Method and apparatus for acknowledge back signaling using a radio telephone system

A selective call receiver within a combination radio/telephone, comprising:

• a radio frequency (RF) receiver for receiving selective call signals transmitted from a terminal;
• a decoder coupled to the RF receiver for decoding the selective call signals to recover a message intended for reception by the selective call receiver;
• a message processor for determining whether the message is a flagged message requesting an acknowledge back;
• and
• a controller for coupling a telephone section of the combination radio/telephone to the terminal via a radio telephone system and for transmitting an acknowledge back signal to the terminal in response to the message processor determining that the message is a flagged message, wherein the controller stores and processes the message without acknowledgment in response to the message processor determining that the message is not a flagged message.

A messaging system for transmitting a selective call signal, comprising:

• a selective call terminal for receiving a message and determining, from data entered by a message originator, whether message reception is to be acknowledged, the selective call terminal comprising:
• a flagger for generating an acknowledgment request flag in response to determining that message reception is to be acknowledged;
• and
• a transmitter coupled to the flagger for transmitting the message, an address associated with a combination radio/telephone, and, when message reception is to be acknowledged, the acknowledgment request flag, which is distinct from the address of the combination radio/telephone.

A method for selectively generating acknowledgment signals in a combination radio/telephone including a receiver for receiving a selective call signal and a controller for transmitting signals, the method comprising the steps of:

• decoding the selective call signal to recover a message intended for reception by the combination radio/telephone;
• determining whether the selective call signal further includes an acknowledgment request flag that is associated with the message and that requests acknowledgment of message reception by the combination radio/telephone;
• storing and processing the message without transmitting an acknowledgment signal in response to determining that no acknowledgment request flag is associated with the message;
• and
• transmitting the acknowledgment signal to indicate that the combination radio/telephone has received the message in response to determining that the acknowledgment request flag associated with the message is included in the selective call signal.