HK1117963A - Automatic handling of incoming communications at a wireless device - Google Patents

Description

Automatically handling incoming communications at a wireless device

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to communication between computer devices over a wireless computer network. More particularly, the present invention relates to wireless devices capable of classifying incoming communication attempts, such as telephone calls, and performing predetermined operations based on such identification.

Background

In a communication exchange such as a voice or data telephone call, it is desirable to know the identity of the incoming communication attempt for a number of reasons. First, a device owner or user may not wish to pay for a particular incoming call because bridging a communication connection, such as a connected telephone call, costs money for the owner or user. Second, the device owner may not wish to waste time talking to or receiving data from the caller because the caller is a salesperson, marketer, or some other person or entity with which the device owner does not wish to communicate. Accordingly, a variety of techniques have been developed for land-line based telephone and telecommunications systems to facilitate individuals screening incoming telephone calls.

Particularly for telephone calls, it is known to transmit identification data at the beginning of a communication connection attempt so that the called device can identify the calling party. One particular version of such identification is known as "caller ID" (caller identifier) (CID) or Calling Number Delivery (CND). The system is created as an extension of Automatic Number Identification (ANI) which is used by telephone companies to identify the billing account for pay telephones.

The CID information is transmitted on the telephone service subscriber loop using modem tones which transmit an identification display message in the form of ASCII (american standard code for information interchange) character codes to the device receiving the telephone call. The sending of the display message typically occurs between a first "ring" and a second "ring". The message includes a channel occupancy string, followed by a marker string, and then caller information. The information is sent in one of two formats, a "single data message format" (SDMF) containing the date, time, and calling number, and a "Compound data message format" (MDMF) containing the date, time, calling number, and name associated with the number. Alternatively, the number and name fields may contain data indicating that the information has been blocked by the calling party or that the information is not available. Since the time CID is the earliest occurring, it has been extended to either provide a CID on "call waiting", or to hear a call waiting alert tone and see the identity of a second incoming call during an ongoing telephone session.

There is an increasing need to identify incoming communication attempts in wireless computer devices, such as cellular telephones, that are capable of communicating voice and data to each other. The user or owner of the telephone pays for the full airtime used by the device and any incoming call answered therefore adds to the user's cost.

It would therefore be advantageous to provide a system for wireless computer devices, such as cellular telephones, PDAs (personal digital assistants) or other telecommunications devices, that enables such devices to identify and/or classify incoming communication attempts so that undesired connections can be avoided by predetermined responses from the wireless devices. Such a system should be able to selectively handle incoming communications without requiring user interaction to affect such responses. It is, therefore, to the provision of such a system and method that the present invention is primarily directed.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is a system and method on a computer device with wireless communication capability that receives an attempted communication connection over a wireless network for classifying the attempted communication connection before it must be answered and performing a predetermined response to the communication connection attempt based on the classification of the attempted communication connection. The predetermined response may be to block the particular call, return an audio or data response to the particular call, or request user input before allowing the communication attempt to connect the device.

The method of responding to an incoming communication connection attempt to a computer device comprises the steps of: receiving an attempted communication connection over a wireless network; classifying the attempted communication connection; and performing a predetermined response to the attempted communication connection based on the classification.

The method may comprise the steps of: blocking the particular communication or all communications from the device or entity; or request user input before allowing the communication to connect.

It is therefore an object of the system and method to provide a system in a wireless computer device, such as a cellular telephone, PDA or other telecommunications device, to classify any incoming communication attempt so that undesired connections can be avoided or handled by a predetermined response. The device may process the incoming communication without user interaction to affect such a response, or may request the user to determine an appropriate response upon receiving the connection attempt. In addition, the wireless device may respond with a voice response to a telephone caller or a data response to the caller or an incoming communication from a device.

Other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent after review of the hereinafter set forth brief description of the drawings, detailed description of the invention, and the claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a computer architecture on a wireless device with an incoming communication manager resident on the device platform.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a wireless network having a general cellular telecommunication configuration including a plurality of computer devices in communication with each other through the wireless network.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process executing on a wireless device that receives an incoming communication connection attempt and generates a predetermined automatic response, requests that the device user select an appropriate response, or simply allows the connection.

Detailed Description

Referring to the drawings, wherein like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout, FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a computer architecture on a wireless device, such as a cellular telephone 10, capable of wireless communication through a wireless communication interface 24. The wireless device 10 selectively receives attempted communication connections, such as telephone calls, data calls, SMS (short message service) or other communication attempts, over the wireless network 25 (fig. 2). The wireless device attempts to classify the attempted communication connection and performs a predetermined response to the communication connection attempt based on the classification of the attempted communication connection.

More particularly, the wireless device 10 has a computer platform 12 that is capable of receiving and processing data sent from other computer telecommunication devices over a wireless network. Computer platform 12 includes an application specific integrated circuit ("ASIC") 14, or other processor, microprocessor, logic circuit, programmable gate array, or other data processing device, among other components. The ASIC 14 is installed at the time of manufacture of the wireless device and is not normally upgradeable. The ASIC 14 or other processor executes an application program interface ("API") layer 16, the API layer 16 including a resident application environment and may include an operating system loaded onto the ASIC 14. The resident application environment interfaces with any resident programs in the memory 20 of the wireless device. An example of a resident application environment is the "binary runtime Environment for Wireless communications" (BREW) developed by Google for Wireless device platforms^TM) And (3) software.

As shown herein, the wireless device may be a cellular telephone 10 with a graphical display, but may also be any wireless device with a computer platform as known in the art, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a pager with a graphical display, or even a separate computer platform that has a wireless communication portal, and may also have a wired connection to a network or the Internet. Further, memory 20 may include read-only and random-access memory (ROM and RAM), EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory), EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory), flash cards, or any memory common to computer platforms. The computer platform 12 may also include a local database 22 for storing software applications not actively used in memory 20, such as software applications downloaded from third party application download servers. The local database 22 typically includes one or more flash memory cells, but may be any secondary or tertiary storage device as known in the art, such as magnetic media, EPROM, EEPROM, optical media, tape, or soft or hard disk.

A wireless device, such as cellular telephone 10, is capable of wireless communication through a wireless communication portal or communication interface 24, the wireless communication portal or communication interface 24 selectively transmitting or receiving data over a wireless network 25. The application environment in which computer platform 12 resides may communicate data to platform 12 through portal (interface 24) and may interact with and mask any incoming communication flow in accordance with a predetermined response. The predetermined response may be to block the incoming communication connection attempt so that all communications are not bridged, such as not answering a telephone call. Alternatively, the predetermined response may comprise an audio response to the incoming communication connection attempt, such as responding with a quick message such as "this number does not accept calls from an unconfirmed number". And in another embodiment the predetermined response may be to accept the incoming communication, request user input, or respond with a specific predetermined response. In the case of a data call such as an SMS or email to the device, the predetermined response may be to return a data response to the incoming communication attempt, such as an SMS or email in response.

The incoming communication attempt is preferably classified by identifying the telephone number of the calling telephone making the incoming communication attempt to the device, such as by receiving the caller ID (identifier) of the incoming telephone call. And for data communications, the classification is made by receiving identification data in the incoming communication attempt, such as tag data received in an initial frame of information.

Cellular telephones and telecommunication devices, such as cellular telephone 10, are being manufactured with greater computing capabilities and are becoming tantamount to personal computers and hand-held Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). These "smart" cellular telephones allow software developers to create software applications that can be downloaded and executed on a processor (such as ASIC 14) of cellular device 10. Wireless devices such as cellular device 10 may download or execute a variety of types of applications such as web pages, applets (JAVA applets), midlets (MIDP (mobile information device profile) applets), game and stock monitors or simple data such as news and sports-related data. The downloaded data or executable applications may be immediately displayed on the display screen of the device 10 or stored in the local database 22 when not in use. The software application may be considered a conventional software application resident on the wireless device 10 and the user may selectively upload stored resident applications from the local database 22 to the memory 20 for execution on the API 16, i.e., in a resident application environment. Thus, the program for screening in the incoming communication connection may be loaded to platform 12 at the time of manufacture of the device, or may be downloaded to platform 12 over wireless network 25.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram that more fully illustrates the components of a wireless network 25 in which the wireless device 10 operates. Wireless network 25 is merely exemplary and can include any system wherein remotely located modules communicate over-the-air between and among each other and/or between and among components of a wireless network 25, including, without limitation, wireless network carriers and/or wireless network servers. The carrier network 30 controls messages (typically in the form of data packets) sent to a message service controller ("MSC") 32. The carrier network 30 communicates with the MSC32 by a network, the Internet, and/or POTS ("plain old telephone system"). Typically, the network or internet connection between the carrier network 30 and the MSC32 transfers data, and the POTS transfers voice information. The MSC32 is connected to multiple base stations ("BTS") 34. In a manner similar to the carrier network, the MSC32 is typically connected to the BTS 34 for data transfer and to POTS for voice information transfer simultaneously via the network and/or the Internet. BTS 34 ultimately broadcasts messages wirelessly to wireless devices, such as cellular telephone 10, via short message service ("SMS"), or other over-the-air methods known in the art.

Thus, over the wireless network 25, one wireless device 10 may conduct a voice or data communication attempt to another device, such as the wireless device 11. A user of the wireless service of device 10 may not wish to receive a telephone call or message from wireless device 11 because the user may have a possibility to pay for all airtime used or information sent. Thus, as shown below, the wireless device 10 may set any communication blocked from the device 11 as a predetermined response, or the user may specify a predetermined response when the communication connection is first received.

Figure 3 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a process executing on the wireless device 10 receiving an incoming communication connection. In step 40, the device receives the communication connection attempt and then determines whether the incoming communication can be classified, such as by detecting the presence of a caller ID signal, as shown at decision 42. If the incoming communication can be identified in decision 42, the process proceeds to determine if there is a predetermined response to the incoming communication attempt as shown in decision 50.

Otherwise, if the incoming communication attempt cannot be classified at decision 42, a determination is made as to whether the user needs to classify the incoming communication, as shown at decision 44. In other words, the device may cause certain types of calls to go to a default response, such as returning an audio message to the caller that the device does not accept an unconfirmed caller. If the user does need to classify the incoming connection attempt as shown at decision 44, the user is requested to classify the incoming connection attempt as shown at step 46, and then a determination is made as to whether the user has classified the incoming attempt as shown at decision 48. If the user classified the incoming caller at decision 48 or if the user did not need to classify the incoming connection attempt at decision 44, a determination is made as to whether there is a predetermined response to the incoming communication connection attempt, as shown at decision 50. Otherwise, if the user has not classified the incoming communication connection attempt at decision 48, then the communication is allowed to connect as shown at step 58, and then the process ends.

In decision 50, if there is a predetermined response to the incoming communication attempt, the predetermined response is executed as indicated by predetermined process 56, and the process then ends. Thus, it can be seen that the default condition preferably allows the communication to connect so that the user does not miss the communication. However, the default value may ultimately be set to deny all unidentified or unclassified incoming communication connection attempts. If there is no predetermined response specified for the incoming communication connection attempt at decision 50, then a determination is made as to whether the user needs to determine a response, as shown at decision 52. If the user needs to determine a response at decision 52, the incoming communication connection attempt is allowed, as shown at step 58, and the process then ends. If the user does not need to determine a response to the incoming communication connection attempt at decision 52, a determination is made as to whether the user has determined a response, as shown at decision 54.

If the user has not determined a response at decision 54, the incoming communication connection attempt is allowed (or blocked according to default settings) as shown at step 58, and the process then ends. Otherwise, if the user has determined a response to the incoming communication attempt at decision 54, the selected predetermined response is executed as shown in predetermined process 56, and the process then ends. The predetermined response to the particular communication connection identification may be stored and reused for any future connection attempts to the device, or the response may simply be the user's response to the call at that time, such as an audio response "i can now not answer, please dial again later".

Thus, it can be seen that as shown in fig. 3, the wireless device 10 provides a method of responding to an incoming communication connection attempt to a computer device 10 having wireless communication capabilities, comprising the steps of: receiving an attempted communication connection over wireless network 25; classifying the tentative communication connection (decision 42); and performing a predetermined response to the attempted communication connection based on the classification (step 56). The step of performing the predetermined response may be blocking the incoming communication connection attempt, generating an audio response to the incoming communication connection attempt, requesting user input as to whether to accept the incoming communication, or returning a data response to the incoming communication attempt.

The step of classifying the attempted communication connection may be performed by identifying a telephone number of a calling telephone making the incoming communication attempt to the device, such as by receiving a caller ID (identifier) of the incoming telephone call from the attempted communication connection. Alternatively, the step of classifying may be performed by receiving identification data (such as data in a frame) in the incoming communication attempt. And if the incoming communication connection attempt is a data call, the step of performing a predetermined response may be sending data, such as an SMS message, to the device making the incoming communication attempt.

Thus, the method may be implemented by executing a program stored by a computer readable medium, such as the memory 20 of the computer platform 12. The instructions may reside in various types of signal-bearing or data storage primary, secondary, or tertiary media. The media may comprise, for example, RAM (not shown) accessible by, or residing within, the wireless device. Whether contained in RAM, a diskette, or other secondary storage media, the instructions may be stored on a variety of machine-readable data storage media, such as DASD (direct access storage device) memory (e.g., a conventional "hard drive" or a RAID array (redundant array of independent disks)), magnetic tape, electronic read-only memory (e.g., ROM, EPROM, or EEPROM), flash memory cards, an optical storage device (e.g., CD-ROM, WORM (write once read many device), DVD (digital versatile disk), digital optical tape), paper "punch" cards, or other suitable data storage media, including digital and analog transmission media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative embodiments of the invention, it should be noted that various changes and modifications could be made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, although elements of the invention may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims (29)

1. A computer device having wireless communication capabilities and selectively receiving attempted communication connections over a wireless network, the wireless device classifying attempted communication connections and performing a predetermined response to a communication connection attempt based on the classification of the attempted communication connections.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the predetermined response is to block the incoming communication connection attempt.

3. The device of claim 2, wherein the predetermined response comprises an audio response to an incoming communication connection attempt.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined response is to request a user input as to whether to accept the incoming communication.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined response is a return of a data response to the incoming communication attempt.

6. The device of claim 1, wherein the incoming communication attempt is classified by identifying a telephone number of a calling telephone making the incoming communication attempt to the device.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the classification is made by receiving a caller ID of the incoming communication attempt.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the classification is made by receiving identification data in an incoming communication attempt.

9. The device of claim 5, wherein the predetermined response is to send an SMS message to the device making the incoming communication attempt.

10. A computer device, comprising:

means for wireless communication that selectively receives an attempted communication connection over a wireless network;

means for classifying the attempted communication connection; and

means for performing a predetermined response to the communication connection attempt based on the classification of the attempted communication connection.

11. A method of responding to an incoming communication connection attempt to a computer device having wireless communication capability, comprising the steps of:

receiving an attempted communication connection over a wireless network;

classifying the attempted communication connection; and

performing a predetermined response to the attempted communication connection based on the classification.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of performing a predetermined response is blocking the incoming communication connection attempt.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of performing a predetermined response is generating an audio response to the incoming communication connection attempt.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of performing a predetermined response is requesting user input as to whether to accept the incoming communication.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of performing a predetermined response is returning a data response to the incoming communication attempt.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of classifying the attempted communication connection is classifying the attempted communication connection by identifying a telephone number of a calling telephone making an incoming communication attempt to the device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the step of classifying the attempted communication connection is performed by receiving a caller ID from the attempted communication connection.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of classifying is performed by receiving identification data in the incoming communication attempt.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the step of performing a predetermined response is sending an SMS message to the device making the incoming communication attempt.

20. A method of responding to an incoming communication connection attempt to a computer device having wireless communication capability, comprising the steps of:

a step for classifying the attempted communication connection; and

a step for performing a predetermined response to the attempted communication connection based on the classification.

21. A computer program which, when executed by a computer device having wireless communication capabilities, causes the device to perform the steps of:

receiving an attempted communication connection from another device over a wireless network;

classifying the attempted communication connection; and

performing a predetermined response to the attempted communication connection based on the classification.

22. The program of claim 21, wherein the program causes the step of performing a predetermined response to be blocking the incoming communication connection attempt.

23. The program of claim 22, wherein the program causes the step of performing a predetermined response to be generating an audio response to the incoming communication connection attempt.

24. The program of claim 21, wherein the program causes the step of performing a predetermined response to be requesting user input as to whether to accept the incoming communication.

25. The program of claim 21, wherein the program causes the step of performing a predetermined response to be returning a data response to the incoming communication attempt.

26. The program of claim 21, wherein the program causes the step of classifying the attempted communication connection to be classifying the attempted communication connection by identifying a telephone number of a calling telephone making an incoming communication attempt to the device.

27. The program of claim 26, wherein the program causes the step of classifying the attempted communication connection to occur by receiving a caller ID from the attempted communication connection.

28. A program as claimed in claim 21, wherein the program causes the step of classifying to be performed by receiving identification data in an incoming communication attempt.

29. The program of claim 25, wherein the program causes the step of performing a predetermined response to be sending an SMS message to a device making an incoming communication attempt.