Docking Station Alert Pattern Extension
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
User-selected ringtones or alert patterns in mobile stations are limited to mobile devices and cannot be easily extended to other audio systems or communication devices.
Innovation Solution
A docking station with a mobile station interface, processor, and storage system that downloads and plays user-selected alert patterns through associated audio systems, allowing the alert patterns to be used across various devices such as internal or external speakers, VoP devices, and audio-equipped computers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If user-selected alert patterns are provisioned only in mobile stations, then the mobile station can play personalized ringtones, but the alert patterns cannot be extended to other audio systems
Solution Approach 1:
The docking station is designed to serve multiple functions: it acts as a charging station, an audio output device, and a media player. By incorporating a media player capability, the docking station can play alert patterns from multiple sources (mobile station, computer, or local storage), making the system universally applicable across different devices and scenarios without requiring complex modifications to each individual device
Solution Approach 2:
The docking station serves as an intermediary device between the mobile station and the audio output system. It receives alert patterns from the mobile station via the mobile station interface, processes and stores them, and then plays them through the audio system. This intermediary approach allows alert patterns to be extended to other audio systems without directly modifying the mobile station's architecture
2Adaptability or versatility
If alert patterns are played only through the mobile station, then the mobile station maintains simple architecture, but the alert patterns cannot be played through external audio systems
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service operation where the mobile station automatically transfers alert patterns to the docking station when connected. The docking station automatically detects the alert patterns, stores them, and configures itself to play them. This eliminates the need for users to manually configure settings or transfer files, making the extended audio capability as easy to use as the original mobile station playback
3Duration of action of stationary object
If the docking station stores alert patterns locally, then alert patterns can be played when mobile station is disconnected, but the docking station requires additional storage capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The docking station implements partial storage by keeping only the most recently transferred alert patterns in its local storage. When a new alert pattern is transferred from the mobile station, the system overwrites the existing stored pattern. This approach provides sufficient functionality (playing the current alert pattern without the mobile station connected) while minimizing storage requirements, avoiding the need for large-capacity storage
Data Source
AI summary
A user selects a ringtone or other alert pattern that can be played to provide notification of an incoming call and provisions the user-selected alert pattern into a mobile station. The mobile station is communicatively coupled to a docking station. When the mobile station receives an incoming call, the docking station plays the user-selected alert pattern through one or more audio systems associated with the docking station.