Portable hybrid communication system and methods

Abstract

A laptop device includes a personal computer, a cellular transceiver, a speakerphone, and a hybrid communications control unit. The device has connectors for attaching a headset, cellular control unit, land telephone line, and additional speakers and microphones. The microprocessor-controlled hybrid communications control unit includes a modem, a data access arrangement, and a tone generator as well as digital, analog, and power switches. The hybrid communications control unit switches the communications components and provides, under program control, the proper protocols, level, and impedance matching to connect the modem, speakerphone, headset, speaker/microphone, or cellular control unit to the landline or to the cellular network via the transceiver. Matching and switching operations are automatic and transparent to the user. The unit can also connect two of the terminal devices or connect the cellular and landlines for call relaying. The device is capable of connecting plural calls at the same time. The hybrid communications control unit may be controlled by its internal firmware, by toggle switches, or by commands issued from the personal computer. Microfiche Appendix Included (1 Microfiche, 79 pages).

I claim:  
     
       1. A portable hybrid communications system comprising: 
       (a) entry means for entering a data signal;  
       (b) public telephone network connection means for accessing a public telephone network in response to public telephone accessing control signals;  
       (c) modem means for modulating and demodulating data signals;  
       (d) cellular transceiving means for accessing a cellular network in response to cellular network accessing control signals;  
       (e) analog switch means connected to the public telephone network connection means, to the cellular transceiving means, and to the modem means;  
       (f) digital data connecting means for selectively creating a digital data transmission connection with the cellular transceiving means;  
       (g) central processing means connected with said entry means, said public telephone network connection means, said modem means, said analog switch means, and said digital data connection means for generating public telephone accessing control signals and cellular network accessing control signals and for selectively operably connecting the modem means to either the public telephone network or the cellular network so that the central processing means may transmit or receive information over the public or cellular network.  
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1  wherein the entry means is a personal computer interfaced to the central processing means. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 1  having means to selectively control power application to the cellular transceiving means. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 1  wherein signal sensing means responsive to incoming cellular or public telephone network calls signals the user that an incoming call condition exists. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1  wherein the central processing means may selectively operably connect an active cellular network line to an active public telephone network line for call relaying. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1  wherein a cellular antenna associated with the cellular radiotelephone transceiving means is retractable into a case housing the system. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1  wherein the central processing means resides on a circuit board which fits in a card slot of the personal computing means. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 7  wherein the card slot is a modem card slot. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1  further including voice signalling means for generating and receiving voice signals connected to the central processing means, wherein the central processing means selectively operably connects said voice signalling means to either the public telephone network connection means or the cellular transceiving means. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 9  wherein the central processing means may selectively operably connect the modem means to either the cellular transceiving means or the public telephone network connection means, while the central processing means may operably connect the voice signal generating and receiving means to the other of the cellular transceiving means or public telephone network connection means, permitting simultaneous voice and data communications. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 9  wherein the central processing means selectively produces a first processing method when data signals are transmitted or received using the public telephone network and a second processing method when data signals are transmitted or received using the cellular transceiving means. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 9  wherein signal sensing means responsive to an incoming cellular or public telephone network call cause the central processing means to connect the call selectively to a data or voice terminal means associated with the system. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 9  wherein the voice signalling means is a speakerphone built into a case housing the personal computing means. 
     
     
       14. The system of  claim 9  having means for connecting one or more external voice signal generating and receiving devices which the central processing means may selectively operably connect to either the cellular transceiving means or the public telephone network connection means. 
     
     
       15. The system of  claim 14  wherein one of the external voice signal generating and receiving devices is a telephone headset. 
     
     
       16. The system of  claim 14  wherein the central processing means generates all the signals which cause the cellular transceiving means to transmit and receive voice signals over the cellular network. 
     
     
       17. The system of  claim 14  having sensing means to sense the connective status of the external voice signal generating and receiving devices. 
     
     
       18. The system of  claim 17  wherein signal sensing means responsive to incoming cellular or public telephone network calls cause these calls to be connected selectively to a data or voice terminal means associated with the system, where the choice of terminal means to be connected depends on the terminal means available and on a preselected priority when a plurality of terminal means are available. 
     
     
       19. The system of  claim 14  wherein one of the external voice signal generating and receiving devices is a cellular control unit. 
     
     
       20. The system of  claim 19  including means to selectively control the application of power to the cellular control unit and cellular transceiving means. 
     
     
       21. The system of  claim 19  wherein the cellular control unit has means for information display or audio signalling, and wherein the central processing means transmit signals to the cellular control unit, causing the control unit to display information or signal audibibly. 
     
     
       22. The system of  claim 19  wherein the cellular control unit has input means for accepting user input and wherein the central processing means accepts signals from the control unit representative of the user input. 
     
     
       23. The system of  claim 19  wherein the cellular control unit has a microphone and speaker, and wherein means are provided for selectively transmitting signals from the central processing means to the cellular control unit to enable or disable the microphone and speaker. 
     
     
       24. The system of  claim 19  wherein the central processing means may control operation of the system such that the cellular control unit functions to transmit and receive signals over the public telephone network while the cellular transceiver is disabled. 
     
     
       25. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device for facilitating voice and data communication over a plurality of public communication networks using different communication protocols, comprising 
       a housing small enough to be hand held;  
       an antenna supported by the housing for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic energy;  
       an integral screen supported by the housing for displaying information that is visually perceptible to a user;  
       memory contained within the housing for storing an operating program and data including network information, telephone numbers and text messages;  
       a touch-sensitive device for receiving user commands and data;  
       network accessing circuitry for accessing one or more of the public communication networks using a protocol appropriate to the communication network accessed to establish a communication link for voice or data communication over the accessed network, the circuitry including a cellular telephone transceiver for sending voice signals and data signals, the network accessing circuitry being electrically connected to the antenna;  
       a processor electrically connected to the screen, memory, touch-sensitive device and network accessing circuitry for responding to user commands for accessing a plurality of public communication networks for sending and receiving both voice signals and data signals wherein at least one network is a cellular telephone network that also provides both voice and data communication capability, the processor operating, under the control of the operating program, to control the cellular telephone and computing device, providing information for display on the screen, carrying out arithmetic calculations and retrieving data from memory;  
       wherein the functions of data processing and placing or receiving telephone calls are combined into a single integrated hand-held unit that allows data processing and network telephone communication to be carried out by selective access, under the control of the processor, to one or more of the public communication networks through operation of the network accessing circuitry.  
     
     
       26. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25  having a microphone.  
     
     
       27. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25  having a speaker phone.  
     
     
       28. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25  wherein the touch sensitive device is a keypad.  
     
     
       29. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25  having a speaker.  
     
     
       30. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25  wherein the housing includes two rotatably connected parts that permit the configuration of the housing to modified.  
     
     
       31. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 30 , wherein the two rotatably connected parts may be folded together to reduce the overall dimensions of the housing. 
     
     
       32. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25 , wherein the processor causes operation in one of a plurality of different modes including one mode in which a communication link is established over one communication network and permits a second communication link to be simultaneously established over another communication network.  
     
     
       33. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device for facilitating voice and computer communication over a plurality of public communication networks using communication protocols which differ in the manner by which voice, data or incoming call placement signals are formatted and processed, comprising 
       a housing of an appropriate size to enable the device to be hand held;  
       an antenna connected with the housing for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic energy;  
       an integral display screen connected with the housing for displaying information that is perceptible to a user;  
       memory contained within the housing for storing an operating program and data including network information, telephone numbers and message data;  
       a touch-sensitive device for receiving user commands and data;  
       network accessing circuitry for accessing one or more of the public communication networks using a protocol appropriate to the communication network accessed to establish a communication link for voice or data communication over the accessed network, the circuitry including a cellular telephone transceiver for sending voice signals and data signals, the network accessing circuitry being electrically connected to the antenna;  
       a processor, connected to the screen, memory and touch sensitive device for responding to user commands to provide information for display on the screen, carry out arithmetic calculations and retrieve data from memory;  
       interconnective circuitry for connecting the processor with the network accessing circuitry to allow the processor, operating under program control, to control the network accessing circuitry and to process call placement signals and data signals sent and received over each of the plurality of networks, including the cellular network, using the different communication protocols,  
       wherein the functions of data processing and placing or receiving telephone calls are combined into the housing that allows data processing and network communication to be carried out by selective access, under the control of the processor, to one or more of the public communication networks through operation of the network accessing circuitry.  
     
     
       34. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33  having a microphone.  
     
     
       35. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33  having a speaker phone.  
     
     
       36. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33  having a telephone headset connection.  
     
     
       37. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33  having a speaker.  
     
     
       38. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33  wherein the housing includes two rotatably connected sections that permit the configuration of the housing to modified.  
     
     
       39. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 38 , wherein the two rotatably connected sections may be folded together to reduce the overall dimensions of the housing.  
     
     
       40. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33 , wherein the processor causes operation in one of a plurality of different modes including one mode in which a communication link is established over one communication network and permits a second communication link to be simultaneously established over another communication network.  
     
     
       41. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device for facilitating communication over a plurality of public telephone communication networks using different signals for announcing incoming calls, comprising 
       a housing small enough to be hand held;  
       an antenna supported by the housing for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic energy modulated with voice signals and call placement signals;  
       an integral screen supported by the housing for displaying information that is visually perceptible to a user;  
       a touch-sensitive device for receiving user data and commands including user defined preferences for one of a plurality of different ways of being notified that an incoming call placement signal has been received over one of the public communication networks;  
       memory contained within the housing for storing an operating program including software for processing signals announcing incoming calls and for storing user preferences entered via the touch-sensitive device for indicating the manner by which the existence of an incoming call is announced to the user;  
       network accessing circuitry for accessing one or more of the public voice communication networks using a protocol appropriate to the communication network accessed to establish a communication link for communication over the accessed network, the circuitry including a cellular telephone transceiver for sending and receiving voice signals, the network accessing circuitry being electrically connected to the antenna;  
       a processor electrically connected to the screen, memory, touch-sensitive device and network accessing circuitry for responding to incoming call placement signals and user commands indicating the manner in which the user prefers to be notified that an incoming call placement signal has been received to one of the plurality of public communication networks accessible to cause an incoming call announcement of the type preprogrammed by the user to be implemented;  
       wherein the manner by which the user is notified of an incoming call over any one of the networks may be controlled by the processor in accordance with user defined preferences that have been preprogrammed or subsequently reprogrammed by the user and stored in the memory to cause the manner of announcement of an incoming call to suit the current desires of the user.  
     
     
       42. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41  having a plurality of different incoming call announcing devices for announcing an incoming call.  
     
     
       43. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41 , wherein the incoming call announcing devices include a headset.  
     
     
       44. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41 , wherein the incoming call announcing devices include a speakerphone.  
     
     
       45. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41 , further including firmware for implementing incoming call announcements in accordance with predetermined priorities.  
     
     
       46. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41 , wherein the microprocessor generates different types of audio signals for indicating that an incoming call signal has been received.  
     
     
       47. The integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 41 , a modem for modulating and demodulating data in a format compatible with one or more of the public telephone communication networks.  
     
     
       48. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device for facilitating communication over a plurality of public telephone communication networks using different signals for announcing incoming calls, comprising 
       a housing small enough to be hand held;  
       an antenna supported by the housing for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic energy modulated with voice signals and call placement signals;  
       an integral screen supported by the housing for displaying information that is visually perceptible to a user;  
       a touch-sensitive device for receiving user data and commands including user defined preferences for one of a plurality of different ways of being notified that an incoming call placement signal has been received over one of the public communication networks;  
       memory contained within the housing for storing an operating program including software for processing signals announcing incoming calls and for storing changeable user preferences for announcing the existence of an incoming call;  
       network accessing circuitry for accessing one or more of the public voice communication networks using a protocol appropriate to the communication network accessed to establish a communication link for communication over the accessed network, the circuitry including a cellular telephone transceiver for sending and receiving voice signals, the network accessing circuitry being electrically connected to the antenna;  
       a processor electrically connected to the screen, memory, touch-sensitive device and network accessing circuitry for responding to incoming call placement signals and user commands indicating the manner in which the user prefers to be notified that an incoming call placement signal has been received to one of the plurality of public communication networks to cause an incoming call announcement of the type preprogrammed by the user to be implemented;  
       wherein the manner by which the user is notified of an incoming call over any one of the networks may be controlled by the processor in accordance with user defined preferences that have been preprogrammed or subsequently reprogrammed by the user and stored in the memory to cause the manner of announcement of an incoming call to suit the current desires of the user.  
     
     
       49. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 48 , wherein the incoming call announcing devices include an audible tone generating device.  
     
     
       50. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 49 , wherein the audible tone generating device is a speaker.  
     
     
       51. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 49 , further including a tone generator connected with the audible tone generating device for generating signals for causing the audible tone generating device to generate an audible tone (RING) for indicating an incoming call.  
     
     
       52. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 51 , further including control lines for connecting the processor to the tone generator for supplying control signals representative of a sequence of tones.  
     
     
       53. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 49 , wherein the audible tone generating device is connected with the processor which causes the audible tone generating device to generate an audible signal indicating an incoming call.  
     
     
       54. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 53 , wherein the audible signal is an audible tone (RING).  
     
     
       55. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 53 , wherein the audible signal is generated in response to a series of tones.  
     
     
       56. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 48 , wherein the cellular telephone transceiver responds to transceiver control signals and the processor generates the transceiver control signal.  
     
     
       57. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 56 , wherein the transceiver responds to transceiver control signals generated by the processor without an inverting control unit.  
     
     
       58. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 25 , wherein the cellular telephone transceiver responds to transceiver control signals and the processor generates the transceiver control signal.  
     
     
       59. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 58 , wherein the transceiver responds to transceiver control signals generated by the processor without an intervening control unit.  
     
     
       60. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 33 , wherein the cellular telephone transceiver responds to transceiver control signals and the processor generates the transceiver control signal.  
     
     
       61. An integrated, hand-held, battery operated cellular telephone and computing device of  claim 60 , wherein the transceiver responds to transceiver control signals generated by the processor without an intervening control unit.