System and method for queuing and batching messages for wireless transmission

A method for assigning to a plurality of batches, priority and non-priority messages of variable length received for wireless transmission to a selective call receiving device, each message being associated with a frame number and each batch having a plurality of positions each associated with a predetermined frame number, said method comprising:

• storing information in a plurality of queues, each queue being associated with a predetermined frame number and storing information representing received messages having the same associated frame number;
• assigning a first priority message having the lowest associated frame number to a starting batch position having the same associated frame number;
• determining a distance value for messages in said queues having an associated frame number that is less than said frame number of said priority message, each of said distance values representing the distance from an end of a message, if it is placed in a batch starting at a position associated with said message's frame number, to said starting batch position of said first priority message;
• and
• assigning a message having a shortest determined distance to a batch position preceding said priority message starting batch position and having the same associated frame number as the frame number of the assigned message.

A method for assigning to a plurality of batches, messages of variable length received for wireless transmission to a selective call receiving device, each message being associated with a frame number and each batch having a plurality of positions each associated with a predetermined frame number, said controller comprising:

• storing information in a plurality of queues, each queue being associated with a predetermined frame number and storing information representing received messages having the same associated frame number;
• calculating, for each of a plurality of messages represented by information in said queues, a value representing a distance between an end of a message, if it is placed in a batch starting at a position associated with said message's frame number, and a subsequent batch position having a frame number of an unempty queue;
• and
• assigning messages to the frame positions of said batches based upon which of said calculated distance values is the shortest, said assigning step includes the steps of:
• determining whether there are a plurality of calculated values representing the same shortest distance and if so;
• comparing the queues having the frame numbers associated with the batch positions for which said same shortest distance was calculated to determine which of said queues stores information representing the greatest number of messages;
• and
• assigning a message based upon which of said compared queues stores information representing the greatest number of messages.

A method for assigning to a plurality of batches, priority and non-priority messages of variable length received for wireless transmission to a selective call receiving device, each message being associated with a frame number and each batch having a plurality of positions each associated with a predetermined frame number, said method comprising:

• storing information in a plurality of queues, each queue being associated with a predetermined frame number and storing information representing received messages having the same associated frame number;
• assigning a first priority message having the lowest associated frame number to a starting batch position having the same associated frame number;
• assigning one or more priority or non-priority messages from queues having frame numbers that are less than the frame number of said first priority message to batch positions preceding the starting batch position of said first priority message;
• finding a first queue with at least one message therein, said first queue having a frame number that is the closest to the first available batch position following an end of said first priority message;
• and
• calculating a distance value for priority and non-priority messages identified in said first queue, each distance value being measured from an end of a message, if placed in a batch starting at a position associated with said first queue's frame number, to a batch position having a frame number of another priority message identified in a queue;
• and
• assigning to a batch position with the first queue's frame number a message identified in said first queue and having a smallest calculated distance.