WO1990015511A1

WO1990015511A1 - Retransmission method and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO1990015511A1
Application number: PCT/US1990/001843
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert L. Breeden
Original assignee: Motorola, Inc.
Priority date: 1989-05-30
Filing date: 1990-04-10
Publication date: 1990-12-13

Abstract

A paging system and method in which each of the pagers (20, 21, 22) includes an erasable, nonvolatile memory (60) and the paging terminal has a memory for each subscriber which contains certain much used messages or numbers. The first time a message is transmitted, the pager memory is also activated so that the message is stored at a specific address. Any subsequent transmissions of the same message are accomplished by sending only the address of the message stored in the memory of the pager. The pager then displays the stored message. The stored message can be changed by simply notifying the terminal to send a new message. The calling number can also be processed to inform the subscriber of additional stored information.

Description

RETRANSMISSION METHOD AND APPARATUS

The present invention pertains to communication systems in which messages can be efficiently retransmitted and more specifically to apparatus and methods for efficiently retransmitting substantially any desired messages from a communication terminal to remote receivers and for processing calls to send additional, stored information.

Background of the Invention

In the prior art, many schemes have been devised for providing communication systems, for example paging systems, with the ability to utilize prestored, or "canned" messages. In each of these systems, one or more messages are chosen and pre-stored in a memory contained in the pager at a predetermined address. The paging terminal has a list of the pre-stored messages in each of the pagers and the address of each message. To communicate one of the pre-stored messages to the pager, the terminal transmits the address of the pager plus the address of the pre-stored message in the memory. Upon receiving the transmission, the pager addresses the specific message pre-stored in the memory and activates a voice signal (U.S. patent No. 4,330,780, entitled "Radio Paging Receiver Having Pre-Recorded Voice Messages Which Are Selected By Address Codes and Read Out Responsive to a Suffix Code", issued May 18,1982) or a visual display

(U.S. Patent No. 4,336,524, entitled "Video Display Pager Receiver With Memory", issued June 22, 1982) . Further, each of these pre-stored systems discloses apparatus for sending messages only to individual users . No apparatus is mentioned for supplying a single message to a group of pagers or to all of the pagers.

In all of these pre-stored devices the message is fixed in the memory prior to use and can only be changed by either dismantling the pager and exchanging the complete memory with a new memory in which the new messages are pre-stored, or by dismantling the radio and reprogra ming the memory to erase the old messages and pre-store any new messages desired. Generally, this requires the pager user to return the pager to the dealer or paging company and may require an extended period of waiting. Each time a message, such as an important customer's phone number is changed, the pre-stored system becomes useless since the pre-stored message is no longer valid. Further, in many instances it is desirable to transmit a single message to a group of pagers, such as all maintenance men in a maintenance company.

Both a manually-input call-back number (via DTMF dialing) and to a smaller extent, an automatically- generated calling line identification (CLI) number are in use at the present time in display paging systems. In a typical application, the paging terminal may send the call-back or CLI number as all or part of the message data to be displayed by the pager, but present paging terminals do not process the number to obtain further information which could be sent to the pager either with or in lieu of the number itself.

Summary of the Inven ion

It is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved apparatus and methods for retransmitting messages in a communications system. It is a further object of the present invention to provide new and improved retransmitting apparatus and methods which is more efficient than prior art structures,

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for conveying complete information to a remote receiver by transmitting an address or partial information.

These and other objects are realized in a communication system including a communication terminal having a transmitter and a plurality of remote receivers, at least one of which contains an erasable, nonvolatile memory coupled into the receiver to store received messages in a predetermined position in the memory in response to the receipt of an activation signal and to communicate the stored message to the receiver operator each time the storage address of the message is transmitted to the remote receiver. The communication terminal controls the memory and the storage, as well as the modification or complete omission, of the information therein.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Referring to the drawings,

FIG.l is a functional block diagram of a paging system; and

FIG.2 is a functional block diagram of a single pager in the paging system of FIG.l.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring specifically to FIG.l, a typical communication system is illustrated including a communication terminal with a transmitter and a plurality of remote receivers. In this specific embodiment the communications system is a paging system 10. Paging system 10 includes a paging terminal 15 with a transmitter 18 and a plurality of pagers 20, 21, and 22. Since the detailed operation of a paging system is well known to those skilled in the art, such details will not be elaborated upon herein, except to say that pages are called in to paging terminal 15 on devices such as telephone 25 and these pages are then transmitted by transmitter 18 to one or more of the pagers in the usual manner. Generally, the received calls are already in digital form or are converted to digital signals by an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter in a central processing unit (CPU) 26 or in an input buffer circuit 28. The caller also indicates whether this is a single page or whether the information is to be stored in the pager for future retransmissions of the same message. If it is a single page, CPU 26 simply provides the address of the specific pager which is to receive the information, along with the information, to transmitter 18 and the message is transmitted to the correct pager in the usual and well known manner.

The present invention is utilized when the caller indicates that the information is to be stored in the pager, or group of pagers, for future retransmissions of the same message. If paging terminal 15 is an automatic terminal, then the caller will indicate his preference by some method, such as providing special digits along with the information to be stored and the number (address) of the specific pager or group of pagers to be paged. If paging terminal 15 is controlled by an operator, then the caller may simply inform the operator that the information is to be stored in the pagers. In either case, it may also be necessary to exhibit some authorization to cause the information to be stored in the pagers, which again may be a type of password. The specific details of these features will change with different communications systems and can easily be devised by those skilled in the art so that no further description is required herein.

Incoming messages from telephone 25 are received in some form of input apparatus such as, for example, a simple input port or the buffer 28, which is essentially a temporary storage device and may include an A/D converter if necessary. Messages stored in buffer 28 are conveyed by a data and address bus system to CPU 26, a memory 30, and a decoder 32, which may be included as a part or function of CPU 26. CPU 26 is connected by means of the data and address bus system to transmitter 18, memory 30, and an activation circuit 34. Activation circuit 34 is also coupled directly to decoder 32 by means of the data and address bus system. Transmitter 18 transmits signals to pagers 20, 21, and 22 through an antenna 36.

Referring to FIG.2, a specific one of the pagers, in this instance pager 20, is illustrated in more detail. Again, it should be noted that this is only a functional block diagram to illustrate the invention and details necessary to normal paging functions which are well known in the art, may be omitted and/or not elaborated upon. Pager 20 receives a transmitted message from pager terminal 15 by way of an antenna 50. The received message is conveyed to a receiver 52 which filters, amplifies, and converts the signals to appropriate digital signals for use in the remainder of pager 20. The output signals from receiver 52 are supplied to a pager/group address decoder 54 which passes only signals addressed to pager 20, either as an individual or as a member of a group. A complete description of apparatus and methods for coding page transmissions is available in U.S. patent No. 4,518,961, entitled "Universal Paging Device With Power

Conservation", issued May 21,, 1985, portions thereof which are deemed necessary to this disclosure are incorporated herein by reference.

If the correct individual or group address is included in the received message, address decoder 54 supplies the information, which may be call-back numbers, words, or any combination thereof, to a message decoder 56. The information is also supplied to a temporary memory 58 where it is stored for a short period of time or until the pager operator clears the page. Message decoder 56 is designed to separate addresses from alphanumeric information which may be accomplished on the basis of length of the message (addresses will be much shorter than any alphanumeric information) , position of the address and alphanumeric information in the message, or a specific identifying code that accompanies one or both of the address and the alphanumeric information. Any address in the message is sent to an erasable, nonvolatile memory 60 on a lead 61 and the alphanumeric information is sent by way of an OR gate 62 to a transponder for converting the electrical signals to human detectable signals, in this embodiment a visual display 64. The alphanumeric signals are also supplied to an input terminal 65 of memory 60. Address decoder 54 also passes an activation signal to an erase and reprogra circuit 68, if an activation signal is included in the received message. An address on lead 61 activates the addressed portion of memory 60 so that any information stored in memory 60 at that address is supplied to visual display 64 by way of OR gate 62. If an activation signal is also included in the message, circuit 68 causes the addressed portion of memory 60 to be erased and prepared for storage of the alphanumeric information supplied to input 65 with the alphanumeric information subsequently being stored at the addressed location. Erasable, nonvolatile memory 60 is, for example, an EEPROM type of memory or similar device.

In the operation of the present invention, typically, a call is made by way of telephone 25 to paging terminal 15 requesting that pager 20 be paged. The caller identifies pager 20 by its specific address and inputs alphanumeric information, which may be, for example, "CALL YOUR OFFICE". The pager address and alphanumeric information is supplied to CPU 26 and the pager address is supplied to memory 30 to activate the portion of memory 30 dedicated to that subscriber. CPU 26 compares the present alphanumeric information to any information stored for that subscriber. If no similar information is found in memory 30, CPU 26 orders transmitter 18 to transmit the pager address and alphanumeric information to pager 20. Of course all of the pagers tuned to the frequency of transmitter 36 receive the transmission, but only address decoder 54 of pager 20 correctly decodes the message and passes the alphanumeric information to message decoder 56. Message decoder 56 detects that the message contains only alphanumeric information and supplies the information to display 64, along with any alert signals,etc. that may be required. The pager operator visually receives the message "CALL YOUR OFFICE".

In a situation where the caller on telephone 25 wants the message stored for future retransmissions (the caller could be the pager operator) , an authorization code peculiar to pager 20, individually or in a group, is also inputted with the pager address and the alphanumeric information. CPU 26 compares the authorization code to a code stored in memory 30 and when verified stores the alphanumeric information in the portion of memory 30 dedicated to the subscriber of pager 20. Also, CPU 26 selects an address from the addresses available in memory 60 of pager 20. Since all of the information stored in the dedicated portion of memory 30 also includes the address at which the same information is stored in memory 60, this selection process is a relatively simple comparison. Simultaneously, decoder 32 has detected the authorization signal and upon a verification signal from CPU 26, causes activation circuit 34 to produce an activation signal. It will of course be apparent that all of these functions could be programmed into CPU 26, or that CPU 26 as described, could be substantially replaced with a comparator and some control logic. Transmitter 18 now transmits a message including the address of pager 20, an activation signal, an address for memory 60, and alphanumeric information. When the message is received by pager 20 and is passed by address decoder 54, the activation signal is supplied to circuit 68, the memory address is supplied to memory 60 on lead 61, and the alphanumeric information is supplied to input terminal 65 and display 6 . The alphanumeric information is stored in memory 60 at the memory address supplied on lead 61 and, simultaneously, the pager operator visually receives the message "CALL YOUR OFFICE" . Assume that sometime after the above procedure has been completed, a caller again requests the same page be transmitted to pager 20. The entire storage procedure can be transparent to the caller. That is, the caller again identifies pager 20 by its specific address and inputs the alphanumeric information, "CALL YOUR OFFICE". CPU 26 compares the alphanumeric information to information stored in memory 30 and detects a comparison. CPU 26 then orders transmitter 18 to transmit only the address of pager 20 and the address at which the specific information is stored in memory 60. When the message is passed by address decoder 54, only the memory address remains, which is supplied to memory 60 on lead 61. This activates memory 60 to supply the message stored at that address to display 64. The pager operator visually receives the message "CALL YOUR OFFICE". It should be noted that in some instances the address or some identifying number or code of the specific stored message might be known by the caller. In such instances the caller need only identify pager 20 and input the specific address, number, or code of the alphanumeric information to be communicated. Upon receiving this message, CPU 20 will simply transmit the address or use the number or code to find the address in memory 30 since no comparison to stored information will occur or be required. Thus, the result will be the same as though the alphanumeric information had been inputted.

In a further novel method, which may use the same apparatus as described above, calling numbers are processed to obtain meaningful source descriptions, which are then communicated to pager 20. A set of pager-unique, special-interest source numbers and associated source labels (informative text strings) must be entered for each subscriber in the data base (memory 30) of terminal 15 and stored in memory 30 for use by CPU 26. The source numbers might be, for example, complete telephone numbers such as those assigned to the subscriber's secretary, boss, wife, customers, etc., or the numbers might be partial line numbers indicating a generic class of source, such as calls originating "inside" a PBX as opposed to coming in from "outside". The source labels briefly describe the source ("SEC", "BOSS", "WIFE" etc.). These lists of special interest numbers and labels are entered into the portion of memory 30 in terminal 15 which is dedicated to the subscriber via VDT commands and screens, just as any other subscriber data is entered in modern, software- controlled paging terminals. In operation, the software program in CPU 26 of paging terminal 15 compares the actual calling number received with each paging call from telephone 25 against the subscriber unique list stored in memory 30 to determine whether a match exists with one of the special- interest sources (or if there is no match, to identify the source as "other") . Sending a special-interest source tag to compatible alphanumeric pager 20 is accomplished by prefixing the display message with a digit (or digits) identifying the special source. The identifying label of the special interest source is also sent the first time and stored in memory 60, as previously described. For the second and subsequent pages, pager 20 locates the previously stored descriptive source label associated with the received source tag digit or digits (address) and immediately displays the associated source label followed by the message from the caller (which may, or ma" not, also be prestored) . While one might question tϊ. value of source labels when the number of special interest sources is only four (as in this example) , the value of the source label becomes obvious as the number of sources increases (as in steady customers of a salesman or repairman) . For that reason, this invention sets no limit on the number of source tags and source labels which can be used with each subscriber. It should be noted that the same feature could be accomplished more simply, but less efficiently in regard to air time, by doing the comparing in CPU 26 and transmitting the source label directly with each page, thus, eliminating the need for a special pager design. Either way, the feature would appear to operate the same way from the point of view of the subscriber.

When specific stored information is no longer useful or accurate, the pager operator can notify paging terminal 15 and the information along with its address, or source tag, can be erased from memory 30. The address will then be available to CPU 26 for the storing of some other information and will be erased in memory 60 of pager 20 when paging terminal 15 sends the next message to be stored at that location. Many pagers now include a simple transmitter which is capable of sending an acknowledge signal to the paging terminal upon receiving the page. When a stored message is no longer useful or accurate a simple code word, such as the address of the obsolete information, could accompany the acknowledge signal, which code word would signal the paging terminal to erase the stored message.

It should be noted that substantially the only limitation on the length of stored information is the amount of information that display 64 can provide. Each addressed location in memory 60 can be sufficient to store the largest number of characters that can be produced by display 64. Alternatively, each addressed location can be only one half the length of display 64 and two (or more) messages could be addressed in sequence by a single page. Thus, there is virtually no limit to the amount of information that can be communicated by a single page, except the size of memory 30.

Homogeneity of the common messages sent to groups of pagers can be insured by automatic periodic retransmissions of the current stored information to all pagers in the group. In this way pagers which for any reason did not receive the most recent information may be brought to the current status. Thus, an improved method and improved apparatus for retransmitting predetermined information is disclosed. The invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art to produce a truly practical and highly flexible implementation of "canned messages". Some specific advantages of the present invention over the prior art are enumerated below. (1) The ability to mo^r' ^' y or add information to previously stored informat. n at any time, without requiring modifications of receiver hardware.

(2) The ability to provide different categories of customers with specialized information sets (to accommodate jargon, etc) .

(3) The ability to provide receiver-unique information sets (for calling source identification, for example) . (4) The ability to use extremely lengthy "canned messages" on a custom, specialized basis without the need to impact receiver memory requirements on the whole.

While I have shown and described specific embodiments of the present invention, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire it to be understood, therefor, that this invention is not limited to the particular forms shown and I intend in the appended claims to cover all modifications that do not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. In a communication system including a communication terminal having a transmitter and a plurality of remote receivers designed to receive messages from the communication terminal and each including a transducer for converting received electronic signals to human detectable signals, a method of retransmitting messages from the transmitter to at least one of the receivers, comprising the steps of: providing an erasable, nonvolatile memory with at least one remote receiver, said erasable, nonvolatile memory being coupled to said receiver to store, in response to an activation signal, information received by the receiver and to supply the stored information, in response to address signals indicative of the stored position in the erasable, nonvolatile memory, to the transducer of the at least one receiver; transmitting a message, including an activation signal, information and an address at which the information is to be stored, to the at least one remote receiver; storing the transmitted information at the address in the erasable, nonvolatile memory; retransmitting the address to the at least one receiver; and receiving the retransmitted address in the one receiver and providing to the transducer the information stored in the erasable, nonvolatile memory at the retransmitted address.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the communication system is a paging system and the remote receivers are pagers and including the step of transmitting a signal including a specific address of the at least one receiver, prior to the step of transmitting the message, to activate the at least one receiver to receive the message.

3. A method as claimed in claim 2 including the steps of providing an erasable, nonvolatile memory to each pager of an associated group of the plurality of pagers, transmitting a signal including a specific address common to the group of the plurality of pagers to activate the group of the plurality of pagers to receive the transmitted message and the retransmitted address.

4. A method as claimed in claim 2 including in addition the steps of providing an erasable memory in the communication terminal and storing the transmitted information and address in the erasable memory of the communication terminal.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the communication terminal of the paging system includes apparatus for receiving calls from external sources and including the steps of receiving a call for the at least one receiver which is similar to the stored information in the erasable memory of the communication terminal, comparing the call to the stored information, and retransmitting the address of the information stored in the erasable, nonvolatile memory of the at least one receiver to the at least one receiver.

6. In a paging system including a paging terminal and a plurality of pagers designed to receive messages from the paging terminal and each pager including a display, and the paging terminal including a transmitter and apparatus for receiving calls from external sources, a method of retransmitting messages from the paging terminal to at least one of the pagers comprising the steps of: providing an erasable memory in the paging terminal operatively connected to the transmitter; providing an erasable, nonvolatile memory with the at least one pager, said erasable, nonvolatile memory being coupled to said pager to store, in response to an activation signal, information received by the at least one pager and in response to source labels to supply the stored information to the transducer of the at least one pager; storing a plurality of pager-unique, special interest source numbers and associated source labels in the erasable memory in the paging terminal; storing the associated source labels and additional identifying information associated with each of said source labels in the erasable, nonvolatile memory of the at least one pager; receiving a call at the paging terminal from a pager- unique special-interest source number for the at least one pager; comparing the received call to the plurality of pager-unique special-interest source numbers stored in the erasable memory of the pager terminal; transmitting at least the stored source label associated with the pager-unique special-interest number when a comparison occurs; and displaying the additional identifying information stored in the erasable, nonvolatile memory of the at least one pager when the at least one pager receives the transmitted source label.

7. A method as set forth in cairn 6 wherein the step of storing the associated source label and additional identifying information is performed, during a first call received by the paging terminal including the pager-unique special-interest source number, by the paging terminal transmitting a message including a pager address, an activation signal, the associated source label, and the additional identifying information.

8. A remote receiver for use in a communication system including a communication terminal having a transmitter, said remote receiver comprising: apparatus tuned to receive signals transmitted by the transmitter of the communication terminal; a receiver address decoder coupled to said apparatus and passing only messages addressed specifically to the remote receiver; a transponder for converting information to human detectable signals; an erasable, nonvolatile memory, having a plurality of different information position addresses for storing information, coupled to said receiver address decoder and said transponder and operative in response to activation signals to store information received from said receiver address decoder at an information position address received from said receiver address decoder; and a message decoder coupled to said receiver address decoder, said erasable, nonvolatile memory, and to said transponder for providing stored messages from said erasable nonvolatile memory to said transponder in response to the receipt of a message address from said receiver address decoder and for providing information other than message addresses directly to said transponder.

9. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 8 wherein the remote receiver is a pager and the communication system is a paging system.

10. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 9 wherein the remote receiver includes a temporary memory coupled to the receiver address decoder for temporarily storing messages passed by said receiver address decoder.

11. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 8 including in addition an erase circuit coupled to said receiver address decoder and to said erasable memory for erasing any specific information stored in said erasable memory in response to the receipt of an activation signal and the address of the specific information to be erased.

12. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 9 wherein the transponder is a visual display.

13. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 12 wherein said erasable memory has stored therein at a plurality of different addresses a plurality of different information.

14. A remote receiver as claimed in claim 12 wherein said erasable memory has stored therein at a plurality of different addresses a plurality of different descriptive source labels.

15. A paging terminal for use in a paging system including at least a transmitter and at least one remote pager, said paging terminal comprising: an erasable memory containing a plurality of pager- unique, special-interest source numbers and additional identifying information associated with each number for the at least one remote pager; input apparatus for receiving input calls; means coupled to said erasable memory and said input apparatus for receiving and comparing input calls to the pager-unique, special-interest source numbers stored in said erasable memory and controlling the transmitter to transmit at least the additional identifying information associated with the compared number when a comparison occurs.