System and method for alerting a user on an external device of notifications or alerts originating from a network-connected device

• US 9,877,301 B2
• Filed: 04/14/2015
• Issued: 01/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Fitbit, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Migicovsky, Eric B., Bennett, Jonathan V., Snider, Cory D.
• Primary Examiner(s): HEIBER, SHANTELL LAKETA
• Application Number:
  US14/686,526
• Publication Number:
  US 20150223033A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,015 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1867 Arrangements specially adapted for the transmitter end
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/189 in combination with wireless systems selective distribution or broadcast in wireless communication networks H04W4/06
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/224 providing notification on incoming messages, e.g. pushed notifications of received messages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/123 received data contents, e.g. message integrity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/04 specially adapted for terminals or networks with limited capabilities; specially adapted for terminal portability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/61 taking into account QoS or priority requirements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/56 Arrangements for indicating or recording the called number at the calling subscriber's set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724095 Worn on the wrist, hand or arm
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72484 wherein functions are triggered by incoming communication events
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/60 logging of communication history, e.g. outgoing or incoming calls, missed calls, messages or URLs
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/02 : Arrangements for increasing efficiency of notification or paging channel
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 : Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

Users are experiencing an increasing number of alerts and notifications on their mobile devices. When it is inconvenient or not possible to view the network-connected device, an accessory can be used to save time and avoid missing notifications. A system comprising a network-connected device and an accessory are provided to address these problems. The accessory is capable of notifying the user of alerts from the network-connected device, allowing the user to quickly be advised of alerts without needing to first interact with the network-connected device. The system includes a method to selectively filter alerts so as to avoid unnecessarily interrupting the user in cases where the network device is inaccessible. The system is also capable of pushing new interface designs and themes from the network device to the accessory to alter the appearance and configuration of its display.

Claims

1. An accessory device for receiving notifications from a mobile end-user device, the accessory device comprising:

a wireless interface configured to receive at least one notification included in a subsequent data transmission directly from the mobile end-user device via a short-range wireless protocol, the subsequent data transmission having been generated by the mobile end-user device and addressed to the accessory device by the mobile end-user device,

wherein at least some contents of the notification from the subsequent data transmission are the same as at least some contents of a notification within an earlier data transmission received by the mobile end-user device,

where the notification with the subsequent data transmission is configured to be filtered by a filtering application on the mobile end-user device based on the contents in the notification with the subsequent data transmission to determine whether to send the notification with the subsequent data transmission to the accessory device,

a memory coupled to the wireless interface and configured to store one or more of the notifications,

an output device to provide information to a user, and

a processor coupled to the wireless interface, the memory and the output device, where the processor is configured to review the notifications stored in the memory and notify a user of the accessory device by using the output device when a notification has been received.

2. The accessory device of claim 1,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send further includes prioritization information related to communications from a particular contact.

3. The accessory device of claim 1,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send further includes information regarding a type of notification.

4. The accessory device of claim 1,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send further includes current state information of the accessory device.

5. The accessory device of claim 1,

wherein the wireless interface is configured to sample a wireless radio frequency spectrum periodically and without user intervention to receive data transmissions from the mobile end-user device.

6. The accessory device of claim 1,

wherein the accessory device is a watch and the mobile end-user device is a cellular phone.

7. The accessory device of claim 1, further comprising:

a user input element coupled to the processor,

wherein the output device includes a display, and

wherein the processor is configured to receive at least one user input from the user input element and in response cause the display to display additional information related to the notification that has been received.

8. The accessory device of claim 1,

where the mobile end-user device is configured to queue one or more additional notifications other than the at least one notification of the subsequent data transmission,

wherein the mobile end-user device is configured to send the one or more additional notifications at a subsequent time to the at least one notification of the subsequent data transmission, and

wherein the subsequent time is determined by the filtering application on the mobile end-user device.

9. A mobile end-user device connected to a network and for sending notifications to an accessory device, the mobile end-user device comprising:

a memory configured to store one or more notifications,

a processor coupled to the memory and configured to execute a filtering application to review the notifications stored in the memory and apply at least one filtering parameter to the notifications based on

whether at least some contents of a second notification contained in a subsequent data transmission are the same as at least some contents of a first notification contained in an earlier data transmission, and

a wireless interface coupled to the processor and configured to transmit the subsequent data transmission directly to the accessory device via a short-range wireless protocol when the second notification contained in the subsequent data transmission has not been filtered out by the filtering application.

10. The mobile end-user device of claim 9,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes prioritization information related to communications from a particular contact.

11. The mobile end-user device of claim 9,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes information regarding a type of notification.

12. The mobile end-user device of claim 9,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes current state information of the accessory device.

13. The mobile end-user device of claim 9,

wherein the accessory device is a watch, and the mobile end-user device is a cellular phone.

14. The mobile end-user device of claim 9,

where the mobile end-user device is configured to queue one or more additional notifications other than the first notification of the earlier data transmission,

wherein the mobile end-user device is configured to send the one or more additional notifications at a subsequent time to the first notification of the earlier data transmission, and

wherein the subsequent time is determined by the filtering application on the mobile end-user device.

15. A method for notifying a user of an accessory device of notifications sent to a mobile end-user device, comprising the steps of:

receiving by the accessory device an earlier data transmission containing a first notification sent from the mobile end-user device via a short-range wireless communication protocol, the earlier data transmission having been generated by the mobile end-user device and addressed to the accessory device by the mobile end-user device,

wherein at least some contents of the first notification of the earlier data transmission are the same as at least some contents of a second notification within a subsequent data transmission received by the mobile end-user device from a network,

determining whether the second notification within the subsequent data transmission is to be filtered by a filtering application based on whether at least some contents of the second notification of the subsequent data transmission are the same as at least some contents of the first notification within the earlier data transmission, whether

storing one or more notifications in memory of the accessory device,

reviewing the notifications stored in the memory, and

notifying the user of the accessory device that the second notification from the subsequent data transmission has been received when the determination is made that no filtering is to occur; and

thus, the second notification for the subsequent data transmission is sent to the accessory device.

16. The method of claim 15,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes prioritization information related to communications from a particular contact.

17. The method of claim 15,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes information regarding a type of notification.

18. The method of claim 15,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes current state information of the accessory device.

19. The method of claim 15, further comprising

sampling a wireless radio frequency spectrum periodically and without user intervention to receive data transmissions from the mobile end-user device.

20. The method of claim 15,

wherein the accessory device is a watch and the mobile end-user device is a cellular phone.

21. The method of claim 15,

where the mobile end-user device is configured to queue one or more additional notifications other than the first notification of the earlier data transmission,

wherein the mobile end-user device is configured to send the one or more additional notifications at a subsequent time to the first notification of the earlier data transmission, and

wherein the subsequent time is determined by the filtering application on the mobile end-user device.

22. A method for alerting a user of an accessory device of a notification sent to a mobile end-user device, comprising the steps of:

receiving by a mobile end-user device a first data transmission from a network, wherein the first data transmission includes a first notification;

storing the first notification in memory of the mobile end-user device;

executing a filtering application and reviewing the first notification stored in the memory;

applying at least one filtering parameter to the first notification based on content associated with the first notification by the filtering application of the mobile end-user device to determine whether to notify a user of the accessory device that the first notification has been received;

where the filtering application compares whether at least some contents of a second notification of a second data transmission are the same as at least some contents of the first notification included in the first data transmission; and

transmitting the first notification of the first data transmission to the accessory device over a short-range wireless communication protocol when the first notification is not filtered out by the filtering application.

23. The method of claim 22,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes prioritization information related to communications from a particular contact.

24. The method of claim 22,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send further includes information regarding a type of notification.

25. The method of claim 22,

wherein at least one filtering parameter also considered in the determination whether to send includes current state information of the accessory device.

26. The mobile end-user device of claim 22,

wherein the accessory device is a watch and the mobile end-user device is a cellular phone.

27. The method of claim 22,

where the mobile end-user device is configured to queue one or more additional notifications other than the second notification of the second data transmission,

wherein the mobile end-user device is configured to send the one or more additional notifications at a subsequent time to the second notification of the second data transmission, and

wherein the subsequent time is determined by the filtering application on the mobile end-user device.