Tower discovery and failover
First Claim
1. A method for a client device to maintain communications with a broadcast tower within a service region, comprising:
- initializing the client device to a receiver channel, further comprising;
initiating a frequency sweep;
selecting a frequency during the frequency sweep;
tuning a receiver to the selected frequency;
receiving frames over a sample-interval with the receiver;
storing the received frames over the sample-interval;
analyzing the received frames;
locking the selected frequency when the received frames identify a valid signal;
selecting another frequency when the received frames indicate an invalid signal;
retrieving a station list when the selected frequency is locked;
selecting a home station from the station list; and
receiving messages from the receiver, wherein the receiver is tuned to the locked frequency, wherein the received messages are associated with the home station.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Described is a communication system including wireless client devices. In the described system, the client devices may be wrist-worn watches such as are in common use today, except that the watches are specially configured to receive transmissions from broadcast towers. A client device is associated with one or more home service regions, and is configured to receive personal messages on a home channel when in the home service region. The client device employs a self-assignment method to identify and select a home channel without the need for interaction by a user. A tower discovery method is employed to identify broadcast towers and available channels within a service region. A failover method is employed to identify a change in the broadcast system, and take appropriate action such as, for example, changing to another broadcast tower, selecting another frequency, selecting a sleep mode, as well as others.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for a client device to maintain communications with a broadcast tower within a service region, comprising:
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initializing the client device to a receiver channel, further comprising;
initiating a frequency sweep;
selecting a frequency during the frequency sweep;
tuning a receiver to the selected frequency;
receiving frames over a sample-interval with the receiver;
storing the received frames over the sample-interval;
analyzing the received frames;
locking the selected frequency when the received frames identify a valid signal;
selecting another frequency when the received frames indicate an invalid signal;
retrieving a station list when the selected frequency is locked;
selecting a home station from the station list; and
receiving messages from the receiver, wherein the receiver is tuned to the locked frequency, wherein the received messages are associated with the home station. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for providing communication between broadcast towers and a client device, comprising:
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selecting services with a scheduling interface;
scheduling a transmission of message content, wherein the message content corresponds to messages for at least one of the selected services;
assembling a frame with a frame header and the message content;
formatting the frame header with a service region identifier, wherein the service region identifier corresponds to a service region for a broadcast tower; and
transmitting the frame from the broadcast tower at a first scheduled time for reception by the client device. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification