AU2011101642A4 - X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone - Google Patents

Abstract

The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone connects to a users vehicle two way radio, allowing the user to automatically maintain a reliable, secure voice link for up to 300 metres, or more back to their mobile two-way radio to maintain constant contact with other team members and radio dispatch control rooms, by use of an industry familiar ergonomic user interface so as to minimize user training and acceptance, achieved at a fraction of the mobile radio cost compared to historic alternatives.

Description

The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone FIELD - RADIO COMMUNICATIONS [01] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone is an invention focused in the field of two-way radio communications. However it can be equally applied to any wireless voice communication technology including land mobile two-way radio, long distance HF, satellite communications, point to point radio systems and mobile phone /cellular telephony. INVENTION BACKGROUND [02] Deploying land mobile two-way radio networks for mission critical and business industrial and commercial users takes a significant engineering effort, balancing implementation cost operational performance, system access and maximum usable coverage is a constant design challenge. As operational geographical areas become greater the need to maintain performance and coverage reliability becomes increasingly difficult and usually much more complex and expensive. [03] Developing solutions for these competing requirements, land mobile network engineers typically design network coverage for vehicle installed mobile two-way radios. Coverage considerations for hand held portable two-way radio performance is usually approached as a secondary or not guaranteed consideration. However this increasing and most vital performance compromise affects field operational effectiveness and most seriously users personal safety. Subsequent poor portable two-way radio coverage in these "designed for mobile" systems restricts users from leaving the vehicle and potentially being unable to communicate with a team member or control room for operational or safety necessities. Furthermore Emergency calls may not get through rendering the user potentially out of range of control room response. SUMMARY OF INVENTION TECHNICAL PROBLEM [04] For many years system designers and radio manufacturers have grappled with solutions to enhance user mobility through by seeking to find ways to enhance portable radio coverage particularly when away from the vehicle. These solutions typically involved significant additions of base station infrastructure; radio sites and complex remote receiver voting systems to back fill marginal coverage areas to increase the likelihood of providing portable radio coverage. [05] Alternatively manufacturers developed cumbersome vehicle based repeater systems where local simplex portable transmissions are relayed through a vehicle fitted cross or in-band "vehicle repeater" back into the base station network. These systems required high levels of operator training to ensure practical utilization of the facility. [06] These systems require careful engineering, additional frequencies and critically complex contention management protocols to eliminate clashing from multiple vehicle repeaters at a common scene. Vehicle Repeaters usually add system delays and require user intervention of which channel, mode or status the vehicle repeater needs to functionally operate. Besides lack of system elegance and user complication the huge implementation costs restrict these solutions being added to every mobile user. Past attempts in these smart vehicle repeaters with matching portable radios typically incur costs 4 a to 5 times the investment of a single mobile radio. [07] For users of trunked mobile radios and more recent digital tow way radio systems which may also include the use voice encryption, these historic approaches to provide out of vehicle communications, have seen costs dramatically balloon or become technically unfeasible due to their inability to maintain high levels of voice transmission privacy or in the lack of user notification of systems access or status tones while operating these systems. SOLUTION TO PROBLEM [08] The invention: the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone connects to a users vehicle two way mobile radio. It allows users to leave their vehicle while staying constantly in radio contact, via the vehicle host two-way radio, to other team members and radio dispatch control rooms. The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone automatically maintains a reliable, secure voice link to the mobile two-way radio for up to 300 metres, or more. The invention's ergonomic user interface is modeled to be consistent with traditional wired two-way radio type products so as to minimize user training and acceptance. The implementation cost of the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone is a fraction of the mobile radio cost rather than multiples of such. ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION [09] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone performs like a traditional wired hand-held speaker microphone but is invisibly wirelessly connected to the vehicle's mobile radio providing Push To Talk transmit (PTT), receive and to generate Emergency call functionality.

[10] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone provides duplex audio so that the user will always hear call status tones that may be generated by the host mobile radio as though the user was seated in the vehicle. [11] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone allows the connection of multiple units to the vehicles mobile radio so that more than one person can maintain connectivity with the vehicles mobile radio when moving away from the vehicle. Additionally, multiple units will hear each other talk on the system while away from the vehicle as if they were all still seated inside the vehicle. [12] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone does not require user intervention when multiple vehicles equipped with the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone are operating at the same geographic location. [13] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone provides user voice privacy by way of embedded 64 or, 128-bit encryption so as to ensure conversations cannot be wirelessly eavesdropped or monitored. [14] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone is designed to interface directly with the host mobile two-way radio such that it will automatically be activated/activated in accordance with the host mobile radio's active state. The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone may also be manually controlled where that mode of functionality is required by the user. [15] Use of the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone does not require any modification or enhancement of the base station infrastructure that the mobile radio operates on. [16] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone operates in the j industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) or similar frequency bands that are outside of traditional land mobile two way radio frequency bands and does not require the use of radio frequency filters to co-exist with mobile two way radios inside vehicles. [17] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone may be connected to any two way radio type including, but no limited to, analog, digital, vehicle and hand-held two way radios, operating in simplex, 2 frequency simplex, duplex modes, or operating through single or multi-site conventional or trunked two way radio base station infrastructure networks Additionally, the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone may be connected to Marine band, Air band, HF and satellite band radios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS [18] The associated drawing shows an overview of the X10DR Secure Wireless Microphone solution as implemented in a typical modern automobile. The chief components are: Figure 1 Secure Wireless microphone Figure 2 Mobile base X-ponder Figure 3 connection to users host mobile two-way radio Figure 4 example of multiple units sharing one mobile two-way radio DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS [19] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone design core draws on utilisation of variety of wireless protocols including a derivative of 802.15 Industrial Class 1, Bluetooth digital communications protocol.

U This frequency hopping spread spectrum operation extends significantly the transmission range to achieve reliable coverage performance of up to 300 metres and is highly immune to other uses of the 2.4GHz band. The 802.15 protocol has been enhanced to simplify the user interface so as to ensure little or no user training is required of the invention and to ensure critical system access times are in accordance with mission critical two way radio expectations. [20] Additionally, it can be configured with DECT standard and operate within other frequency band allocations where other user pre requisites demand. [21] The X10DR Secure Wireless Microphone incorporates a range optimised RF design with perfectly matched antennas between the Mobile Base X-ponder and the secure wireless microphone. The physical design approach means it can be easily be enhanced by use of attaching external antennas and amplifiers for greater in-building penetration. [22] The X10DR Secure Wireless Microphone provides voice privacy to prevent un-wanted monitoring or eavesdropping of conversations. Within the communications protocol high-level 64/128-bit digital encryption is embedded within each message ensuring high levels of voice security for each radio voice transmission. [23] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone uniquely incorporates HLCTM a "Hard Line Coding" pairing protocol that removes any risk or possibility of pairing intrusion and link compromise between the Secure Wireless Microphone and vehicle mobile base x-ponder during the pairing process. The Hard Line Coding design requires a direct physical connection between the wireless microphone and x-ponder.

INDUSTRY APPLICABILITY [24] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone is designed for use by the complete cross-section of current two-way radio users. These include law enforcement, emergency services, Public service, governmental, transportation, energy and telecommunications industries, and various industrial commercial and service based enterprises. [25] Weighing less than 170 grams the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone can be comfortably worn on the shirt or jacket by almost anyone in any situation. It incorporates a high capacity Lithium battery that can deliver over 12 hours of operational performance between each re-charge so those users whose duties require them to be continually out of the vehicle can wear the unit all through their work day. The unit can be re-charged simply by parking the Mobile X ponder. It may alternatively be left sitting in this pocket for those who would normally only leave their vehicle or work post occasionally. [26] It includes connection for Motorcycle Helmets, console headsets and a variety of audio accessories. This allows motorcycle riders such as Police officers to now get on and off their bikes without the need to plug in connecting wired cables. Connection cables, which create an OH&S, hazard in the event of the rider coming of the bike in an accident or collision. [27] While the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone system has been designed to address the single user goal of remaining connected to the network when away from the vehicle, they can be teamed up when required and provide dual user operation from a single mobile 0 radio. Its smart node interface passes both transmit and receive audio to each X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone ensuring each user hears both active parts of the communications sent over the host two way radio channel. Example: One user could remain around a vehicle while another user could be investigating an incident around a house, or at a vehicle accident site. As long as both users remain within the vehicle network, they are fully connected for both transmit and receive conversations at all times. [28] For organisations that typically may deploy more than one vehicle to any one incident, accident or work site, the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone inherent design ensures that each Secure Wireless Microphone remains exclusively connected to their assigned vehicle. There is no need for any user intervention as vehicles arrive or leave the scene. This simplicity or operation ensures staff can focus on the tasks at hand and not mastering or re-learning how to operate the radio system. [29] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone's duress button that can be used to activate the emergency mode within the host mobile two-way radio. When the duress mode is activated, an appropriately configured host mobile radio, can signal the control room or other radio channel users by activating other mobile based emergency features such as Unit identification, status and GPS data location information. ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS [30] The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone functionality beyond the vehicle application, delivers greater flexibility for other applications such as: [31] Control Room: Single radio operator or rural control rooms can stay in constant contact whilst away from the actual fixed RF Control or local base station by connection of an X10DR Secure Wireless Microphone. This then allows them to move around the office or facility. [32] Water Craft or Boats: Watercraft operators can also stay in constant contact whilst moving around the craft both up and below deck. [33] In Building Extender: Often radio network coverage can be marginal in remote areas and a simple RF control station on a rooftop may be able to communicate with the local repeater base station or network but coverage from within the building may be unusable. Incorporating the X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone effectively delivers a wireless remote control. This can help eliminate hard wiring from remote consoles to a RF control station located elsewhere in the building. A correctly configured X10DR" allows the user total connectivity within the building.

Claims (8)

1. The X10DR - Secure Wireless Microphone connects to a users vehicle two way radio, allowing the user to automatically maintain a reliable, secure voice link for up to 300 metres, or more back to their mobile two-way radio.

2. It subsequently then allows a user to maintain constant voice contact with other team members and radio dispatch control rooms operating on the two-way radios operating channel.

3. It use of an industry familiar simple ergonomic user interface "Speaker Microphone" so as to minimize user training and acceptance.

4. It allows duplex audio functionality during when its PTT button is pressed to allow user to hear system access tones from the mobile two way radio.

5. It achieves these objectives at a significantly lower cost when compared to historic attempts at providing long distance communications from and via the vehicles mobile two-way radio.

6. It provides over 12 hours of battery powered operation, re charges in the vehicle combined mobile X-ponder /charger and allows connection of traditional two way radio earpieces and accessories.

7. It provides secure individual pairing by requiring microphone and X-ponder to physically connected to achieve pair process

8. It allows multiple units to operate in the same geographic area with little or minimal cross interference.