FI103846B - Suspend Sleep Mode to eliminate paging system reception delay - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to eliminating a call delay caused by a sleep mode in a paging system, which operates at a service centre and in which a pager can be set to a sleep mode, in which a power saving mode and a receiving mode alternate. The delay caused by the sleep mode is avoided by selecting a first pager set, to which at least one pager (8) to be selected later on belongs, on the basis of a received call according to a predefined criterion before analysing the contents of the call, and a signal for interrupting the sleep mode is sent to said first pager set. The selection criterion for the first pager set may be e.g. information on the number of subscriber A (1) stored in the system or a reference stored in the system and based on information on the caller's location to at least one pager, the sleep mode of which will be interrupted on the basis of a call from said location.

Description

103846

Interrupting sleep mode to remove the paging system receiving delay

FIELD OF THE INVENTION • The invention relates to a method of eliminating a sleep mode-induced paging delay in a paging system, wherein the paging device may be in an alert, continuous receive, or sleep mode alternating with a sleep and receive mode, the method comprising receiving a call based on the content of the call, at least one paging device and sending a call to said at least one paging device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Efficient use of organizational resources is based on mobility and rapid reach of individuals. The use of sophisticated radio-based paging systems has reduced the need to maintain duplicate resources as the organization's operations and the 20 people involved are rapidly deployed.

A mobile communication system is a communication system formed by a mobile network and mobile stations. In a paging system, communication is one-way, in which the pager acts solely as a receiver. The search initiates a call to the paging system exchange. The pagers are sent to you by the paging transmitters, which are controlled by the paging controller through the area controllers. If a person is within the coverage of the search system and their search receiver menu is on, they will receive a search message.

30 A search message can be expressed in many ways. At its simplest, the search message is indicated by a beep, a light or a vibration on the device. In addition, in addition to the paging message, the paging receiver display may also print a series of numbers (e.g., the number to be dialed) or an alphanumeric message.

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For the search system to work reliably, the search appliance must be small and lightweight so that it can easily travel with its carrier. However, the operating time of the device must be long so that the reliability of the system is not affected. Therefore, optimizing the power supply of the Search-5 is critical to system performance.

Several solutions have been proposed to reduce paging power consumption. The most common prior art arrangement is the use of a sleep mode (e.g., EP 483246, EP 10 607037 and EP 597308). In sleep mode, the pager operates only in a power-intensive receiving mode only intermittently, and at other times the pager operates in a power-saving mode. This arrangement, called SLEEP MODE, extends the lifetime of the power supply because power is consumed only in short bursts and not continuously. The longer the power save mode length can be set, the longer the power supply will last.

Because the pager does not receive a call in sleep mode, the use of the sleep mode in the paging system causes an undesirable delay. When the pager is set to sleep mode, the exchange can send a paging request only when the pager is known to be in the receiving mode. The delay may be at most nearly the length of the power saving period,. but is on average half the length of the power saver period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement for eliminating the delay between the paging decision and the paging indication caused by the sleeper state of the paging device in situations where a paging paging can be predicted.

This is achieved by the method, system and paging device of the invention described in the independent claims 1, 6 and 13. The invention is based on the fact that paging devices are often used in environments in which device 35 or devices can be identified in advance from each number. 103846 is likely to cause an invitation. Such an environment is typically a service center that relays subordinate resources based on incoming calls to the center. These include, for example, a public alarm center, 5 large production process control rooms, a hospital center or the like. In a paging system where the paging request is automatically routed to a single paging device, when the paging center receives a call to a number associated with that paging device, the present invention does not achieve the essential 10 benefits.

The service center preferably has an on-call service desk that receives the call and selects the paging device or pagers to be activated based on the content of the call. The functions of the service center 15 are in most cases of the type that, for example, calls from a particular group can be predicted in advance to trigger a call to certain pagers. By storing these predictions in a database as references to certain numbers to specific pagers, 20 calls can be made immediately after the call to the service center to retrieve the paging set associated with that A subscriber's number and send the pagers a sleep state interrupt signal. Identifying a call A subscriber and performing related database lookup functions during a call setup or switching step is known in the art and will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

Upon receiving the sleep state interrupt signal, the pagers switch to a continuous paging mode and the actual paging request can be made immediately after the paging decision: 30, and the system does not have to wait in the paging step to know the next paging pager. After the caller has analyzed the contents of the call and sends a paging call to the selected devices, the call immediately causes an alarm 35 and no additional delay occurs between the paging decision and the paging call indication.

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The sleep mode interrupt signal is sent to substantially all pagers to which an invitation is likely to be sent. This set of pagers is hereinafter referred to as the first paging set. The first set of pagers-5 may consist, for example, of pagers for a particular area, group, organization, or combination of these.

The service center's on-caller sends a paging request to those pagers whose resources, based on the call 10, are estimated to be needed. This set of pagers will be referred to as the second set of pagers. Preferably, the second pager is part of the first pager.

By means of the invention, the delay caused by the power-saving mode 15 can be eliminated when the alarm is triggered immediately after the call decision is made, without having to wait for the next time the pager is in the receiving state. Once the delay has been eliminated, increasing the duration of the power saving mode does not substantially slow down the call execution, which clearly contributes to optimizing battery usage. List of figures

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings in which. Fig. 1 illustrates a first preferred embodiment of the system according to the invention, Fig. 2 illustrates the implementation of a sleep mode in a paging paging system, Fig. 3 illustrates the advantage obtained by the method of the invention in a paging paging system;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The advantages achieved by the invention will now be discussed with reference to the preferred embodiment 5103846 of the invention. Which is illustrated as a block diagram in FIG. 1. An example is considered of a service center 2 which relays subordinate resources based on incoming calls to the center. The service center 2 preferably comprises an application system 3, which provides the service center duty station with sufficient data processing and display means for controlling and updating the search functions. The service center 2 also comprises a search controller 5 which performs the search functions based on the instructions given by the application system 3. The application system 3 and the paging controller 5 may be separate units, as illustrated in Figure 1, or they may form a single unified service center entity, or together may form part of a paging operation under a larger mobile or paging network. Examples of such cellular networks and paging networks are TETRA (Trans European Trunked Radio) and ERMES (European Radio Message System). In Fig. 1, the paging system is based, where applicable, on the ERMES paging system, of which only one area controller PAC 6, base station BS 7 and paging unit 8 are shown for clarity. In practice, pagers 8 and base stations 7 are large.

The system pagers may be put into sleep mode .. by transmitting a sleep mode setting signal to the pager upon request of the application system. Similarly, the sleepers of the selected pagers may be interrupted by sending them a sleep interrupt signal. In some cases, the paging device may also be a mobile station for bidirectional communication.

Caller 1 can connect to Service Center 2 via any network, such as the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), or the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) 35. When call 6 103846 enters the service center, the application system 3 recognizes the A-subscriber number and retrieves from database 4 information about the first set of pagers associated with said A-subscriber number. The application system 3 instructs the paging controller 5 5 to send a sleep mode interrupt signal to the pagers of the first set of pagers. The paging controller transmits the message via the area controllers 6 to the base station 7, which transmits a signal to the receiver 8 of the first paging set.

As the call progresses, the exchange's analyzer analyzes the contents of the pu-10 call and then selects another set of pagers to which a paging request is sent. Since the second paging set is typically a subset of the first paging set, the paging devices are ready in receive mode and the paging request can be immediately sent.

15 The pager's sleep mode comprises two modes: power save mode and receive mode. Receive mode is the normal operating mode of a device in which the pager is continuously able to receive signals transmitted by a base station. In power save mode, the device is turned on, but functionally inactive mode. In this case, the most power-consuming reception functions are turned off and the unit maintains a standby level from which it can quickly enter the reception mode.

. The system puts the pager into sleep mode by sending it a sleep mode setting signal. After receiving the signal, the pager first enters a power saving mode. After a predetermined period of time, the pager timer puts the pager into a reception state for a short predetermined period of time, after which the pager returns to power save mode. The pager then periodically enters the power save mode and the receive mode, synchronized with the device's internal timing.

Figure 2 illustrates the operating modes of a paging pager. The paging controller 5 operating under service center 2 puts the paging device 8 into sleep mode at 103846 at T2. In sleep mode, pager 8 alternates alternately in power save mode and receive mode. At time T2, a call is made to service center 2. The service center attendant decides to send a paging request to pager 8 at T4.

5 However, since the pager is in power save mode, the paging instructions 5 cannot send the call, but must wait for the pager to be received the next time. When the device 8 enters the receive state, the paging controller 5 sends a paging call, and the device issues an alarm at time T5.The paging device 10 has a DT_T5-T4 delay between the paging decision and the paging caused by the power saving period.

Figure 3 shows the benefit obtained by the inventive method in the retrieval system. When the call arrives at the service center 2 at the moment, the T2 application system 15 3 determines, based on the A subscriber number, the first set of pagers according to the criteria pre-stored in the application system database 4. After doing this, the application system 3 instructs the paging controller 5 to send to the pagers of the first paging set a sleep-mode interrupt signal executed by the paging controller at T3. The interrupt signal puts the pager into a continuous reception mode immediately after the end of the current power saving period. When the paging controller 5 sends the paging request to the paging device 8 at T4, the device immediately begins to alert, respectively, at * 25 T4.

Figure 4 is a functional flowchart of the procedure of Figure 3 in a system according to a first embodiment. Initially, the search controller 5 has sent a sleep mode setting signal to the search appliance 8: 30in. In the sleep mode, the paging device 8 is most of the time in a "passive mode" (power saving mode), but runs periodically in the receive mode, whereby it can receive the signals transmitted by the base station 7 (step 10). When an emergency call is made to the service center 2 (step 11), 35, the application system 3 retrieves the A-number of the caller and retrieves from the system database 4 the pagers associated with said A-number (step 12). These pagers form the first set of pagers to which the application system 3 orders the sleep mode interrupt 5 to be transmitted (step 13). As the call progresses, the caller analyzes the contents of the call and determines whether the call is causing an alarm or whether it is a non-hazardous situation that does not require the functions of a service center (paragraph 14). If the call does not cause a call, the application system 3 orders that the devices of the first 10 pagers be sent a sleep mode setting signal (step 16). If it is decided to send the paging call based on the content of the call, the application system 3 determines another paging set (step 17), to which pagers are sent a paging paging alert (step 15 18). After the paging call originates, the system determines the pagers of the first paging set that do not belong to the second paging set (step 19) and sends a sleep mode setting signal (step 20).

In many cases, it is important to get the resources closest to the caller that is quickly called off. In another embodiment of the invention, the first paging set is determined based on the caller's location during the call. The location of a call from a fixed landline is obtained. calls made directly from the caller's A-number subscriber directory as well as from 25 mobile stations can be quickly located with at least cellular accuracy. Positioning the call on an application-by-call basis when a call comes from a different network is well known in the art and thus obvious to one skilled in the art. When the call triggering a paging call arrives at the service center, the system performs A-subscriber positioning and the sleep state is interrupted from the selected paging set based on the positioning performed.

In the embodiments of the invention described above, the sleep mode interrupt signal is transmitted as soon as the first set of 103846 9 pagers is determined by the system 3 35 based on the A-subscriber number. The sleep mode interrupt command can also be delayed to prevent unnecessary sleep mode interruptions caused by malfunctions, malicious calls, or other unnecessary ringing, which, when frequently occurring, can shorten the power supply's lifetime compared to uninterrupted sleep. When the call arrives at the service center 2, the system 3 determines, according to the first embodiment, a first set of pagers, but does not immediately send a sleep state interrupt signal. The sleep mode interrupt signal may be automatically delayed for a preselected time period, which is preferably the estimated call duration during which failure or interference calls to the service center are typically interrupted. Transmission of the sleep mode interrupt signal may also be arranged by the on-caller for manual release when the on-caller is assured that it is a genuine call that requires the use of service center resources.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the headset developer is provided with means for manually determining a first set of pagers. System 3 may produce some suggestions or shortcuts to assist the on-caller, which the on-caller selects while listening to the: · racket call contents. This enables the on-caller to quickly adjust the need for sleep interruption based on the call, for example, to the estimated resource requirement.

Establishing the criteria for selecting the first set of pagers is a system-specific solution that depends on the operation of the service center. The selection criterion: 30 may also consist of a combination of the above embodiments. Essentially, the selection criterion includes the best possible prediction of which paging device to call the service center 2 is likely to trigger a paging call.

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At step 19 of Figure 4, the system determines which pagers for the first set of pagers were not called and at step 20, a sleep mode setting signal is transmitted to said pagers. These functions may be replaced by a feature of the pager 8, according to which the return to sleep mode is based on the pager's internal time control. If the pager 8 does not receive a paging request from the paging controller 5 after a predetermined period of time after transmitting the sleep mode interrupt signal, the pager 8 automatically enters sleep mode.

The drawings and the description related thereto are, where applicable, based on the architecture of the ERMES paging system. It should be noted, however, that their purpose is merely to illustrate the idea of the invention. The invention is not limited to any individual paging system, but is applicable to any paging system operating according to the specification and the claims themselves. The details of the sleep interruption according to the invention may vary within the scope of the claims.

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Claims (14)

A method for eliminating a call delay caused by a resting state in a paging system, in which a pager may be in an alert state, a continuous receiving state or a resting state, wherein a power saving state and a reception state alternate, the method comprising the following steps: a call is received in a service center (2), the paging system comprises, the call contents are analyzed, starting from the call contents, a call is sent to said at least one searcher (8), characterized in that the method further comprises the following steps: prior to the analysis of the call content is selected according to a predetermined criterion on the basis of the received call a first searcher group, to which the at least one searcher (8) to be selected is later likely to belong, to said first searcher group transmits a signal which interrupts the resting state an account nourishing reception state. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection criterion for the first searcher group is a reference stored in the system, to a reference number of an A subscriber (1) to at least one searcher, whose resting state is interrupted on the basis of a call from said number . Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the selection criterion for the: first searcher group is a reference stored in the system, based on the caller's position information, to at least one searcher, whose resting state is interrupted on the basis of a call from said position. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the interrupt signal of the resting state is transmitted to the first search group during a predetermined period of time after the call has arrived at the exchange, the time period being preferably the time during which error or bus rings to the exchange. -malt abruptly. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that, after the search call is sent, the searchers in the first search group to which no search call is sent, and to each searcher a sleep state setting signal is sent, the searchers being put into sleep state. A paging system, comprising at least one service center (2), which relies from the calls arriving at the service center, communicating subordinate resources, one or more searchers (8), which may be in alarm state, continuous reception state or sleep state, where a power saving state and a receive state alternate, means (4,5,6,7) for making a connection between the service center (2) and the viewfinder (8), means (4,5,6,7) for transmitting a a sleep state setting signal for the pager selected in the service center, and means (4,5,6,7) for transmitting a paging call to the base of the contents of a call arriving at the service center selected at least one pager (8 characterized in that the system further comprises: means (3) for selecting a first searcher group on the basis of the call, before analyzing the contents of the call, according to a predetermined criterion, the at least one pager to be selected later is likely to belong to the first pager group, and means (4,5,6,7) to send a rest state interrupt signal to the first pager group to put the pagers in continuous receive state. A paging system according to claim 6, characterized in that the selection criterion for the first paging group is a reference stored in the system's database, to a reference of an A-subscriber number to at least one pager whose resting state is interrupted on the basis of a call from said number. The paging system according to claim 6, 10, characterized in that the selection criterion for the first pager group is a reference stored in the system, based on the caller's position information, to at least one pager whose resting state is interrupted on the basis of a call from said position. A paging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the system comprises means for delaying the interrupt signal of the resting state after the call has arrived at the control panel for a predetermined period of time, the time period being preferably the time during which fault or bus calls to the control panel are normally interrupted. . 10. The paging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the system further comprises means for forming one or more proposals on the composition of the first applicant group, means for displaying the proposals on a central management desk, and means with which the tour either independently or preferably based on the system's proposal. 30 matches the first search group. : A paging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the system further comprises means for determining the pagers in the first paging group to which no paging call is sent and means for transmitting a sleep state setting signal to said pager. 18 103846 A paging system according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that the pager eats is put to sleep, if the pager does not receive a paging call for a predetermined time after receiving the interrupt signal. Pager in a paging system which may be in alarm state, continuous receive state or rest state, where a power saving state and a receive state alternate, characterized in that the viewfinder is arranged to receive a sleep state interrupt signal, the viewfinder state of rest being interrupted and the viewfinder is put in continuous reception mode. The viewfinder according to claim 13, 15, characterized in that the viewfinder returns to the state of rest, if the viewfinder does not receive a viewfinder signal for a predetermined time after receiving the interrupt signal of the resting state. • · «♦