Abstract:
A computer-implemented system and method for group message delivery is provided. A voice message is received from a user associated with a personal communication device. An identification code for a discussion group to which the voice message is directed is obtained from the voice message. The voice message is added to a queue associated with the discussion group and a list of members associated with the discussion group is obtained. A sublist of personal communication devices associated with those members that are signed in to the discussion group is built. The voice message is transmitted to the personal communication devices on the sublist when the voice message reaches a top of the queue.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/993,050 filed Jan. 11, 2016, pending, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 9,237,237, issued Jan. 12, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,929,516, issued Jan. 6, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,520,813, issued Aug. 27, 2013, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 8,218,737, issued Jul. 10, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S. Pat. No. 7,496,353, issued on Feb. 24, 2009, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application, Ser. No. 60/428,533, filed Nov. 22, 2002, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD 
     The present invention relates in general to message-based voice communications and, in particular, to a computer-implemented system and method for group message delivery. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Historically, the spoken word has been the preferred and, prior to the advent of writing, principal medium for communication in human society, particularly for social networking. Writing evolved as an alternate medium for communication, beginning with ancient civilizations that needed to track food and livestock inventories. Unlike the spoken word, writing offered a more precise and persistent medium that functioned independently from the time and place of expression. Thus, even the earliest forms of writing allowed for so-called “time-shifting,” which enables a message composed by a sender to be read at a later time by a recipient. 
     The advent of the electronic age greatly increased the evolution of enhanced forms of spoken and written communication. Currently, the telephone offers the mainstream technology for transacting voice communications with over 90% of the households in the United States having telephone service. In addition, wireless telephone usage has grown dramatically in the last decade with an estimated one billion wireless telephone users worldwide. Electronic mail (email) and text messaging offer the closest equivalent technology for written communication, spurred by the rapid growth and development of the Internet and the proliferation of personal computer usage. In 1999, an estimated 130 million people used email in the United State alone, with at least 600 million email users worldwide. 
     Traditionally, voice and text communications have followed different usage paradigms. Voice communications, via a telephone, are instantaneous, real-time, and primarily one-to-one communications methods. Written communications, via email, are time-shifted and offer one-to-many or many-to-many communication methods with an implied means for persistently chronicling communications through email storage. 
     Over time, both forms of communication have accumulated features reminiscent of the other. For instance, voicemail and conference calling respectively allow time-shifted and one-to-many or many-to-many voice communications. Analogously, voice mail attachments to conventional email messages allow instantaneous receipt of verbal communications contemporaneous to email message receipt. 
     Recently, text messaging, popularly referred to as Instant Messaging, introduced a new category of electronic written communications. Text messaging combines the immediacy of telephone voice communication with the textual format of email communications. Text messaging moves the email paradigm into near real-time by enabling users to compose and exchange messages during an interactive session. Text messaging provides a rapid form of two-way written communication that still allows a sender to review a message prior to dispatch. Additionally, the use of sessions enables group communication through chat forums and can be used to unilaterally inform users about the availability of other group members. This past year, there were over 220 million text messaging users worldwide. 
     Operationally, text messaging begins with a signed-on user composing a text message and dispatching the text message to another signed-on user. Upon receipt, the message is displayed on the screen of the recipient in a near-instantaneous fashion and the other user can compose a reply for dispatch back to the first user. 
     Text messaging has been implemented in several formats. Instant Messaging operates as an adjunct to traditional email clients as an add-on Internet-based application. The Short Messaging Service (SMS) is a wireless telephone variant of Instant Messaging, which has grown rapidly in popularity, especially in Europe. Independent of the type of text messaging employed, users are able to keep a log of transmitted and received messages. 
     Both telephonic and electronic written communications have helped society keep up with the accelerating pace of modern living and, at the same time, have contributed to this acceleration. For instance, wireless telephone and messaging communications now enable people to perform multiple tasks almost anywhere. However, both forms of communication have limitations. Telephone communication, for example, requires the full attention of the user and the ability to respond in real-time to the other party. Conversely, text messaging enables a user to defer sending a response until convenient, but requires the user to read each message on a display and to manually compose a response through typing, both difficult activities to perform while mobile. 
     Wireless push-to-talk voice communication is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,917,799, issued Jul. 12, 2005, to Ross et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. A wireless telephone digitizes the voice of a user in response to the depression of a push-to-talk button, either physical or virtual. The digitized voice is sent to a base station, which places the data on a server. Other wireless telephones can recover the data for conversion back to digitized voice. However, users must activate the push-to-talk button to transact a voice communication and session-based voice communications between individual and ad hoc moderatable discussion groups are not contemplated. 
     A position-linked chat system, method and computer product, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,981,021, issued Dec. 27, 2005, to Takakura et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. A server device includes a chat room controller, which generates a plurality of chat rooms based on a geographical standard; a chat room selector, which selects a chat room in which a user on a specific terminal can participate based on information relating to the current position of that terminal, and a voice controller, which mixes voices of users transmitted from the terminals of respective users participating in the same chat room. However, session-based forms of voice messaging communication that flexibly allow participation in multiple, simultaneous and moderatable discussion groups are not contemplated. 
     Wireless chat automatic status tracking is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,522,911 to Ung et al., issued Apr. 21, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. A technique and apparatus provide status tracking of a presence or location of a mobile wireless device, even outside of a particular wireless system. In one disclosed embodiment, a wireless chat tracking system utilizes a change in mobile registration status to automatically notify a chat group system outside the wireless network of current status information activity. However, session-based forms of voice messaging communication that flexibly allow participation in multiple, simultaneous and moderatable discussion groups are not contemplated. 
     Chat server and wireless chat devices are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,459,892 and 6,668,169, both to Burgan et al., respectively issued on Jan. 1, 2002, and Dec. 23, 2003, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference. A wireless communication system includes a system controller, radio frequency (RF) transmitter, RF receiver, transmit antenna, receive antenna, chat server, and a plurality of wireless communication devices. The chat server manages the communication of a plurality of chat discussions, facilitating substantially real-time communication among the wireless communication devices within the wireless communication system. However, users must activate the push-to-talk button to transact a voice communication and session-based voice communications between individual and ad hoc moderatable discussion groups are not contemplated. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method that provides flexible voice communications between a plurality of individuals and discussion groups, preferably through a centralized voice message server and personal communication device clients, which automatically detect voice communications responsive to a user activated “attention.” 
     SUMMARY 
     One embodiment of the present invention provides a system and method for providing flexible message-based communications between two or more individuals logically interconnected over a centralized messaging infrastructure. A voice message server interfaces to a plurality of personal communication devices (PCDs) over a wireless data network. Each PCD includes an “Attention” button that alerts the PCD to begin processing voice messages. Voice messages are forwarded to the voice message server and are queued, stored and played to the user of the receiving PCD. Each user must be signed on in a voice messaging session and can participate in one or more moderatable and simultaneous discussion groups. 
     An embodiment provides a computer-implemented system and method for group message delivery. A voice message is received from a user associated with a personal communication device. An identification code for a discussion group to which the voice message is directed is obtained from the voice message. The voice message is added to a queue associated with the discussion group and a list of members associated with the discussion group is obtained. A sublist of personal communication devices associated with those members that are signed in to the discussion group is built. The voice message is transmitted to the personal communication devices on the sublist when the voice message reaches a top of the queue. 
     Still other embodiments of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, wherein is described embodiments of the invention by way of illustrating the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. As will be realized, the invention is capable of other and different embodiments and its several details are capable of modifications in various obvious respects, all without departing from the spirit and the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a system for providing multi-party message-based voice communications, in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the logical structure of a PCD for use in the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a process flow diagram showing the processing of a voice message by the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a Venn diagram showing individual and group relationships as managed by the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a data structure diagram showing a schema for organizing a voice message exchanged through the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing the logical structure of a voice message server for use in the system of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing the physical components of a PCD used by the system of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Multi-Party Message-Based Voice Communications System 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing a system  10  for providing multi-party message-based voice communications, in accordance with the present invention. Multiple personal communication devices (PCDs)  11  are communicatively interfaced with a voice message server  12  over a wireless data network  14 , such as the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), to provide voice-messaging services. Other forms and configurations of wireless data networks are feasible, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. Each PCD  11  provides voice communications through voice messaging by converting analog voice signals into digital voice messages  13  exchanged via a digital data stream transmitted over the wireless data network  14 . PCDs  11  are further described below with reference to  FIG. 2 . The voice message server  12  provides message routing, security and session management, as further described below with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
     In an alternate embodiment, the functionality of a PCD is provided through a PCD proxy  16  located in a proxy message server  15 . The proxy message server  15  operates in place of an actual PCD  11  and individual PCD proxies  16  are assigned to conventional cellular telephones  17  operating over a conventional cellular wireless network  18 , as is known in the art. The PCD proxy  16  accepts incoming voice messages  21  received via the voice message server  12  to the cellular telephone  17  and forwards outgoing voice messages  22  received via the cellular telephone  17 . 
     In a further alternate embodiment, PCD logic  20  is integrated directly into cellular telephones  19  operating over the conventional cellular wireless network  18  with the PCD logic  20  being communicatively interfaced with the voice message server  12  over the wireless data network  14 . The PCD-enabled cellular telephone  19  provides conventional real-time cellular telephone service while the PCD logic  20  offers time-shiftable voice communications through voice messaging. Other configurations, topologies, and arrangements of PCDs  11 , PCD proxies  16 , PCD logic  20 , cellular telephones  17  and  19 , voice message servers  11 , proxy message servers  15 , and related system components and interconnections are feasible, as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. 
     Personal Communication Device 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing the logical structure  30  of a PCD  11  for use in the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . The PCD is functionally divided into a voice message processing and control module  31  and message storage module  32 . The voice message processing and control module  31  includes logic for converting analog voice signals into digitized form, managing message queuing and storage, and controlling voice processing functions, including standby and active modes activated via an “Attention” button, as further described below with reference to  FIG. 7 . The message storage module  32  includes a message buffer  33  for assembling outgoing voice messages, a message queue  34  for transitorily storing voice messages, and a message store  35  for persistently storing saved voice messages. 
     Voice Message Processing 
       FIG. 3  is a process flow diagram showing the processing  40  of a voice message  13  by the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . A user begins by signing into the voice message server  12  to initiate a voice messaging session (Step {circle around (1)}). The user then sends one or more voice messages  13  by speaking through the PCD  11  (Step {circle around (2)}). Typically, a copy of the sent voice message  13  will also be stored in the message store  35  of the PCD  11 . Note that for purposes of discussion, a PCD  11  is referenced with respect to the processing  40  of a voice message  13 , although the processing  40  could equally be performed by a PCD proxy  16  or PCD logic  20 , as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. Accordingly, unless otherwise explicitly stated, references to PCD  11  will apply equally and interchangeably to the PCD proxy  16  and PCD logic  20 . 
     The voice message server  12  then forwards the voice message  13  to the PCD  11  of the intended recipient or recipients (Step {circle around (3)}). Upon receipt, the receiving PCD  11  stores, queues and plays the received voice message to the user (Step {circle around (4)}). Likewise, the recipient user can send back a voice message  13  in reply and a voice message exchange will continue until the user terminates by signing out of the voice message server  12  to end the voice messaging session (Step {circle around (5)}). 
     The system  10  is fully symmetric in the sense that any user can send or receive messages at any time. A user can manipulate a PCD  11  to listen to previous voice messages  13  that have been sent or received and can also forward. edit and resend voice messages  13 . In addition, a voice message  13  can be sent from one user to many users or from many users to many users, such as in a voice conference scenario. Importantly, the user interface of each PCD  11  enables time-shiftable voice communications through user controllable store and forward messaging functionality inherent to the PCDs  11 , as well as in the voice message server  12 , described below with reference to  FIG. 6 . 
     Individual and Group Session Management 
       FIG. 4  is a Venn diagram showing individual and group relationships  50  as managed by the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . Voice messaging is provided through user sessions during which a user of a PCD  11  is either signed on or signed off of a voice message server  12 . The concept of a signed-on user functions independently from physical PCDs  11 . The system  10  tracks sign-on users, which are each assigned to a voice messaging session. A signed-on user can be associated with one or more PCDs  11 , and only signed-on users can receive or send voice messages  13 . 
     A user is either signed-off  51  or signed-on  52 . Here, Users A, B, and C are signed off while Users D though K are signed on. In addition, two or more users can participate in a discussion group  53 ,  54 ,  55 . A discussion group  53 ,  54 ,  55  is a set of signed-on users who communicate between each other in a separate user session. When a member of a discussion group sends a voice message  13 , all other members receive the same voice message  13 . One-to-one communications are achieved by establishing a discussion group  53  that has exactly two users. 
     Users can join different discussion groups  53 ,  54 ,  55 . More users can also join multiple discussion groups. Here, Users D and E participate in their own discussion group  53 , Users F through I participate in another discussion group  54 , and Users H, J, and K participate in yet another discussion group  55 . Note User H is participating in two separate discussion groups,  54 ,  55 . A user participating in multiple discussion groups  53 ,  54 ,  55  receives voice messages  13  from all of the groups. If a user specifies an active discussion group  53 ,  54 ,  55 , a voice message  13  is sent only to the members of that group. 
     Voice Message Format 
       FIG. 5  is a data structure diagram showing a schema  60  for organizing a voice message  13  exchanged through the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . A voice message  13  is identified by at least a user ID  61  and a discussion group ID  62 . Other types of identifiers are possible in addition to the user ID  61  and discussion group ID  62 , as would be recognized by one skilled in the art. The voice message server  12  uses the user ID  61  and discussion group ID  62  in determining appropriate message processing. 
     In addition, in the described embodiment, each voice message  13  further includes a message ID  63  and time-stamp  64 , preferably consisting of a standardized date and time marker, such as GMT. The actual digitized voice message is stored in the message body  65 , preferably compressed in an encrypted form. 
     Voice Message Server 
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram showing the logical structure  70  of a voice message server  12  for use in the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . The voice message server  12  is logically structured into four modules. A control module  71  handles control messages received from PCDs  11  to handle sign-on, sign-off, and group discussion requests and other voice messaging commands. 
     A database manager module  72  interfaces with a voice message server  12  to two databases, a user and discussion group database  77  and a personal information database  78 . The user and discussion group database  77  maintains a list of signed-on users and discussion groups. The personal information database  78  maintains personal information about system users that is used during sign-on. 
     A queue manager  73  performs the store-and-forward processing of transient voice messages  13 , which are staged in a message queue  79  pending dispatch. Finally, a voice processing module  74  includes speech recognition  76  and text-to-speech  75  logic, as is known in the art. Note that the voice message server  12 , in conjunction with the user interface of each PCD  11 , enables time-shiftable voice communications through user controllable store and forward messaging functionality. 
     PCD Physical Component Structure 
       FIG. 7  is a block diagram showing the physical components  90  of a PCD  11  used by the system  10  of  FIG. 1 . In the described embodiment, each PCD  11  comprises a wide area data network radio  91 , antenna  92  and modem  93 , a microphone  94  and an earphone or speaker  95 , a digital signal processor (DSP)  96 , a man-machine interface  100 , such as buttons or a keypad, a central processor unit (CPU)  97 , memory  98 , and a battery or power source  99 . 
     The man-machine interface  100  includes an “Attention” button  101 , which is activated by a user to notify the PCD  11  to commence voice message processing. Unlike a push-to-talk button, the “Attention” button  101  transitions the PCD  11  from a standby mode into an active mode, whereby voice inputs are monitored and processed. The DSP  96  processes the voice signals to distinguish between speech and ambient noise and third-party conversations. The “Attention” button  101  can be used to temporarily deactivate the PCD  11  during a session when a continuous communication stream is not desired. 
     Sound is captured by the microphone  95  and transformed to an electrical signal. The digital signal processor  96  digitizes and processes the sound to remove noise and echo and to identify the beginning and ending points of speech. Each identified digitized sound segment is further encoded into one or more voice messages  13  that are sent over the wireless data network  14  to the message server  12 . 
     In the described embodiment, each voice message  13  is numbered, time-stamped and identified by a user ID  61 . Further, the voice messages  13  are preferably encrypted using secret keys known only to the PCD  11  and the voice message server  12  and compressed in an encrypted form. Similarly, voice messages  13  received by the PCD  11  from the voice message server  12  are decompressed, decrypted, concatenated if required, and converted into an electrical signal and played to the user via the earphone  95 . 
     The PCD physical form factor can be in the form of self-contained headphones packaged as a small device clipped to clothing and connected via an electrical wire to a combination earphone and microphone ensemble. 
     In an alternate embodiment, the user uses a conventional landline or wireless cellular telephone that is in communication with a PCD proxy  16  over a telephone network. Typically, the PCD proxy  16  resides at a stationary location similar to that of the voice message server  12  and functions similarly to a PCD  11 . 
     PCD proxies  16  lack the earphones and microphones and instead connect to the telephone network. Each PCD proxy  16  can receive sound from the telephone instrument and process the sound in the same manner as a PCD  11  by sending voice messages  13  to the voice message server  12 . Each PCD proxy  16  also receives voice messages  13  from the voice message server  12  and processes the messages in the same manner as a PCD  11  by sending the resulting sound to the telephone instrument. 
     In a further alternate embodiment, PCD functionality can be embedded directly into a wireless cellular telephone. Speech first is recorded by the PCD logic  20  for transmission later and received speech is first stored by the PCD logic  20  and later played to the user. 
     Multi-Party Message-Based Voice Communications Method 
     In the described embodiment, each PCD  11  is operated and controlled by the user using voice commands. A user can instruct the PCD  11  to record, review, and send a voice message  13 . The user can also instruct the PCD  11  to replay older voice messages  13 , skip through messages, and provide various message playback and storage management features. 
     During operation, a PCD  11  continuously listens for a voice input. Each PCD  11  is equipped with an “Attention” button to assist a PCD  11  in determining when a voice input is actually intended, since ambient sound and third-party voice conversations could inadvertently trigger an unintentional transmission of a voice message  13 . To use the “Attention” button, a user momentarily presses and releases the button to indicate to the PCD  11  that a voice input requires parsing as operational commands. Additional buttons can also be added to duplicate the function of some or all PCD voice commands. 
     Although similar to two-way radio communication, PCD-to-PCD communication is transacted exclusively through the voice message server  12  and no direct peer-to-peer communications occur. 
     User Sign-on 
     To sign-on, a user operates a PCD  11  to provide authentication information that is checked against the personal information database  78  to verify the identity of the user. Once verified, a user ID  61  is added to the user and discussion group database  77  and a PCD ID is associated with the user ID  61 . The user is now signed-on. 
     To sign-off, the user operates the PCD  11  to instruct the voice message server  12  to perform sign-off. The PCD  11  can automatically sign-off a user when the same PCD  11  is used to sign-on another user, or the PCD  11  can allow multiple users to be signed-on at the same time, such as by supporting several different system identities. 
     In the described embodiment, a user-name is associated with each user ID. A user can query the system to find out whether another user is signed-on by specifying a user name. 
     Discussion Groups 
     A discussion group is a list of user IDs  61 . Each discussion group has a discussion group ID and an associated discussion-group-name. To join a discussion group, a user must be signed-on. The user then instructs the PCD  11  to send a control message to the voice message server  12  requesting to join a discussion group. The voice message server  12  adds an entry to the discussion group list in the user and discussion group database with the requesting user ID  61 . Similarly, the user can ask to be removed from a discussion list. 
     When a user signs on, the message server automatically creates a discussion group whose only member is that user. The name of that discussion group is identical to the user-name of the signing on user. A user also can create and name a discussion group. 
     A user can query the voice message server  11  to check whether another user is a member of a discussion group that the first user has created, or to check for a list of all participating users of a discussion group. 
     Message Server 
     The voice message server  13  manages message queues for discussion groups. Upon the receipt of a voice message  13  from a PCD  11 , the voice message server  12  obtains the discussion group ID  62  and adds the voice message  13  to the appropriate queue. 
     The voice message server  13  also scans all queues in a timely manner. For each queue, the voice message server  13  obtains a list of users that are members of that discussion list. The voice message server  13  then builds a sub-list of the signed-on users and generates a list of the PCDs  11  that are associated with the sign-on users that are members of the discussion group. The voice message server  12  takes the voice message  13  at the head of the queue and sends the message to all PCDs  11  that belong to that list. The voice message server  12  then removes the message  13  from the queue and moves to the next queue. In an alternate embodiment, the voice message server  12  keeps old voice messages, and the PCD  11  enables a user to fetch queued messages that had been delivered before the user signed on. 
     Discussion Group Moderator 
     A signed-on user who is a member of a discussion group can be the moderator of a discussion group. During a moderated discussion, the voice message server  12  first sends each voice message  13  for the discussion group to the moderator. The moderator reviews the voice message  13  and can accept or reject the message. An accepted voice message  13  is sent to the remainder of the group. The moderator also can annotate the voice message  13 . 
     While the invention has been particularly shown and described as referenced to the embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will understand that the foregoing and other changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.