Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Programming control
Reexamination Certificate
1998-07-07
2001-11-06
Trost, William (Department: 2683)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Programming control
C455S419000, C455S412100, C455S550100, C455S566000, C455S351000, C455S186100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06314285
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an arrangement for setting a personal communication station, which is capable of communicating in telecommunication networks, into a selected operational mode.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
Personal communication stations, such as telephones in telephone networks and mobile telephones in cellular networks, often have a multitude of operational settings. There are settings dealing with the function of the station in its interaction with the network, and also settings that are more specific to the internal function of the station itself. Examples of the former are settings for handling transmission of text messages, barring of in- or outgoing calls and also settings for enabling and disabling DTMF signaling, as well as logging of the duration of calls. Typical examples of the latter type are volume and type of ring signal, internal clock setting and settings dealing with the appearance of the display.
The multitude of settings and options may even reach a limit where a user of the communication station finds it difficult to take advantage of the settings. In some cases the multitude may even give the user an impression of the station being too complex to use.
The difficulties pertaining to the complexity may be further accentuated by insufficiencies in the user interface of the communication station. A typical example being a small display unit unable to show more than a few characters of text.
A way of improving user-friendliness of personal communication stations that have a multitude of operational settings, and a limited capability of displaying information, is to assemble the settings into small and logically coherent groups of settings. Groups of settings are often administered by way of menus displayed on the display of the station, and manipulated through a keypad.
An example of prior art concerning grouping and administration of a complex multitude of operational settings in a mobile radio telephone can be found in the British patent application GB-2293951 (Sorensen et al., inventors). A dynamic menu system in a radio communication device includes menu items stored in a memory which is controlled by a controller. The memory holds a short menu and an extended menu. User input actuates the controller in order to select menu items from the extended menu and to add the items to the short menu.
The menu system disclosed in GB-2293951 does not offer a user of the device any alleviation from the complexity of locating a specific, and fairly small, subset of settings from the plethora of settings available in the extended menu.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A problem solved by the present invention is how to simplify personalisation of a personal communication station.
An object of the present invention is thus to enable a user of a personal communication station to set the station into an operational mode which comprises a number of operational settings.
Another object of the invention is to enable a user of a personal communication station to set the station into an operational mode at the time of activation of the station.
Yet another object of the invention is to enable a second user of a personal communication station to set the station into an operational mode which is different from an operational mode set by a first user.
Yet another object of the invention is to enable a user of a personal communication station, which is capable of multiple network communication, to set the station into an operational mode when switching from being connected to a first network to a second network.
The methods and means of the present invention are in essence a sequence of steps executed in a personal communication station, whereby a user, after initiation of the communication station, is prompted to select a number of operational settings. Alternatively, the settings are read from a user information unit in the station.
More specifically, the invention comprises a method and means for setting the personal communication station into a selected operational mode, which comprises a pre-selected subset of operational settings within a superset of operational settings. The station is capable of communicating in at least one communication network. The method includes a sequence of steps, which begins with initiating the station. Unless the subset of operational settings are read from an information unit, a first prompting message is presented to the user who is then requested to respond to the prompting message. The response is then interpreted, whereby a negative response entails setting the station into a stand-by mode and an affirmative response entails presenting a number of prompting messages, which requests a user to supply a number of responses comprising the operational settings in the pre-selected subset of operational settings.
An advantage of the present invention is that it simplifies the act of setting a personal communication station into an operational mode.
Another advantage is that the invention allows a novice user of a communication station to immediately after activation set the station into a desired operational mode, while at the same time an expert user can easily bypass the setting procedure.
Another advantage of the invention is that it is simple to implement in existing personal communication stations since it requires no hardware changes.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5373551 (1994-12-01), Baals et al.
patent: 5630159 (1997-05-01), Zancho
patent: 5835858 (1998-11-01), Vaihoja et al.
patent: 19513573 (1996-10-01), None
patent: 2731578 (1996-09-01), None
patent: 2262630 (1993-06-01), None
patent: 2292047 (1996-02-01), None
patent: 2292653 (1996-02-01), None
patent: 2293951 (1996-04-01), None
patent: 2305073 (1997-03-01), None
patent: 9525397 (1995-09-01), None
Holmström Tomas
Isberg Johanna Brita
Sparre Erik
Ferguson Keith
Jenkens & Gilchrist A Professional Corporation
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
Trost William
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