Wearable Communication Device

[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/682,804 filed Aug. 14, 2012, which is owned by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/682,814 filed Aug. 14, 2012, which is owned by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0003] This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/681,791 filed Aug. 10, 2012, which is owned by a common assignee, and which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0004] (1) Field of the Disclosure

[0005] This disclosure relates generally to electronic mobile devices and relates in particular to wearable communication devices using short range communication to a cell phone or other portable electronic device.

[0006] (2) Background of Disclosure

[0007] Notification watches are used for some time now, which can receive information from portable electronic devices such as cell phones. They notify a user when a mobile phone rings by a vibrating or alerting for specific issues. They can pass through from the mobile phone information such as emails, SMS, calendar events and caller Ids.

[0008] A principal object of the present disclosure is to allow use of a wearable communication device, such as a watch (and hereinafter referred to as, but not limited to, a watch) to talk, listen, initiate voice commands, and be notified with vibration, an LED light and OLED text display of incoming calls, texts, and calendar events, all while a phone is nearby but not visible, such as in a pocket or purse.

[0009] A further object of the present disclosure is to be notified with vibration, an LED light and OLED text display of incoming calls, texts, and calendar events, all without a phone being visible.

[0010] A further object of the present disclosure is to put a wearable Bluetooth communication device into a watch that would connect to a cell phone.

[0011] A further object of the present disclosure is to achieve a watch enabling a hands-free communication with a cell phone.

[0012] In accordance with the objects of this disclosure, a wearable communication device configured to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a mobile phone is nearby has been achieved, firstly comprising a display to show information, one or more function buttons, and a near-field short distance wireless communication chipset, wherein the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset is used for communication with the phone. Furthermore the wearable communication device comprises a speakerphone means configured to make and receive phone calls via the mobile phone comprising a microphone and a loudspeaker device and to accept voice commands, an alerting means to alert a user of the wearable communication device to consider an action, a movement sensing means to initiate functions of the communication device by moving the communication device, and a processor controlling operation of the communication device.

[0013] In accordance with the objects of this disclosure a method to achieve a wearable communication device configured to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events has been disclosed. The method disclosed comprises the steps of: (1) deploying a mobile phone within reach of a near-field short distance wireless communication chipset used for communication between the wearable communication device and the mobile phone, (2) deploying the near-field short distance wireless communication chipset in the wearable communication device, (3) connecting the mobile phone to the internet via Wi-Fi or to mobile phone networks, and (4) configure the wearable communication device to enable to talking and listening, placing and answering phone calls, sending and receiving text messages, initiating voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and being notified of incoming calls, texts, and events.

[0019] The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure present a wearable communication device, which can be, for example, a watch (and hereinafter referred to, though not limited to, as a watch), comprising functions enabling to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a phone is nearby but not visible, as when it is in the user's pocket or purse or, in other words, within the reach of a near-field communication short-distance wireless communication module of the communication device for exchanging data.

[0020] Simple notification watches, in communication with a nearby cell phone, exist in the art, but a disadvantage of them is that they don't have the ability to actually answer, reply and connect to a caller without having to look at the cell phone.

[0021] It is a challenge to designers of communication devices to achieve a watch that allows a user to talk and to listen, place and answer calls, send and receive text messages, initiate voice commands to mobile search for information and to find locations, and be notified of incoming calls, texts, and events, all while a phone is in a pocket or purse.

[0022] FIG. 1 shows a top view of a preferred embodiment of the disclosure. The watch 1 has an always-on analog watch movement. Alternatively a digital watch display, instead of an analog clock, can be used; there is no need to touch the screen to see the time. The upper half shows the hands of an analog Quartz watch. The watch comprises two physical buttons 3 and 4. Knob 2 can be used to adjust the time of day. Button 3 is an upper command button; button 4 is a lower select button.

[0023] The buttons 3 and 4 are programmable buttons, configured by the user via either (a) a web portal or (b) a smartphone application. Pre-programmed configurations can include “social”, “messaging/tweet”, or “emergency”. Other pre-programmed configurations are possible, such as for example: in idle state, short press a button to activate voice recognition, long press to call last number dialed, OR, short press to read new texts or messages, long press to send new texts or messages.

[0024] The table below shows examples of such pre-programmed configurations. The functions in the table are determined by the state of the watch, together with the duration and number of times the button is pressed:

	TOP BUTTON	BOTTOM BUTTON
CONFIG	FUNCTIONS	FUNCTIONS
Default	Voice command activation,	Activate status display,
	make call, receive call,	volume control.
	terminate call,
	pairing with phone.
Social	Read and send text	Display new postings from
	messages	social websites: e.g.,
		Facebook, twitter.
Safety	Start/stop calling	Call 911
	pre-programmed numbers.
Gaming/	Start/Stop 3D motion	Left/right mouse button
remote	reporting (for cursor
control	control)
Audio	Start/stop playing music	Volume control
Record	Activate voice recording	Terminate voice recording
audio

[0025] The preferred embodiment has an OLED display and an RGB LED light. Alternatively an LCD display, as e.g. one line LCD dot matrix, can be used. The one-line digital display of FIG. 1 shows a phone number because the most basic function is just to show the number of an incoming call. It should be noted that the display can also show alphanumeric messages, icons, and the like.

[0026] The communication is performed using a Bluetooth, or other near-field short distance wireless communication technology, chip. Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength radio transmissions in the ISM band from 2400-2480 MHz) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs) with high levels of security. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronization. For example, a chip meeting the specifications of Bluetooth 4.0 can be used, together with a microphone and speaker. Speakerphone capabilities are built into the watch such as echo cancellation and make/receive calls. In the preferred embodiment a piezo speaker has been deployed. Other types of speakers are possible as well.

[0027] The two buttons 3 and 4 control all functions of the wearable communication device 1 other than setting time, which is performed by knob 2. In one exemplary application, one button can be used to activate voice recognition, and be used to, for example, initiate a call, by the user speaking the command “call home”.

[0028] In order to communicate an alert a vibrating motor is deployed inside the watch. Furthermore the watch comprises a 3-axis accelerometer.

[0029] Moreover motion sensors such as a magnetometer and gyroscope, together with an audio generation device can be used for gaming applications.

[0030] FIG. 4 shows a summary of the main components of the watch and their interconnections. There is the watch 40 having an analog or a digital display. The watch comprises two physical buttons 3 and 4. Knob 2 can be used to adjust the time of day. Button 3 is an upper command button; button 4 is a lower select button. Furthermore there is a one-line digital display 41, which can display a phone number, alphanumeric messages, icons, and the like. The display may be an LCD or an OLED display. Furthermore there may be a LED 42 providing by different colors status information.

[0031] In the case of an analog watch display, the analog watch movements may contain mechanisms for the watch hands to be adjusted according to signals sent by the Processor 43. it may also contain mechanisms for the hand positions to be sensed by the Processor. The analog watch may therefore be set accurately by the Processor, which receives time information over Bluetooth from the phone.

[0032] The processor 43 controls the operation of the watch disclosed including a microphone 44, a speaker 45, a vibration motor 500, motion sensors as a 3-axis accelerometer 46, a magnetometer 47, a gyroscope 48, an IR proximity sensor 405, and a touch sensor 406 connected to a capacitive touch panel 407.

[0033] Furthermore the processor 43 controls a Bluetooth (BT) chipset 49 which may comprise a regular BT chip and/or a Bluetooth low energy chip. Both used for communication to a phone, smartphone or another BT-device 401.

[0034] Moreover a Near Field Communication (NFC) chip 402 can be provided in the watch disclosed. It allows “bump”-type feature to transfer data from a cell phone to the watch, for instance for admission control, as used e.g. on subways in Taiwan, China, or Tokyo subways to eliminate the need for a separate subway card.

[0035] For the power supply of the watch is a micro USB-port 403 provided, which enables charging of the main battery 404. The main battery 404 provides power to all components of the watch requiring power.

[0036] Multiple similar devices can be synchronized via star or mesh network for multi-point motion sensing. For example, an arm-swing movement detected can cause a punching sound to be produced, in a “hand-combat” game. Two players may be networked with their watches synchronized, and depending on the velocity and 3-D locations of the watches, may be playing against each other with suitable sounds being generated to simulate the opponents being hit. Another example may be simulation of musical instrument sounds such as drum and guitar, and multiple players may engage in generating sounds synchronized with their watch movements, in a kind of “air-instruments” game, while background music is being played.

[0037] In summary general features of the wearable communication device for smartphones are that incoming Call Alerts are provided via Vibration, RGB LED and Caller ID Display, Furthermore incoming calls can be accepted or declined by a push of a button. Voice communication (Talk and Listen) is performed by using the wearable communication device's speaker and microphone. The connection to a mobile phone is performed by Bluetooth wireless technology using no-code pairing system according to the Bluetooth 4.0 protocol. This protocol allows a user to easily and rapidly pair a wearable communication device and a smartphone without having the user entering a passcode. Pairing is done only once to allow connections between the device and the phone

[0038] In a preferred embodiment of the invention a wearable communication device of the present disclosure has about 3 hours of talk time and 14 days of standby time.

[0039] Watch 1 can be directly connected to a smartphone application through Bluetooth, and the smartphone can then connected to the internet “cloud” via Wi-Fi or mobile networks such as 3G or LTE.

[0040] Wi-Fi is a popular technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (using radio waves) over a computer network, including high-speed Internet connections. The Wi-Fi Alliance defines Wi-Fi as any “wireless local area network (WLAN) products that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards.

[0041] Cloud computing is the delivery of computing and storage capacity as a service to a community of end-recipients. The name comes from the use of a cloud-shaped symbol as an abstraction for the complex infrastructure it contains in system diagrams. Cloud computing entrusts services with a user's data, software and computation over a network. Using Cloud Software as a service, users rent application software and databases. The cloud providers manage the infrastructure and platforms on which the applications run.

[0042] This allows using the watch as “remote control” for home appliances, other home devices, or any other devices via voice and buttons. The connection would be:

[0043] watch--->phone (via Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi?)-->IT network-->appliances.

[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates these connections between watch and appliances using Bluetooth between watch and smartphone, using Wi-Fi between smartphone and a home Wi-Fi router, and using Wi-Fi or another communication protocol as e.g. Ethernet between the home Wi-Fi router and a home appliance as e.g. refrigerator, heating, or air-conditioner.

[0045] Another function built in the watch 1 is a GPS—or Global Positioning System—processor. This GPS processor can be used e.g. for sports and fitness, such as to track a route when hiking, running, record-keeping—and other movement tracking applications.

[0046] FIG. 3 shows the integration of the BT headset to the watch. FIG. 3 shows the BT headset 30 including one or two ear buds with a small speaker 31 and a microphone 32. The BT headset 30 is connected to the main speaker 33 of the watch and to the main battery 34 of the watch. A small battery 35 may be incorporated into the BT headset 30.

[0047] Another embodiment of the watch 1 integrates a Bluetooth (BT) headset. This headset could be implemented, as shown in FIG. 3, additionally to a watch having speaker and microphone in the watch body, or could be implemented instead incorporating a speaker and microphone in the watch body. The BT headset may be removable and separately powered, so that if, for example, the watch battery dies, or for the reason of privacy, the BT headset can be used. One embodiment of the watch integrates both a microphone/speaker and also a removable Bluetooth speaker ear bud. When the Bluetooth speaker ear bud is removed, the speaker switches from the watch to the ear bud. When replaced in the watch, the ear bud recharges and audio goes back to the watch known in the art typically have a quartz movement and are powered by a small battery. An analog embodiment of the watch can be integrated with Bluetooth features such that the same rechargeable battery drives both the analog watch and electronic components. Furthermore a rechargeable battery could shut down with a fixed percentage of power remaining to allow the analog watch to continue to operate for a greater length of time even though other electronic functions are shut down.

[0048] An analog watch with LED light may signal whether an alert is for an incoming call, text, or other purpose. The LED may be tri-(RGB) or multi-color, with each color signifying different types of information—text, email, voice mail, reminder, and social and the like.

[0049] Furthermore the watch is capable to transfer data sets as e.g. a contact list from one phone to another phone.

[0050] Moreover application program interfaces (API's) are provided to control the watch as e.g. to set the display on the watch, to read peripheral components as e.g. gyroscope, accelerometer, or magnetometer data, or to play/record audio using the speaker of the communication device as, and a smart phone.

[0051] The watch allows also reading sensor data using BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), and sending the sensor data to applications on a smartphone via Bluetooth communication.

[0052] It is also possible to remotely re-configure the watch to multi-display format, i.e. to configure different language fonts, font sizes, graphical icons, orientations, and combinations thereof—all on one display.

[0053] Moreover additional features for the communication with smartphones are provided. These features include accessing a connected phone's Voice Command functions, allowing a user to place Calls, to send Voice-to-Text SMS messages, to listen to Text messages, to set calendar notifications, and to use all other voice command functions for controlling music, searching the web, setting reminders and appointments, etc.

[0054] Furthermore incoming Text messages and Calendar entries are alerted via vibration, blue LED and caller ID Display. Other colors for incoming text messages or voice calls can be used as well. Incoming notifications can be processed, such as for popular web- or phone-based applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Weather, Foursquare, Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo Mail, and the like.

[0055] In another embodiment, a wireless leash option can be provided, notifying the user via the watch when the user's phone is inadvertently left behind and goes out of range of the watch.

[0056] The wearable communication device is enabled to support following smart-phone functions. They can be executed by the communication device if they are supported by the smart phone also. These functions comprise voice command functions allowing a user to place Calls, to send Voice-to-Text SMS messages, to listen to Text messages, to set Calendar notifications, and use all other voice command functions for controlling music, searching the web, setting reminders and appointments, etc.

[0057] While the disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.