Intelligent portable personal communication device
An intelligent portable personal communication device, such as a cellular phone, integrates and interfaces an array of sensors and monitors to detect adverse situations and make phone calls to predefined third parties so that they can take appropriate actions for the benefits of the user. The intelligent portable personal communication device can determine the position of the device with sufficient precision so that the third parties can locate the user based on the position information and/or by means of a special location beacon signal transmitted by the device. Furthermore, the intelligent portable personal communication device can block the user from any conversation with certain predefined parties, or inform the phone company to begin recording the phone conversation, when the user's breath alcohol level reaches a predefined value. A networked computer can use the position information to coordinate the activities among multiple parties through their respective portable personal communication devices.
1 . An intelligent portable personal communication device, comprising:
at least one sensor for detecting a predefined condition; and
means for determining the current position of the device;
wherein the device, in response to the detection of said predefined condition automatically notifies at least one predefined party of said predefined condition and said current position so that the predefined party is enabled to take actions based on the position of the user and the reported condition.
2 . The device of claim 1 wherein the intelligent portable personal communication device interfaces another portable peripheral device wirelessly; and
the intelligent portable personal communication device utilizes information received from said portable peripheral device to determine whether said predefined condition has been met.
3 . The device of claim 1 wherein:
the at least one sensor includes an array of semiconductor gas sensors.
4 . The device of claim 3 wherein:
the semiconductor gas sensors are capable of detecting at least toxic gases.
5 . The device of claim 3 wherein:
the semiconductor gas sensors are capable of detecting at least smoke caused by fire.
6 . The device of claim 3 wherein:
the semiconductor gas sensors are capable of detecting at least the breath alcohol level of the user.
7 . The device of claim 6 further comprising:
means for blocking a communication through the portable personal communication device with certain predefined parties when the breath alcohol of the user reaches a predefined level.
8 . The device of claim 6 further comprising:
means for initiating remote recording when a breath alcohol of the user reaches a predefined level.
9 . The device of claim 6 further comprising:
means for informing the user of a detected breath alcohol level so that he/she can decide when to stop drinking and when not to drive a vehicle.
10 . The device of claim 1 wherein:
the portable personal communication device includes a device selected from the group consisting essentially of cellular phone, wireless phone, satellite phone, microwave phone, internet phone, personal digital assistant, palm computer, email communicator, instant message communicator, and Internet browsing device.
11 . The device of claim 1 wherein:
the position information of the portable personal communication device is sent to a networked computer system; and
said networked computer system uses the position information of more than one participating party to coordinate joint activities among said participating parties through their portable personal communication devices.