Method of transmitting terminating call signals within a restricted duration and a base station and a portable unit for use in the same

• US 4,736,461 A
• Filed: 02/12/1987
• Issued: 04/05/1988
• Est. Priority Date: 02/29/1984
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoshizawa, Kazuhiro, Kawasaki, Ryoji, Huse, Syozi, Ito, Koichi, Saegusa, Noboru, Yotsutani, Akio
• Primary Examiner(s): Griffin, Robert L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUNTZ, CURTIS A
• Application Number:
  US07/013,823
• Time in Patent Office: 418 Days
• Field of Search: 455/54, 455/31, 455/35, 455/38, 455/56, 455/58, 455/343, 455/76, 455/67, 455/89, 340/825.69, 340/825.5
• US Class Current: 455/343.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/73 Battery saving arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0235 where the received signal is a power saving command
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A portable unit that may be called from a base station through a radio control channel by a succession of terminating call signals that is sent through the control channel from the base station to the portable unit for a first or restricted time duration (T₁), selected in consideration of a battery saving period of a battery saving operation carried out in the portable unit. Within the battery saving period, the portable unit is put into transient active and inactive states during a first time interval and a second time interval, respectively. Selection is made so that the first time duration is longer than the second time interval to receive at least one of the terminating call signals within the first time duration in the portable unit. The base station monitors an acknowledgement signal for a second time duration (T₂) after the lapse of the first time duration and interrupts the control channel when the acknowledgement signal is not received within the first and the second time durations. In the portable unit, the battery saving operation is released when the presence of the terminating call signals is detected by a squelch circuit.

Claims

1. A portable unit responsive to a sequence of terminating call signals repeatedly supplied to said portable unit and periodically put by a controllable battery saver circuit into transient active and inactive states during a first time interval and during a second time interval following said first time interval with battery saving operation transiently released and carried out in said battery saver circuit, respectively, said portable unit being kept in a continuous active state when one of said terminating call signals is received during said first time interval and comprising receiving means coupled to said battery saver circuit for carrying out reception operation of radio signals including said terminating call signals, wherein the improvement comprises:

means coupled to said receiving means for producing a presence signal representative of the presence of said terminating call signals by measuring an intensity of said radio signals; and

means for supplying said presence signal to said battery saver circuit to make said controllable battery saver circuit release said battery saving operation.