Patent Application
20090117888
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1. Field
The present relates to wireless device having user configurable modes and, more specifically to cellular telephones being reconfigurable based on user input and location.
2. Background
Wireless devices, and particularly cellular telephones, are becoming ubiquitous in society. These devices allow consumers to be accessible in almost all locations in almost all times of the day. Additionally, today's wireless devices have more computer power than ever before. Wireless devices allow verbal communication, short message service, text messaging, electronic mail, internet applications, electronic games, video and audio streaming, and the like.
While access to the various applications is beneficial, it creates numerous difficulties in numerous situations. Some of the difficulties relate in particular to safety and health concerns. Other difficulties relate in particular to common courtesy. Still other difficulties relate to the ability to use the wireless device in particular environments.
Safety concerns can arise in numerous situations. One potential safety issue may be accessing email accounts while driving, which would provide a potentially unsafe or dangerous condition. Another safety issue arises when, for example, the high radio frequency transmissions of conventional cellular telephone transmissions interfere with there electronic equipment, such as, for example, medical equipment or aviation equipment.
Common courtesy issues generally arise in public settings. It is generally accepted that talking on a cellular telephone is discourteous in a theater or the like. Other discourteous wireless device usages may include using the devices during meetings, in crowded waiting rooms, or the like.
Still other situations are simply difficult environments for the wireless device usage. For example, it may be difficult to use a cellular telephone in a machine shop where loud noise makes it difficult to communicate. A gym or weight room may provide a similar difficult use environment. Alternatively, a low light or visibility area may make use of any-wireless device difficult, such as, for example, a photograph dark room or the like.
Thus, it would be desirous to provide a wireless device that has configurable modes of operation to address the above and other needs of the industry.
Embodiments disclosed herein address the above stated needs by providing a wireless device. The wireless device includes a user interface, a control processor, transmit and receive circuitry coupled to the control processor, and a memory, the memory comprises at least a configuration segment that contains at least one user defined setting containing configuration information for the wireless device, such that a user uses the user interface to transmit the at least one user defined setting to the control processor, the control processor uses the at least one user defined setting to access the configuration segment and configure the wireless device using the configuration information contained in the user defined setting.
Other aspects of the technology described herein include methods for recording a user defined setting in a wireless device. The method includes launching a configuration entering program on the wireless device to allow a user to define a setting and enter configuration information. The user defined setting and configuration information.
Still other aspects of the technology described herein include methods of configuring a wireless device to user defined settings. The methods include launching a configuration application at the wireless device. The user defined setting to be entered is identified to retrieve the configuration information relating to at least one application or at least one mode of the wireless device from memory. The wireless device is configured based on the configuration information retrieved relating to the at least one application or the at least one mode.
To facilitate operation, the above and other aspects of the technology described herein may be incorporated into operation such that a single key stroke or operation implements the configuration change. Such a operation may be similar to a hotkey or speed dial.
The technology of the present application will now be described with specific reference to the figures. For convenience, the technology will be explained with reference to a cellular telephone. However, on reading the disclosure, one of ordinary skill in the art will now recognize that the technology explained herein could be used in numerous wireless or mobile devices including, for example, cellular telephones, pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, handheld computers, PDAs, mobile electronic mail devices, electronic games, MPEG players, MP-3 players, personal navigation units, and the like. Thus, in this written description, reference to a cellular telephone should be construed broadly to encompass other wireless or other mobile devices. Moreover, technology of the present application is described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments. The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Additionally, all embodiments described herein should be considered exemplary unless otherwise stated.
The word “network” is used herein to mean one or more conventional or proprietary networks using an appropriate network data transmission protocol. Examples of such networks include, PSTN, LAN, WAN, WiFi, WiMax, Internet, World Wide Web, Ethernet, other wireless networks, and the like.
The words “wireless device,” “mobile device,” and “cellular telephone” are generally used interchangeably in the written description and mean one or more conventional or proprietary wireless devices including, cellular telephones, pagers, two-way radios, wireless computers (laptops, desktops, and handhelds), PDAs, electronic games, MPEG players, MP-3 players, and the like.
Referring first to
Wireless device 104 is connected via a wireless communication data link 108 to a base station 110. Base station 110 has an antenna 112. Antenna 106 and base station antenna 112 can transmit and receive respective radio frequency signals to allow data transfer between wireless device 104 and base station 110. Base station 110 may have a network interface 114 such that it is interconnected to a network 116. Network 116 may be several networks, but network 116 will be described as a single network for convenience. Network 116 typically is connected to servers 118 and/or service centers 120 as necessary.
Cellular communication system 100 is shown with a single wireless device 104 connected to a single base station 110. It is envisioned, however, that cellular communication system 100 would support multiple wireless devices 104, multiple base station 110 and multiple networks as a matter of design choice. In these instances, it may be beneficial to incorporate security measures in the system and assign unique identifiers to the wireless devices.
Wireless device 104 communicates with base station 110 using a conventional protocol, such as CDMA or the like, although any analog or digital protocol is acceptable. Moreover, while described using, a cellular network for communication and data transfer between wireless device 104 and base station 110, other wireless or wired networks are possible.
Referring now to
Wireless device 104 also includes a user interface 206. User interface may comprise a user interface typical of, for example, a cellular telephone or typical of the particular wireless device, such as, for example, a keyboard, an alphanumeric pad, a mouse, a track ball, a touch screen, a voice recognition, a microphone, speakers, data ports, or the like. The user 102 accesses, receives, and transmits information via user interface 206. The user interface 206 provides one means by which the control processor can be caused to initiate configuration of applications and modes, such as, for example, volume changes or the like.
Wireless device 104 includes a memory 208 connected to control processor 202. Memory 208 may store data and processing instructions necessary or convenient for operation of wireless device 104. Memory 208 may include volatile and/or nonvolatile memory on any suitable media. Memory 208 may include a configuration segment 208c. Configuration segment may store standardized or user defined configurations for wireless device 104 as will be explained further below.
Referring to
Similarly, file 304 may comprise user defined setting. For example, the setting contained in field 3101 may include a “noisy environment setting,” such as, for example, a machine shop or gym. In this setting, the configuration information or instruction field 3121 may be arranged to configure the wireless device to high volumes, ring tone, microphone, and speakers, to facilitate use. Setting in field 3102 may include “car setting.” Configuration information or instructions field 3122 may contain instructions to configure the wireless device for hands free operation, activate a navigation module, and deactivate text messaging. These are but two examples of potential user defined configurations, but any number of user defined configurations and settings may be entered into configuration segment 208c of memory 208. Thus, if a user called up the car setting on the user interface, the control, processor would access the memory and extract and implement the configuration based on the configuration information tied to that setting. This avoids the need for the user to individually reprogram the individual applications or modes to the desired configuration.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring back to
Certain locations, such as, for example, hospitals that have predefined settings may be configured as indicated above. Alternatively, as shown in
Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.
Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.
The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.
The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.
The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.
