WO1999053671A1

WO1999053671A1 - Call origination in a wireless telephone using last dialed digit timeout

Info

Publication number: WO1999053671A1
Application number: PCT/US1999/007256
Authority: WO
Inventors: Paul E. Jacobs
Original assignee: Qualcomm Incorporated
Priority date: 1998-04-14
Filing date: 1999-04-01
Publication date: 1999-10-21
Also published as: AU3464799A

Abstract

A novel and improved method and circuit (110) for originating a call in a wireless communication device. The circuit comprises a user interface (108) for generating a start of digit indication and an end of digit indication for each of at least one dialed digits; a controller, coupled to the user interface, for detecting the start of digit indications and the end of digit indications; and an origination message generator (112), coupled to the controller, for generating a call origination message containing the at least one dialed digits. The controller (110) directs the origination message generator (112) to generate the call origination message if the end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period. Thus, when the user presses and holds a digit on the user interface for longer than the predetermined timeout period, a telephone call is initiated to the destination telephone number.

Description

1

CALL ORIGINATION IN A WIRELESS TELEPHONE USING LAST DIALED DIGIT TIMEOUT

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

I. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to wireless telephones. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved method and circuit for originating a telephone call in a wireless telephone by originating a telephone call when a most recently dialed digit is pressed and held for longer than a predetermined timeout period.

II. Description of the Related Art

In a wireless communication device such as a wireless telephone or portable radiotelephone, the user is typically required to first enter a string of dialed digits corresponding to the destination telephone number, followed by pressing a "SEND" key, or other similar key to complete the call origination. As the user enters the dialed digits, they are stored temporarily in a dialed digits buffer, and it is not until the "SEND" key is pressed that a call origination message is sent to the base station for completion of the call. There has been a long felt need in the art to eliminate the requirement for the user to have to press the "SEND" key in addition to entering the destination telephone number. Eliminating the "SEND" key would reduce the number of keys on the user interface, allowing further miniaturization and reduced cost. It would also make dialing simpler and more intuitive to the user.

Recently, it has been proposed that a portable radiotelephone dialing scheme more closely imitate a traditional land-line telephone dialing scheme. For example, it has been proposed that the portable radiotelephone generate a local "dial tone" that the user can hear through the speaker when the portable radiotelephone is "off hook" and awaiting the input of a sequence of dialed digits. Likewise, it has been proposed that the portable radiotelephone automatically dial the destination telephone number upon completion of entry of the dialed digits, without having to press a "SEND" key. These proposals will make the portable radiotelephone dialing scheme more similar to that of the land-line scheme, thereby making dialing easier for the user. One such implementation in a wireless local loop (WLL) telephone is disclosed in copending U. S. Patent Application Serial No. 2

08/608,924, entitled "TELEPHONE NUMBER PARSER FOR WIRELESS LOCAL LOOP TELEPHONES," filed February 29, 1996, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.

In the just-mentioned patent, a detection unit in a wireless local loop telephone examines digits or other symbols entered by the user via the telephone keypad to determine whether a completed telephone number has been entered. If a completed telephone number has been entered, the detection unit signals other components of the telephone to transmit the telephone number. If the telephone number is not yet complete, the detection unit awaits entry of additional digits or other symbols.

To determine whether a completed telephone number has been entered, the detection unit accesses a parsing table whose row entries correspond to different possible states of permissible telephone numbers. As each digit in the dialing sequence is entered, successive rows of the parsing table are accessed. Transitions between various rows of the parsing table are governed by state logic which models the expected valid combinations of digits. As digits are entered, permissible state transitions occur until an expected end state is reached, after which the dialed digits are sent as a call origination. One limitation of the approach in the above-mentioned patent is that it requires a different parsing table for each country's dialing plan. For example, in the United States, there are generally 11 digits involved in dialing a long-distance telephone call, 7 digits for a local telephone call, and either 3 or 4 digits involved in dialing for special services such as call forwarding, customer service, or directory assistance. Other countries have adopted different standards for determining the number of digits in a long distance telephone call or a local telephone call.

An additional limitation of the above-mentioned approach is that it takes additional memory resources in the portable telephone to store the table. This may increase the size and cost of the portable telephone.

What is needed is a method and circuit for call origination in a wireless communication device which detects the end of a telephone number, and automatically originates the call, while avoiding the limitations outlined above. 3 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a novel and improved method and circuit for originating a call in a wireless communication device. The circuit comprises a user interface for generating a start of digit indication and an end of digit indication for each of at least one dialed digits; a controller, coupled to the user interface, for detecting the start of digit indications and the end of digit indications; and an origination message generator, coupled to the controller, for generating a call origination message containing the at least one dialed digits.

In order to determine when to originate the telephone call, the controller directs the origination message generator to generate the call origination message if the end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period. In a preferred embodiment, the circuit further comprises a timeout counter for metering the predetermined timeout period. The controller resets the timeout counter if the end of digit indication for the most recently dialed digit is detected during the predetermined timeout period. In one embodiment, an alarm circuit generates an alert if the end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period.

When the user presses and holds a digit on the user interface for longer than the predetermined timeout period, a telephone call is initiated to the destination telephone number. Thus, to dial any telephone number without having to press a "SEND" key, the user merely needs to hold down the last number in the destination telephone number for longer than the predetermined timeout period.

The present invention is easier to implement than the parsing table approach, reducing the cost and size of the wireless communication device. Additionally, the present invention is not dependent on the individual dialing scheme employed by the country in which the wireless communication device is being used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features, objects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which like reference characters identify correspondingly throughout and wherein: FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the circuit of the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED

EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is applicable to any wireless communication device, including cellular telephones, PCS telephones, Wireless Local Loop (WLL) telephones, and other wireless communication devices as are known in the art. For convenience, the wireless communication device will be referred to herein as a portable telephone, but it is understood that the present invention is equally applicable to fixed, or non-portable telephones.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of the call origination circuit of the present invention is shown, generally designated by reference numeral 100. Dialed digits are entered by a user via user interface 108, which may be for example, a keypad, a touch sensitive screen, a dial shuttle or other input device as is known in the art, and may also include a graphic display for displaying the dialed digits as they are entered. As the dialed digits are entered, user interface 108 generates a dialed digit signal having a corresponding start of digit indication and a corresponding end of digit indication. For example, the user interface 108 may generate a logic level of "high" for as long as the individual dialed digit is being entered, and a logic level low when no digit is presently being entered. In such a case, the start of digit indication would be a transition from logic level low to logic level high in the dialed digit signal, and the corresponding end of digit indication would be transition from logic level high to logic level low in the dialed digit signal.

For example, when the user presses an individual key of a keypad of user interface 108, or presses in a designated area on a touch-sensitive screen, or presses in on a dial shuttle, the start of digit indication is generated by user interface 108. When the user releases the same individual key of user interface 108, the end of digit indication is generated by user interface 108. So as long as the user is holding down the individual key, the end of digit indication is not generated by user interface 108.

It should be noted that other methods of signaling the start and end of a digit entry will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. For example, an encoded digital signal representing the start of digit indication may be used, as well as an encoded digital signal representing the end of digit indication. The actual method used to signal the start and end of a digit entry does not limit the present invention, and any other method which is otherwise generally compatible with the present invention may be used. However, in the preferred embodiment, a transition on the dialed digit signal is used to signal the start and end of a digit entry.

As each dialed digit is entered via user interface 108, the corresponding start of digit indication is detected by controller 110. Additionally, the actual digit dialed is detected and stored in dialed digits buffer 116 awaiting further action as described below. Detecting the actual digit dialed via user interface 108 is well known in the art, and may generally be performed by decoding the dialed digit signal. The method used to determine the actual dialed digit is not critical to the present invention, and therefore will not be described further herein. Regardless of the actual digit entered via user interface 108, controller 110 of the present invention detects the corresponding start of digit indication. Controller 110 may be a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller as is known in the art, along with associated memory, programmed to perform the steps of the present invention as described herein.

Upon detecting the start of digit indication from user interface 108, controller 110 starts timeout counter 106. Timeout counter 106 then begins to count, as clocked by time reference 114. Timeout counter 106 may be any counter as is known in the art, but is preferably a digital counter of the count-down or count-up type. Time reference 114 may be any suitable clock signal generator as is known in the art. For example, time reference 114 may be a crystal oscillator and associated clock signal generation logic.

Timeout counter 106 continues to count until it either satisfies a predetermined timeout count, or is reset or otherwise interrupted by controller 110. If timeout counter 106 satisfies the predetermined timeout count, it will signal expiration to controller 110. When the user ends the dialed digit, for example by releasing a key, or removing a stylus from a touch-sensitive screen, or releasing a dial shuttle, user interface 108 generates the end of digit indication as described above. This end of digit indication is detected by controller 110. Upon detecting the end of digit indication, controller 110 interrupts and resets timeout counter 106 unless timeout counter 106 has already expired. If timeout counter 106 is of the count-up variety, controller 110 resets it to zero count. If timeout counter 106 is of the count-down variety, controller 110 resets it to the predetermined timeout count value. In other words, timeout counter 106 and controller 110 act together to determine whether any individual digit has been "pressed and held down" for the duration of the predetermined timeout count. For example, if user interface 108 is a traditional keypad, and the user presses and holds down a digit key, controller 110 will start timeout counter 106. If the user does not release the digit key before the timeout counter 106 expires, the timeout counter 106 will signal expiration to controller 110. If, on the other hand, the user releases the digit key before the timeout counter 106 expires, the controller 110 will interrupt and reset timeout counter 106. When timeout counter 106 signals expiration to controller 110, controller 110 directs origination message generator 112 to generate a call origination message containing the dialed digits which are stored within dialed digits buffer 116, thus initiating the telephone call. The call origination message is subsequently transmitted by a transceiver (not shown) to a wireless base station (also not shown) to initiate a telephone call to the desired destination telephone number entered by the user via user interface 108. The operation of the transceiver and base station are not critical to the present invention, and therefore not illustrated in FIG. 1.

As a result of the operation of the elements of FIG. 1 as described above, when the user presses and holds a digit key for longer than the predetermined timeout period, a telephone call is initiated to the destination telephone number contained in dialed digits buffer 116. Thus, to dial any telephone number without having to press a "SEND" key, the user merely needs to hold down the last number in the destination telephone number for longer than the predetermined timeout count. In the preferred embodiment, the predetermined timeout count is on the order of two seconds, but it is clear that other time values may be used without departing from the present invention.

In one embodiment of the present invention, when timeout counter 106 signals expiration to controller 110, an alarm 118 is triggered to notify the user that a call is being originated. In other words, in this embodiment, when the user holds down the last digit key for longer than the predetermined timeout period, the alarm 118 is triggered, giving the user some feedback that the call is being properly originated as expected. Alarm 118 may be any alarm circuit as is known in the art. For example, alarm 118 may be an audible alarm circuit comprising a speaker amplifier and an audio speaker, or a piezo-electric speaker as are known in the art. Alternately, alarm 118 may be a visual alarm circuit such as an LED driver in combination with an LED, or a LCD display which displays a message. In still another embodiment, alarm 118 may be a vibrator as is known in the art. The implementation of alarm 118 is not critical to the present invention, and the function block for alarm 118 in FIG. 1 is intended to encompass any alarm circuit that is known in the art. Furthermore, in a portable telephone which has several alarm circuits, the type of alarm indication may be further selectable through a menu presented on a display of user interface 108. In addition, the entire functionality of the present invention, i.e., holding down the last digit dialed to originate the call, may be user-selectable through a menu presented on a display of user interface 108.

It should be noted that the present invention is different from speed dialing methods that are known in the art. For example, it is well known in the art to store speed dial numbers in predetermined memory locations. When the user presses and holds down the key corresponding to a speed dial memory location, the portable telephone may retrieve the speed dial telephone number from memory, and generate a call origination message using the stored speed dial telephone number.

The present invention differs from these prior art methods in that the destination telephone number used in the present invention is entered a digit at a time, and it is last digit in the destination telephone number that is held down in order to generate the call origination message. Although the present invention may be combined with the speed dialing method described above, it performs a significantly different function.

Origination message generator 112 may be a conventional microprocessor as is known in the art, programmed to generated a call origination message. The format of the origination message generated by origination message generator 112 is also not critical to the present invention, but may be for example, the Mobile Station Origination Message described in Section 6.6.3.5 of TIA/EIA Interim Standard IS-95, entitled "Mobile Station - Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular System."

It should be noted that FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram, and thus one or more of the functional blocks may be physically integrated on the same integrated circuit. For example, it would be advantageous to physically combine controller 110 and origination message generator 112 in the same microprocessor chip. The physical implementation of the functional blocks as illustrated in FIG. 1 is not a limiting factor of the present invention.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a flow diagram of the method of the present invention is illustrated. The method begins at block 200 where timeout 8 counter 106 is reset by controller 110, thus initializing timeout counter 106. At decision 202, controller 110 awaits a start of digit indication. If a start of digit indication is not detected, then the controller 110 continues to wait. Once a start of digit indication is detected, the flow proceeds to block 204 where the dialed digit is stored in dialed digit buffer 116.

At block 206, controller 110 starts timeout counter 106. Controller 110 then awaits an end of digit indication at decision 208 if an end of digit indication is detected at decision 208, the flow returns back to block 200 where controller 110 resets timeout counter 106. If, on the other hand, an end of digit indication has not yet been detected by controller 110 at decision 208, the flow proceeds to decision 210 where it is determined whether the predetermined timeout count being metered by timeout counter 210 has been satisfied. If the predetermined timeout count has not yet been satisfied, the flow returns to decision 208 to determine whether the end of digit indication has been detected. In other words, the method loops through decisions 208 and 210 while the timeout counter 106 continues to count until an end of digit indication is detected or the predetermined timeout count is satisfied.

If it is determined at decision 210 that the predetermined timeout count has been satisfied, i.e., the user has pressed and held a digit for the duration of the predetermined timeout count, then the flow proceeds to block 212 where a call origination message is generated by origination message generator 112, thereby initiating a telephone call using the destination telephone number. Optionally, the flow may pass through block 211, indicated in dashed lines in FIG. 2, where the alarm 118 is initiated to notify the user that a call is being originated.

In the manner described above, the present invention provides a method and circuit for call origination in a wireless communication device which detects the end of a telephone number, and automatically originates the call. The present invention is easier to implement than other methods, reducing the cost and size of the wireless communication device. Additionally, the present invention is not dependent on the individual dialing scheme employed by the country in which the wireless communication device is being used.

The previous description of the preferred embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present invention. The various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be 9 applied to other embodiments without the use of the inventive faculty. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

I CLAIM:

Claims

10 CLAIMS

1. A circuit for originating a call in a wireless communication device, the circuit comprising: a user interface for generating a start of digit indication and an end of digit indication for each of at least one dialed digits; a controller, coupled to said user interface, for detecting said start of digit indications and said end of digit indications; and an origination message generator, coupled to said controller, for generating a call origination message containing said at least one dialed digits; wherein said controller directs said origination message generator to generate said call origination message if said end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period.

2. The circuit of claim 1 further comprising a timeout counter for metering said predetermined timeout period, said controller further for resetting said timeout counter if said end of digit indication for said most recently dialed digit is detected during said predetermined timeout period.

3. The circuit of claim 2 further comprising a dialed digits buffer for storing said at least one dialed digits.

4. The circuit of claim 1 further comprising an alarm circuit for generating an alert if said end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period.

5. A method for originating a call in a wireless communication device, the method comprising the steps of: generating a start of digit indication and an end of digit indication for each of at least one dialed digits; detecting said start of digit indications; generating a call origination message containing said at least one dialed digit if said end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising the steps of: metering said predetermined timeout count; and 11 resetting said predetermined timeout period if said end of digit indication for said most recently dialed digit is detected during said predetermined timeout period.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising the step of storing said at least one dialed digits.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising the step of generating an alert if said end of digit indication for a most recently dialed digit is not detected during a predetermined timeout period.