`
`(12) United States Patent
`Beyer, Jr. et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,630,724 B2
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`(54) METHOD OF PROVIDING ACELLULAR
`PHONEAPDA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
`
`(75) Inventors: Malcolm K. Beyer, Jr., Jupiter Inlet
`R. rts Christopher R. Rice,
`s
`(73) Assignee: Advanced Ground Information
`Systems, Inc., Jupiter Inlet Colony, FL
`(US)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 450 days.
`(21) Appl. No.: 11/308,648
`(22) Filed:
`Apr. 17, 2006
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2006/O1996 12 A1
`Sep. 7, 2006
`ep. f.
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(63) Continuation-in-part of application No. 10/711,490,
`filed on Sep. 21, 2004, now Pat. No. 7,031,728.
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2009.01)
`H4W 24/
`(52) U.S. Cl. ........ r 455/457; 455/416:455/417
`(58) Field of Classification Search .............. 455/452.3,
`455,416,457
`See application file for complete search history.
`References Cited
`
`(56)
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`6,204,844 B1* 3/2001 Fumarolo et al. ........... 71.5/736
`6,662,016 B1* 12/2003 Buckham et al. ............ 455,457
`
`
`
`3/2005 Muramatsu
`6,868,337 B2
`7/2003 Rodriguez et al.
`2003/013915.0 A1
`2003/0200259 A1 * 10/2003 Tsuge ........................ TO9,203
`S-85, A. 83. ity sal - - - - - - - - - - - 45.
`ugllSet al. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
`2004/026645.6 A1 12/2004 Bostrom et al.
`2006/0031927 A1
`2/2006 Mizuno et al. ................ T26, 11
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner Nick Corsaro
`Assistant Examiner—Amanuel Lebassi
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Malin Haley DiMaggio
`Bowen & Lhota, PA.
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A cellular, PDA
`ication devi
`d
`COmmun1cat1On deV1ce and COmmunicat1On
`Cellular,
`system for allowing a plurality of cellular phone users to
`monitor each others locations and status, to initiate cellular
`phone calls by touching a symbol on the touch screen display
`with a stylus which can also include point to call conferencing
`calling. Each participants cellular phone PDA device
`includes GPS navigation receiver with application software
`for point to call cellular phone initiation to participants and
`geographical entities including vehicles, persons or events,
`conference calls and video transfers. The method and system
`also includes automatic shifting from GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/
`9.
`1XEVDO to SMS when any of the cellular phones in the
`communication network is in the Voice mode and in use and
`for automatic shifting back to GPRS/EDGE/CDMA/1XE
`VDO upon completion of the voice phone call. In addition,
`using the system, a full transfer of photographs, video clips
`and high speed data can be used between any cellular phones
`regardless of who the cellular phone vendors or cellular
`phone companies are and in either CDMA, GSM, WiFi or a
`combination of the two.
`
`16 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 1 of 6
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`US 7,630,724 B2
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`10
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`ALOT FRC: 66
`CP3: ON
`on 34 22232
`Scole: 974 K
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`
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 2 of 6
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`US 7,630,724 B2
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`©
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`CENT
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`SWITH
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 3 of 6
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`US 7,630,724 B2
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`PROVIDE PARTICIPANTS EACH A CELLPHONE/PDA/GPS
`WITH TOUCH SCREEN DISPLAY
`
`PROVIDE GEOGRAPHICAL DISPLAY
`IN EACH PHONE
`
`PROVIDE A DATABASE OF FIXED LOCATIONS
`AND THEIR LATTTUDE - LONGITUDE
`AND THEIR PHONE NUMBERS
`
`PROVIDE A DATABASE HAVING A LIST OF
`PARTICIPANTS AND CORRESPONDING CELLPHONE NUMBERS
`
`PROVIDEA SYMBOL CENERATOR THAT CREATES A
`DISPLAY SYMBOL REPRESENTING A PARTICIPANT
`ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISPLAY OF EACH CELLPHONE
`
`PROVIDEA MEANS TO CONTROL THE
`DISPLAY THROUGH THE USE OF
`LAYERED SOFT SWITCHES
`
`PROVIDE SOFTWARE THAT PERMITS
`THE EXCHANGE OF GPS POSITION
`DATA, MESSAGES, PHOTOGRAPHS AND WIDEOS
`
`PROVIDE SOFTWARE THAT AUTOMATICALLY
`INITIATES A CALL TO A PARTICIPANT BY TOUCHING
`THE PARTICIPANT SYMBOL ON THE DISPLAY
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PROVIDING SOFTWARE HAVING PRESTORED
`AUDIO, TEXT, OR VIDEO MESSAGES IN EACH
`CELLPHONE THAT CAN BE TURNED ON OR OFF
`REMOTELY BY ANOTHER PARTICIPANT
`
`
`
`FIG. 3
`
`
`
`SET UP CONFERENCE
`CALS BY TOUCHING
`A PLURALTY OF
`SYMBOLS OR
`SYMBOL IDENTIFIERS
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 4 of 6
`Sheet 4 of6
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`US 7,630,724 B2
`US 7,630,724 B2
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`
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`
`FIG. 4
`
`Apple Inc.
`Exhibit 1008
`Page 005
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 5 of 6
`
`US 7,630,724 B2
`US 7,630,724 B2
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`Exhibit 1008
`Page 006
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`
`
`
`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Dec. 8, 2009
`
`Sheet 6 of 6
`
`US 7,630,724 B2
`
`OPERATOR TURNS
`PHONE ON
`
`OPERATOR SELECTS
`AGIS SOFTWARE
`
`AGIS SOFTWARE PUTS PHONE
`N DIGITA DATA TRANSFER MODE
`
`AGIS OPERATES EXCHANGING POSITION,
`TRACKS, TEXT, PHOTOS, VIDEO CLIPS
`
`AGIS OPERATOR DECDES TO MAKE A PHONE CALL
`EITHER BY HOOKING A MAPSYMBOL OR AGS
`UNIT AND SELECTING CALL CONFERENCE CALL,
`800 CALL OR DIALING
`
`PHONE SOFTWARE PUTS PHONE
`IN, VOICE AND SMS MODE
`
`OPERATOR HANGS PHONE UP
`
`
`
`AGIS SOFTWARE DETECTS HANGUP
`AND AUTOMATICALLY SHIFTS BACK
`TO DIGITAL DATA TRANSFER MODE
`
`FIG. 6
`
`
`
`US 7,630,724 B2
`
`1.
`METHOD OF PROVIDING ACELLULAR
`PHONEAPDA COMMUNICATION SYSTEM
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`This invention relates generally to an integrated commu
`nications system using a plurality of cellular/PDA/GPS
`phones for the management of a group of people through the
`use of a communications net and, specifically, to provide each
`user with a cellular/PDA/GPS/phone that has software appli
`cation programs and databases that permit all the users to
`continuously know each other's locations and status, to rap
`idly call and communicate Voice, high speed internet data,
`photographs and video clips among the users by touching
`display Screen symbols and to enable the users to easily
`access data concerning other users and other database infor
`mation.
`
`10
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`15
`
`DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
`
`2
`address of the location on the map display, memorize the
`phone number or email address, then go to a different display
`to enter a text message, enter the text message, send the text
`message and then shift back to the map display program.
`Furthermore, for a phone to send data concerning a new entity
`of interest, not currently on the geo-referenced map display
`(car, person, tank, accident, or other entity), the operator must
`type in the information and the latitude and longitude of the
`new entity of interest.
`U.S. Patent Application No. 2003/0139150 published Jul.
`24, 2003 shows a portable navigation and communication
`system. In one embodiment, the system combines within a
`single enclosure a GPS satellite positioning unit, mobile tele
`phony using cellular phone technology and personal comput
`ing capable of wired or wireless internet or intranet access
`using a standard operating system. The purpose of this inven
`tion is to provide portable navigation for an individual. How
`ever, to operate the device, one still needs to utilize a keypad
`with the telephone functions. U.S. Patent Application No.
`2003/0139150 described a wireless communication system
`operating the PDA in a conventional manner. There is no
`provision for displaying the location of other similarly
`equipped systems. There is no provision to cause other simi
`larly equipped cellular phone/PDA users to transmit their
`locations. There is no provision for entering other entities of
`interest by touching the display screen at their locations on a
`map. There is no provision for making a telephone call by
`touching the display screen at a net participant’s symbol or
`entered facility (police station, fire station, etc.) symbol to
`initiate automatically the telephone call to that user or by
`touching multiple symbols to make conference calls. There is
`no provision for sending text messages, photographs or vid
`eos by touching the net participant(s) symbol(s) on the dis
`play Screen to automatically send text messages, photographs
`or videos to that participant or participants. There is no pro
`vision to go to a facility’s web site or to automatically fill in a
`facility's E-mail address. There is no description or disclo
`Sure of a procedure to cause digital messages to be sent to a
`remote cellular phone that would cause the cellular phone to
`make Verbal announcements, increase sound intensity,
`vibrate or to call back or to call another phone number. There
`is no description of the uses of layered soft switches which
`confine the switches to a particular vicinity of the PDA's
`display screen.
`
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`The purpose of a communications system is to transmit
`information bearing signals from a source, located at one
`point, to a user destination, located at another point some
`distance away. A communications system is generally com
`prised of three basic elements: transmitter, information chan
`25
`nel and receiver. One form of communication in recent years
`is cellular phone telephony. A network of cellular communi
`cation systems set up around an area Such as the United States
`allows multiple users to talk to each other, either on individual
`calls or on group calls. Some cellular phone services enable a
`cellular phone to engage in conference calls with a small
`number of users. Furthermore, cellular conference calls can
`be established through 800 number services. Cellular tele
`phony also now includes systems that include Global Posi
`tioning System (GPS) navigation that utilizes satellite navi
`gation. These devices thus unite cellular phone technology
`with navigation information, computer information transmis
`sion and receipt of data.
`Digital Smart Message Service (SMS) and TCP/IP mes
`sages can be transmitted using cellular technology Such as
`40
`various versions of GSM and CDMA or via a WiFi local area
`network. One implementation of these GPS location report
`ing cellular systems is for the data to go to a remote central site
`where the information is displayed for a person to monitor the
`locations of the cellular units that have the combined cellular
`GPS phone. Another implementation permits the cellular
`phone users to also view the location of other GPS equipped
`units. A drawback of the current implementation is that these
`systems are either all on or all off. There is no way to selec
`tively activate participants or to stop the participants from
`participating in the network or for participants to set their
`reporting intervals that is based on time or distance traveled.
`The use of the current combined cellular phone/PDA tech
`nology has drawbacks when calling. When an operator makes
`a cellular phone call using the PDA to display a map (that also
`may depict geo-referenced businesses, homes and other
`facilities locations and phone numbers), the cellular phone/
`PDA operator is required to display the numeric phone num
`ber by touching the display screen at the correct location of
`that entity on the map, memorize the numeric phone number,
`and select a different display to physically enter the phone
`number to make the call and then, if desired, go back to the
`map display. Needless to say, this is a cumbersome process.
`Sending a text message or an email to a location, business,
`home or facility that appears on a PDA map display or to
`another cellular phone can also be a cumbersome process as
`the PDA operator has to find the phone number or email
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`A plurality of cellular phone/WiFi/PDA/GPS devices each
`having application Software and databases to provide a com
`munication network having: a) the ability to selectively poll
`each of the other PDA/GPS phone devices with each partici
`pant to start reporting its position and status information
`directly to all or selected users equipped with the same cel
`lular phone/PDA communication/GPS devices in the com
`munications net so that each of the devices that the data is
`transmitted to is provided a display of the location, status and
`other information of the other users; b) the ability of each of
`the cellular phone/PDA devices to report to another device at
`an operator selected time rate or at a rate based on distance
`traveled; c) the ability to exchange other entities of interest
`information and to assign these entities a category (car, per
`son, tank, accident, or other event) by touching the display
`screen at the entity's location on the displayed map, and
`selecting the appropriate category Switch; d) the ability to
`make rapid Voice and data call initiation to any other partici
`pant in the cellular phone/WiFi net whose phone number is
`available in a geo-referenced database including the cellular
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`phone/PDA/GPS devices in a communications net by touch
`ing the display Screen at the appropriate map location on the
`PDA map display and selecting a call switch; e) the ability to
`make rapid Voice, and conference call initiation to locations,
`businesses, homes and facilities whose phone numbers are
`available in a geo-referenced database including the cellular
`phone/PDA/GPS devices in a communications net by touch
`ing the display Screen at the appropriate other user locations
`on the PDA map display and selecting a conference call
`switch: f) the ability to access a facility's URL or to automati
`cally fill in their E-mail address; g) the ability to remotely
`control from one cellular phone/PDA/GPS any of the other
`cellular phone/PDA/GPS systems phones including the abil
`ity to control remote cellular phones to make verbal prere
`corded announcements, place return calls, place calls to
`another phone number, vibrate, execute text to speech Soft
`ware, change sound intensity, remotely control Software and
`functions resident on the remote phone and process and dis
`play information by touching the display screen at their loca
`tion on the PDA display and selecting the appropriate Switch;
`and g) the ability to layer a sufficient number of switches or
`buttons on the PDA display to perform the above functions
`without overlaying the map.
`It is an object of this invention to provide an improved
`cellular telephone communication network among a plurality
`of cellular phones for greatly decreasing the operator actions
`necessary to establish calling and conferencing between each
`of the cellular phones.
`And yet another object of this invention is to enable each
`participant to automatically exchange IP addresses using
`SMS or another digital message format.
`And yet another object of this invention is to enable each
`participant in the communications net to poll the other net
`participants to report or cease reporting their locations, iden
`tity and status on the communication net.
`And yet another object of this invention is to enable each
`participant in the communications net to be able to easily
`transmit an entity of interest to the other participants of the net
`by touching the display screen at the entity's location on the
`map and causing a symbol to be generated on the screen and
`entered and then entering the entity's category information.
`And yet another object of this invention is to provide for
`initiating a cellular phone telephone call to another phone by
`touching the other phone's symbol on the screen of the cel
`lular phone, which automatically activates the telephone call.
`And yet another object of this invention is to provide a
`cellular phone network that provides for instant voice confer
`ence calling and the exchange of free text, preformatted mes
`sages, photographs and video among a plurality of cellular
`phones by touching the display screen of specific geo-refer
`enced map symbols for initiating the calls.
`And yet another object of this invention is to provide a
`cellular phone network that provides for instant conference
`Voice, text, photographs and video exchange by pre-establish
`ing conferencing Sub-nets and the Subsequent activation of
`one of those sub-nets to establish a conference call.
`But yet still another object of the invention is to provide for
`a communication system that uses cellular telephone network
`that allows for photographs and video clips to be transferred
`(“pushed') between and among the cellular phone users
`across multiple cellular carriers, between Smart phone and
`PCS.
`In accordance with these and other objects which will
`become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now
`be described with particular reference to the accompanying
`drawings.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 shows a front plan view of a cellular phone/PDA
`having a touch screen display in accordance with the present
`invention.
`FIG. 2 shows a front plan view of the cellular phone/PDA
`of FIG. 1 with a different touch screen display.
`FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the operation of the present
`invention.
`FIG. 4 shows a schematic diagram depicting GPS satel
`lites, a plurality of cellular phone/PDA units, the cellular
`phone company, the internet and the command server that
`allows automatic shifting between high speed cellular inter
`net communications and Voice communications.
`FIG. 5 shows a process flow diagram of the transfer proto
`col in accordance with the present invention.
`FIG. 6 shows a flow diagram for automatic shifting
`between Voice and high speed cellular internet communica
`tions.
`
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE
`INVENTION
`
`Referring now to the drawings and, in particular, FIG. 1,
`the present invention is shown generally at 10 that includes a
`Small handheld cellular phone that includes a personal digital
`assistant (PDA) and a global positioning system receiver
`(GPS) communications device in housing 12 that includes an
`on/off power switch 19, a microphone 38, and an LCD dis
`play 16 that is also a touch screen system. The Small area 16a
`is the navigation bar that depicts the telephone, GPS and other
`status data and the active software. AGIS software refers to
`the application software used in this invention. AGIS is a
`trademark of AGIS Corporation. Each cell phone includes a
`CPU and databases that store information useful in the com
`munication network. The CPU also includes a symbol gen
`erator for creating touch screen display symbols discussed
`herein. With the touch screen 16, the screen symbols are
`entered through GPS inputs or by the operator using a stylus
`14 (or operator finger) by manipulatively directing the stylus
`14 to literally touch display 16. The soft switches 16d dis
`played on the display 16 are likewise activated by using a
`stylus 14 and physically and manipulatively directing the
`stylus to literally touch display 16. The display x, y coordi
`nates of the touched point are known by a CPU in the PDA
`section of the communication system in housing 12 that can
`coordinate various information contained in the PDA portion
`relative to the x, y coordinate position on the display 16.
`Inside housing 12 is contained the conventional cellular
`phone elements including a modem, a CPU for use with a
`PDA and associated circuitry connected to speaker 24 and
`microphone 38. A GPS navigational receiver that receives
`signals from satellites that can determine the latitude and
`longitude of the cellular phone housing 12 can be internal or
`external to the housing 12. PDA/cellular phone units such as
`these are currently on sale and sold as a complete unit (or with
`an external connected GPS) that can be used for cellular
`telephone calls and sending cellular SMS and TCP/IP or other
`messages using the PDA’s display 16 and computer (CPU).
`The GPS system including a receiver in housing 12 is capable
`of determining the latitude and longitude and through SMS,
`TCP/IP, WiFi or other digital messaging software, to also
`transmit this latitude and longitude information of housing 12
`to other cellular phones in the communication network via
`cellular communications, WiFi or radio. The device 10
`includes a pair of cellular phone hardware activating buttons
`20 to turn the cellular phone on and 22 to turn the cellular
`
`
`
`5
`phone off. Navigation pad actuator 18 is similar to a joy or
`force stick in that the actuator 18 manually provides move
`ment commands that can be used by the PDA’s software to
`move a cursor on display 16. Switches 26 and 28 are designed
`to quickly select an operator specified software program.
`Speaker 24 and microphone 38 are used for audio messages.
`Switch 19 at the top left of device 10 is the power on and
`power off switch for the entire device.
`The heart of the invention lies in the AGIS software appli
`cations provided in the device. Mounted within housing 12 as
`part of the PDA is the display 16 and the CPU. The internal
`CPU includes databases that provide for a geographical map
`and georeferenced entities that is shown as display portion
`16b that includes as part of the display various areas of inter
`est in the particular local map section.
`When looking at display 16, the software switches (soft
`switches) which appear at the very bottom of the display 16d
`are used to control by touch many of the software driven
`functions of the cellular phone and PDA. The software drawn
`and controlled switches are activated through the operators
`use of the navigation pad 18, or a small track ball, force Stick
`or similar hardware display cursor pointing device. Alterna
`tively, the operator may choose to activate the software switch
`matrix by touching the screen with a stylus 14 (or finger) at
`the switches 16d locations. When some of the software
`switches are activated, different software switches appear.
`The bar display 16d shows the software switches “ZM IN
`(Zoom in),” “ZMOT (zoom out), “CENT (center) and
`“GRAB (pan/grab) at the bottom of the screen. These soft
`ware switches are for the operator to perform these functions.
`The “SWITH (switch) software switch at the lower right
`causes a matrix of layered software switches (soft switches)
`to appear above the bottom row of Switches. Through use of
`the Software Switches, the operator can also manipulate the
`geographical map 16b or chart display. When looking at FIG.
`1, permanent geographical locations and buildings are shown.
`For example, the police station is shown and when the symbol
`is touched by the stylus or finger, the latitude and longitude of
`the symbols location, as shown in display section 16c, is
`displayed at the bottom left of the screen. The bottom right
`side of display 16c is a multifunction inset area that can
`contain a variety of information including: a) a list of the
`communication link participants; b) a list of received mes
`sages; c) a map, aerial photograph or satellite image with an
`indication of the Zoom and offset location of the main map
`display, which is indicated by a square that depicts the area
`actually displayed in the main geographical screen 16b; d)
`applicable status information; and e) a list of the communi
`cation net participants. Each participant user would have a
`device 10 shown in FIG. 1.
`Also shown on the display screen 16, specifically the geo
`graphical display 16b, is a pair of different looking symbols
`30 and 34, a small triangle and a small square, which are not
`labeled. These symbols 30 and 34 can represent communica
`tion net participants having cellular phones in the displayed
`geographical area that are part of the overall cellular phone
`communications net having the same device 10 used in this
`invention. The latitude and longitude of symbol 30 is associ
`ated within a database along with a specific phone number
`and, if available, its IP address and email address. The screen
`display 16b, which is a touch screen, provides X and y coor
`dinates of the screen 16b to the CPU's software from a map in
`a geographical database. The software has an algorithm that
`relates the X and y coordinates to latitude and longitude and
`can access a communications net participants symbol or a
`fixed or movable entity’s symbol as being the one closest to
`that point.
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`For describing the network, the operator's phone is cellular
`phone “one.” In order to initiate a telephone call to the cellular
`phone user (communication net participant) represented by
`symbol (triangle) 30 at a specific latitude and longitude dis
`play on chart 16b, the operator touches the triangle 30 symbol
`with the stylus 14. The operator then touches a “call software
`switch from a matrix of displayed soft switches that would
`overlay the display area 16c. Immediately, the cellular phone
`will initiate a cellular telephone call to the cellular phone user
`at the geographical location shown that represents symbol 30.
`A second cellular phone user (communication net partici
`pant) is represented by symbol 34 which is a small square (but
`could be any shape or icon) to represent an individual cellular
`phone device in the display area. The ring 32 around symbol
`30 indicates that the symbol 30 has been touched and that a
`telephone call can be initiated by touching the soft switch that
`says “call.” When this is done, the telephone call is initiated.
`Other types of symbolic elements on the display 16 can indi
`cate that a cellular phone call is in effect. Additionally, the
`operator can touch both symbol 34 and symbol 30 and can
`activate a conference call between the two cellular phones and
`users represented by symbols 30 and 34. Again, a symbolic
`ring around symbol 34 indicates that a call has been initiated.
`Equally important, the operator of cellular phone “one' can
`call the police station or any other specific geographical facil
`ity displayed on the map, including: (buildings, locations of
`people, vehicles, facilities, restaurants, etc., (whose cellular
`phone numbers and, if available, E-mail addresses, IP
`addresses and their URLs were previously stored in the data
`base) by touching a specific facility location on the map
`display using the stylus 14 and then touching the cellular
`phone call switch. As an example, the operator can touch and
`point to call a restaurant using a soft Switch by touching the
`restaurant location with his stylus and then touching the call
`soft switch. The cellular phone will then call the restaurant.
`Thus, using the present invention, each participant can touch
`and point to call to one or more other net participants sym
`bolically displayed on the map each of whom have a device as
`shown in FIG. 1 and can also point to call facilities that had
`been previously stored in the phone's database. Furthermore,
`this symbol hooking and soft Switch technique can be used to
`go to a fixed facility’s website or to automatically enter the
`fixed facility’s E-mail address in an e-mail.
`Each cellular phone/PDA/GPS user device is identified on
`the map display of the other participant user phone devices by
`a display symbol that is generated on each user phone display
`to indicate each user's identity. Each symbol is placed at the
`correct geographical location on the user display and is cor
`related with the map on the display. The operator of each
`cellular phone/PDA/GPS device may also enter one or more
`other fixed entities (buildings, facilities, restaurants, police
`stations, etc. and geo-referenced events such as fires, acci
`dents, etc.) into its database. This information can be likewise
`transmitted to all the other participants on the communica
`tions net. The map, fixed entities, events and cellular phone/
`PDA/GPS device communication net participants latitude
`and longitude information is related to the 'x' and “y” loca
`tion on the touch screen display map by a mathematical
`correlation algorithm.
`When the cellular phone/PDA/GPS device user uses a sty
`lus or finger to touch one or more of the symbols or a location
`displayed on the cellular phone map display, the systems
`Software causes the status and latitude and longitude infor
`mation concerning that symbol or location to be displayed. In
`order to hook a symbol or “track' such as another net partici
`pant which represents an entity on the geo-referenced map
`display, or a fixed geographical entity Such as a restaurant,
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`US 7,630,724 B2
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`police station or a new entity observed by a cell phone user
`which is discussed below, the operator points at or near the
`location of a geo-referenced symbol appearing on the cellular
`phone/PDA display that represents a specific track or specific
`participant or other entity. The hook application Software
`determines that the stylus is pointed close to or at the location
`of the symbol and puts a circle, square or other indication
`around the symbol indicating that amplification information
`concerning the track is to be displayed and indicating that
`additional data or change in data can be made to the indicated
`symbol. The hook application code then sends a message to
`the display application code to display the net participant,
`facility or entity's amplifying data. The display application
`code retrieves the primary data and amplification data con
`cerning the track or entity from the database and displays the
`information at the correct screen location. The operator can
`then read the amplification data that relates to that specific
`symbol at the specific location. The cell phone operator can
`also select soft Switches on the touchscreen display to change
`the primary data and amplification data or to take actions
`which could include making cellular phone calls, conference
`calls, 800 number calls, sending a free text message, operator
`selected preformatted messages, photographs or videos to the
`hooked symbol or to drop the symbol.
`Each known net participant has a cellular phone number, IP
`address and, if available, E-mail address that is stored in each
`participants device database.
`To use the present invention, the operator (“cellular phone
`one' or “phone one') starts the PDA/cellular phone device
`system by selecting the Software which causes: a) the cellular
`phone to be activated (if it has not already been activated), b)
`the GPS interface receiver to be established, c) a map of the
`geographic area where the operator is located and operators
`own unit symbol to appear at the correct latitude and longi
`tude on the map on the display, d) the locations of fixed
`facilities such as restaurants, hotels, fire departments, police
`stations, and military barracks, that are part of the database to
`appear as symbols on the map, e) the device selected item read
`out area (which provides amplification information for the
`communications net participant or object that has been
`touched on the display Screen) to appear on the display, f) an
`insert area that contains various data including: the list of net
`participants, a list of messages to be read, an indication of
`what portion of the map is being displayed in major area and
`other information to appear on the display, and g) a row of
`45
`primary software created “soft switches' that are always
`present on the display to appear.
`For point to call network units and fixed facilities, the
`application code detects the x, y display screen location of the
`symbol that is designated by the user's stylus and translates
`the x, y coordinates to latitude and longitude and then: (1)
`searches the database to find the symbol at that location, (2)
`places a “hook' indicator (a circle, square or other shape)
`around the symbol, (3) displays any amplifying data and (4)
`obtains the symbols associated phone number (or for VoIP
`calls and IP address) from the database. Upon receiving a
`“call designation from the soft switch, the operator's device
`application code causes the appropriate phone number or IP
`number to be called. Upon receiving an indication that the
`phone number is being called, the application code places a
`box around the symbol (color, dashed or the like). When the
`call is connected, the box changes to indicate that the connec
`tion is made. When the other party hangs up, the box disap
`p