Mobile electronic communication device with lights to indicate received messages

• US 20030034878A1
• Filed: 08/16/2001
• Published: 02/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/16/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Varia Holdings LLC
• Original Assignee: Gitwit Incorporated
• Inventors: Nelson, Jonathan O., Hull, Eric J., Mager, Gary N.
• Granted Patent: US 6,720,863 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/5.61
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/22 Illumination; Arrangements for improving the visibility of characters on dials
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/576 associated with a pictorial or graphical representation
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/048 Arrangements providing optical indication of the incoming call, e.g. flasher circuits

Abstract

A mobile electronic communication device includes a processor unit, a transceiver, a keypad and a light unit. Each key of the keypad is associated with a contact of a contact list. The light unit can perform light functions to notify a user of the reception and/or status of messages received via the transceiver. The light functions include providing an indication of the age of a received message that was sent by a contact in the contacts list. The age of the message is indicated by a modulation of the illuminating light. In one embodiment, the age of a message is indicated as one of a set of predetermined age ranges, with each age range being represented by a unique color.

Claims

1. A mobile electronic communication device comprising:

a transceiver;

a keypad having a plurality of keys;

a light unit coupled to the keypad; and

a processor unit coupled to the transceiver, keypad and light unit, wherein the processor unit is configured to cause the light unit to output light that indicates a source of a received message.

2. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein each key of the plurality of keys is associated with a corresponding contact of a contact list.

3. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2, wherein keys corresponding to contacts on the contact list are numeric keys of the keypad.

4. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2, wherein, in response to an actuation of a key corresponding to a contact on the contact list, the processor unit is configured to cause the mobile electronic communication device to dial a telephone number associated with that contact.

5. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2 further comprising a display, wherein in response to an actuation of a key corresponding to a contact on the contact list, the processor unit is configured to cause information related to a message received from that contact to be displayed on the display.

6. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2, wherein the mobile electronic communication device is configured to receive messages of two or more types, wherein the processor unit is configured to cause the light unit to output the light with modulation that depends on the received message'"'"'s type.

7. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2, wherein the received message includes an indication of its importance, wherein the processor unit is configured to cause the light unit to output the light with modulation that depends on the importance of the received message.

8. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 2, wherein the processor unit is configured to cause the light unit to illuminate a key of the keypad, the key being associated with a contact of the contact list, the message received from the contact associated with the key.

9. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 8, wherein the light unit can simultaneously illuminate another key of the keypad to indicate that a message has been received from a contact associated with the other key.

10. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the processor unit is configured to cause the light unit to output light with modulation that depends on an age of a message received by the mobile electronic communication device.

11. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 10, wherein the modulated light has a color that depends on the relative age of a received message.

12. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 10, wherein the modulated light has a blink rate that indicates the number of messages received from a contact in a contact list.

13. The mobile electronic communication device in claim 10, wherein the message is a most recent message received from a contact in a contact list.

14. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 13, wherein the message is an unread message received from the contact.

15. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 10, wherein the relative age is indicated using a plurality of predetermined age categories.

16. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 15, wherein each age category of the plurality of age categories is represented by a predetermined color of light that can be outputted by the light unit.

17. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 15, wherein each age category of the plurality of age categories is represented by a predetermined number of light flashes within a cycle.

18. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the message is a SMS message.

19. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the keypad is a virtual keypad implemented using a touch-screen display, the light illuminating the key being modulated through an appearance of the key being displayed by the touch-screen display.

20. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein each key of the plurality of keys of the keypad is at least partially translucent.

21. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 1, wherein the light unit comprises an LED circuit configured to selectively output light having a color selected from a set of a plurality of preselected colors, the LED circuit having at least one LED coupled to each key of the plurality of keys of the keypad.

22. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 21, wherein a LED coupled to a key of the plurality of keys of the keypad is a multicolor LED.

23. A mobile electronic communication device, comprising:

means for receiving a message;

a keypad having a plurality of keys; and

illumination means for selectively illuminating one or more keys of the plurality of keys with modulated light to indicate a source of a message received by the means for receiving.

24. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 23, wherein each key of the plurality of keys is associated with a corresponding contact of a contact list.

25. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 24, wherein keys corresponding to contacts on the contact list are numeric keys of the keypad.

26. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 25, further comprising dialing means for dialing, in response to an actuation of a key, a telephone number associated with the contact corresponding to the actuated key.

27. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 24, further comprising a display, wherein an actuation of a key corresponding to a contact on the contact list causes information related to messages received from that contact to be displayed on the display.

28. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 24, wherein, in response to receiving a message from a contact, the illumination means illuminates a key associated with the contact.

29. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 28, wherein the illumination means simultaneously illuminates another key of the keypad to indicate that a message has been received from a contact associated with the other key.

30. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 23, wherein the keypad is a virtual keypad implemented using a touch-screen display, the light illuminating the key being modulated through the appearance of the key being displayed by the touch-screen display.

31. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 23, wherein the modulated light is modulated to indicate an age of a message received by the mobile electronic communication device.

32. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 31, wherein the modulated light has a color that depends on the relative age of a message received from the contact corresponding to the key.

33. A method for use with a mobile electronic communication having a plurality of keys, each key corresponding to a contact of a contact list, the method comprising:

receiving a message;

determining a sender of the received message; and

illuminating a key of the plurality of keys when the sender is a contact of the contact list, the illuminated key corresponding to the sender of the message.

34. The method claim 33, further comprising determining an age of the received signal.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein determining the age of the received message comprises determining which age range of a plurality of predetermined age ranges contains the age of the received message.

36. The method claim 34, further comprising modulating the light as a function of the determined age.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein modulating the light comprises causing the light to have a color selected from a plurality of colors, each color of the plurality of colors corresponding to an age range of the plurality of predetermined age ranges.

38. The method claim 33, further comprising modulating the light to indicate the a number of messages received by the contact corresponding to the key.

39. The method claim 38, wherein the modulation comprises causing the light to flash while illuminating the key, the light flashing a number of times in a cycle equal to a number of stored messages sent by the contact corresponding to the key.

40. The method of claim 33, further comprising illuminating another key of the plurality of keys when a message from another contact on the contact list has been received.

41. The method of claim 33, further comprising displaying a message log of stored messages received from the contact in response to the key corresponding to the contact on the contact list being activated.

42. The method of claim 33, further comprising causing the mobile electronic communication device to dial a telephone number belonging to a contact on the contact list in response to an activation of a key corresponding to that contact.

43. A mobile electronic communication device, comprising:

a plurality of keys;

means for storing a contact list, key contact on the contact list corresponding to a key of the plurality of keys;

means for receiving a message;

means for determining a sender of the received message; and

means for illuminating a key of the plurality of keys when the sender is a contact of the contact list, the illuminated key corresponding to the sender of the message.

44. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43, further comprising means for determining whether the received message is unread.

45. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43, further comprising means for determining an age of the received signal.

46. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 45, wherein the means for determining the age of the received message determines which age range of a plurality of predetermined age ranges contains the age of the received message.

47. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 45, further comprising means for modulating the light as a function of the determined age.

48. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 47, wherein the means for modulating the light causes the light to have a color selected from a plurality of colors, each color of the plurality of colors corresponding to an age range of the plurality of predetermined age ranges.

49. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43, wherein the means for illuminating causes the light to flash while illuminating the key, the light flashing a number of times in a cycle equal to a number of stored messages sent by the contact corresponding to the key.

50. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43,wherein the means for illuminating illuminates another key of the plurality of keys when a message from another contact on the contact list has been received.

51. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43, further comprising means for displaying a message log of stored messages received from the contact in response to an actuation of the key corresponding to the contact.

52. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 43, further comprising means for dialing a telephone number in response to an actuation of a key, the telephone number belonging to the contact corresponding to the actuated key.

53. A mobile electronic communication device comprising:

a transceiver;

a keypad having a plurality of keys;

a light unit coupled to the keypad;

a memory to store received messages; and

a processor unit coupled to the transceiver, keypad, memory and light unit, wherein the processor unit is programmed to determine the age of a received message and to cause the light unit to output light with modulation that depends on the determined age.

54. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 53, wherein the modulated light has a color that depends on the age of the received message.

55. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 53 wherein the modulated light has a blink rate that indicates the age of the received message.

56. The mobile electronic communication device in claim 53, wherein the message is a most recent message received from a contact in a contact list.

57. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 56, wherein the message is an unread message received from the contact.

58. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 53, wherein the age is determined as one of a plurality of predetermined age categories.

59. The mobile electronic communication device of claim 58, wherein each age category of the plurality of age categories is represented by a predetermined color of light that can be outputted by the light unit.