Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
Celalla>;~ te~ep~~ae, ~~xe~ '~e~e~~nne ~li~ ~e>rsona~
Dig~ta~ Assistant {t'DA) ~~th »nu~tip~e ~~1i1~3~a:'
alarm sensors
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cellular/fixed telephone or a PDA and, more
particularly,
to a cellular/fixed telephone or PDA operating as an alarm with built in means
for
detecting the occurrence of a range of predetermined events and for
communicating the
occurrence of the events to a called telephone number, as is, but not limited
to, an
emergency dispatch center. The device, sends an alarm to the person carying
it, as well as
to the surrounding people, irrespective to the ability of the device to
connect or not to the
communication network.
Currently, there are many types of alarm systems which sound an audio alarm
upon
detection of one or more predetermined events. These alarms protect the
security of
homes, automobiles, businesses, etc. and often alert police or other security
companies of
an unlawful entrance of the premises. The present invention is not mainly
focused on
property protection, rather on the human being protection against various
potential
hazard s.
Sensors capable of identifying multiple potentially dangerous events depend on
the
indicator substance, to measure each volatile compound and each desired gas,
for
example, carbon monoxide, volatile amines, ammonia , nitrogen dioxide "G-type"
nerve
agents, such as sarin, soman and GF_ Other sensors types that could be used in
the present
invention are, but not limited to, radiation sensors and biosensors
Carbon monoxide is the leading cause of poisoning deaths in the U.S_ Annually
3,500 to
4.000 die. and an estimated 10,000 people lose a day's work or seek medical
attention.
Fires cause approximately two-thirds of known fatalities, with automobile
exhaust and
faulty heating equipment causing the remaining one-third.
Carbon monoxide is rapidly absorbed by the lungs and quickly passes to the
blood. The
afPrnity of CO and the red blond cells, hemoglobin, is 2;0 to 270 times
greater than the
affinity of oxygen and hemoglobin. Hemoglobin carrying CO (carboxyhemoglobin),
is
incapable of releasing oxygen to the tissues- Even small amounts of carbon
monoxide in
the air breathed will quickly increase the percentage of carboxyhemoglobin.
For instance,
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
breathing air with 0.0 I % ( 100 ppm)carbon monoxide for two hours has been
shown to
increase blood carboxyhemoglobin concentrations to 16.4%, a concentration that
can
cause CO poisoning symptoms
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report !!!!The majority ofhouseholds in
Canada
and the U. S. are potentially at risk from CO poisoning from at least one
hazardous source
OB,1ECTS OF THE INVENT1()N
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a
cellular/tixed telephone or
PDA alarm which overcomes the shortcomings of existing alarm systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cellular/lixed
telephone alarm or
PDA alarm that are operable to be utilized as an alarm system and which may be
utilized
also as a regular cellular/fixed telephone or PDA. Hence, to the
cellular/fixed phone or
PIRA is added the personal security device functionality for potentially
dangerous
situations.
The device is useful for self protection or group protection in circumstances
as: schools,
kindergardens, (transport in comun), stadiums, trains and train stations,
airports, subways,
shows (sali de spectacol), malls.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a cellular/fixed
telephone alarm
having alarm capabilities not possible by typical alarm systems.
Various other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will
become
readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, and the novel features
will be
particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a cellular/fixed
telephone or
PDA is provided to operate as an alarm for individuals or groups by receiving
or reading
a signal from one of the many built in sensors which represents the occurrence
of a
predetermined event, establishing automatically the cellular/fiixed telephone
or PDA in an
alarm mode, thereafter establishing a network connection W th a predetermined
telephone
number, transmitting to the predetermined telephone number identification data
that
identifies the cellular/fixed telephone or PDA and the type of alarms) to the
called
number.
As one aspect of the present invention, a digital signal received or read from
any of the
sensors will determine the generation of an acoustic, visual and vibration
alarm
irrespective of the network availability.
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
As another aspect of the present invention, far the analog sensors, the
internal
microcontroller of the cellular/fixed phone or PDA, campares the read and
digitised
parameters against an internally stored safety limit. If any of the read
signals goes beyond
the acceptable limit , this will determine the generation of an acoustic,
visual and vibration
alarm irrespective of the network availability.
As another aspect of the present invention, if the cellular/fixed phone or PDA
is situated
within the coverage area of any cellular/fixed network, then the device will
establish a
connection with a predetermined telephone number, transmitting to the
predetermined
telephone number identification data that identifies the cellular/fixed
telephone or PDA
and the type of alarms) to the called number.
Still yet a further aspect of the present invention, a channel of
communication is
established with a second predetermined telephone number when the
cellular/fixed
telephone cannot establish a channel of communication with the first called
number.
Still yet a further aspect of the present invention, if the cellular/fixed
phone or PDA is
turned off, the sensor reading and sensing is being kept active. Should an
alarm occur to
one of the built in sensors, the device autornatically_ turns on and follows
the alarm
signalling procedure presented above.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following detailed description, given by way of example, and not intended
to limit the
present invention solely thereto, will best be appreciated in conjunction with
the
accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote like elements
and parts,
in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the mufti sensor alarm equipped cellular/fixed
telephone or
PDA ;
FIG. 2a is a schematic illustration of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, digital (ON/OFF) output sensors in an interrupt driven
environment;
FIG. 2b is a flowchart of the operation of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, digital (ON/OFF) output sensors in an intemzpt driven
environment;
FIG. 3a is a schematic illustration of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, digital (ON/OFF) output alarm sensors in a polling based
environment;
FIG. 3b is a flowchart of the operation of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, digital (ON/OFF) output alarm sensors in a polling based
environment;
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
FIG. 4a is a schematic illustration of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, analog output alarm sensors in a polling based environment;
F1G. 4b is a flowchart of the operation of the alarm sensors connected to the
internal
microcontroller, analog output alarm sensors in a polling based environment;
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the cellular/fixed phone including a
partial view of the
circuit board and the built in alarm sensors.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN PREFERRED
~MI~OT?T~FNTS
Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cellular/fixed
telephone
embodying the rnulti alarm sensors of the present invention (also referred to
herein as
"Celullar telephone or Personal Digital Assistant (:PDA) with multiple built
in alarm
sensors").
As shown, cellular/fixed telephone 10 is comprised of a microcontroller 12, a
display and
keyboard module 14, a transmitting circuit with its associated microphone 16,
a receiving
circuit with its associated speaker 18, a diptexer circuit 20 that allows the
simultaneous
connection of the transmitter a,nd the receiver at the same antenna and the
antenna 22 that
connects to the Network Base Station 24. The microcontroller 12 provides the
means for
carrying out most of the standard "phone" functions of the cellular/fixed
telephone or PDA
utilizing the permanently stored operation program. Controller I Z further
provides, in
conjunction with the alarm sensor multiplexer, for the operation of the
cellular/fixed
telephone alarm of the present invention (to be discussed). The multiplexer 26
may or may
not be an external circuit since many of the existing controllers have the
capability of
reading multiple alarm sensors 28 at a time.
input keys situated on the Display and Keyboard module 14 provide the means by
which a
user of the cellular/fixed telephone enters numbers and other information. The
transmitting
circuit 16 transmits and the receiving circuit 18 receives RF signals via the
antenna 22 to
and from a cellular telephone Network Base Station. Since the particular
construction and
operation of Display and Keyboard module 14, transmitter 16, receiver 18,
diplexer 20
and antenna 22, are well-known in the art, fiarther description thereof is
omitted herein,
except where it is necessary for an understanding of the present invention.
As will be further mentioned, while the present invention is described as
pertaining to the
operation of a cellular/fixed telephone, the present invention is not limited
thereto and may
easily be applied to other types of mobile or fixed devices including, but not
limited to, a
PDA, pager, fixed telephone or tax machine, even laptop or desktop computers.
DIGITAL ALARM SENSOR READING USING ~NTERRLIPTS
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
FIG. 2a is a schematic detail of the multiple built in alarm sensors 28
connected to the
internal microcontroller 12 of the celular phone or fDA. It is assumed that
the
microcontroller 12 has the capability of simultaneously monitoring of the
digital outputs
from all the on board provided alarm sensors 28.
FIG. 2b is a flowchart representing the basic operating mode of" the current
invention
while the alarm sensors are being read in an internapt based environment.
In accordance with the present invention, the microcontrolter 12 runs the
program
associated with the normal functions of a cellu lar/fixed phone or PDA. The
Interrupt
Sequencing Logic 30 is activated and ready to signal the microcontroller
should any
transition would occur on any of the mufti alarm sensor's 28 output. The
microcontroler
I 2 and its associated program are so designed that even if the cellularJfixed
phone is
currently turned off, a transition on the alarm sensor's dedicated input would
wake up the
microcontroller 12. This type of function is known in the art as interrupt on
change
operation. Upon receiving a signal change on any of the alarm sensor's inputs,
the current
program routine is interrupted and a jump to the alarm servicing routine is
performed.
After wake up, the microcontraller checks wether the cellular/fixed phone is
turned on or
off. If it is turned off, then the cellularJfixed is turned on and the alarm
specific procedure
is being performed.
The alarm specific procedure mainly consists of generating an alarm sound and
vibration,
printing the type of alarm on the display 14, try to connect over the network
to an
emergency preprogrammed phone number or even an Internet address, transmit the
associated alarm sensor code and the eellular/fixed telephone number or 1P
address (if
available) to the emergency dispatch.
In case of a cellular/fixed phone the operator tries to contacts the cell
phone owner in
order to precisely identify location and asess the situation.
DIGITAL ALARM SENSOR READING USING POLLING
FIG. 3a is a schematic detail ofthe multiple built in alarm sensors 28
connected to the
internal microcontroller 12 of the celu(ar phone or PDA by means of a digital
multiplexer
26 that extends the input/output capabilities of the microcontroller. The
microcontroller
also has the capability to address the multiplexer in order to select the
reading of the
appropriate alarm sensor. Depending on the actual microcontroller
configuration and
external input/output port pins availability, the multiplexer could be
omitted. In this case,
the r~nicrocontroller is expected, under software control, to individually
read each sensor's
output trought its own input/output pins.
The internal circuitry of the microcontroller is being programmed in such a
way that the
microcontroller periodically receives an alarm sensor related interrupt
request. Following
the interrupt request, the program execution jumps to the beginning of the
flowchart
presented in FIG. 3b. As seen in the diagram, upon starting the alarm sensor
asociated
interrupt routine, the microcontroller initializes the index variable N that
further identifies
CA 02411365 2002-12-06
the alarm sensor number. While executin the alarm sensor interrupt routine,
the index
variable N will be sent to the multiplexes 26 addressing bus. After addressing
the
multiplexes 26, the microcontroller reads the data output from the
multiplexes. If the
current alarm sensor (addressed by N) is detected to be activated, then an
alarn procedure
is being initiated. If the sensor is not activated, then the index variable is
being
incremented (N=N+I), tested against Nmax, where Nmax is the address of the
last sensor.
If N is greater than the maximum available sensor address, then the micro
controller
resumes the main program. 1f N is lower than Nmax (defined above), then the
microcontroller continues to check the alarm sensor status.
If the multiplexes is not needed in a specific application, the alarm sensor
reading is
expected to be done through the microcontroller's own input/output pins, in a
similar
manner like the multiplexed case.
The alarm related periodic interrupt is active even if the cellular/fixed
phone or PDA is
turned off. The alarm specific procedure is identical to the one specified
above.
ANALOG ALARM SENSOR READING USING POLLING
FIG. 4a is a schematic detail of the multiple built in alarm sensors 28
connected to the
internal microcontroller 12 of the celular phone or PDA by means of an analog
multiplexes
26 that extends the input/output capabilities of the microcontroller. As
previously
mentioned in the description of the "DIGITAL ALARM SENSOR READING USING
POLLING" , the microcontroller has the ability to individually read each
sensor through
multiplexor addressing. The main di$erence is that the sensors as well as the
multiplexes
are analog. If the microcontroller 12 is provided with enough analog inputs,
then the
analog multiplexes might not be needed.
The periodic alarm sensor reading is similar to the previously presented at
the "DIGITAL
ALARM SENSOR READING USING POLLING" with the difference that the
microcontroller receives analog value, instead of a digital signal. The analog
value is being
converted to a digital number by the internal Analog to Digital (A/D)
converter internal to
the microcontroller. Upon conversion, the microcontroller compares the value
against an
internally stored table, that reflects the accepted safety limits for each
alarm sensor. if at
least one of the measured value goes beyond the appropriate limit, then the
alarm
procedure is being initiated.
One of the possible placements of the alarm sensors 28 on the printed circuit
board 30 of
the cellular phone is presented in FIG S .
