Abstract:
A telephone apparatus allowing easy and reliable phone number transfer to the other party through an established connection now used for telephone conversation is disclosed. A desired phone number can be automatically transmitted to the other party, and the other party automatically receives and stores the desired phone number without human errors. At a receiving side, the correct phone number can be easily registered in a memory or a phone directory memory so as to make a call at the phone number.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention generally relates to a telephone device, and in particular to a technique of data communication between telephone devices. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     There has been disclosed a multi-function telephone device allowing a desired phone number to be called up to a display screen even in conversation with the other party in Japanese Patent Application Unexamined Publication No. 59-228454. In phone conversation, it is of frequent occurrence that one party asks the other about the phone number of a third party. In such a case, it is very convenient to call up a desired phone number from a phone directory memory while maintaining the telephone line. 
     On the other hand, a telephone device allowing a phone number to be input by the user even in conversation with the other party has been disclosed in Japanese Utility-model Application Unexamined Publication No. 5-91057. This telephone device further allows a calling operation using a phone number registered in a phone directory memory. Therefore, after registering the phone number of a third party heard from the other party, the user can easily make a call at the phone number of the third party by calling up it from the phone directory memory. 
     In the case of the above-described conventional telephones, however, the user is likely to input erroneous phone numbers in the phone directory memory, resulting in frequently dialing a wrong number. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone apparatus and a data communication method that can easily transfer a correct phone number from one party to the other party in communication with the other party. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a telephone apparatus that can easily register a correct phone number in a memory and make a call at the correct phone number. 
     According to the present invention, a telephone apparatus includes: a transceiver; a display device; an input device for inputting data and desired instructions; a memory for storing received data; and a control device controlling such that, when a telephone call is in progress through an established connection to another party and a predetermined kind of distinguishable data is received from the other party through the established connection, the received distinguishable data is stored into the memory so as to allow it to be reused. 
     The controller may further control such that, when the telephone call is in progress through the established connection to the other party, the predetermined kind of distinguishable data is transmitted to the other party through the established connection depending on an instruction inputted through the input device. 
     A telephone apparatus includes: a transceiver; a display device; an input device for inputting phone number data and desired instructions; a memory for storing received data; and a control device controlling such that, in communication with another party through an established connection, when receiving phone number data from the other party through the established connection, the received phone number data is automatically stored into the memory and is displayed on the display device. 
     The received phone number data stored in the memory may be used to make a call depending on an instruction inputted through the input device. 
     The controller may further control such that, when the telephone call is in progress through the established connection to the other party, desired phone number data is transmitted to the other party through the established connection depending on an instruction inputted through the input device. 
     The desired phone number data may be produced through the input device. 
     The telephone apparatus may further include a phone directory memory for retrievably storing a plurality of phone numbers. The desired phone number data may be retrieved from the phone directory memory depending on an instruction inputted through the input device. The received phone number data stored in the memory may be transferred to the phone directory memory depending on an instruction inputted through the input device. 
     The telephone apparatus may further include a speech recognizer for recognizing input voice data to produce character data. The desired phone number data may be produced by the speech recognizer receiving voice data corresponding to digits of the desired phone number through a microphone of the telephone apparatus. 
     According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for transferring a phone number from a first telephone to a second telephone, which are in communication through a connection, includes the steps of: the first telephone produces transmission data including a desired phone number to be transmitted, and transmits the transmission data to the second telephone through the connection; and the second telephone receives the desired phone number included in the transmission data from the first telephone through the connection, displays the desired phone number received, and stores the desired phone number received into a memory. 
     As described above, a desired phone number can be transmitted to the other party through an established connection now used for telephone conversation, and the other party automatically receives and stores the desired phone number. Accordingly, a desired phone number can be transferred from one party to the other party without human errors. 
     Further, at a receiving side, the correct phone number can be easily registered in a memory or a phone directory memory so as to make a call at the phone number. 
     Furthermore, a desired phone number can be entered by using a speech recognizer for voice input or a phone directory memory, resulting in more effectively avoiding human errors. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a radio mobile telephone according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a flow chart showing a phone number transmission operation in the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing a sequence of views displayed according to the phone number transmission operation of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart showing a phone number reception operation in the first embodiment; 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a sequence of views displayed according to the phone number reception operation of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing a radio mobile telephone according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a flow chart showing a phone number transmission operation in the second embodiment; and 
         FIG. 8  is a diagram showing a data format of data including a phone number to be transmitted. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     First Embodiment 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a mobile telephone  100  in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. The mobile telephone is composed mainly of a human-machine interface  110 , a memory  120 , a transmitter/receiver section  130 , and a control section  140 . 
     The human-machine interface  110  is formed by a combination of a microphone  111  as telephone transmitter, a speaker  112  as telephone receiver, a keypad  113 , and a display  114  such as a liquid-crystal display (LCD). A voice signal inputted through the microphone  111  is processed by an audio circuit  115  and enters the control section  140 . The keypad  113  is used for the user to input data such as a destination phone number and various instructions such as transmission of a phone number desired by the other party, registration of a new phone number, retrieval of a registered telephone number and the likes. Here, the keypad  113  includes a so-called command navigation button. Necessary information is displayed on the display  114  under control of the control section  140 . 
     The memory  120  includes a phone directory memory  121  and a received data memory  122 . The phone directory memory  121  retrievably stores a plurality of entries each including a name, a phone number, and other related information. The received data memory  122  stores received data such as a phone number received from the other party. The received data memory  122  preferably has a capacity for the order of 10 to 20 phone numbers. 
     The transmitter/receiver section  130  includes an antenna  131 , a radio system  132 , and a modulator/demodulator (MODEM)  133 . The radio system  132  transmits and receives a radio signal to and from a radio base station (not shown) through the antenna  131 . The MODEM  133  performs modulation of transmission data input from the control section  140  to output a transmission signal to the radio system  132  and performs demodulation of a received signal input from the radio system to output received data to the control section  140 . 
     The control section  140  includes a program-controlled processor such as a central processing unit (CPU). A control program for the mobile telephone  100  is stored in a read-only memory (not shown) and runs on the processor to control all operations of the mobile telephone including a calling control and a phone number transmission/reception control as described later. 
     Transmission Control of Phone Number 
     A phone number transmission control of a mobile telephone  100  according to the first embodiment will be described referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , it is assumed that a telephone call is in progress through a connection established between two parties each having the mobile telephone  100  having the phone number transmission/reception function, and further that, at the request of the other party, one party transmits the phone number of a third party to the other party through the established connection. When a call is in progress, an in-communication indicating view D 301  as shown in  FIG. 3  is displayed on the display  114 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the control section  140  determines whether the keypad  113  is operated (step S 201 ). When the keypad  113  is operated (YES at step S 201 ), the control section  140  determines whether the key operation is a request of searching the phone directory memory  121  or a phone number input by the user (step S 202 ). 
     If the key operation is a request of searching the phone directory memory  121  (YES at step S 202 ), the control section  140  starts searching the phone directory memory  121  for an input key word such as a name and outputs search screen data to the display  114  to notify the user that searching is now performed (step S 203 ). 
     When a match is found in the phone director memory  121 , the control section  140  reads out the found phone number from the phone directory memory  121  and outputs it to the display  114  (step S 204 ). In this way, the phone number is displayed together with the corresponding name “A” and other related information on the display  114  as shown in D 302  of FIG.  3 . 
     On the other hand, when the key operation is a phone number input by the user (NO at step S 202 ) or when the desired phone number has never been registered in the phone directory memory  121 , the control section  140  outputs the input phone number to the display  114  (step S 205 ). In this way, the phone number input by the user is displayed on the display  114  as shown in D 303  of FIG.  3 . 
     In such a state that the phone number is displayed on the display  114 , when a menu key of the keypad  113  is depressed (YES at step S 206 ), the control section  140  outputs a menu view to the display  114  (step S 207 ) and thereby a menu is displayed on the display  114  (D 304  of FIG.  3 ). Here, the menu has two menu items: Registration in phone directory memory: and Transmission. 
     When the user selects the registration in phone directory memory (NO at step S 208 ), the control section  140  starts a predetermined registration operation of the input phone number. When the user shifts the highlighted portion to the transmission and enters the transmission as shown in D 305  of  FIG. 3  (YES at step S 208 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission check view to the display  114  (step S 210 ) to inquire whether the displayed phone number is really transmitted to the other party (D 306  of FIG.  3 ). 
     If the user selects “YES” in the transmission check view, then the control section  140  outputs transmission data composed of a predetermined identifier code followed by the phone number to the transmitter/receiver section  130  and thereby the transmission data including the phone number is transmitted to the mobile telephone  100  of the other party. The predetermined identifier code indicates that the following data is the phone number (see FIG.  8 ). Further, the control section  140  outputs a transmission view to the display  114  (step S 212 ) to display “data transmitting” on the display  114  (D 307  of FIG.  3 ). 
     When the transmission of the phone number has been successfully completed (YES at step S 213 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission completion view to the display  114  (step S 214 ) to display “Transmission End” on the display  114  (D 308  of FIG.  3 ). On the other hand, when the transmission of the phone number fails (NO at step S 213 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission error view to the display  114  (step S 215 ) to display “Transmission Error” on the display  114  (D 309  of FIG.  3 ). Thereafter, the control goes back to the in-communication state where the call is in progress between the parties (D 301  of FIG.  3 ). 
     Reception Control of Phone Number 
     A phone number reception control of a mobile telephone  100  according to the first embodiment will be described referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4 , it is assumed that a telephone call is in progress between two parties each having the mobile telephone  100  and further that one party receives the transmission data composed of a predetermined identifier code followed by the phone number from the other party. When a call is in progress, an in-communication indicating view D 301  is displayed on the display  114  as shown in FIG.  3 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , when the control section  140  of the mobile terminal  100  detects the predetermined identifier code from the transmission data received from the other party in communication as shown in D 501  of  FIG. 5  (step S 401 ), the control section  140  outputs a data reception screen to the display  114  (step S 402 ). When the phone number data following the predetermined identifier code has been received, the control section  140  displays “Data received” on the display  114  (D 502  of FIG.  5 ), stores the received phone number to the received data memory  122  (step S 403 ), and outputs the received phone number data to the display  114  (step S 404 ) to display the phone number on display  114  (D 503  of FIG.  5 ). 
     Thereafter, the control section  140  outputs a registration check view to the display  114  to display “Register in phone directory?” on the display  114  (D 504  of  FIG. 5 ) and prompts the user to enter (step S 405 ). 
     When the user selects the registration of the received phone number (YES at step S 405 ), the control section  140  stores the received phone number to the phone directory memory  121  (step S 406 ) and then returns to the in-communication state (step S 407 ). When the registration has been completed, “Registered” is displayed on the display  114  (D 505  of  FIG. 5 ) and, when having returned to the in-communication state, the view of the display  114  is changed into “Call in progress” (D 501  of FIG.  5 ). 
     When the user does not select the registration of the received phone number (NO at stop S 405 ), the received phone number is left as it is in the received data memory  122 . In this case, the user can call up the phone number from the received data memory  122  by operating the keypad  113  so that the phone number is displayed on the display  114 . Then, the user can make a call at the phone number. 
     After registering the phone number received from the other party in the phone directory memory  121 , the user can also call up the phone number from the phone directory memory  121  and then make a call at the number by operating the keypad  113 . 
     Second Embodiment 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , there is shown a mobile telephone  100 A in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. The mobile telephone  100 A has the almost same circuit configuration as the first embodiment except for a speech recognizer  610 . Therefore, circuit blocks similar to those described with reference to  FIG. 1  are denoted by the same reference numerals and the details thereof are omitted. 
     The speech recognizer  610  recognized a voice signal inputted from the audio circuit  115  to produce character data corresponding to the input voice information (here, digits of a phone number to be transmitted). Accordingly, a desired phone number can be entered by voice input without operating the keypad  113 . The phone number transmission control will be described in detail referring to FIG.  7 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 7 , it is assumed that a telephone call is in progress between two parties each having the mobile telephone  100 A having the phone number transmission/reception function and further that, at the request of the other party, one party transmits the phone number of a third party to the other party. 
     The control section  140  determines whether voice input occurs (step S 701 ). When voice input occurs (YES at step S 701 ), the control section  140  outputs voice input view data to the display  114  (step S 702 ) and then outputs the recognized phone number data received from the speech recognizer  610  to the display  114  (step S 703 ). In this way, the phone number input by the user is displayed on the display  114  as shown in D 303  of FIG.  3 . 
     Thereafter, when a menu key of the keypad  113  is depressed (YES at step S 704 ), the control section  140  outputs a menu view to the display  114  (step S 705 ). When the user selects the registration in phone direction memory (NO at step S 706 ), the control section  140  starts a predetermined registration operation of the input phone number. When the user shifts the highlighted portion to the transmission and enters the transmission (YES at step S 706 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission check view to the display  114  (step S 707 ) to inquire whether the displayed phone number is really transmitted to the other party. 
     If the user selects “YES” in the transmission check view (YES at step S 708 ), then the control section  140  outputs transmission data composed of a predetermined identifier code followed by the phone number to the transmitter/receiver section  130  and thereby the transmission data including the phone number is transmitted to the mobile telephone  100  of the other party (step S 709 ). Further, the control section  140  outputs a transmission view to the display  114  to display “data-transmitting” on the display  114 . 
     When the transmission of the phone number has been successfully completed (YES at step S 710 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission completion view to the display  114  (step S 711 ). On the other hand, when the transmission of the phone number fails (NO at step S 710 ), the control section  140  outputs a transmission error view to the display  114  (step S 712 ). Thereafter, the control goes back to the in-communication state where the call is in progress between the parties. 
     As shown in  FIG. 8 , data to be transmitted during conversation has a predetermined format such that a predetermined identifier code field  801  followed by a phone number data field  802 . In the embodiments, the identifier code field  801  and the phone number data field  802  have predetermined bit lengths, respectively. In other words, when detecting the predetermined identifier code from received data, the control section  140  can read a predetermined number of bits following the predetermined identifier code as phone number data to discriminate the phone number data from other data. 
     The predetermined identifier code may be added to the phone number data when the user enters the transmission (YES at steps S 208  of FIG.  2  and S 706  of FIG.  7 ).