BG99746A - System and method for personal call by transmitting back confirmation signal using radio telephone system - Google Patents

Abstract

The system is a combination of a personal-phone transceiver and a radiotelephone (40). It includes a call-forward receiver (214) of paging terminals (32), a paging recovery decoder (216), and a controller (220) that determines whether the paging message requires a back-up acknowledgment signal. The radiotelephone trace unit (205) connects the controller (220) to the radiotelephone system (15) to establish a radiotelephone connection with the personal call terminal (32) for transmitting a confirmation back signal to the paging terminal via the radiotelephone connection, when it is found that the paging message requires a back-up acknowledgment signal (304).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a combination of a paging system and a radiotelephone system, and in particular to a method and a personal call system with the transmission of a feedback signal using a radiotelephone system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Selective call signaling systems (for example, personal call systems or so-called paging systems) provide one-way radio frequency transmission of selective call messages, called paging messages, from a message sender to a personal call receiver. The sender of the message connects to the personal call system via the public dial-up telephone network system or other input interface means and transmits the information from the message to the personal call terminal. The information contained in the message is encoded in a standard transmission protocol modulated on a carrier signal and transmitted as a radio frequency signal to a personal call receiver. The personal call receiver receives the signal, demodulates it, and decodes it to recover the message and present it to the subscriber system that is a user of the receiver.

Since selectively transmitting a call is a one-way communication system, the sender of the message does not understand (no feedback) whether the subscriber receives a message. Transmission of a return acknowledgment signal has been developed to inform the system of the reception of the message by the receiver. In addition, in order to avoid interference between the paging and the acknowledgment feedback, the system communication path or airtime must be reserved for the acknowledgment feedback. Airtime is a costly commodity in selective call systems, especially in a wide area of multiple subscriber systems. Companies offering selective call services want to serve a large number of subscribers to earn high revenue. Therefore, it is desirable that the airtime does not engage with the acknowledgment feedback.

Since selective call signaling systems are one-way systems, the construction of the communication route of the acknowledgment feedback signal involves large investments. In addition, acknowledgment signals are rarely transmitted and require little airtime. Therefore, the communication route will be ineffective and will not be able to provide the service provider with sufficient monetary returns for the added quality - a confirmation signal.

What is needed is a confirmation feedback system that does not take air time from the selective call signaling system and does not require a communication route.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the invention, a selective call receiver is provided, comprising a radio frequency receiver for receiving personal call signals transmitted from a personal call terminal, a decoder coupled to the radio receiver to decode personal call signals in order to recover the paging message, the flag-paging identifier identifying the acknowledgment request, and the controller to connect to the paging terminal in the middle a radiotelephone system and to send a confirmation signal in the event that the identifier determines that the paging message is flagged.

In another embodiment, there is provided a method for transmitting messages on a personal call system to a combination radiotelephone and radio for personal call.

The method involves the operations of receiving the message from the sender of the message, determining whether the sender of the message wishes to receive a confirmation acknowledgment upon receiving the information from the message from a radio paging device, marking the message with a flag for defining it as a message requiring a return signal to confirm its acceptance if the sender wishes such a signal and to transmit the flagged message to the combination radiotelephone and radio pager · Hereinafter the method klyuchva steps of coupling to the combination radio telephone and radio pager via a radio telephone system, receiving the requested return acknowledgment signal via the radio telephone system, and advising the message originator that the message was received.

Brief description of the drawings

FIG. 1 is a scheme of a combination of a personal system call and wireless telephone system in accordance with

the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the terminal's action algorithm for personally call in combination with a personalized system call and the wireless telephone system of Figure 1 c

in accordance with the preferred embodiment of

the present invention. FIG is a block diagram of a combination of radio pager and

the wireless telephone transceiver of FIG. 1 in accordance with a preferred embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a scheme of the algorithm of action of the processor of message for a personal call in the combination of

radio pager and cordless telephone of FIG. 3 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention

According to Figure 1, a selective call signaling system combining a wide range of personal call systems and a radio telephony system, such as a wireless telephone system

15, uses the public switched telephone network (OCTM) 20 to communicate with each other

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a second generation wireless telephone system (CT-2) is used, which is cheaper than other radio telephony systems, such as cellular telephone systems.

The message sender uses a paging input device

25 to enter personal call information through the Public Switched Telephone Network (OCTM) 20 for coding and transmission to the subscriber of the personal calling system 10.

The paging input device 25 is a telephone for entering voice (audio) or digital information

The paging input device may also include a data processing device, such as a computer terminal, to generate personal call information containing graphics, facsimiles or alphanumeric information.

The sender of the message determines (initializes) the transmission sequence of the message via the paging message input device 25 by entering a voice or information message as a call to the access number of the particular personal call device (such as a call radio (radio pager)). / radio telephone 40). The sender connects to a personal call terminal via the telephone network interface of the personal call system and

the route

20a of a public switched telephone network for processing from a personal calling terminal

32. When an incoming call is answered, a pre-recorded message is played from the personal call terminal 32, which provides the sender with access to the system 10, describing how the sender can enter the personal call message and request for the desired confirmation, that the message was received. The sender responds by entering a speech or information message and a special coded signal to indicate that he or she wants confirmation of the successful reception of the message.

In the paging terminal 32, the message is initially entered into the clipboard. After the sender has completed the sequence entry, the personal call terminal 32 accesses the subscriber database 34 to obtain the subscriber address, which address is associated with the personal call information to form a paging message. In accordance with the present invention, if the sender has introduced a special encoded signal indicating the desired acknowledgment, the acknowledgment message flag block 42 of the personal call terminal 32 means the flag message and the terminal 32 includes the highlighted message in the message stack in queue 36 for later transmission. The message acknowledgment flag block 42 may, for example, tag the message using an address that is reserved for a confirmation request message, or it may associate the marked confirmation request to the message common addressing block

The paging messages stored in the message stacking queue 36 are sequentially output via the personal call terminal 32 and fed to the personal call transmitters 38 for transmission as selective call signals.

Selective call alerts transmitted by a personal call system

10, are received by a combination personal radio receiver (radio pager) and radio telephone 40

The radio pager receives the selective call signals.

A radio telephony, such as a wireless telephone transceiver (CT-2), connects to the public switched telephone network 20 via the radio telephone system 15.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the combined radio pager wireless telephone transceiver 40 receives selective call signals transmitted by the personal call system 10 through the personal call transmitters 38.

If a flag message is received from the combined radio pager and wireless telephone transceiver 40 between them and the wireless telephone system 15, a wireless telephone connection is created.

A local call transceiver 50, including, a receive tract 50a and a transmission tract receives the acknowledgment signal from the radio pager / wireless telephone transceiver 40 together with the information determining the numbers for access to the personal call system 10 via the public dial-up telephone network 20 Confirmation signals and access information are submitted to the call controller 52, which uses the access information to call the personal call system 10 via telephone. wireless interface for telephone call station 15. Once the call signal is introduced into the controller 52 and the personal call terminal 32 via route 20b of the public dial-up telephone network 20, the acknowledgment signal indicating the message received is sent to the personal terminal call 32. The personal call terminal 32, after receiving the acknowledgment signal, may generate a response message to the received message, which is returned to the sender of the message in the input device. jing message 25. This message sender response may appear while the caller is waiting for the incoming telephone line of the telephone network interface 30, or may be directed to a pager or other connection device capable of receiving the answer signal.

The acknowledgment signal may indicate the type of message that is received (i.e., speech, digital, or alphanumeric message), the time at which the message is received, whether the message is received without error or not, or whether the acknowledgment signal is personalized

The personal call terminal can send the additional information received to the sender of the message. In addition, the acknowledgment signal may also be used by the terminal

32 to start relaying the error message

Therefore, according to the present invention, the Paging System 10 does not need to use the airtime or busy channel to receive acknowledgments from the radio pager. The radio pager / wireless telephone transceiver combination uses a wireless telephone connection to send a confirmation signal to the personal call system 10 to inform the sender in real time that the message has been received.

According to FIG. 2, the flowchart for receiving a call from the personal call terminal 32 (FIG. 1) starts from the personal call system presented by block 100. The processing process waits for the incoming call 102 from the sender of the message . When incoming call is received

102 via the telephone network interface 30 (FIG. 1), the call is answered 104, and the personal call terminal 32 generates a sound prompt 106 inviting the message sender to enter the message through the paging input device 25 (FIG. 1). When the message is entered, it is stored in the buffer memory of the terminal 32 (Figure 1) until the end of the message 110 is established. When the message end is set

110, determines whether a confirmatory response 112 is desired.

If no acknowledgment signal 112 is requested, the message is called from the temporary message memory via the personal call terminal and included in the message stacking queue 36 so that the message is sorted for transmission 114. The process returns for waiting to receive the next incoming call 102.

If a 112 acknowledgment is required, the message is called from the message memory

2 and is fed to the message queue block (Fig. 1) so that the message is sorted for broadcast based on priority 116. The recording is played back to the sender, informing him to wait for an acknowledgment signal. The processing process Resists until the acknowledgment 120 is received or until the end of the pause 122. The pause is a predetermined time at which the system holds the line sender to wait for the acknowledgment to be received. When this time has ended 122, a message is sent to the sender that no response has been received 124, terminal 32 interrupts process 126, and it starts again initially with a wait for the next incoming call 102. If a confirmation signal 120 is received at the specified time, the acknowledgment signal is analyzed to see whether the assigned security identification code 127. is received. If security ID 127 is not received with the acknowledgment signal, the process returns to wait for another acknowledgment signal 120 or the pause 122 to be received. . For The security ID code prevents errors by verifying that the acknowledgment signal was created in response to the sender message. This is desirable as a hospital to obtain a valid confirmation that the doctor has been paged. If security ID 127 is detected, the acknowledgment response signal, the standard message (for example, no acknowledgment signal is received), or the message created by the pager user is interrupted to the sender 128. The personal call 32 terminates the process 126 and it returns to wait for the next incoming call to be received 102.

According to FIG. 3, the combination of a radio pager and a wireless telephone transceiver 40 (FIG. 1) in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a personal call receiving line 200, a wireless telephone transceiver 205, and a message and display control 210. personal call path 200 includes antenna 212 for receiving selective call signals, a radio tuned to the frequency of personal call channel 214 connected to the antenna to demodulate the signal s selective call and a decoder for decoding the demodulated signal to recover the transmitted paging message.

The decoded paging message is fed to the message processor and display controller 220 for processing. In conventional operations, the decoded message is stored in the message memory 222 and the user (subscriber) is alerted via a signaling device 224 that a paging message has been received. The user can activate the user and display controllers 226 to display the message from the message memory 222 and display it in the message display 228. The controllers can control the display or change the reception parameters in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. .

According to the present invention, address codes of a particular personal call or flag signals added to a message cause the message processor '220 to initiate a telephone call through the wireless telephone transceiver 205 when it is within range of the wireless telephone call station 15 ( 1).

Therefore, when a warning (alarm) signal is generated, the alarm device 224 alerts the user that a message has been received and, depending on the desired operation, may indicate that a confirmation signal is requested so that the user can initiate a response or generate automatically a confirmation tone. The acknowledgment signal is generated by triggering the wireless telephone transceiver 205 of the radio pager / wireless telephone transceiver 40.

The operation of the wireless telephone transceiver 205 is controlled by a telephone control logic unit 230. An antenna 232 is coupled to an antenna transceiver 234 that operates in accordance with the control of the telephone control logic device 230. the antenna 232 to the radio tuned to the frequency of the telephone channel 236 for receiving radio frequency signals and transmitting the signals to the telephone control logic 230. In the second position, the receive-transmit antenna switch 234 connects the antenna 232 to a transmitter tuned to

frequency of the telephone channel 240 it processes the alerts, received from the telephone control logic device 230 for transmission as radio frequency signals from

antenna 232.

Speaker 238 may be connected to radio 236 and microphone 242 for conventional wireless telephone operation to transmitter 240. In a possible embodiment, the receiver 236 supplies the audio components of the signals to the speaker 238, and the digital components of the signals to the telephone control logic unit 230. The transmitter 240 processes the audio signals received from the microphone 242 and the digital signals received from the telephone control

230, for broadcast through antenna 232. In a logic device additionally the microphone

242 allows the user to submit a personalized confirmatory response to the sender of the message.

According to the invention, when the wireless telephone transceiver 205 operates in acknowledgment mode, the receiver 236 seeks a signal from the wireless telephone call station 15 (FIG. 1). When receiver 236 determines that the radio pager / wireless telephone transceiver combination 40 is within the range of station 15, the telephone control logic 230 triggers the transmitter 240 to transmit a call through the call local station 15 to the personal call terminal 32 (FIG. 1). When the terminal 32 answers the acknowledgment call, the processor 220 provides a special code thereto that identifies the specific radio pager 40 that is calling and a message received acknowledgment signal. The acknowledgment signal can optionally determine the type of message received (i.e., voice, digital or alphanumeric message), the time at which the message was received, whether or not the message was received without errors, or a personalized acknowledgment signal . In addition, the acknowledgment signal may also be used by the personal call terminal 32 to request relaying of an error message.

According to Figure 4, the operation of the message processor for

personal call 220 as desired an exemplary embodiment of the invention begins 300 s activation of radio pager / wireless combination

telephone transceiver 40. The message processing process is waiting to receive a message containing a personal call address code corresponding to a radio pager 40.

When the assigned personal call address code is received 302, the process determines whether a confirmation signal 304 is requested. If the message is flagged by the acknowledgment message flag block 42 (FIG. 1), a confirmation signal is requested 304. The predetermined code submitted to the address paging can also show that it is exquisite 304 confirmation signal.

If no acknowledgment signal 304 is required, the message is stored 306 for subsequent withdrawal by the user in accordance with the standard pager action, and an alarm 308 is generated to notify the user that the message is received and stored. The process then returns to wait for the receipt of 302 of a subsequent message containing an established personal call address code.

If a confirmation signal 304 is requested, the message is stored 310 and an alarm signal 312 is generated. According to the present invention, a confirmation signal 314 is generated including a security ID code transmitted to the pager. The acknowledgment signal can be generated automatically or can be taken into account when customized by the user by activating controls 226 or by entering a voice message via microphone 242 (Fig. 3). In addition, a specific response may be generated from the processor 220, requiring retransmission upon detection of sufficient errors in the received message to indicate that the message may not be received correctly. The security ID verifies the validity of the acknowledgment signal, confirming that this signal was created in the radio pager / cordless telephone combination 40.

After generating acknowledgment signal 314, processor 220 triggers wireless telephone transceiver 205 in confirmation mode 316. With activation 316 of transceiver 205, receiver 236 searches for a local telephone station 318. When a signal from a local telephone station is detected, it becomes established. a wireless telephone connection between transceiver 205 and it.

The processor 220 signals to the telephone control logic 230 to call 320 personal call terminal 32 (FIG. 1). When the transceiver 205 connects to the terminal 32 via a wireless telephone connection, the generated acknowledgment signal is sent 322 to the terminal 32. The call is terminated 324 and the process returns to wait for the receipt of a subsequent message having a personal call address code 302 established.

Accordingly, according to the present invention, paging messages transmitted from the personal call terminal and received by the radio pager can be confirmed by a wireless telephone connection between the transceiver connected to the radio pager and the terminal.

It should now be clear that a confirmation signaling system is provided that does not take air time from the transmission system of the selected call, although it does not require a separate communication route.

Claims (10)

1. A combination of a personal radio transceiver and a radio telephone containing: a first means of receiving receiving personal paging signals from the paging terminal; a decoding means coupled to the first receiving means decoding the personal call signals to recover the paging message; determining means of determining whether a paging message requires a confirmation signal; radio-telephone means for connecting to the radio-telephone communication system; and a control device coupled to the determining means and to the radio-telephone means for connecting the radio-telephone means to the radio-telephone system, in order to transmit the acknowledgment signal to the personal call terminal via the radio-telephone system, if the determining means determines that the paging message requires a return confirmation tone. 2. A combination of a personal call radio and a radio telephone according to claim 1, wherein the determining means comprises: a processing tool that determines and calculates the number of errors in a paging message, and means for relaying a request that determines whether a relay request for a paging message acknowledgment signal is required when the number of errors exceeds a predetermined number. 3. The combination of a personal call radio and a radio telephone according to claim 1, wherein the control means connects the radio telephone to the radio telephone system to transmit a acknowledgment signal and a pager identification signal to the personal call terminal, when the determining means is detected, that the paging message requires an acknowledgment signal, whereby the pager identification signal only determines the combination of a radio receiver for personal calling and radiotelephone. 4. A combination of a personal call radio and a radio telephone according to claim 1, comprising a user input means connected to the control means for transmitting to it user input signals, wherein the control means connect the radio telephone means to the radio system for transmitting inputs from the user to the personal call terminal in the event that the determining means has detected a request for a confirmation signal contained in the paging message tion. 5. The combination of a personal call radio and a radio telephone according to claim 1, wherein the radio telephone means comprises a wireless telephone means for connecting to a local transceiver of the wireless telephone system, wherein the control means connects the wireless telephone means to the local transceiver of the wireless telephone system for transmitting the acknowledgment feedback signal to the personal call terminal in the event that the determining means has detected a request for a return signal tvarzhdavane contained in the paging message. 6. A method for transmitting messages in a personal call system to a combination of a radio telephone and a personal radio receiver, comprising: (a) receipt of communicated information by the sender; (b) determining whether the sender of the message requests a return signal to acknowledge receipt of the message by the radio paging device; (c) flagging the message information to receive a flag message requesting a return acknowledgment signal if the message sender desires such a signal; (d) transmission of the flag message to the combination of radio telephony and radio paging; (e) connection to the combination of radiotelephone and radio pager by radiotelephone system; (f) receipt of the requested acknowledgment signal via the radiotelephone system; (g) informing the sender that the message has been accepted. 7. Selective call receiver comprising: a radio frequency receiver for receiving personal paging signals transmitted by the paging terminal; a decoder coupled to the radio receiving means for decoding personal paging signals to recover the paging message; flag message identifier to determine if a paging message is flag flag requiring reconfirmation; a controller for connecting to a personal call terminal via a radiotelephone system and for transmitting an acknowledgment signal when the identifier has detected that the message is flagged with a paging message. A selective call receiver according to claim 7, wherein said controller comprises: signal generator to generate a confirmation signal in accordance with the flag message identifier that has detected that the paging message is flagged and requires back acknowledgment, and a radio telephone transceiver for connection to the radio telephony system and to send a confirmation signal to the personal terminal call through the radiotelephone system when the flag paging identifier has detected that the paging message is flagged paging message, screaming back confirmation. A selective call receiver according to claim 7, wherein the controller comprises: means for detecting the number of errors in a paging message; means for coupling to the radiotelephone system if the detection means has established that the number of errors is greater than a predetermined number; means for generating a relay signal; means for transmitting the relay signal via the radiotelephone system to the personal call terminal. 10. A selective call receiver comprising: a radio frequency receiver for receiving personal paging signals from the paging terminal; a decoder coupled to a radio receiving means for decoding personal paging signals to recover the paging message; error detection means for detecting the number of errors in a paging message; and a controller for connecting to a personal call terminal via a radio-telephone system and for transmitting a relay signal in the event that the error detector has determined that the number of errors is greater than a predetermined number.