Patent Publication Number: US-2009225963-A1

Title: Musical caller id apparatus and method

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Field of the Disclosure 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to caller identification (ID), and more particularly to apparatus and method for generating a music caller ID. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Portable communication apparatus, such as cell phones, have become indispensable tools in our daily lives. Many functions are available now with our cell phones, for example, caller ID, among other things. Caller ID allows users to easily screen their calls. 
     Recently, a caller ID system has been developed that can audibly reveal a phone number and/or other information of a received call by the use of an electronically generated voice so that a user does not even have to look at his/her phone to know who is calling. 
     One such caller ID system obtains voice clips corresponding to one or more numbers (0-9) of a phone number of an incoming call, from an audio clip database, and sends the proper combination and sequence of voice clips to a voice generating chip to be output to a user. 
     However, even the caller ID system is convenient, the sound of the voice clips may not be pleasing to the human ears. 
     Therefore, what is needed is an improved caller ID apparatus for identifying callers. 
     SUMMARY 
     A computer-implemented method for identifying a user corresponding to an incoming call is provided. The method includes: providing a data storage for storing a musical note table, a music parameters table, an audio clip database, the musical note table assigning a musical note for each digit (0-9), the music table recording relationships between phone number classes and a predetermined music selection, and the audio clip database storing pre-recorded audio clips of which is played in different parameters; receiving an incoming call and decoding the phone number of the incoming call and storing the phone number in the data storage; recognizing a respective phone number class according to the phone number; determining a corresponding predetermined music selection of the recognized phone number class of the phone number in the music table; obtaining a digit set from the phone number stored in the data storage; assigning the musical notes associated with the numbers of the digit set according to the musical note table; composing the corresponding musical notes of the digit set with the corresponding predetermined music selection of the determined class to generate a ring music; obtaining a corresponding audio clip for each musical note of the ring music from the audio clip database and outputting the audio clip(s) through a music output device 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The components of the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the musical caller ID apparatus. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an musical caller ID apparatus in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for outputting audio signal corresponding to receiving an incoming call. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a musical caller ID apparatus  1  (hereinafter “the apparatus”) in accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure. In one embodiment, the apparatus  1  includes a data storage  11 , a decoder  12 , a music output device  13 , and a processing unit  14 . The data storage  11  stores a musical note table  111 , a music table  112 , and an audio clip database  113  as will be further described herein. In one embodiment, the apparatus  1  may be a cellphone, personal digital assistance (PDA), or other apparatus with a communication and audio function. 
     The musical note table  111  assigns a musical note for each digit (0-9) in a received phone number (hereinafter, “the call number”), as shown in the following Table 1. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Digit 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                   
                 1 
                 2 
                 3 
                 4 
                 5 
                 6 
                 7 
                 8 
                 9 
                 0 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Note 
                 do 
                 re 
                 mi 
                 fa 
                 sol 
                 la 
                 ti 
                 do 
                 re 
                 mi 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The relationship between the digits and the musical notes is not limited to that defined in the musical note table  111 . The relationship can also be defined by the user. The musical note table  111  is based on the “Just Intonation Music Scale” as an example, but other scales can be used according to manufacturer or user preference. 
     The music table  112  records a relationship between phone number classes and a predetermined music selection. The phone number can be classified according to a plurality of classes. One way to classify the phone number is classify the phone number according to family members, friends, colleagues, classmates, and relatives according to a relationship between the caller and the user. Another way to classify the phone number is classify the phone number according to an unable-recognized call, an international call, a national call, and a local call according to the incoming phone number. The way of classifying the phone numbers is not limited to the above two ways, and other classified ways also are permitted. The music table  112  includes a class row and a music row. The class row records different classes of the phone numbers. The music row records a corresponding music of each phone number class. In this embodiment, the phone number classes “unable-recognized, international call, national call, and local call” are taken for example. 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
               
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
               
                   
               
             
            
               
                 Class 
                 Unable-recognized 
                 International Call 
                 National Call 
                 Local 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                   
                 Call 
               
               
                 Music 
                 Music 1 
                 Music 2 
                 Music 3 
                 Music 4 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The audio clip database  113  stores prerecorded audio clips of each musical note. Taking musical note “do” for example, the audio clips of the musical note “do” that is played is stored in the audio clip database. These musical notes may be predetermined as mentioned above. 
     The processing unit  14  includes an incoming call receiving module  141 , a class recognizing module  142 , a music determining module  143 , a digit obtaining module  144 , a music composing module  145 , and a music output module  146 . The modules  141 ,  142 ,  143 ,  144 ,  145 ,  146  may be used to execute one or more operations for the apparatus  1  as will be further described below. 
     The incoming call receiving module  141  is configured for receiving an incoming call and sending the incoming call to a decoder  12  to obtain a phone number of the incoming call and storing the phone number in the data storage  11 . 
     The class recognizing module  142  is configured for recognizing which class the phone number belongs to. The music determining module  143  is for determining corresponding music of the determined class of the phone number in the music table  112 . 
     The digit obtaining module  142  is configured for selecting one or more digits of the phone number (hereinafter, “the digit set”) stored in the data storage  11 . It may be understood that the digit set may comprise all the digits of the phone number, or may comprise some of the digits of the phone number. For example, if the phone number is “13956123846,” a user, not wanting a long musical note melody, may associate an abbreviated digit pattern with the phone number. The digit pattern may, for example, use only the third, sixth, eighth, tenth, and eleventh digits of the phone number, so the digit set is “91346.” Selective selection of digits of the phone number may be useful for a user to remember who is calling based on the sound of outputted sound. 
     The music composing module  145  is configured for receiving a digit set from the digit obtaining module  142 , assigning the musical notes associated with the numbers of the digit set according to the musical note table  111 , and composing the corresponding musical notes of the digit set with the corresponding music of the determined class to generate a ring music. In this embodiment, during the composing process, the corresponding music of the determined class is placed before the corresponding musical notes of the digit set. In other embodiments, other composing ways are also permitted. 
     The music outputting module  146  is configured for obtaining corresponding audio clip of each musical note of the ring music from the audio clip database  113  and outputting the audio clips through the music output device  13 . 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of one embodiment of a method for outputting audio signal corresponding to receiving an incoming call. Depending on the embodiment, additional blocks may be added, others deleted, and the ordering of the blocks may be changed. In block S 301 , the incoming call receiving module  141  receives the incoming call. 
     In block S 302 , the incoming call receiving module  141  sends the incoming call to a decoder  12  to decode to a phone number of the incoming call and to store the phone number in the data storage  11 . 
     In block S 303 , the class recognizing module  142  recognizes which phone number class the phone number belongs to. 
     In block S 304 , the music determining module  143  determines corresponding music of the determined class of the phone number in the music table  112 . 
     In block S 305 , the digit obtaining module  142  obtains a digit set according to the phone number stored in the data storage  11 . 
     In block S 306 , the music composing module  145  receives the digit set from the digit obtaining module  142 , and assigns the musical notes associated with the numbers of the digit set according to the musical note table  111 . 
     In block S 307 , the music composing module  145  composes the corresponding musical notes of the digit set and the corresponding music of the determined class to generate a ring music. 
     In block S 308 , the music outputting module  146  obtains corresponding audio clip of each musical note of the ring music from the audio clip database  113  and outputs the audio clips through the music output device  13 . Although the present disclosure has been specifically described on the basis of various inventive embodiment, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.