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| United States Patent Application |
20050195094
|
| Kind Code
|
A1
|
|
White, Russell W.
|
September 8, 2005
|
System and method for utilizing a bicycle computer to monitor athletic
performance
Abstract
A system and method are disclosed for utilizing a bicycle computer to
monitor athletic performance. A system that incorporates teachings of the
present disclosure may include, for example, a housing component at least
partially defining an enclosure. A local area wireless transceiver
capable of receiving a signal from a sensor coupled to a bicycle may be
located within the enclosure. A performance engine may also be located
within the enclosure and may be communicatively coupled to the local area
wireless transceiver. In operation, the performance engine may utilize
the signal from the sensor to generate a performance metric like current
speed, distance traveled, or cadence. The system may also include an
output mechanism such as a display device associated with the housing
component. The output mechanism or display device may be capable of
presenting the performance metric to a user. In preferred embodiments,
the system may also include a wide area wireless transceiver located
within the enclosure. This wide area wireless transceiver may allow the
user to send and receive information across a geographically disperse
network such as a cellular telephone network.
| Inventors: |
White, Russell W.; (Austin, TX)
|
| Correspondence Address:
|
TOLER & LARSON & ABEL L.L.P.
5000 PLAZA ON THE LAKE STE 265
AUSTIN
TX
78746
US
|
| Serial No.:
|
794137 |
| Series Code:
|
10
|
| Filed:
|
March 5, 2004 |
| Current U.S. Class: |
340/870.01; 340/432; 482/8 |
| Class at Publication: |
340/870.01; 340/432; 482/008 |
| International Class: |
H04B 001/08; H04Q 007/20; G08C 019/16; A63B 071/00; B62J 003/00; B62J 006/00 |
Claims
1. A performance monitoring system comprising: a housing component at
least partially defining an enclosure; a local area wireless transceiver
located within the enclosure and operable to receive a signal from a
bicycle motion sensor; a performance engine located within the enclosure
and communicatively coupled to the local area wireless transceiver, the
performance engine operable to utilize the signal to generate a
performance metric; a display device associated with the housing
component and operable to present the performance metric to a user; and a
wide area wireless transceiver located within the enclosure and operable
to receive an incoming telephone call for the user.
2. The system of claim 1, farther comprising a cradle formed to receive
the housing component, the cradle comprising a coupling mechanism formed
to securely mount the cradle to a bicycle.
3. The system of claim 2, further comprising the sensor, wherein the
sensor comprises a local area Bluetooth communication device operable to
communicate the signal to the local area wireless transceiver.
4. (Original The system of claim 1, wherein a cellular telephone comprises
then housing component, the local area wireless transceiver, the
performance engine, the display device, and the wide area wireless
transceiver.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the local area wireless transceiver is
operable to communicate information using a spread spectrum technology in
a frequency range greater than 2.3 GHz.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein the wide area wireless transceiver is
operable to communicate information using a code division multiple access
technology.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the performance metric is selected form
a group consisting of a cadence metric, a speed metric, and a distance
metric.
8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a heart rate sensor operable
to communicate heart rate information for the user to the local area
wireless transceiver, wherein the performance engine is further operable
to utilize the heart rate information to generate a heart rate metric.
9. The system of claim 1, further comprising an audio player engine
located within the enclosure, the audio player engine operable to play a
file format selected from the group consisting of an MP3 file, a .WAV
file, a MIDI file, and a .AU file.
10. The system of claim 1, further comprising a headset formed to couple
to an ear of the user, the headset comprising a speaker assembly, a
microphone assembly, and a wireless transceiver operable to participate
in a Bluetooth Pair with the local area wireless transceiver.
11. The system of claim 1, further comprising: a headset formed to couple
to an ear of the user, the headset comprising a speaker assembly, a
microphone assembly, and a wireless transceiver operable to participate
in a Bluetooth pair with the local area wireless transceiver, and an
audio player engine located within the enclosure, the audio player engine
operable to play a file format selected from the group consisting of an
MP3 file, a .WVAV file, a MDI file, and a .AU file, to generate a player
signal representing music, wherein the local area wireless transceiver is
operable to output the player signal via the Bluetooth pair to the
headset such that the user can listen to the music.
12. A method of athletic performance monitoring, comprising: receiving a
signal corresponding to movement of a bicycle component; generating a
performance metric from the signal; utilizing an output device to
communicate the performance metric to a user; receiving an incoming call
signal indicating an incoming call to the user; and outputting a call
indicator with the output device to inform the user of the incoming call
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising storing a collection of
performance metric information representing athletic performance
generated during a period time.
14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: receiving a request to
communicate the collection of performance metric information; and
communicating at least a portion of the collection of performance metric
information in response to the request.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising utilizing a local area
transceiver to wirelessly communicate the collection of performance
metric information.
16. The method of claim 12, further comprising accepting the incoming
call.
17. The method of claim 12, fierier comprising: receiving Caller
Identification information associated with the incoming call; and
presenting the Caller Identification information on the output device.
18. A performance monitoring system, comprising: a sensor comprising an
output device and a mounting mechanism operable to secure the sensor to a
member, the sensor operable detect a movement relatively to the member
and to communicate a signal via the output device in response to
detecting the movement; a wireless telephone having a performance engine
and a first input operable to receive the signal and a second input
operable to receive an indication of an incoming telephone call, the
performance engine operable to generate a performance metric in response
to receipt of the signal; and a cradle assembly formed to interact with a
housing component of the wireless telephone and to secure the wireless
telephone proximate to the sensor.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the member comprises a portion of a
bicycle and the cradle is coupled to a different portion of the bicycle.
20. The system of claim 18, wherein the cradle assembly comprises a
fastening mechanism operable to secure the cradle assembly to a human
body part.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to athletic equipment, and
more particularly, to a system and method for utilizing a bicycle
computer to monitor athletic performance.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Many bicyclists make use of bicycle computers that act as
speedometers, odometers, and cadence counters. These devices typically
receive information from sensors mounted with respect to the moving
elements of a bicycle and convert this information into a bike speed
value or some other desired metric. Many of these conventional bicycle
computers are special purpose devices that have a display and are fixed
to the handlebars of a bicycle to allow a rider to view displayed
information while riding.
[0003] In addition to the bicycle-related information mentioned
above--namely speed, distance, and cadence--some conventional bicycle
computers may also display the current time and/or heart rate information
for the rider. While these conventional systems represent a nice option
for many cyclists, these systems have several shortcomings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0004] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of
illustration, elements illustrated in the Figures have not necessarily
been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements
are exaggerated relative to other elements. Embodiments incorporating
teachings of the present disclosure are shown and described with respect
to the drawings presented herein, in which:
[0005] FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a cycling information system that
incorporates teachings of the present disclosure;
[0006] FIG. 2 illustrates a cut away view of a cellular telephone
incorporating teachings of the present disclosure in order to act as a
computing device for monitoring athletic activity; and
[0007] FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram for a cycling performance tracking
process incorporating teachings of the present disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0008] Embodiments discussed below describe, in part, different approaches
for monitoring athletic performance. Though many of the embodiments
discussed below focus on systems in which the athletic performance
includes bicycling, other activities may also be monitored in accordance
with the teachings disclosed herein. For example, runners may benefit
from the systems and processes described below. A runner and/or walker
may employ the teachings disclosed herein to provide an improved
pedometer that may, for example, display steps taken, provide customized
distance and calories burned calculations, and include time/date
information and/or a stopwatch feature. In some cases, a pedometer may
show personalized distance covered and calories burned information, which
may have been calculated by taking into account a user's stride length
and/or weight.
[0009] In several embodiments, a computing device is used as part of the
monitoring system, and this computing device is described as having wide
area wireless communication functionality. For example, the device may be
capable of acting as a cellular telephone or some other wireless
communication device, including, for example, other telephonic devices,
smart tele
phones, personal digital assistants (PDA's), or
Blackberry.TM.-like electronic mail devices. Including some wide area
communication capability in performance tracking computing devices may
provide athletes with a cost effective and convenient way to protect
themselves.
[0010] As mentioned above, cycling is an example of an athletic activity
that may be monitored. In practice, prudent cyclists may elect to carry a
wireless telephone with them while cycling. If a tire goes flat, if the
cyclist has or witnesses an accident, and/or if someone needs to get a
hold of the cyclist, the wireless telephone may prove invaluable. Such a
prudent cyclist may elect to carry the telephone in a pocket located on
the back of his or her cycling jersey or a catch-all bag located on the
seat post under the saddle. Many cyclists consider either location to be
sub-optimal. Carrying the phone in the jersey pocket may be annoying and
may make it difficult to know if someone is calling. While using a
catch-all bag may remove some of the annoyance, it may also make it even
more difficult to know if someone is calling.
[0011] Many of the same cyclists that bring a telephone with them on long
rides may also have a bicycle computer fixed to the handlebars of their
bike. The cyclist may have paid hundreds of dollars for the telephone and
hundreds of dollars for the computer. And, by fixing the computer to the
bicycle, the cyclist may unwittingly enhance the likelihood that the
computer is stolen. If, for example, the cyclist leaves the bicycle
unattended for some period of time, the cyclist may return to find the
computer missing.
[0012] By employing the teachings disclosed herein, cyclists may able to
choose a bike computer that has wide area wireless communication
capabilities. In some embodiments, the bicycle computers may actually be
embodied in cellular tele
phones or other wireless communication devices.
For example, a system incorporating teachings of the present disclosure
may provide a cradle securable to a bicycle and capable of releasably
coupling with a wireless telephone that has bicycle computer
capabilities. The cradle may provide a better place for carrying a
telephone while cycling. The cradle may also make it easier for cyclists
to leave their bike unattended without fear of having their bicycle
computer stolen. Cyclists may simply disengage their telephones from the
cradle and take the phones with them.
[0013] In some embodiments, the cradle may also be capable of triggering
the telephone to switch into a bike computer mode and further capable of
facilitating communication of bike information from a sensor to the
telephone. For example, the cradle may be physically connected or wired
to one or more sensors tracking the movement of a bicycle component. By
cradling the telephone, the information communicated from sensors to the
cradle may be passed along to a processor in the telephone. In addition
to the many above-referenced advantages, incorporating communication
capabilities into a bicycle computer may also save the cyclists
money--they no longer need both a computer and a telephone.
[0014] As mentioned above, FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a cycling
information system 10 that incorporates teachings of the present
disclosure. As depicted, system 10 may include, for example, a housing
component 12 at least partially defining an enclosure 14. A local area
wireless transceiver 16 capable of receiving a signal from a sensor 18
coupled to a bicycle (not shown) may be located within enclosure 14. A
performance engine 20 may also be located within enclosure 14 and may be
communicatively coupled to local area wireless transceiver 16. In
operation, performance engine 20 may utilize a signal from sensor 18 to
generate a performance metric like current speed, distance traveled, or
cadence.
[0015] To facilitate communication of performance metric information to a
user, system 10 may also include an output mechanism such as display
device 22 associated with the housing component. An output mechanism like
display device 22 may be capable of presenting the performance metric to
a user. In preferred embodiments, the system may also include a wide area
wireless transceiver 24 located within enclosure 14. Wide area wireless
transceiver 24 may allow the user to send and receive information across
a geographically disperse network such as a cellular telephone network.
In operation, a user may want to place a telephone call and may use
transceiver 24 to "connect" to a cellular network node 26. This
"connection" may involve Radio Frequency (RF) communication that complies
with some wide-area RF technology like CDMA, GPRS, EDGE, or 3GSM.
[0016] Whatever the form factor of the computing device, a user may want
the device to be rugged. A typical cellular telephone, for example, may
not handle the abuse generated while running, cycling, and/or performing
some other activity. As such, a cellular telephone incorporating
teachings of the present disclosure may enjoy a more rugged and/or water
resistant design. Additionally, a user may desire to interact with the
device and may do so using one or more of several types of input
mechanisms including, for example, a microphone 28, a touch screen,
keypad, and toggle disks 30. In operation, a microphone assembly 28
associated with computing device 32 may be capable of receiving voice
commands, a mouse mechanism (not shown) may allow a user to point and
click icons on a display screen, and/or a touch screen may facilitate
receiving inputs from a stylus.
[0017] Depending on implementation detail, computing device 32 may have
any of several components located within enclosure 14. For example,
computing device 32 may include a microprocessor and a memory located
within its cavity. In some embodiments, the memory may hold an
application that embodies the performance engine and converts information
received via one or more remote sensors like sensor 18 into a performance
metric like speed, distance, cadence, etc. As shown, sensor 18 may
include a pick-up 34 that "recognizes" movement of a bicycle component.
Pick-up 34 may be tracking wheel revolutions, crank revolutions, front
and/or rear derailer motion, bike and/or body tipping, and/or some
combination thereof. The tracking mechanism of pick-up 34 may take
several forms. It may be optical, magnetic, mechanical, etc. To
facilitate presentation of performance metric information to the user,
sensor 18 may include a local area wireless communication module 36,
which may make use, for example, of Bluetooth technology. Sensor 18 may
also rely on wired connections in addition and/or in lieu of wireless
connections to communicate with device 32.
[0018] As mentioned above, a bicycle computer like computing device 32 may
include any of several different components. For example, it may have a
wireless wide area transceiver 24, which may be part of a multi-device
platform for communicating data using RF technology across a large
geographic area. The platform may be a GPRS, EDGE, or 3GSM platform, for
example, and may include multiple integrated circuit (IC) devices or a
single IC device. Similarly, bicycle computer 32 may have a wireless
local area transceiver 16, which may communicate using spread-spectrum
radio waves in a 2.4 GHz range, 5 GHz range, or other suitable range.
Wireless local area transceiver 16 may also be part of a multi-device or
single device platform and may facilitate communication of data using
low-power RF technology across a smaller geographic area.
[0019] For example, if wireless local area transceiver 16 includes a
Bluetooth transceiver, the transceiver may have a communication range
having approximately a one hundred foot radius. If the wireless local
area transceiver includes an 802.11(x) transceiver, such as an 802.11(b)
or Wi-Fi transceiver, the transceiver may have a communication range
having approximately a one thousand foot radius.
[0020] One skilled in the art will also recognize that wireless local area
transceiver 16 and wireless wide area transceiver 24 may be separate or
part of the same chipset. For example, a bike computer chipset may
package a Bluetooth, an 802.11(b), and a GSM cellular technology, like
GPRS, into a single chipset. In many embodiments, the bike computer may
also include display device 22, which may be operable to present a
graphical user interface (GUI) to a user. In an embodiment where the bike
computer can also operate as a telephone, the telephone may include a
speaker assembly 38. The telephone may also be executing a local software
application to allow the telephone to receive an input indicating a
desire to toggle from a telephone mode to a bike computer mode. In such
an embodiment, the bike computer may include a computer-readable medium
having computer-readable data to direct a wireless telephone processor to
receive a signal from a sensor indicating some physical activity, to
utilize the signal to generate a performance metric, and to initiate
presentation of a rendering of the performance metric on a display
device.
[0021] In some embodiments, a bike computer like device 32 may include a
global positioning system (GPS) component that facilitates location-based
and tracking functionality. Device 32 may also include a Bluetooth module
that sniffs for other Bluetooth-enabled devices. This sniffing may allow
device 32 to "find" sensor 18. It may also allow device 32 to find
headset 40. If device 32 recognizes a headset or athletic activity sensor
as a Bluetooth-enabled device, device 32 may engage in a process to
"pair" with the identified device(s).
[0022] In an embodiment that includes a headset like headset 40, it may be
advantageous to enhance computing device 32 by adding a built in audio
player capable of playing a playable file format like .WAV, MP3, MIDI,
.AU, and/or some other format. As such, a cyclist or other athlete may be
able to listen to music via headset 40 while performing. In practice,
device 32 may be simultaneously functioning: as a bike
computer--displaying information like speed and cadence; as an MP3
player--outputting music or other audio signals to the user; and, as a
wireless communication device--providing the user with the ability to
send and receive information.
[0023] In practice, headset 40 may include a battery 42, wireless
transceiver 44, a speaker assembly 46, and a microphone assembly 48.
Though system 10 includes a device 32 with a display 22, which
facilitates the communication of performance information to the user,
some systems may elect to enhance and/or replace the visual presentation
approach with an audible or speech based interface. As such, a user may
be able to "ask" device 32 a question by speaking into microphone
assembly 48. For example, a user may ask "what is my current cadence?",
and device 32 may respond with "your cadence is 82."
[0024] Such features may simplify operation of a device like device 32.
Additional ease of use may be added by including various GUI icons on
display 22. For example, GUI icon 50 may be used to indicate that device
32 is in bike computer mode, and GUI icon 52 may be used to indicate that
device 32 has recognized the existence of an incoming call. As such, a
user listening to music from device 32 on headset 40 may have the option
of pausing the music and answering the telephone call.
[0025] Though described above in a cycling application where device 32 can
be cradled in cradle 54, device 32 may also be used by runners and other
sport enthusiasts. Device 32 may receive and/or generate a signal
indicating that a step has been taken by a user and convert this signal
into a presentable sport's metric. Occasionally, a user may not want to
utilize cradle 54. The user may want some level of flexibility in
locating device 32. A user may, for example, want to secure device 32 to
an arm with a mounting system 55, which may include an elastic strap 56
and a rubberized device holder portion 58. The strap and holder portion
may be formed of other materials and may include some clasping mechanism.
In some embodiments, device 32 may have some sensitivity to moisture, and
the mounting portion may surround device 32--insulating device 32 from
contacting the user's skin, while providing sufficient support and access
to some or all of the Input/Output mechanisms of device 32.
[0026] As described above, device 32 may operate as a bicycle computer, an
MP3 player, and a cellular telephone. As such, device 32 may be very
attractive to an avid cyclist. If the cyclist elects to take up running
or begins training for a triathlon, the cyclist may want device 32 to be
expandable--to be capable of accepting new and/or different performance
monitoring functions or modules. The cyclist turned triathlete may now
want device 32 to operate as a pedometer. The cyclist may also want to
add other useful features to device 32. For example, a cyclist may want
device 32 to act as a garage door opener. If the cyclist begins a ride
from home and stores her bicycle in the garage, the cyclist may want to
close the garage door behind her. As such, the cyclist may want device 32
to act as a garage door remote--communicating an open and/or close RF
signal to a garage door opener.
[0027] As mentioned above, bike computer 32 may include or be capable of
executing software applications, which may be coded, for example, as a
BREW application or a Java application. In some embodiments, the bike
computer functionality may be implemented by a Java application that was
downloaded over the air and may be executing on a computing device's
operating system (OS), which may be a Symbian OS, Pocket PC, Linux-based,
a Palm OS, or other suitable computing device OS.
[0028] As an example of one potential application/OS combination, a
developer may decide to develop a Java-based bike computer application
for a Symbian OS-based computing device, which may be a cellular
telephone or smart phone. The process of developing a Java application
for the Symbian platform may include three main steps: (1) developing the
Java code and supporting files, sound graphics, etc. which may, in some
cases, be tested on an emulator; (2) creating the files to deploy the
application to a Symbian interface so that it has a GUI icon and can be
run from a native interface; and (3) packaging the application elements
in a release file.
[0029] As indicated above, smart client applications may be written in
Java and run on a wide range of devices. For a smart client application
with Java on the client device, there may be two preferred options of
Java platforms: Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) and Java 2 Micro Edition
(J2ME). Applications based on J2SE are often standalone Java
applications, usually using Personal Java. Personal Java is a subset of
J2SE with a smaller Java Runtime Environment (JRE) suitable for the
limited storage capacity of hand-held computing devices. Java Virtual
Machines (JVMs) based on J2SE may be available for a wide variety of
client devices including Pocket PC, Symbian OS, Linux and Palm OS
devices.
[0030] In some embodiments, a bike computer file or application may be
based on a smaller version of the java platform, like MJDP, which may be
better for small footprint devices like cellular handsets. Java
applications that run on MIDP devices are called MIDlets, and a MIDlet
suite is a grouping of MIDlets that can share resources at runtime. A
suite usually includes at least two separate files. The first may be a
Java Application Descriptor (JAD), which may be a file that tells the
Application Management Software (AMS), the piece of software on the
hardware responsible for managing J2ME applications, how to handle the
controller application. The JAD file may provide instructions for, among
other things, installation, identification, and retrieval. The second may
be a Java Archive (JAR), which may be a collection of the controller
application's compiled byte classes, resources, and manifest files.
[0031] Occasionally and as mentioned above, a user may have an existing
cellular telephone and may want to download a bike computer application
capable of "turning" the cell phone into a bike computer. This
application may, in some cases, be downloadable Over The Air (OTA) from a
Web server-like environment. As such, users may be able to "HTTP" their
way to the URL where the JAD file resides. In such embodiments, a
computing device-side browser may download the bike computer application
into the Applications folder and test it.
[0032] A more detailed picture of a wireless enabled device 60 that may be
operable as a bicycle computer is shown in FIG. 2. As described above in
the brief description of the figures, FIG. 2 depicts a cut away view of a
cellular telephone incorporating teachings of the present disclosure in
order to act as a computing device for monitoring athletic activity. To
operate as an athletic monitor, telephone 60 may be a ruggedized phone
designed for athletes. It may have better water resistant capabilities
and handle impacts and jostling better than other telephones. Telephone
60 may have a clam-shell design or a "candy bar" design as shown. Though
not shown in FIG. 2, telephone 60 may also include special branding
and/or markings to indicate that it is an "Athlete" phone. For example, a
cellular telephone manufacturer may elect to place an Ironman.TM. logo on
the phone or some other appropriate logo to let user's know that the
phone is athlete-ready or capable of operating in a performance
monitoring mode.
[0033] In the depicted embodiment, telephone 60 includes several
integrated circuits on a circuit board, an antenna 62, and a liquid
crystal display 64 presenting a bicycle computer display image 67. The
components of telephone 60 could include any of several combinations of
components. As depicted, telephone 60 includes a wide area wireless
platform 66, which may be, for example, a GPRS and/or CDMA module. As
shown, platform 66 includes a wide area wireless transceiver 68, front
end circuitry 70, and dual core processor 72. Front end circuitry 70 may
help ensure that the baseband electronics will work well with transceiver
68. Dual core processor 72 may include, for example, a Digital Signal
Processing (DSP) core as well as RISC or ARM capabilities. In some
embodiments, the components of telephone 60 may use dedicated hardware
and DSP firmware to help provide advanced functionality.
[0034] Platform 60 may be communicatively coupled to an application engine
74, which could be, for example, a Dragonball processor, and a power
circuit 76, which may manage among other things a battery circuit 78. In
some embodiments, battery circuit 78 may keep track of the power
available from battery 80. Application engine 74 may be communicatively
coupled to several different components and may provide those components
with additional processing capabilities. Example components may include a
local area RF transceiver 82, which may be Bluetooth-enabled, Wi-Fi
enabled, etc. Other components might be an image sensor 84, memory module
86, and peripheral controller 88, which may manage keypad, LCD, CODEC,
IrDA, and other functionality. One skilled in the art will recognize that
the many of the above described components could be combined or broken
out into other combinations and that the memory could include onboard and
added memory components including RAM, Flash, smart media, and others.
[0035] As mentioned above, FIG. 3 presents a flow diagram for a cycling
performance tracking process 90 incorporating teachings of the present
disclosure. At step 92, a manufacturer, programmer, and/or user may
procure a programmable wireless device. An application for monitoring
athletic performance may be developed at step 94. The athletic
performance may include cycling, running, swimming, lifting, etc. In some
embodiments, the application may be made available, at step 96, for
download from the Public Internet, over the air via a wireless network,
from a local computer, or in some other manner.
[0036] At step 98, the application may be loaded on the wireless device,
and the wireless device may be located at step 100 proximate an activity
sensor capable of communicating a signal indicating some activity. At
step 102, the device may receive a signal form the proximate sensor. In
preferred embodiments, the sensor and the device may be part of a
piconet. In some embodiments, the sensor may actually be a part of the
device.
[0037] At step 104, the device may utilize the developed application to
generate a performance metric from the sensor signal. The performance
metric may be presented to the user at step 106. The presentation may be
graphical in nature and may make use of a display associated with the
wireless device. The presentation could also be auditory in nature and
spoken or played to the user.
[0038] In some embodiments, the device may include a memory and may save
some portion of the performance metric data in that memory. And, the
saved data may be retrievable by a different device. For example, a user
may have a computer at home capable of retrieving the performance metric
data either directly and/or indirectly from the device. Indirect
retrieval may involve, for example, utilizing the Public Internet to
retrieve the information. Depending on implementation detail, the
performance tracking device may communicate the saved metric data as an
attachment to an electronic mail message.
[0039] For example, if the device is operable as a smartphone and capable
of communicating voice calls and data calls, a user of the device may
elect to share the metric data with a friend and/or other device via a
wide area cellular network using. In some cases, the performance metric
data may include GPS and/or other location identifying data. As such, the
user may be able to generate a visual and plotted representation of the
tracked performance. A software application may take the performance
metric information and associated GPS information as an input and output
a map that displays a performance route and performance metric
information for various points along the route. In some cases, the
performance metric information and associated GPS information may
actually be converted into an animated sequence by an animator
application. As such, the user may be capable of "watching" her
performance.
[0040] At step 108, the wireless device may receive an indication of an
incoming telephone call or data call. The device may indicate the
existence of this call to the user, and the user may elect to accept
and/or participate in the call at step 110. As mentioned above, the call
may be a voice call or a data call. The call may take the form, for
example, of an email, a telephone call, an Instant Messaging message, a
Short Messaging Service message, a Multimedia Messaging Service message,
some other form, and/or a combination thereof.
[0041] Whatever the messaging form, the user may elect not to accept the
message or may complete his or her interaction with the message. As such,
the user may terminate the call at step 112 and resume use of the
performance monitoring application and/or launch a different application
like an MP3 player.
[0042] In various embodiments, the tele
phones, computers, devices, and/or
engines, described above, may take forms including wireless and cordless
phones, personal digital assistants, cellular tele
phones, mobile
telephones, laptop computers, hardware, firmware, software, other options
having some level of computing capability, and/or a combination thereof.
[0043] The methods and systems described herein provide for an adaptable
implementation. Although certain embodiments have been described using
specific examples, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that
the invention is not limited to these few examples. Note also, that
although certain illustrative embodiments have been shown and described
in detail herein, along with certain variants thereof, many other varied
embodiments may be constructed by those skilled in the art.
[0044] The benefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s)
that may cause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become
more pronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or
essential feature or element of the present invention. Accordingly, the
present invention is not intended to be limited to the specific form set
forth herein, but on the contrary, it is intended to cover such
alternatives, modifications, and equivalents, as can be reasonably
included within the spirit and scope of the invention as provided by the
claims below.
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