Telephony terminal apparatus capable of reproducing sound data

• US 6,549,767 B1
• Filed: 08/29/2000
• Issued: 04/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
• Inventors: Kawashima, Takahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Le, Thanh Cong
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRINH, TAN H
• Application Number:
  US09/650,936
• Time in Patent Office: 959 Days
• Field of Search: 455/412, 455/413, 455/414, 455/415, 455/416, 455/417, 455/418, 455/419
• US Class Current: 455/412.2
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/7243 with interactive means for internal management of messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72442 for playing music files

Abstract

In a telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, a memory section memorizes sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound. A selector section selects mode information effective to specify a mode of exchanging a message. A transmitter section transmits the memorized sound data to the other party together with the selected mode information, thereby enabling the other party to receive the transmitted sound data and to reproduce therefrom the sound message according to the specified mode. The selector section may select a realtime mode effective to enable the other party to receive the sound data and to process the received sound data in realtime to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound to notify a call termination.

Claims

1. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a memory section that memorizes sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a selector section that selects mode information effective to specify a mode of exchanging a message; and

a transmitter section that transmits the memorized sound data to the other party together with the selected mode information, thereby enabling the other party to receive the transmitted sound data and to reproduce therefrom the sound message according to the specified mode.

2. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selector section can select mode information specifying a realtime mode effective to enable the other party to receive the sound data and to process the received sound data in realtime to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound to notify a call termination.

3. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the selector section can select mode information specifying a sequential mode effective to enable the other party to receive the sound data when the telephone line is connected after a call termination and to process the received sound data to reproduce the sound message after the telephone line is connected.

4. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a collecting section that collects a sound message, and a coding section that compressively encodes the collected sound message into sound data suitable for transmission.

5. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a converter section that converts the sound data representing a sound message composed of a singing voice sound into sound data representing a melodious music sound corresponding to the singing voice sound.

6. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transmitter section transmits the memorized sound data to the other party through a wireless telephone line.

7. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a port section that enters a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging a message;

a receiver section that operates when the mode information specifies a realtime mode for receiving sound data from the other party immediately after the call signal, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a memory section that stores the received sound data; and

a reproduction section that instantly processes the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound to notify a call termination.

8. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data in a compressively encoded form from the other party, the apparatus further comprising a decoding section that expansively decodes the compressively encoded form of the received sound data.

9. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data from the other party through a wireless telephone line.

10. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a port section that responds to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound when the call signal contains mode information specifying a sequential mode of exchanging a message;

a receiver section that operates when the telephone line is connected to the other party in response to the ringing sound for receiving sound data from the other party, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a memory section that stores the received sound data; and

a reproduction section that processes the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message after the telephone line is connected.

11. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data in a compressively encoded form from the other party, the apparatus further comprising a decoding section that expansively decodes the compressively encoded form of the received sound data.

12. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data from the other party through a wireless telephone line.

13. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a writing section that can be operated to make an email message in the form of character data;

a memory section that memorizes sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

an attaching section that operates when the sound message is attached to the email message for merging the sound data to the character data together with mode information specifying a mode of treating the sound message and the email message; and

a transmitter section that transmits the sound data and the character data together with the mode information to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to reproduce the sound message and to display the email message according to the specified mode.

14. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the attaching section specifies the mode of treating the sound message and the email message such that the sound message attached to the email message is reproduced as a ringing sound when the email message is opened to display the character data.

15. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the attaching section specifies the mode of treating the sound message and the email message such that the sound message is automatically reproduced as a ringing sound at a call termination, and then the email message may be opened to display the character data.

16. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the attaching section specifies the mode of treating the sound message and the email message such that the sound message is reproduced if the telephone line is connected after a call termination, and then the email message may be opened to display the character data.

17. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a collecting section that collects a sound message, and a coding section that compressively encodes the collected sound message into sound data suitable for transmission.

18. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a converter section that converts the sound data representing a sound message composed of a singing voice sound into sound data representing a melodious music sound corresponding to the singing voice sound.

19. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the transmitter section transmits the memorized sound data to the other party through a wireless telephone line.

20. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a port section that responds to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

a receiver section that operates when the ringing sound is generated for automatically receiving the email message in the form of character data and for receiving the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a memory section that stores the received character data and the sound data;

a reproduction section that operates when the email message is opened for processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message; and

a display section that operates when the email message is opened for displaying the stored character data.

21. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data in a compressively encoded form from the other party, the apparatus further comprising a decoding section that expansively decodes the compressively encoded form of the received sound data.

22. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data from the other party through a wireless telephone line.

23. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a port section that enters a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging messages;

a receiver section that operates when the mode information specifies a realtime mode for automatically receiving an email message in the form of character data accompanied by a sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a memory section that stores the received character data and the sound data;

a reproduction section that instantly processes the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound; and

a display section that operates when the email message may be opened after the ringing sound is generated for displaying the stored character data.

24. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data in a compressively encoded form from the other party, the apparatus further comprising a decoding section that expansively decodes the compressively encoded form of the received sound data.

25. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 23, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data from the other party through a wireless telephone line.

26. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

a port section that responds to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

a receiver section that operates when the telephone line is connected in response to the ringing sound for receiving the email message in the form of character data and for receiving the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound;

a memory section that stores the received character data and the sound data;

a reproduction section that operates when the telephone line is connected for processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message; and

a display section that operates when the email message may be opened after the reproducing of the sound message for displaying the stored character data.

27. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data in a compressively encoded form from the other party, the apparatus further comprising a decoding section that expansively decodes the compressively encoded form of the received sound data.

28. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the receiver section receives the sound data from the other party through a wireless telephone line.

29. A telephony terminal apparatus for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising:

an input section that provides sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

an authoring section that authors the sound data to edit the sound message; and

a transmitter section that transmits the authored sound data to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to receive the authored sound data and to reproduce therefrom the edited sound message.

30. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the authoring section authors the sound data to enable the other party to loop the sound message.

31. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the authoring section authors the sound data to add a background sound to the sound message.

32. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the authoring section authors the sound data to arrange a music accompaniment sound along the sound message.

33. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the input section comprises a sampling section that samples a sound message composed of a voice sound, and a coding section that compressively encodes the sampled sound message into sound data suitable for transmission.

34. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the input section comprises a sampling section that samples a singing voice sound, and a converter section that converts the sampled singing voice sound into sound data representing a sound message composed of a melodious music sound corresponding to the singing voice sound.

35. The telephony terminal apparatus according to claim 29, wherein the transmitter section transmits the sound data to the other party through a wireless telephone line.

36. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

selecting mode information effective to specify a mode of exchanging a message; and

transmitting the provided sound data to the other party together with the selected mode information, thereby enabling the other party to receive the transmitted sound data and to reproduce therefrom the sound message according to the specified mode.

37. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

detecting a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging a message;

receiving sound data from the other party immediately after the call signal when the mode information specifies a realtime mode, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

storing the received sound data; and

instantly processing the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound to notify a call termination.

38. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound when the call signal contains mode information specifying a sequential mode of exchanging a message;

receiving sound data from the other party when the telephone line is connected to the other party in response to the ringing sound, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

storing the received sound data; and

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message after the telephone line is connected.

39. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

writing an email message in the form of character data;

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

attaching the sound message to the email message by merging the sound data to the character data together with mode information specifying a mode of treating the sound message and the email message; and

transmitting the sound data and the character data together with the mode information to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to reproduce the sound message and to display the email message according to the specified mode.

40. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

automatically receiving the email message in the form of character data and automatically receiving the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the ringing sound is generated;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message when the email message is opened; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened.

41. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

detecting a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging messages;

automatically receiving an email message in the form of character data accompanied by a sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the mode information specifies a realtime mode;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

instantly processing the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened after the ringing sound is generated.

42. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

receiving the email message in the form of character data and the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the telephone line is connected in response to the ringing sound;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message when the telephone line is connected; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened after the reproducing of the sound message.

43. A method of operating a telephony terminal set for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, comprising the steps of:

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

authoring the sound data to edit the sound message; and

transmitting the authored sound data to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to receive the authored sound data and to reproduce therefrom the edited sound message.

44. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

selecting mode information effective to specify a mode of exchanging a message; and

transmitting the provided sound data to the other party together with the selected mode information, thereby enabling the other party to receive the transmitted sound data and to reproduce therefrom the sound message according to the specified mode.

45. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

detecting a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging a message;

receiving sound data from the other party immediately after the call signal when the mode information specifies a realtime mode, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

storing the received sound data; and

instantly processing the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound to notify a call termination.

46. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound when the call signal contains mode information specifying a sequential mode of exchanging a message;

receiving sound data from the other party when the telephone line is connected to the other party in response to the ringing sound, the sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

storing the received sound data; and

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message after the telephone line is connected.

47. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

writing an email message in the form of character data;

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

attaching the sound message to the email message by merging the sound data to the character data together with mode information specifying a mode of treating the sound message and the email message; and

transmitting the sound data and the character data together with the mode information to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to reproduce the sound message and to display the email message according to the specified mode.

48. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

automatically receiving the email message in the form of character data and automatically receiving the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the ringing sound is generated;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message when the email message is opened; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened.

49. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

detecting a call signal containing mode information from the other party, the mode information specifying a mode of exchanging messages;

automatically receiving an email message in the form of character data accompanied by a sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the mode information specifies a realtime mode;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

instantly processing the stored sound data to automatically reproduce the sound message as a ringing sound; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened after the ringing sound is generated.

50. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging messages in various forms including an email message and a sound message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

responding to a call signal from the other party for generating a ringing sound to notify arrival of an email message accompanied by a sound message;

receiving the email message in the form of character data and the sound message in the form of sound data representing either of a voice sound and a music sound, when the telephone line is connected in response to the ringing sound;

storing the received character data and the sound data;

processing the stored sound data to reproduce the sound message when the telephone line is connected; and

displaying the stored character data when the email message is opened after the reproducing of the sound message.

51. A machine readable medium for use in a telephony terminal set having a processor for exchanging a message with the other party through a telephone line, the medium containing program instructions executable by the processor for causing the telephony terminal set to perform a method comprising the steps of:

providing sound data representing a sound message composed of either of a voice sound and a music sound;

authoring the sound data to edit the sound message; and

transmitting the authored sound data to the other party, thereby enabling the other party to receive the authored sound data and to reproduce therefrom the edited sound message.