Telephone device and mobile-phone linking method

• US 10,116,782 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2016
• Issued: 10/30/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fukuda, Hikaru, Matsuo, Hideyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Matar, Ahmad F
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pope, Kharye
• Application Number:
  US15/179,422
• Publication Number:
  US 20160286022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 872 Days
• Field of Search: 370352, 370353, 37922001, 379219, 379229, 710303, 710304
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/04 including near field communication means, e.g. RFID

Abstract

A telephone device includes a short-distance wireless communication unit that performs wireless communication of data with a mobile-phone, and a speaker from which audio data is output, in which a music playback function of the mobile-phone can be remotely operated from a place that is a distance away from the mobile-phone, and in which music playback is stopped by switching a radio resource to that for a telephone call and a smooth transition to a telephone call state can take place automatically without performing a playback stopping operation in a case where a mobile-destined call arrival or mobile-originated call-placing takes place while the music playback is in progress.

Claims

1. A telephone device, comprising:

a landline telephone line interface unit;

a master-device control unit that controls the telephone device;

a short-distance wireless communication control unit that controls short-distance wireless communication of data with a mobile-phone;

an audio speaker; and

an audio processing unit, which, in operation, receives audio data from the mobile-phone using the short-distance wireless communication and causes the audio speaker to perform music playback by outputting the audio data from the mobile phone,

wherein, when the master-device control unit detects a caller operation of placing a call to a mobile-phone network by the telephone device during output of the audio data from the audio speaker, the master-device control unit notifies the short-distance wireless communication control unit of information on the caller operation of placing the call to the mobile phone network, and in response to the short-distance wireless communication control unit receiving the notification on the caller operation of placing the call to the mobile phone network, the short-distance wireless communication control unit starts processing that releases a radio resource for communicating the audio data, used for the music playback, from the mobile phone to the telephone device and sets, for the call, a radio resource for an audio path between the mobile phone and the telephone device.

2. The telephone device according to claim 1,

wherein the telephone device is a cordless telephone device that includes a cordless telephone master device which is connected to the landline telephone network and a cordless telephone slave device,

wherein the audio data used for the music playback that is received from the mobile-phone using the short-distance wireless communication, is transferred to the cordless telephone slave device.

3. The telephone device according to claim 2,

wherein transferring of the audio data sent from the mobile-phone to the cordless telephone slave device can be remotely performed with an operation in which an operation unit of the cordless telephone slave device is used.

4. The telephone device according to claim 2,

wherein the cordless telephone slave device includes a display unit,

wherein the cordless telephone master device transfers information, on a music piece that is received from the mobile-phone using the short-distance wireless communication, to the cordless telephone slave device, and

wherein the cordless telephone slave device displays the information on the music piece on the display unit.

5. The telephone device according to claim 2,

wherein, when a signal indicating that a caller operation of placing a mobile-originated call is performed by operating the cordless telephone slave device is received by the master-device control unit during output of the audio data from the speakers, the master-device control unit of the cordless telephone master device controls the short-distance wireless communication unit to release the radio resource for the music playback and set the radio resource for the call.

6. The telephone device according to claim 1,

wherein communication schemes for the short-distance wireless communication include a communication scheme that complies with IEEE 802.15.1 specifications.

8. The telephone device of claim 1, wherein the released radio resource is a broadband radio resource.

9. The telephone device of claim 1, wherein the released radio resource is of a high sound quality relative to the radio resource set for the audio path of the call.

10. The telephone device of claim 8, wherein the radio resource set for the audio path of the call is a narrower band radio resource audio source relative to the broadband radio resource.

7. A mobile-phone linking method for forming a communication link between a telephone device including a landline telephone line interface unit and a mobile-phone using a short-distance wireless communication, the mobile-phone linking method comprising:

forming a connection for short-distance wireless communication between the telephone device and the mobile-phone;

performing music playback from a speaker of the telephone device by outputting audio data received from the mobile-phone using the short-distance wireless communication;

notifying a control unit within the telephone device of a caller operation of placing a call to mobile phone network via the telephone device;

releasing a radio resource for communicating the audio data, used for the music playback, in the short-distance wireless communication when the control unit within the telephone device detects the caller operation of placing a call to a mobile phone network via the telephone device during output by the telephone device of the audio data received from the mobile phone; and

setting, for the call, a radio resource in the short-distance wireless communication for an audio path between the mobile phone and the telephone device after the radio resource for communicating the audio data used for the music playback is released.

11. The mobile-phone linking method of claim 7, wherein the releasing a radio resource for communicating audio data used for music playback includes releasing a broadband radio resource.

12. The mobile-phone linking method of claim 7, wherein the releasing a radio resource for communicating audio data used for music playback includes releasing a radio resource that is of a high sound quality relative to the radio resource set for the audio path of the call.

13. The mobile-phone linking method of claim 11, wherein setting, for the call, a radio resource in the short-distance communication includes setting for the audio path of the call a radio resource that has a narrower band relative to the broadband radio resource.