WO2000046971A1

WO2000046971A1 - Caller identification device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement

Info

Publication number: WO2000046971A1
Application number: PCT/US2000/000512
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jer Hong Lin; Shih-Wei Huang; Peter Ben Jang Sun; Dau-Yon Hsu
Original assignee: Voice 2000S, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-02-03
Filing date: 2000-02-02
Publication date: 2000-08-10
Also published as: WO2000046971A9; AU2962300A

Abstract

A caller identification (CID) device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement is disclosed. The CID device (10) comprises a body and a control circuit (21). The control circuit (21) comprises a central processing unit (CPU), a frequency-shift keying (FSK) demodulator (25), a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) generator (26), and a phone book memory (24). The body comprises a time/name setting switch (11), a plurality of keys and an LCD (22) provided on a front surface of the body. The CID device (10) functions as storing a CID as a record and further displaying an ordered record on sorted name and/or time by setting the time/name setting switch (11) for facilitating user inquiry.

Description

CALLER IDENTIFICATION DEVICE WITH ALPHABETICAL ORDER OR/AND CHRONOLOGICAL ARRANGEMENT

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a caller identification device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement. More particularly to a device provided between a telephone and a telephone line for storing a caller identification as a record and further displaying an ordered record on sorted name or/and time for facilitating user inquiry.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Traditionally, a caller identification (CID) device functions as storing a CID such as date, time, name, and phone number in a record based on information provided by a telephone company after the first ringing and before the second ringing. Such records are stored in the memory of the CID device for being displayed to the user on a time order in a later time. However, it is possible for such a recording method to record the same caller a number of times if the caller made such number of calls. Accordingly, a number of records having the same caller name will be displayed to the user the number of times in the call back operation. It is evident that it is difficult to look up a desired record when the number of records is relatively large. Furthermore, such recording method spends a lot of memory on storing same records. In brief, it is time and memory consuming.

Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a CID device that is able to overcome the drawbacks of the traditional device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a CID device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement for searching a CID in an efficient way when a call back operation is performed. It is an another object of the present invention to provide a CID device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement for automatically deleting a record which having the same caller name and telephone number as a previously stored record for saving memory space. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a CID device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement for automatically updating records once a record deleted or a new record is inserted.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a CID device with alphabetical order or/and chronological arrangement for rearranging a number of records in chronological order which having the same caller name with different telephone number.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR WINGS

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a CID device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a circuit block diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a partial detailed circuit diagram of FIG. 2; FIG 4 is an external power source conversion circuit diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a main flow chart illustrating the operation of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the processing of CID of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the deletion function of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the backward search function of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the forward search function of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the processing of call back of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating the record displaying of the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the comparison and rearrangement functions of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a CID device of the present invention. The CID device comprises a body 1 and a control circuit (not shown) (referred to the description of FIGS. 2-3 below). An LCD 10, a time/name order setting switch 11, a deletion (DEL) key 12, a backward search (<) key 13, a forward search (>) key 14, and a call back (CALL BACK) key 15, provided on a front surface of the body 1, are connected to a corresponding circuit within the control circuit respectively for implementing a required function.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control circuit comprises a central processing unit (CPU)

21, an LCD circuit 22, a keypad circuit 23, a phone book RAM 24, a frequency-shift keying (FSK) demodulator 25, and a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) generator 26. The LCD circuit 22 is connected to the LCD 10. The keypad circuit 23 is connected to the keys 12-15. The FSK demodulator 25 is connected to a telephone line (not shown) for being able to access a CID such as date, time, name, and phone number based on information provided by a telephone company after the first ringing and before the second ringing. Such data are demodulated and processed by the CPU 21 prior to being stored in the memory of the CID device as a record. The DTMF generator 26 is connected between the CPU 21 and the telephone line. The DTMF generator 26 functions as dialing a telephone number automatically which corresponding to the number displayed on the LCD 10 once a user presses the CALL BACK key.

The CPU 21 is able to determine if a new record having the same caller name and telephone number as that of any record stored in the RAM 24. If yes, the previous record will be deleted and replaced by the new record with a repeat calling sign (i.e., "RPT") shown the upper right corner of the LCD 10 when a record is displayed on it. If not, the new record will be stored in an address of the RAM 24 in accordance with the sorting mode (e.g., time or/and name) chosen by the user by regulating the time/name setting switch 11. For example, if the name sorting mode is chosen, the time/name setting switch 11 will be set to the left side 11 A while the time sorting mode is chosen, the time/name setting switch 11 set to the right side 11C; and if both time and name sorting modes are chosen at the same time, the time name setting switch can be set at the middle point 1 IB as shown in Fig. 2. The new record will be doubly linked to other recoros stored in the RAM 24 to form an updated record file. The re-linking procedure is also performed among the remained records once a record is deleted. It is noted that the CPU 21 will store the records in chronological order in the same block of the RAM 24 if an incoming call has the same caller name but a different telephone number with a previous record (as decribed later).

A detailed circuit description of the elements of FIG. 2 as shown in FIG. 3 is omitted herein due to these circuits are prior art. An external power source conversion circuit diagram is shown in FIG. 4. Such conversion circuit for converting a DC 9V external voltage source into a DC 5V is needed because the internal power source as specifically designed by the present invention is DC 5V. It is noted that the input power source is DC 9V because it is easily available, for example using six DC 1.5V cells. The conversion circuit mainly comprises a voltage demodulator 45 and two parallel connection capacitors functioned as a filter.

The main flow chart of the CID device of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 5. The process begins at entry point 50. At step 51 (including steps 51A-51D), an initialization step is performed which setting ALPHA=0 (i.e., not sorted by name but instead sorted by time), N=0 (i.e., no record in the RAM 24), LAST=0 (i.e., no data available), and Eq=0 (i.e., no same record).

At step 52, a determination is made on whether a telephone is first ringing. If yes, go to step 53. If not, go to step 54.

At step 53, the processing of the CID is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 6 below).

At step 54, scanning of keys is performed and a corresponding action is taken as follows: (a) If the DEL key is pressed, at step 55, the deletion process is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 7 below).

(b) If the < key is pressed, at step 56, the backward search process is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 8 below).

(c) If the > key is pressed, at step 57, the forward search process is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 9 below).

(d) If the CALL BACK key is pressed, at step 58, the call back process is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 10 below).

(e) If steps (a)-(d) are not performed, at step 59, a normal mode (NORMAL MODE) process is performed (referred to the description of FIG. 11 below). The flow chart goes back to step 52 to repeat.

The processing of CID is illustrated in FIG. 6. The process begins at entry point 61. At step 62, set LAST=LAST+1 (i.e., a new record is added and thus the total number of records is increased by one).

At step 63, FSK demodulation is performed on the new record which is appended to the LAST record of the RAM 24.

At step 64, the new record is compared with other records stored in the RAM 24 and an index rearrangement is performed on the ordered caller names. At step 65, a determination is made on whether the new record having the same caller name as that of any stored record (i.e., Eq=l ?). If yes, go to step 66. If not, go to step 69.

At step 66, set RPT=1 (i.e., this record is a repeat record and a repeat calling sign ("RPT") will be shown on the LCD 10.

At step 67, delete the previous record which having the same caller name and telephone number and replaced with the new record for saving memory. At step 68, set LAST=LAST-1. The flow chart ends at step 69. The deletion process of a record is illustrated in FIG. 7. The process begins at entry point 71.

At step 72, a determination is made on whether the record is the last record (i.e., N=LAST ?). If yes, go to step 73 which setting N=N-1 (i.e., the number of records is decreased by one) and then go to step 74. If not, go to step 73-1. At step 73-1, set TEMP=NEXT(N) (i.e., set a temporary variable TEMP to represent the pointer of next record of the deleted record) and then go to step 73-2.

At step 73-2, set NEXT(PREV(N))=NEXT(N) (i.e., records are sorted by name and rearranged to correspond to the deletion of the Nth record; and the next record of the previous record points to NEXT(N) such that the doubly linked record file will not be corrupted).

At step 73-3, set PREV(NEXT(N))=PREN( ) (i.e., records are rearranged to correspond to the deletion of the Nth record; and the previous record of the next record points to PREV(N) such that the doubly linked record file will not be corrupted). At step 73-4, set i=N (i.e., i is the Nth record). At step 73-5, overwrite the i+lth record to the address of the ith record.

At step 73-6, set i=i+l (i.e., the i+lth record of the original record file is the ith record of the updated record file). At step 73-7, a determination is made on whether i is the last record (i.e., i=LAST ?). If yes, go to step 74. If not, go to step 73-5 to repeat the process. At step 74, delete the last record.

At step 75, set LAST=LAST-1 (i.e., the last record points to the (last-1) record). At step 76, a determination is made on whether alphabet is one (i.e., ALPHA*=1 ?).

If yes (i.e., sorted by name), go to step 77. If not (i.e., sorted by time), go to step 78.

At step 77, set N=TEMP (i.e., the number of records is equal to the temporary variable TEMP).

At step 78, repeat step 78 and step 79 LAST times (i.e., from the 1^st record to the last record).

At step 79, all NEXT(i) records and PREV(i) records, which larger than N, are decreased by one.

The flow chart ends at step 710.

The backward search process of is illustrated in FIG. 8. The process begins at entry point 81.

At step 82, a determination is made on whether alphabet is zero (i.e., ALPHA=0 ?). If yes (i.e., sorted by time), go to step 83. If not (i.e., sorted by name), go to step 83-1.

At step 83, a determination is made on whether N is equal to zero (i.e., N=0 ?). If yes (i.e., no record in the RAM 24), go to step 85. If not, go to step 84. At step 83-1, a determination is made on whether N is the smallest index (i.e.,

N=SMALL# ?). If yes, go to step 85. If not, go to step 83-2.

At step 83-2, set N=PREV(N) (i.e., N is pointed by a previous record) and then go to step 85.

At step 84, set N=N-1 (i.e., a previous record is displayed). The flow chart ends at step 85.

The forward search process of is illustrated in FIG. 9. The process begins at entry point 91. At step 92, a determination is made on whether alphabet is zero (i.e., ALPHA=0 ?). If yes (i.e., sorted by time), go to step 93. If not (i.e., sorted by name), go to step 93-1.

At step 93, a determination is made on whether N is the last record (i.e., N=LAST ?). If yes, go to step 85. If not, go to step 84. At step 93-1, a determination is made on whether N is the largest index (i.e.,

N=LARGE# ?). If yes, go to step 85. If not, go to step 93-2.

At step 93-2, set N=NEXT(N) (i.e., N is a pointer of the next record) and then go to step 95.

At step 94, set N=N+1 (i.e., a next record is displayed). The flow chart ends at step 95.

The call back process of is illustrated in FIG. 10. The process begins at entry point 101.

At step 102, the Nth telephone number is dialed. The flow chart ends at step 103. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a NORMAL MODE is performed when there are stored caller records and none of the keys 12-15 is pressed. The process begins at entry point 111.

At step 112, a determination is made on whether a user wants to sort records by name. If yes, go to step 113. If not, go to step 114. At step 113, set ALPHA=1 and then go to step 115.

At step 114, set ALPHA=0.

At step 115, the Nth record is displayed on the LCD 22.

At step 116, the correct time (i.e., the time of the incoming call was made) calibrated by the CID device is displayed. The flow chart ends at step 117.

The comparison and rearrangement functions of the CID device is illustrated in FIG. 12. The process begins at entry point 121. „„, „„, 00/46971

At step 122, set Eq=0.

At step 122-1, set PREV(LAST)=LAST and NEXT(LAST)=LAST (i.e., LAST is pointed by the previous record of the last record and by previous record of the next record). At step 123, a determination is made on whether the last record index is one. (i.e ,

LAST=1 ?). If yes, go to step 123-1. If not, go to step 124.

At step 123-1, set NEXT(1)=1 (i.e., the next record of the first record points to index one).

At step 132-2, set PREV(1)=1 (i.e., the previous record of the first record points to index one).

At step 123-3, set SMALL=NAME(1) (i.e., variable SMALL is the name of the first record).

At step 123-4, set SMALL#=1 (i.e., the index of record with the smallest name is one). At step 123-5, set LARGE=NAME(1) (i.e., variable LARGE is the name of the first record).

At step 123-6, set LARGE#=1 (i.e., the index of record with the largest name is one) and then go to step 1213.

At step 124, set i=l (i.e., the first record). At step 125, set NNEXT=ZZZ (i.e., the name of the next record of the first record is

ZZZ).

At step 126, set PPREV=NULL (i.e., the name of the previous record of the first record is a null string).

At step 127, a determination is made on whether the name of the last record is larger than the name of the ith record (i.e., NAME(LAST)>NAME(i) ?). If yes, go to step 127- l. Ifnot, go to step 128.

At step 127-1, a determination is made on whether the name of the ith record is O 00/46 7

larger than the null string, (i.e., NAME(i)>PPREV ?). If yes, go to step 127-2. If not, go to step 128-4.

At step 127-2, set PPREV=NAME(i) (i.e., the name of the previous record is the name of the ith record). At step 127-3, set PREV(LAST)=i (i.e., the index of the previous record of the last record is one).

At step 128, a determination is made on whether the name of the last record is smaller than the name of the ith record (i.e., NAME(LAST)<NAME(i) ?). If yes, go to step 128-1. If not, go to step 129. At step 128-1, a determination is made on whether the ith record is smaller than the variable NNEXT (i.e., NAME(i)<NNEXT ?). If yes, go to step 128-2. If not, go to step 128-4.

At step 128-2, set NNEXT=NAME(1) (i.e., the name of the next record is the name of the ith record). At step 128-3, set NEXT(LAST)=i (i.e., the index of the next record of the last record is i).

At step 128-4, set i=i+l. (i.e., i is increased by one).

At step 128-5, a determination is made on whether i is equal to LAST. If yes, go to step 1211. If not, go to step 127. At step 129, set RPT(i)=l (i.e., the ith record is repeated).

At step 1210, set Eq=l.

At step 1210A, call DEL process and delete the ith record from the record file and then go to step 1213.

At step 1211, set NEXT(PREV(LAST))=LAST (i.e., rearrangement of the record file).

At step 1212, set PREV(NEXT(LAST))=LAST (i.e., rearrangement of the record file). O 0

The flow chart ends at step 1213.

A data structure of the record file is shown in Table I below. Table I - A data structure of the record file

The i field is the index of the ith record. There are six records shown in Table I. The

NAME(i) field represents the name of the ith record. The PREV(i) field represents the index of the previous record of the ith record. The NEXT(i) field represents the index of the next record of the ith record.

It is assumed that LAST (i.e., the last record) is the sixth record. It is known that the name of last record is JON, i.e., NAME(6)=JON. The following is the description of comparison and rearrangement functions performed by the CID:

1. Set PPREV=NULL and PREV(LAST)=1 when there is no incoming call (i.e., before the LAST is coming). If there is an incoming call, the caller ID thereof is compared with each record, i.e., i from one to six. It is noted that PPREV represents the name of the previous record and NNEXT represents the name of the next record. JON>ABC when i=l and thus set PPREV=ABC, PREV(LAST)=1, NNEXT=ZZZ, and NEXT(LAST)=1.

2. JON<ZXY when i=2 and thus set PPREV=ABC, PREV(LAST)-1, NNEXT=ZXY, and EXT(LAST)=2. 3. JON<TUV when i=3 and thus set PPREV=ABC, PREV(LAST)=1, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3.

4. JON>EFG when i=4 and thus set PPREV=EFG, PREV(LAST)=4, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3.

5. JON>BOY and BOY<PPREV(=EFG) when i=5 and thus set PPREV=EFG, PREV(LAST)=4, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3.

6. JON=LAST when i=6 and thus no comparison is made and set PREV(i)=4 and NEXT(i)=3.

The following is the description of the procedure of deleting a record for example the third record from the record file in conjunction with the Table I and FIG. 7: 1. NEXT(PREV(3))=NEXT(3) (i.e., six is the PREV(i) of the third record and thus the NEXT(i) of the sixth record is NEXT(i)=2).

2. PREV(NEXT(3))=PREV(3) (i.e., two is the NEXT(i) of the third l cord and thus the PREV(i) of the second record is PREV(i)=PREV(3)=6).

3. As a result, the next record of the sixth record is the second record and the previous record of the second record is the six record. Further, an rearrangement is performed such that the doubly linked record file will not be corrupted due to the above procedure.

4. Delete the third record.

5. All NEXT(i) and PREV(i), which larger than three, are decreased by one. The following is the description of the procedure of inserting a record for example a record with name MARY (i.e., the index is seven) into the record file in conjunction with the Table I and FIG. 11:

1. MARY>ABC and ABC>NULL when i=l and thus PPREV=ABC, PREV(LAST)=1, NNEXT=ZZZ, and NEXT(LAST)=1. 2. MARY<ZXY when i=2 and thus no change.

3. MARY<TUV and TUV NNEXT(ZZZ) when i=3 and thus PPREV=ABC, PREV(LAST)=1, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3. O 0

4. MARY>EFG and EFG>PPREV(ABC) when i=4 and thus PPREV^EFG, PREV(LAST)=4, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3.

5. MARY<BOY and BOY<PPREV(EFG) when i=5 and thus PPREV=EFG, PREV(LAST)=4, NNEXT=TUV, and NEXT(LAST)=3.

6. MARY>JON and JON>PPREV(EFG) when i=6 and thus PPREV=JON, PREV(LAST)=6, NNEXT=TUV, and PREV(LAST)=3.

7. No comparison is made when i=7=LAST and thus NEXT(i)-=3, PREV(i)=6, NEXT(PREV(7))=7, NEXT(i)=7 (of the sixth record), PREV(NEXT(7))-7, and PREV(i)=7 (of the third record).

The complete data structure after the above insertion procedure is shown in Table II as follow.

Table II - The data structure of the record file after the insertion procedure

It is to be understood that it is possible for a number of records stored in the RAM 24 having the same caller name with different telephone number. The arrangement of such records is shown in Table III. 00/46

Table III - The data structure of the record file in which two records have the same caller name with different telephone number (not shown in the table)

As shown in the above talbe III, the records 2 and 3 have a same name but use different telephone numbers (not shown in table III). Record 3 is located behind record 2 because record 3 is a call made later in time than record 2.

It is to be emphasized that these two records are used to illustrate the sorting is based on both of alphabetical order and chronological arrangement.

It is noted that the sorting based on chronological order is deemed to be a prior art method, therefore the description thereof is thus omitted herein.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A caller identification (CID) device with alphabetical order comprising: a body; a control circuit comprising a central processing unit (CPU), a frequency-shift keying (FSK) connected between the CPU and a telephone line for being able to access a CID after a ringing and providing it to the CPU; a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) generator is connected between the CPU and the telephone line for dialing a telephone number; a phone book memory connected to the CPU for storing the CID as a record which comprising an index field, a name field, a telephone number field, a time and date field, a previous record field, and a next record field; an LCD provided on a front surface of the body and connt ted to the CPU for displaying; a time/name switch; and a plurality of keys provided on a front surface of the body and each of the plurality of keys connected to the CPU for inputting a user command to the CPU for performing a corresponding action.

2. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 1, wherein the CPU is provided with a comparison program and a rearrangement program.

3. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 2, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to perform a sorting based on the name field.

4. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 2, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to perform a sorting by name or time process by setting the time/name setting switch.

5. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 2, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to build a record file by doubly linking a record with a previous record and a next record.

6. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 1, wherein the plurality of keys comprises a deletion key, a backward search key, a forward search key, and a call back key.

7. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 1, wherein the control circuit further comprises a power source conversion circuit including a voltage demodulator and two parallel connection capacitors functioned as a filter for converting a DC 9 volts external power source into a DC 5 volts internal power source.

8. The caller identification device with alphabetical order of claim 1, further comprising rearranging a number of records in chronological order which having the same name field with different telephone number field.

9. A caller identification (CID) device with alphabetical order anu chronological arrangement comprising: a body; a control circuit comprising a central processing unit (CPU), a frequency-shift keying (FSK) connected between the CPU and a telephone line for being able to access a CID after a ringing and providing it to the CPU; a dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF) generator is connected between the CPU and the telephone line for dialing a telephone number; a phone book memory connected to the CPU for storing the CID as a record which comprising an index field, a name field, a telephone number field, a time and date field, a previous record field, and a next record field; an LCD provided on a front surface of the body and connected to the CPU for displaying; a time/name switch; and a plurality of keys provided on a front surface of the body and each of the plurality of keys connected to the CPU for inputting a user command to the CPU for performing a corresponding action.

10. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 9, wherein the CPU is provided with a comparison program and a rearrangement program.

11. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 10, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to perform a sorting based on the name field.

12. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 10, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to perform a sorting by name or time process by setting the time/name setting switch.

13. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 10, wherein the comparison program and the rearrangement program are able to build a record file by doubly linking a record with a previous record and a next record.

14. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 9, wherein the plurality of keys comprises a deletion key, a backward search key, a forward search key, and a call back key.

15. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 9, wherein the control circuit further comprises a power source conversion circuit including a voltage demodulator and two parallel connection capacitors functioned as a filter for converting a DC 9 volts external power source into a DC 5 volts internal power source.

16. The caller identification device with alphabetical order and chronological arrangement of claim 9, further comprising rearranging a number of records in chronological order which having the same name field with different telephone number field.