WO2012099456A1

WO2012099456A1 - System and method for integrating computing device with telephony functions

Info

Publication number: WO2012099456A1
Application number: PCT/MY2012/000004
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jonathan Yeow Koon LOI; Robert Gim Keong LEE; Choon Soo CHEAH; Zhen Yi CHOW
Original assignee: Advance Tech Communications Sdn Bhd
Priority date: 2011-01-21
Filing date: 2012-01-11
Publication date: 2012-07-26
Also published as: MY159027A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a computing device integrated with telephony functions, more particularly the present invention provides a system and a method for integrating computing device with telephony functions, wherein the system and method of the present invention describes the system associations of a computing unit (501), a telephony application (21), a controller (22), a converter (23), a modem (24), an audio module (25), and a transducer (26), with a system firmware (27) and an abstraction layer (28) to integrate a hand held computing device with telephony functions.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATING COMPUTING DEVICE WITH TELEPHONY FUNCTIONS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a computing device integrated with telephony functions, more particularly the present invention provides a system and a method for integrating computing device with telephony functions.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

In accord to recent developments of mobile electronics technology emphasizing on the ergonomics of an integrated device having dual functionalities of a hand phone and also a portable computer, there have been assortments of devices invented in the past and manufactured for the purpose of realizing the necessity and the value of such devices. Many of these prior arts' capabilities however have limited deliverable muscle to cater for the soaring demands of the society in terms of efficiency, time and cost savings, reliability, and convenience, in order to have their tasks sorted out more effectively.

There are several prior arts; patent documents and non-patent disclosures divulged computing devices integrated with telephony functions. US patent no. 7555727 B2 disclosed a handheld computer system that includes a configuration for wireless data and voice communications. Integration of the handheld computer and telephony system is at the operational and physical level, where the handheld computer is operationally integrated, for example, the telephony system executes a telephone application on the processor of the handheld computer, and the handheld computer can execute applications, for example, a phone book, that can be used to launch the telephony application. However, the handheld computer is distinct from the telephony system in that they are logically separable. US patent no. 6259932 Bl disclosed a portable computer and telecommunications equipment unit with functions of a mobile telephone and a computer in a single apparatus used in an optimum manner either separately or simultaneously. The telecommunication member and the computing device however are of a separate entity. Among products that are available in the global market, which serves as prior arts to the present invention, are products from HTC Corporation, Yukyung Technologies Corporation, LG Electronics Incorporation, and Samsung are in a way of computing devices offering telephony functions. Nevertheless, capabilities of these products are limited in the sense that most products in the market are running on an embedded operating system, which limits the operation of the computing device experience in an environment of a fully supported operating systems, such as Linux, Macintosh, and Windows. Moreover, the shortcomings of integrating a computing device with telephony functions are certainly faced with inconvenience of a user switching from a computing operating system to a telephony operating system, in order to place a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) voice phone call.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a miniaturized computing device integrated with telephony functions with a rationale that the computing device, as a whole is an aspect of a hand-held computer and a hand-held mobile phone hybrid device. To achieve this object, the present invention provides a system and method for integrating computing device with telephony functions, wherein the present invention provides a system for integrating computing device with telephony functions involving dimensions of a user mode, a kernel mode and a hardware layer. Its is an object of the system for integrating computing device with telephony functions to provide a computing unit, a telephony application residing in the dimensions of a user mode includes a user interface for receiving command inputs and displaying predetermined output information, and further providing a controller connected to the telephony application, a converter connected to the controller for providing sound format conversions between analogue and digital signals, and a modem connected to the telephony application and the converter for providing modulation and demodulation of analogue carrier signals to encode and decode digital information, residing in the dimensions of the hardware layer.

It is another object of the system for integrating computing device with telephony functions to provide an audio module connected to the telephony application and the converter for delivery of sound signals, wherein the audio module includes an audio service residing in the dimensions of the user layer, an audio driver residing in the dimensions of the kernel mode, and a high definition audio codec residing in the dimensions of the hardware layer.

It is yet another object of the system for integrating computing device with telephony functions to provide a transducer connected to the converter for providing conversions between sound signals and electrical signals, residing in the dimensions of the hardware layer, wherein the transducer preferably connected to any one or a combination of at least one headset, at least one receiver, at least one microphone, and at least one speaker.

It is a further object of the system for integrating computing device with telephony functions to provide a system firmware connected to the controller for accepting instructions from said telephony applications to control the converter and the audio module derived from operational instructions, and further providing an abstraction layer residing in the dimensions of the user mode for establishing communication between the telephony application and said modem.

It is an object of the method for integrating computing device with telephony functions to provide telephony application within an operating environment of the computing device comprising said system firmware, transferring information data between the telephony application and said modem by means of an abstraction layer, transmitting at least a function call from the telephony application to the system firmware for providing required operational mode, and controlling said converter for providing execution of a required operational mode based on the function call transmitted to the system firmware.

Therefore, the present invention herein addresses these encounters and offers a solution to materialize a hand held computing device running on a full operating system integrated with telephony functions through the provision of a system and method, to realize a hand held communication device and a hand held computing device as referred to an united entity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Figure 1: Illustrates the system flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention. Figure 2: Illustrates the architectural dimensions of the system flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3: Illustrates an example execution of a speakerphone mode operation from the telephony application in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 4: Illustrates the flow of the function calls to perform a dedicated function in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 5: Illustrates the process flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Each of the following preferred embodiments describes an example not limiting in any aspect.

Referring to Figure 1, there is illustrated the system flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention comprises a computing unit (501), a telephony application (21) installed in an operating system environment in the computing unit (501) including a user interface for receiving command inputs and displaying predetermined output information, a controller (22) in an operational relationship with the computing unit (501) and the telephony application (21) for providing operational management between said computing unit (501) and said telephony application (21) of the computing device system, a converter (23) connected to the controller (22) for providing sound format conversions between analogue and digital signals, a modem (24) connected to the telephony application (21) through an abstraction layer (28) and connected to the converter (23) for providing modulation and demodulation of analogue carrier signals to encode and decode digital information, an audio module (25) connected to the telephony application (21) and the converter (23) for providing delivery of sound signals, and a transducer (26) connected to the converter (23) for providing conversions between sound signals and electrical signals.

The present invention discusses aforementioned computing unit (501) herein is preferably a programmable machine that stores and manipulates information data received from the inputs of the computing unit (501), and subsequently outputs processed information data in a format comprehensible to human. Basically, a processor, an arithmetic logic unit (ALU), registers, storage means, audio and video cards, drivers, motherboard or any other additional hardware elements would typically present in any computing unit (501), and does not limit the present invention in any implementation aspects of it, that is to say that the present invention herein could implement any hardware element present in a typical computing device.

The telephony application (21) as described in the present invention herein preferably includes any form of a user interface for example a graphical user interface with touch screen capabilities for receiving command inputs and displaying predetermined output information where this application preferably resides in the dimensions of a user mode installed in an operating environment of the computing device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the system firmware (27) in an operational relationship between the telephony application (21) and the controller (22) , is configured in such a way that said system firmware (27) accepts operational instructions from said telephony application (21) to control said interfacing converter

(23) and said audio module (25). In another embodiment of the present invention, the abstraction layer (28) in an operational relationship between the telephony application (21) and said modem (24) is configured in such a way to establish communication by means of sharing data information between said telephony application (21) and said modem (24).

Since the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a miniaturized computing device integrated with telephony functions, said controller (22) is preferably but not limited to an embedded controller (22) that communicates with the system firmware

(27) through preferably a Low Pin Count (LPC) interface to receive operational instructions from the telephony application (21) in order to control said converter (23) which is preferably but not limited to pulse-code modulation codec.

In the same context of the preferred embodiment, the present invention is engineered with the utility of Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) facilitation, whereby the system firmware (27) is customized in isolation to accept function calls of the WMI from the telephony application (21) to control the converter (23) in the accomplishment of said controller (22) in designation to operatively associate with the converter (23) through a 12C interface as a premise of functional and switching control, based on predetermined phone mode operations of preferably a speakerphone mode operation, headset phone mode operation, or a receiver phone mode operation. Further to that, the modem (24), preferably but not limited to an embedded voice modem (24), connected to the telephony application (21) through an abstraction layer

(28) and connected to the converter (23), whereby the communications of the modem

(24) between the telephony application (21) and the converter (23) is realized and established by means of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. The audio module (25) as referred to Figure 1 and Figure 2 herein, is preferably but not limited to a module in a composition of an audio service (31), audio driver (32), and a high definition audio (HDA) codec (33) connected to the telephony application (21) and the converter (23) as appreciated by a skilled person for providing delivery of sound signals in connection with preferably any one or a combination of at least one headset, at least one speaker.

The transducer (26) on the other hand in a typical association with said audio module (25) as part of the converter (23), in the case of the present invention, is a part of the pulse-code modulation codec is preferably connected to any one or a combination of at least one headset, at least one receiver, and at least one microphone, thereto provide conversions between sound signals and electrical signals which reflects the operation of a telephony device to receive voice signals, and to output voice signals, as an accomplishment to the predetermined phone mode operations of preferably a speakerphone mode operation, headset phone mode operation, or a receiver phone mode operation .

The predetermined phone mode operations of a speakerphone mode, headset mode, or a receiver mode as foregoing introduction as the preferred features of the telephony application (21) in the present invention are essentially controlled in operational switches of the telephony application (21) where an audio interface (401) as shown in Figure 2 is integrated within the system to perform WMI function executions based on Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) tasks being performed. The audio interface herein refers to an interface incorporated with telephony application (21) to define phone mode operations for the telephony application (21) to communicate to the audio service (31) having regards to Figure 2.

In an elaboration to further describe the predetermined phone mode operations, it will be appreciated that during an outgoing call execution by a user, the audio interface (401) as shown in Figure 2, activates the embedded voice modem (24) for activating the outgoing call, and subsequently providing options thereto switch between a speakerphone mode and a receiver phone mode by means of a user interface of the telephony application (21). Selecting the option thereto switch to the speakerphone mode, the system flow in the present invention routes the received voice signal from the embedded voice modem (24) to the connected speakers, and selecting the option thereto switch back to a receiver mode, the system flow in the present invention re- routes the received voice signal from the embedded voice modem (24) to the converter (23), a pulse-code modulation codec.

It will be appreciated in the present invention that, if a headset is connected during an ongoing call, the audio interface (401) in Figure 2, switches from a current audio settings to a headset phone mode thereto enable the headset's speakers and microphone to be used for voice communications. When the headset is removed, the system defaults the audio settings back to a receiver phone mode. Eventually, upon termination of any calls, the audio interface (401) hereby reactivates the default audio settings which were the phone operation mode settings prior to carrying out the voice communications. It will be apparent therein that the same phone mode operation switching procedure is practised when the telephony application (21) receives an incoming call. Referring now to Figure 2, there is illustrated the architectural dimensions of the system flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention, wherein the architectural dimensions include a user mode, a kernel mode, and a hardware layer. The user mode dimension comprises a telephony application (21) incorporated with an audio interface (401), an abstraction layer (28), an operating system (51), and an audio module (25). The kernel mode dimension comprises an audio module (25), mobile broadband driver (61), and a system firmware (27) preferably configured inside a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) (62). The hardware layer herein comprises preferably an embedded controller (22), preferably a pulse-code modulation as a converter (23), preferably a voice modem (24), and an audio module (25).

As illustrated, the audio module (25) exists in all three dimensions of the system flow architectural dimensions, whereby the audio module (25) preferably comprises an audio service (31) connected to the telephony application (21), both residing in the user mode and interfacing with preferably an audio driver (32) residing in the kernel mode, and the audio driver (32) interfaces with a HDA codec (33) residing in the hardware layer. The operating system (51) in accordance to the present invention herein is of any available operating systems appreciated by a skilled person, preferably an operating system (51) of Windows 7 inhabiting the user mode as an accomplishment of the present invention to successfully interface the preferable operating system (51) with the BIOS (62) residing in the kernel mode, where the telephony application (21) communicates with the configured system firmware (27) through the LPC interface hereto accept WMI function calls from the telephony application (21) to control the converter (23), pulse-code modulation codec via an embedded controller (22) that interfaces with the converter (23) through a 12C interface for function and switching control, based on mode of phone operations as aforementioned, a speakerphone mode operation, a headset phone mode operation, and a receiver phone mode operation.

The pulse-code modulation codec as preferred in the present invention hereto covert from an analogue signal to a digital signal and vice versa, and also used to perform switching between voice communication modes, for instance, a headset phone mode operation, or a hands-free phone mode operation, where the pulse-code modulation codec is connected to the embedded voice modem (24) through a pulse-code modulation interface for digital voice data communication. The embedded voice modem (24), then interfaces with the mobile broadband driver (61) in the kernel mode, and an abstraction layer (28) from the user mode thereto interface with the mobile broadband driver (61) is configured in such a way to establish communication between said telephony application (21) and said embedded voice modem (24).

The WMI as referenced to the utility of WMI facilitation mentioned previously, the present invention herein prefers a WMI mapping driver customized to accomodate Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specifications that communicates with the ACPI in order to interact with the embedded controller (22) so that the telephony application (21) residing in the user mode application accessibly conveys data information to the embedded controller (22). In a typical operation, the operating system (51) manages the power usage of the hardware devices by issuing commands to the ACPI driver to either retrieve information from or set the operational state of the hardware devices. However, in the case of the present invention, the WMI mapping driver herein is configured to receive commands from the operating system (51) initiated by the telephony application (21), translate those commands into ACPI compliant commands, and issue the ACPI compliant commands to the ACPI system via the ACPI driver. The ACPI driver will then execute an application markup language (AML) code stored in the BIOS (62) accordingly and the BIOS (62) will forward the associated information to the embedded controller (22) to perform instructed operations.

An abstraction layer (28) as preferred in the present invention herein to be configured using a software development kit (SDK) in order to integrate the system with the telephony application (21), which acts as the communicator between the telephony application (21) and an embedded voice modem (24) driver. The data transfer between the SDK and the embedded voice modem (24) is preferably carried out over an USB. The SDK includes a collection of application programming interface (API) functions, each thereto perform a dedicated task, for instance "dialing a number", "answering a call", and etc. The SDK also takes care of communicating the GSM updates received from the embedded voice modem (24) to the telephony application (21) via callback functions for example, "Notifying Incoming Calls", "Call progress statuses during a call", and etc.

Referring to Figure 3, the figure exemplifies the execution of a speakerphone mode operation from the telephony application (21) in accordance with the present invention based on an instruction request sent from the telephony application (21).

The example instruction herein is described as "Switch to Speaker" option, whereby the audio interface (401) accepts request from the telephony application (21), establishes communication with an agent in the WMI which performs the corresponding WMI function execution to activate the requested phone mode operation, and transmits out "Loudspeaker" instruction, as shown throughout the flow of block (71), block (72), and block (73) respectively.

The communication between the audio interface (401) and the WMI is established using Namedpipes, apparent to a skilled person to apply such software technique for inter-process communication, wherein the Namedpipes follows the application of the "client-server" rule to communicate between processes. In the case of the present invention, the audio interface (401) behaves as a client, communicating with the WMI agent to execute requested phone mode operations, wherein the phone operation requests are forwarded from the audio interface (401) to the WMI agent as unique messages, each identifying a corresponding phone mode operation, where the WMI agent executes the corresponding WMI function call based on the messages received from the audio interface (401) via the Namedpipe.

Accordingly, during an active call, the telephony application (21) provides a user the options to switch between the embedded voice modem (24) receiver and the speakers. When the "Switch to Speaker" option is selected, the telephony application (21) calls the corresponding function in the audio interface (401) to execute this request. At this instance, the audio interface (401) establishes a connection with the WMI Agent, and once connected, the message "Loudspeaker" is sent from the audio interface (401) to the WMI agent through Namedpipes. The WMI agent receives the message sent from the audio interface (401) at block (75) and determines whether or not the "client" is connected to the audio interface (401), and identifies the corresponding WMI method to be executed of either to wait for a "client" connection at block (74) or accepting the message "Loudspeaker" at block (76). As preferred in the embodiment of the present invention, the WMI agent therein selects the corresponding phone mode operation at block (77) and executes the corresponding WMI method at block (78) that switches the embedded voice modem (24) receiver to the speakers, and upon a successful execution, the user is able to hear the incoming voice signals via the speakers.

Referring to Figure 4, there is illustrated the flow of the function calls to perform a dedicated function in accordance with the present invention, wherein the function calls as shown in the figure preferably comprises a pulse-code modulation (91) interfacing with a 12C Protocol (92), which connects to each and every TASK ID 0 function (93), TASK ID 1 function (94), TASK ID 2 function (95), and TASK ID 3 function (96). These TASK ID functions are grouped together hereto form a collective WMI Mapping Function ID (97) that executes data transfers upon receiving function calls instructions.

As illustrated, TASK ID functions (93, 94, 95, 96) as a preferred in the present invention hereto receive and accept function calls to convey data information to the - li ne Protocol (92) and subsequently transferring the data to the pulse-code modulation codec (91), individually signifies TASK ID 0 function (93) for an initialization of the entire system, TASK ID 1 function (94) for a receiver phone mode operation, TASK ID 2 function (95) for a headset phone mode operation, and TASK ID 3 function (96) for a speakerphone mode operation.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention as illustrated in Figure 4, where the figure details the pulse-code modulation codec (91) interfacing with the 12C Protocol (92) is ought to be appreciated that the pulse-code modulation codec as a converter (23) mentioned in earlier figures is in typical connection with the embedded controller (22) through inter-integrated 12C interface thereto follow its standard protocol, 12C Protocol (92). Accordingly, the embedded controller (22) as preferred in the present invention to be in communication with the current invention of the system firmware (27) residing in the BIOS (62) through a LPC interface using the LPC protocol and ACPI specification.

The system firmware (27) herein as mentioned in previous figures is customized according to the WMI mapping driver where different function request to the WMI Mapping Function ID (97) results as a dedicated function calls being executed at the TASK ID functions (93, 94, 95, 96) respective to the phone mode operations to perform the dedicated tasks of pulse-code modulation codec initializations, pulse-code modulation codec switching, and pulse-code modulation data format.

Referring to figure 5, there is illustrated the process flow for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance with the present invention, wherein the process flow method comprises providing said telephony application (21) within an operating environment of the computing device comprising said system firmware (27), block (101), transferring information data between the telephony application (21) and said embedded voice modem (24) by means of an abstraction layer (28), block (102), transmitting at least a function call from the telephony application (21) to the system firmware (27) for providing required operational mode, block (103), simultaneously, controlling said converter (23) for providing execution of a required operational mode based on the function call transmitted thereto the system firmware (27), block (104).

As mentioned in the description for Figure 2, the operating environment in the preferred embodiment is preferably but not limited to a full operating system such as Windows XP, Windows 7, and etc. in said preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the abstraction layer (28) preferably also controls activation and deactivation of vibration phone mode operations. In other words, the present invention incorporates the system with a function of a vibrating alert for incoming calls, instead of inducing sound ringing tones, upon the selection of a vibrating alert option at the telephony application (21).

Also, the abstraction layer (28) in an operational relationship between the telephony application (21) and said embedded voice modem (24) as preferred in the present invention being configured in such a way to establish communication by means of sharing data information between said telephony application (21) and said embedded voice modem (24), wherein the data information preferably comprises but not limited to "dialing a number", "answering a call", and "notifying incoming calls and call statuses".

In addition to that, the function call that is transmitted to the system firmware (27) from the telephony application (21) as suggested hereby, the present invention essentially enables the telephony operation modes of preferably a speakerphone operation mode, a headset phone operation mode, and a receiver phone operation mode.

In an preferred embodiment of the present invention of the system and the method for integrating computing device with telephony functions, the present invention is preferably a device housed in a hand-held structure for providing an ergonomic structure having a touch screen user interface with a graphical user interface, a transceiver disposed on the hand-held housing for receiving answering phone calls, and a speaker disposed on the hand-held housing for delivering sound signals. The preferred device of the present invention herein comprises a computing unit (501) including the controller (22) for executing instructions of computer programs and instructions from the telephony application (21), and a storage medium for storing and executing information data received from the embedded controller (22). Said preferred device of the present invention herein further comprises a telephone unit including the converter (23) for providing sound format conversions between analogue and digital signals, a modem (24) for providing modulation and demodulation of analogue carrier signals to encode and decode digital information, and said audio module (25) interconnects with the computing unit (501) for providing delivery of sound signals, and a transducer (26) for providing conversions between sound signals and electrical signals.

As described the storage medium in the present invention medium for storing and executing information data received from the embedded controller (22), preferably comprises any one or a combination of a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, wherein the volatile memory is temporary computer memory to perform task and computer program executions through random and instant access to the memory, and the non-volatile memory is permanent computer memory to store and maintain important data information even in the absence of a power source.

Within the same embodiment, the hand-held housing as described in the present invention, wherein the touch screen user interface as mentioned preferably comprises a graphical user interface with functions of a QWERTY keypad to facilitate user input for the service of text messages, e-mail, word processing applications, and similar service applications. In the same context, a skilled person will also appreciate the preferred embodiment hereto design the hand-held housing for the present invention to accommodate a tangible or a physical QWERTY keypad in connection to the computing device to provide the same user input facilitations. In as much as the present invention is subject to many variations, modifications and changes in detail, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims

1. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions comprises:

a computing unit (501);

a telephony application (21) installed in an operating system environment in the computing unit (501) including a user interface for receiving command inputs and displaying predetermined output information; a controller (22) in an operational relationship with the computing unit (501) and the telephony application (21) for providing operational management between said computing unit (501) and said telephony application (21) of the computing device system;

a converter (23) connected to the controller (22) for providing sound format conversions between analogue and digital signals;

a modem (24) connected to the telephony application (21) and the converter (23) for providing modulation and demodulation of analogue carrier signals to encode and decode digital information;

an audio module (25) connected to the telephony application (21) and the converter (23) for providing delivery of sound signals; and

a transducer (26) connected to the converter (23) for providing conversions between sound signals and electrical signals;

characterized in that said controller (22) connected to a system firmware (27), wherein the system firmware (27) being configured in such a way that said system firmware (27) accepts instructions from said telephony application (21) to control said converter (23) and said audio module (25); and characterized in that the telephony application (21) connected to said modem (24) by means of an abstraction layer (28), wherein the abstraction layer (28) being configured in such a way to establish communication between said telephony application (21) and said modem (24).

2. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein the operating system environment is preferably an operating system supported by any computing device.

3. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 2, wherein the operating system is preferably an operating system with complete functionalities.

4. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said user interface (21) is preferably any form of user interface.

5. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said controller (22) is preferably an embedded controller.

6. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said converter (23) is preferably a pulse-code modulation codec.

7. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said modem (24) is preferably an embedded voice modem.

8. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said audio module (25) is preferably connected to any one or a combination of at least one headset, and at least one speaker.

9. A system for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 1, wherein said transducer (26) is preferably connected to any one or a combination of at least one headset, at least one microphone, and at least one receiver.

10. A method for integrating computing device with telephony functions as described in claim 1, comprises:

providing said telephony application (21) within an operating environment of the computing device comprising said system firmware (27); transferring information data between the telephony application (21) and said modem (24) by means of an abstraction layer (28);

transmitting at least a function call from the telephony application (21) to the system firmware (27) for providing required operational mode; and simultaneously, controlling said converter (23) for providing execution of a required operational mode based on the function call transmitted to the system firmware (27).

11. A method for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 10, wherein said information data preferably comprises any one or a combination of the functions of dialing a number, answering a call, and notifying incoming calls and call statuses.

12. A method for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 10, wherein said abstraction layer (28) preferably controls activation and deactivation of vibrating operations.

13. A method for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 10, wherein said operation mode is preferably telephony operation mode.

14. A method for integrating computing device with telephony functions in accordance to claim 13, wherein said operation mode preferably comprises any one of speakerphone mode operation, headset phone mode operation, and receiver phone mode operation.

15. A device of a computing device integrated with telephony functions as described in claim 1, comprises:

a computing unit (501) including the controller (22) for executing instructions of computer programs and instructions from the telephony application (21), and a storage medium for storing and executing information data received from the embedded controller (22); and a telephone unit including the converter (23) for providing sound format conversions between analogue and digital signals, a modem (24) ) for providing modulation and demodulation of analogue carrier signals to encode and decode digital information, and said audio module (25) interconnects with the computing unit (501) for providing delivery of sound signals, and a transducer (26) for providing conversions between sound signals and electrical signals;

wherein, the computing device and the telephone unit are retained in a hand-held housing for providing an ergonomic structure having a touch screen user interface, a transceiver disposed on the hand-held housing for receiving answering phone calls, and a speaker disposed on the hand-held housing for delivering sound signals.

16. A device of a computing device integrated with telephony functions, in accordance to claim 15, wherein the storage medium preferably comprises any one or a combination of a volatile memory, and a non-volatile memory.

17. A device of a computing device integrated with telephony functions, in accordance to claim 15, wherein the touch screen user interface is preferably a graphical user interface.

18. A device of a computing device integrated with telephony functions, in accordance to claim 15, wherein the graphical user interface preferably comprises functions of a QWERTY keypad.

19. A device of a computing device integrated with telephony functions, in accordance to claim 15, wherein the hand-held housing preferably comprises a physical QWERTY keypad.