Cordless telephone system, telephone equipment and terminal device used in cordless telephone system

• US 7,471,958 B2
• Filed: 05/14/2003
• Issued: 12/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: Otsuka, Naoki
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah; Charles N
• Assistant Examiner(s): Casca; Fred A
• Application Number:
  US10/437,178
• Publication Number:
  US 20030216146A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,057 Days
• Field of Search: 455/550.1, 455/556.1, 455/90.2, 455/100.1, 455/463, 455/462, 379/100.01
• US Class Current: 455/462
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/727 Identification code transfer arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/22 Processing or transfer of terminal data, e.g. status or physical capabilities
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

A cordless telephone system including a telephone equipment, and a terminal device capable of wireless communication with the telephone equipment. Each of the terminal devices includes an identification-information memory unit for storing terminal-device identification information. The telephone equipment includes an output unit for outputting, explicitly to a user, at least one of the identification information and information associated with the identification information about a plurality of terminal devices that transmit the identification information, a user-operated unit operated by the user, and a register unit for storing the identification information about the terminal device so that the terminal device acts as a child device.

Claims

1. A cordless telephone system having a plurality of terminal devices and telephone equipment capable of wireless communication with the terminal devices and connectable to a phone line, the system allowing a terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices to communicate with an external communication device connected to the phone line, the terminal devices including one or more first terminal devices having a cordless telephone profile for a child device of the telephone equipment and one or more second terminal devices having a profile other than the profile for the child device,

wherein each of the first terminal devices comprises:

an identification-information memory unit that stores terminal-device identification information; and

a wireless communication unit that transmits the identification information stored in the identification-information memory unit and the profile for the child device to the telephone equipment;

wherein each of the second terminal devices comprises a wireless communication unit that transmits the profile other than the profile for the child device by wireless communication, and

wherein the telephone equipment comprises;

a wireless communication unit capable of wireless communication with the wireless communication unit of either the first terminal device or the second terminal device;

a judging unit that judges whether the profile sent by the terminal device is the profile for the child device or not;

an output unit that outputs, explicitly to a user, only the identification information of a terminal device whose profile is judged as the profile for the child device by the judging unit, the terminal device being included in the terminal device having transmitted the identification information;

a user-operated unit operated by the user for selectively inputting the identification information about a terminal device outputted by the output unit; and

a register unit that stores the identification information about the terminal device so that the terminal device acts as a child device, the identification information about the terminal device being inputted through the user-operated unit.

2. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

a wherein when an incoming call to the telephone equipment over the phone line is detected, the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment sends an incoming-call notification to the terminal device, the identification information of which is stored in the register unit;

and

wherein the first terminal device further comprises a notification unit for notifying the user of the incoming call to the telephone equipment over the phone line upon receiving the incoming-call notification from the telephone equipment.

3. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment sends an identification-information transmission command for requiring the terminal device to send the identification information;

and

wherein the wireless communication unit of the first terminal device sends the identification information stored in the identification-information memory unit to the telephone equipment upon receiving the identification-information transmission command sent from the telephone equipment.

4. The cordless telephone system according to claim 3, wherein the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment sends an identification-information transmission command such that only the first terminal device returns the identification information stored in the identification-information memory unit to the telephone equipment.

5. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment sends a command such that among the plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication with the telephone equipment, only the first terminal device returns the identification information to the telephone equipment;

and

wherein among the plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication with the telephone equipment, only the wireless communication unit of the first terminal device specified by the command from the telephone equipment responds to the command to send the information to the telephone equipment.

6. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein both the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment and the wireless communication unit of each of the first and second terminal devices are Bluetooth communication units, wherein

the Bluetooth communication unit of the telephone equipment sends a Service Discovery;

and

among the plurality of terminal devices capable of Bluetooth communication with the telephone equipment, only the Bluetooth communication unit of the first terminal device specified by the Service Discovery responds to the Service Discovery from the telephone equipment to send information concerning the profile held by the terminal device.

7. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein the wireless communication unit of the telephone equipment mediates the voice communication between the telephone equipment and the terminal device, the identification information of which is stored in the register unit.

8. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein the register unit stores the name of the terminal device inputted through the user-operated unit in association with the identification information of the terminal device.

9. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information is a Bluetooth Device address of the terminal device.

10. The cordless telephone system according to claim 1,

wherein the output unit displays the identification information only for a terminal device that satisfies a condition that the register unit has not registered the terminal device yet.

11. A telephone equipment used in a cordless telephone system having a plurality of terminal devices and the telephone equipment capable of wireless communication with the terminal devices and connectable to a phone line, and a terminal device capable of wireless communication with the telephone equipment, the system allowing a terminal device of the plurality of terminal devices to communicate with an external communication device connected to the phone line, the terminal devices including one or more first terminal devices having a cordless telephone profile for a child device of the telephone equipment and one or more second terminal devices having a profile other than the profile for the child device, comprising:

a wireless communication unit;

a judging unit that judges whether the profile sent by the terminal device is the profile for the child device or not;

an output unit that outputs, explicitly to a user, only the identification information of a terminal device whose profile is judged as the profile for the child device by the judging unit, the terminal devices being included in the terminal devices having transmitted the identification information;

a user-operated unit operated by the user for selectively inputting the identification information about a terminal device outputted by the output unit; and

a register unit that stores the identification information about the terminal device so that the terminal device acts as a child device, the identification information about the terminal device being inputted through the user-operated unit.

12. The telephone equipment according to claim 11, wherein the identification information is a Bluetooth Device address of the terminal device.

13. The telephone equipment according to claim 11,

wherein the wireless communication unit sends a command such that among the plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication with the telephone equipment, only the first terminal device returns the identification information to the telephone equipment.