Abstract:
A telecommunications terminal that intelligently determines whether to notify the user of an incoming message is disclosed. In the illustrative embodiments, the terminal has a processor that makes this determination based on one or more of the following: the time and date (i.e., the “calendrical time”), environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, ambient luminosity, etc.), the user&#39;s physiological parameters (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, etc.), the location of the user, the proximity of other wireless terminals in the vicinity, the semantic content of the message, the identity of the sender of the message, and whether the user is currently receiving another message. For example, a user might not want to be notified of an incoming message that arrives between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. unless the user is awake or the sender of the message is a family member.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to telecommunications equipment in general, and, in particular, to a telecommunications terminal that intelligently decides whether to notify the user of an incoming message.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    [0002]FIG. 1 depicts a rendering of an exemplary subnetwork attached to public switched telephone network (PSTN)  100 . The subnetwork comprises: PBX  120 , cellular network  150 , and five telecommunications terminals: wireline telephones  110 - 1  and  110 - 2 , wireless telephone  130 , wireless telephone  160 , and two-way pager  170 . As shown in FIG. 1, PBX  120 &#39;s antenna  125  communicates wirelessly with wireless telephone  130 &#39;s antenna  135 , and cellular network  150 &#39;s antenna  155  communicates wirelessly with wireless telephone  160 &#39;s antenna  165  and PDA  170 &#39;s antenna  175 . Telecommunications terminals, such as those depicted in FIG. 1, notify or alert a user when the terminal receives an incoming message.  
           [0003]    In the prior art, a telecommunications terminal typically notifies the user of the arrival of a message except when:  
           [0004]    (i) the user has disabled the notification mechanism (e.g., turned off the “ringer”, turned off the power, etc.);  
           [0005]    (ii) the user is currently receiving another message (e.g. a telephone user is speaking to another party, etc.) and the telecommunications terminal is not subscribed to an “interruption” service such as call waiting;  
           [0006]    (iii) the sender of the message belongs to a user-defined list specifying senders from which messages should be automatically blocked.  
           [0007]    The fact that the user can disable the notification mechanism on the telephone is advantageous, but the techniques for doing so in the prior art are somewhat limited. Therefore, the need exists for a more flexible technique that a user can use to disable the notification mechanism on his or her telephone.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    The present invention enables a user to disable the notification on a telecommunications terminal without some of the costs and disadvantages for doing so in the prior art. In particular, the illustrative embodiment enables a telecommunications terminal to determine whether to notify the user of an incoming message based on one or more of the following: the time and date (i.e., the “calendrical time”), environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, ambient luminosity, etc.), the user&#39;s physiological parameters (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, etc.), the location of the user, the proximity of other wireless terminals in the vicinity, the semantic content of the message, the identity of the sender of the message, and whether the user is currently receiving another message. For example, a user might not want to be notified of an incoming message that arrives: (1) when the user is exercising, (2) at a movie theater, or (3) between 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. unless the user is awake or the sender of the message is a family member. The illustrative embodiment enables a user to program his or her telephone to disable the notification unless certain criteria are met.  
           [0009]    The illustrative embodiment comprises: a receiver for receiving a signal addressed to a telecommunications terminal; and a processor for determining whether to notify a user of the signal&#39;s arrival based on the calendrical time at the telecommunications terminal. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary subnetwork attached to public switched telephone network (PSTN)  100 .  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of wireless terminal  130 , as shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of wireline terminal  110 - i , as shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of wireless terminal  160 , as shown in FIG. 1, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of geo-location sensors  240 , as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of environmental sensors  250 , as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and  4 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of physiological sensors  260 , as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and  4 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of the operation of processor  290 , as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and  4 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]    [0018]FIG. 2 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of wireless terminal  130 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Wireless terminal  130  comprises: receiver  210 , transmitter  220 , clock  230 , geo-location sensors  240 , environmental sensors  250 , physiological sensors  260 , and processor  290 , interconnected as shown.  
         [0019]    Clock  230  transmits the current time, date, and day of the week to processor  290  along channel  231 .  
         [0020]    Geo-location sensor  240  receive satellite-based positional data, as is described in detail below, and transmit these data to processor  290  via channel  241 , in well-known fashion.  
         [0021]    Environmental sensor  250  receive atmospheric data, as is described in detail below, and transmit these data to processor  290  via channel  251 .  
         [0022]    Physiological sensor  260  receive atmospheric data, as is described in detail below, and transmit these data to processor  290  via channel  261 .  
         [0023]    Processor  290  receives an incoming message (e.g., a telephone call, a fax, an e-mail, etc.) from a remote user, in well-known fashion, and determines whether to notify receiver  210  of the incoming signal based on the inputs it receives, as described above; details concerning how processor  290  makes such a determination are given below. Transmitter  220  transmits signals to remote users, in well-known fashion.  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of wireline terminal  110 - i , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Wireline terminal  110 - i  comprises: receiver  210 , transmitter  220 , clock  230 , environmental sensors  250 , physiological sensors  260 , and processor  290 , interconnected as shown. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 3 with FIG. 2, wireline terminal  110 - i  is similar to wireless terminal  130 , with the exception that wireline terminal  110 - i  does not have geo-location sensors  240 , which are superfluous in a wireline terminal at a fixed position.  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of wireless terminal  160 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Wireline terminal  110 - i  comprises: receiver  210 , transmitter  220 , clock  230 , geo-location sensors  240 , environmental sensors  250 , physiological sensors  260 , and processor  290 , interconnected as shown. As can be seen by comparing FIG. 4 with FIG. 2, wireless terminal  160  is similar to wireless terminal  130 .  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of geo-location sensors  240 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Geo-location sensors  240  comprises: global positioning system (GPS)  510 , altimeter  520 , and accelerometer  530 . GPS  510  receives satellite-based signals and determines global position, as is well understood in the art, and transmits the data to processor  290 . In some embodiments, GPS  510  also transmits information to processor  290  concerning the geo-locations of other wireless terminals in the vicinity; as described below, processor  290  can consider this information in determining whether to notify the user of an incoming message. Altimeter  520  measures altitude, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 ; in some embodiments altimeter  520 &#39;s readings are based on barometric pressure, and in some other embodiments altimeter  520  is radar-based. Accelerometer  530  measures acceleration, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 .  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 6 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of environmental sensors  250 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Environmental sensors  250  comprises: thermometer  610 , hygrometer  620 , barometer  630 , sound level meter  640 , and photometer  650 , all of which receive information from the atmosphere. Thermometer  610  measures ambient temperature, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Hygrometer  620  measures ambient humidity, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Barometer  630  measures ambient air pressure, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Sound level meter  640  measures ambient sound intensity, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Photometer  650  measures ambient light intensity, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 .  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram of the salient components of physiological sensors  260 , in accordance with the illustrative embodiment of the present invention. Physiological sensors  260  comprises: heart rate monitor  710 , blood pressure monitor  720 , respiration rate monitor  730 , body temperature monitor  740 , and brain activity monitor  750 . In some embodiments, at least one of these monitors receives input from the user via at least one sensor coupled to a part of a user&#39;s body (e.g., finger, forehead, etc.), wherein the sensor transmits data to the terminal either by a wire, or wirelessly. In some other embodiments, at least one of these monitors receives input from the user via at least one sensor located within the terminal, wherein the sensor receives physiological signals from the user when the user is holding the terminal. Heart rate monitor  710  measures the user&#39;s heart rate, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Blood pressure monitor  720  measures the user&#39;s blood pressure, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Respiration rate monitor  730  measures the user&#39;s respiration rate, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Body temperature monitor  740  measures the user&#39;s body temperature, in well-known fashion, and transmits its measurements to processor  290 . Brain activity monitor  750  measures the user&#39;s brain activity in well-known fashion (e.g., EKG, etc.), and transmits its measurements to processor  290 .  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 8 depicts a flowchart of the operation of processor  290  according to the present invention.  
         [0030]    At task  810 , processor  290  receives an incoming message from a remote user.  
         [0031]    At task  820 , processor  290  considers data received from clock  230  for determining whether to notify the user of the incoming message.  
         [0032]    At task  830 , processor  290  considers data received from geo-location sensors  240  for determining whether to notify the user of the incoming message. As indicated above, this data can indicate situations in which a user should not be notified of a message; some possible examples include when:  
         [0033]    a user is inside a church or movie theater (the theory being that there are some places where a user might not want to be disturbed);  
         [0034]    a user is decelerating rapidly, which might indicate that the user is driving in a car and is slamming on the brakes to avoid hitting a pedestrian (the theory being that the user does not at that instant need the distraction of his or her telephone ringing);  
         [0035]    there are many other wireless terminals (and inferentially, people) right nearby (the theory being that the user might not want to disturb other people).  
         [0036]    At task  840 , processor  290  considers data received from environmental sensors  250  for determining whether to notify the user of the incoming message. Some possible situations in which a user should not be notified of a message are when:  
         [0037]    it is dark (the theory being that the user might be sleeping or in a quiet environment);  
         [0038]    the environment is very noisy (the theory that the user might not hear the notification).  
         [0039]    At task  850 , processor  290  considers data received from physiological sensors  260  for determining whether to notify the user of the incoming message. Some possible situations in which a user should not be notified of a message are when:  
         [0040]    a user is asleep;  
         [0041]    a user is engaged in strenuous activity.  
         [0042]    At task  860 , processor  290  decides, based on how its user has programmed it and the data from clock  230 , geo-location sensors  240 , environmental sensors  250 , and physiological sensors  260 , whether to notify the user of the arrival of the incoming message. When processor  290  decides to notify the user, control passes to step  870 ; otherwise processor  290  queues the message, if possible for delivery later, or if the message is a telephone call, sends the calling party to voice mail. When processor  290  queues the message for later, processor  290  rechecks periodically or sporadically if the circumstances have changed and, therefore, that the user should be notified of the incoming message.  
         [0043]    At task  870 , which occurs when processor  290  makes an affirmative decision in task  860 , processor  290  sends a notification to receiver  210 . The notification can be an alert, such as an audible tone, a vibration, a flashing light, etc. It will be clear to those skilled in the art how to notify a user as to the arrival of an incoming message.  
         [0044]    It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and that many variations of the above-described embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. It is therefore intended that such variations be included within the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.