Method and apparatus for controlling integrated receiver operation in a communications terminal

• US 7,088,950 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2002
• Issued: 08/08/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Rysä, Erkki, Tassberg, Markus, Haakana, Pirjo
• Primary Examiner(s): D AGOSTA, STEPHEN M
• Application Number:
  US10/304,555
• Publication Number:
  US 20040204010A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,351 Days
• Field of Search: 455/3.01, 455/3.03, 455/419, 455/556.1, 455/555, 375/316, 375/259, 380/240, 380/241, 380/242, 717/176, 717/177, 717/178
• US Class Current: 455/3.01
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 while running

Abstract

A method and apparatus for controlling integrated receiver operation in a communications terminal includes using an electronic device having a broadcast receiving module and a two-way communications module. The device may use the configuration of the receiving module to form a message to be sent to a peer device. The electronic device can use an incoming message to change a configuration of the receiving module. The incoming message may be sent from a notification node that is remotely configurable by a user. The receiving module can be controlled from an application program on the electronic device. In one aspect, the receiving module can be controlled from a Java™2 Micro Edition MIDlet.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving module on a communications device, comprising:

retrieving an operational configuration of the receiving module via an application program running in a virtual machine on the communications device to determine a state of the receiving module;

applying a user input to the application program to create a changed configuration of the receiving module;

applying the changed configuration to the receiving module via the application program to control the receiving module;

creating a message from an operational configuration of the receiving module; and

sending the message over a communications link of the communications device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving a decoded message from the broadcast as input to the application program.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising displaying the decoded message in a display of the communications device.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising storing the decoded message in a data storage module of the communications device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine comprises a Java virtual machine.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the application program comprises a J2ME MIDlet.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein controlling the receiving module comprises changing at least one of a frequency and an on-off state of the receiving module.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein changing a state of controlling the receiving module comprises changing a modulation format of the receiving module.

9. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving module on a communications device, comprising:

retrieving an operational configuration of the receiving module via an application program running in a virtual machine on the communications device to determine a state of the receiving module;

applying a user input to the application program to create a changed configuration of the receiving module;

applying the changed configuration to the receiving module via the application program to control the receiving module;

receiving a message containing a modified configuration of the receiving module from a communications link of the communications device; and

applying the modified configuration as input to the application program to change the state of the receiving module.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising retrieving a decoded message from the broadcast as input to the application program.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising displaying the decoded message in a display of the communications device.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising storing the decoded message in a data storage module of the communications device.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the virtual machine comprises a Java virtual machine.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the application program comprises a J2ME MIDlet.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein controlling the receiving module comprises changing at least one of a frequency and an on-off state of the receiving module.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein changing a state of controlling the receiving module comprises changing a modulation format of the receiving module.

17. A method for controlling a broadcast receiving module on a communications device, comprising:

receiving a message containing a configuration of the receiving module from a communications link of the communications device;

applying the configuration to the receiving module via an application program running in a virtual machine on the communications device to control the receiving module;

retrieving an operational parameter of the receiving module to determine a state of the receiving module;

creating a message from the retrieved operational parameter of the receiving module; and

sending the message over the communications link of the communications device.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising alerting a user of the communications device to confirm the changed configuration before the receiving module.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein controlling the receiving module comprises changing at least one of a frequency and an on-off state of the receiving module.

20. An electronic apparatus for communication over a network, comprising:

a receiving module configured to receive a broadcast signal;

a memory arranged to store an application program and a Java virtual machine, the application program including pseudocode interpretable instructions;

a processor coupled to the memory to execute the application program via the Java virtual machine and coupled to the receiver to control the receiving module;

a user interface arranged to receive a user input; and

wherein the application program is arranged to control the receiving module in response to the user input.

21. The electronic apparatus of claim 20, wherein the application program comprises a J2ME MIDlet.

22. The electronic apparatus of claim 20, wherein the application program is configured to receive a message over the network, extract a changed configuration from the message and apply the changed configuration to the receiving module.

23. The electronic apparatus of claim 20, wherein the application program is configured to send a message over the network, the message containing a current configuration of the receiving module.

24. The electronic apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to extract an encoded data stream of the broadcast signal from the receiving module and the application program is configured to display the data stream on the user interface.

25. The electronic apparatus of claim 20, wherein the processor is configured to extract an encoded data stream of the broadcast signal from the receiving module and the application program is configured to store the data stream in the memory.

26. A computer-readable medium for facilitating control of a broadcast receiving module associated with a computing arrangement, the computer readable medium configured with instructions for causing the computing arrangement to perform steps comprising:

receiving a message containing a configuration of the receiving module via a communications link of the computing arrangement; and

applying the configuration to the broadcast receiving module via a Java J2ME MIDlet running in a virtual machine on the computing arrangement to control the broadcast receiving module.

27. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the steps further comprise alerting a user of the computing arrangement to confirm the changed configuration before changing the state of the broadcast receiving module.

28. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein changing the state of the broadcast receiving module comprises changing at least one of a frequency and an on-off state of the broadcast receiving module.

29. The computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the communications link of the computing arrangement comprises a wireless communications link.