GB2247332A

GB2247332A - Display system

Info

Publication number: GB2247332A
Application number: GB9018734A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Bernard Peter Winterburn
Original assignee: RACAL VODAPAGE Ltd
Current assignee: RACAL VODAPAGE Ltd
Priority date: 1990-08-25
Filing date: 1990-08-25
Publication date: 1992-02-26
Also published as: GB9018734D0

Abstract

A display system uses a conventional radio-paging network. Some of the pagers (12F to 12J) have display units 5A to 5E respectively associated with them, e.g. motorway roadside display signs for warning drivers, or informational or advertising display units located at the branches of e.g. a bank or retail chain. Messages intended to be displayed by any of the display units 5A to 5E can be input at a central station 6 and linked directly to the input device 8 of the radio paging network. Each message is directed to the appropriate one of the pagers 12F to 12J in the manner conventional to the network, and then passed from pager to associated display. <IMAGE>

Description

IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO DISPLAY SYSTEMS The invention relates to display systems. Embodiments of the invention to be described are display systems for displaying information at each of a number of locations which are geographically dispersed. For example, they may be display systems for displaying information to road users such as along motorways and other roads and providing a plurality of roadside-located display signs which can be actuated to display different messages to road users. Another example of such a display system is one in which a plurality of displays are located at the various geographically dispersed premises of a commercial organisation such as a bank having a number of widely dispersed branches or a retail organisation with a number of different geographically dispersed retail outlets.In each such example, there is a need for the messages displayed at each location to be controlled from a central station.

According to the invention, there is provided a display system, comprising a plurality of geographically dispersed display units each having a visual display screen and each associated with a respective pager in a radio-paging network, a central station for receiving messages to be respectively displayed by the display units, means for inputting those messages into the normal input of the radio-paging network and addressing each message to the pager associated with the particular display unit on which the message is to be displayed, and means responsive to receipt of the message by that pager to cause it to be displayed on the screen of the associated display unit.

According to the invention, there is further provided a roadside display system for displaying messages to road users, comprising a plurality of display units geographically dispersed along a road and positioned so as to display messages visible to road users, pagers constituting some only of the pagers in a radio-paging network and each associated with and located adjacent to a respective one of the display units, a central station for inputting messages for display at particular ones of the display units, and means responsive to the central station for inputting signals corresponding to each message into the radio-paging network and addressing such signals to the pager associated with the respective display unit in the manner normal for the network, whereby the message is received by that pager and caused to be displayed on the display unit.

According to the invention, there is still further a radio paging network, comprising a plurality of geographically dispersed pagers each having a number by means of which it may be addressed by radio signals sent from a radio transmitter and whereby it may be caused to display an alpha-numeric message input into the network by a user thereof and intended for that pager, each of some, only, of the pagers having associated with it a respective separate display unit which is connected to the pager and which has a visual display screen for displaying the messages received thereby.

A display system embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawing of the system.

As shown in the Figure, the system has a plurality of display units 5A,5B..5E, though in practice there could be very many more than five such display units. Each display unit may, for example, be located at a different location along a motorway or other road in such a position and of such size as to be able to present different messages to road users such as to warn them of congestion, roadworks, accidents and the like. Instead, each display unit could be a display unit at a respective local branch of a commercial organisation, such as a bank or retail organisation, having many such branches dispersed around the country, and for presenting messages, such as informational messages or advertising messages, to passers-by and customers.

Each display unit may take any suitable electrically operable form having a visual display screen. It may comprise a matrix of individual display devices which can be selectively illuminated to display the required message. Instead, for example, it could be a liquid crystal-type display.

The display units 5A to 5E are controlled from a central station 6. By means of a suitable input arrangement, such as a keyboard (not shown), an operator can set up a message to be displayed at each display unit 5A to 5E and, in a manner to be explained, can send signals to each display unit so that the required message is displayed there. A different message can be sent to each of the display units.

In accordance with a feature of the invention, the signals from the central station 6 to the display units 5A to 5E are sent by radio, using a conventional alpha-numeric radio-paging network. Such a radio-paging network incorporates an input device 8, often in the form of a keyboard-controlled computer, into which alpha-numeric messages, or transmission to individual pagers can be input, such as by a human operator (in response to request from callers). The control device 8 stores the messages and they are then passed to a transmitter 10 which transmits them by radio to individual pagers, each pager being addressed by means of its individual number. In the present case, some of the pagers in the system are shown at 12A, 12B, 12C, 12D and 12E.Users of the paging network, wishing to send alpha-numeric messages to these pagers, telephone their messages to the system and they are received by the human operator who then inputs them into the input device 8 as shown diagrammatically at 14.

The messages are then coded and transmitted to the appropriate pagers by the transmitter 10.

In addition, however, the same network is used in the present instance for controlling the display units 5A to 5E. Each display unit has associated with it a standard pager, as shown at 12F, 12G, 12H, 12I and 12J. The central station 6 of the display system is linked directly to the radio-paging network computer 8 via a line 16.

When the operator of the display system wishes to have a particular message displayed at a particular one of the display units 5A to 5E, he inputs the appropriate message into the system via the central station 6, addressing the particular display unit by using the individually allocated number of the associated pager 12E to 12I. The message is then coded in exactly the same way as any other message to a pager on the network, and transmitted by transmitter 10 to the particular pager 12E to 12I. The message is received at the particular pager and the corresponding received signals are extracted on a line 18A to 18E and fed to a processing unit 20A to 20E and thence to the display unit 5A to 5E. The processing unit 20A to 20E may simply be an amplifier or may re-code the signals into a different format suited to the particular type of display unit.

The display units 5A to 5E do not all have to be of the same type, different types of display units being accommodated by different types of processing unit.

In this way, display units dispersed over the whole geographical area of a paging network (which may cover a whole country or part of a country) can be controlled centrally (though individually), and without any need to provide land lines or to set up and install a specific radio control network. All that is necessary is to locate a standard radio pager at each display unit and connect it to the display unit. However, the pager used at each such display unit need not be a standard pager; it could be adapted in any suitable way such as by incorporating the processing unit (20A to 20E).

Claims

1. A display system, comprising a plurality of geographically dispersed display units each having a visual display screen and each associated with a respective pager in a radio-paging network, a central station for receiving messages to be respectively displayed by the display units, means for inputting those messages into the normal input of the radio-paging network and addressing each message to the pager associated with the particular display unit on which the message is to be displayed, and means responsive to receipt of the message by that pager to cause it to be displayed on the screen of the associated display unit.

2. A roadside display system for displaying messages to road users, comprising a plurality of display units geographically dispersed along a road and positioned so as to display messages visible to road users, pagers constituting some only of the pagers in a radio-paging network and each associated with and located adjacent to a respective one of the display units, a central station for inputting messages for display at particular ones of the display units, and means responsive to the central station for inputting signals corresponding to each message into the radio-paging network and addressing such signals to the pager associated with the respective display unit in the manner normal for the network, whereby the message is received by that pager and caused to be displayed on the display unit.

3. A system according to claim 1 or 2, in which the radio-paging network is a conventional radio-paging network.

4. A system according to claim 3, in which each pager is a standard pager for the network.

5. A radio paging network, comprising a plurality of geographically dispersed pagers each having a number by means of which it may be addressed by radio signals sent from a radio transmitter and whereby it may be caused to display an alpha-numeric message input into the network by a user thereof and intended for that pager, each of some, only, of the pagers having associated with it a respective separate display unit which is connected to the pager and which has a visual display screen for displaying the messages received thereby.

6. A display system, substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawing.