Method and apparatus for providing information during a call and a mobile device including the same

A mobile device comprising:

• a transceiver transmitting and receiving radio signals;
• an input unit where voice or text are input by a user;
• an output unit which outputs the radio signals that are transmitted from the transceiver, or the voice or the text, which is input by the input unit;
• an information-sensing unit sensing at least one of information about a state of a mobile device or a state of a conversation during a call;
• an information-analysis unit analyzing the sensed state information;
• a tactile information-generating unit generating tactile information corresponding to the sensed state information, which was analyzed by the information-analysis unit;
• a tactile information-outputting unit delivering tactile information to a user through tactile stimuli transmitted to the user through a contactor having individual contacting portions capable of physically contacting the user only when the tactile information is being delivered to the user;
• a driving unit generating a driving signal which drives the tactile information- outputting unit by converting tactile information;
• and
• a control unit transmitting the state of the mobile device or the state of the conversation to the information sensing unit,
• wherein the tactile information is transmitted in a selected pattern of individual contacting portions based on a type of sensed information at a specific frequency according to a type of the selected pattern,
• the selected pattern is selected from a plurality of different patterns of the individual contacting portions, wherein the specific frequency of each of the plurality of different patterns is different from each of the specific frequencies of each of the other patterns, and
• each type of sensed state information is associated with one of the selected patterns and a specific frequency transmitting the tactile information in the one selected pattern of the individual contacting portions.

A method for providing information during a call, the method comprising:

• sensing at least one of information about a state of a mobile device or a state of a phone conversation;
• analyzing the sensed state information;
• generating tactile information corresponding to the analyzed sensed state information;
• generating a driving signal which drives a contactor having individual contacting portions capable of physically contacting a user to transmit tactile information to the user through tactile stimuli only when the tactile information is being delivered to the user, the tactile information being transmitted in a selected pattern of individual contacting portions based on a type of sensed information at a specific frequency according to a type of the pattern;
• and
• transmitting the tactile information to a user by driving the contactor according to the driving signal,
• wherein the selected pattern is selected from a plurality of different patterns of the individual contacting portions, and each type of sensed state information is associated with one of the selected patterns and a specific frequency of transmitting the tactile information in the one selected pattern of the individual contacting portions, and wherein the specific frequency of each of the plurality of different patterns is different from each of the specific frequencies of each of the other patterns.

An apparatus for providing information about at least one of a state of a mobile device and a state of a conversation, comprising:

• an information-sensing unit sensing information about at least one of the state of the mobile device and the state of the conversation during a current call;
• and
• a tactile information-outputting unit transmitting tactile stimuli specific to the kinds of the sensed information to a user through a contactor having individual contacting portions physically contacting the user only when the tactile information is being delivered to the user,
• wherein the tactile information is transmitted in a selected pattern of individual contacting portions based on a type of sensed information at a specific frequency according to a type of the selected pattern,
• the selected pattern is selected from a plurality of different patterns of the individual contacting portions, wherein the specific frequency of each of the plurality of different patterns is different from each of the specific frequencies of each of the other patterns, and
• each type of sensed state information is associated with one of the selected patterns and a specific frequency of transmitting the tactile information in the one selected pattern of the individual contacting portions.

A method for providing information about at least one of a state of a mobile device and a state of a conversion, comprising:

• sensing information about at least one of the state of the mobile device and the state of the conversation during a current call;
• and
• transmitting tactile stimuli specific to the kinds of the sensed information to a user through a contactor having individual contacting portions physically contacting the user only when the tactile information is being delivered to the user,
• wherein the tactile information is transmitted in a selected pattern of individual contacting portions based on a type of sensed information at a specific frequency according to a type of the selected pattern,
• the selected pattern is selected from a plurality of different patterns of the individual contacting portions, wherein the specific frequency of each of the plurality of different patterns is different from each of the specific frequencies of each of the other patterns, and
• each type of sensed state information is associated with one of the selected patterns and a specific frequency of transmitting the tactile information in the one selected pattern of the individual contacting portions.