Response system and method with dynamic personality assignment
First Claim
1. A response system, comprising:
- a plurality of base units;
a plurality of response units, wherein each of said response units receives a user input selection and transmits that user input selection to at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication, wherein said response units transmit user input selections during a response interval;
wherein said at least one of said base units transmits a standard polling packet to said response units during a polling interval utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and wherein said at least one of said base units transmits a joining packet to said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit to allow said response units to transmit user input selections to that base unit by changing personality data of response units, the personality data determining which of said base units that particular one of said response units communicate, and wherein said at least one of said base units transmits joining packets for a plurality of said response units to be joined with said one of said base units during a joining interval in order to join the plurality of response units with said one of said base units during the joining interval, said joining interval being intermingled with the response interval and the polling interval.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A response system and method of retrieving user responses from a plurality of users includes providing a plurality of base units and a plurality of response units, each of the response units adapted to receive a user input selection and to communicate that user input selection with at least one base unit utilizing wireless communication. Personality data is provided for the response units. The personality data facilitates communication with a particular base unit. The personality data of a particular one of the response units is changed in order to change which of the base units that response unit communicates. This allows a response unit to become grouped with a particular base unit at a particular time and become grouped with another base unit at another particular time. The personality data may be obtained from a database.
32 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A response system, comprising:
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a plurality of base units; a plurality of response units, wherein each of said response units receives a user input selection and transmits that user input selection to at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication, wherein said response units transmit user input selections during a response interval; wherein said at least one of said base units transmits a standard polling packet to said response units during a polling interval utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and wherein said at least one of said base units transmits a joining packet to said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit to allow said response units to transmit user input selections to that base unit by changing personality data of response units, the personality data determining which of said base units that particular one of said response units communicate, and wherein said at least one of said base units transmits joining packets for a plurality of said response units to be joined with said one of said base units during a joining interval in order to join the plurality of response units with said one of said base units during the joining interval, said joining interval being intermingled with the response interval and the polling interval. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 32, 33)
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8. A response system, comprising:
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a plurality of base units at particular spaced apart locations; a plurality of response units; a database correlating each of said base units with particular response units and times of day as a function of schedules of locations of the users at particular times of day, the particular response units being identified in said database by at least one chosen from users and response units, said database correlating each of said base units with different groups of particular response units at different particular times of day; each of said response units receiving a user input selection and communicating that user input selection with at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication; wherein said base units communicate with said response units utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit; wherein said base units join a response unit with said at least one of said base units by changing of personality data of that response unit utilizing a join protocol, the personality data facilitating communication with that said at least one of said base units; wherein a particular one of said base units becomes joined with a particular group of said response units at a particular time of day and becomes joined with a different particular group of said response units at another particular time of day, the group of said response units to which said particular one of said base units is joined at a particular time of day being at least partially a function of data in said database. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 15, 18, 21)
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12. A method of retrieving user responses from a plurality of users, comprising:
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providing a plurality of base units and a plurality of response units receiving a user input selection with each of said response units and transmitting that user input selection to at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication during a response interval; transmitting a standard polling packet with at least one of said base units to said response units during a polling interval utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and transmitting a joining packet to said response units with said at least one of said units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit to allow said response units to transmit user input selections to that base unit by providing personality data for said response units, the personality data facilitating communication with a particular one of said base units; changing personality data of a particular one of said response units in order to change which of said base units that particular one of said response unit communicates; and said changing personality data including transmitting joining packets including personality data for a plurality of said response units to be joined with said one of said base units during a joining interval in order to join the plurality of said response units with said one of said base units during the joining interval, the joining interval being intermingled with the response interval and the polling interval. - View Dependent Claims (13, 34, 35)
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16. A method of retrieving user responses from a plurality of users, comprising:
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providing a plurality of base units at particular spaced apart locations and a plurality of response units; providing a plurality of response units and communicating between said response units and at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication; providing personality data for said response units, said personality data facilitating communication with a particular one of said base units; and providing a database correlating each of said base units with particular response units and times of day as a function of schedules of locations of users at particular times of day, the particular response units being identified in said database by at least one chosen from users and response units and correlating each of said base units with different groups of particular response units at different particular times of day with said database; receiving a user input selection with one of said response units and communicating that user input selection with at least one of said base units to which that response unit is joined utilizing a standard protocol; joining a response unit with one of said base units utilizing a join protocol by changing of personality data of that response unit, the personality data facilitating communication with that base unit; and joining a particular one of said base units with a particular group of said response units at a particular time of day and joining that particular one of said base units with a different particular group of said response units at another particular time of day by changing the personality data for the response units, the group of said response units to which said particular one of said base units is joined at a particular time of day being at least partially a function of data in said database. - View Dependent Claims (17, 19, 20)
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22. A response system, comprising:
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a plurality of base units; a plurality of response units, wherein each of said response units receives a user input selection and transmits that user input selection to at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication, wherein said response units transmit user input selections during a response interval; wherein said at least one of said base units transmits a standard polling packet to said response units during a polling interval utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and wherein said at least one base unit transmits a joining packet to said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit to allow said response units to transmit user input selections to that base unit by changing personality data of response units, the personality data determining which of said base units that particular one of said response units communicates; and wherein said at least one of said base units changes personality data of response units by transmitting joining packets for a plurality of response units to be joined with said at least one of said base units to response units without those response units needing to request to be joined with said at least one of said base units, wherein the joining packets comprise serial numbers of response units to be joined and personality data associated with the serial numbers. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A response system, comprising:
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a plurality of base units at particular spaced apart locations; a plurality of response units, each of said response units receiving a user input selection and communicating that user input selection with at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication; wherein said at least one of said base units communicates with said response units utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and wherein said at least one base unit communicates with said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit by changing personality data of response units, the personality data determining which of said base units that particular one of said response units communicates; wherein said at least one of said base units change personality data of response units by communicating personality data to response units without those response units needing to request to be joined with said at least one of said base units; and a database correlating each of said base units with particular response units and times of day as a function of schedules of locations of the users at particular times of day, the particular response units being identified in said database by at least one chosen from users and response units, said database correlating each of said base units with different groups of particular response units at different particular times of day, wherein a particular one of said base units becomes joined with a particular group of said response units at a particular time of day and becomes joined with a different particular group of said response units at another particular time of day, the group of said response units to which said particular one of said base units is joined at a particular time of day being at least partially a function of data in said database. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. A method of retrieving user responses from a plurality of users, comprising:
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providing a plurality of base units and a plurality of response units receiving a user input selection with each of said response units and transmitting that user input selection to at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication; transmits a standard polling packet with at least one of said base units to said response units during a polling interval utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and transmitting a joining packet with said at least one of said units to said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit to allow said response units to transmit user input selections to that base unit by providing personality data for said response units, the personality data facilitating communication with a particular one of said base units; changing personality data of a particular one of said response units in order to change which of said base units that particular one of said response unit communicates; wherein said changing the personality data of a particular one of said response units includes said at least one of said base units transmitting joining packets for a plurality of response units to be joined with said at least one of said base units to response units without those response units needing to request to be joined with said at least one of said base units, wherein the joining packets comprise serial numbers of response units to be joined and the personality data associated with the serial numbers. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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29. A method of retrieving user responses from a plurality of users, comprising:
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providing a plurality of base units at particular spaced apart locations and a plurality of response units, each of said response units receiving a user input selection and communicating that user input selection with at least one of said base units utilizing wireless communication; at least one of said base units communicating with said response units utilizing a standard protocol in order to retrieve user input selections from response units joined with that base unit and said at least one of said units communicating with said response units utilizing a join protocol in order to join response units with that base unit by providing personality data for said response units, the personality data facilitating communication with a particular one of said base units; changing personality data of a particular one of said response units in order to change which of said base units that particular one of said response unit communicates; said at least one of said base units changing the personality data of response units by communicating personality data to response units without those response units needing to request to be joined with said at least one of said base units; providing a database correlating each of said base units with particular response units and times of day as a function of schedules of locations of users at particular times of day, the particular response units being identified in said database by at least one chosen from users and response units and correlating each of said base units with different groups of particular response units at different particular times of day with said database; and joining a particular one of said base units with a particular group of said response units at a particular time of day and joining that particular one of said base units with a different particular group of said response units at another particular time of day by changing the personality data for the response units, the group of said response units to which said particular one of said base units is joined at a particular time of day being at least partially a function of data in said database. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31)
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Specification