Patent Document

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/314,796 filed May 18, 1999 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,940 which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/688,916 filed on Jul. 31, 1996, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,752. 

   FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention relates to enhancements in cellular telephone terminal automatic recall and dialing capabilities in addition to enhancements in personal organizer software used in computer telecommunications applications. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
   Cellular telephones are becoming ubiquitous accessories in our mobile society and provide opportunities to remain in communication away from principal work and residence locations. Complexity of modern life has led to cellular telephones with extensive stored directories, so that what was once carried in a personalized telephone book is now stored in the digital memory of a cellular telephone terminal, with multiple voice, fax computer and pager numbers often being associated with a single person. 
   The increasing ability of manufacturers to move to smaller and more integrated components and packaging, as well as consumer demand for portability has led to decreased size and weight with each generation of cellular telephone terminals. Moreover, reduced display costs and power consumption are allowing manufacturers to put higher resolution displays in cellular telephone terminals with more information display capability. In addition to displaying personal telephone directories, these displays have become capable of displaying other information such as reminders, anniversaries or appointments, and the like. The decreased size and increased storage of information requirements conflict from a user interface standpoint, however. Entering a lengthy directory with possible subdirectory structures using a standard cellular dialing pad is an onerous task. 
   At the same time, there has been a remarkable growth in desktop and mobile personal computers used for the organization and storage of information. Personal organizer software supports extensive storage of telephone directories as well as other information necessary for many individuals. This software focuses on the ease of inputting data through specialized graphical user interfaces and integration with other telecommunications applications. Further, computer telephony integration has motivated the creation and maintenance of computer telephone directories with an ease of updating these directories through keyboards, cursor control devices and graphical user interface input features which do not exist on cellular telephone terminals. 
   Accordingly, there is a great contrast between entering and maintaining information n a personal computer with a large screen, keyboard, mouse and database interfaces and entering and maintaining information on a cellular telephone terminal having a small display and reduced size dialpad. The end result has been that little information beyond telephone information is stored in a telephone terminal. Further, due to the difficulty in inputting telephone terminal data, the synchronization of the telephone terminal directories with those in personal computer databases is a continual problem since it is rare for a user to keep the telephone terminal current by regularly adding and deleting names and numbers in the telephone terminal. 
   It is known from the prior art that telephone sets and similar apparatuses may be remotely programmed. Examples of such remote programming operations are provided in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,788,720, 5,297,191 and 5,297,192. Such operations do not address the need to personally configure and frequently update user information available at a telephone terminal, however. It is now technically feasible and desirable to provide a cellular telephone terminal that allows increased storage of information therein while providing ease of input and maintenance of the information. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The prior art problem is solved in accordance with the present invention by providing a user of a cellular telephone terminal with a remotely programmable capability wherein the ease of data entry and organization provided by personal computer input devices and telecommunications applications are combined with the general utility of a portable cellular telephone terminal. 
   In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, the cellular telephone terminal serves as a portable information storage and retrieval device for data stored in and transmitted to the terminal from the personal computer. The computer and associated input devices and screens, local and network databases and interfaces to personal organizer software all allow ease of input and maintenance of the information. A communications path between the personal computer and the telephone terminal is advantageously provided for periodically transferring the information from the personal computer to the telephone terminal. The cellular telephone terminal is thus provided access to information such as a dialing directory, appointments, reminders, etc. that is easily inputted and conveniently stored in the terminal. 
   In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a network platform communicates with the computer via an analog modem and with a digital cellular telephone via a digital modem while providing a translation between these two systems and exploiting an existing wired and wireless network telecommunication infrastructure. Use of the existing infrastructure has the benefit of permitting a rapid exchange of information using standard and existing protocols. Undesired information and interference from third parties through the cellular network is avoided by requiring the user to configure the cellular terminal into a data download mode and also allowing the user to control the information and time of the download from the personal computer to the telephone terminal. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     This invention and its mode of operation will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description when read with the appended drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  shows a telecommunications infrastructure in which a telephone terminal is configured with data from a computer, in a first operational embodiment, in accordance with the invention; 
       FIG. 2  shows a telecommunications infrastructure in which a telephone terminal is configured with data from a computer, in a second operational embodiment, in accordance with the invention; 
       FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of components of a computer system configurable for providing the functions of either of the computers shown in  FIG. 1  or  2 ; 
       FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of components of a cellular telephone terminal configurable for providing the functions of either of the telephone terminals shown in  FIG. 1  or  2 ; 
       FIG. 5  shows a flow diagram of an operational sequence for downloading information into the remotely programmable cellular telephone terminal; and 
       FIG. 6  shows a telecommunications infrastructure in which a telephone terminal is configured with data from a computer, in a third operational embodiment, in accordance with the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an illustrative block diagram of a telecommunications infrastructure useful in describing the operation of the present invention. The telecommunications infrastructure includes a computer  101 , a modem  102 , a wired telecommunication network  103 , a wireless telecommunication network or cellular radio system which includes a cellular cite  104  and a cellular telephone terminal  105 . Communications between the computer  101  and the cellular terminal  105  in this illustrative infrastructure is in a direct connect mode in which the computer  101  communicates directly with the cellular telephone terminal  105 , in accordance with a first embodiment of the disclosed invention. 
   Various types of cellular radio systems are known in the art and have been otherwise described. One such system is described in  The Bell System Technical Journal , Volume 58, January 1979, Number 1, and particularly in papers in this journal entitled “Advanced Mobile Phone Service: Introduction, Background and Objectives” by W. R. Young and “The Cellular Concept” by V. H. MacDonald. 
   The computer  101  is used to input, maintain and organize information that is sent to the cellular telephone terminal  105 . A user of the computer  101  may easily employ readily available input devices, i.e., keyboard, mouse, large display terminal, and the like, at the computer. The user is also provided access to the computer&#39;s information accessing capability, available through a primary program, for entering and storing information in memory (not shown) in the computer  101 . A secondary program in computer  101  utilizes a modem  102  to initiate a telephone call via the wired telecommunication network  103  using standard modem communication protocols. Personal computers and modems are readily available in the art. A personal computer suitable for use as computer  101  is the Model No. System 3333 presently available from NCR. A number of modems suitable for use as modem  102  is available from AT&amp;T Paradyne. The cellular cite  104  in the cellular radio system completes the call to the cellular telephone terminal  105  in the same manner as a standard telephone call is completed. 
   Prior to the initiation of the telephone call to the cellular telephone terminal  105  for transmitting the desired data to this unit, this terminal is first configured in an information or data receive mode by the user. The user is able to configure the terminal  105  through an interface which includes interface buttons  106  and cellular display  107 . This interface permits the user to access a program in memory therein that configures the terminal  105  in the data receive mode. An interface suitable for use in the telephone terminal  105  is described in U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 08/559,516 and 08/559,517 which were filed on Nov. 15, 1995; these applications, along with this present application, being commonly assigned to the same assignee. 
   When the incoming call from the computer  101  is received, the terminal  105 , while configured in the data receive mode, accepts a modem call, and using presently available modem protocols proceeds to download and store information into existing storage. In accordance with an aspect of the disclosed embodiment, such operation includes the downloading of a personal directory that is accessible in a manner identical to that in which those directories normally input manually into the cellular telephone terminal  105  are accessed. Other information such as appointments, reminders, anniversaries, by way of example, may also be input into the terminal. Such events may be accompanied by a user settable audible alarm for alerting the user at the prescribed time. Examples of how information is entered into a directory and displayed on a telephone terminal are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,396,547 and 5,487,104. Examples of information that may be entered into and retrieved from a telephone terminal are illustratively described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,493,611. 
   Referring next to  FIG. 2 , there is illustratively shown a telecommunications infrastructure in which a telephone terminal is configured with data from a computer, in accordance with a second embodiment of the disclosed invention. Communications between a computer  201  and a cellular terminal  206 , in this illustrative infrastructure, is in a network translator mode in which the computer  201  communicates with the cellular terminal  206  through a network translator  204  juxtaposed between the wired telecommunication network and the wireless telecommunication network. 
   In the network translator mode, the communications protocols used in communications between the computer, modem and over the wired telecommunication network may differ from that used between the cellular site, the cellular telephone terminal and over the wireless telecommunication network. Therefore, the use of the network translator  204  may be advantageously employed in communicating data directly in bit format to a digital cellular telephone terminal in which a communications protocol such as global systems for mobile communications (GSM), time division multiple access (TDMA) or code division multiple access (CDMA) is employed. 
   The computer  201  is used to input, maintain and organize information that is sent to the cellular telephone terminal  206 . The computer  201  utilizes a modem  202  to initiate a telephone call via the wired telecommunication network  203  using one of standard and readily available modem communication protocols. The computer  201  connects with the network translator  204  which receives the data using the same standard telecommunications protocol used by modem  202 . The network translator  204  then utilizes the cellular radio system which includes cellular cite  205  to complete a data telephone call to the cellular telephone terminal  206 . The network translator function provided by network translator  204  may be easily provided by either the 4ESS™ electronic switch or the 5ESS® electronic switch, both available from AT&amp;T Corp. 
   Prior to the initiation of the telephone call to the cellular telephone terminal  206  for transmitting the desired data to this unit, this terminal is first configured in an information or data receive mode by the user. The user is able to reconfigure the terminal  206  through an interface which includes interface buttons  207  and display  208 . This interface permits the user to access a program in the terminal  206  that configures this terminal in the data receive mode. 
   When the incoming call from the computer  201  is received, the terminal  206  accepts this digital call, and using a selected one of available digital protocols, proceeds to download and store the information which may comprise directories and other information into existing storage. 
   Referring next to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a block diagram of a computer system  300  configurable for providing the functions of either computer  101  or  201 , in accordance with the present invention. The computer system  300  includes an existing computer organizer or computer telephone application  301 , a special purpose database editor  302 , a local computer database  303 , a network or distance computer database  304 , computer communications applications  305  and a communication modem  306  and it one or more associated protocols. 
   The computer organizer or computer telephone application  301  is employed by a user to create and maintain database  303 , a portion of which contains the desired data for a cellular telephone terminal, for example, telephone terminals  105  and  106 . As an alternative, the special purpose database editor  302  may be provided to create and edit database  303 . Either of these programs may have access to a larger network database  304  representing directories of numbers, such as corporate or public databases. The computer communications applications  305  is employed to identify and extract the data in databas  303  and communicate it via modem  306  using one of standard communications protocols. The application  305  allows, for example, the user to enter a telephone number associated with the cellular telephone terminal, which is either contacted directly or the number transmitted to a network translator such as translator  204 , shown in  FIG. 2 , which in turn contacts the telephone terminal. 
     FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of components of a cellular telephone terminal  400  configurable for providing the functions of either terminal  105  or terminal  206 , in accordance with the present invention. The cellular telephone terminal  400  is augmented by the addition of either a hardware or software modem  401  for allowing the reception of digital data directly into the cellular terminal. A first modification to firmware  402  in the cellular telephone terminal is provided in order to configure the telephone terminal to accept data. A second modification which is made to the cellular terminal&#39;s feature flow firmware  404  involves changes to the code that defines a feature flow presented to the user of the telephone terminal. The modification of this code involves the addition of an “information download” mode to the telephone terminal. 
   This information download mode is added to an existing set of telephone modes, and requires the user to configure the telephone terminal into this special mode before any data may be added. Security and control of the download period is advantageously provided by requiring physical possession of the telephone terminal, and only allowing data download during user selected periods. Entering this special mode is accomplished in an integrated manner using both the user interface buttons  405  and display  406  of the telephone terminal. Another modification to the feature flow firmware  404  is that which allows data to be entered into the digital database  403  and then permit a user of the telephone terminal to access this data subsequently in the same manner as other data in the telephone terminal, i.e., by accessing the telephone dialer  407 . 
     FIG. 5  is a flow diagram for illustrating an operational sequence of how information initially created in the computer system  300  is downloaded into the cellular telephone terminal  400 . The functions provided by computer system  300  and terminal  400  are each provided by a process or program respectively stored in non-volatile database memory in each of these units. 
   The program is entered at step  501  where the user enters or modifies information to be sent to the telephone terminal. From step  501 , the program advances to step  502  where a computer communications program that allows selection by a user of the data to be sent is executed. In step  503 , the user selects the data to be sent to the telephone terminal. After step  503 , the cellular telephone terminal is configured by the user into the “information download” mode at step  507 . The user next instructs the computer at step  504  to send the selected data to the cellular telephone terminal. 
   At step  505 , the computer modem initiates the telephone call, and the cellular telephone terminal automatically answers the call and receives all data in step  508  contained in a file transmitted by the computer system. After step  508  and at the end of the file, the computer system sends an end of file indicator, and terminates the connection in step  506 . The cellular telephone terminal then ends the telephone call at step  509  and configured with this new data then enters into a normal operating mode. 
   While the foregoing invention has been described in terms of the above detailed embodiments, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made. One such modification is the telecommunication infrastructure shown in  FIG. 6  in which the computer  601  and the cellular telephone terminal  605  are supported by a telecommunications infrastructure which includes a land-line supported private base station  104 . A private base station is a low power station over which a user can register his or her cellular radio terminal and make and receive telephone calls. A private base station shares the same frequency bands with large cellular cites, but operates at a greatly reduced power level. Also, each private base station has a land-line subscriber telephone number through which all incoming calls are routed. 
   The requirements for the private base station and the cellular telephone terminal are set forth in the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) Interim Standard (IS)-136, dated December 1994. The operation of such a base station is disclosed in copending and commonly assigned U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 08/509,403, 08/509,404 and 08/509,406, all filed on Jul. 31, 1995. 
   With specific reference now to  FIG. 6 , there is shown an illustrative block diagram of a telecommunications infrastructure useful in describing the operation of the present invention. The telecommunications infrastructure includes the computer  601 , a modem  602 , a wired telecommunication network  603 , a wireless telecommunication network or cellular radio system which includes the private base station  604  and the cellular telephone terminal  605 . Communications between the computer  601  and the cellular terminal  605  in this illustrative infrastructure is in a direct connect mode in which the computer  601  communicates directly with the cellular telephone terminal  605 . 
   The computer  601  is used to input, maintain and organize information that is sent to the cellular telephone terminal  605 . The computer  601  utilizes the modem  602  to initiate a telephone call via the wired telecommunication network  603  using one of standard modem communication protocols. The private base station  604  in the cellular radio system completes the call to the cellular telephone terminal  605  in the same manner as a standard telephone call is completed. 
   Security and ease of use are enhanced as well as telephone call charges are minimized through use of the telecommunication infrastructure shown in  FIG. 6 . Since the user registers his or her telephone terminal with the private base station, all cellular calls directed to the telephone terminal during periods of registration with the base station do not use the cellular radio system in which cellular cites  104  and  205 , for example, are employed. Rather, these calls will go via a subscriber line connected to the wired telecommunication network  603  directly to the private base station  604 . And the private base station provides a low-level signal that is received by the terminal only while the terminal  605  is within close proximity to the base station  604 . In operation, therefore, a user at computer  601  configures this computer, and thus modem  602 , to make a telephone call on a first subscriber line. The telephone call returns to the private base station on a second subscriber line and the base station is then used by the computer  601  in transferring the information contained in the computer  601  to the telephone terminal  605 . 
   Prior to the initiation of the telephone call to the telephone terminal  605  for transmitting the desired data to this unit, this terminal is first configured in an information or data receive mode by the user. The user is able to configure the terminal  605  in the data receive mode through use of an interface which includes interface buttons  606  and cellular display  607 . 
   When the incoming call from the computer  601  is received, the terminal  605 , while configured in the data receive mode, accepts a modem call, and proceeds to download and store information into existing storage in the telephone terminal  605 . 
   Yet another modification of the invention is to arrange the private base station so that it communicates directly with the computer without the need for accessing the wired telecommunication network, illustratively shown as network  603  in  FIG. 6 . An RS-232 interface, for example, may be incorporated into a private base station to interface with an RS-232 interface also available on the computer. In such a modification, the computer interfaces directly with the private base station and the information data for the cellular telephone terminal is provided directly to the base station. In the operation of this modification of the invention, the need to use one or more subscriber lines in communicating with the personal base station is avoided altogether. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Technology Category: 5