Abstract:
A radio terminal which generates various, selectable ring tones suitable to the user&#39;s preference. A ring tone generating device includes a ring tone input device for receiving ring tones input from a user; a ring tone storage for storing the ring tones input from the ring tone input device; a ring tone generator for generating one of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage, selected by the user, under the control of a controller; and the controller for generating the ring tone selected by the user through the ring tone generator, upon reception of an incoming call. The ring tone is any one of a voice, music and a sound.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a radio terminal, and in particular, to a device and method for generating various ring tones in a radio terminal. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     A radio terminal, such as a cellular phone or a paging receiver, generates a ring tone (calling tone) or vibrates upon receipt of an incoming call to notify the user of the call receipt. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a generally known radio communication system includes a calling (or originating) terminal  100 , a wired exchange  110 , a radio base station  120  and a called (or destination) radio terminal  130 . In operation, the calling terminal  100  connects with the wired exchange  110  and inputs a phone number (or a unique number) of the radio terminal  130  to be called. The wired exchange  110  then analyzes the phone number received from the calling terminal  100  and calls the radio terminal  130  by way of the radio base station  120 . In response to a received calling signal, the called radio terminal  130  will typically vibrate or generate an audible signal such as a specific ring tone, according to a vibration mode or a ring mode, to notify the user of the incoming call. In the ring mode, the called radio terminal  130  generates a ring tone which is preselected by the user, from a plurality of ring tones stored therein. Conventional radio terminals only store a limited number of selectable ring tones. Therefore, the user often cannot choose a ring tone suitable to his or her preference. In addition, since the conventional radio terminal has limited types of the ring tones, it is not unusual for one terminal to be set to generate the same ring tone as that of another terminal. In this case, when several users of radio terminals which are all set to the same ring tone are in close proximity to each other and one of the users is called, all the nearby users may believe that the ring tone is from their terminal. 
     Further, in the conventional radio terminal, all incoming calls generate the same ring tone, therefore, the user cannot determine the identity or priority of the calling party (caller) from the conventional ring tone. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a device and method for generating various ring tones suitable to the user&#39;s preference in a radio terminal. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a device for generating a user input ring tone in a radio terminal. 
     It is further another object of the present invention to provide a method for downloading a ring tone from a database and generating the downloaded ring tone in a radio terminal. 
     It is still another object of the present invention to provide a method for generating a ring tone selected by a caller in a radio terminal. 
     It is further still another object of the present invention to provide a method for determining the identity of a caller upon hearing a ring tone in a radio terminal. 
     According to a first aspect of the present invention, a ring tone generating device includes a ring tone input device for receiving ring tones input from a user; a ring tone storage for storing the ring tones input from the ring tone input device; a ring tone generator for generating one of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage, selected by the user, under the control of a controller; and the controller for generating the ring tone selected by the user through the ring tone generator, upon reception of an incoming call. Preferably, the ring tone is any one of a voice, music and a sound. 
     According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for generating a ring tone in a radio terminal of a radio communication system including a database for storing the ring tone, includes the steps of: receiving a phone number of a radio terminal input by a user and a ring tone to be stored in the radio terminal of the input phone number; storing the input ring tone in the database in association with the input phone number of the radio terminal; calling the radio terminal and downloading the ring tone corresponding to the phone number of the radio terminal stored in the database to the radio terminal, when the radio terminal is in an idle state; storing the downloaded ring tone in the radio terminal; and generating the ring tone upon reception of an incoming call. 
     According to a third aspect of the present invention, a method for generating a ring tone in a radio terminal including a ring tone storage for storing a plurality of ring tones each having different ring tone numbers, includes the steps of: receiving an RF signal transmitted from a base station; analyzing the received RF signal to determine whether the RF signal contains data corresponding to the ring tone number for selecting the ring tone; and generating the ring tone corresponding to the ring tone number out of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage, when the RF signal contains the data corresponding to the ring tone number. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a common radio communication system; 
     FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a radio communication system to which the present invention is applied; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a ring tone generating device for a radio terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for downloading the ring tones according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for generating a ring tone selected by a caller according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, a radio communication system to which the present invention is applied includes a database  200  for providing various ring tones, in addition to the common radio communication system of FIG.  1 . The database  200  according to the present invention stores the ring tones of, for example, music, sounds and voices input from the user in the specific storage areas corresponding to the phone numbers (or unique numbers) of the radio terminals. The exchange  110  then calls the radio terminal  130  and downloads the stored ring tones to the radio terminal  130 , when the radio terminal  130  is in the idle state, not the busy state. 
     Reference will now be made to a method for storing the ring tones in the database  200 , with reference to FIG.  2 . First, the user dials a phone number (e.g., 555-1234) through the calling terminal  100  to connect with the database  200 . The exchange  110  then establishes a communication path between the calling terminal  100  and the database  200  and sends the calling terminal  100  a message notifying the user (caller) to record the ring tone. For example, the message may be “Please press the phone number of the radio terminal for which you desire to record the ring tone and then input the ring tone to be recorded”. At the sound of the message, the user will enter a phone number of the radio terminal  130  (e.g., 017-555-4567) through the calling terminal  100  and then input the ring tone that he desires to record. Here, the user may input his voice, his favorite music or other audible sounds as the ring tone through the calling terminal  100 . The exchange  110  then stores in the database  200  the phone number of the radio terminal  130  input from the calling terminal  100  and the user input ring tone. That is, the exchange  110  stores in the database  200  the user input ring tone in association with the phone number of the radio terminal  130 . Thereafter, the exchange  110  determines whether the radio terminal  130  is in the idle state or the busy state and enters a ring tone downloading mode when the radio terminal  130  is in the idle state. In the ring tone downloading mode, the exchange  110  calls the radio terminal  130  through the radio base station  120  and downloads the ring tone stored in the database  200  to the selected radio terminal  130 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a ring tone generating device for the radio terminal according to the present invention includes a radio receiver  300 , a signal processor  310 , a controller  320 , a memory  330 , a ring tone input device  340 , ring tone storage  350  and a ring tone generator  360 . 
     Reference will now be made to operation of the ring tone generating device in the radio terminal  130 , with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The radio receiver  300  is transfers an RF (Radio Frequency) signal received from the base station  120  through an antenna to a signal processor  310 , which converts the received RF signal to a digital signal and transfers the digital signal to the controller  320 . A controller  320  controls the overall operations of the radio terminal and determines whether the radio terminal  130  is called by analyzing the digital signal received from the signal processor  310 . A memory  330  stores a control program for the controller  320  and stores data needed while executing the control program. Typically, the memory  330  includes a combination of read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM) and electrically erasable read only memory (EEROM). The ring tone input device  340 , which can be realized by a microphone, receives the ring tone that the user inputs. 
     The signal from the ring tone input device  340  is an analog signal which is converted into a digital signal by an analog to digital converter (not shown) within the controller  320 . By using the ring tone input device  340 , the user can input his favorite music, his voice or other sounds as the ring tone to be generated in the radio terminal  130 . Further, as described above, when connected to the exchange  110  through the calling terminal  100 , the user can register the desired ring tones in the database  200  and download the ring tones to the radio terminal  130  while the radio terminal  130  is in the idle state. The ring tone storage  350 , which can be realized by a voice memory, stores the ring tones input by the user through the ring tone input device  340 , or stores the ring tones downloaded from the database  200 . Here, the ring tone storage  350  assigns identifying ring tone numbers to the respective ring tones. The ring tone generator  360 , which may be realized by a speaker, generates a selected one of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage  350  upon receipt of an incoming call, under the control of the controller  320 . 
     FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the radio terminal  130  to download the ring tones stored in the database  200  by way of the radio base station  120 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 to  4 , the exchange  110  sends the phone number of the radio terminal  130  by way of the radio base station  120  in order to download the ring tone stored in the database  200  to the radio terminal  130 . Further, the exchange  110  sends, via the radio base station  120 , a signal inquiring whether the called radio terminal  130  is in the idle state and is in the ring tone downloading mode. 
     Specifically, in step  400 , the controller  320  of the radio terminal  130  receives the RF signal transmitted from the base station  120  via the radio receiver  300 . In step  410 , the controller  320  analyzes the RF signal received from the radio base station  120  to determine whether the received RF signal is a normal call signal. If it is determined that the received RF signal is not the normal call signal, i.e., if it is determined that the RF signal is the ring tone downloading signal, the controller  320  downloads the ring tone stored in the database  200  through the base station  120  and stores the downloaded ring tone in the ring tone storage  350  (step  420 ). 
     When it is determined that the received RF signal is the normal call signal (step  410 ), the controller  320  controls the ring tone storage  350  to generate the selected ring tone through the ring tone generator  360  (step  430 ). 
     FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the radio terminal  130  while generating the ring tone selected by the calling party, wherein the generated ring tone corresponds to the ring tone number input by the calling party. 
     Referring to FIGS. 2 through 5, the radio terminal  130  downloads the ring tone stored in the database  200  or receives the ring tone input through the ring tone input device  340 , and stores the various ring tones in the ring tone storage  350 . It is assumed that the user of the radio terminal  130  has previously notified a calling party of the ring tone number for selecting a specific ring tone from the previously stored ring tones. Namely, the user assigns the different ring tone numbers to the respective calling parties, so that incoming calls from the respective calling parties initiate different ring tones, thereby identifying the calling party. 
     In other words, the radio terminal  130  assigns unique ring tone numbers to the respective ring tones stored in the ring tone storage  350 . For example, a ring tone number  1  may denotes a first voice signal, a ring tone number  2  a first musical selection, a ring tone number  3  the sound of a musical instrument, a ring tone number  4  the sound of a frog, and a ring tone number  5  a second voice signal, etc. In this way, the different ring tone numbers may be assigned to the respective ring tones, and accessed by various callers. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that the radio terminal  130  that the calling party attempts to call has the phone number “555-123-4567” and the ring tone number that the user of the radio terminal  130  has assigned to the calling party is “3”. To call the radio terminal  130 , the calling party successively inputs the phone number of the radio terminal  130  through the calling terminal  100  and the ring tone number assigned to himself( i.e., 555-123-4567-3). The exchange  110  then transmits the phone number (555-123-4567) of the radio terminal  130  and the ring tone number ( 3 ) received from the calling terminal  100  to the radio terminal  130  via the radio base station  120 . 
     In step  510 , the controller  320  of the radio terminal  130  receives the RF signal transmitted from the base station  120  via the radio receiver  300 . In step  520 , the controller  320  analyzes the received RF signal to determine whether a digit for the ring tone number is received or not. If the digit for the ring tone number is not received, the controller  320  controls the ring tone generator  360  to generate a default ring tone preselected by the user (called party) (step  530 ). If a digit for the ring tone number is received, the controller  320  analyzes the received digit for the ring tone number in step  540 . 
     If it is determined (step  550 ) that the received ring tone number is “1”, the controller  320  controls the ring tone generator  360  to generate the ring tone with the ring tone number  1  out of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage  350  (step  555 ). If the received ring tone number is not “1”, the controller  320  then determines whether the received ring tone number is “2” (step  560 ). If the received ring tone number is “2”, the controller  320  generates the ring tone with the ring tone number  2  out of the ring tones stored in the ring tone storage  350  by using the ring tone generator  360  (step  565 ). Similar steps are performed until the received ring tone number is identified. 
     By way of the above procedure, the radio terminal  130  performing the above stated example generates the ring tone corresponding to the ring tone number  3  input by the calling party out of the various ring tones stored in the ring tone storage  350 , by using the ring tone generator  360 . In this way, the user (called party) of the radio terminal  130  can perceive who the calling party is, upon hearing the ring tone generated. 
     As describe above, the user of the radio terminal inputs the desired ring tone, and then the radio terminal generates the ring tone input by the user upon reception of an incoming call. Further, by connecting with the database for storing the ring tones of the radio terminal and inputting the phone number of the radio terminal that he desires to call and a selected ring tone, the user can store in the database the ring tone in association with the phone number of the radio terminal and download the stored ring tone corresponding to the phone number of the radio terminal when the radio terminal is in the idle state. In addition, if the caller inputs the ring tone number preassigned with the called party, the called radio terminal generates the ring tone corresponding to the ring tone number input in the calling radio terminal, thereby a called party may identify a caller prior to answering the call by the sound of the ring tone generated. 
     While the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the specific embodiments, such embodiments are intended merely as exemplary applications of the invention. Thus, it is to be clearly understood that many variations can be made by one skilled in the art which are within the scope and spirit of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.