Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Message storage or retrieval
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-30
2003-12-30
Vuong, Quochien (Department: 2685)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Message storage or retrieval
C455S419000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06671508
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technologies that facilitate remote communication via mobile communication terminals such as mobile phone and remote manipulation of information stored in such mobile communication terminals.
B. Definition of Terms
The term mobile communication terminal in the instant application refers to an information terminal that is connected to a mobile communication network and is adapted to send data to and receive data from another mobile communication terminal via the mobile communication network.
Communication services refer to any of a variety of services that utilize various communication means. For instance, such communication services include mobile phone services, telephone services using stationary business related phones, telephone services using home phones, electronic mail services, and/or brief messaging services such as pagers.
C. Description of the Related Art
Many of mobile communication terminals such as cellular telephones, hereinafter referred to as mobile phones, are provided with a phonebook feature whereby names of persons and corresponding telephone numbers may be stored. By storing in advance the names and phone numbers of various people, a user can search for a specific person's phone number and then dial that number speeding up use of the mobile phone. The phonebook can also store multiple phone numbers for a single person, such as home number and work number as well as a mobile phone number.
Communication services available in mobile phones include various services other than voice communication via phones. For instance, such services include text communication services that deliver short text messages (hereinafter short messaging services), electronic mail services that deliver electronic mails via the Internet, and packet communication services such as the “I-mode service” which is available in Japan. Accordingly, there have been offered phonebooks that are compatible with multiple communication services. Japanese Patent Application 10-126486A discloses a phonebook that stores for each person identified in the phonebook, multiple communication services and communication parameters corresponding to communication services.
On the other hand, to utilize the phonebook function of a mobile phone, a user has to input various data manually, which is a burden on the user's part. To alleviate this problem, Japanese Patent Application 6-30101A discloses a communication terminal device which can update its phonebook by receiving phonebook data via the telephone network. Japanese Patent Application 9-284379A and Japanese Patent Application 10-173756A disclose mobile phone terminals which can send and receive phonebook data to and from one another.
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION
In communication based on mobile phones that can accommodate multiple communication services, it is sometimes the case that a person can be contacted by a certain communication service but not by other communication services, depending on the person's situation. Also, a user may want other people to contact him by a communication service that suits the user's situation. For instance, a user may want other people to call his mobile phone while he is away. But, he wants other people to leave a message by a short messaging service while he is driving a car or while he is in a theater. Also, a user may want other people to call him at his current location. For instance, he wants to be called primarily at work while he is at work, at home while he is home, and at a mobile phone while he is traveling.
However, conventional phonebooks merely administer communication parameters that are necessary for conducting communications, such as by updating people and their phone numbers and adding communication services. Consequently, a user cannot tell which of the communication services is available for a particular person. Also, a user cannot determine which of the communication services is most desirable for a particular person.
In the aforementioned communication terminals disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 6-30101A, Japanese Patent Application 9-284379A, and Japanese Patent Application 10-173756A, contents of phonebooks can be updated by accessing the phonebooks remotely. In this case, it is preferable that information regarding a certain person can be updated only by that person. However, currently there are no phonebook that have access control function for updating contents.
In view of the above, there exists a need for an improved mobile communication terminal which overcomes the above mentioned problems in the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the prior art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.
The term mobile communication system in the instant application refers to a telecommunication network that relays signals and communications to and from the mobile communication terminals. Such mobile communication systems normally includes several base stations, a mobile communication switcher, and an administration device. The mobile communication terminals connect to at least one of the base stations via microwave or other radio-type frequency transmission. Each base station is connected to the mobile communication switcher. The administration device stores communication statuses of the mobile communication terminals in a status DB.
There has been a rapid increase in installment of mobile communication systems that provide communication services to a plurality of mobile phones and PHS (Personal Handyphone System), hereinafter referred to as mobile terminals. The mobile communication system recognizes multiple areas, and supports communication among mobile terminals within each area. Communication status of each mobile terminal is administered by the administration device. The mobile terminals are each adapted to connect to a nearby base station. Once a mobile terminal moves to a different area, the mobile terminal is usually able to connect to another nearby base station in the different area. When the mobile terminal connects to a different base station, the administration device is aware of such a change.
Due to rapid increase in the use of the aforementioned mobile communication system, a user can call anyone he wishes to call anytime from almost anywhere. On the other hand, a caller cannot tell whether a callee is in a situation in which he can receive a call. Consequently, a callee has to receive a call regardless of what situation he is in. To resolve this problem, a user can turn off his mobile terminal when he does not want to receive a call. However, once a user turns off his mobile terminal, he cannot receive an emergency call or a call from someone important. Also, when a caller finds out that his callee mobile terminal is turned off, the caller cannot determine when the callee will be able to receive a call.
Japanese Patent Application 10-191458A discloses a mobile phone system in which a caller is notified that his callee is now callable, if his callee's communication status has been “Line Busy” or “Out of Area” or “Turned Off”. Japanese Patent Application 11-27741A, Japanese Patent Application 8-168072A, Japanese Patent Application 8-79387A, and Japanese Patent Application 7-336761A also disclose technologies for mobile communication system, which notify a caller that his callee recovered from the unavailable status, and even connect lines under certain circumstances.
MORE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION
In the mobile phone system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 10-191458A, it is a base station of the mobile phone system that has functions of detecting the communication status of the callee and notifying the caller of the status. In this case, all the base stations of the mobile phone system in operation have to be provided with the aforementioned functions, which is difficult to achieve. Also, since the base station sends a signal to the callee at predetermined periods of time, t
Iwakawa Akinori
Kawaguchi Naohisa
Kohda Youji
Mitsuoka Madoka
Ohno Takashi
Fujitsu Limited
Staas & Halsey , LLP
Vuong Quochien
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