Natural alarm clock

An electronic monitor, comprising:

• at least one sensor responsive to at least one physiological manifestation that indicates a characteristic of sleep, the at least one sensor being for providing a sleep characterizing signal;
• and
• a transmitter, responsive to the sleep characterizing signal, the transmitter being for providing a sleep descriptor signal to a terminal,
• a receiver for receiving a stimulation signal, and
• a stimulating unit,
• wherein said at least one sensor is also responsive to a polling signal before the transmitter provides the sleep descriptor signal.

A system, comprising:

• at least one sensor responsive to at least one physiological manifestation that indicates a characteristic of sleep, the at least one sensor being for providing a sleep characterizing signal;
• a transmitter, responsive to the sleep characterizing signal, the transmitter being for providing a sleep descriptor signal to the mobile terminal;
• a receiver at the mobile terminal for receiving the sleep descriptor signal;
• and
• a signal processing module at the mobile terminal for processing said sleep descriptor signal,
• wherein said signal processing module is arranged to provide, at least partly in response to the sleep descriptor signal, a stimulation signal indicative that a user should be stimulated toward an awake state,
• wherein the mobile terminal is also usable by the user in the awake state, for communication purposes, and
• wherein the transmitter is configured to provide the sleep descriptor signal in response to a polling signal from the mobile terminal.

A method, comprising:

• receiving a sleep descriptor signal indicative of at least one sleep characteristic of a user;
• processing said sleep descriptor signal, and
• providing, at least partly in response to the sleep descriptor signal, a stimulation signal for stimulating the user toward an awake state,
• wherein the method is performed within a mobile terminal that is also usable for communication by the user in the awake state, and
• wherein an incoming call is handled in such a manner as to prevent the user from being awakened, if the at least one sleep characteristic has indicated that the user is in a deep, and otherwise handling the incoming call in a different manner.

A method, comprising:

• receiving a sleep descriptor signal indicative of at least one sleep characteristic of a user;
• processing said sleep descriptor signal, and
• providing, at least partly in response to the sleep descriptor signal, a stimulation signal for stimulating the user toward an awake state,
• wherein the method is performed within a mobile terminal that is also usable for communication by the user in the awake state,
• further comprising transmitting a polling signal before said receiving of the sleep descriptor.

A method for determining when a user should be stimulated toward an awake state, comprising:

• receiving a sleep descriptor signal indicative of at least one sleep characteristic of the user;
• processing said sleep descriptor signal, and
• providing, at least partly in response to the sleep descriptor signal, a stimulation signal,
• wherein the method is performed within a mobile terminal that is also usable for communication by the user in the awake state,
• further comprising providing to at least one other person an estimated time until the user will arrive at a suitable awakening point, based at least partly on the at least one sleep characteristic.

A mobile terminal, comprising:

• means for receiving a sleep descriptor signal indicative of at least one sleep characteristic of the user;
• and
• means for processing said sleep descriptor signal,
• wherein said means for processing is arranged to provide, at least partly in response to the sleep descriptor signal, a stimulation signal for stimulating a user toward an awake state,
• wherein the mobile terminal is also configured for communication by the user in the awake state, and
• wherein the mobile terminal is configured to handle an incoming call in such a manner as to prevent the user from being awakened, if the at least one sleep characteristic has indicated that the user is in a deep sleep, and otherwise to handle the incoming call in a different manner.