Distributed voting system and method for land mobile radio system
First Claim
1. A distributed voter system for selecting at least one of several signals for transmission, comprising:
- a plurality of remote receive-only site systems each remote receive-only site system comprising;
a first receiver configured for receiving a signal transmitted from a communication device,a first processor configured for determining a quality measure of said received signal, and for producing a transfer signal comprising said received signal and said quality measure;
a plurality of network connections connecting each of said plurality of remote receive-only site systems to a common communications network;
a receive-and-transmit site system communicatively coupled to said plurality of remote receive-only site systems via said plurality of network connections established absent of intermediary voting equipment, said receive-and-transmit site system comprisinga second receiver configured for asynchronously receiving said transfer signals from said plurality of remote receive-only site systems,a second processor configured forstoring a first transfer signal having a first quality measure as a selected transfer signal in a storage device, and,if a subsequently-received transfer signal has a quality measure better than said first quality measure, then replacing said first transfer signal with said subsequently-received transfer signal as said selected transfer signal andat least one transmitter configured for transmitting a broadcast signal comprising substantially said received signal of said selected transfer signal.
4 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A distributed Internet Protocol (IP) voting system and method for use in Land Mobile Radio (LMR) Systems having a central send-and-receive site and one or more receive-only sites. In the distributed voting system, receive-only sites are directly linked to the control point using a network and associated packet transmission protocol. This may be a high-speed asynchronous data link such as a standard IP network link. Each remote site receiving digital data, calculates a bit error for that data. This error calculation is incorporated into the data header information. The data header information and data are placed in an IP packet and transmitted as a User Data Protocol (UDP) message to the control point. The control point selects the lowest bit rate data message, or the first control message, and retransmits it using a standard radio air interface protocol, such as the APCO Project 25 air interface protocol.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A distributed voter system for selecting at least one of several signals for transmission, comprising:
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a plurality of remote receive-only site systems each remote receive-only site system comprising; a first receiver configured for receiving a signal transmitted from a communication device, a first processor configured for determining a quality measure of said received signal, and for producing a transfer signal comprising said received signal and said quality measure; a plurality of network connections connecting each of said plurality of remote receive-only site systems to a common communications network; a receive-and-transmit site system communicatively coupled to said plurality of remote receive-only site systems via said plurality of network connections established absent of intermediary voting equipment, said receive-and-transmit site system comprising a second receiver configured for asynchronously receiving said transfer signals from said plurality of remote receive-only site systems, a second processor configured for storing a first transfer signal having a first quality measure as a selected transfer signal in a storage device, and, if a subsequently-received transfer signal has a quality measure better than said first quality measure, then replacing said first transfer signal with said subsequently-received transfer signal as said selected transfer signal and at least one transmitter configured for transmitting a broadcast signal comprising substantially said received signal of said selected transfer signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A distributed voter method for selecting at least one of several signals for transmission, comprising the steps of:
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a) receiving an input signal at a plurality of remote receive-only site systems; b) evaluating, at each of said plurality of remote receive-only site systems, a quality measure of said input signal; c) generating a transfer signal, at each of said plurality of remote receive-only site systems, by packaging said input signal and said quality measure as at least one data packet; d) transmitting, from each of said plurality of remote receive-only site systems, said transfer signal to a transmit-and-receive site system using a plurality of network connections of a common communications network that are absent of intermediary voting equipment; e) receiving asynchronously a first transfer signal and at least one subsequent transfer signal at said transmit-and-receive site system; f) recording said first transfer signal having a first quality measure as a selected transfer signal, and, if said subsequent transfer signal has a quality measure better than said first quality measure, then replacing said first transfer signal with said subsequent transfer signal as said selected transfer signal; and
,g) transmitting a broadcast signal from said transmit-and-receive site system, said broadcast signal comprising substantially said input signal of said selected transfer signal. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A distributed voter system for selecting at least one of several signals for transmission, comprising:
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a plurality of remote receive-only site systems, each remote receive-only site system is configured for receiving an input signal, evaluating a quality measure of said received input signal, and producing a transfer signal comprising said input signal and said quality measure; a network for asynchronously transferring said transfer signals from said plurality of remote receive-only site systems to a transmit-and-receive site system using a plurality of network connections absent of intermediary voting equipment; and
,said transmit-and-receive site system configured for asynchronously receiving said transfer signals, and selecting one of said transfer signals received by said transmit-and-receive site system based on said quality measure, by recording a first transfer signal having a first quality measure and, if a subsequently-received transfer signal has a quality measure better than said first quality measure, replacing said first transfer signal with said subsequently-received transfer signal as said selected transfer signal, and transmitting a broadcast signal comprising substantially said input signal of said selected transfer signal. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification