FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to alarm clocks, and more particularly to alarm clocks that may be remotely configured via the internet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In modern society, advancing technology shortens the time it takes to complete many tasks. At the same time, people are expected to juggle even more demands of work and everyday life because of the availability of these technologies. Alarm devices and reminder systems help people wake up on time, organize their schedules and ensure they do not forget important dates, meetings, appointments, or errands.

Conventional alarm clocks that are configurable by manipulating controls on the clocks, such as dials and buttons, have been used to alert us to attend to various activities at pre-set times. They are most frequently used for the purpose of waking the user, which is accomplished by activating an audible alarm signal. Where an alarm clock is equipped with an AM/FM radio receiver, a user may tune the receiver so that the alarm signal is a broadcast from a particular radio station.

More recently, there have been alarm devices developed that are capable of accessing the internet, thus offering more options and functions than conventional alarm clocks. For example, many devices currently on the market are capable of accessing internet radio stations to give a user a wider selection of broadcasts to select as alarm signals.

Some disclosed alarm devices may also be programmed remotely. The device may connect to the internet automatically on a periodic basis to receive custom or preferred content from the internet based on selections made by a user at a programming and content website, and play back the content audibly or visually for the user as part of a wake-up routine. However, this type of device is intended for an individual user to program his or her own device. In many situations, a supervising person, such as the parent of a child, the employer of a maid, or the coach of a football player, may be responsible for ensuring that one or more supervised people adhere to a certain schedule. The supervising person can set a conventional alarm clock to alert the supervised person at certain times when the supervised person is required to perform an activity and give the alarm clock to the supervised person, but this is not very convenient and the supervisor has no simple mechanism to determine whether the supervised person performed the activity. The supervised person may also forget what a particular alarm was intended to tell that person to do. For example, one alarm may be desired to wake the person, another to remind the person to feed goldfish, and another alarm to remind the person to walk the dog.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a remotely configurable alarm clock device comprising:

a. a visual display;

b. user controls for receiving input from a user co-located with the device; c. an interface for connecting the device to the internet;

d. a timer for displaying the current time on the visual display; and e. an alarm mechanism for receiving an alarm setting message specifying an alarm condition from a remote server via the internet, and for sounding an alarm when the alarm condition occurs;

wherein the alarm setting is provided to the server by an authorized

supervisor.

The device may further include a wireless interface for controlling wireless devices, where the alarm mechanism is capable of controlling a wireless device via the wireless interface in order to cause the wireless device to perform an action when an alarm condition occurs. The alarm condition may be that the current time is equal to an alarm time specified in the alarm setting message, or may be that an event specified in the alarm setting message occurred.

The sounding of the alarm may include playing sounds on the speaker, or displaying a visual indication on the visual display, or both. The sounding of the alarm may include activating a vibrator on or within the device that vibrates the device.

The user controls may allow the user to stop the sounding of the alarm and, after the user stops the sounding of the alarm, the device may transmit a confirmation message to the server via the internet for delivery to the authorized supervisor.

The device may also provide instructions to the user as to how to stop the sounding of the alarm. The instructions may include a sequence of one or more actions to be performed by the user using the user controls.

The user controls may include at least two buttons and the instructions may include a message to the user indicating a sequence in which to push the buttons. The sequence may be automatically generated by the device for each occurrence of an alarm and may require pushing at least two buttons. The buttons may be color coded and the instructions may then be a sequence of colors.

The instructions to the user may be displayed on the visual display.

The alarm setting message may specify the nature of the alarm and the instructions may further indicate the nature of the alarm to the user.

The instructions may specify to the user more than one sequence of actions, such that each sequence is associated with a displayed message specified in the alarm setting message, and the confirmation message may then specify which sequence was performed.

The device may periodically connect to the internet and poll the server for alarm setting messages, or may be continuously connected to the internet, in which case the server may transmit alarm setting messages to the device immediately after the alarm setting messages are entered by a supervisor. The sounding of the alarm may include displaying a message on the visual display such that the message includes instructions indicating more than one sequence of one or more actions, where each sequence is associated with a displayed message specified in the alarm setting message. In that case, the device may transmit a confirmation message to the server via the internet after the user performs one of the sequences for delivery to the authorized supervisor, and the confirmation message may specify which sequence was performed.

The alarm may be a voice message transmitted in the alarm setting message such that the device stores the voice message, and the user controls permit the user to replay the voice message.

In another embodiment, the invention further provides a method of controlling a host device, such as a portable telephone, having a processor for executing software, a visual display, a speaker, user controls for receiving input from a user co-located with the host device, an interface for connecting the host device to the internet and a timer for displaying the current time on the visual display, the method comprising the steps of: a. receiving an alarm setting message specifying an alarm condition from a remote server via the internet; and b. sounding an alarm on the host device when the alarm condition occurs; wherein the alarm setting is provided to the server by an authorized supervisor.

The method may include all the functionality of the remotely configurable alarm clock device as described above.

The invention further includes software to implement the described method of controlling a host device, and a computer readable memory in which the software is recorded. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the following drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of the device in one embodiment of the current invention;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the device in one embodiment of the current invention;

Figure 3 is a block diagram which shows the internal components of the device; and

Figure 4 is a system diagram which shows the internet connectivity of the invention and its operation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a preferred embodiment of the device 101. The device 101 includes a housing 102, a visual display 103, and one or more speakers 105. Figure 1 shows an embodiment of the device 101 including three control buttons 104a-c on the top of the housing 102. The control buttons 104a-c are a means for a user to configure the basic functions of the device, such as setting the current time and alarm time, controlling the volume of audio alarm signals, and to deactivate an alarm. The buttons may be color coded, for example by surrounding each button with colored LEDs 106. Alternatively the buttons may be labelled, numbered, have differing shapes, or be made distinguishable from each other by other suitable means.

Although three buttons are depicted, there may be two or more buttons in different embodiments. Other controlling means, such as dials or sliders, may also or alternatively be employed. The speakers 105 convey audio alarm signals. It will be appreciated that many interface systems are commonly used for setting the current time, alarm time, and date on alarm clocks, and therefore will not be described in detail here.

The device 101 normally displays the current time on the visual display 103, which may be a color liquid crystal display (LCD). It may also display the current date and other information, such as the current audio source in embodiments configured to receive and play broadcast signals or stored media.

Figure 2 shows the rear view of a preferred embodiment of the device 101. The device 101 may include an interfacesuch as an RJ-45 Ethernet cable jack 201 , which allows the device to connect to a local area network, and a USB jack 202, which enables the device to connect a personal computer. The device 101 may also include a wireless interface 304, for example for IEEE 802.11g or similar protocols, by which it may access a local area network 305, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The local area network 305, by means of a network router, or a suitably configured personal computer, and a modem may then provide access to the internet 403, as shown in Figure 4, so that the device 101 may transmit and receive messages over the internet 403.

The device 101 may obtain power by connecting to a standard AC power source via an AC adapter. The device 101 may also include a battery compartment 203 to hold a battery that can provide power in the case that the AC power source is not available.

Figure 3 shows a block diagram of some of the internal functional components of an embodiment of the device. A microprocessor 301 may execute software stored in a memory 302 to provide the described functions. Alternatively the microprocessor 301 may be a purpose-built processor, hardwired to provide the described functionality. The microprocessor 301 receives user input from a user physically co-located with the device via the control buttons 104a-c or other suitable user controls. The microprocessor 301 controls the display of information to the user on the visual display 103, the production of sound via the speakers 105, and the sending and receiving of information over the local area network 305 via with a USB jack 202, wireless interface 304, or an Ethernet jack 201. The speaker 105 may be any device that can be actuated by the microprocessor 301 to produce a sound, although it is preferred that the speaker 105 be capable of reproducing recorded human speech and music. The microprocessor 301 includes a timer capability that maintains the current time, which it may obtain initially from the user via the user controls or periodically over the internet, and displays it on the visual display 103. It also provides the usual functions that are generally performed by alarm clocks, such as recording alarm times and an alarm mechanism for sounding an alarm via the speakers 105 when the current time is an alarm time. The alarm mechanism provided by the microprocessor 301 includes the ability to receive alarm setting messages via the internet 403, store them in the memory 302, which may be non-volatile, and process the alarms according to the messages as described herein.

The alarm may be a sound file that is played by the microprocessor 301 , which may be pre-loaded on the device 101 or downloaded via the internet. Alternatively, the alarm may consist of playing an internet radio station or playing a AM or FM broadcast radio station if the device is configured with a radio receiver.

As shown in Figure 4, the device 101 may interact with a server 401 via the internet 403. The server 401 may provide a control interface that allows an authorized supervisor 402 to program the device 101 over the internet 403, for example, by the use of a browser.

Some simple functions, such as setting the current time and alarm time, may be performed by the user 404 using the control buttons 104a-c on the device 101. For example, each key may be assigned a function that is indicated to the user 404 by suitable text displayed on the visual display 103 below each control button 104a-c.

A supervisor 402 may remotely configure and program a device 101 by specifying alarm settings, which may be stored by the server 401 , using a browser interface provided by the server 401. The server 401 may authenticate that the supervisor 402 is authorized to program a specific device 101 by requiring the supervisor 402 to log in using a username and password. The server 401 may maintain a list of devices 101 , specified by a unique device identification code, and a list of supervisors 402 who are authorized to program each device 101. Each device 101 may periodically poll the server 401 for alarm settings by sending a message to the server 401 that includes the device's unique identification code. Upon receiving such a polling message, the server 401 then retrieves any alarm settings that have been stored for that device 101 , but not yet transmitted, assembles an alarm setting message, and transmits the message to the device 101 in response to the device's polling message.

Alternatively, the server 401 could record an IP address for users with static IP addresses who have configured their routers to allow the server 401 to directly access the device 101. In such a case the server 401 could immediately transmit an alarm setting message to the device 101 when the supervisor 402 enters it, if the device 101 is connected to the internet at that time. The server 401 could also store a hostname that tracks the user's IP address, which is then obtained by a DNS lookup, that it could use to push alarm setting messages to the device 101.

An alarm setting message may include a specification of one or more alarm times, each alarm time specifying the date and time an alarm is to occur on the device 101 , or may specify that an alarm is to be generated on the occurrence of certain specified events, or at random times. Each alarm setting message defines one or more alarm conditions, such as when the current time is equal to an alarm time specified in the message, when the event specified in the message occurs, or when a random timer counts down to 0. Upon the occurrence of such an alarm condition, an alarm is sounded, which may be done audibly, visually or a combination of both. A visual alarm may include the display of a text message or other visual indications to attract the user's attention.

An alarm based on a specified alarm time may be specified to recur periodically, such as each day, each weekday, or on certain days of the week. The server 401 interface may also allow the supervisor 402 to specify a period over which the alarm will recur, such as once a day for the next 14 days.

It may be useful specify an alarm condition that is the occurrence of an event, such as a weather report for the user's area indicating, for example, that there is a greater than 50% chance of rain for the day. The condition may be that such a report is made within 30 minutes of the user's wake-up time. If the condition occurs, then the sounding of the alarm may include a message displayed on the device to remind the user to bring an umbrella.

An alarm generated at random times may be useful, for example, for displaying messages to encourage a person to discontinue a bad habit, such as smoking. The user may pay more attention to a random message than one generated at regular intervals, which the user may become used to ignoring.

For each alarm, the supervisor 402 may specify an alarm sound to play, which may be a sound file pre-loaded on the device 101 or a file provided by the supervisor 402. The supervisor 402 may also specify a text message to be displayed to the user 404 on the visual display 103 when the alarm is sounded, such as "Wake up!!".

Alternatively, the supervisor 402 may indicate that only a visual message is to be used as the alarm.

The server 401 may also permit the supervisor 402 to specify a message along with multiple responses. For example, the message may specify "Practice time!" and the alarm setting message may include two messages such as "GREEN - I am coming now" and "RED - I can't make it." In that case, the device 101 may send a

confirmation message to the server 401 indicating which button the user 404 pressed.

The alarm may be sounded until the user 404 takes certain actions as indicated by a message displayed on the visual display 103 that is specified in the alarm setting message. Such an action may be to push a sequence of buttons, which may simply require the user to push the red button, for example, or may specify that the user 404 must hit the sequence "red, blue, green, red." This may be useful, for example, to ensure that the user is fully awake. The supervisor 402 may specify the sequence to be used or may simply indicate that the device 101 should generate a sequence of a specified length. In the latter case, the device 101 may generate a different sequence each time the alarm recurs. When the user enters a specified sequence, the device 101 may transmit a confirmation message to the server 401 indicating that the sequence was entered. Alternatively the alarm may be sounded for some limited duration, which may be a duration specified by the supervisor 402, or may be the duration of the sound file specified to be used for the alarm (e.g. in the case that the alarm is a voice message). In the case of a limited time alarm, the device 101 may show a message such as "GREEN - Replay the message" and then replay the message when the user 404 pushes the green button. The supervisor 402 may alternately specify that a limited time alarm should be repeated periodically until the user acknowledges it, such as once every 15 minutes.

The supervisor 402 may then be able to observe in the browser interface that the user 404 has entered the sequence and received the message. The entered sequence may confirm to the supervisor 402 that the user 404 has performed or will perform some particular action, such as attending a meeting scheduled shortly thereafter.

Multiple alarms may be used in conjunction with each other. For example, a first alarm may send the message "Time to feed the goldfish". A second alarm set for ten minutes later may include two messages such as "GREEN - the fish have been fed" and "RED - I will feed them now". The server 401 may permit the supervisor 402 to have additional alarms automatically set when certain responses are received, or when no response is received. For example, if the user 404 did not respond, or responded by pushing the red button to indicate that action still needs to be taken, the same alarm may be automatically configured to repeat in 15 minutes.

A supervisor 402 may configure multiple devices 101 for multiple users 404 from his or her computer. The server 40 may present the supervisor 402 with a list of users 404 that the supervisor 402 is authorized to supervise. Such users 404 may be grouped into lists. For example a supervisor 402 may have a list of ten players on a particular sports team. The supervisor 402 could then at the same time set up the same alarm setting for each user 404, for example to remind all players on a team that practice starts in one hour. The supervisor 402 could then review the

confirmation messages received to determine how many players intend to attend the practice. To simplify the programming process, the current invention may allow a supervisor 402 to select alarm time(s) by synchronizing with an existing schedule on an electronic calendar that is commonly used, such as Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. This programming may similarly be accomplished by synchronization with an existing group schedule on an electronic calendar.

Once the supervisor 402 enters an alarm setting and confirms that it has been properly entered, an alarm setting message is assembled by the server 401 and either sent immediately to each device 101 it is intended for, or stored for

transmission when the device 101 next polls the server 401. The server 401 may indicate that an alarm setting message has been received by a particular device by indicating this in the supervisor's browser window for example.

The device may operate in three modes. In the simple mode, the device is not connected to the internet at all and functions as a conventional alarm clock. The user 404 may set the time and alarms by the use of the control buttons 04a-c, or alternatively by a user-friendly interface on a personal computer connected to the device 101 by a USB cable.

In the offline mode, the device is connected to the internet only periodically, or is unable to accept incoming internet messages (e.g. because of a firewall). In this mode the device 101 periodically connects to the internet and polls the server 401 for any new or modified alarm setting messages and transmits any saved confirmation messages generated since the last time it polled the server 401. In the case that the device 101 is continuously connected to the internet, but not able to accept incoming messages, the device 101 may transmit any confirmation messages immediately in addition to polling for new or modified alarm setting messages.

In the online mode, the device is always connected to the internet and is able to receive incoming messages from the server 401. In this mode, no polling is required and the server 401 can transmit new or modified alarm setting messages as soon as the supervisor 402 enters and confirms them. In some embodiments, the supervisor 402 may be permitted to configure an alarm so that it is deactivated by a particular sequence of buttons, but only if that sequence is entered within a limited amount of time, after which the user 404 must attempt to enter the sequence again. In addition, a supervisor 402 may program this

deactivation sequence in such a way that the successful deactivation of the first alarm signal triggers a second alarm signal, the deactivation of which requires a different deactivation sequence, and so on. By requiring more effort from the user 404, the supervisor 402 may be more certain that the user 404 is fully awake, for example.

The server 401 may retain logs of all alarm setting messages sent to each device 101 and of each confirmation message received from each device 101. The interface provided by the server 401 to each supervisor 402 may then provide options to display summary information to the supervisor 402 based on the logged data. For example, the supervisor 402 may access a web page showing all the users 404 that the supervisor 402 is supervising on a particular team. The supervisor 402 may have the team members' devices 101 configured to sound an alarm at 6:00 a.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and display a message reminding the team members to go for a 45 minute run. The supervisor 402 may then have a follow up alarm setting configured for the same team members to display the message "Did you complete your run?" at 7:00 a.m. and specifying "GREEN - yes" and "RED - no". The interface may allow the supervisor 402, for example, to produce graphic displays showing the frequency of various events, such as for each team member, how often the alarm setting messages were received by the user's device 101 , how often the team member responded, and how often the team member responded "yes".

In another embodiment the alarm clock device 101 may communicate directly with other proximate wireless-enabled devices via a wireless protocol such as ZigBee or Bluetooth. An example of such a device is a wristwatch, or other portable wireless device, having a vibrator that can be triggered by sending it a wireless message. The supervisor 402 may specify in setting up an alarm that the wireless watch is to be sent a message at the alarm time instructing it to vibrate and alert the user 404 that an alarm has been received. This may be useful, for example, if the user 404 is hard of hearing and not close to the device 1 , or if the user 404 has gone outside. Another example is a wireless-enabled fish feeder. The supervisor 402 could configure an alarm to automatically cause the fish feeder to dispense food when the alarm goes off. In this case, the alarm may be configured to make no audible sound, but may be configured, for example, to display a message on the device 101 such as "The fish were fed at 2:00 p.m. Please ensure there is food in the feeder."

Software Embodiments

As previously described, the remotely configurable alarm clock device may comprise software that executes on a processor in order to provide the described functions by employing the hardware elements of the device as described. Alternatively, the invention may consist of alarm clock software designed to run on a pre-existing platform, such as a wireless handheld device or smart phone, or other networked programmable device, such as a laptop computer.

Such a host device comprises a programmable processor for executing software, a visual display, a speaker, user controls for receiving input from a user co-located with the host device, and an interface for connecting the host device to the internet. Such a host device also includes a timer for displaying the current time on the visual display. The alarm clock software is then adapted to run on a particular host device to provide the functions previously described. The software includes a message receiving module for receiving an alarm setting message specifying an alarm condition from a remote server via the internet, where the alarm setting is provided to the server by an authorized supervisor, and an alarm module for sounding an alarm when the alarm condition occurs.

The timer function may be implemented using an internal clock that is part of the host device, or by obtaining the current time over the internet. If the alarm setting message specifies an alarm time, then the software may compare the alarm time to the current time it periodically obtains from the timer, and when the current time is equal to the current time, the software sounds the alarm as specified in the alarm setting message. The software may include executable code stored in a computer readable memory for execution by a processor. A memory may include any static, transient or dynamic memory or storage medium, including without limitation read-only memory (ROM) or programmable ROM, random access registers memory (RAM), transient storage in registers or electrical, magnetic, quantum, optical or electronic storage media. A processor includes any device or set of devices, howsoever embodied, whether distributed or operating in a single location, that is designed to or has the effect of carrying out a set of instructions, but excludes an individual or person.

In the case of a smart phone, the user controls may comprise two or more of the buttons found on such phones, which may be associated with text that is written on the buttons, or that is displayed on the visual display in close proximity to the buttons. Alternatively, if the device comprises a touch screen, soft buttons may be displayed on the visual display.

The foregoing description illustrates only certain preferred embodiments of the invention. The invention is not limited to the foregoing examples. That is, persons skilled in the art will appreciate and understand that modifications and variations are, or will be, possible to utilize and carry out the teachings of the invention described herein. Accordingly, all suitable modifications, variations and equivalents are intended to fall within the scope of the claims.