Wireless telephony ring detection method for extended battery life

A cordless telephone apparatus for use with a telephone system providing a ring cadence as a series of alternating ring periods and silence periods over a telephone line, the cordless telephone apparatus comprising:

• a battery-powered handset including:
• means for operating in a low-power mode during periods of inactivity on the telephone line;
• and
• in response to receiving at least one ring message, means for operating in a normal-power mode in which the battery-powered handset acknowledges receipt of said at least one ring message;
• and
• a base unit including:
• means for detecting the series of alternating ring periods and silence periods;
• and
• means for responding to the series of alternating ring periods and silence periods by sending the ring message to the battery-powered handset during each of the ring periods and extending into only a portion of each of the silence periods following each of the ring periods.

A method extending the useful lifetime of a handheld, battery-operated telephone handset and a base unit, in which the handset alternates its operation between one of two modes, wherein the modes include a low-power, standdown mode and a high-power active mode, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) the telephone base unit begins transmitting a series of ring messages to the handset upon assertion of a valid ring signal from a telephone central office, wherein the valid ring signal includes a series of alternating ring periods and silence periods, wherein at least one of the series of ring messages is transmitted during each of the ring periods and into only a portion of the silence period immediately following each of the ring periods;
• (b) the handset switches from the standdown mode to the active mode after having been in the standdown mode for a first period of time;
• (c) the handset listens for ring messages while operating in the active mode;
• (d) the handset switches from the active mode to the standdown mode if the handset has not received any of the ring messages from the base unit within a second period of time;
• (e) the handset transmits a response message to the base unit upon receipt of each ring message received from the base unit;
• and
• (f) the base unit stops transmitting the series of ring messages to the handset after the occurrence of the following:
• (1) receipt of at least one response message after beginning the transmission of the series of ring messages;
• and
• (2) deactivation of the ring signal by the central telephone office.

A cordless telephone apparatus, comprising:

• a base unit, comprising:
• means for receiving ring signal from a central telephone office a ring signal having a first duration followed by a silent period having a second duration;
• means for receiving messages transmitted from a handset;
• and
• means for transmitting a series of ring messages to the handset while the ring signal is present and into only a portion of each silent period, unless a response message has not been received from the handset in response to one or more ring messages, wherein the ring messages continue to be transmitted to the handset until either one or more response messages are received by the base unit, or no response message is received by the base unit within a first period of time from the end of the ring signal;
• and
• the handset, comprising:
• means for switching the operation of the handset from a low-power, shutdown mode to a high-power, active mode after being in the shutdown mode for a first period of time extending substantially equal to or longer than the first duration;
• means for receiving the ring messages transmitted by the base unit while operating in the active mode;
• means for transmitting the response message back to the base unit upon receipt of each ring message while operating in the active mode;
• and
• means for switching the operation of the handset from the active mode to the shutdown mode if no ring messages have been received from the base unit after listening for the ring messages in the active mode for a second period of time.

A cordless telephone apparatus for use with a telephone system providing a ring cadence as a series of alternating ring periods and silence periods over a telephone line in response to a telephone call, the cordless telephone apparatus comprising:

• a handset including:
• means for operating in a low-power mode during periods of inactivity on the telephone line;
• in response to receiving at least one ring message, means for operating in a normal-power mode in which the handset acknowledges receipt of said at least one ring message;
• and
• means for providing an indication of said at least one ring message to provide a notification of said telephone call;
• and
• a base unit including:
• means for detecting the series of alternating ring periods and silence periods;
• and
• means for responding to the ring periods by sending one or more ring messages to the handset during each of the ring periods and extending into only a portion of each of the silence periods following each of the ring periods.

A cordless telephone handset configured along with a base unit that detects a ring cadence as a series of alternating ring periods and silence periods and responds to the ring cadence by sending one or more ring messages to the cordless telephone handset during each of the ring periods and extending into only a portion of each of the silence periods following each of the ring periods to interoperate with a telephone system providing the ring cadence as the series of alternating ring periods and silence periods over a telephone line, in respons to a telephone call the cordless telephone handset comprising:

• means for operating in a low-power mode during periods of inactivity on the telephone line;
• in response to receiving at least one of the ring messages from the base unit, means for operating in a normal-power mode in which the handset acknowledges receipt of said at least one of the ring messages from the base unit;
• and
• means for providing an indication of said at least one of the ring messages from the base unit to provide a notification of said telephone call including for at least a portion of a first one of the ring periods of said series of alternating ring periods and silence periods.

A cordless telephone apparatus including a base unit, the base unit comprising:

• means for receiving from a central telephone office a ring signal having a first duration followed by a silent period having a second duration;
• means for receiving messages transmitted from a handset;
• and
• means for transmitting a series of ring messages to the handset while the ring signal is present and into only a portion of each silent period, unless a response message has not been received from the handset in response to one or more ring messages, wherein the ring messages continue to be transmitted to the handset until either one or more response messages are received by the base unit, or no response message is received by the base unit within a first period of time from the end of the ring signal.

A cordless telephone apparatus including a handset, the handset comprising:

• means for switching the operation of the handset from a low-power, shutdown mode to a high-power, active mode after being in the shutdown mode for a first period of time;
• means for operating in the high-power, active mode while receiving ring messages transmitted by a base unit in response to a central telephone office transmitting a ring signal having a first duration followed by a silent period having a second duration substantially equal to or less than the first period of time;
• means for transmitting a response message back to the base unit upon receipt of each ring message while operating in the high-power, active mode;
• and
• means for switching the operation of the handset from the high-power, active mode to the low-power, shutdown mode if no ring messages have been recieved from the base unit after listening for the ring messages in the active mode for a second period of time less than the first period of time.