Wireless personal paging, communications, and locating system
First Claim
1. A method for transmitting a message to an individual in a building, returning a response message to the originator of said message, and determining the current location of said, individual, comprising the steps of:
- originating said message addressed to the individual;
transmitting the message to a central station;
receiving and storing the message at said central station;
creating a data packet containing data from the message;
transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit carried by the individual by the steps of;
(1) adding a code to said data packet identifying said communications unit;
(2) adding a code to the data packet uniquely identifying the data packet;
(3) computing an error checking code and adding said error checking code to the data packet;
(4) transmitting the data packet by means of radio from the central station to the communications unit;
(5) receiving the data packet at the communications unit;
(6) determining whether the data packet has been correctly received at the communications unit by computing an error checking code using the received data and comparing said error checking code with the error checking code contained in the data packet;
transmitting an acknowledgment packet from the communications unit to the central station, should the data packet be received correctly, by the steps of;
(1) constructing an acknowledgment packet at the communications unit containing said code uniquely identifying the data packet just received, so as to serve as an acknowledgment of said received data packet;
(2) transmitting said acknowledgment packet from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations installed at fixed locations in said building;
(3) receiving the acknowledgment packet from the communications unit at a remote station and storing it in memory;
(4) transmitting the acknowledgment packet from said remote station, by means of radio, to said central station;
repeating the steps of creating a data packet containing data from the message, transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit, and transmitting an acknowledgment packet from the communications unit to the central station, until all data in the message has been transmitted from the central station to the communications unit;
displaying the message to the individual;
accepting a response message from the individual at the communications unit in response to the received message;
creating a response packet containing data from said response message;
transmitting said response packet from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations installed at fixed locations in the building;
receiving the response packet at a remote station and temporarily storing the response packet;
adding a code to the response message uniquely identifying said remote station;
transmitting the response packet from the remote station by means of radio to the central station;
receiving the response packet at the central station and storing it;
extracting the location of the remote station from the response packet and storing the location associated with the individual at the central station;
transmitting the response message from the central station to the originator of the message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for sending paging signals and messages to individuals within a building and accepting responses to the messages. Messages may be initiated by electronic mail, incoming telephone calls, incoming Fax messages, or other sources. Data is sent via radio to a communications unit carried by the individual and displayed visually together with possible responses. Each unit transmits its identity and responses or original messages when desired via coded infrared light (or, in an alternative embodiment, ultrasound) to one or more remote stations located in rooms or along corridors of the building. A remote station relays data to a central station also via radio, which tracks the location of units and delivers messages. Communication units are clipped to the clothing of users and can be incorporated into a corporate employee identification badge. The hybrid radio-infrared light approach combines the broad, reliable characteristics of radio communication with the ability of infrared light to allow each unit to be located. This allows highly reliable delivery of messages via an acknowledgement and retransmission protocol, two-way communication with the individual, and capabilities (such as those for transferring incoming telephone calls) that require the location of the individual to be known. The use of radio for communication from the remote station to the central station allows the system to be completely wireless, thus simplifying and reducing the cost of installation.
516 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A method for transmitting a message to an individual in a building, returning a response message to the originator of said message, and determining the current location of said, individual, comprising the steps of:
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originating said message addressed to the individual; transmitting the message to a central station; receiving and storing the message at said central station; creating a data packet containing data from the message; transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit carried by the individual by the steps of; (1) adding a code to said data packet identifying said communications unit; (2) adding a code to the data packet uniquely identifying the data packet; (3) computing an error checking code and adding said error checking code to the data packet; (4) transmitting the data packet by means of radio from the central station to the communications unit; (5) receiving the data packet at the communications unit; (6) determining whether the data packet has been correctly received at the communications unit by computing an error checking code using the received data and comparing said error checking code with the error checking code contained in the data packet; transmitting an acknowledgment packet from the communications unit to the central station, should the data packet be received correctly, by the steps of; (1) constructing an acknowledgment packet at the communications unit containing said code uniquely identifying the data packet just received, so as to serve as an acknowledgment of said received data packet; (2) transmitting said acknowledgment packet from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations installed at fixed locations in said building; (3) receiving the acknowledgment packet from the communications unit at a remote station and storing it in memory; (4) transmitting the acknowledgment packet from said remote station, by means of radio, to said central station; repeating the steps of creating a data packet containing data from the message, transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit, and transmitting an acknowledgment packet from the communications unit to the central station, until all data in the message has been transmitted from the central station to the communications unit; displaying the message to the individual; accepting a response message from the individual at the communications unit in response to the received message; creating a response packet containing data from said response message; transmitting said response packet from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations installed at fixed locations in the building; receiving the response packet at a remote station and temporarily storing the response packet; adding a code to the response message uniquely identifying said remote station; transmitting the response packet from the remote station by means of radio to the central station; receiving the response packet at the central station and storing it; extracting the location of the remote station from the response packet and storing the location associated with the individual at the central station; transmitting the response message from the central station to the originator of the message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. An apparatus for transmitting a message to an individual and accepting and delivering a response message to the originator of said message, comprising:
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a central station, comprising; (1) a microprocessor for control of said central station; (2) a memory for storage of a computer program for controlling said microprocessor, message data, and other information; (3) an interface connecting the microprocessor to an electronic mail network that accepts the message from said electronic mail network and provides it to the microprocessor for storage in said memory and for processing and that delivers a response message from the microprocessor to the electronic mail network; (4) an interface connecting the microprocessor to a PABX control system that accepts the message from said PABX control system indicating the receipt of a telephone call for storage in said memory, and for processing by the microprocessor and delivers the response message from the microprocessor to the PABX control system; (5) a radio transmitter that accepts the message from the microprocessor and provides a radio signal modulated by the data contained in the message and a transmitting antenna that receives said radio signal from the radio transmitter and radiates the radio signal into the air; (6) a receiving antenna and radio receiver, with said radio receiver providing received data to the microprocessor; and (7) a clock providing timing pulses to the microprocessor; a plurality of communication units carried by individuals, each comprising; (1) a microprocessor for control of a communications unit; (2) a memory for storage of a computer program controlling said microprocessor contained in said communications unit, the message, the response message, and other information; (3) a radio receiver for receiving the message from the radio transmitter and antenna contained in the central station and providing the message to the microprocessor in the communications unit for storage in said memory and processing; (4) a visual display for displaying text from the message and status indicators under control of the microprocessor which obtains said text from the memory; (5) one or more keys for control of said communications unit that, when pressed and sensed by the microprocessor, control the display of text from the message and selection of a response message; (6) a transducer selected from the group consisting of an infrared light emitter and an ultrasonic sound generator, for transmitting the response message from said communications unit obtained from the memory by the microprocessor; (7) a clock providing timing pulses to the microprocessor; and (8) a power source providing electricity to operate the microprocessor, memory, radio receiver, visual display, transducer, and clock; and a plurality of remote stations, placed in fixed locations within a building, each comprising; (1) a microprocessor for control of a remote station; (2) a memory for storage of a computer program controlling said microprocessor contained in said remote station, the response message received from the communications units, and other information; (3) a sensory detector selected from the group consisting of an infrared light detector and an ultrasonic microphone for receiving the response message from the communication unit and providing the response message to the microprocessor for storage in memory and for processing in said remote station, with said detector for the same communication medium as that used by the communications unit; and (4) a radio transmitter and antenna for transmitting the response message from the microprocessor in the remote station to the antenna and radio receiver in the central station. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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35. A method for indicating an incoming telephone call to an individual in a building and routing said call under the control of said individual, comprising the steps of:
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originating a message containing information about the call from a PABX control system; transmitting said message to a central station; receiving and storing the message at said central station; creating a data packet containing data from the message; transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit carried by the individual by the steps of; (1) adding a code to said data packet identifying said communications unit; (2) adding a code to the data packet uniquely identifying the data packet; (3) computing an error checking code and adding said error checking code to the data packet; (4) transmitting the data packet by means of radio from the central station to the communications unit; (5) receiving the data packet at the communications unit; (6) determining whether the data packet has been correctly received at the communications unit by computing an error checking code using the received data and comparing said error checking code with the error checking code contained in the data packet; repeating the steps of creating a data packet containing data from the message, transmitting said data packet from the central station to a communications unit, and transmitting an acknowledgment packet from the communications unit to the central station, until all data in the message has been transmitted from the central station to the communications unit; displaying the message to the individual together with a set of responses that represent alternative choices for routing the call; selecting a response from said set of responses representing the desired choice of the individual for routing the call; creating a response packet containing data from said response message; transmitting said response packet from the communications unit by means of a medium selected from the group consisting of infrared light and ultrasonic sound to one or more of a plurality of remote stations installed at fixed locations in the building; receiving the response packet at a remote station and temporarily storing the response packet; adding a code to the response message uniquely identifying said remote station; transmitting the response packet from the remote station by means of radio to the central station; receiving the response packet at the central station and storing it; extracting the location of the remote station from the response packet and storing the location associated with the individual at the central station; determining a telephone instrument the call is to be routed to, based on the response packet and the location of the response station; transmitting a response message containing an identification code for said telephone instrument to said PABX control system; routing the call to the telephone instrument.
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Specification