.
`United States Patent
`Davis
`
`[19]
`
`[54] METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
`ACKNQWLEDGING AND ANSWERING A
`pA(;1N(; SIGNAL
`
`[75]
`
`Inventor: Walter L. Davis, Coral Springs, Fla.
`
`[73] Assignee: Motorola, Inc., Schaumburg, Ill.
`[2l] App]. No.: 394,254
`
`[22] Filed:
`
`Aug. 7, 1989
`
`[63]
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`.
`.
`.
`§:b‘;r::$l;:t(;°n"n'part of S“ NO’ 214569’ Jul‘ 1’ 1988'
`’
`Int. Cl.-‘ .............................................. .. G08B 5/22
`[51]
`
`[52] U.S. Cl.
`...................
`.. 340/825.440; 340/311.1;
`340/325-47; 340/825.48
`[58] Field of Search ....................... 455/31, 33,54, 57;
`340/311-1. 313. 314,- 835-44, 325.47, 825.43
`References Cited
`
`[56]
`
`U-S PATENT DOCUMENTS
`4,l72.969 l0/1979, Levine et al.
`.............. 340/825.69 X
`4,247.908
`1/1981 Lockhart. Jr. et al.
`............ .. 455/31
`
`IlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllHlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
`USOO5153582A
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`
`5,153,582
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`.................... .. 455/31 X
`4.354.252 10/1982 Lamb et al.
`4,356,484 10/1982 Eckhardt
`. . . . . . .
`. . . . . .. 455/31 X
`
`4.415.065 11/1983 Sandstedt .... ..
`. 340/825.44 X
`4.696,054 9/1987 Tsugei et al.
`.
`340/825.44 X
`4,823,123 4/1989 Siwiak .......................... .. 340/825.44
`
`Primary Examiner-—Ulysses Weldon
`Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Daniel R. Collopy; William
`E. Koch; Thomas G. Berry
`
`'
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A paging syster: Witt]! 21 rlemot: P3§§T_:’hil?h infiludegla
`transmitter wit
`a p ura ity o in wt ua y se ecta e
`encoded acknowledge signals. The system includes
`apparatus at the paging terminal for composing mes-
`sages with a primary message and a plurality of alter-
`nate responses, each response corresponding to one of
`the acknowledge signals. Upon reception of the page,
`the pager is operated by selecting the acknowledge
`signal corresponding with the desired response to the
`primary message. Transmission of the selected ac-
`knowledge signal acknowledges reception of the page
`and, simultaneously, answers the primary message.
`
`6 Claims, 6 Drawing Sheets
`
`TRANSMITTER
`
`
`
`PAGING
`TERMINAL
`
`
`
`ACKNOWLEDGE
`RECEIVER
`
`
`
`
`
`
`11
`
`PAGER
`USER
`
`150
`
`CALLING
`PARTY
`
`O
`
`TELEPHONE
`
`
`
`PAGING
`SYSTEM
`OPERA TOR
`
`'
`
`ACKNOWLEDGE
`PAGER
`
`COMPUTER
`TERMINAL FOR
`COMPOSING
`MESSAGES
`
`1
`
`GOOGLE 1016
`
`GOOGLE 1016
`
`1
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`Sheet 1 of 6
`
`5,153,582
`
`A
`
`15 O
`
`
`PARTY
` CALLING
`
`PAGING
`SYSTEM
`
`OPERATOR
`
`///
`
`COMPUTER
`TERMINAL FOR
`COMPOSING
`MESSAGES
`
`ACKNOWLEDGE
`pAGER
`
`FIGJ
`
`2
`
`

`
`GA8
`
`KgoflNnvfiuwa
`
`U
`
`m.
`
`2
`
`6
`
`1.
`
`.mmm
`
`.3muooouo
`
`<h<o
`
`.muzopazmS.mopoudm
`
`D1FI|IlI|)\lllIIl\
`
`‘T.mmHmommm
`
`
`
`¢._.%...0><.EmHoEooozm
`
`,,‘
`
`2m4m<zm-N@KNONMNVNuoom4;ozxo<
`
`mm
`
`uoom4;ozxo<
`
`4<zoHm
`
`»<mwmHooz<4<zoHmmVoHoo4Aompzoomuooomos
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`><4mHo<»<ommmmoo<
`
`2
`
`2
`
`muhhH2mz<~:.
`
`~m_>Eou~_
`
`m:
`
`1/
`
`2
`
`mlh
`
`zopusm
`
`3
`
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`Sheet 3 of 6
`
`5,153,582
`
`PAGER
`DISPLAY
`
`MESSAGE
`SELECT
`CONTROLS
`
`WHAT we DO YOU WANT TO
`
`
`
`MEET MR. JONES FOR DINNER?
`6P.M. 7P.M. 8P.M.
`B°,f{‘(‘,f(
`
`DISPLAY
`FUNCTION
`CONTROLS
`
`FIG. 3
`
`4
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`Sheet 4 of 6
`
`285.!351,5
`
`zoHp<4:oo:
`
`4<zoHm
`
`Q
`
`°n°.
`
`I
`
`{R
`
`{B
`
`4<zoHm
`
`mob<muzuo
`
`:o»H;m<mm
`
`UHOO4
`
`:o»H;mmmm
`
`QHOOJ
`
`:o»H;momm
`
`QHOO4
`
`:o»H;mama
`
`oHoo4
`
`m4m<zm
`
`onzomu
`
`5
`
`
`
`
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
`
`5,153,582
`
`FIG’. 6'
`
`6
`
`

`
`4...He..laPcaU
`
`Oct. 6, 1992
`
`Sheet 6 of 6
`
`285,351,5
`
`E3
`
`
`6Ezoom_o<mmm2
`88..I>mo..m_2
`
`mmmm
`
`R
`
`Ejofizoo
`
`mo;
`
`><.EmHo><#_mB
`
`
`
`><4¢mHomu>Hmo>mozmz
`
`mm.
`
`_
`
`_vm.mm.
`
`
`
`_..mu>HmaZmmVoHo:<
`
`mm8
`
`mm1:.::::.u.a:n:»:
`
`mm
`
`omo
`
`mm
`
`mm
`
`zoE
`
`om
`
`7
`
`
`
`

`
`1
`
`5,153,582
`
`METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
`ACKNOWLEDGING AND ANSWERING A PAGING
`SIGNAL
`
`l
`
`This is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.
`07/214,569, filed Jul. 1, 1988 now abandoned.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention pertains to paging systems and
`more specifically to paging systems in which the pager
`is capable of responding with an acknowledge signal
`and an answer when a caller initiated, response re-
`quested page has been received.
`In many paging systems it is desirable to know when
`a page has been received by a designated pager. Due to
`the power and energy dissipation limits imposed by the
`small size of the batteries used in paging receivers, the
`power level and transmission time that can be used to
`send signals acknowledging receipt of the page are
`extremely limited. Because the power level and trans-
`mission time during which RF signals can be transmit-
`ted are very limited, the coding scheme must be very
`simple.
`In many instances the person having the page trans-
`mitted to the paging receiver desires additional informa-
`tion from the person being paged. In these instances it
`would be extremely advantagous if the additional infor-
`mation could be transmitted with the acknowledge
`signal.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`It is an object of the present invention to provide a
`new and improved method and apparatus for acknowl-
`edging the receipt of paging signals in a paging system.
`It is a further object of the present invention to pro-
`vide a method and apparatus for simultaneously ac-
`knowledging receipt of the signal and responding with
`an answer.
`
`It is a further object of the present invention to pro-
`vide a new and improved method and apparatus which
`will optimize the information that can be conveyed by
`utilizing an acknowledge signal to both acknowledge
`receipt of the page and indicate a user selected response
`to the page.
`These and other objects are realized in a paging sys-
`tem including a remote pager, a central
`transmitter
`which transmits messages in the form of paging signals
`including a caller initiated question and a plurality of
`caller initiated responses, and an acknowledge receiver
`for receiving an acknowledge signal transmitted from
`the remote pager and indicative of a user selected one of
`the plurality of responses.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`Referring to the drawings:
`FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a paging sys-
`tem, including a remote pager having transmission ca-
`pabilities, embodying the present invention;
`FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of the remote
`pager illustrated in FIG. 1; and
`FIG. 3 is a View in top plan of the display and control
`of the pager of FIG. 1.
`FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematic of an acknowl-
`edge signal encoder suitable for embodying in the pag-
`ing receiver embodiment of FIG. 2.
`FIG. 5 includes waveforms A—D exemplifying simple
`digitally coded signals which may be generated by the
`
`5
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`2
`acknowledge signal encoder embodiment depicted in
`FIG. 4.
`FIG. 6 includes waveforms E—l-I exemplifying fre-
`quency coded waveforms which may be generated by
`an alternate embodiment of an acknowledge signal en-
`coden
`FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematic of a data display
`and control logic section suitable for embodying in the
`paging receiver embodiment of FIG. 2.
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`Referring specifically to FIG. 1, a paging system is
`illustrated which embodies the present invention. The
`paging system includes a telephone 10 which is utilized
`by a calling party to initiate a page. Telephone 10 is
`coupled to a computer terminal 11 by means of a stan-
`dard telephone line. Computer terminal 11 is controlled
`by a paging system operator who composes messages
`on the computer terminal in response to messages from
`the calling party on telephone 10. Computer terminal 11
`is coupled through a paging terminal 12 to a central
`transmitter 13 and an acknowledge receiver 14. It will
`of course be understood by those skilled in the art that
`transmitter 13 and receiver 14 may be in a single unit
`utilizing a single antenna or they may actually be posi-
`tioned remotely from each other. For example, in any
`specific area it may be advantagous to interconnect a
`plurality of spaced apart receivers in a network around
`the area to reduce the amount of power required for a
`pager to reach any specific receiver. The system further
`includes at least one remotely located pager 15.
`Referring specifically to FIG. 2, the remote pager 15
`is illustrated in simplified block form. The pager 15
`includes an antenna 16 coupled through a transmit/-
`receive switch 17 to either a transmitter 18 or a receiver
`19. Antenna 16, switch 17, transmitter 18, and receiver
`19 operate in the normal well known fashion and will
`not be elaborated upon further.
`The output of receiver 19 is coupled to an address
`signal decoder 20 and to a data decoder 21. The output
`of data decoder 21 is coupled to a data display and
`control logic circuit 22, which in turn controls an LCD
`display 23. A plurality of display control
`inputs 24
`through 27 are coupled to the data display and control
`logic circuit 22 from external controls which will be
`described presently. Address signal decoder 20 pro-
`vides enable signals to data decoder 21, data display and
`control
`logic circuit 22, and an acknowledge signal
`encoder 28. The output of acknowledge signal encoder
`28 is coupled to a modulation input of transmitter 18.
`Acknowledge signal encoder 28 also has a plurality of
`inputs 29 through 32 from a plurality of message selec-
`tor controls which will be described presently.
`Referring specifically to FIG. 3, a plan view of the
`display 23 and controls of pager 15 is illustrated. A
`plurality of switches A, B, C, and D are illustrated as
`the message selector controls for inputs 29 through 32,
`respectively, of acknowledge signal encoder 28. The
`switches A through D may be simple push button
`switches, toggle switches or any other type of switch
`which may be utilized for the purposes to be described
`presently. Four display function controls, READ,
`MEMORY, VOLUME, and DISPLAY, are included
`on the control panel on pager 15 and are connected to
`inputs 24 through 27, respectively, of data display and
`control logic circuit 22. Data display and control logic
`circuit 22 contains a memory and the circuitry required
`
`8
`
`

`
`3
`to store and format a message for proper display by
`LCD display 23. The READ function control provides
`a signal on input 24 which causes control logic circuit
`22 to bring a message from the memory and supply it to
`LCD display 23. The function control labelled MEM-
`ORY provides a signal on input 25 to cause control
`logic circuit 22 to store the next message received from
`data decoder 21 in the memory. The function control
`labelled VOLUME provides a signal on input 26 to
`logic circuit 22 which changes the volume,
`in a pre-
`scribed direction, of any acoustic signaling device that
`may be coupled to logic circuit 22 in addition to LCD
`display 23. Finally, the function control labelled DIS-
`PLAY supplies signals to logic circuit 22 on input 27 to
`cause logic circuit 22 to change the brightness of dis-
`play 23.
`Each of the message selector switches A, B, C, and
`D, supply signals to acknowledge signal encoder 28
`which cause encoder 28 to supply a different code to
`transmitter 18 for modulating the RF signal produced
`thereby. It will of course be understood by those skilled
`in the art that there are a great variety of codes which
`may be utilized by acknowledge signal encoder 28,
`including a simple digital code, frequency or amplitude
`modulation, or any of a variety of other well known
`schemes. It will also be understood that the message
`selector switches A, B, C, and D, can simply be push
`button switches which automatically cause an encoded
`transmission upon depression thereof or they could be a
`type of toggle switch which simply controls acknowl-
`edge encoder 28 and transmission occurs in response to
`a transmission switch (not shown) which is operated
`after the message selector controls are properly posi-
`tioned. In this preferred embodiment the message selec-
`tor switches A, B, C, and D, are simple push button
`switches which automatically cause a transmission upon
`the depression thereof, which transmission is encoded
`with a simple digital code.
`Referring to FIG. 4 which depicts a suitable embodi-
`ment of the encoder 28, pushbutton switches A—D may
`be coupled over their respective signal lines 29-32 to
`respective switch logic circuits 40-43 which are-of the
`conventional variety operative to condition the switch
`induced signalling from such effects as contact bounce,
`for example. In the present embodiment, the resultant
`signals of the logic circuits 40-43 may be coupled re-
`spectively to conventional one-shot multi-vibrator cir-
`cuits 45-48 having outputs coupled respectively to one
`input each of AND gates 50-53. The outputs of the
`AND gates 50-53 are coupled respectively to four in-
`puts of an OR gate 55 which effects the modulation
`signal conducted to the modulation input of the trans-
`mitter IS. The encoder 28 may also include a signal
`generator 57 for producing a digitally encoded signal
`corresponding to each of the AND gates 50-53, which
`signals may be each conducted respectively to another
`input of such AND gates over the signal lines 60-63. An
`example of simple digitally coded signals which may be
`produced by the generator 57 corresponding to signal
`lines 60-63 are shown by the waveforms A-D, respec-
`tively, of FIG. 5. The acknowledge enable signal ef-
`fected by decoder 20 may be coupled to another input
`of the AND gates 50-53 over signal line 65 and also to
`the signal generator 57 over signal line 67.
`An example of operation is as follows: When the
`enable signal is generated by the decoder 20,
`it may
`cause the signal generator 57 to produce the set of digi-
`tally encoded signals which are supplied to the inputs of
`
`l0
`
`l5
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`5,153,582
`
`4
`the gates 50-53 over the respectively corresponding
`signal lines 60-63. The enable signal also enables the
`gates 50-53 over signal line 65. Accordingly, when one
`of the pushbutton switches A-D is depressed, a signal
`conducted over the respective line 29-32 is conditioned
`by the respective logic circuit 40-43 and causes a pulse
`of a given duration to be generated by the respective
`one-shot circuit 45-48 and conducted to the respective
`AND gate 50-53 to enable such AND gate to pass the
`corresponding digitally encoded signal. In response, the
`OR gate 55 effects a modulation signal based on the
`selected digitally encoded signal which is conducted to
`the transmitter 18 to modulate the signal transmitted
`thereby. Thus, an acknowledge back signal may be
`transmitted by the paging receiver via transmitter 18,
`which signal being indicative of the pushbutton A-D
`depressed by the user of the paging receiver, i.e. indica-
`tive of a user selected response.
`An alternate embodiment of an acknowledge signal
`encoder 28 may comprise a signal generator 57 which
`produces a set of frequency coded signals over signal
`line 60-63, a simplified example of which being shown
`by the waveforms E-H, respectively, of FIG. 6. In this
`embodiment, the AND gates 50-53 may be replaced
`with analog gates which are governed by the enable
`signal over signal
`lines 65 and respective signals ef-
`fected by the pushbuttons A-D as described in connec-
`tion with the embodiment of FIG. 4. In this example,
`the signal
`transmitted by the transmitter 18 may be
`frequency modulated to indicate the pushbutton A-D
`depressed by the user.
`Continuing, in FIG. 7 is a block diagram schematic of
`a data display and control logic section of a paging
`receiver suitable for embodiment in the paging receiver
`of FIG. 2. For example, the data conducted from the
`decoder 21 may be provided to one input of an AND
`gate 70 and the enable signal generated from the de-
`coder 20 may be provided to another input of the AND
`gate 70 and to one input of another AND gate 72. The
`output of the AND gate 70 may be coupled to a mes-
`sage memory 74 and a display memory 76. A control
`logic block 78 may be coupled to the message memory
`74 through address and control lines 80 and may also be
`coupled to the display‘ memory 76 over address and
`control lines 82. A display controller/driver section 84
`may be coupled to the display memory by address and
`control lines 86 and also data lines 88. The controller/-
`driver 84 may also be coupled to the LCD display 23
`over a signal line 90.
`Still further, an oscillator circuit 92 is operative to
`generate an oscillation signal in the audio range which
`may be conducted to another input of the AND gate 72
`over signal line 94. The output of the AND gate 72 may
`be coupled to the input of an audio driver circuit 96
`which drives an audio transducer 98. In operation, the
`enable signal from the decoder 20 permits the audio
`oscillation signal over signal line 94 to pass through the
`AND gate 72 to govern the audio driver 96 to drive the
`audio transducer 98 to audibilize the oscillation signal.
`The volume of the generated tone may be controlled by
`the VOLUME pushbutton via signal line 26 which may
`be conducted to the audio driver 96.
`An example of operation of the display of messages in
`accordance with the illustrative embodiment of FIG. 7
`is as follows: As the data message is conducted from the
`decoder 21, the enable signal
`is generated from the
`decoder 20 and permits the data to pass through the
`gate 70 to the memory 74 and memory 76. The control
`
`9
`
`

`
`5
`logic 78 is governed by the READ and MEMORY
`pushbuttons via signal lines 24 and 25, respectively. to
`control the storage of the data passing through AND
`gate 70 in either the memory 74 or memory 76 utilizing
`the signal lines 80 or 82, respectively.
`For example, if the READ pushbutton is depressed, a
`signal is conducted over signal line 24 which governs
`the logic 78 to access memory 76 and store the incom-
`ing data through AND gate 70 therein whereupon it
`may be directly displayed on the LCD display 23 as will
`be described presently. Conversely, if the MEMORY
`pushbutton is depressed, a signal is conducted over line
`25 to govern the logic circuit 78 to access memory 74
`using signal
`lines 80 in which case the data may be
`stored in the message memory 74. Subsequently, a
`stored message in the memory 74 may be read by de-
`pressing the READ pushbutton which governs the
`logic 78 to read the data message from memory 74 using
`signal lines 80 to memory 76 using signal lines 82, such
`data being conducted over signal lines 100.
`The display of data to the LCD display 23 from the
`memory 76 is controlled by the controller/driver cir-
`cuit 84 which utilizes address and control lines 86 to
`conduct data over signal line 88 which is conditioned
`and formatted by the circuit 84 and supplied to the
`display 23 over signal line 90 in the proper display for-
`mat (refer to FIG. 3, for example). The intensity of the
`display may be controlled by the DISPLAY pushbut-
`ton which causes a signal to be conducted over signal
`line 27 to the controller/driver circuit 84 for such pur-
`poses. For more details of a data display and control
`logic section of a paging receiver, reference is made to
`the instruction manual “PMR 2000" hearing number
`68-P8l048C70—0 which was published by Motorola,
`Inc. in December, 1986 and is incorporated by reference
`herein for providing such details.
`»
`In the operation of the paging system, a calling party
`contacts the paging system operator at computer termi-
`nal 11 by means of telephone 10. He requests a page of
`a specific pager, for example pager 15, and further re-
`quests the paging system operator compose a message
`asking the owner of pager 15 what time he would like to
`meet Mr. Jones for dinner. In addition to the primary
`message (the question), the calling party provides the
`paging system operator with a number of alternate re-
`sponses, or times, he will be available for dinner; 6pm,
`7pm, or 8pm. The calling party further instructs the
`paging system operator that in the event none of these
`times are available to the pager user being contacted
`that he should call back the calling party. The paging
`system operator composes a message on computer ter-
`minal 11 which includes the primary message and the
`alternate responses as shown on LCD display 23 of
`FIG. 3. The message is transmitted by way of paging
`terminal 12 and transmitter 13 to pager 15.
`The message, which also contains a pager address, is
`received by receiver 19 and supplied to address signal
`decoder 20 and data decoder 21. Address signal de-
`coder 20 decodes the address portion of the message
`and, if the address is the same as pager 15, supplies an
`acknowledge enable signal to acknowledge signal en-
`coder 28, an enable signal to data display and control
`logic 22 and an enable signal to data decoder 21. When
`data decoder 21 receives the enable signal from address
`signal decoder 20 the message from receiver 19 is de-
`coded and the data is supplied to logic circuit 22. Since
`logic circuit 22 has also received an enable signal, the
`decoded message activates an acoustic signal or other
`
`5
`
`l0
`
`I5
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`5,153,582
`
`6
`alert device in pager 15 and is supplied to the memory
`forming a portion of data display and control logic 22.
`When the pager user hears the acoustic signal and oper-
`ates the READ control the message appears at LCD
`display 23 of pager 15 as illustrated in FIG. 3.
`Upon reading the message on the pager LCD display
`23, thepager user determines a response to the question
`and selects a message selector switch A, B, C, or D
`which corresponds with the answer he desires to trans-
`mit i.e. switches A, B, C, and D are correlated with the
`displayed responses 6 PM, 7 PM, 8 PM, and call back,
`respectively. The pager user than depresses the message
`selector switch which automatically transmits an en-
`coded message from transmitter 18 to acknowledge
`receiver 14 to both acknowledge receipt of the paging
`signal and indicate the user designated response to the
`question thereof. The received response is conducted
`through paging terminal 12 to computer terminal 11.
`Computer terminal 11 matches the received encoded
`signal with the corresponding alternate response,
`i.e.
`6pm, 7pm, 8pm, or call back, and provides the alternate
`response to the paging system operator by means of a
`display or the like. The paging system operator then
`provides the calling party with the selected alternate
`response. It should be understood that the message from
`the pager might be interpreted by the computer termi-
`nal and an appropriate recorded voice response (or
`other response signal) relayed to the calling party with-
`out intervention by the paging system operator. Thus,
`the pager has provided an acknowledge signal as well as
`at least a partial response to the question of the calling
`party.
`While no specific message coding format has been
`described herein it will be understood by those skilled in
`the art that a variety of message formats may be utilized.
`A typical message format which might be utilized in the
`present paging system is described in the book entitled
`“A Standard Code for Radiopaging" published in July
`of 1979 wherein the international name for POCSAG is
`“CCIR Radiopaging Code No.
`1 (Rec 584, Geneva,
`1982, POCSAG-Code); U.S. Pat. No. 4,518,961, enti-
`tled “Universal Paging Device with Power Conserva-
`tion", issued May 21, 1985; and a copending PCT patent
`application entitled “System for Off—The-Air Repro-
`gramming of Communication Receivers“, bearing Ser.
`No. PCT/US87/00004, filed Jan. 2, 1987, and all incor-
`porated herein by reference.
`The present invention optimizes the information that
`can be conveyed with a limited set of acknowledge
`signals by assigning a variable set of meanings to each
`acknowledge signal. This functional assignment is ac-
`complished by transmitting the meaning of each of the
`return signals as part of the initial paging signal. Since
`the central transmitter is not handicapped by limited
`power and/or time, the transmission of the additional
`portion of the message is not a problem. While the pager
`illustrated utilizes an LCD display, it will be understood
`by those skilled in the art that other types of indicators
`might be utilized, such as a simple voice speaker, al-
`though this would not be as desirable as the described
`display because of the possibility of errors and the like.
`Thus, a method and apparatus for acknowledging
`reception of a paging signal and simultaneously re-
`sponding with at
`least a partial answer is disclosed.
`Since the central transmitter transmits the message and
`a plurality of possible or alternate responses the battery
`of the remote pager is used for only a minimum re-
`
`10
`
`10
`
`

`
`5,153,582
`
`7
`sponse signal. Also, the maximum amount of informa-
`tion can be conveyed by the minimum response signal.
`While 1 have shown and described a specific embodi-
`ment of this invention, further modifications and im-
`provements will occur to those skilled in the art. I desire 5
`it to be understood. therefor, that this invention is not
`limited to the particular form shown and I intend in the
`appended claims to cover all modifications which do
`not depart from the spirit and scope of this invention.
`What I claim is:
`
`10
`
`15
`
`25
`
`30
`
`8
`indicating a user designated response to said page. said
`method comprising the steps of:
`receiving with the paging receiver a paging signal
`including a message containing a caller composed
`question and a plurality of caller composed re-
`sponses to the question;
`visually displaying on the paging receiver the caller
`composed question and corresponding plurality of
`responses of the received message;
`designating to the paging receiver a user selected
`response from said displayed plurality of responses;
`and
`transmitting a signal from the paging receiver to ac-
`knowledge receipt of the paging signal, said trans-
`mitted signal being indicative of the user desig-
`nated response to the question of the received pag-
`ing signal.
`3. In a paging system having a paging terminal re-
`sponsive to a caller initiated message including a caller
`20 composed question and a plurality of caller composed
`responses to said question to transmit said message in
`the form of a paging signal, a paging receiver remotely
`located from said paging terminal comprising:
`means for receiving said paging signal including said
`caller initiated message;
`means for visually displaying the caller composed
`question and corresponding plurality of responses
`of said received message to a user;
`means operative by said user to designate a user se-
`lected response from said displayed plurality of
`responses; and
`means responsive to the user designation of said oper-
`ative means for transmitting a signal acknowledg-
`ing reception of said paging signal, which acknowl-
`edge signal also being indicative of the response to
`the question designated by the user.
`4. The paging receiver in accordance with claim 3
`wherein the displaying means include a visual display
`screen.
`
`1. In a paging system which receives messages initi-
`ated by a caller, and transmits the caller initiated mes-
`sages in the form of paging signals by a central transmit-
`ter of a paging terminal to a remote pager of at least one
`caller selected user, said remote pager having transmis-
`sion capability to transmit a signal back to an acknowl-
`edge receiver of the paging terminal, a method of ac-
`knowledging reception of a caller initiated, response
`requested paging signal
`transmitted from the central
`transmitter to the remote pager, said method compris-
`ing the steps of:
`transmitting the paging signal including a caller initi-
`ated message from the central transmitter to the
`remote pager of a caller selected user, which mes-
`sage including a caller composed question and a
`plurality of caller composed responses to said ques-
`tion;
`receiving the transmitted message with the remote
`pager of the at least one selected user;
`visually displaying on the selected user‘s remote
`pager the caller composed question and corre-
`sponding plurality of responses of the received
`message;
`designating to the selected user's remote pager a user
`selected response from said displayed plurality of
`responses; and
`acknowledging reception of the transmitted message
`5. The paging receiver in accordance with claim 3
`by transmitting from the selected user's remote
`wherein the designating means include a plurality of
`pager to the acknowledge receiver a signal indica-
`switches operative by the user.
`tive of the user designated response to the question
`6. The paging receiver in accordance with claim 5
`of said message.
`wherein the transmitting means includes means for
`2-_A me-iii0d Oi transmitting 3 Signal f1'0m 3 paging 45 modulating the acknowledge signal based on the opera-
`receiver of a user acknowledging reception of a caller
`tion of the plurality of switches by the user.
`initiated, response requested page and simultaneously
`"‘
`"
`*
`*
`*
`
`35
`
`40
`
`50
`
`55
`
`65
`
`11
`
`11