Data display radio pager with automatic message protection

A data display radio pager comprising:

• receiving means for demodulating a radio frequency (RF) signal received via an antenna to produce a paging signal,
• decoding means for producing a call signal including an address signal and a message signal in response to said paging signal,
• ROM means for storing an address assigned to said pager,
• alerting means for performing an alerting operation in response to an alert signal,
• display means for displaying a message in response to a message control signal, and
• control means responsive to said call signal for outputting, if said address signal and said address stored in said ROM means are identical, said alert signal, storing said message signal in a message storage area, and outputting said message control signal associated with said message signal stored in said message storage area;
• said control means comprising:
• protection information detecting means for detecting protection information from said message signal produced by said decoding means, said protection information being made up of a protection time signal indicative of a time over which said message signal should be protected from being erased and a particular mark occurring before and after the protection time signal, said particular mark being selectively of at least a first type or of a second type, said protection information being included in said paging signal;
• and
• message signal protecting means responsive to said protection information for protecting said message signal stored in said message area until said protection time elapses;
• wherein said protection information detecting means comprises particular mark discriminating means for determining a type of said particular mark;
• said control means being effective for feeding to said display means a message indication associated with the type of said particular mark determined by said particular mark discriminating means;
• and
• wherein said message indication associated with said first type of said particular mark, when discriminated and occurring within said protection time, is effective to cause display of said message signal without said particular mark and said protection time signal, while said message indication associated with said second type of said particular mark and occurring within said protection time is effective to cause display of said message signal without said particular mark.

A data display radio pager, comprising:

• receiving means for demodulating an RF signal received via an antenna to produce a paging signal,
• decoding means for producing a call signal including an address number signal and a message signal in response to said paging signal,
• ROM means for storing an address assigned to said pager,
• altering means for performing an alerting operation in response to an alert signal,
• display means for displaying a message in response to a message control signal, and
• control means responsive to said call signal for outputting, if said address signal and said address stored in said ROM means are identical, said alert signal, storing said message signal in a message storage area, and outputting said message control signal associated with said message signal stored in said message storage area;
• said control means comprising:
• protection information detecting means for detecting protection information from said message signal produced by said decoding means, said protection information being made up of a protection time signal indicative of a time over which said message signal should be protected from being erased and a particular mark occurring before and after the protection time signal, said protection information being included in said paging signal;
• time outputting means for counting, in response to said protection information, a time having expired after the reception of said message signal;
• comparing means for reading, in response to said protection information, said protection time from said stored message signal and comparing said protection time with the time being counted by said time counting means and for producing a result of said comparing;
• message protecting means responsive to said result for protecting said stored message signal until said protection time elapses;
• and
• protection cancelling means responsive to said result for cancelling the protection of said stored message signal after said protection time has elapsed.

A data display radio pager, comprising:

• receiving means for demodulating an RF signal received via an antenna to produce a paging signal,
• decoding means for producing a call signal including an address number signal and a message signal in response to said paging signal,
• ROM means for storing an address assigned to said pager,
• alerting means for performing an alerting operation in response to an alert signal,
• display means for displaying a message in response to a message control signal, and
• control means responsive to said call signal for outputting, if said address signal and said address stored in said ROM means are identical, said alert signal, storing said message signal in a message storage area, and outputting said message control signal associated with said message signal stored in said message storage area;
• said control means comprising:
• protection information detecting means for detecting protection information from said message signal produced by said decoding means, said protection information being made up of a protection time signal indicative of a time over which said message signal should be protected from being erased and a particular mark occurring before and after the protection time signal, said protection information being included in said paging signal;
• time outputting means for counting, in response to said protection information, a time having expired after the reception of said message signal;
• comparing means for reading, in response to said protection information, said protection time from said stored message signal and comparing said protection time with the time being counted by said time counting means and for producing a result of said comparing;
• message protecting means responsive to said result for protecting said stored message signal until said protection time elapses;
• protection cancelling means responsive to said result for cancelling the protection of said stored message signal after said protection time has elapsed;
• wherein said control means further comprises particular mark discriminating means for discriminating a type of said particular mark detected from said stored message signal, said type including a first type and a second type;
• said control means being effective for delivering the message control signal in a form which gives a message indication corresponding to the type of said discriminated particular mark;
• and
• wherein said message indication associated with said first type of said particular mark, when discriminated and occurring within said protection time, is effective to cause display of said message signal without said particular mark and said protection time signal, while said message indication associated with said second type of said particular mark and occurring within said protection time is effective to cause display of said message signal without said particular mark.