specific reference to certain embodiments, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. It should also be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described herein, but is capable of many rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention.
