GB2198269A

GB2198269A - Paging system

Info

Publication number: GB2198269A
Application number: GB08628377A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derek Richard Baker
Original assignee: Multitone Electronics PLC
Current assignee: Multitone Electronics PLC
Priority date: 1986-11-27
Filing date: 1986-11-27
Publication date: 1988-06-08
Anticipated expiration: 2006-11-27
Also published as: GB8628377D0; GB2198269B

Abstract

In a paging system, at least one of the receivers is a non-portable remote unit 20 assigned to a specific area. The or each remote unit 20 responds to its specific address code (detected by an address decoder 26) to reproduce a voice message via a loudspeaker 30, and/or to display an alpha - and/or numeric and/or graphic message via a message display 34. The remote unit 20 is permanently or semi-permanently fixed in a particular area, and can provide a means for sending messages to personnel within that area who do not possess paging receivers. When a plurality of remote units 10 is provided, the system can operate as a versatile public address and/or information display system whereby the units 10 can be addressed singly, in groups or all together, without the need to install interconnecting cables. <IMAGE>

Description

PAGING SYSTEMS This invention relates to paging systems.

In known paging systems, a transmitter is arranged to transmit paging signals including address codes to a number of paging receivers, each of which responds to a paging signal including an address code specific to that particular receiver. In general, each receiver has its own unique address code such that only messages or other signals intended for that receiver are received. In certain systems, a group of receivers or even all the receivers are also made to respond to a particular type of address code in the transmitted paging signals, and this feature is particularly useful for providing simultaneous emergency calls to a group or every receiver in a hospital or the like. The paging receivers are made as small as possible, and are shaped to be conveniently and comfortably carried or worn by personnel belonging to the paging system network.

In local or on-site paging systems, such as might be provided in factories, hospitals or other institutions, personnel who move about the premises to a significant extent may be provided with paging receivers.

However, it is wastef 1l to provide paging receivers to other personnel, who may generally remain at a single location throughout most of the working day, or, for example, tO visitors or patients in hospitals. In these situations, a separate public address system or the like may be provided to pass messages to these other persons.

According to the invention there is provided a paging system comprising a transmitter for transmitting paging signals including address codes, and a plurality y of receivers for receiving the transmitted paging signals, each receiver being operable to respond to one or more particular address codes included in the transmitted paging signals, wherein at least one of the receivers comprises a non-portable (as herein defined) unit to be assigned to a specific area, the or each non-portable receiver unit providing upon address code detection an alert signal capable of alerting personnel in the specific area.

By "non-portable" is meant not capable of being convenientlv or unobtrusively carried or worn by a person, such as in the case of a permanently or semi-permanently mounted unit which may be attached to a wall or other structure.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention to be described hereinafter in greater detail, the or each non-portable unit may be in the form of a power amplifier and loudspeaker arrangement for voice messages, and/or a message display board for displaying messages of alphaand/or numeric and/or graphic form. The unit can be mounted in an area to allow the messages to be heard and/or seen by personnel in that area. A number of such personnel can be served by a single unit. Thus the abovementioned disadvantage of the known paging systems can be overcome Sy including one or more non-portable receiver units of this type within the system, whereby some receivers are constituted by standard portable paging receivers and other(s) by respective non-portable unit(s).

In an alternative arrangement, it is possible to provide a public address system, based on a paging system, wherein a number of non-portable receiver units are provided having address codes which enable the units to be activated individually. It is further possible to provide address codes to the units so that the units can be activated in groups or all together. Thus voice messages can be sent to one, sone or all of the receiver units Eo be relayed by their respective loucspeakers, as required. A similar facility can be provided for alpha- andior numeric and!or graphic messages whereby each non-portable receiver unit includes a message display board.

Furthermore, a system can include one or more units having both loudspeaker and display. A public address system and/or message display system of this type has the advantage that costly and complex installation of cables can be avoided, which is of particular advantage on temporary sites.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 is a block diagram of a paging transmitter forming part of a system according to an embodiment of the invention; and Figure 2 is a block diagram of a non-portable receiver unit forming part of a system according to an embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Figure 1, a paging transmitter includes control equipment 10 which can be made responsive to one or more of the following: (i) a direct contact input; (ii) a telephone system input; (iii) a manual input; and/or (iv) a computer input.

The direct contact input, if provided, can be arranged to activate pre-programmed messages which are stored by the control equipment 10.

Thus the control equipment 10 can be activated by manual operation, from a telephone system, by an associated computer and/or by direct input contact operation to transmit the pre-programmed messages.

The control equipment 10 passes message signals to an address encoder 12, in which an address code is added to each signal as required.

The address code may be that of a single receiver, or a group code relating to a specified group of receivers, or even an address code which activates all receivers. The message signal including the address code is then supplied to a transmitter 14 for transmission via an antenna 16.

The paging signals can be received by standard paging receivers arranged to be worn or carried by specified personnel. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the paging signals can additionally or alternatively be received by a non-portable or remote unit 20, as shown in Figure 2, which may be mounted permanently or semipermanently to a wal! or other structure so as to serve one or more personnel present in the site or area covered by that unit.

As shown in Figure 2, the non-portable or remote unit 20 includes an antenna 22 for receiving and sending the transmitted paging signals to a radio receiver 24. The signals are demodulated by the radio receiver 24 and fed to an address decoder 26 in which the address code (or one of the address codes) associated with that unit is detected. If the address detection is positive, the message signal is supplied either to an audio amplifier 25 and a loudspeaker 30, in the case of voice messages, or to a data display driver 32 and a message display 34, in the case of alpha- and/or numeric messages. As a further alternative, it is possible for the remote unit 20 to include the audio amplifier 28 and the loudspeaker 30 as well as the data display driver 32 and the message display 34, so as to enable the unit 20 to process both types of signal. More than one loudspeaker 30 can be provided, if required.

A first power supply 36 provides power to the radio receiver 24 and the address decoder 26, and may also provide power to either or both of the audio amplifier 28 and the data display driver 32. The first power supply 36 may either include one or more batteries, or may comprise a mains power supply with a suitable feed 38 to an external mains power source.

The remote unit 20 operates in a similar manner to a standard paging receiver, except that the unit is for permanent or semi-permanent mounting, and its message facility is intended to be noted by personnel within the specified site or area served by the unit. In the case of a unit providing voice messages, this is achieved by utilising a sufficiently powerful amplifier and loudspeaker combination. For alpha- and/or numeric messages, a suitably clear and/or large display, such as a display board, can be provided, and for certain applications the transmitted message can be converted to graphic symbols for use on an information display.

The remote unit 20 can conveniently be constructed by utilising the "front end" 40 of a standard paging receiver (including the antenna 22, the radio receiver 24, the address decoder 26 and optionally the power supply 36) which can be connected to the audio amplifier 28 and loudspeaker 30 combination, and/or to the data display driver 32 and message display 34 combiation so as to provide a rernote public address and/or information aisplay hoards without the need to use interconnecting cable between the remote units and central control equipment.

As mentioned above, the selectively addressable remote units 10 can be activated individually, in groups, or all together as determined by the operator of the control equipment.

The system can be used as a public address system, either temporary or fixed, around a particular site such as an exhibition area, a sports ground or the like, without the need for interconnecting cables between the individual public address units and the control equipment. Alternatively, the system can be used to provide temporary or permanent display units for use around premises, on roads, railways, sports grounds, exhibition sites or the like, again without the need to provide cabling. The system can also be used as an extension to a standard radio paging system to provide loudspeaker andjor display operation in public areas, operating theatres, warehouses, factories or the like.

When used as part of a public address system, the remote units 10 can be constructed as composite units comprising the antenna 22, the radio receiver 24, the address decoder 26, the audio amplifier 28, the loudspeaker 30 and the power supply 36, requiring only the feed 38 to a local power source, whether mains or battery. The remote units 10 can be constructed in similar composite manner as display units. The units 10 can be designed to be permanently fixed or to be movable between specific areas. Such movability is not to be considered to render the units "portable", since it is not intended that the units should operate during transit between these specific areas, in contrast to standard paging receivers which are intended to be worn or carried, and to operate under these conditions.In a further arrangement, the remote units 10 can be mounted in vehicles to provide audible and/or visible message reception. This again is not to be considered to render the units "portable" since each unit will be mounted in a vehicle and will not be worn or carried by a user.

As an alternative to composite construction, a small unit containing the "front end" 40 (namely the antenna 22, the radio receiver 24 and the address decoder 26) could be manufactured separately, for connection to adjacent amplifier/loudspeaker combinations and/or to display units. In this case, the amplifier!loudspeaker combination and/or the display unit may be provided with a second power supply 42 which may be connected via a feed 44 to a local mains or battery power source.

Systems according to embodiments of the invention have the advantage that, when used in association with a paging system including standard paging receivers, a means is provided of making announcements or otherwise sending messages in public areas to personnel who are not provided with paging receivers. Also, such systems can combine public address and paging as single Systems, operated from a common control unit.

When used as public address systems, whether on permanent or temporary sites, the need to install cables is avoided.

The above embodiments of the invention have been described in the context of local or on-site paging systems; however the invention is equally applicable to wide-area paging systems.

Claims

l. A paging system comprising a transmitter for transmitting paging signals including address codes, and a plurality of receivers for receiving the transmitted paging signals, each receiver being operable to respond to one or more address codes included in the transmitted paging signals, wherein at least one of the receivers comprises a non-portable (as herein defined) unit to be assigned to a specific area, the or each non-portable receiver unit providing upon address code detection an alert signal capable of alerting personnel in the specific area.
2. A system according to claim 1, capable of transmitting alpha- and/or numeric and/or graphic messages, and wherein the or each non-portable receiver unit includes a display for displaying the received messages in alpha and/or numeric and/or graphic form.
3. A system according to claim 1 or claim 2, capable of transmitting voice messages, and wherein the or each non-portable receiver unit includes a loudspeaker for reproducing the received voice messages.
4. A system according to claim 1, claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the or each non-?ortable receiver unit comprises a sub-unit including an aerial, a radio receiver and an address decoder, and an alerting means responsive to detection by the sub-unit of the receiver's respective address code(s).
5. A system according to claim 4 as dependent on claim 2, wherein the alerting means includes a message display board.
6. A system according to claim 4 as dependent on claim 3, wherein the alerting means comprises a public address unit including a power amplifier and one or more loudspeakers.
7. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, including a plurality of said non-portable receiver units having address codes enabling them to be activated in groups of units.
8. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, including a plurality of said non-portable receiver units having address codes enabling them all to be activated together.
9. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the or each non-portable unit includes a power supply for connection to a mains supply.
10. A system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the or each non-portable unit includes a battery power supply.
11. A system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the transmitter is responsive to a control means to transmit the paging signals.
12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the control means is activatable by manual operation.
13. A system according to claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the control means is activatable from a telephone system.
14. A system according to claim 11, claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the control means is activatable by an associated computer.
15. A system according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the control means is activatable by direct input contact operation to transmit pre-programmed messages stored by the control means.
16. A paging system substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawing.