Title of Invention

METHOD OF INCOMING ALERT GENERATION FOR TRANSCIEVER DEVICES

Abstract

The invention involves distinguishing alerts from important callers with the unimportant callers. Whenever the owner is busy alerts made by unimportant callers will be filtered out and ignored. Also, an option is provided where the owner can hear the alert with a higher intensity/volume when a higher priority user is trying to approach. The Invention provides the device user with 3 options. The options are Selective Answering priority, Individual Answering priority, Priority based Alert Intensity. At any instant of time, the handset owner can use any combination of the available options.

Full Text

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates in general to the field of wireless mobile communication. Further this invention relates to features in communication devices such as Mobile Handsets, Smart Phones, Notebook PCs, Desktops, etc. More particularly, this invention relates to method for priority based incoming alerts for communication devices. DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART In the currently available communication devices, whenever an incoming alert (such as voice call, SMS, MMS, Email etc) arrives, it is immediately intimated to the device user. The device user has two choices; one, to respond or two, to ignore such alerts. Such alerts are always not welcome and distract the attention of the device user from ongoing other activities. Sometimes, the other activities hold more importance than attending to the alert or even affording to divert the attention from that activity, such as driving in busy traffic or in the middle of an important meeting. Even if one is sleeping, this will cause inconvenience. Thus, one has no other choice at present but to choose one of the two options available, attend the alert or ignore the alert and thus suffer the cost of diverting the attention. Currently, the device user has a few options available to exploit for avoiding such disturbing circumstances. The available options are: • Switch off the device: The device user can simply switch off the mobile to thus avoid responding to any incoming alert. This way the owner will be missing all the calls. • Change Profile: Profiles can be used to handle or maintain various levels or types of incoming alerts. For each activity, the owner can maintain a profile. If the owner is in meeting, one can put "meeting profile" in one's device. If the owner is driving, one can put the "driving profile" in one's device. For example, a profile's characteristic can be put on "Ring with volume level 10" or "Vibrator/ Silent mode". It can also be of form "Ignore all alerts". This option also does not solve the purpose of avoiding inconvenience. Changing the Group Settings: To avoid the disturbances from the unimportant callers during high attention or non-disturbing circumstances,'the device user can maintain different groups for different priority people. Before attending any important task, one can put an option to allow or disable an alert for each group settings. After the task is completed, one has to manually change all the group settings back to default values. Now, all lesser priority people will be added to lesser priority group and any intimation will not be allowed for the Alerts from people who belong to this group. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The primary object of this invention is to invent a method for priority based incoming. It is another object of this invention to provide an extra level of intelligence to the mobile/ handset so that the device user can attend only those alerts coming from required persons as and when required. It is a further object of this invention to provide a method by which mobile can also intimate the incoming event by way of alerts with intensity proportional to the importance of the sender / caller. The existing features (Profiles and switch-off) treat all the alerts in the same way. These alerts are not smart to distinguish the alerts coming from an important user or from unimportant one. Hence an extra level of intelligence is imparted to the mobile/ handset so that the device user can attend only those alerts coming from required persons as and when required. The mobile can also intimate the alerts with intensity proportional to the importance of the sender / caller. Now, the device user can also decide of attending it or not according to the alert intensity. Using this invention, the device user need not stop his current activity and not waste his time in looking into who the caller / sender is for each and every alert. This way, unwanted or unnecessary alerts can be avoided during important times. The Proposed Invention is meant to impart more intelligence to the communication devices so that they can distinguish the alerts coming from important persons with those coming from unimportant ones. Now, the device user will not be disturbed with unnecessary alerts and at the same time, can devote on other tasks without diverting attention from other tasks. To achieve this, the following procedure is followed: • Prioritize the incoming alerts based on the sender / caller. • Maintain an "Expected Alerts List" and allow alert intimation for them. • Intimate alerts with intensity proportional to the sender / caller's priority. Accordingly, the present invention comprises a method of incoming alert generation for an transceiver devices wherein the method comprises the steps of: a. receiving an incoming alert message; b. checking the name of the caller in the phonebook entry; c. checking the selective answering priority list for the entry when the name of the caller is in the phonebook entry; d. alerting the user depending upon allocated intensity level when a higher priority is set; e. checking the entry in the individual answering priority list when the caller name is not in the selective list; f. intimating alert to the user according to the intensity level assigned when the entry is found in the individual answering priority list; g. forwarding the call to the missed call folder in the absence of the name in the individual list; h. calculating the alert intensity and intimating the user when Priority based Alert Intensity is enabled; and i. intimating the user with the default alert intensity currently set in the device when the Priority based Alert Intensity option is disabled. other advantages and features of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention given as a non-restrictive example only and represented in the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING Figure 1 shows a flowchart of various steps involved when an incoming alert arrives, DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood however that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which may be embodied in various forms. The following description and drawings are not to be construed as limiting the invention and numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention, as the basis for the claims and as a basis for teaching one skilled in the art on how to make and/or use the invention. However in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order not to unnecessarily obscure the present invention in detail. The figure 1 shows a flowchart of various steps involved when an incoming alert arrives. It shows how unimportant alerts are filtered out from the important ones. It also shows the manner in which the communication device behaves when an incoming alert intimation has to be done. As explained in the figure 1, when the communication device receives an incoming alert message, it could be a voice call / SMS or any other intimation. It will first check the name of the caller in the Phonebook entry. If found, it will check the Selective answering priority list for its entry, and will alert the user depending upon its allocated intensity level if its of higher priority. 1 If the caller name is not in the selective list, it will check for its entry in the individual answering priority list, if found it will then intimate about this alert to the user according to the intensity level assigned to it. If the name is not in the individual list also, then it will not inform about the incoming alert to the user and simply forward that to the missed call folder. If caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is enabled, the alert intensity will be calculated and call intimation will be done accordingly. If caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is disabled, call intimation will be done with the specific alert intensity currently set in the device. The invention involves distinguishing alerts from important callers with the unimportant callers. Whenever the owner is busy alerts made by unimportant callers will be filtered out and ignored. Also, an option is provided where the owner can hear the alert with a higher volume when a higher priority user is trying to approach. The Invention supports the following options:- 1. Selective Answering Priority The owner maintains a phonebook entry for each caller. For each entry, one will set a priority which corresponds to that caller. Before engaging in any non-disturbing task the device user sets a priority "X" in the mobile. Now alerts from those callers who have been awarded higher priority than "X" in the device user's phonebook entry will be intimated to the device user. This priority set for the various phonebook entries in the mobile by the owner is called as Selective Answering Priority. 2. Individual Answering Priority Some times, device user may be unable to attend the call if the individual has been awarded low priority. One may also miss the call, if there is no phonebook entry maintained for this individual. Then, he can add this individual to the Expected Alerts List so that the individual will be treated as a high priority caller for a certain time period. The temporarily priority given to him using the Expected Alert List is called Individual Answering Priority. In some devices (like Cell phones), each entry in the Expected Alerts List can either contain the caller/sender's number or the caller/sender's name as in the phonebook entry. But, in some devices (like Desktops, Notebook PCs), each entry in the Expected Alerts List can either contain the sender's email-id or the sender's name as in the phone book entry. The device user can maintain a cache of Expected Alerts List so that one need not enter all the names or numbers every time, he need not to be disturbed by the unnecessary alerts. Whenever required the device user sets the Selective Answering Priority and then mentions the list of people from whom calls/messages are expected. Then, all alerts arrived will be checked for Selective Answering Priority and then checked for Individual Answering Priority. The Alerts intimation or ignoring will be done accordingly. If the alerts are to be ignored, they will be transferred to Missed Calls folder. 3. Priority based Alert Intensity In the circumstances such as, while driving a vehicle, the device user would like to attend only highest priority calls when the road traffic is heavy and the device user can afford to attend lesser important calls when the traffic is low. This option will ensure that the alerts will be intimated to the owner with an intensity proportional to the caller / sender's priohty. Now, the device user will be able to attend the calls based on the alert intensities. Also, the device user will have a choice to respond to the alert or not as he can make out the importance of the call by the alert intensity. The proposed Priority based Incoming Alerts is described under following sub sections: Structure of the Invention The invention introduces an additional field in each phonebook entry. This field will represent the priority given by the handset owner to the respective sender / caller. When an alert has to be intimated to the handset holder, the phonebook entry's priority field (which represents the priority of the caller / sender) will be compared with the Selective Answering Priority set in the handset. Operation of the Invention The invention provides the device user with 3 options. The options are: • Selective Answering priority • Individual Answehng priority • Priority based Alert Intensity At any instant of time, the handset owner can use any combination of the available options. When the handset user does not want to be disturbed by alert made by low priority users, device user will enable the options in one's handset. The procedure is as follows: • Before starting any critical task, the handset user sets the options (Selective Answering priority. Individual Answering priority, Priority based Alert Intensity). • Handset Holder also specifies the duration until which these options will be valid. • If there is any incoming alert to be intimated, the caller / sender's priority is verified and if found to be of higher priority, it is intimated to the device user. • Else, if it is of low priority, intimation is not executed. But, it is saved in the handset. If the alert is "incoming call", an entry will be added to the Missed Calls folder. Similarly, if the alert is SMS or MMS, it will be saved into its corresponding specific folder and annunciation icon indication is done about the newly arrived unread messages. • If caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is enabled, the alert intensity will be calculated and call intimation will be done accordingly. • If caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is disabled, call intimation will be done with the specific alert intensity currently set in the device. • When the duration expires, the Handset will ask the device user either to extend or disable the feature. Example Scenario: Assuming that the mobile has the following Configurations: • Priorities to be in range of P1 to P5 (P1 - Highest and P5 - Lowest priority) • Alert Intensities to be in range of A1 to A5 (A1 - Highest and A5 -Lowest) Assuming that the owner has done the following Settings before attending a meeting: • Selective Answering Priority - "P2" • List the Expected callers (Individual Answering Priority) - None • Priority based Alert Intensity - Enabled • Duration - 30 minutes If a caller with phonebook priority "P4" calls, the call will be redirected to Missed Calls folder. If a one with phonebook priority "P1" sends SMS, the user SMS will be intimated with an alert intensity A1. Figure 1 depicts the algorithm for the Invention's functionality. No changes in the Hardware, Software Standards are required. This Invention involves a minimal change (an extra field is required for storing the priority of the corresponding user in its phonebook entry) in the phonebook structure and a simple algorithm for verifying and calculating priorities in the software. For example, consider a typical phone book entry today without implementing this We can see that we have added an additional entry named 'Caller_Priority_Lever which will hold the priority level for the caller in case of Selective / Individual priority feature enabled. It will also be obvious to those skilled in the art that other control methods and apparatuses can be derived from the combinations of the various methods and apparatuses of the present invention as taught by the description and the accompanying drawings and these shall also be considered within the scope of the present invention. Further, description of such combinations and variations is therefore omitted below. It should also be noted that the host for storing the applications include but not limited to a microchip, mobile handheld device, other communication device, computer or a multi function device. Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are possible and are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom. GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS THEREOF Alert: Alert can be anything which is delivered to the device by any other User. E.g.: Incoming call/SMS/MMS/WAP Push etc. Expected Alerts List: The list of users from whom the handset owner is expecting alerts. WE CLAIM 1) A method of incoming alert generation for transceiver devices wherein the method comprises the steps of: a. receiving an incoming alert message; b. checking the name of the caller in a phonebook entry; c. checking a selective answering phority list for the entry when the name of the caller is in the phonebook entry; d. alerting a user depending upon allocated intensity level when a higher priority is set; e. checking the entry in an individual answering priority list when the caller name is not in the selective list; f. intimating alert to the user according to the intensity level assigned when the entry is found in the individual answering priority list; g. forwarding the call to a missed call folder in the absence of the name in the individual list; h. calculating the alert intensity and intimating the user when Priority based Alert Intensity is enabled; and i. intimating the user with the default alert intensity currently set in the device when the Priority based Alert Intensity option is disabled. 2) A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein an incoming alert message received is a voice call, SMS, MMS, E-mails, or WAP push. 3) A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the user receives alerts made by an unimportant caller the alert gets filtered out and ignored. 4) A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when a higher priority user is trying to approach the device the use can hear the alert with a higher volume or intensity. 5) A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said method employs Selective Answering priority, Individual Answering priority and Priority based Alert Intensity. 6) A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the said method of Selective Answering priority comprises the owner maintaining a phonebook entry for each caller and setting a priority which corresponds to the said caller. 7) A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the said method of Selective Answering Priority, alerts from callers who have been awarded higher priority in the device user's phonebook entry will be intimated to the device user. 8) A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the said method of individual answering priority the individual can be added to the Expected Alerts List so that the individual is treated as a high priority caller for a certain time period when there is no phonebook entry maintained for an individual. 9) A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the method of individual answering priority, each entry in the Expected Alerts List can contain the caller/sender's number or the caller/sender's name as in the phonebook entry. 10)A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the method of individual answering priority each entry in the Expected Alerts List can contain the sender's name as in the phone book entry or the sender's email-id 11. 11 )A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the method of individual answering priority the device user maintain a cache of Expected Alerts List. 12)A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the user sets the Selective Answering Priority and mentions the list of people from whom calls/messages are expected thereby all alerts arrived will be checked for Selective Answering Priority and then checked for Individual Answering Priority. 13)A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the method of Priority based Alert Intensity, an additional field in each phonebook entry is introduced which represent the priority given by the handset owner to the respective sender / caller. 14)A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein in the method of Priority based Alert Intensity, when an alert has to be intimated to the handset holder, the phonebook entry's pnority field is compared with the Selective Answering Priority set in the handset. 15)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein any combination of the available options Selective Answering priority, Individual Answering priority, Priority based Alert Intensity is set by the device user. 16)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein handset holder specifies the duration until which the options of Selective Answering priority, Individual Answering prionty, Priority based Alert Intensity is valid. 17)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when there is any incoming alert to be intimated, the caller / sender's priority is verified and when found to be of higher priority, this is Intimated to the device user. 18)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when there is any incoming alert to be intimated, the caller / sender's priority is verified and when found to be of low priority, intimation is not executed but is saved in the handset. 19)A method as claimed in claim 17 wherein when the alert is "incoming call", an entry will be added to the Missed Calls folder and when the alert is SMS or MMS, the message is saved into its corresponding specific folder. 20)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is enabled, the alert intensity is calculated and call intimation is done. 21)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when caller / sender's priority is higher and the Priority based Alert Intensity option is disabled, call intimation is done with the specific alert intensity currently set in the device. 22)A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein when the duration for the set options expires, the handset asks the device user either to extend or disable the feature. 23)A method for incoming alert generation for communication device such as substantially herein described particularly with reference to the accompanying diagram.

Documents:

1236-che-2004 abstract duplicate.pdf

1236-che-2004 claims duplicate.pdf

1236-che-2004 description (complete) duplicate.pdf

1236-che-2004 drawings duplicate.pdf

1236-che-2004-abstract.pdf

1236-che-2004-claims.pdf

1236-che-2004-correspondnece-others.pdf

1236-che-2004-correspondnece-po.pdf

1236-che-2004-description(complete).pdf

1236-che-2004-drawings.pdf

1236-che-2004-form 1.pdf

1236-che-2004-form 13.pdf

1236-che-2004-form 26.pdf

1236-che-2004-form 5.pdf