Notification of event by mobile communications device using radio frequency transmitter

• US 8,280,451 B1
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Issued: 10/02/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Zheng, Lantian, Weng, Zhi Dennis
• Primary Examiner(s): Addy, Anthony S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Behnamian, Shahriar
• Application Number:
  US13/272,929
• Time in Patent Office: 355 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/441, 455/445, 455/459.1, 455/567, 455/419, 379/88.21
• US Class Current: 455/569.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/04 the ringing-current being generated at the substations
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion

Abstract

In general, this disclosure describes techniques for alerting a user of a mobile communications device of an event using a radio frequency transmitter. The techniques may include determining that an event has occurred. The event may relate to an incoming communication received by the mobile communications device. The techniques also may include determining that an approximate speed of the mobile communications device exceeds a defined threshold speed. The techniques further may include transmitting, using a radio frequency transmitter, an audible alert that provides notification of the event in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed.

Claims

1. A method performed by a mobile communications device having a processor, a memory, a wireless network interface, and a radio frequency transmitter, the method comprising:

determining, by the mobile communications device, that an event has occurred, wherein;

the mobile communications device is positioned within a moving vehicle having a radio frequency receiver and an audio system, and

the event is related to an incoming communication received by the mobile communications device via the wireless network interface;

in response to the mobile communications device determining that the event has occurred, estimating, by the mobile communications device, an approximate speed of the mobile communications device, wherein the approximate speed generally corresponds to the speed of the moving vehicle;

determining, by the mobile communications device, that the approximate speed of the mobile communications device exceeds a predefined threshold speed; and

in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter, an audible tone that provides notification of the event on a first predetermined frequency and an audio message comprising at least some content of the event on a second, different predetermined frequency, such that the audible tone and the audio message are receivable by the radio frequency receiver and playable by the audio system of the moving vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating, by the mobile communications device in response to the mobile communications device determining that the event has occurred, the approximate speed of the mobile communications device comprises estimating, by the mobile communications device, the approximate speed of the mobile communications device using global positioning satellite (GPS) data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein estimating, by the mobile communications device in response to the mobile communications device determining that the event has occurred, the approximate speed of the mobile communications device comprises estimating, by the mobile communications device, the approximate speed of the mobile communications device using cell tower handshake information.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone that provides notification of the event on the first predetermined frequency and the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency comprises:

transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone on the first predetermined frequency between about 87.5 MHz and about 108 MHz or between about 520 kHz and about 1610 kHz and

transmitting the audio message on the second, different predetermined frequency between about 87.5 MHz and about 108 MHz or between about 520 kHz and about 1610 kHz.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone that provides notification of the event on the first predetermined frequency and the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency comprises transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone and the audio message repeatedly for a predetermined length of time.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone that provides notification of the event on the first predetermined frequency and the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency comprises transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone and the audio message repeatedly until the mobile communications device detects a user interacting with the mobile communications device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio message further comprises caller identification information.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the audio message further comprises a name of a person from whom the event originated.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least some content of the event comprises at least one of a body of a voicemail and text of a short message service (SMS) message, e-mail, or instant message that is converted to the audio message using a text-to-voice algorithm.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, the audible tone that provides notification of the event of the first predetermined frequency and the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency comprises:

detecting a number in the at least some content of the event; and

obfuscating the number when transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter, the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein obfuscating the number when transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter, the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency comprises replacing the number with an audio placeholder when transmitting, by the mobile communications device via the radio frequency transmitter, the audio message comprising the at least some content of the event on the second, different predetermined frequency.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined threshold speed is set by the mobile communications device.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the predefined threshold speed is set by a user using the mobile communications device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the mobile communications device, that the event has occurred comprises determining, by the mobile communications device, that a call, a voicemail, an e-mail, a short message service (SMS) message, or an instant message has been received by the mobile communications device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the mobile communications device, that the event has occurred comprises determining, by the mobile communications device, that the mobile communications device has received an incoming communication that has not been reviewed by a user of the mobile communications device.

16. A tangible computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, if executed, cause a mobile communications device having a processor to:

determine that an event has occurred, wherein the event is related to an incoming communication received by the mobile communications device when the mobile communications device is positioned in a vehicle;

determine that an approximate speed of the mobile communications device exceeds a predefined threshold speed in response to determining that the event has occurred;

transmit, using a radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, an audible tone that provides notification of the event on a first predetermined frequency and an audio message comprising at least some content of the event on a second, different predetermined frequency, such that the audible tone and the audio message are receivable by a radio frequency receiver of the vehicle.

17. A mobile communications device comprising:

one or more processors;

an event module configured to determine that an event has occurred, wherein the event is related to an incoming communication received by the mobile communications device when the mobile communications device is positioned in a vehicle;

a speed comparison module configured to determine that an approximate speed of the mobile communications device exceeds a predefined threshold speed in response to determining that the event has occurred; and

an alert module configured to transmit, using a radio frequency transmitter in response to the mobile communications device determining that the approximate speed exceeds the predefined threshold speed, an audible tone that provides notification of the event on a first predetermined frequency and an audio message comprising at least some content of the event on a second, different predetermined frequency, such that the audible tone and the audio message are receivable by a radio frequency receiver of the vehicle.