Telephone system and method for selectively ringing one or more land phones or portable phones based on the self-detected geographical position of a portable phone

• US 20010055974A1
• Filed: 01/12/2001
• Published: 12/27/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tomtom Global Content B.V (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bates, Cary Lee, Santosuosso, John Matthew, Ryan, Jeffrey Michael
• Granted Patent: US 6,999,757 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.5
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/045 Call privacy arrangements, e.g. timely inhibiting the ring signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver

Abstract

A portable phone is equipped with a position detector that detects the geographical position of the portable phone, and a telephone system may ring one or more land-based phones or portable phones according to the geographical position of the portable phone. One or more geographical regions are defined, with corresponding telephone parameters defined for each region. When a portable phone enters a defined region, exits a defined region, or changes between two defined regions, the function of one or more land-based phones or portable phones may change. The preferred embodiments thus allow changing the function of one or more other phones based on the self-detected geographical position of a portable phone. In this manner the convenience of using portable phones is greatly enhanced.

Claims

1. A telephone system comprising:

a portable phone that includes a position detector that detects the position of the portable phone;

a second phone; and

a call router that rings the second phone when a call is received for the portable phone if the portable phone is within a predetermined physical relationship with the second phone as indicated by the position detector in the portable phone.

2. The portable phone of

claim 1

wherein the position detector comprises a global positioning system (GPS) sensor.

3. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the call router rings the portable phone at the same time the call router rings the second phone, and connects the call to whichever of the portable and second phones that is answered first.

4. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the second phone comprises a portable phone.

5. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the second phone comprises a land-based phone coupled to a telephone jack.

6. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the predetermined physical relationship comprises a predefined geographical region.

7. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the predetermined physical relationship comprises a predefined distance between the portable phone and the second phone.

8. The telephone system of

claim 1

wherein the call router further rings the portable phone when a call is received for the second phone if the portable phone is within the predetermined physical relationship with the second phone.

9. The telephone system of

claim 8

wherein the call router rings the portable phone at the same time the call router rings the second phone, and connects the call to whichever of the portable and second phones that is answered first.

10. A method for selectively ringing or not ringing a second phone when a call is placed to a portable phone, the method comprising the steps of:

the portable phone using an internal position detector to detect its geographical position; and

ringing the second phone when a call is received for the portable phone if the portable phone is within a predetermined physical relationship with the second phone as indicated by the internal position detector in the portable phone.

11. The method of

claim 10

further comprising the steps of:

ringing the portable phone at the same time the second phone is rung; and

connecting the call to whichever of the portable and second phones that is answered first.

12. The method of

claim 10

wherein the second phone comprises a portable phone.

13. The method of

claim 10

wherein the second phone comprises a land-based phone coupled to a telephone jack.

14. The method of

claim 10

wherein the predetermined physical relationship comprises a predefined geographical region.

15. The method of

claim 10

wherein the predetermined physical relationship comprises a predefined distance between the portable phone and the second phone.

16. The method of

claim 10

further comprising the step of ringing the portable phone when a call is received for the second phone if the portable phone is within the predetermined physical relationship with the second phone.

17. The method of

claim 16

further comprising the steps of:

ringing the portable phone at the same time the second phone is rung; and

connecting the call to whichever of the portable and second phones that is answered first.

18. A telephone system comprising:

(A) a portable phone that includes a position detector that detects the position of the portable phone;

(B) at least one defined geographical region, each defined geographical region having corresponding phone parameters that determine how a call is rung and routed;

(C) a mechanism that receives the position of the portable phone from the position detector, and that determines from the position of the portable phone whether the portable phone enters or exits a defined geographical region; and

(D) a call router that rings and routes a telephone call according to the phone parameters for a region.

19. The telephone system of

claim 18

wherein the position detector comprises a global positioning system (GPS) sensor.

20. The telephone system of

claim 18

wherein the at least one geographical region in (B) and the mechanism in (C) reside within the portable phone, and the call router in (D) resides in a telephone company network that is coupled to the portable phone.

21. The telephone system of

claim 18

wherein the portable phone communicates its detected position to the call router, and wherein the at least one geographical region in (B), the mechanism in (C), and the call router in (D) reside in a telephone company network that is coupled to the portable phone.

22. A method for selectively ringing or not ringing a second phone when a call is placed to a portable phone, the method comprising the steps of:

the portable phone using an internal position detector to detect its geographical position;

defining at least one geographical region;

defining phone parameters that determine how a call is rung and routed for each defined geographical region;

receiving the position of the portable phone from the position detector;

determining from the received position of the portable phone whether the portable phone enters or exits a defined geographical region;

updating phone parameters for a geographical region when the portable phone enters the geographical region;

updating phone parameters for a geographical region when the portable phone exits the geographical region; and

ringing and routing a telephone call according to the phone parameters for a defined geographical region.

23. A telephone system comprising:

a portable phone that includes a position detector that detects the position of the portable phone;

a defined region that is assigned a telephone number;

a call router coupled to the portable phone that rings the portable phone when the assigned telephone number of the defined region is called if the portable phone is within the defined region as indicated by the position detector.

24. The telephone system of

claim 23

wherein the call router does not ring the portable phone when the assigned telephone number of the defined region is called and the portable phone is outside the defined region.

25. The telephone system of

claim 23

wherein the call router delivers a voice message when the assigned telephone number of the defined region is called and the portable phone is outside the defined region.

26. A method for dynamically defining a region for a portable phone that includes an internal position detector, the method comprising the steps of:

(1) placing the portable phone in a dynamic region definition mode;

(2) moving the portable phone to a first boundary point;

(3) storing the first boundary point as a boundary point for the region as detected by the internal position detector;

(4) repeating steps (2) and (3) until all desired boundary points have been entered; and

(5) computing a region by connecting the boundary points.