Communications: electrical – Continuously variable indicating – With meter reading
Reexamination Certificate
1996-01-19
2001-02-06
Horabik, Michael (Department: 2735)
Communications: electrical
Continuously variable indicating
With meter reading
C379S056200, C379S040000, C379S156000, C455S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06184796
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to personal communication systems, and more particularly to a personal communication device having the capability to generate dual tone multi-frequency signals to automatically dial a conventional telephone in response to a received message.
2. Description of Related Art
As communication technology continues to improve and frequencies are allocated for use by personal communication systems, the use of such personal communication systems has been growing rapidly. For example, it is common today to see a person carrying a personal pager which receives messages over a radio air link. Such messages typically communicate to the person carrying the pager a numeric sequence which has been keyed in by a caller through a telephone keypad after the caller dials a telephone number that has been uniquely assigned to that particular pager. This numeric sequence typically will include a telephone number which can be dialed to contact the caller. Once the message is received, the person carrying the pager may go to a telephone and dial the number which is indicated in the message in order to contact the caller.
Such pages are inconvenient because the person responding to the page message must read the telephone number from the pager display and manually dial the number. Therefore, the responding person must either perform the cumbersome task of simultaneously holding the pager and the telephone handset while dialing, or read the telephone number, put down the pager, remember the number, and dial. As is always the case when a person attempts to dial a telephone number, there is the possibility that the number will be dialed incorrectly either due to the person making an error in reading the number, remembering the number incorrectly between the time the number is read and the time the number is dialed, or making a mechanical error in the dialing process.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus which allows a personal communication device to interface directly with a conventional telephone to automatically dial a number which has been received as part of a message. The present invention provides such a method and apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a personal communication device which includes a means for generating dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signals which interfaces with a receiver, processing device, and display to provide automatic telephone dialing of numbers received as a message or as part of a message.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention a message which includes numbers is received and decoded. The message is then displayed on a display device. Typically, the personal communication device will signal the user either before displaying the message or after displaying the message to indicate to the user that a message has been received. The indication may be either audible or silent. In either case, once the message has been displayed, the user may select to have a number which is included as part of the message encoded into an audible DTMF series of signals which can be coupled to a conventional “touch-tone” telephone (i.e., a telephone that supports tone dialing) through speaker in the personal communication device and the microphone of the conventional telephone.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, the user may select all or any part of the message to be encoded into DTMF signals. Accordingly, if the message includes other information in addition to a telephone number, the user can parse the message to indicate which portion of the message includes the numbers to be encoded into DTMF signals. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, a processor within the personal communication device parses the message to detect numbers from among the information that has been transmitted. The user may then verify that the processor has properly identified the numbers which the user wishes to encode from among the other information included within the message. In yet another embodiment, the user selects the first digit of a number, such as a telephone number or personal identification number (PIN), embedded within the message and encodes in DTMF signals each of the digits starting from the digit selected. In accordance with this embodiment, if the number selected is a telephone number and there are additional digits which are not part of the telephone number, the call will be completed by the telephone and the additional DTMF signals will be ignored.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the user can edit the messages to correct the information received, or enter new additional numbers to be encoded into DTMF signals.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the user may associated a particular sequence of characters with a particular sequence of numbers, such that when that sequence of characters is selected from within a received message, DTMF signals corresponding to the associated sequence of numbers are generated.
The details of the preferred embodiment of the present invention are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Once the details of the invention are known, numerous additional innovations and changes will become obvious to one skilled in the art.
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Allard David J.
Beatty Brent
Canova, Jr. Francis J.
Osborn Neal A.
Rivero Jose L.
Asongwed Anthony A.
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Horabik Michael
Pacific Communication Sciences, Inc.
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