Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20050119032?dq=7565338
Timestamp: 2016-08-27 05:32:12
Document Index: 320096315

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2', 'art 2']

Patent US20050119032 - Optical messaging - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA mobile communication terminal comprises a housing with a user interface thereon. The user interface has a keypad and a display arranged on the housing. The housing is further provided with a large light emitting matrix. Symbols that can be recognized by the human eye at a distance of about 4 meters...http://www.google.com/patents/US20050119032?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US20050119032 - Optical messagingAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS20050119032 A1Publication typeApplicationApplication numberUS 10/910,914Publication dateJun 2, 2005Filing dateAug 4, 2004Priority dateAug 28, 2003Publication number10910914, 910914, US 2005/0119032 A1, US 2005/119032 A1, US 20050119032 A1, US 20050119032A1, US 2005119032 A1, US 2005119032A1, US-A1-20050119032, US-A1-2005119032, US2005/0119032A1, US2005/119032A1, US20050119032 A1, US20050119032A1, US2005119032 A1, US2005119032A1InventorsMaija AirasOriginal AssigneeMaija AirasExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (14), Referenced by (29), Classifications (17), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetOptical messaging
DETAILED DESCRIPTION [0059] In the following detailed description, a mobile communication terminal according to the invention in the form of a hand portable phone, preferably a cellular/mobile phone, will be described by the preferred embodiments. [0060] FIG. 1 shows a first preferred embodiment of a phone according to the invention. The phone 1 has a housing 2 on which the elements of the user interface are arranged. The user interface comprises a keypad 7, a display 3, an on/off button 4 a speaker 5, and a microphone 6 (openings present at the bottom of the phone and therefore visible in FIG. 2 only). The phone 1 according to the preferred embodiment is adapted for communication via a cellular network, such as e.g. the GSM 900/1800 MHz network. [0061] The keypad 2 has a first group of keys 8 as alphanumeric keys, two softkeys 9, a cursor navigation key 10 (scroll up/down), and on-hook and off-hook keys 12. The present functionality of the soft keys 9 is shown in separate fields (softkey-labels) in the display 3 just above the softkeys 9. The softkeys 9 are a multifunction keys and their present function depends on the state of the phone 1. The sof tkeys 9 give access to the menu and the phonebook and have call and message handling functions in certain states of the phone 1. [0062] FIG. 2 shows the rear side of the phone of FIG. 1, with a large light emitting matrix 14. According to the first preferred embodiment the large light emitting matrix 14 is formed by a large number of light emitting diodes (LED). It is however possible to use any bright light matrix, such as a backlit TFT matrix, a matrix of electroluminescent fields or a matrix of organic light emitting devices. The rear side of the phone is further provided wit a camera of which only the lens 36 is visible. The camera is a digital still image and motion video camera. An array of LEDs 40 with different colors is integrated in the upper part of the rear side of the mobile phone 1. The rear side of the mobile phone is further provided with high output LED 41. [0063] The symbols to be displayed on the large light emitting matrix 14 are selected in a dedicated light messaging application described in further detail below that is accessible thought the menu structure of the phone. The application allows e.g. the selection of symbols, and creation of texts that can be either statically displayed or in a scrolling fashion. The application also allows for selection of other effects such as blinking, color, brightness and duration. [0064] FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a second preferred embodiment of the invention in the form of a so called fold phone. In FIG. 3 the front side of the opened phone is shown to have a user interface that is identical to user interface according to the first embodiment with the exception of the scroll key 10′ which has four scrolling directions in the second preferred embodiment (left, right, up and down). The display 3 and the speaker 5 are arranged on the upper housing part 2 b whereas the remainder of the user interface is arranged on the lower housing part 2 a. The housing parts are connected by a simple hinge. [0065] FIG. 4 shows that the rear side of the phone is provided with two light emitting matrixes 14 a and 14 b that together form a single large light emitting matrix when the phone 1 is folded open. [0066] FIGS. 5 to 7 illustrate a third preferred embodiment of the invention in the form of a so called swivel phone. In this embodiment the upper housing part 2 b is connected to the lower housing part by a swivel so that the upper part 2 b can both fold and swivel relative to the lower housing part 2 a. The display 3 can therefore be used as the conventional user interface display or—when turned around—be combined with a large light emitting matrix 14 on the back of the lower housing part 2 a to form an even larger light emitting matrix (cf. FIG. 7). [0067] FIG. 8 schematically shows the components of a preferred embodiment of the phone in a schematic manner to assist in understanding of the invention. The processor 18 controls the communication with the network via the transmitter/receiver circuit 19 and an internal antenna 20. [0068] The microphone 6 transforms the user's speech into analogue signals, the analogue signals formed thereby are A/D converted in an A/D converter (not shown) before the speech is encoded in a digital signal processing unit 15 (DSP). The encoded speech signal is transferred to the processor 18, which i.e. supports the GSM terminal software. The processor 18 also forms the interface to the peripheral units of the apparatus, including a RAM memory 17 a and a Flash ROM memory 17 b, a SIM card 16, the display 3 and the keypad 2 (as well as data, power supply, etc.). The digital signal-processing unit 15 speech-decodes the signal, which is transferred from the processor 18 to the speaker 5 via a D/A converter (not shown). The processor 18 interfaces also with the camera 35 through the camera controller 37, to the light emitting matrix 39, the colored LEDs 41 and the single power LED 42. [0069] The features of the phone are generally accessed through a menu with a structure that comprises a main menu loop with menu items and submenu loops with submenu items. The scroll key 10 allows the user to jump to the preceding or succeeding menu item. The function of the left softkey 12 in the menu- or submenu loops is “Select” whilst the function of the right softkey 12 is “Back”. [0070] The items of the main menu loop are e.g. “Phonebook”, “Messages”, “Call register”, “Profiles”, “Settings”, “Organizer” etc. There can be many more features on the phone requiring further menu items but these have no relevance to the present invention and are therefore not discussed here. The menu item “Messages” gives access to a messages related submenu loop. The submenu items in the messages related submenu loop are e.g. “Text messages”, “Multimedia messages”, “Chat”, “Message settings” and “Optical messages”. The submenu item “Optical messages” gives access to a optical messages related submenu loop. [0071] The optical messages related submenu loop comprises the submenu items “Morse optical messages”, “Multiple color LED messages” and “Display messages”. [0072] The “Morse optical messages” submenu item gives access to a Morse optical messages related submenu that comprises the submenu items, “Create message”, “Sent messages”, “Inbox” and “Manually encoded messages” and “. The “Create messages” item gives access to an editing application that allows the user to select the text for the message to be sent. This editor application may use a predictive text editor to assist the user in entering text with the alphanumerical keyboard. After entering message text the functionality of the left softkey 12 changes to “Options” and gives access to an options submenu comprising the submenu items “Send”, “Sending options” “Save message” and “Clear text”. Under the submenu item “Sending options” the user can select the sending speed and the type of code to be used. The submenu item “Send” activates the transmission by starting the application that encodes the texts and controls the power LED 41 accordingly. The “Manually encoded messages” sets the phone in a manual transmitting state in which the power LED 41 is active when the left softkey is pressed. The user can thus send e.g. Morse code signals by manipulating the left softkey 9. [0073] The “Displayed optical messages” submenu item gives access to a displayed optical messages related submenu that comprises the submenu items, “Create message” and “Sent messages”. The “Create messages” item gives access to a graphic editor application 72 that allows the user to select the symbols to be displayed. The editor application 72 allows the entry of regular letters and numbers to form words and sentences but is not directed towards the creation of longer text. The editor application comprises however a special symbol selecting feature that assist the user in selecting symbols such as smileys, hearts emergency signals, pictograms, barcodes and any other graphic symbols that a user may wish to display as an optical message. The application contains a symbol library with standardized pictogram lexicons which the user may select symbols from. The image library/gallery can be downloaded from a server such as the Club Nokia� server. The graphical editor application comprises: a gallery selector, for enabling a user to select a particular gallery (preferably of up to eight clip-art pictures), view each of the clip-art pictures in the gallery, and for selecting a gallery to be communicated as a message; a clip-art picture editor, for enabling a user to select a particular clip-art picture (after first selecting a gallery), modify the clip-art picture, and then save the clip-art picture either in place of the original clip-art picture or as a clip-art picture in another (possibly new) gallery; and a gallery communicator, for sending OTA a selected gallery and for receiving a transmitted gallery (and, optionally, automatically recognizing a received object as a gallery), and for storing a received gallery in a memory location in the receiving device (and for asking the user which gallery to replace if insufficient memory is available to store the receive gallery without writing over an existing gallery), and also including a formatter for converting a clip-art gallery from the format in which the clip-art galleries are stored in the gallery folder to any of a number of other formats (such as e.g. from an 72�28 GMS picture format to an 86�52 screen saver format or to an 72�28 screen saver format, or to other formats in use). [0077] The gallery selector includes a browser function (imparting to the clip-art picture manager a browse mode) enabling a user to view and select clip-art pictures in a gallery, as opposed to enabling a user to edit clip-art pictures or change the content of a gallery (the two latter actions being performed in edit mode using the clip-art picture editor). A graphic editor application of this kind is described in detail in U.S. 2003069004, hereby incorporated by reference. [0078] The editor feature includes user selection of the color, brightness and duration of the symbols to be displayed. The user can also choose the text direction and choose the setting for scrolling texts. After selecting at least one symbol the functionality of the left softkey 12 changes to “Options” and gives access to an options submenu comprising the submenu items “Send”, “Save message” and “Clear message”. The editor application also has a feature for designing custom pictograms to be displayed. [0079] The phone 1 comprises an optical character recognition application (OCR) 73 (FIG. 8 a) that allows it to recognize characters in text and symbols captured by the camera 35 such as barcode displayed on the large light emitting matrix 14 of other mobile phones. [0080] The “Multiple color LED messages” submenu item gives access to a Multiple color LED messages related submenu that comprises the submenu items, “Create message” and “Sent messages”. The submenu item “Create messages” gives access to an editing application that allows the user to determine the sequence in which the three colored LEDs 40 will light, the length of each activation and the intensity of the activation. This editor is described in more detail in U.S. Ser. No. 10/096,491 hereby incorporated by reference. The colored LEDs can also be activated upon detection of an incoming call, message or any other event as selected by the user. After selecting at least one LED activation the functionality of the left softkey 12 changes to “Options” and gives access to an options submenu comprising the submenu items “Send”, “Save message” and “Clear message”. [0081] FIG. 9 illustrates how the large light emitting matrix 3 is used to send a message to a person at a distance from the phone 1. The person is represented by an eye only. The user of the phone 1 selects at least one symbol to displayed on the large light emitting matrix 3 and the processor instructs the large light emitting matrix 3 to display the symbol accordingly. Meanwhile the user of the phone 1 directs the large light emitting display 14 towards the person at a distance, and given an unobstructed line of sight, the person at a distance can recognize the displayed symbol. The matrix is large and bright enough for a the human eye to recognize it at over four meters distance under daylight conditions. The symbols can be any known kind, such as numbers letters or other symbols such as smileys, hearts, wings etc. [0082] FIG. 10 illustrates how the power LED 41 is used to send a message from a first mobile phone 1 (the power LED cannot be seen in the present view) to a second mobile phone 1. The power LED 41 is preferably of a highly efficient type that has a narrow light emission angle. This reduces the risk of the light beam to hit the eyes of the user of the second phone. [0083] Alternatively the power LED 41 can be replaced by an arrangement of a large number of LEDs (not shown), e.g. a cluster of 3 or 7 LEDs. The user of the first mobile phone 1 selects a massage text to be sent. The processor 18 encodes the signal into Morse code and modulates the amplitude of the light emitted by the power LED accordingly. Meanwhile the user of the first phone directs power LED 41 towards the second mobile phone 1 and given an unobstructed line of sight, the camera lens 36 of the second mobile phone 1 captures the encoded signal. Preferably, the camera 35 is zoomed to a narrow view angle. The optical signal emitted by the power LED is bright enough for a remotely placed camera to capture it at distances of over 100 meter or more in daylight conditions. The camera may be provided with a narrow pass band filter that matches the wavelength of the power LED 41 in order to reduce interference with other light sources. [0084] FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of the optical message input to output process. The user may enter a text using the keypad 2, or select a symbol or a sequence as described above. When the user activates the sending procedure, the message to be displayed/send is processed in a coder block 77 that is capable of encoding outgoing messages and decoding incoming messages. The message is then displayed on the large light emitting matrix 14, colored LEDS or on the power LED and received by either a camera of a second mobile phone 1 for it to be decoded by the coder 77, or received by a human eye. When the signal is received by a second mobile phone 1 its coder decodes the signal and displays the text of the received message on the display 3. The coder 77 of the second phone 1 comprises also a character and pictogram recognition program that allow it to recognize text and pictograms. Thus optical messages sent using the large light emitting display 14 can also be captured with a mobile phone. [0085] FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a sound/music related optical message. The input is the ambient sound picked up by the microphone 6. The sound signal is encoded and then displayed on the large display 14 or on the colored LEDS 40 for reception by the human eye. Thus, the mobile phone 1 can operate as a light organ. [0086] The present invention can be used for personal expression, for warning e.g. SOS or other emergency signals, as traffic signals, for information or data exchange, both uni- and bidirectional, point to point and multiple point communication, illumination, advertisement and for group voting. [0087] FIGS. 13 and 14 illustrate examples of the type of content that can be displayed on the large display. The example of FIG. 14 is an animation! in this case a smiley that changes between a smiling face and an neutral face, indicated with the interrupted line type. The user may select the speed of the animation to be dependent of the ambient sound picked up by the microphone 6. This allows the animation to be in rhythm with the music in a discotheque or the like. [0088] The software structure of the part of the phone software relating to optical messaging as illustrated in FIG. 8 a. The optical message application 70 comprises a graphical editor application 72 for creating new symbols or editing existing symbols from the symbol library 79, a text and symbol editor 74 to create text with or without additional other symbols than text, an optical character recognition application 72 to recognize text and other symbol encoded data, an encoding and decoding application 77, a speech recognition application 76 and a thereto belonging training application 78. All these applications have access to the symbol library 79. The operation of the speech recognition application and the training application 78 will now be described with reference to a practical example. [0089] The training application allows the user to store a number of voice controlled symbols. After opening the training application in the optical messaging menu item several different programmable symbol groups such as “for fun”, “for attention” and “for interaction” can be selected. After selecting “for fun” the preferably Java™ based training application displays table as shown in FIG. 15 a with fun related symbols from the image library in the right hand column. The left column is initially blank (like the entry for the symbol in FIG. 15 b). The user highlights one of the rows in the table with the scroll key, in FIG. 15 a the first row with the heart symbol is highlighted. The user speaks the text (voice tag) to be assigned to the symbol, and repeats this procedure if necessary until the speech recognition application has recognized the spoken text and displays it in the left column. Then the entry is ready for use with voice commands (described in detail further below). Similarly, the voice tags are added to other symbols in the same group or in other groups as shown in FIG. 15 b and 15 c. The “for interaction” symbol group of FIG. 15 c preferably comprises symbols that are useful for communicating in foreign countries, the native language of which the user does not know. [0090] The operation of the voice command application is now described with reference to FIGS. 16 a and 16 b. The user is for example visiting a noisy overcrowded pub, and ordering drinks requires yelling in order to reach the bartender. Instead the user speaks the text “two beer” into the microphone 6 of his mobile phone 1 and the voice recognition application 70 recognizes the previously stored voice tag and recalls the associated or symbol or symbols. Thus, the optical messaging application 70 displays the number two followed by a stylized beer mug that was stored in the image library 79 on the large display 14. Finally the user raises his arm to hold up the mobile phone 1 to show the bartender his order. The bartender has also a mobile phone 1′ (FIG. 16 b) and after placing the two beers on the bar he selects the text “7 ” to be displayed on the large light emitting matrix 14 of his mobile phone 1′ and shows it to the user who ordered the two beers. [0091] Although the present invention has been described in detail for purpose of illustration, it is understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and variations can be made therein by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. [0092] Thus, while the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have been described in reference to the environment in which they were developed, they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Other embodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from the scope of the appended claims. 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Ericsson Mobile Communications AbSending and receiving information* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification455/566, 455/550.1International ClassificationH04M1/02, H04M1/22, H03D1/00, H04M1/725Cooperative ClassificationH04M1/72544, H04M1/72547, H04M1/22, H04M1/0214, H04M1/021, H04M2250/16European ClassificationH04M1/725F1M, H04M1/22, H04M1/02A2B2, H04M1/725F1G, H04M1/02A2B4Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionFeb 7, 2005ASAssignmentOwner name: NOKIA CORPORATION, FINLANDFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:AIRAS, MAIJA;REEL/FRAME:016230/0284Effective date: 20050202RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services