PHONE MESSAGING USING AUDIO STREAMS

• US 20090111432A1
• Filed: 10/29/2007
• Published: 04/30/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wilson, Leslie Robert, Dhanakshirur, Girish
• Granted Patent: US 8,712,451 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/413
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/10 Multimedia information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/24 Negotiation of communication capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/64 Automatic arrangements for answering calls; Automatic arrangements for recording messages for absent subscribers; Arrangements for recording conversations centralised dictation systems H04M11/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2201/60 Medium conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42 Systems providing special services or facilities to subscribers specially adapted for wireless communication networks H04W4/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42382 Text-based messaging services in telephone networks such as PSTN/ISDN, e.g. User-to-User Signalling or Short Message Service for fixed networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A method of phone messaging includes encoding a data packet into an audio stream, said data packet comprising a message addressed to a mobile device operating in a wireless network, placing a call to said mobile device using a voice channel of said wireless network, transmitting said audio stream over said voice channel to said mobile device, and reconstructing said data packet from said audio stream.

Claims

1. A method of phone messaging, the method comprising:

encoding a data packet into an audio stream, said data packet comprising a message addressed to a mobile device operating in a wireless network;

placing a call to said mobile device using a voice channel of said wireless network;

transmitting said audio stream over said voice channel to said mobile device; and

reconstructing said data packet from said audio stream.

2. The method of claim 1, said encoding step further comprising:

converting said data packet into a stream of characters corresponding to characters in a character set; and

generating said audio stream using a plurality of different sounds associated with each of said characters in said character set.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of said different sounds comprises a distinct DTMF tone.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein each one said different sounds comprises an utterance of said one associated one of said characters.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said reconstructing step further comprises speech recognition of each of said utterances.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

prior to said transmitting step, negotiating transmission parameters for transmitting said audio stream.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

prior to said transmitting step, storing said audio stream as a voicemail message for said mobile phone, and wherein said transmitting step further comprises accessing said voice mail message and initiating playback of said audio stream.

20. The method of claim 1, further comprising code sections for:

prior to said transmitting step, storing said audio stream as a voicemail message for said mobile phone, and wherein said transmitting step further comprises accessing said voice mail message and initiating playback of said audio stream.

8. A system for phone messaging, the system comprising:

a message processing system for encoding a data packet into an audio stream and for transmitting said audio stream during a voice call over a wireless network, said data packet comprising a message addressed to a mobile device operating in said wireless network;

a call control gateway for connecting said message processing system to said mobile device using a voice channel of said wireless network; and

a speech recognition engine for reconstructing said data packet from said audio stream.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said encoding comprises:

converting said data packet into a stream of characters corresponding to characters in a character set; and

generating said audio stream using a plurality of different sounds associated with each of said characters in said character set.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein each of said different sounds comprises a distinct multi-frequency tone.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein each one said different sounds comprises an utterance of said one associated one of said characters.

12. The system of claim 8, wherein said call control gateway is further configured to negotiating transmission parameters for transmitting said audio stream.

13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:

a voice messaging gateway for forwarding said data packet to said message processing system and for prompting said call control gateway to connect said message processing system and said mobile device.

14. A computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a computer for causing the computer to perform the steps of:

encoding a data packet into an audio stream, said data packet comprising a message addressed to a mobile device operating in a wireless network;

placing a call to said mobile device using a voice channel of said wireless network;

transmitting said audio stream over said voice channel to said mobile device; and

reconstructing said data packet from said audio stream.

15. The storage medium of claim 14, said encoding step further comprising code sections for:

converting said data packet into a stream of characters corresponding to characters in a character set; and

generating said audio stream using a plurality of different sounds associated with each of said characters in said character set.

16. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein each of said different sounds comprises a distinct multi-frequency tone.

17. The storage medium of claim 15, wherein each one said different sounds comprises an utterance of said one associated one of said characters.

18. The storage medium of claim 17, wherein said reconstructing step further comprises codes sections for speech recognition of each of said utterances.

19. The storage medium of claim 14, further comprising code sections for:

prior to said transmitting step, negotiating transmission parameters for transmitting said audio stream.