Radio communications device and method with API between user application program and telephony program and method

• US 6,269,254 B1
• Filed: 09/28/1998
• Issued: 07/31/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/28/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mathis, James E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gesesse, Tilahun
• Application Number:
  US09/161,817
• Time in Patent Office: 1,037 Days
• Field of Search: 455/556, 455/557, 455/553, 455/552, 455/84, 455/575, 379/93.04, 379/93.05, 379/93.06, 379/93.24
• US Class Current: 455/557
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/12 Protocol engines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2473 Telephone terminals interfacing a personal computer, e.g. using an API (Application Programming Interface) details of API H04M7/0021
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72403 with means for local support of applications that increase the functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72406 by software upgrading or downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/54583 Software development, e.g. procedural, object oriented, software generation, software testing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier

Abstract

A radio communications device has a memory having stored therein a user application program (16), a telephony program (18) and an application programming interface (API) 30 between these. Various aspects of the API are described. In one aspect, the API has a command for establishing a call and the telephony program accepts, as an argument of the command for establishing the call, an array identifying several terminal objects (54-58), thereby permitting establishment of a call for multiple terminal objects. In another aspect, groupings of events are described and an API command defines an event class from one of the groups together with an ID defining an event within the event class. In a further aspect, a program in the telephony program is called to create a call object (50). The call object is created regardless of whether radio service for the radio comunications device has been established.

Claims

1. A radio communications device comprising:

a memory having stored therein a user application program and a telephony program which, in operation, has a plurality of terminal objects;

a software application programming interface (API) between the user application program and the telephony program, wherein the API has a command for accepting an argument for establishing a single mode call and wherein the telephony program accepts, as an argument of the command for establishing the single mode call, an array identifying a plurality of terminal objects, and permitting overriding of the single mode call to enable establishment of a dual mode call for the plurality of terminal objects using the same command as used in establishing the single mode call.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of terminal objects are selectable to be at least two different terminal objects from the group comprising voice terminal objects, fax terminal objects and data terminal objects.

3. The device of claim 1, having at least voice elements controlled by a first terminal object of the plurality of terminal objects and data elements controlled by a second terminal object of the plurality of terminal objects.

4. The device of claim 3, comprising a first processor having a virtual machine on which at least the telephony program runs and a second processor having transceiver software running thereon that controls the voice elements and the data elements.

5. The device of claim 4, comprising a serial link between the first processor and the second processor.

6. The device of claim 4, comprising a link between the first processor and the second processor, wherein the link identifies to the transceiver software that a command for establishing a call is one of a principal type and an alternate type, wherein an alternate type indicates a dual mode call.

7. A method of establishing a dual mode call in a radio communications device, comprising:

invoking, from an application program through an application programming interface (API), a call connection class adapted to establish a single mode call and providing means for overriding the single mode call establishment by using a command having an argument that comprises an array, where the array comprises a plurality of terminal objects of different types selected from a voice type, a fax type and a data type, thereby enabling the establishment of a dual mode call using the single mode call connection class.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising, in the call connection class, invoking a first connection object that references a voice terminal and a second connection object that references one of a data terminal and a fax terminal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the application program is further capable of interfacing with a call connection class that does not support establishment of a dual mode calling by using a command having an argument that comprises a single terminal object.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the call connection class is capable of being invoked by a command having an argument that comprises a single terminal object, thereby establishing a single-mode call.

11. A radio communications device comprising:

a memory having stored therein a user application program and a telephony program, the telephony program having a set of defined events, each defined event having an event identifier (ID), the set of defined events being grouped into

(a) a base class,

(b) a provider event class,

(c) an address and call control address events class,

(d) a call and call control call events class,

(e) a connection and call control connection events class,

(f) a terminal and call control terminal events class,

(g) a terminal connection and call control terminal connection events class, and

(h) a media events class; and

an application programming interface (API) between the user application program and the telephony program, wherein the API accepts a command from the application program, the command defining an event class for establishing a single mode call from one of the groups (a) through (h) together with an ID defining an event within the event class, the ID for overriding the establishing of the single mode call and establishing a dual mode call using the same event class.

12. The radio communications device according to claim 11, wherein each defined event has a computer program defining a method, and wherein all computer programs for methods corresponding to events of a set of defined events are included within a class object, without being subdefined in objects at any level lower than the class object.