Lucent Technologies Inc.

At+t Corp.

At&t Bell Laboratories

Alcatel-lucent USA Inc.

Eugene J Rosenthal

David Phillip Silverman

Shankar Narayanaswamy

Walter G Kutzavitch

Suresh Goyal

James Robert Ensor

Sudhir Raman Ahuja

Rhoda Yaker

Ronald David Slusky

Mark Alan Lassig

Gianpaolo U Carraro

Alfred Vaino Aho

Samuel J Bendinelli

Don Howard Dvorak

Edward K Buratynski

Michael Zaleski

Donald Edgar Blahut

A portable or other electronic device has two or more display devices or screens that can be used to display different subsets of image signals. The effect is that the device simulates the display capabilities of devices having much larger screens. The device has an open or active configuration, in which the multiple screens are available for displaying image signals, and a closed or inactive configuration, in which some or all of the multiple screens are folded together or otherwise stowed away to reduce the size of the device for storage and/or carrying. By simulating large-display operations, electronic devices according to the present invention are capable of presenting more useable information to the user than is otherwise possible using prior art devices having a single small screen.

Multi-display electronic devices having open and closed configurations

Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) or other network information identifiers embedded in television signals are processed in order to permit viewers to customize the display of a corresponding program. In an illustrative embodiment, at a time prior to the scheduled display of a program or portion thereof, a given viewer makes a selection of one of a number of available alternate characteristics for the program, such as one of a number of available alternate endings. At a later time, a base URL embedded in the television signal is extracted and processed using the viewer selection in order to generate a combined URL. The combined URL is then used to establish a connection over a network with a corresponding web site or other information source, and information is retrieved from the web site and stored in a memory. The retrieved information is subsequently taken from the memory and used to modify the manner in which the program is displayed to the viewer. For example, the retrieved information may include video which is displayed to the viewer in place of a portion of the program.

Viewer customization of displayed programming based on transmitted URLs

It is desirable to be able to recognize data calls so that different charges can be applied to such calls and that vertical services, such as the use of special transmission facilities, may be offered to data callers. This recognition is accomplished by attaching a tone detector to a call in order to detect the special tones characteristic of a data call. Advantageously, this permits different charges to be imposed on data calls.

System and method for special call detection and billing treatment

Drop testing is performed by controlling the position of a product to be tested with respect to the drop surface until just before the initial impact and then the product is allowed to impact like a free body. Advantageously, realistic, controllable, and substantially repeatable free drop testing can be achieved. In one embodiment of the invention the product is suspended at an angle from a falling structure, e.g., using at least one string or wire, and the suspending material is effectively released just prior to initial impact. By effectively released it is meant actually released, or the effect of the suspending material is essentially negligible, e.g., where the suspending material produces a very low restitutional force when deformed, such as a weak rubber band. The suspension of the object is arranged in such a way that initial impact occurs at the desired point on the product. To this end, depending on the configuration of the object and the number of suspending elements available, it may be necessary that the point of initial impact remain in contact with a platform, which may be part of the structure, that drops along with the product, such as a conventional drop table. In another embodiment of the invention, the drop surface may be moved with respect to the product rather than the product moving with respect to the surface.

Realistic, repeatable and controllable drop testing

For a world that has a portion of the world distant from the point of view of the user represented in only two dimensions as a video on a video screen, when an object on the video screen undergoes a trajectory that takes at least a portion of it to a location in the world that is not represented by the video but instead is a location in the world that is represented by computer graphics, in addition to being able to continue to see such an object when it is rendered as computer graphics in the computer graphics part of the world, i.e., popped out from the video, one is able to interact with such an object. Thus, an object which pops out from a video into the computer graphics part of the world may be &ldquo;investigated&rdquo; by a viewer of the world. For example, the user could enter a store which popped out of the video, and engage in virtual shopping therein. The particular store which is actually entered may be customized on a per user basis, e.g., as a function of geography. When the proprietor of a virtual store, or his representative, e.g., electronic agent, detects the avatar of one or more persons in the vicinity of the avatar of a store for which such proprietor's store corresponds to the virtual store for such passing persons, a message may be transmitted to such passing persons.

Three dimensional virtual reality enhancement techniques

A user on a data call, e.g., to the Internet, is prevented from establishing a data call immediately after an emergency interrupt has been initiated, and the fact that the emergency interrupt took place is brought to his attention. This is necessary because otherwise the emergency interrupt is likely to be perceived by a user connected to the Internet as simply a dropped line, in response thereto the user is likely to simply originate a new call to the ISP, and so may never become aware that there has been an attempt to bring to his attention, via the emergency interrupts, an extraordinary circumstance. The invention achieves this by transmitting from the telephone network a signal which is recognizable by the user's modem and which indicates that an emergency interrupt took place. Such an emergency-interrupt-occurred signal may be transmitted upon the occurrence of the emergency interrupt or after the line next goes off-hook. Such a signal may be in addition to or in lieu of dial tone. In response to detection thereof the user's modem may take appropriate action. For example, the modem will not initiate the dialing out for the next attempt to connect the ISP, but instead, the modem will hang up, so that an incoming call can be received. Furthermore, the auto answer mode of the modem may be disabled temporarily.

Emergency interrupt technique

A node configured for use in a telecommunications network. The node is programmable via an end-user-accessible interface to provide a mnemonic dialing service. The mnemonic dialing service allows members of a group to communicate with each other.

Communication system for a closed-user group

When a user has a portable telephone near the absolute end of its available battery power, the user can be caused to behave in a manner that more likely results in the preservation of some battery power for subsequent high priority high priority calls by conveying the illusion that the battery will soon be, or is, depleted even though there actually remains sufficient power in the battery to power the portable telephone for an additional period of time. To this end, at a predetermined time, e.g., two minutes, prior to a projected time at which the battery is expected to have power for only a particular additional amount of time, e.g., eight minutes, the user is signaled with an almost-out-of-power warning. This warning indicates that there remains in the battery enough power to operate the portable telephone only until the projected time, notwithstanding that there actually remains in the battery sufficient power to operate the portable telephone for the additional time beyond the projected time. To enhance the illusion of early battery power depletion, the portable telephone powers off at the projected time. Furthermore, any battery power indicator provides the user with an artificially low power reading that indicates that the battery power will be completely depleted at the projected time. At any point after initiation of the almost-out-of-power warning, the user may take an affirmative action to make available the additional power remaining in the battery. At that point, the display is restored to an accurate indication.

Portable device battery technique

An enhanced call waiting (ECW) feature is provided by a switch serving a called subscriber who, while still on a first telephone call, receives a subsequent telephone call. According to ECW, the switch provides service so that the called party may select from processing treatments for the second call which, in addition to the conventional processing of a) placing the first telephone call on hold and answering the second telephone call request, or b) simply declining the subsequent telephone call request, include treatments such as: 1) declining acceptance of the subsequent telephone call request but signaling the subsequent telephone call originator, via a message, to call again at a predetermined time or at the end of a specified period of time; 2) declining acceptance of the subsequent telephone call request and signaling the subsequent telephone call originator, via a message, that the called subscriber will return the call at a predetermined time or at the end of a specified period of time; 3) bridging the subsequent telephone call originator with the first telephone call to establish a conference; 4) directing, via a message, that the telephone call be transferred to another telephone number, e.g., a secretary or voice messaging system, that is specified as part of the message; or 5) disabling call waiting while the called subscriber remains on the first call, (i) for this particular caller, (ii) for all callers except those listed on a so-called 'exception' list, or (iii) for all callers.

Advanced call waiting processing

A communications system is designed to exempt communications services users, such as wireless communications subscribers and calling card callers, from entering an authentication code for calls directed to pre-selected destination numbers, notwithstanding the authentication code entry requirement implemented by the communications services provider for all other calls.

Automatic authentication system

In a personal communication service (PCS) environment, where a call to a personal telephone number may be routed to a sequence of telephone numbers until the call is answered or abandoned, and where it is possible that the telephone number of the caller is one of the numbers in the sequence, the call to the personal telephone number is processed by a) determining if the automatic numbering identification (ANI), i.e., the telephone number, of the calling telephone is the same as a telephone number of the sequence, and, if so, b) skipping over that telephone number, i.e., the caller's telephone number, so that no attempt is made to complete a PCS call to the calling telephone.

Technique for use in sequentially routing personal telephone calls

Apparatus for digital amplitude regulation is disclosed, for use as a volume control or the like, utilizing pulse width modulation to control gain through the variation of the incremental resistance of a two terminal non-linear element, the resistance of which varies with current, e.g., a diode or diode like element. A stream of pulses, the duty cycle of which is variable and digitally controlled, is filtered to produce a quasi-continuously variable direct-current (DC) voltage. The DC voltage either directly or by providing a DC current regulates the gain of an amplifier that is amplifying the signal of interest by regulating the transmission characteristics of the diode. For low cost implementation in a system already employing a microprocessor or microcomputer the determinative duty cycle can be derived under software control and supplied as an output from a single latchable output pin. In an exemplary implementation, the incremental resistance of an ordinary silicon diode operated in accordance with the small signal model of a diode. Additionally, the use of an energy storing type filter allows the the continuous stream of variable duty cycle pulses to be momentarily interrupted so that a pin used for supplying the pulses can be used for the performance of additional functions without affecting the perceived volume level.

General purpose low cost digital amplitude regulator

Apparatus for digital amplitude regulation is disclosed, for use as a volume control or the like, utilizing pulse width modulation to control signal transmission through a two terminal non-linear element, the resistance of which varies with current, e.g., a diode or diode like element. A stream of pulses, the duty cycle of which is variable and digitally controlled, is filtered to produce a quasi-continuously variable reference signal. The value of the reference signal regulates gain by controlling the component of the signal of interest that is actually available for amplification. For low cost implementation in a system already employing a microprocessor or microcomputer the determinative duty cycle can be derived under software control and supplied as an output from a single latchable output pin. In an exemplary implementation, a derived DC component of the variable duty cycle pulses controls the DC output voltage from a voltage divider and is used to regulate the magnitude of a series of fixed magnitude pulses. Additionally, the use of an energy storing type filter allows the continuous stream of variable duty cycle pulses to be momentarily interrupted so that a pin used for supplying the pulses can be used for the performance of additional functions without affecting the perceived volume level.

Growing community of inventors

Edison, NJ, United States of America

Eugene J Rosenthal