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Apple Patent To Safeguard 911 Cellphone Calls
MojoKid writes "Engineers from Apple have applied for a patent on an 'emergency' mode for cell phones that would squeeze every last drop of energy out of the batteries. The phone would recognize emergency calls when the user dialed an emergency number, such as 911 in the United States. But another number could also be stored as an 'emergency number' on the phone (a spouse, child, or parent, for example) or the user could manually put the phone in emergency mode. The process would do a variety of things. It would disable 'non-essential hardware components' and applications on the phone, reduce power to the screen and potentially reduce the phone's processor speed. It also would make it harder to disconnect the call and enable 'emergency phrase buttons' on the phone."
Now when I pocket dial 911 there's even less chance of me pocket-disconnecting and more chance of my phone spouting emergency phrases!
My UID is prime... is yours?
Actually doesn't seem like that bad of an idea for a patent. Granted the system is full of abuse, but at least this one is well intentioned and could save a life.
That would squeeze the last drop of energy out of the batteries, by stabbing them and causing a small explosion to attract help.
So, if I get this straight, patenting this 'technique' will make sure that people who choose to buy a non-apple phone wont be able to call emergency services untill the last drop of battery power unless the other phone manufacturers break this patent.
Patenting something like this sounds pretty irresponsible to me...
The protagonist is being tracked using GPS locked onto their phone, they realise this and dial 911 which puts the phone into a low power state and kills the GPS signal.
Trust me, it's a lot more exciting than just turning the phone off.
But then, when the same institution makes computer algorithms patentable maybe I shouldn't be surprised.
This is very much comparable to the One Click fiasco, you get a couple of desirable but common applications linked to a single action and Bingo!
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
There is a little girl in a red riding hood that needs help. Here is a real life story: http://vimeo.com/3514904
She is under attack from a wolf, and would need a phone, without patent restrictions.
Will Apple's move have that girl killed? What do the iPhone dudes think of, really?
sounds like a good business idea too....
are they ever gonna fix the patent system?
Never antropomorphize computers, they do not like that
From a software standpoint, I think the last thing I want my phone doing when I dial 911 is disabling hardware components, killing applications and reducing the phone's processor speed. Seems like thats ripe for the phone just locking up on me. I would much rather it just keep running in the mode it spends 99.9% of its time in.
would "unncessary power use" include loud audible alarms?
Can you patent something and then guarantee royalty-free licensing? Maybe even no-need-to-ask, "cite and go" licensing or something like that? If so, we should be cranking these out 24x7!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Including the built-in kitchen sink? :P
It is measured in Amps or Milliamps usually in the case of cell phone batteries. Once the juice is gone its gone you can't magically make more through software.
I have a two year old Samsung and when the battery gets low it turns off the little beep when you press a key and it turns down the brightness on the LCD. And how do you make a call harder to disconnect? Does Apple have special cell towers for the I-Phone or are they using the same shitty towers everyone else is. Leave it to Apple to try and sell/patent a feature that other phone companies have incorporated into their phones for years.
Many posters have already suggested that this should not be patentable because it's a potentially life-saving feature. Critical reflection shows why that argument does not hold much water.
A new treatment or cure for a fatal disease is also life-saving, but few would argue that drugs should not be patentable.
Alternatively, consider the invention of the automatic external defibrillator. This is also a life-saving device, and much of its utility stems from software and an effective user interface (e.g., spoken commands to the user), but there are no calls to force AED technology into the public domain.
Careful reading of the patent application shows that its essential features could be replicated on any smart phone and a subset could even be implemented on a non-smart phone. The fact that phone manufacturers have not implemented these features in the decade or so that it would have been possible to do so suggests two possibilities: One, that the features are actually not that useful or important; Two, that the features and their implementation here are actually far from obvious.
If the former is the case, then we shouldn't care about the application because it pertains to something of such limited value that the dozens of phone manufacturers and telecom companies never saw fit to implement it. If the latter is the case, then Apple is rightly to be rewarded for developing a useful feature and, presumably, bringing it to market. Without patent protection, Apple is much less likely to invest time and effort developing new features for its products, including potentially life-saving features like this one.
Finally, I think we should withhold our ultimate judgment until the patent is granted or denied. The examination process may turn up prior art that blocks the application entirely or it may cause the claims to be substantially narrowed. Faced with a less than optimal patent, Apple may abandon the application. This story is a bit like judging a piece of software based on an alpha version.
I have turned off the AC in my car and reduced my speed in the hopes that I could get to a gas station before running out of gas. Isn't that about the same thing?
How about a car with an emergency reserve gas tank that is activated by a lever inside the car?
I suppose that running the batteries completely flat may harm them. Basically they are claiming a patent on overriding the shutdown feature designed to protect the batteries and using a low power mode. That does not seem original. Granted, coupling this with a 911 call is kind of clever.
There are many examples of electronics devices being dropped into power save mode for one reason or another. This one can be walked over using prior art examples.
Move on everyone, nothing exciting going on here.....
www.effectiveelectrons.com "chips that work" Analog, RF, Mixed Signal
How are they going to QA this in a production setting? Stage kidnappings? Bombings? I'd stay clear of the next Mac World. Shit's going DOWN!
I used to work for a major cellphone manufacturer.
Cellphones already go into a special emergency mode. All phones definitely scan for more towers beyond those in the PRL list (preferred roaming list). I believe phones may also increase Tx power if battery is good and the CDMA noise floor is high.
One big problem I recall: it is not as well tested. The Verizon phone guys aren't going to yell "do you hear me now" at 911 operators. We had once instance where it was discovered that the 911 mode had a software bug and caused the phone to crash. That caused an immediate "stop ship". We definitely had to improve the synthetic 911 testing environment...
My dumber cellphone already has 911 modes. My dumber cellphone already warns me when power is low. My smarter computer already has power failure modes as do so many embedded systems. How is making a cellphone with 911 and power failure modes not obvious?
You mean other manufacturers phones will continue to work the same way they work today because they didn't spend time thinking about features like this? Sounds pretty irresponsible to me.
Although it sounds like what they're proposing here has some good ideas, the concept isn't groundbreaking. My Blackberry has an emergency callback mode and I've seen in action once. http://na.blackberry.com/eng/deliverables/1487/About_Emergency_Callback_Mode_26287_11.jsp
No debate on the ethics of patents or patenting a potentially life-saving idea... but, there is a very interesting possibility here.
LIPO/LIION batteries, if fully discharged, cannot be recharged (at least not safely, by an end-user). All modern electronics electronics that use rechargeable lithium include charge controllers which protect the battery from deep discharge, and overcharge. The discharge protection could be disabled in the case of a 911 call, and provide a significant amount of battery life (perhaps 5-10%) at the expense of the battery. The user could be briefly warned on-screen while placing the call that it could destroy the battery, but in a life or death situation, what's $50?
A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
Two second gen. Nokias had this function and one of them was at least 8 years older than iphone or any apple phone.
You can't patent what you do not own Jobs! (or can you?)
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but isn't it obvious that Apple has to try to do at least this to build a history to support any case against patent trolls?
Come now.
It isn't a big deal that it is a patent. The US government spends billions (trillions?) per year, in R&D, and on everything from warfare to space travel to disease control.
There is no reason the government should not pass a bill, that states that any such patent as this (safety, public good), could have a value assigned to them by an arbitrator. Once assigned, the state would buy the patent, and release it for all phones in the US to use.
Other governments could do the same.
R&D costs, ideas are important, and compensation should be paid. At market value.
Mod parent up. Most of this is already standard, and mandated by the FCC. The new stuff is just some iPhone-specific problems that Apple has to deal with. All the nonessential guck in the phone needs to be switched off during emergency calls.
911 calls have at least the following FCC-mandated features.
It's not like Apple just invented "emergency mode".
The important advantage people seem to be missing is the patent allows extended use of the battery. Li-Ion batteries have a discharge threshold, below which the cell is damaged and can not be recharged. The charge protection circuit usually cuts off the power, to save the cells, when this point is reached. In an emergency, it's a really good idea to be able to bypass this protection. It's an emergency, you're not going to care if you ruin the battery; but, you may care that you can get an extra 10-20% more talk time out of the battery.
I actually get really infuriated with my Verizon phone for giving me little to no warning when they're going to shut themselves off. What's even worse is that when I turn it on to try to make a quick call, it shuts off again without even letting me dial.
I've been thinking about getting an iPhone next year, and a feature like this is very persuasive. Hopefully Apple will license this technology to other companies, or the competition will copy it.
So, if I get this straight, patenting this 'technique' will make sure that people who choose to buy a non-apple phone wont be able to call emergency services untill the last drop of battery power unless the other phone manufacturers break this patent.
No one has to break the patent.
They only have to solve the problem on their own.
The phone's purpose is making phone calls. If a phone is low on battery power, and I'm making a call, by all means, ALWAYS cut power to non-essential components.
Patents should cover an apparatus or method (the "how"), not the idea (the "what").
Every patent application should first identify the "what", and then identify the "how". If the "how" is obvious after being told the "what", then the "invention" is obvious, no matter how novel or non-obvious the "what" is.
Sure, one could argue that this is a display of freedom; the freedom to take away this same freedom which allows others to implement these basic ideas. But to me its simply disgusting. To allow a company to patent merely the idea, not even the technical implementations, which allows common people to reach out for help?
I can imagine some business to come up with this idea, after all; its all within the boundaries of the law. But what sick system would grant such a pathetic idea and even grant rights to it? This display makes me really happy to live in Europe. Not just that; I'm close to thinking that the common joke "patenting breathing" might not be so ridiculous after all. I mean; when creating an android you might also want to implement a function simulating breathing in order for the android to look more human. Then; why not patent the idea, and when doing so why even stop at the simulation part?
I'm but an outsider, I'll grant you that, but if the US would really wish to remain capable of claiming to be the land of the free they sure would be smart if they rehauled their patent system so that it would once again help people to protect their ideas, while also making sure that its a genuine idea. Not some easy scam in order to generate lots of cash.
Where will they draw the line?
I think there is a key combination on some phones (Nokias I think) that, when pressed, gives the user access to a little extra battery power. It does this by overriding the reserve normally used for maintaining system memory and the clock and such. Admittedly coupling this with an emergency call feature is a good idea, but the 'extra battery' thing is nothing new.
I have the Chinese takaway programmed in my emergency button. You need that much more than 911 (or 112 in Europe).
-- Cheers!
this reminds me of an old phone I used to have that implemented perhaps the very opposite of this idea...
It would vibrate to tell me the battery was running low in silent mode. Problem was just by doing that it actually used up the last of the power it was supposed to warn me about being low, effectively making it some kind of ironic suicide warning.
throw new NoSignatureException();
"It would disable 'non-essential hardware components' and applications on the phone, reduce power to the screen and potentially reduce the phone's processor speed. It also would make it harder to disconnect the call".
That sounds alot like verizons business model for all their phones, emergency or not. Then you just pay more for to get them back.
There's nothing Intelligent about Intelligent Design.
When my phone dies it doesn't have enough battery left to start it up again. Maybe it could last like half a second. This would be useless if your phone battery was already dead because you would not be able to power it on long enough to go into emergency mode. It can help sometimes but would be nice if you could set it to emergency mode before the phone even turns on.
Doctors do Massage in Longview WA now, who knew?
At one point in time, you could get an auto-dialer for a burglar alarm. Upon a burglary occurring, the dialer would call 911 or your police department switchboard, and play a pre-recorded message announcing a burglary. You could imagine these weren't exactly popular with law enforcement.
Nowaways, most burglar alarms are monitored through a central station that calls you to confirm the alarm. Alternately, you can self-monitor by having the control panel page you.
A friend of mine once had a Cingular phone I could page by dialing Cingular's 800 number, then his phone's 10-digit number, then my numeric message. Anyone know if Verizon has a number for doing that?
...on the internet!
do not read this line twice.
To all the posters crying foul over Apple patenting this process, how is this different than a pharmaceutical company patenting a vaccine or other life saving drug? I understand if you have a problem with the intellectual property laws of our society, but really you are wasting your outrage on a relatively minor example of what is wrong with the system.
Wouldn't you save more lives by doubling the battery life (instead of making the phone as light as possible)?
Even for people who let their phones dead before recharging, you'd have halved the number of times that happened to them.
Seems to me that a lot of other phones do implement a sort of 9-1-1 signal-boost. On the few times I've had to call 9-1-1 on a cell (witnessed a car accident, drunk drivers, etc) the phone went into a special mode in which the signal did seem to be boosted.
Not sure how that works if it didn't have a signal to begin with though, and it's not something one could easily test.
The patent included the additions of "disabling other functionality to save battery" and adding extra "emergency #'s". I don't know any phones with non-911 emergency #'s, but I wouldn't be surprised if the "disable other functionality" already exists because I seem to remember my phone being limited until I canceled the "emergency mode" it was in.
Actually, don't most companies set that by dialing 9-1-1 on many phones, you *allow* signal triangulation (not necessarily GPS) so that emergency crews can locate the caller if needed?
I was going to say that Apple has probably filed this patent due to the tendency of people to run the iPhone out of power on a regular basis.
I don't have an iPhone myself, but I have a friend who does and she regularly runs into at least the "battery low" stage fairly often. Since it's not just a phone but also a note-taking device, Internet browser, e-mail account, and mp3 player (among any other number of functions thanks to the App Store), it seems to me that a lot of people are running their iPhones out of juice a lot more often because they play with it throughout the day than they would on "regular" phones with less features.
I've got a non-iPhone, and I've run it out of power only while traveling without a charger. Even then, it took several days for that to happen, because I would turn it off at night instead of letting it remain in standby. My friend runs her iPhone down after a single day of use.
BUT, I remembered that the iPhone is dialed via the screen. There aren't any hard dialing buttons. How exactly would one dial 911/112 without the screen being active (seems to be counter to what the patent proposes)? Is this patent maybe being filed in advance of another Apple phone, maybe one with hard buttons?
Otherwise it wouldn't have much application on an iPhone . . .
Thats why you posted as AC. AED's are a small part of CPR which is why you are supposed to have a ticket if preforming CPR for liability as well as the victims chance of survival.
I very much doubt your average person knows what an AED is never mind how to open it and hook up the electrodes. I hope that if I ever need CPR a trained individual is there not some stupid random asshole that thinks he knows something because he seen it on tv or read an article about it. And what if its a child or special circumstance you would probably figure everything out with no training whatsoever.
When using a mobile phone, some multi-task - unlike the iPhone, allowing you to use other hardware like the camera, email, etc. So if you need to photograph some evidence, like a license plate, etc. OR you can't break the call to record your last words, you'll be SOL.
If they are going to provide this energy saving mode, there better be a configuration screen for it. Heck, maybe having Energy Profiles might be in order - just like Ringer Profiles. Then we can get the claimed battery life out of our phones. Then any "emergency" call would switch the phone to a Max Battery Life energy profile.
BTW, I call 911 on a headset a couple times a year cause someone dropped a mattress, tire or dead carcass in the middle of the freeway. So now my future phone will be more locked up when making that call to prevent a serious accident. Way to go Apple - bite me.
Maybe their patent will prevent other companies from making a more draconian phone like the iPhone. Apple, you can have it. I'd rather have a Pre or Linux phone I can control.
The headline is misleading, even from reading the summary.
the patent is not on 911 calls, it's on a dedicated "emergency mode" incorporating energy conservation and a customized interface.
Nowhere does this allow apple to sue other companies or individuals for using other mobile devices in the case of an emergency.
It's an interface patent, and while I don't agree with interface patents, the headline falsely implies the patent could endanger your life, rather than it just being a potentially frivolous one.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
".....squeeze every last drop of energy out of the batteries."
It's already benn well-documented that cell phone providers manipulate phone OSes to erroneously report remaining battery life. So what Apple is doing is simply NOT modifying the OS to give false readings.
"It also would make it harder to disconnect the call"
A dead spot is a dead spot is a dead spot. Plain and simple. I'll wager there is a disclaimer that states this feature is only available in areas where the reception is already satisfactory. It's already illegal to disconnect or interrupt any emergency communications anyways. This is a moot "feature", since Apple is basically saying that compliance with the law is a "feature" that they are providing.
Phone providers are already required to provide full service to calls made from any cell phone, include phones where the customer has had their account canceled, closed, or terminated.
Personally, I think that having a patent on an emergency feature that is as ubiquitous as cell phones is just plain stupid, as now providers will have to pay to license the potentially life-saving technology.
Good Idea? Yes.
Good Patent? Fuck no.
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
How could they make prior art when others, like Nokia, have done it a decade ago. I know that my first cellphone, Nokia 3110 if I recall and about 10 years ago, was able to do this.
It let you call 911 (or well, 112 in Finland) even without a SIM card and even after your battery has ran very low and the phone shuts down, you can put it back on for long enough that you can make one more call. (You could use that backup for anything important, not just emergency calls, though)
Apple trying to patent something that has been present in all cell phones made by the world's largest cell phone manufacturer for a decade is just stupid.
Does anyone else think that by patenting emergency call behaviour apple is acting negligently?
I am shocked anyone could ever think to patent this (for profiteering or whatever).
Mobile phones can dial 000 or 112 without being unlocked (tactile dialing anyone, try doing that on an iPhone, hint you can't).
It's not like Apple just invented "emergency mode".
I'm not aware of anyone claiming that Apple invented emergency mode. Would you care to cite your source on that?
... and then they built the supercollider.
Current Blackberry smartphone models include a feature which will allow the user to place an emergency call, even when the device is operating in "battery too low for radio use" mode. Dialing 911 (us models), 112, or picking "make emergency call" from the screen lock menu will turn the mobile radio back on and attempt to complete the call regardless of battery level. (On a side note, it's also possible to pick the emergency call option and cancel it before the call begins in order to bypass the usual delay between when a charger is connected and when the handset considers the battery charged enough to make calls again).
I could accomplish nearly the same thing on my Verizon aircard by setting the Access Overload Class to 15, which is supposedly reserved for emergency calls (calling 911, for example, already sets the highest AOC, so it seems to me that the aspect of reducing the possibility of dropping the call is already covered, at least in CDMA phones), but I'm unsure of the legality of doing this. How would the cellphone networks cope with people setting practically every "important" number they have to emergency mode just so that they never get a dropped call?
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell.
No, Verizon's business model is to take perfectly working phones and operating firmware, cripple them, then sell them for 150% market value unless you sign up for an expensive, binding, 2-year contract.
"There is much pleasure to be gained from useless knowledge." - Bertrand Russell.
So they basically just patented low power mode... and associated it with emergency calls.
Watch out Windows Vista! Your days of low-power mode are over!
...because I always thought Apple users got their own ***SPECIAL*** emergency number to dial rather than having to use the same one the rest of us peons do.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Back when I was in the military, a lot of our equipment had a special, guarded switch on it, labeled 'Battle Short'. If you flipped that switch on (and you'd better have a damned good reason) all of the equipment's operational safeties were disabled. If it were a power generator, things like oil pressure, load, coolant level, etc, would be ignored. If it were a weapon system . . . . Well, you get the idea: keep operating until either the switch is turned back off or the equipment tears itself apart.
So; Apple's idea is quite unremarkable, at least in one's profession's view.
Regards;
No, anyone with a GSM phone has been able to do this for more than 10 years. This patent is nothing new, they are seemingly just patenting the requirements all phone makers have to make to build a GSM phone to spec.
Invention happens without IP; most our progress has been without IP law and the before Orwellian phrase "IP" was created.
Plenty of things come into being without patents. A smart phone without these features can be marketed against by those that do have them; only takes 1 to start the trend.
This is just an IDEA not a real invention and its not worthy of IP protection-- sure it is good, but it is merely a response to an existing use case that is more of a problem when people have smarter phones that lose power from heavier usage (doing non-phone activities.)
If the system was as broken when cell phones started getting "smart" there would be IP on having phone calls interrupt the other activities to inform the user that there is an incoming call. Ridiculous; however, not these days...
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My first Nokia mobile phone (cell phone just sounds tacky and overly American) - the old Nokia 232, running on TACS did this, and that was in 1996. Prior art indeed, though the USPTO seems to forget there's a world outside their country...