11111111111111111111111111t1!1!111111111111111111111111111111
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Hardouin
`
`(to) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,311,078 B1
`Oct. 30, 2001
`
`(54) AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF FOR WIRELESS
`ENDPOINTS IN MOTION
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Larry J. Hardouin, Westminster, CO
`(US)
`
`(73) Assignee: Avaya Technology Corp., Basking
`Ridge, NJ (US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
`
`5,990,676 * 11/1999 Hori
`6,014,566 * 1/2000 Owada
`6,038,444 * 3/2000 Schipper et al.
`6,108,532 * 8/2000 Matsuda et al.
`6,124,810 * 9/2000 Segal et al.
`
`455/441
`455/441
`455/421
`455/238.1
`340/441
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Nay Maung
`Assistant Examiner—Quochien B. Vuong
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—John C. Moran
`
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/196,542
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Nov. 20, 1998
`
`(51) Int. C1.7
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`
` HO4B 1/38
` 455/567; 455/401; 455/412;
`455/517; 455/238.1; 340/441
` 455/440, 441,
`(58) Field of Search
`455/456, 457, 458, 425, 517, 567, 238.1,
`412, 413, 401, 422, 575, 67.1; 340/441
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`5,404,391 * 4/1995 Wavroch et al.
`5,574,971 * 11/1996 Aihara
`5,845,219 * 12/1998 Henriksson
`
` 455/567
` 455/441
` 455/567
`
`A wireless telephone does not generate an alerting signal if
`the speed at which the wireless telephone is moving exceeds
`a predefined speed when an incoming call is received. If an
`alerting signal is not generated for an incoming call, the
`wireless telephone transmits a message back to the calling
`party informing them that they have contacted the wireless
`telephone and may leave either a voice or data message. The
`caller can then either leave a voice message or touch tone in
`the caller's telephone number. Further, the wireless tele-
`phone can inhibit the origination of calls from the wireless
`telephone if the speed of the wireless telephone exceeds the
`predefined speed. In addition, if the speed has not been equal
`or less than the predefined speed for a predefined amount of
`time, call originations and alerting signals are blocked.
`
`3 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
`
`1102
`SIGNAL
`STRENGTH
`MONITOR
`
`107 -V
`
`/106
`RF TRANSCEIVER
`
`1108
`FREQ.
`SYNTH.
`
`115
`
`/ 104
`
`D/A
`A/D
`CONVERTER
`
`111
`
`HYBRID
`
`/ 109
`
`114
`
`112
`
`CLOCK
`
`103
`
`TIME DOMAIN
`DUPLEXER
`
`119
`MEMORY
`129
`
`SPEED
`TRANSCEIVER
`
`t 1124
`GPS DEVICE
`
`CONTROL
`UNIT
`
`01/ t
`
`/ 105
`TELEPHONE CIRCUITS
`AND KEYPAD
`
`/116
`DISPLAY
`/ 117
`AUDIO
`TRANSDUCER
`118
`VIBRATION
`TRANSDUCER
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 1
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 30, 2001
`
`Sheet 1 of 3
`
`US 6,311,078 B1
`
`f102
`SIGNAL
`STRENGTH
`MONITOR
`
`107 A/
`
`1106
`RF TRANSCEIVER
`
`f 104
`
`f110
`
`113
`
`111
`
`1108
`FREQ.
`SYNTH.
`
`D/A
`A/D
`CONVERTER
`
`115 —
`
`HYBRID
`
`f 109
`
`114
`
`112
`
`CLOCK
`
`103
`
`TIME DOMAIN
`DUPLEXER
`
`f 119
`MEMORY
`f 129
`SPEED
`TRANSCEIVER
`
`f 124
`GPS DEVICE
`
`r i
`
`f116
`DISPLAY
`f 117
`AUDIO
`TRANSDUCER
`f 118
`VIBRATION
`TRANSDUCER
`
`CONTROL
`UNIT
`1015 f t
`f lo5
`TELEPHONE CIRCUITS
`AND KEYPAD
`
`FIG. 1
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 30, 2001
`
`Sheet 2 of 3
`
`US 6,311,078 B1
`
`SPEED
`
`/ 203 HCALCULATE [..
`H RECORD
`
`/ 207
`
`MESSAGE
`
`FIG. 2
`
`1202
`READ COORDINATES VIA
`SPEED TRANSDUCER
`
`YES
`
`NO
`
`206
`
`SPEED
`BELOW
`LIMIT
`FOR PREDEFINED
`AMOUNT OF
`TIME?
`YES
`
`1208
`NORMAL PROCESSING
`
`YES
`
`( START
`
`201
`
`TIME
`TO READ NEW
`COORDINATES
`
`NO
`
`204
`
`INCOMING
`CALL?
`NO
`
`209
`NO
`
`CALL
`ORIGINATION
`2
`YES
`
`0
`(TO FIG. 3)
`
`213
`
`SPEED
`BELOW LIMIT
`FOR PREDEFINED
`AMOUNT OF
`TIME?
`YES
`
`[216
`NORMAL PROCESSING
`
`[ 214
`GIVE
`REORDER
`TONE
`
`NO
`
`(FROM FIG. 3)
`
`YES
`
`211
`
`CALL
`ORIGINATION
`RESTRICTED
`
`NO
`
`[ 212
`NORMAL PROCESSING
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 30, 2001
`
`Sheet 3 of 3
`
`US 6,311,078 B1
`
`(TO FIG. 2)
`
`r 303
`NORMAL PROCESSING
`
`NO
`
`f 304
`ERROR PROCESSING
`
`NO
`
`.41.........
`
`f 307
`REORDER TONE
`
`NO
`
`FIG. 3
`
`(FROM
`FIG. 2)
`A
`
`301
`REQUESTING
`ACCESS TO
`MESSAGES?
`
`YES
`
`302
`ANY STORED
`MESSAGES?
`
`YES
`
`306
`
`SPEED
`BELOW LIMIT
`FOR PREDEFINED
`AMOUNT OF
`TIME?
`YES
`
`r 308
`PLAY MESSAGES
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 4
`
`

`

`1
`AUTOMATIC SHUTOFF FOR WIRELESS
`ENDPOINTS IN MOTION
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`This invention relates generally to wireless switching
`systems and, in particular, to control of a wireless telephone.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`Studies have indicated that talking on a wireless telephone
`while driving increases the risk of an accident. Part of the
`increased risk is attributed to drivers being distracted by a
`wireless telephone ringing. This risk can be abated by the
`users turning their wireless telephones off when they enter a
`vehicle and turning it on when they exit or come to a
`complete stop. However, few users perform these actions
`every time they enter or exit a vehicle. Certain foreign
`countries make it illegal to utilize a wireless telephone at
`anytime while driving an automobile. However, a user could
`easily forget about this prohibition and originate or receive
`a call while driving an automobile.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The foregoing problems are solved, and a technical
`advance is achieved by an apparatus and method in which a
`wireless telephone does not generate an alerting signal for an
`incoming call if the speed at which the wireless telephone is
`moving exceeds a predefined speed. Advantageously, if an
`alerting signal is not generated for an incoming call, the
`wireless telephone transmits an audio message back to the
`calling party informing them that they have contacted the
`wireless telephone and may leave either a voice or data
`message. Further, the wireless telephone must have been
`below the predefined speed for a predefined amount of time
`before the alerting signal will be generated. The caller can
`then either leave a voice message or touch tone in the
`caller's telephone number. Further, the wireless telephone
`can inhibit the origination of calls from the wireless tele-
`phone if the speed of the wireless telephone exceeds the
`predefined speed. In addition, if the speed has not been equal
`or less than the predefined speed for a predefined amount of
`time, call originations are blocked.
`These and other features and advantages of the present
`invention will become more apparent from the following
`description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention
`considered together with the drawing.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates, in block diagram form, a wireless
`telephone; and
`FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate, in flowchart form, steps per-
`formed by a wireless telephone.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates in block diagram form, a wireless
`telephone for implementing the invention. Overall control of
`the wireless terminal is provided by control unit 101. Units
`102, 103, 106, 107, 108, and 109 provide the RF commu-
`nication capabilities for the wireless terminal. Units 106 and
`103 are connected by link 115. Elements 104, 110, and
`111-114 provide the audio information received and trans-
`mitted to the user; whereas, elements 116-118 and 105
`provide the basic user interface. Memory 119 is used to store
`data such as voice announcements that control unit 101
`transmits to a caller via elements 103 and 104. Speed
`
`US 6,311,078 B1
`
`2
`
`2
`transceiver 129 is designed to receive information that is
`used by control unit to calculate the speed at which the
`wireless terminal is traveling.
`When control unit 101 detects that an incoming call is
`5 being received via elements 102-108, control unit 101
`determines what the speed is by reading the output of speed
`transceiver 129. Speed transceiver 109 is interconnected to
`a global positioning satellite (GPS) device. (Control unit 101
`is responsive to the changing position information from the
`10 GPS device to determine the speed at which the wireless
`telephone is moving. One skilled in the art can readily see
`that in the case of a wireless telephone that is designed to be
`connected to an automobile, that speed transceiver 129
`could be receiving information from the speedometer of the
`15 automobile. In addition, positioning methods other than a
`GPS device could be utilized to determine the speed based
`on change of position. If control unit 101 determines that the
`speed is above a predefined amount, it does not alert the user
`of the wireless telephone via audio transducer 117 or vibra-
`tion transducer 118. Rather, control unit 101 transmits a
`voice message to the caller defining that the call is not being
`answered because the user is presently driving. The voice
`message is initially stored in memory 119 as a digital audio
`message. Control unit 101 then prompts the caller to leave
`25 either a voice message or their telephone number which may
`be inputted using multi-frequency tones. Control unit 101
`does not give the user access to the recorded information
`until the wireless telephone has ceased to move at a rate in
`access of the predefined speed. Advantageously, the pre-
`30 defined speed may be 5 mph. In addition, control unit 101
`does not allow the user to originate a call if the speed is in
`excess of the predefined speed.
`Further, in order to prevent a user from originating or
`receiving a telephone call while momentarily stopped, con-
`35 trol unit 101 requires that the vehicle be below the pre-
`defined speed for a predefined amount of time before a call
`can be received or originated by the user. Advantageously,
`the predefined amount of time is 30 seconds.
`FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate the steps performed by control
`40 unit 101 of the wireless telephone in implementing the
`invention. Once started, decision block 201 determines if it
`is time to read new coordinates. These coordinates will be
`read via speed transducer 129 from GPS device 124 that may
`be internal or external to the wireless telephone. The coor-
`45 dinates are read at predefined intervals. If the answer is yes
`in decision block 201, block 202 reads the coordinates via
`speed transducer 129. Control unit 101 then calculates the
`present speed by execution of block 203. The calculation of
`this speed is based on the distance between the old coordi-
`so nates and the new coordinates. After execution of block 203,
`control is transferred back to decision block 201.
`Returning to decision block 201, if the answer is no,
`decision 204 determines if an incoming call is being
`received. If the answer is yes, decision block 206 determines
`55 if the present speed is below the limit for a predefined
`amount of time. If the answer is no, block 207 answers the
`call and transmits a message to the caller informing them
`that the wireless telephone cannot accept the message at this
`time but the caller has the ability to leave a message. If the
`60 caller chooses to leave a message, this message is recorded
`and stored in memory 119 using well known techniques
`before control is transferred back to decision block 201. If
`the answer is yes in decision block 206, block 208 performs
`normal processing for returning control back to decision
`65 block 201.
`Returning to decision block 204, if a new call is not being
`received, control is transferred to decision block 209 from
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 5
`
`

`

`US 6,311,078 B1
`
`3
`decision block 204. Decision block 209 determines if the
`user of the wireless telephone is attempting to perform a call
`origination. If the answer is no, control is transferred to
`decision block 301 of FIG. 3. If the answer is yes in decision
`block 209, decision block 211 determines if call originations
`are restricted above the predefined speed. If the answer is no,
`block 212 performs normal processing before returning
`control back to decision block 201. If the answer is yes in
`decision block 211, decision block 213 determines if the
`speed is below the speed limit for the predefined amount of
`time. If the answer is no, block 214 gives the user of the
`wireless telephone reorder tone before returning control
`back to decision block 201. If the answer in decision block
`213 is yes, block 216 performs normal processing before
`returning control back to decision block 201.
`Returning to decision block 209, if the user is not attempt-
`ing a call origination control is transferred to decision block
`301 of FIG. 3. Decision block 301 determines if the user of
`the wireless telephone is attempting to access stored mes-
`sages. If the answer is no, block 303 performs normal
`processing before returning control back to decision block
`201 of FIG. 2. If the answer in decision block 301 is yes,
`decision block 302 determines if there are any stored mes-
`sages. If the answer is no, block 304 performs error pro-
`cessing before transferring control back to decision block
`201 of FIG. 2. If the answer in decision block 302 is yes,
`decision block 306 determines if the speed has been below
`the predefined limit for the predefined amount of time. If the
`answer is no, block 307 gives the user reorder tone for
`transferring control back to decision block 201 of FIG. 2. If
`the answer is yes, block 308 plays the messages back to the
`user from memory 119 using known techniques before
`transferring control back to decision block 201 of FIG. 2.
`Of course, various changes and modifications to the
`illustrative embodiment described above will be apparent to
`those skilled in the art. These changes and modifications can
`be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the
`invention and without diminishing its attendant advantages.
`
`15
`
`20
`
`5
`
`4
`It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications
`be covered by the following claims.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A method for controlling a wireless terminal, compris-
`ing the steps of:
`receiving an incoming call;
`detecting a speed of the wireless terminal;
`generating an alerting signal for the wireless terminal if
`the speed is equal or less than a predefined speed;
`determining if the detected speed of the wireless terminal
`has been equal or less than the predefined speed for a
`predefined time period; and
`inhibiting the alerting signal if the detected speed had not
`been equal or less than the predefined speed for the
`predefined time period;
`detecting a call origination actuation on the wireless
`terminal;
`determining if the detected speed of the wireless terminal
`has been equal or less than the predefined speed for a
`predefined time period;
`processing a call origination for the wireless terminal in
`response to the call origination actuation if the detected
`speed has been equal or less than the predefined speed
`for the predefined time period; and
`inhibiting the call origination if the detected speed had not
`been equal or less than the predefined speed for the
`predefined time period.
`2. The method of claim 1 further comprises the step of
`30 providing a caller of the incoming call a capability of
`recording a message upon the detected speed being greater
`than the predefined speed.
`3. The method of claim 2 the step of providing further
`providing the capability of recording a message upon the
`35 detected speed having not been equal or less than the
`predefined speed for the predefined time period.
`
`25
`
`FORD EX. 1027, p. 6
`
`