Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
USER INTERFACE FOR ACCESSING MESSAGES
AT A TELEPHONE TERMINAL
Background of the Invention
1. Technical Field
This invention is directed to telephone terminals and more particularly,
to a telephone terminal configurable by a user for accessing messages available at the
terminal through an interactive display arrangement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Current trends in the design of telephone terminals indicate that more
10 and more of telephone functionality is being integrated into the telephone display on
the terminal. For example, information as to features available on the display has
migrated from light emitting diodes (LEDs) to the display, and local additions such
as directories, incoming caller information and the like, are all migrating to the
display.
The technology presently in use in telephone displays is character-based
liquid crystal device (LCD) displays. These displays are configured in various array
sizes such as, for example, a 2 line by 10 character LCD display, a 3 line by 12character LCD display and even a 4 line by 12 character LCD display. In order to be
artfully incorporated into the telephone housing of some telephone terminals, by way
of example, the recently introduced AT&T 3760 and 3770 wireless telephone
terminals, these displays tend to be small, typically on the order of one inch in
height. Also, in order to provide a reasonable number of characters for information
such as caller information and directory access information, a small font size for the
characters is generally used.
Wireless telephone terminals have evolved to a state where they now
permit reception and storage of short messages for access by a user at his or her
convenience. Such short message capability has traditionally been provided in
paging devices, which alert the user upon receipt of a new message through beeping,
vibrating and the like. Since in these devices this message function is usually the
30 only one provided, the user simply presses a button whenever he or she wishes to
view the messages, which are typically in the form of numbers.
Most wireless telephone terminals employ a user interface for assisting a
user to access features, such as a directory therein, and also perform specific
functions by interacting with information shown in the telephone display on the
terminal. Examples of user interfaces in such telephone terminals are found in
copending and commonly assigned US patent applications, serial number 08/559516
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
and 08/559517, both filed on November lS, l99S. Typically, the user interface in a
full featured wireless telephone terminal is arranged to provide many features and
functions for the user of the telephone terminal. It is therefore desirable that the
short message capability be incorporated in a telephone terminal in a manner that
S provides the user with full, easy access to his or her messages without reducing the
ease in which the user accesses those existing features and functions already
available on such telephone terminal.
Summary of the Invention
The prior art problem is solved in accordance with the present invention
10 by providing a user of a telephone terminal with an interactive display through which
easy access to messages received by the telephone terminal from a service provider
is available for the user.
When a message is received by the telephone terminal, in accordance
with a first aspect of the invention, a plurality of symbols in the display and
lS indicative of a number of selectable features accessible for display by a user is
increased by one for including the message among the selectable features, whose
number is similarly increased.
After the receipt of the message and in accordance with a second aspect
of the invention, the selectable feature that represents the received message is20 prominently displayed in the display. The user may then easily view the message by
pressing only a single button on the telephone terminal. Also, the user is alerted by
both audible and visual alerting signals once the message is received from the
service provider.
Brief Description of the Drawing
This invention and its mode of operation will be more clearly
understood from the following detailed description when read with the appended
drawing in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless telephone terminal and a base
unit, the telephone terminal being usable for incorporating the present invention;
FIG. 2 illustrates the telephone terminal of FIG. 1 including a user
interactive display displaying a first menu screen accessible in accordance with the
present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates the telephone terminal of FIG. 1 including a user
interactive display displaying a second menu screen accessible in accordance with
35 the present invention;
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
FIGs. 4 through 6 are flow charts of a first embodiment of the invention
illustrating some of the display screens provided by the circuitry shown in FIG. 1
and also illustrating how movement between these display screens is achieved, inaccordance with the invention; and
FIGs. 7 through 9 are flow charts of a second embodiment of the
invention illustrating some of the display screens provided by the circuitry shown in
FIG. 1 and also illustrating how movement between these display screens is
achieved, in accordance with the invention.
Throughout the drawing, the same elements when shown in more than
10 one figure are designated by the same reference numerals.
Detailed Description
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown an illustrative block diagram of
a wireless telephone terminal 100 useful for describing the operation of the present
invention. The telephone terminal is configured so that incoming messages from a15 service provider may be received from a base station or unit 120 and accessed or
stored, as appropliate. A user of the terminal is alerted to the receipt of each of these
messages and also provided easy access to these messages through a user
interface 200, described in detail later herein.
The terminal includes an input/output (I/O) interface unit 110 which
20 connects to a radio frequency (RF) transceiver 111 containing a transmitter and
receiver for providing communications in, by way of illustrative example, a cellular
radio system.
Various types of cellular radio systems are known in the art and have
been otherwise described. Once such system is described in The Bell System
25 Technical Journal, Volume 58, January 1979, Number 1, particularly in papers
entitled "Advanced Mobile Phone Service: Introduction, Background and
Objectives" by W. R. Young and "The Cellular Concept" by V. H. MacDonald.
The RF transceiver 111 also may provide communications suitable for
operating in a cordless telephone system. Such a cordless telephone system is
30 described in United States Patents 4,706,274 and 5,044,010, for example.
This I/O interface unit 110 contains switching and control circuits
required by the terminal 100 for establishing, maintaining and termin~ting RF
communications connections between terminal 100 and base unit 120. Through
these circuits and via antennas 115 and 125, the terminal 100 thus sends to and
35 receives the applopliate signals, including the incoming messages, from the base
unit via the RF transceiver 111.
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The terminal 100 also includes a program memory 112 which provides
instructions to a central processor unit (CPU) 113 for controlling the various
operating features and functions originating at the terminal. This program
memory 112 contains data for interpreting a plurality of codes representative ofS various control signals received from the base unit 120 and for generating codes to
be transmitted to the base unit 120. A data memory 114 is utilized by the CPU 113
for storing and accessing data associated with performing the various functions and
features programmed in the program memory 1 12. In the described embodiment,
CPU 113 is a microprocessor, program memory 112 is a read-only-memory (ROM)
10 and data memory 114 is a random-access-memory (RAM). These components are
readily available from a number of semiconductor manufacturers such as Intel,
Motorola, AMD and NEC. Connected to the interface unit 110 is a user
interface 200, the physical aspects of which are shown in greater detail in FIG. 2.
A messaging service is advantageously employed in a wireless system
15 since a user or subscriber of a wireless telephone terminal may not be available when
a caller attempts to reach him or her through a regular wireless telephone call.Through use of the messaging service, the caller is able to leave a short message that
will be received by the subscriber when he or she "resurfaces" or becomes available
at the telephone terminal. A messaging service known as Short Message Service
20 (SMS) is presently available from AT&T Corp. in the AT&T AUTOPLEX (R)
System- 1000.
The SMS message is a feature that is incorporated in a message center
(not shown) that is part of the overall cellular system. In achieving the SMS
message feature, the message center provides a voice mail functionality which
25 enables the message center to play an announcement that pron~ a caller to leave a
SMS message. A store and forward functionality also is provided in the message
center. This store and forward functionality enables the message center to forward
the SMS message to the telephone terminal at the approp,iate time for conveying it
to the user of the telephone terminal.
In order to suitably illustrate the SMS feature, the following descriptive
operation for this feature is provided.
1. A caller from a wireless telephone terminal or a land-based
station makes a call to a subscriber with a wireless telephone
terminal who subscribes to the SMS feature.
2. The SMS subscriber's telephone terminal alerts the subscriber,
but for some reason, the subscriber does not answer. If the subscriber
is made aware of the incoming call and wishes to reroute the call to
~ CA 02203473 1997-04-23
the message center, the subscriber needs only to press a send
key 224 on the telephone terminal. Alternatively, if the telephone
terminal of the subscriber happens to be in the OFF state when the
call is made, the call is automatically rerouted to the message center.
3. When the call is received at the message center, the message
center greets the caller and makes a suitable announcement such as:
Please press 1 if you would like to leave a Spoken Voice Message, or
Please press 2 if you would like to have your Party Paged, or
Please press 3 if you would like to leave a Short Alphanumeric Message.
4. If the caller presses " 1", and chooses to leave a Spoken Voice
Message, then the caller is prompter to do so "at the tone."
The called party is then appraised of pending voice messages via
voice mail notification or Message Waiting indication. The
called party is then expected to call into the voice mail
notification and access the voice mail.
5. If the caller presses "2", and chooses to have his or her party
paged, then the caller is prompted to enter via the keypad a
"Reach Me" number. This will be delivered for display as, for
example, "Please call 234-5678" when the called party resurfaces
and responds to a page. The called party is then expected to
call the "Reach Me" number.
6. If the caller presses "3", and chooses to leave a personalized
Short Alphanumeric Message, then the caller is connected to a
human attendant, who will transcribe the message into text which
will be less than or equal to 30 characters. This text is then
stored at the message center.
7. When the called party resurfaces, a home location register
(not shown) in the cellular system notifies the message center.
8. The message center forwards the SMS/Paging information to the
SMS subscriber.
9. For the SMS subscriber whose telephone terminal is in the idle
state, the SMS/Paging information is conveyed to the telephone
terminal and an alerting signal is generated in the terminal.
This alerting signal times out after about three seconds after the
SMS/Paging message is sent to the telephone terrninal.
10. For the SMS subscriber whose telephone terminal is in the talk
state, and if that telephone is an analog telephone, then a type
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
of call waiting is invoked which allows the called party to
receive an indication of the SMS/Paging information at the terminal. If the
telephone terminal is a digital telephone, i.e., code division
multiple access (CDMA) or time division multiple access (TDMA),
then the SMS/Paging signal is received in the terminal
independent of the state of the terminal.
Beep tones are provided to the SMS subscriber, thus bringing
attention to this delivery.
l l. While the telephone terminal is in either the idle or talk
state, the subscriber is able to view the SMS/Paging message.
With reference now to FIG. 2, the user interface 200 comprises a user
interactive display 210 which includes a number of screen display symbols. Such
screen display symbols include a battery level symbol 211, an on-calllno-servicesymbol 212, a system indicator 213, a signal strength symbol 214, and a voice mail
15 waiting symbol 216.
The battery level symbol 211 consists of five battery icons or symbols
for showing the battery power level. At full charge, all symbols are filled in. As the
battery loses power, the filled-in part of each one of the symbols is removed leaving
the symbol outline. When only one filled-in symbol remains, it is an indication to
20 the user to recharge the battery. The on-call/no-service symbol 212 is displayed
when a telephone call is in progress. The handset with a diagonal slash appears in
this service symbol when telephone service is not available. The system
indicator 213 identifies the type of system in which the telephone terminal 100 is
being used. For example, in a cellular system, an "A" or "B" symbol is displayed.
25 The signal strength symbol 214 provides an indication of the received signal
strength. This symbol is largest when the received signal is strong and becomes
smaller as the received signal becomes weaker. The voice mail waiting symbol 216appears when the user has a voice mail message waiting.
The user interactive display 210 also includes a menu level indicator
30 215. This menu level indicator includes a number of symbols comprising
rectangularly outlined boxes aligned in a column on a side of the screen display.
Menu options or selectable features accessible for display and other information, to
be described later herein, are provided by the one or more filled-in rectangular boxes.
When a menu option is being displayed on the menu screen, only one rectangular
35 box is filled in for reflecting that option. The menu level indicator 215 informs a
user as to how many menu options are available by displaying a colTesponding
number of vertically aligned rectangular boxes. The menu level indicator 215 also
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
informs a user just which one of the menu options is currently active by darkening or
filling in the one rectangular box associated with that menu screen option.
Also shown in the user interface 200 is a set of menu keys or buttons
which provides, in accordance with the disclosed embodiment, quick access to all of
5 the features of the telephone terminal with just a few key presses of these menu keys.
The menu keys include a "Back" key 221, a "Select" key 222, a "Next" key 223 anda "Home" key 225. Other well-known keys or buttons: a "Send" key 224, an "End"
key 226 and a "Power" key 227, as well as others illustrated in the form of a dial pad,
are also part of the telephone terminal shown in FIG. 2 but are conventional keys and
10 need not be described in detail herein.
The Back key 221 allows a user to back up menu screen by menu
screen. The Select key 222 selects the feature which is being displayed on the
bottom line of the screen. The Next key 223 allows a user to go forward menu screen
by menu screen. The Send key 224 and the End key 226 are conventional keys
15 which, in a cellular system, are used to respectively send a just-entered or stored
telephone number to a base unit and to terminate an established conversation. The
Home key 225 is used to return a user to the original starting screen in the plurality
of display screens. The Power key 227 provides operating power to the telephone
terminal in a conventional manner.
The screen display changes dynamically as the user performs functions
and makes selections via the Select key 222. Shown in the display 210 is just one
menu screen in the hierarchically arranged menu. The illustrated entry is that of the
original starting screen or the "Last Number" dialed which is conveniently provided
for a user whenever the telephone terminal is turned ON from an OFF state or
25 returned to its standby state after the user presses the End key 226, terminating a
telephone call.
With reference next to FIG. 3, there is shown portions of the user
interface 200, shown in FIG. 1, including screen display symbols 211 through 215provided in a screen display 310. This "Text Msg." screen shown in display 310 of
30 FIG. 4 and in modified form in display 540 of FIG. 5 is described in detail later
herein.
While the embodiment of the present invention is illustratively
described as incorporated into a wireless telephone terminal, it should be recognized
that the present command-operated terminal could be utilized in other program-
35 controlled systems such as wired telephone terminals. Since such systems utilize avariety of hardware and programming techniques, no attempt is made to describe the
details of the program used to control the telephone terminal. However, the present
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
invention must be blended into the overall structure of the system in which it is used
and must be tailored to mesh with other features and operations of the system. Thus,
in order to avoid confusion and in order to enable those skilled in the art to practice
the claimed invention, this specification will describe the operation of the present
5 invention using the telephone terminal 100 shown in both FIGs.l and 2; the display
screens shown in FIGs. 2 and 3; and the display screen flow diagrams of FIGs.4
through 8 which, taken together, describe the logical steps and the various
parameters required to implement the present invention.
Referring next to FIG.4, there is shown a flow chart for illustrating
10 some of the display screens provided by the circuitry in FIG.l and produced in the
interactive display in the same manner as illustratively shown in display 210 inFIG. 2 and display 310 in FIG. 3. These display screens, along with those shown in
FIGs.S and 6, are illustratively embodied in a 2-line by 10 character LCD display.
The sequence in which these display screens are provided is indicated by the flow
15 chart, and is shown in sufficient detail to permit one skilled in the art to duplicate the
circuitry of FIG.l, either by programming a microprocessor or by special purposelogic circuitry such as is available in a digital signal processor.
The simplicity of the user interface is that all features illustrated by the
display screens of FIG. 4 are accessible through the use of three keys--Select, Back,
20 and Next. When the telephone terminal 100 is turned ON from an OFF state, themenu feature option, i.e., screen label Last Number, as shown in display 210 in both
FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, appears in the display on the bottom line and the menu level
indicator shows the outlines of five vertically aligned symbols or rectangular boxes
with the outline of the top box being shaded or filled in. The user of the telephone
25 terminal is thus informed when viewing the menu level indicator that the current
display in the terminal is the top choice of a 5-choice menu.
The flow chart in FIG. 4 shows how an incoming message arrives in the
telephone terminal while the terminal is in the idle state. As the message arrives in
the terminal, the terminal alerts the user with a series of two beeps and the words
30 "Text Message" appears in screen display 420. Also, the display alternates between
displaying the screen display 420 and the screen display 430 while the message is
being received. Once the alerting is complete and in accordance with the disclosed
embodiment, the menu grows or increases by one from the 5-choice menu to a 6-
choice menu and the words "Text Msg" appears in screen display 310. Also an "M"
35 Icon light flashes in the screen display 310.
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_ 9 _
Once a message has arrived and the user desires to access this message,
the user simply presses the Select key 222 to view a message log which contains not
only the recently received message but also any previously stored and not deleted
messages, typically up to ten. By pressing the select key 222, the user is taken5 directly to the message screen display 654 which shows the most recently received
message. The user, at this point, is also able to view other messages in the message
log, as desired. Once the user has completed viewing the desired portion of the
message log, such process being described later herein with reference to FIG. 6, the
user is automatically returned to the home screen or Last Number display 210. Such
10 a process also is described in US Patent Number 5,371,788 which issued on
December 6, 1994. When the user is returned to the home screen, the temporary
"Text Msg" option is removed until another new message arrives.
Referring next to FIG. 5, there is shown a flow chart for illustrating
some of the display screens provided by the circuitry in FIG. 1 and produced in the
15 interactive display in the same manner as illustratively shown in display 210 in
FIG. 2 and display 310 in FIG. 3. The flow chart of FIG. 5 is of display screenswhich are displayed when an incoming message is received and the telephone
terminal is in the on-call state.
Before the message arrives in the terminal, the "Directory" screen shown
20 in display 510 along with a timer, whose digits reflect elapsed minutes and seconds
on a call, is provided to the user. Once 60 minutes have elapsed, the timer is
configured to also show the hours spent on a call. As the message arrives in theterminal, the terminal alerts the user with a series of two beeps and the words "Text
Message" appears in screen display 520. Also, the display alternates between
25 displaying the screen display 520 and the screen display 530 while the message is
being received. Once the alerting is complete and in accordance with the disclosed
embodiment, the menu level indicator grows or increases by one from the 5-choicemenu to a 6-choice menu and the words "Text Msg" appears in screen display 540.
Also an "M" Icon light flashes in the screen display 540 and the time for which a
30 user has been on a call is again shown in this screen display.
Once a message has arrived and the user desires to access this message,
the user simply presses the Select key 222 to view the message log. By pressing the
select key 222, the user is taken directly to the message screen display 654 which
shows the most recently received message. The "Text Msg." option is provided as
35 the top or first menu choice until the user views the new message. Once the "Text
Msg." section of the terminal is entered through the menu, the menu returns to five
choices and the "M" icon is turned off. Such operation is applicable while the
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terminal is in both the idle state and the on-call state.
The user may also navigate into the message log via the normal menu at
any time. With reference next to FIG. 6, there is shown a flow chart for illustrating
some of the display screens provided by the circuitry in FIG. 1 and produced in the
5 interactive display in the same manner as illustratively shown in display 210 in
FIG. 2 and display 310 in FIG. 3. The sequence in which these display screens are
provided is indicated by the flow chart, and is shown in sufficient detail to permit
one skilled in the art to duplicate the circuitry of FIG. 1, either by programming a
microprocessor or by special purpose logic circuitry such as is available in a digital
10 signal processor.
Referring next to FIG. 6, there is shown the simple steps that a user of
the telephone terminal 100 takes in moving from the Last Number display 210 to the
Call Log display 640, selecting this display and then moving among the sub-
displays 641 through 644 in this menu choice. To move to the Call Log feature from
15 the display screen 210, as well as to other features within the telephone terminal, the
user uses the Next key and combinations of the Next key and the Select key to access
each of the telephone features illustrated in the multiple display screens.
As easily understood and with reference to FIG. 6, the Next key allows
the user to move through equal-level menu choices, and the menu level indicator
20 allows the user to determine which one of the menu choices is currently beingviewed. As the user repeatedly presses the Next key 223, shown in FIG. 2, the menu
choice changes from Last number as shown in display 210 to "Directory" as shown
in display 620; then to "Locks" as shown in display 630; next to "Call Log" as shown
in display 640; and finally to "Setup" as shown in display 660. As each choice is
25 viewed, a corresponding one of the vertically aligned array of rectangular boxes is
filled in to allow the user to determine just where he or she is while navigating
within the menu. By way of illustrative examples, for the Directory display 620, the
second rectangular box from the top is filled in; for the Locks display 630, the third
rectangular box from the top is filled in; for the Call Log display 640, the fourth
30 rectangular box from the top is filled in; and finally, for the Setup display 660, the
fifth rectangular box from the top is filled in. An additional press of the Nextkey 223 returns the user to the top Last Number display 210, and once again the top
rectangular box in the vertical aligned array of rectangular boxes is filled in.Although all are not shown, each one of the equal level menu choices
35 represented by menu screen displays 210, 620, 630, 640 and 660 provide a number
of selectable optional screens that may be selected by the user of the telephoneterminal 100. Once the user of the telephone terminal has decided which menu
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
choice he or she wishes to explore, the Next key 223 is used to place that choice on
the bottom line of the display and the Select key 222 is pressed.
By way of illustrative example and by using the selectable option
screens shown in FIG. 6, by pressing the Select key 222 while at the display 640,
5 which represents the call log option as a menu choice, the Call Log displays 641
through 644 are selected for display. Thus, when the call log option is specifically
selected as a menu choice, the display is configured at the top choice of a 4-choice
menu, which includes displays 641, 642, 643, and 644. In this operative example, as
the user repeatedly presses the Next key 223, the display moves downward through10 these equal-level menu choices and the viewed menu choice changes from "Call Log
Outgoing" as shown in display 641 to "Call Log Incoming" as shown in display 642;
then to "Call Log Timer" as shown in display 643; and finally to "Call Log
ScratchPad" as shown in display 644. Sequentially pressing the Next key while ateither of displays 641 through 644 causes the terminal to cycle between these four
15 displays and the display level indicator informs the user which one of the menu
choices is being viewed by displaying a filled-in one of four vertically alignedrectangular boxes that are respectively associated with these menu choices.
A group of submenu choices are available from the Call Log Incoming
display 642. By pressing the Select key 222 while at the display 642, which
20 represents the incoming call log as a menu choice, the Call Log Incoming
displays 650 through 652 are selected for display. When the Incoming Text Msg.
log option is specifically selected as a menu choice, the display is configured as the
top choice of a three choice menu, which includes displays 650, 551 and 652. Andthe menu level indicator allows the user to determine which one of the menu choices
25 is currently being viewed. In this operative example, as the user repeatedly presses
the Next key 223, the display moves across through these equal-level menu choices
and the viewed menu choice changes from "Incoming Text Msg." as shown in
display 650 to "Incoming Receive Call" as shown in display 661; and finally to
"Incoming Unanswered" as shown in display 652. As each choice is entered, the
30 menu level indicator allows the user to determine which one of the menu choices is
currently being viewed by displaying a filled-in one of three vertically alignedrectangular boxes.
From the incoming Text Msg. screen 650, a user is able to view each
one of the last ten messages received in the order of last received, first viewed. Thus
35 a user may press the select key 222 and view the most recently received message in,
for example, display screen 654. While at this screen, the user may either go to and
view the next received message which is available at display screen 655 by pressing
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
the Next key 223 or store the number being provided in this message by pressing the
Select key 222 and advancing to the store number screen 655. Each of the Incoming
Text Msg. display screens 654 and 656 through 659 are accessed in the same manner
through pressing the Next key 223. By pressing "Select" the user is provided the5 options of Storing the number, Seeing a long number and Sending DTMF tones to
the far end. Such operation is described in copending US application serial No.
08/559516.
If a user presses "Send" while viewing, or attempts to store a number
from a message, the phone will look for the longest digit string possibly starting with
10 a "(", containing only digits, ")", or "-", whose length is a minimum of 1 up to the
greatest number of contiguous digits. A number string will not be dialed or stored if
there is other punctuation such as a ":" or less than 1 digit available. If there are two
strings of equal length, the first string will be dialed/stored.
FIG. 6 also shows the use of the Back key 221 and how a user, while at
15 either of displays 654 through 659, is able to back up from each of these displays, to
the Incoming Text Msg. display 650. Although not specifically illustrated in FIG. 6,
the Back Key 221 similarly allows a user to back up from each one of the illustrated
displays and on to the Last Number display 210 and such operation is specifically
intended. Moreover, just as the operation invoked by a user in pressing the Next20 key 223 is reflected in one of the vertically aligned rectangular boxes being filled in,
the operation of the display through the Back key 221 also causes the appropliate
one of of the vertically aligned rectangular boxes to be filled in.
Referring next to FIGs. 7 through 9, there are shown flow charts of an
alternative embodiment of the invention which is embodied in a 3-line by 12-
25 character LCD character display. The sequence in which these display screens are
provided is indicated by the flow charts, and is shown in sufficient detail to permit
one skilled in the art to duplicate the circuitry of FIG. 1, either by programming a
microprocessor or by special purpose logic circuitry such as is available in a digital
s1gnal processor.
The flow chart depicted in FIG. 7 shows how an incoming message
arrives in the telephone terminal while the terminal is in the idle state, in which the
"Last Number" appears in screen display 710 is being displayed. As the message
arrives, the terminal alerts the user with a series of two beeps and the words "New
Message", "Text Message", and a local mail envelope all appear in screen
display 720. Also, the display alternates between displaying the screen display 720
and the screen display 730 while the message is being received. The effect of
alternating between these two screens is that the words "New Message" appear to
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flash on the top line of the display screen, alerting the user of the presence of an
incoming text message.
During the alerting and after the alerting is complete and in accordance
with the disclosed embodiment, the menu level indicator grows or increases by one
5 from the 6-choice menu to a 7-choice menu. Also, the words "Text Message" and
the local mail envelope are shown in screen display 740. Finally, an "M" Icon orlocal mail indicator also appears in screen display 740.
Once a message has arrived and the user desires to access this message,
the user simply presses the Select key 222 to view a message log which contains not
10 only the recently received message but also any previously stored and not deleted
messages, typically up to ten. By pressing the select key 222, the user is takendirectly to the message header screen display 954 which shows the first two lines of
the most recently received message, as described in greater detail later herein with
reference to FIG. 9.
Once the user has completed viewing the desired portion of the message
log, the user is automatically returned to the home screen or "Last Number" screen
display 710. When the user is returned to the home screen, the temporary "Text
Message" option is removed until another new message arrives.
The flow chart depicted in FIG. 8 shows how an incoming message
20 arrives in the telephone terminal while the terminal is in the on-call state. Before the
message arrives in the terminal, the "Scratch Pad" screen shown in display 810 along
with a timer, whose digits reflect elapsed minutes and seconds on a call, is provided
to the user. Once 60 minutes have elapsed, the timer is configured to also show the
hours along with the minutes and seconds spent on a call.
As the message arrives, the terminal alerts the user with a series of two
beeps and the words "New Message", "Text Message", and a local mail envelope allappear in screen display 820, along with the timer. Also, the display alternatesbetween displaying the screen display 820 and the screen display 830 while the
message is being received. The effect of alternating between these two screens is
30 that the words "New Message" appear to flash on the top line of the display screen,
alerting the user of the presence of an incoming text message.
During the alerting and after the alerting is complete and in accordance
with the disclosed embodiment, the menu level indicator grows or increases by one
from the 6-choice menu to a 7-choice menu. Also, the words "Text Message" and
35 the local mail envelope are shown in screen display 840. Finally, an "M" Icon or
local mail indicator also appears in screen display 840.
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Once a message has arrived and the user desires to access this message,
the user simply presses the Select key 222 to view the message log. By pressing the
select key 222, the user is taken directly to the message header screen display 954
which shows the first two lines of the most recently received message. The "Text5 Message" option is provided as the first or top menu choice until the user views the
new message. Once the "Text Message" section of the menu is entered, the menu
level indicator returns to six choices and the "M" icon and envelope are turned off.
Such operation is applicable while the terminal is in both the idle state and the on-
call state.
In FIG. 9, some of the details of the message log provided in the 3-line
by 12-character LCD character display are depicted. The flow chart depicted in
FIG. 9 is similar in operation to the flow chart depicted in FIG. 6. This flow chart
details those operational differences, in accordance with the disclosed embodiment,
that are believed necessary to provide the desired clarity of operation.
The "Call Log Incoming" display 942, which is itself a sub-display, has
a number of sub-displays. Thus, a user of the terminal may navigate to and select
the Call Log Incoming display 942 and then move among sub-displays 950
through 952 in this menu choice. Sub-display 950 is an "Incoming Text Messages"
screen from which the screens 954, 959 and 960 are accessed. These screens,
20 screen 954, 959 and 960, are message header screens, each showing the first two
lines of each message, with text which describe the message number.
As earlier indicated herein, by pressing the select key 222, the user is
taken directly from the screen display 740, shown in FIG. 7, or the screen
display 840, shown in FIG. 8, to the message header screen display 954 which shows
25 the first two lines of the most recently received message. The user, by simply going
to specific message header screens, is able to view the first two lines of each of the
messages in the message log, as desired. If the user chooses to view the contents of
a message, he or she must press the "Select" key at a message header screen display,
for example, display 954 to view screens 955 through 958 or display 960 to view
30 screens 961 through 963, which screens illustratively show the entire message for
their respective message header screens.
While viewing the message header screens, the menu level indicator
indicates, in accordance with the disclosed embodiment, the number of messages
that are viewable and also provided in the display is a message which reflects the
35 number of the message being viewed. By way of example, if the user is viewing the
header of message 1, the first or top-most symbol in the linear array comprising the
menu level indicator is filled in or shaded and a message on the screen indicates that
CA 02203473 1997-04-23
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message I is being viewed. If the user presses the "Next" key while at this first
message header screen, the second symbol from the top in the menu level indicator is
filled in to reflect that the user is now viewing the header of message 2. And amessage appears on the screen indicating that the viewer is viewing the second
5 message. As many as ten menu level indicator symbols and message number
indications may be shown in the display in this manner for reflecting a similar
number of received messages and the particular message being viewed.
Once the user presses the "Select" key at, for example, screens 954 and
960, he or she is presented additional screens which show the entire contents of the
10 message and give the viewer of the message a choice to execute certain options (e.g.,
store or dial number presented in message). While reading the message screens, the
menu level indicator depicts the number of pages for each message and the user uses
the "Next" key to move through the pages of the message.
FIG. 9 also shows the use of the Back key 221 and how a user, while at
15 either of displays 950 through 953, is able to back up from each of these displays, to
the Incoming Text Message display 950. Although all displays in the telephone
terminal are not specifically illustrated in FIG. 9, the Back Key 221 allows a user to
back up from each one of the illustrated displays as well as non-illustrated displays
and on to a Last Number display such as display 210, shown in FIG. 6, or through a
20 similar path (not shown) on to the last number display 710, shown in FIG. 7, and
such operation is specifically intended. Moreover, just as the operation invoked by a
user in pressing the Next key 223 is reflected in one of the symbols or vertically
aligned rectangular boxes being filled in, the operation of the display through the
Back key 221 also causes the applopliate one of these symbols to be filled in.
What has been described is merely illustrative of the present invention.
Other applications to telephone, computer or other user-interactive systems other
than the disclosed system are contemplated as being within the know!edge of one
skilled in the art. By way of example, a 4 line by 12 character display also may be
configured to be operable in accordance with the principles of the invention. Thus it
30 is to be understood that the disclosed user interface may be utilized in displays and
applications, other than those specifically described herein, without departing from
the spirit and scope of the present invention.
