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US006480724B1
(12) United States Patent ao) Patent No.: us 6,480,724 Bi
Erkkila et al. (45) Date of Patent: *Nov. 12,2002
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FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
EP 0526802 A3 2/1993
JP 06268582 A 9/1994
WO WO 96/26575 8/1996
* cited by examiner
Primary Examiner—Nay Maung
(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Perman & Green, LLP
(57) ABSTRACT
A modular system for personal data acquisition and communication, is expanded advantageously a cellular telephone system the lunctions ol which can be increased by means ol various expansion cards. A host device in the system according to the invention, such as a mobile communication device, need not be equipped with all possible lunctions in the manulacturing stage but some ol the lunctions can be realized on expansion cards, and the user can add a desired function to the host device according to need. The expansion cards are small and they are installed substantially inside the host device, such as a mobile communication device, so that the entity formed by the host device and the expansion card seems to the user as a single compact device. Advantageously, the expansion cards include, in addition to the hardware needed, also the software required for controlling the operation of the modules.
23 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
