Abstract:
Personal jewelry or other wearable electronic devices provide a visual, audio, vibration and/or tactile indication to the user when an incoming call, instant message, presence attribute change, calendar event or proximity reminder occurs. A personal area network mediates the incoming information and communicates it with one or more wearable devices associated with the user. The personal area network may communicate directly with other communication devices operated by the user, and also with networked devices via a gateway.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates generally to wearable personal communication systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a personal notification system that works in conjunction with a personal area network to handle a variety of communications tasks on behalf of the user.  
         [0002]     The cellular telephone has become perhaps the most widely used personal communication device. Cellular phones are popular because they are relatively small and portable, and because they can support both voice communication and text messaging or instant messaging. While unquestionably popular, cellular phones are not always convenient. They must be switched on (i.e., placed in a receive mode) otherwise incoming calls may be missed. Moreover, even when switched on, users sometimes find it inappropriate to employ an audible ring tone and may thus miss calls (e.g., the user may turn the audible ring tone off when in a church service or quiet theater). Although cellular telephones do have a silent “vibration” mode that provides an indication of an incoming call, the vibration mode is not always entirely effective. When the phone is set to vibration mode and the user places the phone in a briefcase, handbag or purse, the incoming call may not be detected because the vibration signal may not be felt.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     The present invention provides a personal notification system and method that employs personal jewelry or other wearable electronic devices to provide a visual, audible, vibration and/or tactile indication or message to the user when an incoming phone call, instant message, presence attribute change, calendar event or proximity reminder occurs. The device is preferably connected with other devices, such as the user&#39;s cell phone, through a personal area network or wireless device network. The indication or message provided to the user can be triggered by the incoming event occurring on a preferred communication system (such as a cellular telephone system) even though the user&#39;s device (e.g., cellular telephone) happens to be shut off or not immediately accessible at the time. The system allows events to be pre-selected for indication according to priority, type, sender, subject, or other attributes. The user may control the timing and delivery of the indication using preferences that are set either locally on the device or remotely.  
         [0004]     Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. Accordingly, for a more complete understanding of the invention, its objects and advantages, refer to the remaining specification and to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]     The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the personal notification indication system of the invention;  
         [0007]      FIG. 2  is a use case diagram illustrating a first scenario where primary communication devices are inaccessible and where notification is sent to a personal area network device;  
         [0008]      FIG. 3  is a use case diagram illustrating a scenario where one or more wearable devices are network enabled through a personal area network;  
         [0009]      FIG. 4  is a use case diagram illustrating a scenario where device presence and presence notification techniques are used as the signaling mechanism;  
         [0010]      FIG. 5  is a use case diagram illustrating a scenario employing message forwarding as the signaling mechanism;  
         [0011]      FIG. 6  is a use case diagram illustrating a scenario employing a gateway to effect signaling;  
         [0012]      FIG. 7  is a use case diagram illustrating a scenario where notifications are filtered and/or prioritized. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0013]     The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
         [0014]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the system for personal notification indication will now be described. The system is shown in  FIG. 1  in conjunction with a cellular telephone  10 . It will be understood that the illustration of a cellular telephone in  FIG. 1  is simply intended to demonstrate the principles of the invention. Other types of devices may be used in the alternative. Some examples include personal digital assistant devices (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, music players (e.g., mp3 players) and the like.  
         [0015]     The personal notification indication system preferably employs a personal area network  20  that defines a local area network that is uniquely associated with the user. In one embodiment the personal area network is a wireless network supported by a miniaturized portable base station that the user either places in his or her proximity or carries with him, either by wearing or by placing in carried wallet, purse, briefcase or luggage. The personal area network is adapted to communicate with at least one wearable device, such as device  22  in  FIG. 1 . Wearable devices may range from a wearable display, bracelet, hairpiece, watch, ring, eyeglasses, clothing or tattoo. If desired, the personal area network base station may be embedded in the personal device itself. Thus the user can carry his or her personal area network with him simply by wearing or carrying the wearable device.  
         [0016]     Associated with the personal area network  20  is an optional gateway device  24  that provides network connectivity to another networked computer system, such as the internet. If desired, gateway  24  may be embedded in the personal area network base station, which, in turn, may be embedded in the wearable device.  
         [0017]     The personal area network preferably operates using at least one wireless protocol. Examples of such wireless protocol include 802.11 and Bluetooth. In  FIG. 1  the wireless communication signals are illustrated by dotted lines.  
         [0018]     The personal area network is capable of communication with a variety of different types of devices that have suitable wireless communication capabilities. For purposes of illustration, a cellular telephone  10  is illustrated having the ability to communication wirelessly with the personal area network as illustrated by the dotted communication line  26 . In addition, the cellular telephone also communicates in the conventional manner to the cellular infrastructure  30 . The cellular infrastructure  30  represents the normal means by which a user would place and receive telephone calls using cellular phone  10 .  
         [0019]     In some applications, the system can also be configured to include a forwarding server  32 . The forwarding server may be a server communicating over the internet and thus having connectivity to the gateway  24 . In addition, by establishing a networked connection between the forwarding server  32  and the cellular infrastructure  30 , it is possible for the forwarding server to handle message routing issues as will be more fully explained below.  
         [0020]     When a third party wishes to call the user on his or her cell phone  10 , the third party simply places a call to the cell phone and must rely upon the user to answer. However, in some situations, where the device is either switched off or the ringer has been disabled or is not heard, the user may not answer. In situations where the device is still supplied with power, but simply not alerting the user to the incoming call, the device  10  may contact the personal area network directly via the wireless communication channel illustrated at  26 . This will cause the wearable device to provide the user with a notification indication. In instances where the device  10  is powered off or lacking sufficient battery charge to operate, the unanswered call is recognized by the forwarding server system  32  and the forwarding server system then communicated through gateway  24  to the personal area network, sending the personal notification indication or message to the user via the wearable device  22 . The notification indication or message can be a simple substitute for the telephone ring tone (sensed by any appropriate means including tactile, audible and/or visible). The notification indication or message can be more complex, as well, ranging from an instant message presented to the user via the wearable device  22  to a full re-routing of the incoming call, allowing the user to communicate with the calling party using the wearable device as a proxy for the cell phone  10 .  
         [0021]     The forwarding server may be configured to perform this function automatically, based on preprogrammed instructions or preferences of the user, or it may be configured to do so at the election of the third party caller. In the latter case, when the third party caller either detects a busy signal or no answer by the device  10 , the third party caller can send a message through the forwarding server  32 , causing the forwarding server to alert the user via his or her wearable device  22 .  
         [0022]     The personal area network  20  is preferably configured to operate in compliance with instant messaging protocols, including availability and presence protocols. Thus a user may use an interface on the wearable device  22 , or on some other device communicating with the personal area network  20 , to set his or her status to “unavailable” or some other designation. The presence and availability attributes may then be communication through gateway  24  to a suitable instant messaging server system. Doing this will allow third party callers to access the presence and availability information, to determine whether the user may be reached via the wearable device or via other devices that are mediated by the personal area network. This gives the user a great deal of flexibility on how he or she wishes to receive communications from third parties. The personal area network can be configured to include a set of rules, whereby certain messages are permitted to “ring through” to the wearable device, while other messages may be filtered out. Thus by setting a device to the status of “busy” or “away”, the user can render a wearable device inaccessible to either all third parties or selected third parties.  
         [0023]     For a better understanding of the capabilities of the invention, a series of use cases will now be described. Referring first to  FIG. 2 , a simple use of the invention is illustrated.  FIGS. 2 and 3  illustrate variations of a technique whereby messages sent from a third party to the user&#39;s portable device (e.g., cell phone) are deemed inaccessible and hence the wearable device is utilized instead. In  FIG. 2 , the incoming call from a third party may be a telephone call, location-based or proximity-based reminder message, or an instant message. The incoming message cannot be received or displayed by the device  10  either because the device is disabled, rendered inaccessible, or because the user does not answer it after a predetermined number of rings. The device  10 , itself, or the forwarding server  32  ( FIG. 1 ) detects that device  10  is not being used and it automatically forwards a notification to the user&#39;s wearable device. In the scenario of  FIG. 2 , the notification may be a simple ring notification, alerting the user that he or she needs to answer the cell phone.  
         [0024]     The use case scenario of  FIG. 3  extends the functionality of the scenario of  FIG. 2 . In this scenario the incoming call, reminder or message is forwarded to the personal area network  20  so that the user can handle the incoming call, reminder or message using the wearable device itself. Thus, the user might read an instant message on a wearable display, or the user might participate in a communication with the third party using a device such as a wristwatch. The communication with the third party would be thus communication wirelessly from the wearable device  22  ( FIG. 1 ) through the personal area network  20  to the user&#39;s cell phone  10  ( FIG. 1 ). The cell phone  10  would then communicate in the conventional fashion over the cellular infrastructure  30 . This would allow the user, for example, to handle a brief telephone call by speaking into his or her wristwatch, with the wristwatch, in turn, relaying the conversation through the user&#39;s cell phone, which might remain in the user&#39;s purse or briefcase. Alternatively, the message may be routed through gateway  24  whereby using voice over IP (VoIP) services to communicate the call through the forwarding service  32  instead of through the cellular infrastructure  30 .  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  illustrates another scenario, where a presence service is used in the personal area notification sequence. The presence service allows the user and the user&#39;s device state to be published to other presence subscribers, including communication services. The user or device presence can then be set to indicate unavailability. A notification of an attempt to communicate with the user can then be forwarded to the wearable device or devices.  
         [0026]      FIG. 5  shows a mechanism by which the indication signal comes, not through the service provided, but directly from the mobile communication device  10 . This requires that there is a network path to the wearable device from the mobile communication device. Other than this, the communication mechanisms are similar. Filtering and prioritizing of indications can be performed.  
         [0027]      FIG. 6  illustrates how signaling through a gateway may be performed. The third party places a call to the user, and the device is rendered inaccessible. The gateway translates instant messages and notification messages into personal area network-specific signaling. In this way, the user is able to interact with instant messages and notification messages sent from outside third parties.  
         [0028]      FIG. 7  illustrates how notifications may be filtered or prioritized. Preferably, incoming messages are filtered either in the gateway  24  ( FIG. 1 ) or by some other device on personal area network  20 .  
         [0029]     The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and, thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention.