System and method of non-spoken telephone communication

• US 6,490,343 B2
• Filed: 09/16/1999
• Issued: 12/03/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: MediaTek, Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Forlenza, Randolph Michael, Rodriguez, Herman, Smith, Newton James Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Ramakrishnaiah, Melur
• Application Number:
  US09/399,238
• Publication Number:
  US 20020001368A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,174 Days
• Field of Search: 379/52, 379/93.26, 379/93.17, 379/931.18, 379/93.23, 379/93.27, 379/88.24
• US Class Current: 379/52
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 11/066 Telephone sets adapted for data transmision

Abstract

A system and method are presented for sending a message from one telephone to another by transmission of a short code. A set of message units stored within the receiving telephone is assigned to a set of codes which may be transmitted. The receiving telephone is a code-compatible telephone configured to detect an incoming code and forward the corresponding message unit to an output device associated with the code-compatible telephone. A message unit may comprise an entire message, or a portion of a message, such that multiple message units are combined to form a message. The message units may be alphanumeric or non-alphanumeric. An alphanumeric message unit contains multiple alphanumeric characters, while a non-alphanumeric message unit may contain graphical or auditory information. An alphanumeric or graphic message unit is forwarded to a display screen on the code-compatible telephone if the corresponding code is received. An auditory message unit is instead forwarded to the telephone'"'"'s loudspeaker. The codes may be transmitted using dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) tones, digital signals, or other signals convertible to a form detectable by the code-compatible telephone. Transmission of codes to a code-compatible telephone may be used in one-way or two-way non-spoken communication by telephone, which may be useful for people with hearing and/or speech impairment, or for people in an environment in which spoken telephone communication is difficult or undesirable.

Claims

1. A code-compatible telephone, comprising:

a display screen;

an input/output interface adapted to detect a code transmitted by an additional telephone;

a processor operably coupled to the input/output interface and the display screen;

a first set of memory locations operably coupled to the processor, wherein the first set of memory locations contains program instructions executable by the processor for (i) determining whether a message unit corresponding to a detected code is visual or auditory, and (ii) forwarding the message unit to an appropriate output device according to said determining; and

a second set of memory locations operably coupled to the processor, wherein the second set of memory locations contains correspondence data accessible by the processor for said determining, and wherein said input/output interface is further adapted to transmit and receive one or more message unit sets of said correspondence data.

2. The telephone as recited in claim 1, wherein the code comprises a dual-tone-multi-frequency (DTMF) tone.

3. The telephone as recited in claim 1, wherein the code comprises a digital signal.

4. The telephone as recited in claim 1, wherein the input/output interface is further adapted to download the correspondence data over a cable or wireless connection.

5. The telephone as recited in claim 1, wherein the input/output interface is further adapted to transmit the correspondence data over a cable or wireless connection.

6. A code-compatible telephone, comprising:

an output device;

an input/output interface adapted to detect a code received from an additional telephone;

a processor operably coupled to the input/output interface and the output device;

a first set of memory locations operably coupled to the processor, wherein the first set of memory locations contains program instructions executable by the processor for (i) identifying a message unit corresponding to the detected code and (ii) forwarding the message unit to the output device, independent of transmitting the message unit to the additional telephone; and

a second set of memory locations operably coupled to the processor, wherein the second set of memory locations contains correspondence data accessible by the processor for said identifying, and wherein the input/output interface is further adapted to transmit and receive at least a portion of the correspondence data over a cable or wireless connection.

7. The telephone as recited in claim 6, wherein said non-alphanumeric message unit comprises graphical information, and said output device comprises a display screen.

8. The telephone as recited in claim 6, wherein said non-alphanumeric message unit comprises auditory information, and said output device comprises a loudspeaker.

9. The code-compatible telephone of claim 6, wherein said input/output interface is further adapted to transmit and receive one or more message unit sets of the correspondence data.