Apparatus and method for monitoring the time usage of a wireless communication device

• US 20040209595A1
• Filed: 09/25/2003
• Published: 10/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Joseph Bekanich
• Original Assignee: Joseph Bekanich
• Inventors: Bekanich, Joseph
• Application Number:
  US10/669,628
• Publication Number:
  US 20040209595A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/405
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0256 wherein the modules are operable in the detached state, e.g. one module for the user interface and one module for the transceiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/23 Construction or mounting of dials or of equivalent devices; Means for facilitating the use thereof by improving visibility H04M1/22
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72409 by interfacing with external accessories hands-free H04M1/60
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs logging of telephone numbers H04M1/56, H04M1/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices

Abstract

A method and apparatus for monitoring usage and activity of a wireless communication device, including a wireless telephone and a PDA device. The method and apparatus provide for detecting and monitoring each communication and displaying the remaining units available to the operator under their billing plan for the detected type of communication. Historical usage of each type of communication is maintained, and a plurality of types of available remaining communication units may be simultaneously displayed. The wireless device may monitor the usage of a type of communication and provide an alarm to the operator when less than a predetermined number of units, such as minutes or data bytes, are available to be used by the communication device in the billing period. The wireless device may also prompt the operator to call their service provider to request additional units.

Claims

1. A wireless communication device comprising:

a transmitter/receiver capable of transmitting and receiving a plurality of data signals;

a microprocessor connected to the transmitter/receiver and configured to detect a device event, and provide monitoring information indicative of the usage of the wireless communication device during the occurrence of the detected device event; and

a display capable of continuously displaying the monitoring information during the device event and after the end of the device event.

2. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor is configured to provide historical information indicative of the usage of the wireless communication device associated with a plurality of predetermined types of device events and instruct the display to continuously display the historical information of at least one type of device event of the plurality of predetermined types of device events.

3. The wireless communication device of claim 2, wherein the microprocessor is configured to instruct the display to display the historical information at a time when a device event is not detected.

4. The wireless communication device of claim 2, wherein the microprocessor is configured to receive instructions from an operator of the wireless communication device to selectively remove historical information of a device event from the display and provide instructions to the display to selectively remove the historical information of a device event from the display.

5. The wireless communication device of claim 1, wherein the microprocessor is configured to determine usage of the wireless communication device associated with a plurality of predetermined types of device events, to determine the type of device event of the detected device event, and if, during a detected device event, the usage of the wireless communication device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event, to provide an alarm to the operator indicating that the usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event is close to exceeding the predetermined amount of available usage.

6. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the alarm is at least one of an audio alarm, a visual alarm and a voice alarm.

7. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the microprocessor is configured to continuously count down units indicating remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected device event during the occurrence of the detected device event and to provide a first alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a first threshold.

8. The wireless communication device of claim 7, wherein the microprocessor is configured to provide a second alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a second threshold, the second threshold being less than the first threshold.

9. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the microprocessor is configured to prompt the operator to call a service provider to request additional available usage of the wireless communication device for the type of device event of the device event when the usage of the wireless communication device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless communication device for type of device event of the detected device event.

10. The wireless communication device of claim 5, wherein the plurality of predetermined types of device events include at least one of:

a voice event, a data event, a gaming event, an Internet event, and an operator selected internal activity event.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 10, wherein a voice event includes an audio communication during at least one of predefined periods of:

peak minutes, off peak minutes, weekday minutes, daytime minutes, anytime minutes, evening minutes, nighttime minutes, mobile to mobile minutes, rollover minutes, shared minutes, local minutes, long distance minutes, and roaming minutes.

12. The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein the microprocessor is configured to detect and monitor voice events during at least one period of the predefined periods and to provide historical information indicative of the usage of the wireless communication device for the at least one period.

13. The wireless communication device of claim 10, wherein an operator selected internal activity includes at least one of remaining battery charge and music played by the wireless communication device, and at least one of minutes of remaining battery charge and music played are displayed on the display.

14. A method of monitoring usage of a wireless communication device comprising the steps of:

detecting a device event of the wireless communication device;

monitoring an available usage of the wireless communication device during the occurrence of the detected device event; and

continuously displaying the available usage of the wireless communication device during the occurrence of the device event and after the termination of the device event.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of:

providing historical information indicative of the usage of the wireless communication device associated with a plurality of predetermined types of device events and displaying the historical information of at least one type of device event of the plurality of predetermined types of device events.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the historical information is displayed at a time when a device event is not detected.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of:

selectively removing historical information of a device event from the display.

18. The method of claim 14 further comprising the steps of:

determining the type of device event of the detected device event from among a plurality of predetermined types of device events;

determining if, during a detected device event, the usage of the wireless device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event; and

providing an alarm to the operator indicating that the usage of the wireless device for the detected device event is close to exceeding the predetermined amount of available usage for the type of device event of the detected device event.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the alarm is at least one of an audio alarm, a visual alarm and a voice alarm.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein the method further comprises continuously counting down the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected device event during the occurrence of the device event, and providing a first alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a first threshold.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising providing a second alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a second threshold, the second threshold being less than the first threshold.

22. The method of claim 18, further comprising prompting the operator to call a service provider to request additional available usage of the wireless communication device for the types of device event of the detected device event when the usage of the wireless device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event.

23. The method of claim 18, wherein the plurality of predetermined types of device events include at least one of:

a voice event, a data event, a gaming event, an Internet event, and an operator selected internal activity event.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein a voice event includes an audio communication during at least one of predefined periods of:

peak minutes, off peak minutes, weekday minutes, daytime minutes, anytime minutes, evening minutes, nighttime minutes, mobile to mobile minutes, rollover minutes, shared minutes, local minutes, long distance minutes, and roaming minutes.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of detecting and monitoring at least one period of the predefined periods, and providing historical information of the usage of each type of voice event.

26. The method of claim 18, wherein an operator selected internal activity includes at least one of remaining battery charge and music played by the wireless communication device, and at least one of minutes of remaining battery charge and music played are displayed on the display.

27. A computer readable medium containing a program capable of causing a computer to perform a method of monitoring usage of a wireless communication device comprising the steps of:

detecting a device event of the wireless communication device;

monitoring an available usage of the wireless communication device during the occurrence of the detected device event; and

continuously displaying the available usage of the wireless communication device during the occurrence of the device event and after the termination of the device event.

28. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

providing historical information indicative of the usage of the wireless communication device associated with a plurality of predetermined types of device events and displaying the historical information of at least one type of device event of the plurality of predetermined types of device events.

29. The computer readable medium of claim 28, wherein the historical information is displayed at a time when a device event is not detected.

30. The computer readable medium of claim 29, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

selectively removing historical information of a device event from the display.

31. The computer readable medium of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:

determine the type of device event of the detected device event from among a plurality of predetermined types of device events;

determining if, during a detected device event, the usage of the wireless device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event, and

providing an alarm to the operator indicating that the usage of the wireless device for the detected device event is close to exceeding the predetermined amount of available usage for the type of device event of the detected device event.

32. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the alarm is at least one of an audio alarm, a visual alarm and a voice alarm.

33. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises continuously counting down the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected device event during the occurrence of the device event, and providing a first alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a first threshold.

34. The computer readable medium of claim 33, wherein the method comprises the steps of providing a second alarm to the operator of the wireless communication device when the remaining usage available for the type of device event of the detected event is less than or equal to a second threshold, the second threshold being less than the first threshold.

35. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the method comprises the steps of prompting the operator to call a service provider to request additional available usage of the wireless communication device for the types of device event of the detected device event when the usage of the wireless device is close to exceeding a predetermined amount of available usage of the wireless device for the type of device event of the detected device event.

36. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the plurality of predetermined types of device events include at least one of:

a voice event, a data event, a gaming event, an Internet event, and an operator selected internal activity event.

37. The computer readable medium of claim 36, wherein a voice event includes an audio communication during at least one of predefined periods of:

peak minutes, off peak minutes, weekday minutes, daytime minutes, anytime minutes, evening minutes, nighttime minutes, mobile to mobile minutes, rollover minutes, shared minutes, local minutes, long distance minutes, and roaming minutes.

38. The computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein the method further comprising the step of detecting and monitoring at least one period of the predefined periods, and providing historical information of the usage of each type of voice event.

39. The computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein an operator selected internal activity includes at least one of remaining battery charge and music played by the wireless communication device, and at least one of minutes of remaining battery charge and music played are displayed on the display.