Abstract:
A telephone user may custom record sounds to act as ringers when incoming calls are received. In some embodiments, the recorded sounds may be correlated to caller identification information so that different sounds are played back when different callers are calling.

Description:
BACKGROUND  
         [0001]    This invention relates generally to communication devices such as telephones and to ringers for those devices.  
           [0002]    Existing telephones provide a variety of different telephone rings. Distinctive ringers (i.e., sounds generated to indicate an incoming call) may be utilized to distinguish one&#39;s cellular telephone from other proximate cellular telephones. Some manufacturers even enable users to download ringers from the Internet.  
           [0003]    However, even with existing prerecorded or downloadable ringers, the large number of cellular telephone users must pick from a relatively limited set of ringer options. It would be more desirable to have a ringer option which is individually customizable.  
           [0004]    Thus, there is a need for more options for ringers. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]    [0005]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 2 is a flow chart for software in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0007]    Referring to FIG. 1, a telephone  10  may be a cellular telephone in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is applicable to ringers for any of a variety of communication devices including telephones and pagers.  
         [0008]    The telephone  10  includes a baseband chipset  12  coupled to a standard ringer device  14  in one embodiment. Also coupled to the chipset  12  is a memory  16 . The memory  16  may store one or more ringer software programs  32 . The baseband chipset  12  is also coupled to a speaker  20  and a microphone  22  through an audio coder/decoder (CODEC). The audio coder/decoder  18  provides analog to digital and digital to analog conversion as well as filtering and compression in some embodiments.  
         [0009]    The baseband chipset  12  is also coupled to a radio frequency chipset  24  (in a cellular telephone embodiment) which is in turn coupled to an antenna  26 . Power may be received in some embodiments from a battery  30  coupled via a power control  28  to the baseband chipset  12  and the radio frequency chipset  24 .  
         [0010]    Turning next to FIG. 2, the ringer software program  32  includes an initial module for determining normal telephone operation as indicated in block  34 . Thereafter, the telephone  10  may be initialized for recording as indicated in block  36 . For example, in response to the user selection of a record button (not shown) on the housing of the telephone  10 , the phone  10  may be switched from normal phone operation to the recording mode as indicated in block  36 .  
         [0011]    Whatever sound is present during a given recording interval is captured through the microphone  22  as indicated in block  38 . The captured audio is then converted, as indicated in block  40 , and compressed, as indicated in block  42 , in some embodiments. The captured audio samples are then stored in the memory  16 , as indicated in block  44 . The samples may be automatically played back through the speaker  20  or ringer  14  as indicated in block  46 .  
         [0012]    The user may then be asked to indicate whether or not the recording is acceptable and the user&#39;s response may be determined in diamond  48 . If the recording is not acceptable, the sample may be erased as indicated in block  50  and the flow repeated. If the sample is acceptable, the audio file may be mapped to the caller identification ring, primary ring, or a memo function as indicated in block  52 . For example a graphical user interface may appear and the user may be asked to indicate a caller to be linked to the recorded audio file.  
         [0013]    The audio file may be mapped to a particular caller identification of a caller identification (CID) system. When a call is received that corresponds to a particular caller identification, the distinctive, pre-recorded phone ringer is played automatically. For example, when a call comes from a given person, that person&#39;s caller identification may be recognized. A particular recorded audio file may be mapped to that caller&#39;s identifier. When that caller calls, the stored audio file may be played back automatically. That audio file may indicate who the caller is in one embodiment. For example, the audio file may advise that “Mr. Watson is calling.” 
         [0014]    By associating audio files with different caller identifications, the ringer may be customized to the incoming call. By recording the user&#39;s voice identifying the incoming call, the telephone  10  user has an easy way to know who is calling at any time.  
         [0015]    In embodiments in which caller identification is not utilized, the user may record his voice indicating that his phone is ringing. For example, the audio file may advise that “Mr. Smith your phone is ringing”.  
         [0016]    Since any sound may be recorded, the user may simply record the sound which the user wants to have played when an incoming call is received. This allows effectively infinite customization of ringers that are easily distinguished by the user.  
         [0017]    While the present invention has been described with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate numerous modifications and variations therefrom. It is intended that the appended claims cover all such modifications and variations as fall within the true spirit and scope of this present invention.