Abstract:
A computer system may be operated to enhance the functions available with a transceiver such as a cellular telephone, for example by providing enhanced memory and processing capabilities. In some embodiments, the computer can be linked to a cellular telephone to provide advanced speech recognition functions, language translation functions and encryption and authentication functions which may not be feasibly implemented in cellular telephones of relatively small size. For example, the computer system could be a portable computer system linked to a docking station which receives the cellular telephone. Alternatively, the cellular telephone and the computer may communicate by infrared or radio wave communications.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/154,265, filed Sep. 16, 1998, now abandoned. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     This invention relates generally to computer systems and to the use of computers in connection with transceivers such as cellular telephones. 
     Cellular telephones may provide message services, text services, telephone answering capabilities, telephone number directories, calculator features and the like. As the uses for cellular telephones increase, the demands on those telephones should increase at the same time. 
     However, many users prefer the cellular telephone to be of relatively small size. Thus, the types of telephone capabilities which are possible, given a relatively small available volume, are ultimately limited. A number of features have not been provided in connection with cellular telephones which are available in personal computers, for example. 
     Thus, it would be desirable to provide transceivers, such as cellular telephones, which have enhanced capabilities. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with one embodiment, a method for enhancing the capability of a transceiver or telephone using a computer system includes receiving a command in the computer system. A software routine on the computer is involved to handle the command. The received command is processed and a transmission is encoded on the computer system to cause an event to occur on the transceiver. The transmission is transmitted to the transceiver. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system which may operate with a transceiver; 
     FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an exemplary flow for implementing the coordination of the computer system capabilities with the transceiver as shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a more detailed embodiment of a software routine which may be utilized on the computer system shown in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is an alternative software routine which can be used on the computer system of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a portable computer coupled to a cellular telephone. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The capabilities of a transceiver (or transmitter/receiver), such as a cellular telephone, may be enhanced by coupling the cellular telephone to a computer system such as a portable computer. In this way the enhanced capabilities of the computer system, including enhanced storage devices, higher processing capabilities, and other features may be applied through the use of software to enhance the capabilities of the transceiver. In other words, tasks which are computationally intensive, require particular peripheral devices, or enhanced storage capabilities, as examples, may be offloaded from the transceiver to the computer system. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a combined computer system and transceiver  10  may include a processor  12  coupled to a bridge  14 . The bridge  14  is conventionally coupled to system memory  16  and to a bus  18 . The bus  18  may be coupled to a display controller  20  and a display  22  as well as a bridge  24 . The bridge  24  may couple a hard disk drive  26  and a second bus  44 . The hard disk drive  26  may have a-number of software routines stored thereon, including routines or modules  28 ,  30 ,  32 ,  34 ,  36 ,  38 ,  40 , and  42  as illustrated. 
     The bus  44  may couple a serial input/output (SIO) device  46  which connects to an infrared adapter  48 , a keyboard  52  and a microphone  50 . The infrared adapter  48  may communicate with the transceiver  56  and its antenna  58 . The communication may be in accordance with well known protocols including those set forth by the Infrared Data Association (which can be found at {www.irda.com}). In addition the communication can occur over a cable connection or by radio wave communications. The bus  44  also couples a basic input/output system (BIOS)  54 . 
     The “EnhancePhone” routine  28 , initially stored on the hard disk drive  26 , enables the processing and memory capabilities of a computer, such as a portable computer, to be applied to augment certain capabilities of the transceiver  56 . Referring to FIG. 2, a command is received by the computer system as indicated in block  60 . The command could be received from a user or through a peripheral device coupled by a wire or wireless connection, as examples. In response to the command, a software routine is invoked to handle the command, which routine may be stored on the hard disk drive  26 , as indicated at block  64 . Using the software capabilities, the command may be processed by the processor  12  as indicated in block  68 . 
     As a result of the processing, a transmission is developed which may be encoded at block  70  and transmitted to the transceiver as indicated in block  72 . The transmission may include instructions that may provide relatively simple directions to the transceiver, corresponding to the capabilities of the transceiver. The transmission may cause an event to be implemented by the telephone. For example, in response to a spoken command recognized by the computer, the transceiver may initiate a call. 
     Referring now to FIG. 3, a particular embodiment of the routine described in FIG. 2, called “SpeechPhone”, may be implemented by a software routine  32 . The software routine  32  may use a database  34 . A spoken command is received by the microphone  50  of the computer system  10 . The spoken command may be temporarily stored as indicated in block  76  and converted to a format associated with a speech engine (block  78 ). The speech engine may, for example work with phonemes. Phonemes are parts of speech which may be compared to existing databases to identify those parts of speech and to convert them to digital representations. The phonemes may then be located in the phoneme database as indicated in block  80 . The phonemes may be translated into a signal (block  82 ) and the signal may be transformed to a telephone command as indicated in block  84 . The command may then be sent to the transceiver  56 , as indicated in block  86 . 
     In this way a telephone may be provided with advanced speech recognition capabilities. Instead of requiring relatively simple stored commands to be identified in the telephone, more advanced phoneme-based speech recognition may be provided (by implementing it in a connected computer system). This allows the user to generate a given command in a variety of different ways which are all recognized by the speech engine. As a result, more normal speech communications may be had with the telephone, using the enhanced speech recognition features possible with a portable computer system. 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, the interaction between an application  28  running on the computer system and the capabilities provided for the transmitter/receiver is illustrated. The application  28 , such as the one illustrated in FIG. 2, may control a variety of operations of the computer system associated with implementing an enhanced transceiver functionality. Thus, the application  28  may use a database  30  to implement its capabilities. The application  28  can call a speech engine  32  and its phoneme database  34  to provide fast speech recognition functions for the connected cellular telephone. For example, the instructions from the computer system may cause the telephone to automatically dial a given telephone number and generate a spoken statement. 
     The system can also use a language database  38  and a translation program  36  to provide advanced language translation for the telephone user. In this way, the telephone user can receive real time translations of the spoken words generated by a caller or can send translated messages over the telephone to another person who speaks a different language. 
     Similarly, the application  28  can call an encryption and authentication routine  40  which uses a database  42 . Using this technique, the transceiver may implement a relatively advanced encryption and authentication routine which may not be possible given the constraints of normal cellular telephones. In addition, the user is not burdened with obtaining a relatively expensive telephone for features which may not be used all of the time. Instead the user can obtain the software that provides the enhanced capabilities when needed, through his or her computer system. 
     Referring now to FIG. 5, one embodiment for connecting a transceiver  56 , such as a cellular telephone, to a computer  11 , which could be a portable computer system, uses a docking base  90  which receives one end of the transceiver having appropriate connectors (not shown) thereon and communicates with the computer  11  through a wireless or wire connection  92 . In this way the transceiver  56  may communicate with the computer  11  so that the enhanced capabilities may be easily provided from the computer system to the telephone in a relatively rapid fashion. The base  90  could also function as a conventional battery charging base when connected to an appropriate AC adapter. 
     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 the present invention.