Validation method and data structures for wireless communications

• US 7,286,498 B1
• Filed: 08/09/2005
• Issued: 10/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: H-ITT, LLC
• Original Assignee: H-ITT, LLC
• Inventors: Thibado, Paul, LaBella, Vincent P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Anderson; Matthew
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRINH, TAN H
• Application Number:
  US11/200,508
• Time in Patent Office: 805 Days
• Field of Search: 370/312, 370/313, 370/474, 370/476, 370/472, 370/346, 370/335, 370/333, 370/300, 370/269, 370/379, 370/382, 455/412.1, 455/412.2
• US Class Current: 370/312
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/12 different stations being capable of presenting different information simultaneously G09B5/14 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 5/14 with provision for individual teacher-student communication

Abstract

A response monitoring apparatus using a remote including an electrical circuit including a user activated input, a transmitter, and a receiver, where the electrical circuit is adapted to detect operation of the user activated input and temporarily activates the receiver. A validation and error checking system ensures valid transmissions occurring in both wireless and wired communications. The validation and error checking system retrieves data from the remote memory to create transmission data groups. The validation and error checking system calculates a checksum value for the transmission data groups and creates a checksum data group that includes the checksum. The validation and error checking system transmits the data and ensures that the data is properly sent. The tests to determine valid transmission include checking particular bits of the transmitted data, calculating a checksum and comparing it to the transmitted checksum, and transmitting two or more data packets and comparing the values of the packets.

Claims

1. In wireless remote units for transmission of audience response data to a central processor, a communications method comprising the steps of:

retrieving remote ID data of at least 8 bits from remote unit memory;

retrieving participant data of at least 3 bits from remote unit memory;

forming a set of at least 2 transmission data groups, each of at least 4 bits from all retrieved bits of data in a manner that prevents sequences of consecutive bits in retrieved data from appearing as a transmission data group;

including at least one marker bit in each transmission data group;

forming a checksum data group of at least 2 bits by binary calculation from said set of at least 2 transmission data groups;

forming a first data packet from a series of said transmission data groups and said checksum data group;

transmitting said first data packet.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said remote ID data of at least 8 bits consists of 10 to 30 bits.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 wherein said participant data of at least 3 bits consists of 4 to 32 bits.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 further including retrieving supplemental system data of one or more bits from remote memory.

5. The method as recited in claim 4 where said supplemental system data of one or more bits consists of 2 to 128 bits.

6. In a relay unit for retransmission of audience response data from a wireless remote unit to a central processor, a communications method comprising the steps of:

retrieving a first data packet including at least two transmission data groups received from a wireless remote unit and performing a predetermined positional translation of certain of the bits therein, excluding marker bits, to produce a set of transformed transmission data groups changed in form from that of those received from the wireless remote;

forming by binary calculation a checksum data group of at least two bits from said set of at least four transformed transmission data groups;

forming a first corn link data packet from a series of said transformed transmission data groups and the last said checksum data group;

transmitting said first corn link data packet.

7. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein said checksum data group of at least two bits comprises at least seven bits.

8. The method as recited in claim 6 further including the steps of retrieving a second data packet including at least two transmission data groups received from a wireless remote unit immediately following receipt of said first data packet and performing a predetermined positional translation of certain of the bits therein, excluding marker bits, to produce a set of transformed transmission data groups changed in form from that of those received in the second data packet from the wireless remote;

forming by binary calculation a checksum data group of at least two bits from said set of transformed transmission of data groups produced from said second data packet;

forming a second corn link data packet from a series of the transformed transmission data groups and the checksum data group derived from said second data packet;

transmitting said second corn link data packet.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein each said checksum data group of at least two bytes comprises at least seven bytes.

10. The method as recited in claim 8 wherein the predetermined positional translation for said second data packet is different from the predetermined positional translation for said first data packet.

11. In wireless remote units for transmission of audience response data to a central processor, a communications method comprising the steps of:

retrieving remote ID data from remote unit memory;

retrieving participant data from remote unit memory;

forming a first set of transmission data groups from all retrieved bits of data in a manner that prevents sequences of consecutive bits in retrieved data from appearing as a transmission data group;

forming a checksum data group from said first set of transmission data groups;

forming a first data packet from said transmission data groups and said checksum data group; and

transmitting said first data packet.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the transmission data groups include at least one marker bit in each transmission data group.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein the checksum data group includes at least one marker bit.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein the method further comprises:

Retrieving supplemental system data from remote unit memory and including supplemental system data in the transmission data groups.

15. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

forming a second set of transmission data groups from all retrieved bits of data;

arranging bits of said second set of transmission data groups in a predetermined fashion such that the second set of transmission data groups is different from the first data group;

calculating a second checksum data group from the second data transmission data groups;

creating a second packet containing the same number of bits as the first packet, said second packet containing the second transmission data groups and the second checksum data group; and

transmitting said second packet.