Analog/digital voice storage cellular telephone

• US RE34,976 E
• Filed: 02/01/1993
• Issued: 06/20/1995
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/1987
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Mark E. Strome, Richard Helferich, Thompson Trust
• Original Assignee: Martin A Schwartz Revocable 1991 Trust, Richard J. Helferich
• Inventors: Schwartz, Martin A., Helferich, Richard J.
• Primary Examiner(s): BROWN, THOMAS
• Application Number:
  US08/013,022
• Time in Patent Office: 869 Days
• Field of Search: 379/58, 379/59, 379/63, 379/62, 379/88, 379/67, 360/32
• US Class Current: 379/88.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/662 using a time/frequency relationship, e.g. time compression or expansion
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6505 storing speech in digital form
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/725 Cordless telephones user interfaces specially adapted therefor H04M1/724

Abstract

An analog-to-digital voice storage cellular telephone for recording voice messages while the user is away from the cellular telephone unit. In a preferred embodiment, the analog-to-digital voice storage cellular telephone comprises call answering circuitry which is activated after a predetermined number of rings. Detection circuitry waits to detect a SAT signal during a preset period of time. Once the SAT signal is detected a prerecorded outgoing message is transmitted to the caller. The voice storage cellular telephone records incoming voice messages. which are retrieved and replayed by users at their convenience. If the SAT signal is not detected, call terminating circuitry immediately terminates call. In accordance with one aspect, voice messages may be recorded at the central cellular station in real time, subsequently transmitted to the voice storage cellular telephone at a high speed and reproduced at normal speed to reduce air transmission time and cost.

Claims

1. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage telephone comprising:

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry connected to said receiving circuit, said call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention after a predetermined period of time subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

detection circuitry connected to said call answering circuitry, said detection circuitry sensing a clear channel signal transmitted from said one transceiver station and generating a detection enable signal;

a message recording circuit digitally recording said voice messages, said message recording circuit responsive to said off-hook enable signal from said call answering circuitry and said detection enable signal from said detection circuitry; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit for reproducing said voice messages.

2. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 1, additionally comprising:

call terminating circuitry coupled to said detection circuitry, said call terminating circuitry generating an on-hook enable signal when said detection circuitry does not detect said clear channel signal.

3. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 1, wherein said telephone additionally comprises:

rate conversion circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit, said rate conversion circuitry causing messages to be recorded in said message recording circuit at a different rate than said messages are read from said message recording circuit.

4. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 2, additionally comprising:

a register having a prestored code; and

a comparator comparing a personal identification code entered by said caller at a remote transmitter with said prestored code, said call answering circuitry generating said off-hook enable signal in response to said comparator when said personal identification code matches said prestored code.

5. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 4, wherein said call terminating circuitry automatrically disconnects each of said incoming calls responsive to said comparator if said personal identification code does not match said prestored code.

6. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 1, additionally comprising:

a recording switch connected to said recording circuit, said recording circuit recording dictated voice messages or telephone conversations responsive to said recording switch, said recording switch activated by said subscriber to record said messages.

10. Iadd. . A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to said one transceiver station and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage device comprising:

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry connected to said receiving circuit, said call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

detection circuitry connected to said call answering circuitry, said detection circuitry sensing a clear channel between said one transceiver station and said voice storage device and generating a detection enable signal;

a message recording circuit recording timed samples representative of said voice messages, said message recording circuit responsive to said off-hook enable signal from said call answering circuitry and said detection enable signal from said detection circuitry; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit for reproducing said voice messages from said timed samples. .Iaddend. .Iadd.12. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 1, additionally comprising;

call terminating circuitry coupled to said detection circuitry, said call terminating circuitry generating an onhook enable signal when said detection circuitry does not detect said clear channel. .Iaddend.

7. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage telephone comprising:

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention after a predetermined period of time subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

detection circuitry connected to said call answering circuitry, said detection circuitry sensing a clear channel signal transmitted from said one transceiver station and generating a detection enable signal;

transmission circuitry connected to said detection circuitry, said transmission circuitry transmitting a prerecorded message to said one transceiver station responsive to said clear channel signal and said off-hook enable signal from said call answering circuitry;

a message recording circuit digitally recording said voice messages, said message recording circuit responsive to an end of said pre-recorded message; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit and reproducing said voice messages.

8. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage telephone comprising:

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention after a predetermined period of time subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

a message recording circuit digitally recording said voice messages transmitted at a first frequency by said one transceiver station, said message previously recorded at said one transceiver station at a second frequency, lower than said first frequency, said message recording circuit responsive to said off-hook enable signal from said cell answering circuitry; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit and reproducing said voice messages at a normal speech frequency. .[.9. A voice storage telephone operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to and receiving voice messages from a remote transceiver via said one transceiver station without intervention by a subscriber, said voice storage telephone receiving a personal identification code entered by a caller at said remote transceiver and comprising;

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

a detector for verifying the presence of a clear channel signal received from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry responsive to said detector for generating an off-hook enable signal;

a register having a prestored code;

a comparator comprising said personal identification code with said prestored code; and

call terminating circuitry responsive to said comparator for terminating a call when said personal identification code does not match said prestored

9. code..]. 10. A method for receiving, recording and reproducing voice messages from a remote transceiver via one transceiver station and answering calls without intervention by a subscriber, said method comprising the steps of:

receiving a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

automatically answering an incoming call from said one transceiver station without user intervention after verification of a clear channel subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

transmitting a pre-recorded message to said one transceiver station in response to said verification of said clear channel;

digitally recording said voice messages in response to an end of said pre-recorded message; and

reproducing said voice messages in response to an operator command.

12. said subscriber to record said messages. .Iaddend. 17. .Iadd.A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to said one transceiver station and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage device comprising:

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

detection circuitry connected to said call answering circuitry, said detection circuitry sensing a clear channel between said one transceiver station and said voice storage device and generating a detection enable signal;

transmission circuitry connected to said detection circuitry, said transmission circuitry transmitting a prerecorded message to said one transceiver station responsive to said clear channel and said off-hook enable signal from said call answering circuitry;

a message recording circuit recording timed samples representative of said voice messages, said message recording circuit responsive to an end of said pre-recorded message; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit and reproducing said voice messaqes from said timed samples. .Iaddend. .Iadd.18. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to said one transceiver station and receiving voice messages from a remote caller via said one transceiver station, said voice storage device comprising;

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

call answering circuitry automatically answering incoming calls from said one transceiver station, said call answering circuitry automatically activated without user intervention subsequent to receiving said call notification signal and generating an off-hook enable signal;

a messaqe recording circuit recording timed samples representative of said voice messages transmitted at a first frequency by said one transceiver station, said messages previously recorded at said one transceiver station at a second frequency, lower than said first frequency, said message recording circuit responsive to said off-hook enable signal from said call answering circuitry; and

playback circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit and reproducing said voice messages from said timed samples at a normal speech frequency. .Iaddend. .Iadd.19. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention having a transceiver for transmitting to said one transceiver station and receiving voice messages from a remote transceiver via said one transceiver station without intervention by a subscriber, said voice storage device receiving a personal identification code entered by a caller at said remote transceiver and comprising;

a receiving circuit responsive to a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

a detector for verifying the presence of a clear channel between said one transceiver station and said voice storage device;

call answering circuitry responsive to said receiving circuit for generating an off-hook enable signal, said call answering circuitry enabling voice storage based upon the generation of said off-hook enable signal and the verification of the presence of said clear channel;

a register having a prestored cod;

a comparator comparing said personal identification code with said prestored code; and

call terminating circuitry responsive to said comparator for terminating call when said

call terminating circuitry responsive to said comparator for terminating of call when said personal identification code does not match said prestored code. .Iaddend. .Iadd.20. A method for receiving, recording and reproducing voice messages from a remote transceiver via one transceiver station and answering calls without intervention by a subscriber, said method comprising the steps of;

receiving a call notification signal from said one transceiver station;

generating an off-hook enable signal after receiving said call notification signal;

automatically answering an incoming call from said one transceiver station without user intervention after verification of a clear channel and after generating said off-hook enable signal;

transmitting a pre-recorded message to said one transceiver station in response to said verification of said clear channel;

recording timed samples representative of said voice messages in response to an end of said pre-recorded message; and

reproducing said voice messages from said timed samples in response to an operator command. .Iaddend.

11. Iadd. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 11, wherein said device additionally comprises:

rate conversion circuitry coupled to said message recording circuit, said rate conversion circuitry causing messages to be recorded in said message recording circuit at a different rate than said messages are read from said message recording circuit. .Iaddend. .Iadd.14. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 12, additionally comprising;

a register having a prestored code; and

a comparator comparing a personal identification code entered by said caller at a remote transmitter with said prestored code, said call answering circuitry generating said off-hook enable signal in response to said comparator when said personal identification code matches said prestored code. .Iaddend. .Iadd.15. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 14, wherein said call terminating circuitry automatically disconnects each of said incoming calls responsive to said comparator if said personal identification code does not match said prestored code. .Iaddend. .Iadd.16. A voice storage device operating in cooperation with one of a plurality of transceiver stations and answering calls without subscriber intervention as defined in claim 11, additionally comprising;

a recording switch connected to said recording circuit, said recording circuit recording dictated voice messages or telephone conversations responsive to said recording switch, said recording switch activated by.