Paging system

• US 4,868,562 A
• Filed: 02/22/1988
• Issued: 09/19/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 02/22/1988
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Flatt Morris Associates SA, Management And Investment, S.A.
• Original Assignee: Telefind Corporation
• Inventors: Campana, Thomas J. Jr., Thelen, Gary F., Andros, Andrew A., Kinast, Robert A.
• Primary Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pudpud, E. O.
• Application Number:
  US07/158,984
• Time in Patent Office: 575 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.44, 340/825.49, 340/825.02, 340/825.47, 340/825.03, 340/827, 340/825.48, 340/311.1, 379/220, 379/207, 379/56-63, 379/217, 379/170, 455/31-38, 370/93, 370/94, 370/60, 370/61, 370/54
• US Class Current: 340/7.25
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/022 One-way selective calling networks, e.g. wide area paging
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A paging network is disclosed which utilizes a plurality of distributed switches to transmit pages on a non-real time basis to achieve efficient and low cost transmission. Each of the switches processes packets of pages received from the network. Each of the switches also processes pages into packets of pages to be transmitted to another switch in the network or into batches of pages to be transmitted by a local paging service if the switch is a local switch. The network dynamically programs the reception channel of the paging receivers in response to traffic conditions of a local switch or in accordance with service options specified by a subscriber to a local paging service. The digits of the paging receiver identification code are transmitted in an order of increasing significance to conserve battery life of the paging receivers. Pages may be initiated by placing a local call to any lata switch in the network and service options may be varied by placing of a local call to a lata switch.

Claims

1. A paging network comprising:

(a) a plurality of local switching means, each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service with each local switching means having a plurality of subscribers each identified by a distinct subscriber identification number stored in a subscriber file contained in a memory of the local switching means, each subscriber file in the network being contained in a memory of a single local switching means;

(b) at least one lata switching means, each lata switching means being coupled to at least one local switching means with each lata switching means having jurisdiction over the at least one local switching means to which the lata switching means is coupled; and

(c) at least one hub switching means, each hub switching means being coupled to at least one lata switching means with each hub switching means having jurisdiction over at least one lata switching means;

(d) each of the local switching means having means for receiving requests for pages called to the local switching means including a number identifying the subscriber of the local paging service to whom the page should be charged and an identification of the paging receiver to receive the page, processing means for determining any area destinations to which a page should be transmitted in the network by matching the identification number of each request for a page with an identical number stored in the subscriber file and identifying any area destinations stored in the subscriber file, adding any identified area destination to the request to form at least one page with an area destination in the network, for each request for a page which is destined for the local paging service of the local switching means causing a page to be formed and the page to be transmitted to the local paging service for broadcast, and for pages having an area destination other than the local paging service of the local switching means causing the page to be transmitted to the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means, and means for receiving pages from the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means and transmitting the pages received from the lata switching means to the local paging service coupled to local switching means for broadcast, and all area destinations of pages in the network being determined exclusively by the subscriber files of the local switching means; and

(e) each of the lata switching means having an input means for receiving pages from the at least one local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction, an input means for receiving pages from a hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means, processing means for processing an area destination contained in received pages, output means for outputting pages for transmission to each of local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction, output means for outputting pages for transmission to the hub switching means which has jurisdiction over the lata switching means, and wherein the processing means outputs the processed pages to the output means for outputting pages for transmission to each of the local switching means which have an area destination of the lata switching means and outputs the pages to the output means for transmitting pages to the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means which do not have an area destination of the lata switching means.

2. A paging network in accordance with claim 1 wherein:

(a) the processing means of each local switching means forms pages having an area destination other than the local switching means into at least one packet with each packet having a variable number of pages with each packet having the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switch as an area destination with each page within a packet having a switching means in the network as an area destination, and disassembles packets received from the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means into individual pages with the received packets having a variable number of pages and transmits the individual pages to the local paging service coupled to the local switching means for broadcast by the local paging service; and

(b) the processing means of each lata switching means disassembles packets containing a variable number of pages received by the input means for receiving pages from the at least one local switching means and received by the input means for receiving pages from the hub switching means into individual pages with each packet received by the lata switching means having the lata switch as an area destination and each page having a switching means in the network as an area destination, processes the area destination of each disassembled individual page, forms at least one packet from the pages which have been processed by area destination with each packet having an area destination of the at least one local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction or the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means and transmits the packets to the output means of the lata switching means corresponding to the area destination of the packet; and

(c) each page in the network, which is transmitted between a local switching means originating the page and a switching means which is an area destination of the page, is assembled into a packet at the local switching means originating the page, at each switching means disposed between the local switching means originating the page and the switching means which is the area destination of the page each page is disassembled from a packet and reassembled into a new packet with a switching means as an area destination and at the switching means which is the area destination the page is disassembled from a packet.

3. A paging network in accordance with claim 2 wherein:

the network includes at least two hub switching means with each hub switching means including an input means for receiving packets of pages containing a variable number from each of the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction with each received packet having the hub switching means receiving the packet as an area destination and each page having a switching means in the network as an area destination, an input means for receiving packets containing a variable number of pages from at least one hub switching means with each received packet from another hub switching means having the hub switching means as an area destination and each page having a switching means as an area destination in the network, processing means which disassembles packets received by the input means for receiving pages from the at least one lata switching means and the input means for receiving pages from another hub switching means into individual pages, processes the area destination of each individual page, forms at least one packet having a variable number of pages from the pages which have been processed by area destination with each packet having an area destination of one of the at least one lata switching means over which the hub means has jurisdiction or another hub switching means and transmits the packets to the output means of the hub switching means corresponding to the area destination of the packet.

4. A paging network having a plurality of local switching means, each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service, at least one lata switching means, each lata switching means having jurisdiction over and being coupled to at least one local switching means, and at least one hub switching means, each hub switching means having jurisdiction over and being coupled to at least one lata switching means wherein:

(A) each of the local switching means includes;

(1) means for receiving pages having unknown area destinations and for receiving packets including at least one page to be broadcast by the local paging service coupled to the local switching means, each of the pages having an unknown area destination and each of the pages to be broadcast by the local paging service including an identification number identifying a particular paging receiver to receive the page and a lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means having subscriber files storing information identifying individual subscribers of the local switching means;

(2) means for disassembling the packets to be broadcast by the local paging receiver into at least one individual page contained therein;

(3) means, responsive to the means for disassembling, for storing the at least one page to be broadcast by the local paging service coupled to the local switching means in an identification code buffer;

(4) means, responsive to the at least one page having unknown area destinations and the subscriber files, for determining at least one area destination for the at least one page having an unknown area destination by matching the identification number accompanying the page without an area destination with a corresponding identification number in one of the subscriber files and for adding an area destination associated with the matched identification number in the subscriber file to each of the at least one page having an unknown area destination which is to be transmitted through the network to generate at least one page having a known area destination;

(5) means, responsive to the means for determining, for storing the pages in an identification code buffer when the area destination corresponds to the local paging service coupled to the local switching means and in a lata buffer when the area destination does not correspond to the local paging service coupled to the local switching means;

(6) means, coupled to the identification code buffer, for transferring the pages stored therein to the local paging service for broadcasting the pages;

(7) means for periodically forming the pages stored in the lata buffer into packets; and

(8) means, coupled to the means for periodically forming, for transmitting the packets to the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means;

(B) each of the lata switching means includes;

(1) means for receiving packets from the local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction, and packets from a hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means, each packet of pages received from the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means including at least one page with each page having an area destination;

(2) means, responsive to the means for receiving, for disassembling the packets into individual pages;

(3) means, responsive to the means for disassembling, for determining which of the disassembled pages has an area destination of the lata switching means and which of the disassembled pages has an area destination other than the lata switching means;

(4) means, responsive to the means for determining, for storing each page which has an area destination that does not correspond to the lata switching means in a hub buffer, and for storing each page which has an area destination corresponding to the lata switching means in at least one area of a local buffer which corresponds to a local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction, each area of the local buffer corresponding to a different local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction;

(5) means, coupled to the hub buffer and the local buffer, for forming the pages stored in the hub buffer into at least one packet having the hub switching means as an area destination and for forming the pages stored in each area of the local buffer into at least one packet having an area destination of a corresponding one of the plurality of local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction; and

(6) means for periodically transmitting the packets having the hub switching means as an area destination to the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means and for periodically transmitting each of the plurality of packets stored in the areas of the local buffer to the corresponding one of the plurality of local switching means;

(C) each of the hub switching means includes;

(1) means for receiving packets from any of the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction, and packets from other hub switching means;

(2) means, responsive to the means for receiving, for disassembling the packets into individual pages;

(3) means, responsive to an area destination contained in each individual page, for determining which of the pages have an area destination corresponding to one of the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction and for determining which of the individual pages has an area destination outside the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction;

(4) means, responsive to the means for determining, for storing the individual pages which have an area destination corresponding to one of the plurality of lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction in areas of a first buffer, each of the areas of the first buffer corresponding to a separate one of the plurality of lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction;

(5) means, responsive to the means for determining, for selecting a communication path between the hub switching means and other hub switching means for each page having an area destination outside the at least one lata switching means over which by the hub switching means has jurisdiction;

(6) means, responsive to the means for selecting, for storing each page, having an area destination outside the at least one lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction, in areas of a second buffer, each of the areas of the second buffer corresponding to a selected communication path;

(7) means, coupled to the first and second buffers, for forming the pages stored in each area of the first buffer into at least one packet to be transmitted to a corresponding lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction, and for forming the pages stored in each area of the second buffer into at least one packet to be transmitted on a corresponding one of the selected transmission paths to one of the other hub switching means; and

(8) means, coupled to the means for forming, for periodically transmitting each of the packets to be transmitted to the plurality of lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction to the corresponding lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction and for periodically transmitting each of the packets to be transmitted on a corresponding selected transmission path to one of the other hub switching means.

5. A paging network in accordance with claim 4 wherein:

(A) for each of the local switching means;

(1) the means for receiving pages receives pages transmitted by the network to the local switching means which have the local switching means as an area destination and which have been called to one of the lata switching means in the network and each of the pages which have been called to one of the lata switching means has an identification number for identifying a particular paging receiver to receive the page which matches a subscriber identification number stored by the local switching means in a subscriber file;

(2) the means for determining determines at least one new area destination for each page transmitted by the network to the local switching means which has been called to one of the lata switching means by matching the identification number accompanying each page called to a lata switching means in the network with a corresponding identification number in one of the subscriber files and adds at least one area destination associated with the matched identification number in the subscriber file to each page received by the local switching means which has been called to a lata switching means in the network which is to be transmitted by the network to form at least one new page with each new page having an area destination in the network;

(B) for each of the lata switching means;

(1) the means for receiving receives pages which have been called to the lata switching means and pages transmitted by the network which have been called to any other lata switching means in the network;

(2) the means for disassembling disassembles received pages which have been called to any one of the lata switching means in the network;

(3) the means for determining determines if the area destination of each page called to one of the lata switching means in the network is the lata switching means or another lata switching means in the network; and

(4) the means for storing stores each page called to one of the lata switching means in the network in one of the areas of the local buffer if the means for determining determines that the area destination is the lata switching means and stores each page called to the lata switching means in the hub buffer if the means for determining determines that the area destination is in another one of the lata switching means.

6. A paging network according to claim 4, wherein:

the identification code buffer has areas which correspond to each possible number in a number base of a particular digit of the identification number contained in the pages.

7. A paging network according to claim 5, wherein the lata switching means includes:

(a) a look-up table storing identification numbers for each subscriber of the at least one local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction; and

(b) the lata switching means reads the look-up table to determine if an identification number within a page called to a lata switching means matches an identification number stored within the look-up table and if a match is found controls the storage of each page called to a lata switching means in the network in an area of the local buffer which corresponds to the local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction which stores the matched identification number and in the hub buffer if a match is not found.

8. A paging network according to claim 4, wherein each of the hub switching means includes:

(a) a look-up table for storing an identification of the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction;

(b) a look-up table for storing an identification of the hub switching means to which a page will be sent if the page does not have an area destination of a lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction and wherein;

(c) the area destination of each page is compared with the look-up table storing an identification of the lata switching means over which hub switching means has jurisdiction to determine if a match is found and if a match is found the page is stored in an area of the first buffer corresponding to the area destination and if a match is not found, the area destination of each page is compared with the look-up table for storing the hub switching means to which a page is to be transmitted to determine a transmission path between the hub switching means and another one of the hub switching means to which the page is to be transmitted and if a match is found the page is stored in a hub buffer corresponding to the determined transmission path.

9. A paging network in accordance with claim 5 wherein:

(a) each lata switching means adds a geographically descriptive number of the lata switching means receiving a non-long distance call of a page called to the lata switching means to the page prior to transmission to another switching means; and

(b) each local switching means determines that pages received from the lata switching means which has jurisdiction over the local switching means are pages called by non-long distance call to one of the lata switching means by detecting the presence of the number geographically descriptive of the one lata switching means.

10. A paging network in accordance with claim 9 wherein:

the geographically descriptive number of the lata switching means receiving the call precedes the identification number of the paging receiver.

11. A paging network including a plurality of local switching means, each being located in a different first geographic region and being coupled to a different local paging service;

a plurality of lata switching means, each lata switching means being located in a separate second geographic region which includes at least one local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction; and

a plurality of hub switching means, each hub switching means being located in a separate third geographic region which includes at least one lata switching means over which the first switching means has jurisdiction;

wherein;

(1) each of the local switching means includes;

(a) means for receiving pages having unknown area destinations and for receiving packets including at least one page to be broadcast in the first geographic region containing the local switching means from a lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means, each of the pages having an unknown area destination including an identification number for identifying a particular paging receiver to receive the page;

(b) means for disassembling the packets into at least one page to be broadcast in the first geographic region;

(c) means for storing the at least one page to be broadcast in the first geographic region in areas of an identification code buffer based on the identification number contained in the at least one page to be broadcast in the first geographic region;

(d) means for determining at least one area destination for the at least one page having unknown area destinations by interrogation of a subscriber file containing information which matches the identification number of the at least one page having an unknown area destination and for adding an area destination to the at least one page having an unknown area destination to generate pages having known area destinations; and

wherein

(e) the means for storing stores the pages having determined area destinations in the areas of the identification code buffer when the means for determining determines that the area destination corresponds to the first geographic region and stores the pages having predetermined area destinations in a lata buffer when the means for determining determines that the area destination does not correspond to the first geographic region; and

further comprising

(f) means for periodically transmitting the pages stored in the areas of the identification code buffer to the paging service for broadcasting the pages in the first geographic region;

(g) means for forming the pages stored in the lata buffer into at least one packet; and

(h) means for periodically transmitting the packets to the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switching means;

(2) each of the lata switching means includes;

(a) means for receiving packets from the local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction, and packets from a hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means, the packets from the hub switching means including at least one page with each page having an area destination;

(b) means for disassembling the packets received from the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means and the packets received from the local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction;

(c) means, coupled to the means for disassembling, for determining which of the disassembled pages have an area destination of the lata switching means and which the disassembled pages have an area destination of another switching means other than the lata switching means;

(d) means, responsive to means for determining, for storing the disassembled pages having an area destination that is not the lata switching means in a hub buffer, and for storing the disassembled pages having an area destination of the lata switching means in at least one area of a lata buffer with a different area being assigned to each local switching means under the jurisdiction of the lata switching means;

(e) means, coupled to the hub buffer and the lata buffer, for forming the at least one page stored in the hub buffer into at least one packet to be transmitted to the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means and for forming the at least one page stored in each of the areas of the lata buffer into at least one packet with each packet formed from areas of the lata buffer to be transmitted to a corresponding one of the plurality of local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction; and

(f) means for periodically transmitting the packets to be transmitted to the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means to the hub switching means having jurisdiction over the lata switching means and for periodically transmitting the packets to be transmitted to the corresponding one of the plurality of local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction to the corresponding one of the local switching means over which the lata switching means has jurisdiction; and

(3) each of said hub switching means includes;

(a) means for receiving packets from the plurality of lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction, and packets from other hub switching means with each page of the packets having a known area destination;

(b) means for disassembling the packets received from the plurality of lata switching means and the packets received from other hub switching means into individual pages;

(c) means, responsive to the area destination in the disassembled pages, for determining which of the individual pages have an area destination of the at least one lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means and which of the disassembled pages have an area destination of another switching means other than one of the plurality of lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction;

(d) means, responsive to the means for determining, for storing the disassembled pages having an area destination of one of the lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means in areas of a first buffer, each of the areas of the first buffer being assigned to a separate one of the lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means, and for storing the pages which do not have an area destination of one of the lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means in areas of a second buffer which areas are determined by predetermined rules for transmitting pages between the hub switching means and the other hub switching means;

(e) means, coupled to the first and second buffers, for forming the pages stored in each area of the first buffer into a plurality of packets to be transmitted to a corresponding lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means, and for formimg the pages stored in each area of the second buffer into a plurality of packets to be transmitted to corresponding other hub switching means; and

(f) means for periodically transmitting each of the packets to be transmitted to one of the lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means to the corresponding lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means and for periodically transmitting each of the packets to be transmitted to the other hub switching means to the corresponding hub switching means.

12. A paging network comprising:

(a) a plurality of local switching means, each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service and having a plurality of subscribers, each subscriber being identified by a subscriber identification number stored in a subscriber file contained in a memory of the local switching means, each subscriber file in the network being contained in a memory of a single local switching means;

(b) one or more lata switching means, each lata switching means being coupled to one or more local switching means and having jurisdiction over the one or more local switching means and each lata switching means being coupled to one at least one other lata switching means for communication means with each page being transmitted between lata switching means being transmitted by the communication means; and

wherein

(c) each local switching means determining any area destinations of each page in the network, called into the local switching means that is to be billed to a subscriber having a subscriber file contained in the memory of the local switching means by matching of an identification number stored in the memory and adding any area destinations stored in the subscriber file of the subscriber to the page to form at least one new page and transmitting the at least one new page to the lata switching means having jurisdiction over the local switch for broadcast by another local paging service and transmitting the local paging service if the page is to be broadcast by the local paging service and all area destinations of pages in the network being determined exclusively by the subscriber files;

(d) all transmissions of pages between local switching means in the paging network being in packets having a variable number of pages with each packet having a switching means as an area destination and containing at least one page with each page having a switching means as an area destination in the network; and

(e) each page in the network, which is transmitted between a local switching means originating the page and a switching means which is an area destination of the page, is assembled into a packet at the local switching means originating the page, at each switching means through which a page is transmitted disposed between the local switching means originating the page and the switching means which is the area destination of the page each page is disassembled from a packet and reassembled into a new packet with a switching means as an area destination and at the switching means which is the area destination the page is disassembled from a packet.

13. A paging network in accordance with claim 12 wherein:

each lata switching means processes pages received from the communication means and from local switches over which the lata switching means had jurisdiction by area destination and outputs the processed pages to at least one local switching means if the area destination of the processed pages is within the jurisdiction of the lata switching means and to the communication means if the area destination is not within the jurisdiction of the lata switching means.

14. A paging network in accordance with claim 13 wherein:

(a) each of the local and lata switching means control a number of pages assembled in each packet;

(b) packets which are received by the lata switching means are disassembled prior to processing by area destination; and

(c) packets which are received by the local switching means from a lata switching means are disassembled and transmitted to the local paging service for transmission.

15. A paging network in accordance with claim 14 wherein:

the pages which are disassembled by the local switching means are sorted by a least significant digit of the identification number accompanying the page and stored in an identification code buffer assigned to storing pages having a corresponding least significant digit and the local switching means periodically transmits the pages stored in the identification code buffers assigned to storing the least significant digits of the identification number to the local paging service for transmission.

16. A paging network in accordance with claim 14 wherein the communication means comprises:

(a) at least one hub switching means, each hub switching means having jurisdiction over at least one lata switching means coupled thereto; and

(b) each hub switching means receives packets containing a variable number of pages from the lata switching means over which the hub switching means has jurisdiction and disassembles each packet into individual pages, processing the pages by area destination, forms the pages processed by area destination into packets with each packet containing a variable number of pages and having an area destination of another switching means and outputs the packets for transmission to the switching means which is the area destination of the packet.

17. A paging network in accordance with claim 16 wherein:

(a) there is at least one additional hub switching means; and

(b) the hub switching means disassembles any packets received from the at least one additional hub switching means which has the hub switching means as an area destination and processes the disassembled pages received from the at least one additional hub switching means by area destination, forms the pages processed by area destination into packets containing a variable number of pages having another switching means as an area destination and outputs the packets to the area destination switching means.

18. A paging network in accordance with claim 16 wherein:

the area destination of the packets of pages to be transmitted to the at least one additional hub switching means and to the lata switching means under the jurisdiction of the hub switching means is determined by the hub switching means by processing the area destination of the individual pages within the packets.

19. A paging network comprising:

(a) a plurality of local switching means with each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service having a transmitter for transmitting pages to paging receivers of subscribers having subscriber files stored by the local switching means, each page in the network being originated by a local switching means interrogating a subscriber file to determine any area destination in the network of a switching means of where the originated page is to be transmitted for broadcast in the network and adding any area destination to the page which is stored in the interrogated subscriber file;

(b) a plurality of additional switching means which are coupled together and to the plurality of local switching means by a transmission system for transmitting pages originating at a local switching means to another switching means in the network, each additional switching means having jurisdiction over at least one switching means; and

wherein

(c) each originated page in the network, which is transmitted between a local switching means originating the page and a switching means which is an area destination of the originated page, is assembled into a pocket containing a variable number of pages at the local switching means originating the page, at each switching means through which the originated page is transmitted disposed between the local switching means originated the page and the switching means which is the area destination of the page the originated page is disassembled from a packet and reassembled into a new packet containing a variable number of pages with a switching means as an area destination and at the switching means which is the area destination of the originated page the originated page is disassembled from a packet.

20. A paging network in accordance with claim 19 wherein:

each of the switching means transmitting packets to another switching means periodically transmits the packets to another switching means.

21. A paging network comprising:

(a) a plurality of local switching means with each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service having a transmitter for transmitting pages to paging receivers of subscribers having subscribers files stored by the local switching means, each page in the network being originated by a local switching means by determining any area destination in the network of a switching means of where the originated page is to be transmitted in the network for broadcast and adding any area destination which is stored by the local switching means to the page;

(b) a plurality of additional switching means which are coupled together and to the plurality of local switching means by a transmission system for transmitting pages originating at a local switching means to another switching means in the network, each of the additional switching means having jurisdiction over at least one switching means; and

wherein

(c) each originated page in the network, which is transmitted between a local switching means originating the page and a switching means which is an area destination of the originated page, is assembled into a packet containing a variable number of pages at the local switching means originating the page, at each switching means through which the originated page is transmitted disposed between the local switching means originating the page and the switching means which is the area destination of the page the originated page is disassembled from a packet and reassembled into a new packet containing a variable number of pages with a switching means as an area destination and at the switching means which is the area destination of the originated page the originated page is disassembled from a packet.

22. A paging network in accordance with claim 21 wherein:

each of the switching means periodically transmits the pages to be transmitted to other switching means in the network to another switching means in the network.

23. A method for transmitting pages in a paging network having a plurality of local switching means, each local switching means being coupled to a local paging service with each local switching means storing a subscriber file for each subscriber of the local paging service controlling addition of an area destination to each page originating at the local switching means of where the page is to be transmitted in the network for broadcast and at least one additional switching means, each additional switching means being coupled to at least one additional local switching means and each page transmitted by the network being transmitted in a packet between switching means with the packet having the switching means to receive the packet as an area destination comprising:

(a) each local switching means receiving a request for transmitting a page in the network originating a page by adding an area destination to the page of where the page is to be transmitted in the network for broadcast;

(b) each page originated by a local switching means being formed into a packet by the local switching means originating the page, the packet having a variable number of pages and having a switching means as an area destination;

(c) each additional switching means in the network through which each page is transmitted, disposed between the local switching means originating each page and the switching means which is the area destination each page, receiving a transmitted packet, disassembling each page from the received packet, and reassembling each page into a new packet containing a variable number of pages with the new packet having a switching means as an area destination; and

(d) the switching means which is the area destination of the page disassembling a packet containing the page to obtain the page from the disassembled packet.

24. A method for transmitting pages in a paging network having a plurality of local switches, each local switch being coupled to a local paging service with each local switch storing a subscriber file for each subscriber of the local paging service controlling addition of an area destination to each page originating at the local switch of where the page having the added area destination is to be transmitted in the network for broadcast and at least one additional switch, each additional switch being coupled to at least one additional local switch and each page transmitted by the network being transmitted in a packet between switches with the packet having the switch to receive the packet as an area destination comprising:

(a) each local switch receiving a request for transmitting a page in the network originating the page by adding an area destination to the page of where the page is to be transmitted in the network for broadcast;

(b) each page originated by a local switch being formed into a packet by the local switch originating the page, the packet having a variable number of pages with each packet having a switch as an area destination;

(c) each additional switch in the network through which each page is transmitted, disposed between the local switch originating each page and the switch which is the area destination of the page, receiving a transmitted packet, disassembling each page from the received packet, and reassembling each page into a new packet containing a variable number of pages with the new packet having a switch as an area destination; and

(d) the switch which is the area destination of the page disassembling a packet containing the page to obtain the page from the disassembled packet.