US 5,588,009 AGranted

Personal paging, communications, and locating system

OwnerCraig A. Willinventor

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A method and apparatus for sending paging signals and messages to individuals within a building and accepting responses to the messages. Messages may be initiated by electronic mail, incoming telephone calls, incoming Fax messages, or other sources. Data is sent via radio to a communications unit carried by the individual and displayed visually together with possible responses. Each unit transmits its identity and responses or original messages when desired via coded infrared light (or, in an alternative embodiment, ultrasound) to one or more remote stations located in rooms or along corridors of the building. A remote station relays data to a central station via wire or optical fiber, which tracks the location of units and delivers messages. Communication units are clipped to the clothing of users and can be incorporated into a corporate employee identification badge. The hybrid radio-infrared light approach combines the broad, reliable characteristics of radio communication with the ability of infrared light to allow each unit to be located. This allows highly reliable delivery of messages via an acknowledgement and retransmission protocol, two-way communication with the individual, and capabilities (such as those for transferring incoming telephone calls) that require the location of the individual to be known.

Claims25

Dependent claims

A method for transmitting a message to an individual, comprising the steps of:

originating said message addressed to said individual;
transmitting the message to a central communications station;
receiving and storing the message at said central communications station;
creating a packet containing data from the message;
transmitting said packet to a communications unit carried by the individual by the steps of:
(1) computing an error checking code and adding said code to the packet;
(2) adding a code to the packet identifying said communications unit;
(3) transmitting the packet by means of radio to the communications unit;
(4) receiving the packet at the communications unit;
(5) computing an error checking code;
(6) determining whether the packet has been correctly received by comparing the error checking code computed at the communications unit with the error checking code contained in the packet;
(7) constructing a packet at the communications unit comprising a code identifying the communications unit;
(8) adding a code identifying and thus acknowledging the received packet to said packet constructed at the communications unit, should the received packet contain a correct error checking code;
(9) transmitting the packet constructed at the communications unit from the communications unit via a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations, should the received packet contain a correct error checking code;
(10) receiving the packet constructed at the communications unit from the communications unit at a remote station and temporarily storing it;
(11) transmitting the packet constructed at the communications unit from said remote station, by means of a communications circuit via a medium selected from the group consisting of wire and optical fiber, to said central station;
repeating the steps of creating the packet containing data from the message and transmitting the packet to a communications unit carried by the individual, until all data in the message has been transmitted from the central station to the communications unit;
displaying said message to the individual.

15 more elements

A method for transmitting a message to an individual and returning a response to the originator of said message, comprising the steps of:

originating the message addressed to said individual;
transmitting the message to a central communications station;
receiving and storing the message at said central communications station;
creating a packet containing data from the message;
transmitting said packet to a communications unit carried by the individual by the steps of:
(1) computing an error checking code and adding said code to the packet;
(2) adding a code to the packet identifying said communications unit;
(3) transmitting the packet by means of radio to the communications unit;
(4) receiving the packet at the communications unit;
(5) computing an error checking code;
(6) determining whether the packet has been correctly received by comparing the error checking code computed at the communications unit with the error checking code contained in the packet;
(7) constructing a packet at the communications unit comprising a code identifying the communications unit;
(8) adding a code identifying and thus acknowledging the received packet to said packet constructed at the communications unit, should the received packet contain a correct error checking code;
(9) transmitting the packet constructed at the communications unit from the communications unit via a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations, should the received packet contain a correct error checking code;
(10) receiving the packet from the communications unit at a remote station and temporarily storing it;
(11) transmitting the packet originating from the communications unit from said remote station, by means of a communications circuit via a medium selected from the group consisting of wire and optical fiber, to said central station;
repeating the steps of creating the packet containing data from the message and transmitting the packet to a communications unit carried by the individual, until all data in the message has been transmitted from the central station to the communications unit;
displaying said message to the individual;
accepting a response message by the individual at the communications unit in response to the received message;
transmitting said response message from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations;
receiving the response message at a remote station and temporarily storing the response message;
transmitting the response message from said remote station by means of a communications circuit via a medium selected from the group consisting of wire and optical fiber to the central station;
receiving the response message at the central station;
transmitting the response message from the central station to the originator of the message;
receiving the response message by the originator of the message.

22 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 08/191,111Filed 3 Feb 1994
Granted: 24 Dec 1996
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification14 codes

H04W 84/022
Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]:…
G08B 3/1083
Using wireless transmission: pager locating systems
H04L 1/0083
Avoidance of errors by organising the transmitted data in a format specifically designed to deal with errors, e.g. location: formatting with…
H04L 51/222
Monitoring or handling of messages: using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot…