Paging accessory for portable information/computing devices
AssigneeHewlett-Packard Company
InventorGregory J. May
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A paging accessory (10) for portable computing devices (12) such as calculators, electronic notebooks, calendars or the like. The paging accessory (10) includes a board (14) on which are mounted a receiver (32) for receiving page signals and a microprocessor (34) for identifying and decoding a page signal intended for the accessory (10). The board (14) includes connectors (16) for inserting the accessory (10) into a port (15) of a portable computing device (12). Alternatively, receiver (32) may be incorporated directly into a device (12). The device (12) is programmed to compare information in its memory. For example, it can compare a received phone number against a list of phone numbers to identify the person to be called in response to the page.
Claims17
A paging accessory for a portable computing device, comprising:
- a receiver for receiving a page signal including information comprising a phone number or textual message;
- a base for mounting and interconnecting components of the paging accessory including the receiver, the base including connectors for connecting the accessory to a portable computing device to transmit signals between the paging accessory and device, the portable computing device having control means, memory and a display screen;
- accessory memory connected to the base for storing paging instructions for the control means of the portable computing device and for storing a plurality of received page signals;
- and
- accessory control means connected to the base and in communication with the receiver for decoding a received page signal intended for the accessory, the accessory control means being able to communicate the decoded page signal to the portable computing device,
- the control means of the portable computing device being adapted to read the accessory memory to obtain the paging instructions for communicating with the paging accessory.
A paging accessory for a portable computing device, comprising:
- a receiver for receiving a page signal including information comprising a phone number or textual message;
- a base for mounting and interconnecting components of the paging accessory including the receiver, the base including connectors for connecting the accessory to a portable computing device to transmit signals between the paging accessory and the device, the portable computing device having control means, memory and a display screen;
- access memory connected to the base for storing a plurality of received page signals;
- and
- accessory control means connected to the base and in communication with the receiver for decoding a received page signal intended for the accessory, for communicating decoded page signal to the portable computing device, and for alerting the portable computing device to move from one operating state to another operating state when a page signal is received by the accessory.
A portable computing device with paging capability, comprising:
- display means for displaying information;
- memory for storing information including data and instructions;
- a keyboard for entering information for calculations or for generating page signals including information comprising a phone number or textual message;
- a modem for transmitting pages entered via the keyboard of the device;
- a receiver for receiving a page signal including information comprising a phone number or textual message;
- means for switching the portable computing device between a computing mode and a paging mode of operation;
- and
- control means in communication with the display means, memory, keyboard and receiver for decoding a received page signal to extract its information, for storing the page information in a memory location, for comparing the page information against information stored in memory, and for displaying a received phone number or textual message on the display means when the portable computing device is in the paging mode, and for performing calculations and displaying their results when said device is in the computing mode.
A method of paging the user of a portable computing device, comprising:
- providing a portable computing device with a receiver for receiving pages including information comprising a phone number or textual message;
- interrupting the portable computing device in response to reception of a page;
- decoding a received page to determine the information therein;
- alerting the user that a page has been received;
- and
- in response to a user request, displaying the phone number or textual message on a viewing screen of the portable computing device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.