Mobile Telephone Listener Count Notification
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Solution Overview
Problem
In group communication systems like PTT, speakers may inadvertently share private information with the wrong audience due to a lack of awareness about the number of listeners, especially when the communication mode transitions from one-to-one to one-to-many without notice.
Innovation Solution
A mobile telephone system that informs users, through distinct auditory, vibrational, or visual cues, about the number of listeners based on situation information received from a server, allowing users to recognize the communication mode before speaking and request the floor accordingly.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the mobile telephone participates in group communication without informing the user about the number of listeners, then the communication can proceed smoothly and privately, but the user cannot recognize whether they are in one-to-one or one-to-many communication, leading to potential unintended information sharing
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides feedback to the user about the number of listeners in the group communication. The control unit receives situation information from the server indicating the number of listeners, and the informing control unit provides notification to the user through display or audio output, enabling the user to recognize the communication mode and make informed decisions about information sharing.
2Loss of information
If the mobile telephone displays or announces the number of listeners continuously, then the user can always recognize the communication mode, but the device complexity and power consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by providing the listener count information to the user before the user speaks. The control unit receives situation information indicating the number of listeners, and the informing control unit notifies the user in advance through display or audio output, allowing the user to recognize the communication mode before transmitting speech, thus avoiding the need for continuous monitoring during communication.
3Reliability
If the mobile telephone provides detailed information about the number of listeners, then the user can make informed decisions about speaking, but the communication efficiency decreases due to additional processing and notification steps
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies partial action by providing only the essential information needed for user decision-making - specifically, whether the number of listeners is one or plural. The control unit receives situation information from the server and the informing control unit provides simplified notification through display icons or audio cues, giving the user sufficient awareness without overwhelming detail, thus maintaining communication efficiency while improving user awareness.
Data Source
AI summary
A mobile telephone performs communication by transmitting voice, which is inputted by a speaker into a communication apparatus having a floor, via a server, to one or more communication devices of one or more listener(s) having no floor. A transmitter transmits a request signal, which requests an acquisition of a floor, to the server (Step S104) when a predetermined operation is performed by a user (Step S103: YES). A receiver receives both a permission signal, which is transmitted from the server in response to the request signal for permitting the acquisition of a floor, and numerical information, which is transmitted from the server, indicating the number of communication apparatuses of the listener(s) (Step S101 and S106). An informing control subunit performs different informing controls in accordance with the number indicated by the numerical information when the receiver receives the permission signal (Step S107 to S109).