Cellular telephone, personal digital assistant, and pager unit with capability of short range radio frequency transmissions

Abstract

A cellular telephone system, including a cellular telephone transceiver unit, an ear piece which receives the voice vibrations of a user, and a wireless linkage operatively connecting the ear piece to the cellular telephone transceiver unit, allows a user to be in a hands-free mode when using a cellular telephone. The cellular telephone transceiver unit includes a personal digital assistant and a pager with a vibration module. The ear piece generally uses a bone sensor along with an air sensor placed in the external auditory canal of the user to detect the voice vibrations of the user. Further, a speaker is included in the ear piece to allow the user to hear incoming data from the cellular telephone transceiver. The wireless linkage uses low power radio frequency waves to send and receive signals between the ear piece and the cellular telephone transceiver unit. Both the ear piece and the cellular telephone transceiver unit require power which is supplied by batteries. Both the ear piece and the cellular telephone transceiver may be recharged by simply placing them in a docking station.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A cellular telephone system comprising: 
 a cellular telephone transceiver unit;    an ear piece adapted to be inserted into the external auditory canal of a user to convert bone conductive voice vibrations of voice sound information of the user to electrical signals;    a wireless linkage operatively connecting the ear piece with the cellular telephone transceiver unit.    
     
     
         2 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the wireless linkage includes a radio frequency transmitter operatively connected to the ear piece and a radio frequency receiver operatively connected to the cellular telephone transceiver unit..  
     
     
         3 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the ear piece includes a speaker being adapted to reside within the external auditory canal of the user.  
     
     
         4 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the cellular telephone transceiver unit is powered by one or more batteries.  
     
     
         5 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 4  further comprising: 
 a docking station for the cellular telephone transceiver unit adapted to charge one or more batteries of the cellular telephone transceiver unit.  
 
     
     
         6 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the ear piece is powered by one or more batteries.  
     
     
         7 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 6  further comprising: 
 a docking station adapted to recharge one or more batteries of the ear piece.  
 
     
     
         8 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the ear piece includes an air conduction sensor being adapted to convert air vibrations of voice sound information in the external auditory canal of the user to electrical signals.  
     
     
         9 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 8  further comprising: 
 a speech processor operatively connected with the ear piece, the speech processor being adapted to receive the electrical signals from the bone conduction sensor and the air conduction sensor and produce a voice sound signal.  
 
     
     
         10 . The device of  claim 9  wherein the speech processor obtains a first sample of the electrical signals from the bone conduction sensor and a second sample of the electrical signals from the air conduction sensor and compares the first and second samples to capture the voice sound information of the user and filter noise.  
     
     
         11 . The device of  claim 10  wherein the voice sound information of the user is captured by the wireless linkage.  
     
     
         12 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the cellular telephone transceiver unit includes a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         13 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the cellular telephone transceiver unit includes a vibration module.  
     
     
         14 . The cellular telephone system of  claim 1  wherein the cellular telephone transceiver unit includes a pager.  
     
     
         15 . A method of hands-free communication on a cellular telephone comprising: 
 providing a cellular telephone transceiver unit;    providing an ear piece adapted to be inserted into the external auditory canal of a user to convert bone conductive voice vibrations of voice sound information of the user to electrical signals;    providing a wireless linkage operatively connecting the ear piece to the cellular telephone transceiver unit;    providing a speaker;    receiving via a cellular telephone transceiver an incoming radio signal from an external cellular transmitter;    converting an incoming radio signal to an audible signal which can be heard by a user via the speaker;    receiving via the cellular telephone transceiver unit the electrical signals from the ear piece as sent by the wireless linkage; and    sending an outgoing radio signal from the cellular telephone transceiver unit to an external cellular receiver.    
     
     
         16 . The method of hands free communication on a cellular telephone of  claim 14  wherein the wireless linkage includes a radio frequency transmitter operatively connected to the ear piece and a radio frequency receiver operatively connected to the cellular telephone transceiver unit.  
     
     
         17 . The method of hands-free communication on a cellular telephone of  claim 14  wherein the ear piece includes an air conduction sensor being adapted to convert air vibrations of voice sound information in the external auditory canal of the user to electrical signals.  
     
     
         18 . The method of hands-free communication on a cellular telephone of  claim 14  wherein the cellular telephone transceiver unit includes a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         19 . A hands-free device adapted for use with a cellular telephone to permit hands-free operation of the cellular telephone comprising: 
 an ear piece adapted to be inserted into the external auditory canal of a user to convert bone conductive voice vibrations of voice sound information of the user to electrical signals; and    a wireless linkage operatively connecting the ear piece with the cellular telephone.    
     
     
         20 . The hands-free device of  claim 18  wherein the wireless linkage includes a radio frequency transmitter operatively connected to the ear piece and a radio frequency receiver operatively connected to the cellular telephone.  
     
     
         21 . The hands-free device of  claim 18  wherein the ear piece includes a speaker being adapted to reside within the external auditory canal of the user.  
     
     
         22 . The hands-free device of  claim 18  wherein the ear piece includes an air conduction sensor being adapted to convert air vibrations of voice sound information in the external auditory canal of the user to electrical signals  
     
     
         23 . A hands-free device adapted for use with a cellular telephone to permit hands-free operation of the cellular telephone comprising: 
 an ear piece adapted to be inserted into the external auditory canal of a user to convert air conductive voice vibrations of voice sound information of the user to electrical signals; and    a wireless linkage operatively connecting the ear piece with the cellular telephone.