Cellular phone in form factor of a conventional audio cassette

• US 20060234769A1
• Filed: 04/12/2006
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Jai Kumar, Kothandraman Ramchandran, Sudharshan Srinivasan
• Original Assignee: Jai Kumar, Kothandraman Ramchandran, Sudharshan Srinivasan
• Inventors: Srinivasan, Sudharshan, Ramchandran, Kothandraman, Kumar, Jai
• Granted Patent: US 7,489,946 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/556.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/0202 Portable telephone sets, e.g. cordless phones, mobile phones or bar type handsets constructional features of telephone transmitters or receivers, e.g. of speakers or microphones H04M1/03
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/271 controlled by voice recognition
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6083 by interfacing with the vehicle audio system
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/10 including a GPS signal receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/52 including functional features of a camera constructional features concerning the integration of cameras in portable phones H04M1/0264

Abstract

A hands free cellular phone system combining a full featured cellular phone with a form factor of a conventional audio cassette is provided. Several embodiments enabling real time interactive multimedia applications are also provided. Said hands free cellular phone system comprises a cellular phone device (1) in form factor of a conventional audio cassette (9). Device (1) can be inserted into any conventional audio cassette player (22) to transfer audio content into conventional audio cassette player (22) by using electromagnetic coupling with electromagnetic transducer (28) of said device (1) and electromagnetic transducer of conventional audio cassette player (35). Said device (1) provides a full featured, forward compatible, low installation cost hands free cellular phone system.

Claims

1. A cellular phone device, in form factor of a conventional audio cassette, coupled to conventional audio cassette player, comprising:

a) Call processing software program, to enable making and receiving cellular phone calls,

b) Cellular access module component to enable cellular network access for data and voice connectivity,

c) Electromagnetic transducer component to enable said coupling between said cellular phone device and said conventional audio cassette player,

d) Microphone component to enable capturing of voice and audio,

e) Power supply component to supply power to said components, and

f) Casing for said form factor that enables insertion of said cellular phone device into cassette slot of said conventional audio cassette player to enable said coupling.

2. The cellular phone device of claim 1, further comprising:

a) Address book software program, to enable storage of phone numbers and other related data,

b) Voice recognition software program, to enable voice activated dialing,

c) Echo cancellation software program, to prevent echoes from said speaker component and speakers associated with said conventional audio cassette player,

d) Vocoder software program, to encode and decode voice samples,

e) Micro controller unit component to execute said software programs,

f) Speaker component, that is optionally used when conventional audio cassette player is decoupled from said cellular phone device,

g) Read only memory component to store permanent data and code associated with said software programs,

h) Random access memory component to store temporary data associated with said software programs,

i) Flash memory to store changeable data and software programs,

j) Keypad component to enable manual operation of said cellular phone device,

k) Liquid crystal display component to enable display of output from said software programs,

l) Antenna component to connect said cellular access module component to said cellular network,

m) Subscriber identity module component to enable user authentication in said cellular network, and

n) Printed circuit board to electronically interconnect said components.

3. The cellular phone device of claim 2, further comprising:

a) General purpose processor component to execute general purpose instructions and basic digital signal processing functions for voice and multimedia data processing, and

b) Multimedia processing software program to enable multimedia data processing on said general purpose processor.

4. The cellular phone device of claim 3, further comprising:

a) Digital image sensor module component to enable capturing of still and moving images to transfer to said cellular network.

5. The cellular phone device of claim 3, further comprising:

a) Global positioning system component to enable location notification services.

6. The cellular phone device of claim 3, further comprising:

a) Digital image sensor module component to enable capturing of still and moving images to transfer to said cellular network, and

b) Global positioning system component to enable location notification applications.

7. The cellular phone device of claim 3, further comprising:

a) Digital signal processor component to enable encoding and decoding of any data format for advanced voice and multimedia applications,

b) Digital signal processor bridge hardware connectivity between said general purpose processor and said digital signal processor to enable exchange of data and instructions,

c) Digital signal processor bridge protocol software program between said general purpose processor and said digital signal processor to enable exchange of data and instructions utilizing said digital signal processor bridge hardware connectivity.

8. The cellular phone device of claim 7, further comprising:

a) Internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program as specified by third generation partnership project and open mobile alliance standard bodies,

b) Voice activity detection software program to detect presence of voice to enable interactive multimedia applications over internet protocol, and

c) Vocoder software program to enable encoding and decoding of voice samples in real time.

9. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Global positioning system component to enable location based services and navigation capabilities.

10. The cellular phone device of claim 9, further comprising:

a) Digital image sensor module component to enable capturing of still and moving images to transfer to said cellular network.

11. The cellular phone device of claim 9, further comprising:

a) Audio level control software program to enable automatic controlling of volume levels of audio output from said device based on driving conditions.

12. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Interactive talk back software program to enable conversation to a group of participants with common interest in commercial broadcast audio content using said internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program and broadcast time based group setting method.

13. The cellular phone device of claim 12, further comprising:

a) Wireless audio broadcast receiver component to receive audio content using commercial broadcast radio channels, and

b) Synchronization software program to automatically create dynamic chat groups based on audio content that is received in said wireless audio broadcast receiver component.

14. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Codec download software program to enable downloading of audio codecs to enable decoding audio data formats using a combination of said general purpose processor and said digital signal processor.

15. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Text to speech conversion software program to enable conversion of downloaded text to voice in real time.

16. The cellular phone device of claim 15, further comprising:

a) Speech to text conversion software program to enable conversion of voice to text in real time.

17. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Speech to text conversion software program to enable conversion of voice to text in real time.

18. The cellular phone device of claim 8, further comprising:

a) Magnetic card reading and writing software program to encode and decode magnetic stripe content on conventional magnetic stripe based cards.

19. The cellular phone device of claim 2, wherein said subscriber identity module component is selected from group consisting of detachable subscriber identity chip and embedded subscriber identity information.

20. The cellular phone device of claim 2, wherein said power supply component is selected from group consisting of nickel cadmium battery and lithium ion battery and lithium polymer battery and nickel metal hydride battery and fuel cell battery.

21. The cellular phone device of claim 13, wherein said wireless audio broadcast receiver component is selected from group consisting of digital radio broadcast receiver and amplitude modulation broadcast receiver and frequency modulation broadcast receiver and satellite radio broadcast receiver.

22. The cellular phone device of claim 18, wherein said magnetic stripe based card is selected from group consisting of bank card and credit card and debit card and automated tell machine card and library card and hotel card and access card.

23. A method to provide a hands free cellular phone system, said method, comprising:

a) Providing a cellular phone device in form factor of a conventional audio cassette, said cellular phone device comprising operatively coupled software programs and components, said components assembled together on at least one printed circuit board such that assembly of components and printed circuit board can fit into a said form factor that enables insertion of said cellular device into a conventional audio cassette player,

b) Providing call processing software program, and

c) Providing micro controller unit component, cellular network access module component, electromagnetic transducer component, microphone component, and power supply component.

24. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 23, further comprising:

a) Providing call processing software program, address book software program, echo cancellation software program and voice recognition software program and vocoder software program, and

b) Providing speaker component, read only memory component, random access memory component, flash memory component, keypad component, liquid crystal display component, antenna component, subscriber identity module component

25. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 24, further comprising:

a) Providing general purpose processor component,

b) Providing multimedia processing software program to execute general purpose instructions and basic digital signal processing functions for multimedia processing, and

c) Processing multimedia data using said multimedia processing software program and said general purpose processor component to decode multimedia messages.

26. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 25, further comprising:

a) Providing digital image sensor module component to enable capturing of still and moving images to transfer to said cellular network,

b) Setting said cellular phone device in surveillance state,

c) Capturing still and moving images in response to image capture event selected from group consisting of user initiated image capture event and audio activity detection triggered image capture event and contiguous image change detection triggered image capture event, and

d) Sending said captured images to said cellular network.

27. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 25, further comprising:

a) Providing global positioning system component to enable location notification services,

b) Setting said cellular phone device in surveillance state,

c) Capturing location information using said global positioning system component in response to location capture event selected from group consisting of user initiated location capture event and audio activity detection triggered location capture event and contiguous image change detection triggered location capture event, and

d) Sending said captured location information to said cellular network.

28. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 25, further comprising:

a) Providing digital image sensor module component and global positioning system component,

b) Setting said cellular phone device in surveillance state,

c) Capturing still and moving images in response to image capture event selected from group consisting of user initiated image capture event and audio activity detection triggered image capture event and contiguous image change detection triggered image capture event,

d) Capturing location information using said global positioning system component in response to location capture event selected from group consisting of user initiated location capture event and audio activity detection triggered location capture event and contiguous image change detection triggered location capture event,

e) Sending said captured images to said cellular network, and

f) Sending said captured location information to said cellular network.

29. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 25, further comprising:

a) Providing digital signal processor component and digital signal processor bridge hardware connectivity,

b) Providing digital signal processor bridge protocol software program, and

c) Processing multimedia data using said multimedia processing software program, said general purpose processor component and said digital signal processor component.

30. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 29, further comprising:

a) Providing internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program as specified by third generation partnership project and open mobile alliance standard bodies and voice activity detection software program to detect presence of voice to enable interactive multimedia applications over internet protocol and vocoder software program to enable encoding and decoding of voice samples in real time.

31. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing global positioning system component to enable location based services and navigation capabilities.

32. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 31, further comprising:

a) Providing digital image sensor module component to enable capturing of still and moving images to transfer to said cellular network.

33. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 31, further comprising:

a) Providing audio level control software program to enable automatic controlling of volume levels of audio output from said device based on driving conditions,

b) Using location information from said global positioning system component to identify unfavorable traffic conditions, and

c) Adjusting audio levels output into said conventional audio cassette player based on said unfavorable traffic conditions.

34. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing interactive talk back software program to enable conversation to a group of participants with common interest in commercial broadcast audio content using said internet protocol multimedia subsystem software program,

b) Setting up internet protocol multimedia subsystem group communication channels based on audio content and time of broadcast, and

c) Enabling group communication between users listening to common broadcast audio content using said group communication channel.

35. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 34, further comprising:

a) Providing wireless audio broadcast receiver component to receive audio content using commercial broadcast radio channels,

b) Providing synchronization software program to automatically create dynamic chat groups based on audio content that is received in said wireless audio broadcast receiver component,

c) Setting up internet protocol multimedia subsystem group communication channels using said synchronization software program that derives grouping information from said wireless audio broadcast receiver component and corresponding audio content, and

d) Enabling group communication between users listening to common broadcast audio content using said group communication channel.

36. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing codec download software program to enable downloading of audio codecs to enable decoding audio data formats using a combination of said general purpose processor and said digital signal processor,

b) Downloading said audio codecs to said cellular phone device using said codec download software program,

c) Downloading audio content corresponding to said audio codecs into said cellular phone device using said internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program, and

d) Decoding said audio content using said audio codecs said digital signal processor and said general purpose processor and playing out decoded audio content through audio output component selected from group consisting of said speaker component in said cellular phone device and said electromagnetic transducer in said cellular phone device.

37. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing text to speech conversion software program to enable conversion of downloaded text to voice in real time,

b) Downloading text based content using said internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program, and

c) Converting said text based content into generated audio content using said text to speech conversion software program, said digital signal processor and said general purpose processor and playing out said generated audio content through audio output component selected from group consisting of said speaker component in said cellular phone device and said electromagnetic transducer in said cellular phone device.

38. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 37, further comprising:

a) Providing speech to text conversion software program to enable conversion of voice to text in real time,

b) Recording speech originating from said microphone of said cellular phone device, and

c) Converting said recorded speech content into generated text content using said speech to text conversion software program, said digital signal processor and said general purpose processor and initiating transfer of said generated text content into said cellular network using internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program.

39. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing speech to text conversion software program to enable conversion of voice to text in real time,

b) Recording speech originating from said microphone of said cellular phone device, and

c) Converting said recorded speech content into generated text content using said speech to text conversion software program, said digital signal processor and said general purpose processor and initiating transfer of said generated text content into said cellular network using internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program.

40. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 30, further comprising:

a) Providing magnetic card reading and writing software program to encode and decode magnetic stripe content on conventional magnetic stripe based cards,

b) Downloading magnetic card information using said cellular network and said internet protocol multimedia subsystem client software program, and

c) Writing said downloaded magnetic card information to a card with magnetic stripe using said magnetic card reading and writing software program and said general purpose processor and said electromagnetic transducer of said cellular phone device.

41. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 24, wherein said subscriber identity module component is selected from group consisting of detachable subscriber identity chip and embedded subscriber identity information.

42. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 24, wherein said power supply component is selected from group consisting of nickel cadmium battery and lithium ion battery and lithium polymer battery and nickel metal hydride battery and fuel cell battery.

43. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 34, wherein said wireless audio broadcast receiver component is selected from group consisting of digital radio broadcast receiver and amplitude modulation broadcast receiver and frequency modulation broadcast receiver and satellite radio broadcast receiver.

44. The method to provide a hands free cellular phone system of claim 40, wherein said magnetic stripe based card is selected from group consisting of bank card and credit card and debit card and automated tell machine card and library card and hotel card and access card.