Non-contact pager programming system and a pager for use therewith

• US 5,252,964 A
• Filed: 08/13/1992
• Issued: 10/12/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/1989
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rakolta, Pamela A., Tan, William W. L., Nguyen, Pha C., Viteri, Silvia M., Pace, Gary L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weldon, Ulysses
• Application Number:
  US07/928,164
• Time in Patent Office: 425 Days
• Field of Search: 341/175, 273/138 A, 273/1 E, 273/DIG. 28, 455/186, 455/151, 379/56, 379/57, 379/102, 379/104, 379/105, 379/355, 379/356, 379/444, 340/825.44-825.48, 340/825.54, 340/311.1, 367/197-199, 49/29
• US Class Current: 340/7.4
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 3/1066 with other provisions not elsewhere provided for, e.g. turn-off protection
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/022 Selective call receivers

Abstract

A non-contact pager programming system includes a controller (30) which is responsive to command and data signals to generate first signals (34) including command and data words to govern a transmitting circuit (36) to transmit over the air a programming signal (46) digitally modulated in accordance with a reception protocol. The programming system may also include a receiving circuit (42) which is governed by at least one second signal (40) generated by the controller to receive over-the-air signals (52) generated by the pager being programmed in response to the programming signal.

Claims

1. A non-contact pager programming system governed by command and data words generated by a user interactive central controller to program and read a programmable non-volatile memory of a pager, said programmable non-volatile memory having registers for storing a plurality of data words which characterize at least one operation of said pager, said system comprising:

controller means for communicating with said central controller to receive and transmit command and data words between said pager and said central controller, said controller means responsive to command and data words received from said central controller to generate first signals for governing transmission of said command and data words to the pager being programmed in a format based on a reception protocol of said pager and to generate at least one second signal for governing reception of data words from said pager for reading selected storage registers of the non-volatile memory thereof;

transmitting means governed by said first signals to select a carrier frequency corresponding to the pager being programmed and to transmit over the air a programming signal at said carrier frequency digitally modulated in accordance with said pager'"'"'s reception protocol and said command and data words; and

receiving means governed by said at least one second signal to receive over the air signals generated by the pager being programmed in response to said programming signal, said pager generated signals being representative of the data words of said selected storage registers, to convert said received signals to digital signals representing said data words and to conduct said digital signals to said controller means.

2. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the command and data words received from the user interactive central controller include a programming command, at least one address of a register of the non-volatile memory of the pager being programmed, and a corresponding data word to be programmed in said register;

wherein the controller means is responsive to the command and data words to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the programming command, at least one address and corresponding data word in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol; and

wherein the controller means is further operative in response to the programming command to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including a read command and said at least one address and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated by the pager being programmed and representative of the data word read from the register of the non-volatile memory thereof corresponding to the at least one address, to convert the received signals to said digital data word, and to conduct the digitized data word back to the controller means for verification of the programming of the register of the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory corresponding to the at least one address.

3. The programming system in accordance with claim 2 wherein the controller means is responsive to a programming command from the central controller to transmit at least one data word to the central controller to indicate success or a failure of a programming operation corresponding to said programming command of said user interactive central controller.

4. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the command and data words received from the user interactive central controller include a programming command, and data words to be programmed in said non-volatile memory of the pager being programmed;

wherein the controller means is responsive to the command and data words to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the programming command, and corresponding data words in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol; and

wherein the controller means is further operative in response to the programming command to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including a read command and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated by the pager being programmed and representative of the data words read from the non-volatile memory thereof, to convert the received signals to said digital data words, and to conduct the digitized data words back to the controller means for verification of the programming of the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory.

5. The programming system in accordance with claim 4 wherein the controller means is responsive to a programming command from the central controller to transmit at least one data word to the central controller to indicate success or a failure of a programming operation corresponding to said programming command of said user interactive central controller.

6. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the command and data words received from the user interactive central controller include a read command, and at least one address of a register of the non-volatile memory of the pager being read;

wherein the controller means is responsive to said command and data words received from said central controller to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the read command, and at least one address in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated by the pager being read and representative of the data word read from the register of the non-volatile memory thereof corresponding to the at least one address, to convert the received signals to said digital data word, and to conduct the digitized data word back to the controller means for reading the register of the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory corresponding to the at least one address; and

wherein the controller means is further responsive to the read command to conduct the received data word corresponding to the at least one address to the central controller for user thereby.

7. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the command and data words received from the user interactive central controller include a read command for reading the non-volatile memory of the pager being read;

wherein the controller means is responsive to said command and data words received from said central controller to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the read command in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated by the pager being read and representative of data words read from the registers of the non-volatile memory thereof, to convert the received signals to said digital data words, and to conduct the digitized data words back to the controller means for reading the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory; and

wherein the controller means is further responsive to the read command to conduct the received data words corresponding to the read command to the central controller for use thereby.

8. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 including a desk top shielded enclosure for containing at least the transmitting means, receiving means and a chamber for accommodating a pager to be programmed.

9. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the transmitting means includes means governed by the first signals to select a carrier frequency in an intermediate frequency (IF) range of the paper being programmed.

10. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 including means governed by a third signal generated by the controller means to enable and disable the transmitting means and receiving means.

11. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the controller means includes a programmed microcomputer.

12. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the controller means generates first signals including a frequency select signal, and data signals formatted in accordance with the reception protocol of the pager being programmed;

and wherein the transmitting means includes;

at least one antenna;

a modulation circuit for generating a signal at a carrier frequency and governed by said data signals to modulate said carrier frequency signals;

a frequency select circuit coupled to said modulation circuit and governed by the frequency select signal to select the carrier frequency of the signal generated by the modulation circuit; and

a power amplifier circuit coupled to the modulation circuit and the at least one antenna and governed by the modulated carrier frequency signal to drive said at least one antenna to transmit the programming signal to the pager being programmed.

13. The programming system in accordance with claim 12 wherein the transmitting means includes an impedance matching circuit coupled to the at least one antenna and the power amplifier;

and wherein the controller means generates first signals including an impedance selection signal, said impedance matching circuit governed by the impedance selection signal to form an impedance corresponding to the selected carrier frequency.

14. The programming system in accordance with claim 1 wherein the controller means generates at least one second signal including a control signal;

and wherein the signals generated by the pager being programmed in response to said programming signal are audio signals; and

wherein the receiving means includes;

means for receiving said audio signals from the air and converting said audio signals to electrical signal representations thereof;

means governed by the control signal to recover the data words from said electrical signal representations; and

means for conducting the recovered data words to said controller means.

15. The programming system in accordance with claim 14 wherein the controller means includes means responsive to an initial data word received from the receiving means for receiving subsequently recovered data words from the receiving means.

16. The programming system in accordance with claim 14 wherein the receiving and converting means includes at least one microphone.

17. The programming system in accordance with claim 14 wherein the receiving and converting means includes a plurality of microphones switchably selected for use by the recovering means.

18. The non-contact pager programming system of claim 1, which includes said pager capable of receiving the over the air a programming signal at said carrier frequency digitally modulated in accordance with a protocol and generating and transmitting the over the air signals in response to said programming signal, said generated signals being representative of the data words of said selected storage areas.

19. A non-contact pager programming system governed by command and data signals generated by user interactive means to program and read a non-volatile memory of a pager, said programmable non-volatile memory having registers for storing a plurality of data words which characterize at least one operation of said pager, said system comprising:

controller means responsive to command and data signals received from said user interactive means to generate first signals including command and data words for governing transmission of said command and data words to the pager being programmed in a format based on a reception protocol of said pager and to generate at least one second signal for governing reception of data words from said pager for reading selected storage registers of the non-volatile memory thereof;

transmitting means governed by said first signals to select a carrier frequency corresponding to the pager being programmed and to transmit over the air a programming signal at said carrier frequency digitally modulated in accordance with said pager'"'"'s reception protocol and said command and data words; and

receiving means governed by said at least one second signal to receive over the air signals generated by the pager being programmed in response to said programming signal, said pager generated signals being representative of the data words of said selected storage registers, to convert said received signals to digital signals representing said data words and to conduct said digital signals to said controller means.

20. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the controller means is responsive to a programming command and at least one data word to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the programming command, and corresponding at least one data word in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol;

and wherein the controller means is further operative in response to the programming command to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including a read command and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated over the air by the pager being programmed and representative of the at least one data word read from the non-volatile memory thereof corresponding to the read command, to convert the received signals to said digital data word, and to conduct digitized data back to the controller means for verification of the programming of the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory corresponding to the programming command.

21. The programming system in accordance with claim 20 wherein the controller means is responsive to a programming command to generate a signal indicative of success or failure of a programming operation corresponding to said programming command of said user interactive central controller.

22. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the controller means is responsive to a read command to generate first signals to govern the transmitting means to transmit the programming signal including the read command in accordance with the pager'"'"'s reception protocol and to generate at least one second signal to govern the receiving means to receive signals generated over the air by the pager being read and representative of at least one data word read from the non-volatile memory thereof corresponding to the read command, to convert the received signals to said at least one digital data word, and to conduct the at least one digitized data word back to the controller means for reading the pager'"'"'s non-volatile memory corresponding to the read command.

23. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 including a desk top shielded enclosure for containing at least the transmitting means, the receiving means and a chamber for accommodating a pager to be programmed.

24. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the transmitting means includes means governed by the first signals to select a carrier frequency in an intermediate frequency (IF) range of the pager being programmed.

25. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 including means governed by a third signal generated by the controller means to enable and disable the transmitting means and receiving means.

26. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the controller means includes a programmed microcomputer.

27. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the controller means generates first signals including a frequency select signal, and data signals formatted in accordance with the reception protocol of the pager being programmed;

and wherein the transmitting means includes;

at least one antenna;

a modulation circuit for generating a signal at a carrier frequency and governed by said data signals to modulate said carrier frequency signals;

a frequency select circuit coupled to said modulation circuit and governed by the frequency select signal to select the carrier frequency of the signal generated by the modulation circuit; and

a power amplifier circuit coupled to the modulation circuit and the at least one antenna and governed by the modulated carrier frequency signal to drive said at least one antenna to transmit the programming signal to the pager being programmed.

28. The programming system in accordance with claim 27 wherein the transmitting means includes an impedance matching circuit coupled to the at least one antenna and the power amplifier;

and wherein the controller means generates first signals including an impedance selection signal, said impedance matching circuit governed by the impedance selection signal to form an impedance corresponding to the selected carrier frequency.

29. The programming system in accordance with claim 19 wherein the controller means generates at least one second signal including a control signal;

and wherein the signals generated by the pager being programmed in response to said programming signal are audio signals; and

wherein the receiving means includes;

means for receiving said audio signals from the air and converting said audio signals to electrical signal representations thereof;

means governed by the control signal to recover the data words from said electrical signal representations; and

means for conducting the recovered data words to said controller means.

30. The programming system in accordance with claim 29 wherein the controller means includes means responsive to an initial data word received from the receiving means for receiving subsequently recovered data words from the receiving means.

31. The programming system in accordance with claim 29 wherein the receiving and converting means includes at least one microphone.

32. The programming system in accordance with claim 29 wherein the receiving and converting means includes a plurality of microphones switchably selected for use by the recovering means.

33. The non-contact pager programming system of claim 19, which includes said pager capable of receiving the over the air a programming signal at said carrier frequency digitally modulated in accordance with a protocol and generating and transmitting the over the air signals in response to said programming signal, said generated signals being representative of the data words of said selected storage areas.

34. A non-contact pager programming system governed by command and data signals generated by user interactive means to program a non-volatile memory of a pager, said programmable non-volatile memory having registers for storing a plurality of data words which characterize at least one operation of said pager, said system comprising:

controller means responsive to command and data signals received from said user interactive means to generate first signals including command and data words for governing transmission of said command and data words to the pager being programmed in a format based on a reception protocol of said pager;

transmitting means governed by said first signals to select a carrier frequency corresponding to the pager being programmed and to transmit over the air a programming signal at said carrier frequency digitally modulated in accordance with said pager'"'"'s reception protocol and said command and data words, the transmitting means including;

at least one antenna;

a modulation circuit for generating a signal at a carrier frequency and governed by said data signals to modulate said carrier frequency signals;

a frequency select circuit coupled to said modulation circuit and governed by the frequency select signal to select the carrier frequency of the signal generated by the modulation circuit;

a power amplifier circuit coupled to the modulation circuit and the at least one antenna and governed by the modulated carrier frequency signal to drive said at least one antenna to transmit the programming signal to the pager being programmed; and

an impedance matching circuit coupled to the at least one antenna and the power amplifier; and

wherein the controller means generates first signals including an impedance selection signal, said impedance matching circuit governed by the impedance selection signal to form an impedance corresponding to the selected carrier frequency.

35. The programming system in accordance with claim 34 including a desk top shielded enclosure for containing at least the transmitting means and a chamber for accommodating a pager to be programmed.

36. The programming system in accordance with claim 34 wherein the transmitting means includes means governed by the first signals to select a carrier frequency in an intermediate frequency (IF) range of the pager being programmed.

37. The programming system in accordance with claim 34 including means governed by a third signal generated by the controller means to enable and disable the transmitting means.

38. The programming system in accordance with claim 34 wherein the controller means includes a programmed microcomputer.

39. A pager operative in response to an externally transmitted page message including command and data words to program and read a programmable non-volatile memory thereof in accordance with said command and data words, said non-volatile memory having registers for storing a plurality of data words which characterize at least one operation of said pager, said pager comprising:

means for receiving the page and recovering the command and data words from the message thereof;

means governed by a recovered read command word of a page message to read the data word of at least one register of the non-volatile memory corresponding to said read command and to generate an audio signal representative of said read data word;

means governed by a recovered program command word, and corresponding at least one new data word to write said at least one new data word into at least one register of the non-volatile memory corresponding to said program command;

means for calculating a first checksum word from the at least one new data word received from the page; and

means for calculating a second checksum word from the at least one new data word read from the non-volatile memory after being written therein; and

means for generating said audio signal indicative of a successful or unsuccessful write operation based on a comparison of the generated first and second checksum words.

40. The pager in accordance with claim 39 wherein the page message is transmitted by a digitally modulated carrier frequency which is in an intermediate frequency range;

and wherein the receiving means includes an intermediate frequency stage of the pager.

41. The pager in accordance with claim 39 including means responsive to a read command word to generate a sync word of a predetermined code and to generate the audio signal representative of both of the sync code word and the read data word.

42. The pager in accordance with claim 41 wherein the generating means generates the audio signal representing the sync code word prior to generating the audio signal representing the read data word, whereby the sync code word is included in the generated audio signal as an introduction of the read data word.

43. A system for communicating acoustically between a pager and a programmer, said system comprising:

a pager including;

a memory for storing a plurality of binary coded data words for characterizing at least some operations of said pager;

a digital controller for controlling the operations of said pager, said digital controller responsive to a command signal to access from said memory at least one digital word designated by said command signal and to generate a pulse train signal based on the binary status of the bits of said accessed digital word, said pulse train signal having a format comprising bit time intervals corresponding to each bit of said accessed digital word, said digital controller operative to generate pulses solely during bit time intervals of said pulse train signal corresponding to bits of said accessed digital word which are at a first binary state; and

audio signal generating means governed at times by said pulse train signal to generate and emit from said pager audio signals solely in response to pulses of said pulse train signal; and

a programmer including;

means for detecting the audio signals emitted from said pager and for converting said audio signals into electrical signal representations; and

means for recovering said binary coded digital word from said electrical signal representations based solely on amplitude variations thereof, the recovering means including;

means for generating an amplitude threshold signal dynamically from the amplitude variations of the electrical signal representations; and

means for comparing said amplitude threshold signal with the amplitude variations of said electrical signal representations to serially form the binary coded digital word corresponding thereto.

44. The system in accordance with claim 43 wherein the generating means includes resetting means responsive to a reset signal for resetting the amplitude threshold signal to a predetermined amplitude level.

45. A system for communicating acoustically between a pager and a programmer, said system comprising:

a pager including;

a memory for storing a plurality of binary coded data words for characterizing at least some operations of said pager;

a digital controller for controlling the operations of said pager, said digital controller responsive to a command signal to access from said memory at least one digital word designated by said command signal and to generate a pulse train signal based on the binary status of the bits of said accessed digital word, said pulse train signal having a format comprising bit time intervals corresponding to each bit of said accessed digital word, said digital controller operative to generate pulses solely during bit time intervals of said pulse train signal corresponding to bits of said accessed digital word which are at a first binary state; and

audio signal generating means governed at times by said pulse train signal to generate and emit from said pager audio signals solely in response to pulses of said pulse train signal; and

a programmer including;

means for detecting the audio signals emitted from said pager and for converting said audio signals into electrical signal representations; and

means for recovering said binary coded digital word from said electrical signal representations based solely on amplitude variations thereof, the recovering means including;

an amplifier and filter circuit coupled to the converting means for generating a first signal representation of the electrical signal representations.

a peak-to-peak AC to DC converter circuit coupled to the amplifier and filter circuit and responsive to said first signal representation to generate a second signal representation;

a peak detector circuit coupled to the AC to DC converter circuit and responsive to the second signal representation to generate a peak signal representation;

a circuit for generating a amplitude threshold signal from the peak signal representation; and

a comparator circuit coupled to both of the AC to DC converter circuit and the peak detector circuit to compare the amplitude levels of the second signal representations and amplitude threshold signal to from serially the binary coded digital word corresponding thereto.

46. The system in accordance with claim 45 wherein the peak detector circuit includes a reset circuit responsive to a reset signal to reset the peak signal representation to a predetermined amplitude level.