Method of operation a combination radiotelephone and paging device and method of operation

• US 6,009,309 A
• Filed: 07/17/1997
• Issued: 12/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Okada, Tomoyuki, Friede, Steve G., Sanchez, Thomas C., Bogusz, Anthony John
• Primary Examiner(s): CUMMING, WILLIAM D
• Application Number:
  US08/895,643
• Time in Patent Office: 894 Days
• Field of Search: 455/31.3, 455/343, 379/210, 307/11, 340/636
• US Class Current: 340/7.63
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0277 according to available power supply, e.g. switching off when a low battery condition is detected
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A combined radiotelephone and paging device (101), hereinafter the combined unit, normally operates as a radiotelephone. In response to a predetermined condition, the combined unit operates as a paging device. The predetermined conditions include low battery voltage and poor communication channel quality or a request signal from a remote transceiver (109) of the radiotelephone system. The paging system and the radiotelephone system may be independent communication systems or they may be a single communication system. The combined unit (101) and its unique switching characteristics allows the combined unit (101) to utilize the paging devices beneficial qualities of lower power consumption and broader service range to enhance the usefulness of a radiotelephone.

Claims

1. A method of controlling operation of a communication device, the communication device including a controller, the controller to switchably operate the communication device in one of a telephone mode and a pager mode, the telephone mode for providing two-way communications, the pager mode for providing one-way communications to the communication device, the method comprising the steps of:

operating in the telephone mode;

detecting a channel quality of a communication channel to be below a first predetermined threshold, the channel quality including a measurement of a quality of a received signal, wherein the channel quality is based on an average quality over a first predetermined time period;

requesting, to the remote transceiver and responsive to said step of detecting, to operate in the pager mode;

receiving, from the remote transceiver, an acknowledge signal within a second predetermined time period; and

operating, responsive to said step of receiving, in the pager mode.

2. A method of operating a communication device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said step of detecting further comprises detecting a battery voltage to be below a second predetermined threshold.

3. A method of operating a communication device in accordance with claim 1 wherein said step of detecting further comprises detecting a received signal strength of the communication channel.

4. A method of operating a communication device in accordance with claim 1 further comprising the intermediate step of determining if the pager mode is available.

5. A method of operating a communication device in accordance with claim 4 wherein the communication device further includes a user interface, and the method further comprises the step of alerting, via the user interface, when the channel quality is below the first predetermined threshold and the pager mode is determined to be unavailable.

6. A method of operating a radiotelephone, the radiotelephone for use in a radiotelephone system, the radiotelephone system including a remote transceiver, the radiotelephone having a user interface, at least one receiver, and a transmitter, the radiotelephone to operate in one of a telephone mode and a pager mode, the telephone mode for providing two-way communications, the pager mode for providing one-way communications to the radiotelephone, the method comprising the steps of:

comparing a channel quality of a communication channel to a first predetermined threshold, the channel quality including a measurement of a quality of a received signal, wherein the channel quality is based on an average quality over a first predetermined time period;

requesting, via the transmitter and responsive to the channel quality being less than the first predetermined threshold, operation of the radiotelephone in the pager mode;

requesting, via the transmitter and responsive to the channel quality being greater than the first predetermined threshold, operation of the radiotelephone in the telephone mode;

receiving, via the at least one receiver, an acknowledge signal within a second predetermined time period, the acknowledge signal acknowledging one of the first and the second steps of requesting; and

operating, responsive to the step of receiving, the radiotelephone in one of the telephone mode and the pager mode.

7. A method of operating a radiotelephone in accordance with claim 6 further comprising the intermediate step of determining if the pager mode is available.

8. A method of operating a radiotelephone in accordance with claim 7 further comprising the step of alerting, via the user interface and responsive to determining that said pager mode is unavailable, that the channel quality is below said first predetermined threshold.

9. A method of operating a radiotelephone in accordance with claim 6 wherein the channel quality includes a received signal strength of the radiotelephone.

10. A method of operating a communication device, the communication device including a radiotelephone circuit, the method comprising the steps of:

enabling the radiotelephone circuit for operation;

monitoring a channel quality of a communication channel, the channel quality including a measurement of a quality of a received signal, wherein the channel quality is based on an average quality over a first predetermined time period;

determining if the channel quality is below a first predetermined threshold;

determining if a pager option in the communication device is available; and

disabling the radiotelephone circuit from operation in response to both the channel quality being below the first predetermined threshold and the pager option being available.

11. The method according to claim 10

wherein the step of monitoring includes the step of monitoring a battery voltage of the communication device,

wherein the step of determining includes the step of determining if the battery voltage is below a second predetermined threshold, and

wherein the step of disabling includes the step of disabling the radiotelephone circuit in response to the battery voltage being below the second predetermined threshold and the pager option being available.

12. The method according to claim 10 wherein the communication device is designed to accommodate a removable pager device, and wherein the step of determining if the pager option is available further includes the step of determining if the communication device includes the removable pager device.

13. The method according to claim 10 wherein the communication device further includes a paging circuit and the method further comprises the step of:

enabling the paging circuit for operation in response to the channel quality being below the first predetermined threshold and the pager option being available.

14. The method according to claim 10 wherein the communication device further includes a user interface and the method further comprises the step of:

alerting, via the user interface, in response to both the channel quality being below the first predetermined threshold and the pager option being unavailable.

15. A method of operating a communication device, the communication device to operate in one of a radiotelephone mode and a paging mode, the method comprising the steps of:

monitoring a battery voltage of the communication device;

comparing the battery voltage to a first threshold;

monitoring a signal reception quality of the communication device, the signal reception quality including a measurement of a quality of a received signal, wherein the signal reception quality is based on an average signal quality over a first predetermined time period;

comparing the signal reception quality to a second threshold;

operating in the radiotelephone mode in response to both the battery voltage being greater than the first threshold and the signal reception quality being greater than the second threshold; and

operating in the paging mode in response to at least one of the battery voltage being below the first threshold and the signal reception quality being below the second threshold.

16. A communication device, comprising:

a receiver, said receiver to receive radio frequency (RF) signals from a remote radiotelephone transceiver, said receiver to detect a channel quality including a reception quality of the RF signals;

a transmitter; and

a controller, said controller coupled to said receiver and said transmitter and switchably operating said communication device in one of a pager operating mode and a radiotelephone operating mode, said controller to switch said communication device from the pager operating mode to the radiotelephone operating mode in response to the channel quality being above a first threshold, said controller to switch said communication device from the radiotelephone operating mode to the pager operating mode in response to the channel quality being below a second threshold, said controller also able to switch between the radiotelephone operating mode and the pager operating mode in response to external commands from a remote transceiver.

17. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the first threshold is greater than or equal to the second threshold.

18. The communication device according to claim 16, further comprising:

a removable pager device, said removable pager device removably coupled to said controller, said removable pager device providing the pager operating mode for said communication device, wherein said controller is to switch said communication device from the radiotelephone operating mode to the pager operating mode in response to both the channel quality being below the threshold and the removable pager device being available.

19. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the channel quality is based on an average channel quality obtained over a predetermined time period.

20. The communication device according to claim 16, wherein the channel quality is based on more than one channel quality obtained over a predetermined time period.

21. A communication device, comprising:

at least one receiver, said at least one receiver to receive radio frequency (RF) signals and to detect a signal quality of the RF signals;

a transmitter; and

a controller, said controller coupled to a battery source providing a voltage, said controller coupled to said at least one receiver and said transmitter and switchably operating said communication device in one of a radiotelephone operating mode and a pager operating mode, said controller to switch said communication device from the pager operating mode to the radiotelephone operating mode in response to both the voltage being above a first threshold and the signal quality being above a second threshold, said controller to switch said communication device from the radiotelephone operating mode to the pager operating mode in response to at least one of the voltage being below the first threshold and the signal quality being below the second threshold.

22. The communication device according to claim 21, further comprising:

a removable pager device, said removable pager device removably coupled to said controller, said removable pager device providing the pager operating mode for said communication device.

23. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the channel quality is based on an average signal quality obtained over a predetermined time period.

24. The communication device according to claim 21, wherein the channel quality is based on more than one signal quality obtained over a predetermined time period.