Telephonic communications – Supervisory or control line signaling – Signal reception at substation
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-26
2002-09-10
Hoosain, Allan (Department: 2645)
Telephonic communications
Supervisory or control line signaling
Signal reception at substation
C379S067100, C379S068000, C379S088120, C379S201010, C379S207160, C379S252000, C379S373040, C379S374020
Reexamination Certificate
active
06449359
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to improvements in telephones, particularly but not exclusively cellular telephones and, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for permitting cellular telephones to be called by means of a customized call message in place of or in addition to the standard call ring, as desired by the cellular telephone owner. Furthermore, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for recognizing calling subscribers by means of a customized list and for being recognized by receiving subscribers by means of a customized outgoing message.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Cellular telephones are often used in public places, and several such phones may be present within a limited space, such as a restaurant, a bus or railway station, a waiting room of any kind, and so forth. As a result, it often occurs that ,several cellular telephones ring concurrently, and it is not always immediately clear from which one the ring issues, so that several persons pick up their phone and operate it in the expectation of hearing a message. This creates a degree of confusion and sometimes some embarrassment. In standard, non cellular telephones too the regular call ring may sometimes prove unsatisfactory. Though its intensity may be controlled to a certain degree, it may still prove to be a disagreeable sound and disturb sleeping children or sick persons.
Another problem a telephone user has to face is the uncertainty regarding the identity of the caller. Some methods that allow a filtering of incoming calls are already available. Such methods include the possibility of having the name of the caller appearing on the telephone display provided that the caller belongs to a list prepared and programmed by the receiving subscriber into his telephone. Still, these methods are inconvenient because they require the user to check the display with each new call. In addition, said methods do not provide a solution for the identification of unlisted or unknown callers.
It would be therefore highly desirable, and it is a purpose of this invention, to provide a system for assigning to each telephone, in particular, but not exclusively, a cellular telephone, an acoustic call of its own, in place of or in addition to, the standard ring.
It is another purpose of this invention to provide a system which permits each telephone owner and user—hereinafter, “the subscriber”—to create, his customized call message (hereinafter, briefly, CCM), whether it be a sound, bars of music, a name, a message, and any other call chosen by the subscriber.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide such a system that does not require extensive and costly modification of the telephone, in particular the cellular telephone, itself, nor significant complications in its relationship with the telephone company and exchange with which the telephone is connected.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide such a system that allows the receiving subscriber to prepare a call signal which identifies a specific calling subscriber (Identified Calling Signal—hereinafter, briefly, ICS) and to prepare a list of ICS for a large number of calling subscribers to be actuated in place of or in addition to, the standard ring when said subscribers call the receiving subscriber.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide such a system that allows a calling subscriber to prepare a Self-Identifying Outgoing Message (hereinafter, briefly, SIOM) which identifies the calling subscriber to any receiving subscriber, provided that the latter has a telephone equipped with the apparatus described in this application.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide such a system that allows a calling subscriber to prepare a Outgoing Information Service Message (hereinafter, briefly, OISM) which transmits useful information to any receiving subscriber, provided that the latter has a telephone equipped with the apparatus described in this application.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide such a system which may be implemented without modifying the telephone apparatus itself by adding to the telephone apparatus an add-on device which, combined with the telephone apparatus itself and the telephone exchange resources, allow the creation of a CCM, ICS, SIOM, OISM and other messages and/or other services.
It is a still further purpose of this invention to provide such a system which may be implemented using a combination of the telephone resources with the memory available in the telephone exchange or by adding to the telephone an electronic component which replaces the function of the telephone exchange memory.
It is a further purpose of this invention to provide such a system which is easy to use and actually requires no operations other than those to which a subscriber is already accustomed.
Other purposes and advantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.
In order for the invention to be well understood, certain preliminary observations are in order.
Hereinafter, the terms “caller” and “receiver” will respectively indicate the apparatus which sends a call and the apparatus which receives it. Persons using them will be called respectively “the calling subscriber” and “the receiving subscriber”. Reference will always be made hereinafter, for purposes of illustration, to cellular telephones, but it should always be understood that this is not a limitation, since the invention is equally applicable to standard, non-cellular telephones. In any case, even when the receiver is a cellular telephone apparatus, the caller may always be any kind of telephone apparatus.
In a normal operation of telephones, when a caller requests the telephone exchange to place it into a connection with a receiver, having a certain number, the exchange sends out a signal at the frequency assigned to the particular receiver—hereinafter called “a dial signal”—which activates a ring in the receiver. Typically, the ring is produced by a loudspeaker—hereinafter “the ring loudspeaker”—driven by an oscillating circuit. This circuit is normally open, and the call from the station—which may merely generate a pulse—causes it to be closed. The same call, generally, causes a display to be lighted on the receiver. Concurrently, the exchange sends to the caller an intermittent ring, corresponding to that which is emitted by the receiver ring loudspeaker. If the receiving subscriber is ready to receive the call, he performs what will be called “a hookup procedure”, which will permit a caller to establish contact with the receiver. This is generally done, in cellular telephones, by pressing a button or by lifting a cover which protects the keyboard or in similar ways, or, if the receiver is a standard apparatus, by lifting the earpiece. As soon as the hookup procedure has been performed, the ring is discontinued, the circuit of the ring loudspeaker being once again open, and the exchange places the caller in communication with the receiver for carrying out the desired conversation. During the conversation, a second loudspeaker—hereinafter “the earphone loudspeaker” —much less powerful than the first-mentioned one, so that it has to be placed close to the ear clearly to distinguish the sounds emitted by it, permits the receiving subscriber to hear the message of the calling subscriber. If the receiver is not switched on, the exchange communicates to the caller, after a given number of rings, that the receiver is not available for communication. Cellular telephones are provided with a power source generally in the form of a battery (though the telephone may also be connectable to an outside power source, such as a car battery, or to a power line), and they comprise a controller, essentially a microcircuit, which controls their operations.
It must further be recalled that modern telephone exchanges have a number of what may be called “memory cells”, one for each subscriber, wherein messages may be registered from a caller when the receiver is not available for communication, or communica
Aszodi Andrei
Luzzatto Marco
Hoosain Allan
Lerner David Littenberg Krumholz & Mentlik LLP
Luzzatto Marco
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