Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Programming control
Reexamination Certificate
1997-05-08
2001-02-20
Tsang, Fan (Department: 2746)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Programming control
C455S557000, C455S573000, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192236
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to remote control devices and methods and, more particularly, to remote control devices for controlling accessory devices using tone signals transmitted by telephone.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Telephone service has been provided using Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) also known as wired telephone networks and by the use of radiotelephones communicating over wide area cellular networks. Public cellular networks (public land mobile networks) are commonly employed to provide voice and data communications to a plurality of subscribers. For example, analog cellular radiotelephone systems, such as designated AMPS, ETACS, NMT-450, and NMT-900, have been deployed successfully throughout the world. More recently, digital cellular radiotelephone systems such as designated IS-54B in North America and the pan-European GSM system have been introduced. These systems, and others, are described, for example, in the book titled
Cellular Radio Systems by Balston
, et al., published by Artech House, Norwood, Mass., 1993.
Various devices and methods are known for remotely controlling accessories such as televisions and heating and air conditioning systems. These devices include line of sight devices such as infrared devices typically used with television remote controllers and simple RF links such as those typically used with garage door openers. These approaches generally suffer from limited range and marginal transmission performance. While special-purpose radio equipment could possibly be designed with high performance and long range, the costs of producing such products for remote control applications would be expected to be prohibitive. U.S. Pat. No. 5,548,635 to Bradley et al. describes a system for controlling equipment within a telephone subscriber's premises using Dual Tone Multiple Frequency (DTMF) signals. This allows for non-line of sight remote control of devices in locations served by wired telephone lines. The use of wired telephone lines to transmit remote control commands is also discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,766 to Yauoka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,386,461 to Gedney, U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,655 to Hashimoto and U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,502 to Myers.
DTMF signals are typically generated by pressing the keys on a modern “tone” type telephone (as contrasted with the older “pulse” systems). In addition to providing for communication of a phone number to be contacted to the public switched telephone network, various devices have been designed to utilize these audio frequency range DTMF signals for control such as voice mailboxes and answering machines.
One limitation of the various known methods for utilizing DTMF signals transmitted over telephone lines for remote control is that they generally require a telephone outlet in the vicinity of the device to be controlled. Accordingly, there are various locations which these approaches are unsuited for use, either because no wired telephone network exists or because no telephone outlet is available in the vicinity of the device to be controlled. Furthermore, the cost of making a wire line available in the vicinity of the device to be controlled may be prohibitive if the need for remote control is only occasional.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, therefore, an objective of the present invention to resolve the problem of providing for remote control using tone signals, such as DTMF signals, transmitted by telephone in locations where no wired telephone line is available. To solve the problem of receiving a tone signal in a location without a wired telephone line outlet, the present invention provides devices and methods that enable a radiotelephone receiving an incoming call including tone signals from a wide area cellular network to control an accessory device in the vicinity of the radiotelephone. Various embodiments of adaptors which can be attached to a standard radiotelephone are provided so that users who already own a radiotelephone may obtain the benefits of the present invention without the burdens and costs of replacing existing equipment. The present invention has the benefit of bringing the full resources of the existing radiotelephone infrastructure to bear on the remote control application, thereby extending the reach of remote control operations to worldwide proportions while providing robust transmission performance. By utilizing existing high quality radiotelephones, whose cost has been previously absorbed to obtain voice service for the user, as receivers, the present invention provides high quality long range remote control capabilities at a favorable cost. The radiotelephone user is also allowed to obtain the benefits of remote control over the user's current service provider's network without incurring additional costs for access to a transmission network for the remote control functions.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a remote control docking station for a battery powered radiotelephone is provided. The docking station includes a portable housing, a battery charger in the housing and a tone signal decoder in the housing. Means are provided in the housing for receiving the radiotelephone and providing electrical interface therewith, electrically connecting the battery charger to the battery and further electrically connecting the tone signal decoder to an audio output line of the radiotelephone when the radiotelephone is in the housing. Switching means is provided in the housing and operatively connected to the tone signal decoder for switching a control output responsive to a tone signal or sequence of tone signals received and converted by the tone signal decoder. The switching means may be electrically connected to the battery charger and may switch the control output between a state connected to and disconnected from the battery charger. In one embodiment, the remote control docking station further includes power line connecting means connecting to a power source and the switching means switches the control output between a state connected to and disconnected from the power source.
In another aspect of the present invention, a remote control lock box is provided for a radiotelephone. The lock box includes a housing having a first and a second compartment. A first cover is connected to the housing having a first position so as to substantially close the first compartment and a second position so as to provide access to the first compartment. A second cover is connected to the housing having a first position so as to substantially close the second compartment and a second position so as to provide access to the second compartment. Mounting means is provided in the first compartment for mounting the radiotelephone within the first compartment. A tone signal decoder is provided connected to the housing for receiving and converting a tone signal received by the radiotelephone when the radiotelephone is mounted. Interface means are provided for electrically connecting the tone signal decoder to an audio output line of the radiotelephone when the radiotelephone is mounted. Switching means are operatively connected to the tone signal decoder for switching a control output responsive to a tone signal received and converted by the tone signal decoder. In one embodiment means are provided for assembling a command from a stored converted tone signal. A plurality of tone signals are sequentially received and stored and the command is assembled from the sequence of tone signals in another embodiment. Locking means are provided in the housing and electrically connected to the control output of the switching means for locking the second cover in the first position of the second cover responsive to a first state of the control output and for unlocking the second cover responsive to a second state of the control output.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a detachable remote control adaptor for a radiotelephone is provided including a housing that contains a tone signal decoder for receiving and converting a tone signal received by the radioteleph
Ericsson Inc.
Myers Bigel & Sibley & Sajovec
Sobutka Philip J.
Tsang Fan
LandOfFree
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