United States Patent [191
`Haddock et al.
`
`[54] DIGITAL SCREEN PHONE TERMINAL
`WITH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
`
`[75] Inventors: Robert L. Haddock, New York, N.Y.;
`Joseph P. Randolph. Winchester, Mass.
`
`[73] Assignee: M Power Corporation, New York,
`NY.
`
`[21] Appl. No.: 420,208
`[22] Filed:
`Apr. 11, 1995
`
`[51] rm. c1.6 .................................................. .. H04M 11/00
`[52] US. Cl. ................................... .. 379/93.23; 379/93.24; ‘
`379/93.08; 379/93.28
`[58] Field of Search ................................ .. 379/96. 97, 98,
`379/94, 93. 100
`
`[56]
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`Re. 30,773 10/1981 Glaser et a1. ......................... .. 235/379
`
`
`
`4,392,023 5,036,513
`
`
`
`7/1983 Sears 7/1991 Greenblatt
`
`5,195,130
`
`3/1993 Weiss et a1. ............................ .. 379/98
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`0365200 4/1990
`European Pat. 01f. .
`0526729 2/1993
`European Pat. O?. .
`0630141 12/1994
`European Pat. Off. .
`2156186 10/1985
`United Kingdom .
`2285897 7/1995 United Kingdom .
`WO9l/07839 5/1993 WIPO .
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Bank Technology News, “Citibank Screenphone Spawns
`Competition”, Jul. 1994, two pages.
`CardI‘ech/Secur’l‘ech ’94 “Building Foundations for Inno
`vation”, Apr. 11-13, 1994, two pages.
`Citibank. Philips screen telephone advertisement, 1994, one
`Page
`Philips screen telephone advertisement, one page.
`
`US005657378A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,657,378
`Aug. 12, 1997
`
`Philips P100 Enhanced Telephone Flat Screen Text Tele
`phone advertisement, one page.
`VeriFone Omni VuFone advertisement, 1994, one page.
`Forval FP-500 and FP-SOOMR Super Display Phones
`advertisement, 1994, one page.
`Forval FP-500 Super Display Phone advertisement, one
`page.
`Consumer Information Appliance, “Screen Phone” article,
`Sep. 1994. one page.
`Washington Technology, “In The Netplex: New World
`Order?” article, Sep. 29, 1994, 1 p.
`US. Order Phoneplus advertisement, one page.
`International Searching Authority/European Patent O?ice,
`International Search Report, Sep. 13, 1996, application No.
`PCI‘IUS96/O496, seven pages.
`lEEE International Conference on Communications, vol.
`2/3, Mahy 23-26, 1993, “Dual Media Messaging Using
`Screen Telephones on the Telephone Network”, Barry K.
`Schwartz and Stephen B Weinstein, pp. 1183-1188.
`IEEE Communications Magazine, No. 4, Apr. 28, 1990,
`“Screen-Based Telephony”, Bob McNinch, pp. 34-38.
`
`Primary Examiner-?Stella Woo
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault, LLP
`[57]
`ABSTRACT
`
`A telephone device for accessing electronic services
`includes a housing having a front portion with a display
`device and a telephone keypad. The telephone device pro
`vides a graphical user interface whereby user selectable
`options are presented in a graphical format on the display
`device and a user is allowed to make selections therefrom
`with, for example, a point-and-click mechanism. A
`processor, preferably a single programmable digital signal
`processor, is responsive to the telephone keypad and the user
`selectable options and executes a variety of modem
`functions, telephone functions, and application programs.
`The programmable digital signal processor also supports the
`graphical user interface.
`
`18 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`Page 1 of 17
`
`GOOGLE EXHIBIT 1018
`
`

`

`Aug. 12, 1997
`Aug. 12, 1997
`
`Sheet 1 of 10
`Sheet 1 of 10
`
`5,657,378
`5,657,378
`
`US. Patent
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Page 2 of 17
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`Page 2 of 17
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 12, 1997
`
`Sheet 2 of 10
`
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`
`Page 3 of 17
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`Page 3 of 17
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug. 12,1997
`
`Sheet 3 0f 10
`
`5,657,378
`
`'1
`
`- You have mail
`- Your last Session Apr 10 11:12 PM
`
`f 14
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`personal access
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`world access [43
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`@ @ A
`@ @ D. Travel Agent
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`B. Investments
`C. Newspaper
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`@ H. Internet
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`E. Shopping Mall
`F. Home & Health
`G.
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`
`Page 4 of 17
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Aug.12, 1997
`
`Sheet 4 of 10v
`
`5,657,378
`
`~ You have mail
`I] m - Your last Session Apr 10 11:12 PM
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`/ 14
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`personal access
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`wo?d access f 43
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`GAD @ A. Banking
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`[37
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`B. Investments
`C. Newspaper
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`CE @ D. Travel Agent
`
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`@ F. Home & Health
`45
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`@ H. Internet
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`FIG. 3B
`
`Page 5 of 17
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Aug.12, 1997
`
`Sheet 5 0f 10
`
`5,657,378
`
`A r 22 Paris
`- Next trip
`H m - You have 15 specia travel offers
`
`/ 14
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`destinations f 47
`
`@ @ A. UIS.
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`8. Canada
`0. Latin America
`
`89
`W
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`@ 49
`
`D. South America
`E. Europe
`F. Mld East
`G. Africa
`H. Far East & Paci?c
`
`FIG. 3C
`
`Page 6 of 17
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`

`

`US. Patent
`
`Aug. 12, 1997
`
`Sheet 6 of 10
`
`5,657,378
`
`r96
`MANAGE YOUR
`MONEY
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`
`Page 7 of 17
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`

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`USS. Patent
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`Aug. 12, 1997
`
`Sheet 7 of 10
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`Aug. 12, 1997
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`Aug. 12, 1997
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`U.S. Patent
`US. Patent
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`Aug. 12, 1997
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`Sheet 10 0f 10
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`657,378
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`

`

`5,657,378
`
`1
`DIGITAL SCREEN PHONE TERMINAL
`WITH GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates to communication devices and,
`more particularly, to powerful, low cost, user friendly tele
`phone terminals which have display screens and which
`utilize digital signal processing and graphical user interface
`technologies to provide modem and telephone functions.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`A telephone having a display screen, a telephone keypad,
`and a telephone handset is known, and it sometimes is
`referred to as a “screen phone”. Companies such as Philips,
`VeriFone, Forval, U.S. Order, and SmartPhone Cormnuni
`cations each provide such a telephone. These screen phones
`generally look like conventional telephones except they
`have the display screen which typically is located above the
`keypad. Some screen phones have an alphanumeric key
`board.
`Known screen phones typically utilize a hardware archi
`tecture having three physically separate and discrete hard
`ware modules: a general purpose microprocessor (and asso
`ciated memory and logic) for executing application
`programs and/or controlling the other modules; a modem;
`and telephone electronics. Known screen phones typically
`use the keypad keys and/or dedicated function key buttons
`on the face of the phones to control the phones and select
`options presented on the display screen. Some known screen
`phones which use the ADSI protocol developed by Bellcore
`provide programmable “softkeys” on the display screen. The
`softkeys allow the ?xed-position function key buttons to be
`programmably assigned a meaning.
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`2
`telephone functions such as auto-dialing, call progress
`monitoring, DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency) processing,
`call status, call waiting status, call duration, incoming/
`outgoing calling logs, and caller ID. The built-in functions
`can include, for example, clock, alarm, calendar, organizer,
`calculator, phone lists. The application programs can
`include, for example, terminal emulation, home banking,
`airline reservations, etc.
`The telephone device according to the invention is thus in
`e?rect a remote input/output device which provides the user
`with access to a variety of electronic services. Also, when
`not being used as a remote input/output device for accessing
`electronic services, the telephone device provides a com
`plete set of feature telephone functions.
`The telephone device can send and receive voice and data
`signals over a variety of communication media including
`analog telephone lines, digital lines (e.g., ISDN or Integrated
`Services Digital Network), wireless networks such as cel
`lular networks, and communications networks in general.
`The data signals can include facsimile images.
`In a preferred embodiment of the telephone device, an
`alphanumeric keyboard is provided. The keyboard prefer
`ably is a 55-key QWERTY keyboard and is slidable into and
`out of the housing for easy and convenient storage and
`access. The keyboard provides the user of the device with a
`convenient way to enter alphanumeric information.
`The use of a graphical user interface makes the telephone
`device according to the invention extremely simple to oper
`ate and very user-friendly. The programmable digital signal
`processor alone executes the modem functions, telephone
`functions, and application programs, unlike known screen
`phones which typically use physically separate and discrete
`hardware modules for these functions. In addition to imple
`menting the graphical user interface and providing the
`modem, telephone, and application functions, the program
`mable digital signal processor also preferably provides other
`built-in functions (e.g., clock, alarm, calendar, organizer,
`calculator, phone lists, etc.). In general, all of the function
`ality of the telephone device is alterable by reprogramming
`the telephone device.
`By using a single hardware element (i.e., the program
`mable digital signal processor) to perform operations pre
`viously performed by three or more physically separate,
`discrete hardware modules, the telephone device according
`to the invention can be produced for a lower cost as
`compared to known screen phones which use a plurality of
`separate hardware modules. Also, a very powerful program
`mable digital signal processor can be purchased for a
`fraction of the cost of a general purpose microprocessor
`having comparable compute power. Because one or more of
`the physically separate, discrete hardware modules of a
`known screen phone typically includes a general purpose
`microprocessor, the price diiference between a program
`mable digital signal processor and a comparably powerful
`general purpose microprocessor translates into a signi?cant
`manufacturing cost savings in favor of the telephone device
`of the invention. Cost is. however, only one of the advan
`tages of this telephone device over known screen phones.
`The telephone device according to the invention can be
`quickly and easily upgraded or modi?ed by downloading
`new software for use by the prograrmnable digital signal
`processor. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the
`software is downloaded into one or more memory modules
`associated with the programmable digital signal processor,
`and the programmable digital signal processor accesses the
`memory module(s) in order to execute its various functions.
`
`The invention relates to a telephone device which
`includes a housing having a front portion with a display
`device and a telephone keypad. A telephone handset is
`external to the housing but connected thereto by, for
`example, a conventional telephone cord. In accordance with
`the invention, the telephone device provides a graphical user
`interface whereby user selectable options are presented in a
`graphical format On the display device and a user is allowed
`to make selections therefrom with, for example, a point
`and-click mechanism. The user accesses various electronic
`services by, for example, pres sing the telephone keypad keys
`and/or selecting options via the graphical user interface. A
`processor, preferably a single programmable digital signal
`processor. is responsive to the telephone keypad and the user
`selectable options and provides a variety of modem and
`telephone functions which allow the telephone device to
`communicate with the various electronic services. The pro
`grammable digital signal processor also preferably supports
`the graphical user interface and also executes a variety of
`built-in functions and application programs. With this tele
`phone device, a user thus can electronically perform a
`variety of tasks such as, for example, banking transactions,
`purchases, information retrieval, and information dissemi
`nation.
`The modem functions performed by the programmable
`digital signal processor of the telephone device according to
`the invention can include modulation/demodulation,
`compression/decompression, and error correction of voice
`and data signals including facsimile images. The telephone
`functions include speech path processing as well as other
`
`40
`
`45
`
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`Page 12 of 17
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`5 ,657,378
`
`3
`Known screen phones typically require an entire hardware
`module to be removed and replaced in order to modify that
`aspect of the screen phone. For example, to upgrade the
`modem module of a known screen phone from 2400 bits per
`second (bps) to 9600 bps. it typically is necessary to remove
`the entire 2400 bps hardware module and replace it with a
`new 9600 bps hardware module. The telephone device of the
`invention can be upgraded with signi?cantly less effort,
`time. and cost. Also. in about the same time it takes to
`perform one software download operation, more than one
`(or all) aspects of the telephone device’s functionality (e.g.,
`modem, telephone. application programs, and built-in
`functions) can be altered. In contrast, altering more than one
`hardware module of a known screen phone increases the
`required e?ort, time, and cost signi?cantly over that required
`to alter a single hardware module.
`The telephone device according to the invention also is
`more reliable than known screen phones. The higher reli
`ability is due in part to the integrated design which uses a
`single programmable digital signal processor to perform a
`20
`variety of operations such as the execution of modem
`functions. telephone functions. application programs, and
`built-in functions. This centralized. integrated design of the
`telephone device eliminates the need for any sort of high
`level controlling microprocessor which known screen
`phones typically use to help the plurality of separate, dis
`crete hardware modules thereof operate together without
`con?ict.
`The foregoing and other objects, aspects, features, and
`advantages of the invention will become more apparent from
`the following description and from the claims.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`In the drawings. like reference characters generally refer
`to the same parts throughout the diiferent views. Also, the
`drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead
`generally being placed upon illustrating the principles of the
`invention.
`FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a digital screen phone
`terminal according to the invention, with an alphanumeric
`keyboard in its stowed position.
`FIG. 1B is a perspective view of the digital screen phone
`terminal showing the alphanumeric keyboard slid out for
`allowing access thereto.
`FIG. 2 is a top view of a portion of the front of the digital
`screen phone terminal of FIGS. 1A and 1B.
`FIGS. 3A, 3B. and 3C are examples of graphical displays
`shown to a user of the digital screen phone terminal on the
`display screen thereof.
`FIG. 4 is a diagram of some of the electronic services
`which can be accessed with the digital screen phone terminal
`according to the invention.
`FIG. 5A is a block diagram of the hardware components
`of a basic version of the digital screen phone terminal.
`FIG. 5B is a block diagram of the hardware components
`of an advanced version of the digital screen phone terminal.
`FIG. 6 is a diagram showing various tasks performed by
`the hardware of FIG. 5A or 5B.
`FIG. 7 is a diagram showing some of the functionality of
`the digital screen phone terminal according to the invention.
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`DESCRIPTION
`Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B. a telephone device accord
`ing to the invention is a digital screen phone terminal 10
`
`65
`
`15
`
`25
`
`4
`with a housing 12 and a telephone handset 18. The handset
`18 is separate from or external to the housing 12, and it is
`connected to the housing 12 by a telephone handset cord 20.
`The front portion of the housing 12 of the terminal 10 has a
`display screen 14 and a point-and-click mechanism 26. The
`terminal 10 provides a user thereof with a graphical user
`interface which includes user selectable options displayed in
`a graphical format on the display screen 14. The user can
`select among the options displayed in the graphical format
`by manipulating the point-and-click mechanism 26. The
`front portion of the housing 12 also has a telephone keypad
`16. function keys 24. telephone operation keys 28, a micro
`phone 30. and a telephone message indicator lamp 32. The
`keypad 16 and/or the functions keys 24 can be used with. or
`in place of. the point-and-click mechanism 26 by a user of
`the terminal 10 to make option selections. In a preferred
`embodiment of the terminal 10, an alphanumeric keyboard
`22 is provided. The keyboard 22 slides into (FIG. 1A) and
`out from (FIG. 1B) the housing 12 in order to stow it or
`allow access to it.
`Referring to FIG. 2, the keypad 16 on the front portion of
`the terminal’s housing 12 includes twelve user pressable
`keys 34-56 similar to a conventional telephone keypad. The
`message indicator lamp 32 lights when one or more mes
`sages have been received. The microphone 30 is for receiv
`ing the user’s voice when the terminal 10 is being operated
`in speakerphone mode (i.e., without using the handset 18).
`One of the telephone operation keys 28, labeled “speaker”
`80, is used to turn the speakerphone mode on and off. In a
`preferred embodiment, a light 81 on the speaker key 80
`indicates when the speakerphone mode is activated. The
`terminal 10 includes a speaker (not shown) for projecting
`sound when the terminal 10 is used in the speakerphone
`mode. Another one of the telephone operation keys 28,
`labeled “mute” 78, is for disabling the microphone 30 to
`allow, for example, the user to speak aloud while in the
`speakerphone mode without being heard on the other end
`but still hearing transmissions from the other. The mute key
`78 also preferably includes a light 83 for indicating when the
`mute mode is activated. The other telephone operation keys
`28 are a “hold” key 82 and a “redial” key 84 which,
`respectively, put a caller on hold and automatically redial the
`last-dialed telephone number. A speaker volume control 86
`and a display screen contrast control 88 are provided. In
`some embodiments, the terminal 10 has eight function keys
`62-76, and in some other embodiments. it has four such
`keys.
`Still referring to FIG. 2. in a preferred embodiment. the
`point-and-click mechanism 26 includes a cursor controller
`58 and an activation button 60. Together, the cursor con
`troller 58 and the activation button 60 allow the user to select
`a desired one of the options displayed in the graphical format
`on the display screen 14 by moving a cursor to or near that
`option and then indicating con?rmation of the selection. The
`cursor controller 58 responds to the user’s touches by
`moving the cursor in the corresponding direction: up. down.
`left, right. or diagonally. The activation button 60 is pressed
`when the cursor is at or near the desired option.
`-
`In some alternative embodiments. the point-and-click
`mechanism 26 is replaced by another interface mechanism
`such as. for example, a touch screen mechanism or a voice
`activated mechanism. The touch screen mechanism would
`allow the user to select among options displayed in the
`graphical format on the display screen 14 by touching, or
`pointing at or near, that option. In this touch screen
`embodiment. the point-and-click mechanism 26 might be
`removed from the front of the terminal’s housing 12, the
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`display screen 14 would be replaced with a suitable touch
`screen or touch-detecting elements would be added to the
`existing display screen 14, and the terminal 10 would be
`programmed to implement the touch screen feature. The
`voice activated mechanism would allow the user to select
`among options displayed in the graphical format on the
`display screen 14 by uttering an instruction corresponding to
`that option. In this voice activated embodiment, the point
`and-click mechanism 26 might be removed from the front of
`the terminal’s housing 12. the microphone 30 might be used
`to receive the uttered instructions, and the terminal 10 would
`be programmed to implement the voice activated feature. In
`general. whatever the interface mechanism employed to
`allow the user to make option selections, the terminal 10 will
`have a graphical user interface for making the task simple,
`easy to understand. and intuitive in accordance with the
`invention.
`The graphical user interface provides user selectable
`options in a graphical format on the display screen 14.
`Referring to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C, examples of such a
`graphical format are provided by a home page screen 85, a
`world page screen 87. and a personal travel agent screen 89
`which the user might see and interact with when using the
`digital screen phone terminal 10 of the invention. The user
`is provided with options via a variety of graphical features
`including buttons. scrolling lists, radio buttons, check boxes,
`dialog boxes, etc. The options provided to the user on the
`sample home page screen 85 can include, for example,
`buttons for manipulating phone calls 37 and messages 39
`and information related thereto. The letters (e.g., ABC)
`shown within the buttons are representative of indicia that
`can be displayed to the user to identify the particular
`function of each button. The user can be provided with
`access to various stored phone numbers via a directory
`listing 41. The options provided to the user on the world
`page screen 87 can include. for example, the ability to access
`various electronic services and application programs via a
`directory 43 of such services and applications and a variety
`of other options accessible via various buttons 45. The
`options provided to the user on the personal travel agent
`screen 89 can include, for example, the ability to select
`various destinations via a destinations directory 47 and other
`options identi?ed by various buttons 49. The user of the
`terminal 10 manipulates the point-and-click mechanism 26
`in order to point the cursor on the display screen 14 to, for
`example, the desired button and then select the option
`identi?ed by that button.
`Referring to FIG. 4, the digital screen phone terminal 10
`provides various built-in organizational tools 94 such as
`calendar. clock, calculator, organizer, to do list. telephone
`number list, outgoing and incoming call log, call back list,
`and alert functions. The tools 94 are functions programmed
`into the terminal 10 and generally are accessed by a user
`interacting with the terminal’s graphical input/output fea
`tures (e.g.. the display screen 14 and the point-and-click
`mechanism 26, the keypad 16. and/or the function keys 24).
`The terminal 10 also provides various built-in communica
`tion capabilities 92 including modem and telephone func
`tions which allow the terminal 10 to access various elec
`tronic services such as banking services 96. information
`services 98. travel planning services 100, and consumer
`services 102. The modem functions provided by the terminal
`10 can include modulation and demodulation. decompres
`sion and compression. and error correction of outgoing and
`incoming voice and data signals. The data signals can
`include representations of facsimile images. The telephone
`functions provided by the terminal 10 include speech path
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`processing. In general, the terminal 10 also provides at least
`all of the telephone functions provided by a conventional
`feature telephone such as auto-dialing, call progress
`monitoring, DTMF (dual-tone multi-frequency) processing,
`CLASS+ features including call status, call waiting status,
`call duration, caller information (e.g., caller ID and name),
`incoming/outgoing calling logs, dial from log, block
`selected calls, and distinctive rings.
`'
`The banking services 96 can include bill paying, bank
`account transactions (e.g., transfer of funds between
`accounts, obtaining account balances, etc.). and ?nancial
`information retrieval (e.g., bank loan interest rates). The
`information services 98 can include news on topics such as
`?nance, weather, sports, and entertainment. The travel plan
`ning services 100 can include viewing airline schedules,
`making reservations, ordering tickets, and viewing maps.
`The consumer services 102 can include retrieval of product
`information and the ordering of products and services. In
`general, the terminal 10 can access and interact with any
`electronic service.
`‘
`The digital screen phone terminal 10 according to the
`invention can be provided in two versions, a basic version
`(FIG. 5A) and an advanced version (FIG. 5B).
`Referring to FIG. 5A, the basic version of the terminal 10
`includes at least the following components within the hous
`ing 12: a programmable digital signal processor (DSP) 104;
`an input/output (I/O) controller 106; an I/O communications
`interface 108; an interface codec 110; a handset codec 112;
`and memory 114, 116. This basic version also includes the
`telephone keypad 16 and the display screen 14 which are
`both contained within the housing 12 but which are exposed
`to allow the user to manipulate/view them The telephone
`handset 18 is also shown in FIG. 5A.
`Referring to FIG. 5B, the advanced version of the termi
`nal 10 includes at least the following components within the
`housing 12: the programmable DSP 104; the I/O controller
`106; the I/O cormnunications interface 108; the two codecs
`110, 112; a speakerphone 138; memory 124, 126, 128; and
`various interfaces 130, 132, 134, 136 for receiving various
`cards. In addition to the keypad 16, the screen 14, and the
`handset 18, this advanced version includes the stowable
`alphanumeric keyboard 22.
`Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, both the basic version and
`the advanced version include the programmable DSP 104
`and the I/O controller 106. The programmable DSP 104 uses
`digital signal processing techniques, and it alone implements
`the modem functions, the telephone functions, and the
`application programs. The programmable DSP 104 is basi
`cally the same element with the same functionality in both
`the basic version and the advanced version. The program
`mable DSP 104 is aided by the I/O controller 106 which
`performs some of the basic, low-level control functions
`necessary to interface with the various I/O devices including
`the keypad 16, the display 14, the keyboard 22, the memo
`ries 114, 116. 124, 126, 128. and the interfaces 130, 132,
`134, 136. The low-level control functions handled by the I/O
`controller 106 can include. for example, scanning the key
`pad 16 and/or keyboard 22 for user inputs and updating the
`display screen 14. The U0 controller 106 is a slave to the
`programmable DSP 104. The U0 controller 106 used in the
`advanced version typically is more complex than the I/O
`controller 106 in the basic version because more I/O devices
`must be handled in the advanced version.
`In a preferred embodiment of the terminal 10 of the
`invention, the programmable DSP 104 is a single Texas
`Instruments 'IMS320C50 series digital signal processor chip
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`with compute power of about 28 MIPS (Millions of Instruc
`tions Per Second). and more preferably either a C51 or a C52
`chip. It is possible to use other digital signal processors
`instead of the presently preferred chip(s), but it has been
`discovered that any such chip should have compute power of
`about 28 MIPS or greater. Also. in the preferred
`embodiment, the 110 controller 106 is an ASIC (Application
`Speci?c Integrated Circuit) chip custom designed to provide
`the necessary interface functions including the I/O “glue
`logic” which is frequently a plurality of separate chips but
`which here has been included in the ASIC. A prototype of the
`terminal 10 used a relatively low cost, low power 8-bit
`microcomputer in place of the ASIC.
`In the basic version of the terminal 10. as shown in FIG.
`5A, a repertory dialing number memory 116 is provided for
`storing repertory dialing numbers. In the disclosed
`embodiment, this memory 116 is a 1K-by-8 serial Electri
`cally Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory
`(EEPROM) 122. Memory 114 for the programmable DSP
`104 includes, in the disclosed embodiment. a 32K-by-16
`Random Access Memory (RAM) 118 and a 64K-by-16
`20
`Flash Read Only Memory (ROM) 120. The modem
`function. telephone function, application program. and built
`in function software which dictates the operations performed
`by the programmable DSP 104 generally resides in the
`memory 114. New software is downloadable into the Flash
`ROM 120 to incorporate new features and/or modify exist
`ing features of the terminal 10. Only about 25% or so of the
`memory 114 is required for the programmable DSP 104 to
`perform its modem and telephone functions and for the I/O
`controller 106 to perform its low-level control functions.
`This leaves about 75% or so of the memory 114 for the other
`built-in functions and application programs which the pro
`grammable DSP 104 executes and the terminal 10 provides
`to the user. As mentioned previously. the built-in functions
`can include clock, alarm. calendar, organizer, calculator,
`phone list, etc. functions, and the application programs can
`include terminal emulation such as a VT-lOO terminal emu
`lation program as well as a variety of other applications.
`Still referring to FIG. 5A, the two codecs 110. 112 and the
`communications interface 108 are required to interface the
`programmable DSP 104 and the I/O controller 106 to analog
`telephone lines and the handset 18 which is analog. One or
`more of the two codecs 110, 112 and the interface 108 could
`be replaced or removed if the terminal 10 is to be coupled
`to a non-analog line such as the ISDN or other non-analog
`communications network.
`In the disclosed embodiment of the advanced version of
`the terminal 10, as shown in FIG. 5B. the repertory dialing
`number memory is implemented wi?r a 2K-by-16 SRAM
`(Static RAM) 128 which is a battery-backed memory chip,
`50
`and the DSP/controller memory is implemented with a
`l28K-by-16 RAM 124 and a l28K-by-16 Flash Erasable
`PROM (EPROM) 126. The interfaces can include a personal
`computer memory card interface (PCMCIA) 130 for receiv
`ing a PCMCIA memory card, a serial port interface 132 for
`receiving essentially any serial device card (e.g.. a card for
`a printer or computer), a bar code interface 134 for inter
`facing with any bar code reader via serial communications,
`a smartcard interface 136 for receiving any smartcard, and
`a magnetic stripe card interface 135 for receiving a magnetic
`stripe card. The handset codec 112 in t