System and method of enhanced caller-ID display using a personal address book

• US 20070263853A1
• Filed: 04/14/2006
• Published: 11/15/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Sbc Knowledge Ventures, L.P.
• Inventors: Pearson, Larry, Bruening, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,654,943 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 379/413.30
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2746 Sorting, e.g. according to history or frequency of use
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/57 Arrangements for indicating or recording the number of the calling subscriber at the called subscriber's set at the operator set in a manual exchange H04M5/20
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/00 Telephonic communication systems specially adapted for combination with other electrical systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4316 for displaying supplemental content in a region of the screen, e.g. an advertisement in a separate window
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4332 by placing content in organized collections, e.g. local EPG data repository interfaces, Database management systems or updating for information retrieval G06F16/23; details of retrieval of video data and associated meta data in video database G06F16/739
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4622 Retrieving content or additional data from different sources, e.g. from a broadcast channel and the Internet web site content organization and management for information retrieval from the Internet G06F16/958; transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82; stock exchange data over packet-switching network H04L12/1804; push services including data channel over packet-switching network H04L12/1859
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47 End-user applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/478 Supplemental services, e.g. displaying phone caller identification, shopping application
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6137 involving transmission via a telephone network, e.g. POTS
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/64753 directed to the client
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/163 by receiver means only

Abstract

In one particular embodiment, a method includes receiving at a set-top box a call signal including a caller identifier from a network, where the caller identifier includes a calling number and a billing name associated with the calling number. An alias (or display name) associated with the calling number is retrieved from a personal address book stored in a memory of the set-top box. A modified caller identifier including the calling number and the alias is provided to a display device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving at a set-top box a call signal including a caller identifier from a network, the caller identifier including a calling number and optionally a billing name associated with the calling number;

retrieving an alias associated with the calling number from a personal address book stored in a memory of the set-top box; and

providing a modified caller identifier including the calling number and the alias to a display device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a broadcast signal including audio data and video data from a broadcast network when the call signal is received; and

providing concurrently the video data of the broadcast signal and the modified caller identifier to the display device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing calling numbers and associated alias information in a second personal address book; and

synchronizing, during a period of call inactivity, the personal address book to the second personal address book in a second memory coupled to the set-top box.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a user interface to receive user inputs to configure caller identification display options of the set-top box.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the alias associated with the calling number comprises:

searching a plurality of personal address books in a user-specified order until the calling number is found in a particular one of the plurality of personal address books; and

retrieving the alias from the particular one of the plurality of personal address books.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a user interface to configure the set-top box to access the plurality of personal address books in a particular order.

7. A set-top box comprising:

a memory to store a personal address book; and

logic coupled to a display device, to the memory, and to a public switched telephone network, the logic to receive a call signal including a calling number from the public switched telephone network and to retrieve a display name from the personal address book corresponding to the calling number, the logic to provide the calling number and the display name to the display device when the calling number matches a number of the personal address book.

8. The set-top box of claim 7, wherein the logic is adapted to receive a broadcast signal from a broadcast network, the broadcast signal including video data and audio data, the logic to provide the video data and the audio data to the display device.

9. The set-top box of claim 7, further comprising a network interface coupled to a network, wherein the logic is adapted to search for the calling number in a second personal address book via the network when the calling number does not match a number in the personal address book.

10. The set-top box of claim 7, further comprising a user interface to configure the logic to access one or more personal address books in a particular order.

11. The set-top box of claim 7, wherein the logic is adapted to synchronize the personal address book to a second personal address book.

12. The set-top box of claim 7, further comprising a network interface to couple the set-top box to a local area network, wherein the logic is adapted to generate a missed call notification including the calling number and the display name to a user via the network interface.

13. The set-top box of claim 7, further comprising:

a call log to store received call information;

wherein the logic is adapted to generate a log entry in the call log, the log entry including the calling number and either the display name or the billing name.

14. A processor readable medium embodying processor readable instructions to provide caller identification functions, the processor readable instructions comprising:

instructions to search a personal address book for a stored number corresponding to a calling number in response to receiving a caller identifier including the calling number and an associated billing name;

instructions to retrieve a display name associated with the calling number from the personal address book; and

instructions to generate an output signal including the calling number and the display name.

15. The processor readable medium of claim 14, wherein the processor readable instructions further comprise:

instructions to provide a user interface to configure a location of a second personal address book.

16. The processor readable medium of claim 15, wherein the processor readable instructions further comprise:

instructions to define a schedule to synchronize the personal address book to the second personal address book.

17. The processor readable medium of claim 15, wherein the processor readable instructions further comprise:

instructions to define a search order to search the personal address book and the second personal address book.

18. A method comprising:

receiving at an analog telephony adapter (ATA) unit a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call signal including a caller identifier, the caller identifier including a calling number and a billing name associated with the calling number;

retrieving a display name associated with the calling number from a personal address book; and

providing a modified caller identifier including the calling number and the display name to a caller ID device.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein providing the modified caller identifier comprises providing the modified caller identifier to a VoIP phone.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing the modified caller identifier to a set-top box adapted to provide the modified caller identifier to a display device.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing a user interface to receive inputs to configure the analog telephony adapter to access a second personal address book.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

storing calling numbers and associated display name information in the second personal address book; and

synchronizing, during a period of call inactivity, the personal address book to the second personal address book in a memory coupled to the set-top box.

23. The method of claim 18, further comprising providing a user interface to configure locations of one or more personal address books and to specify a search order for retrieving the display name from the one or more personal address books according to the search order.

24. A multi-function unit comprising:

a memory to store a personal address book; and

logic coupled to the memory and to a public switched telephone network, the logic to receive a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) call signal including a calling number and a billing name from the public switched telephone network, the logic to retrieve a display name from the personal address book corresponding to the calling number and to provide the calling number and the display name to a display device when the calling number matches a calling number of the personal address book.

25. The multi-function unit of claim 24, wherein the logic is adapted to receive a broadcast signal from a broadcast network, the broadcast signal including video data and audio data, the logic to provide the video data, the audio data, the calling number, and the display name to a display device.

26. The multi-function unit of claim 24, further comprising a user interface to configure the logic to access one or more personal address books in a particular order.

27. The multi-function unit of claim 24, wherein the logic is adapted to synchronize the personal address book to a second personal address book during a period of call inactivity.

28. The multi-function unit of claim 24, further comprising logic to generate a missed call notification to a user via the network interface, the missed call notification including the calling number and the display name.

29. The multi-function unit of claim 24, further comprising:

a call log to store received call information;

wherein the logic is adapted to generate a log entry including the calling number and either the display name or the billing name in response to each call.