Audience response communication system

• US 9,306,686 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2014
• Issued: 04/05/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishing Group, LLC
• Original Assignee: Macmillan New Ventures, LLC (Verglagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrink GmbH)
• Inventors: McIntyre, James E., Sawyer, John W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tu X
• Application Number:
  US14/268,743
• Publication Number:
  US 20150318938A1
• Time in Patent Office: 704 Days
• Field of Search: 455/416
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 60/33 Arrangements for monitoring the users' behaviour or opinions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/08 by repeating transmission, e.g. Verdan system H04L1/1858 and H04L1/189 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1854 Scheduling and prioritising arrangements

Abstract

The present invention is directed to an audience response communication system comprising a base unit and a plurality of remote input devices. The audience response and communication system lowers the risk of undelivered data transmissions by enabling the remote input devices to sequentially transmit responses via multiple transmission channels until a vote acknowledgement message is received, or a predetermined number of attempts is made.

Claims

1. An audience response communication system, comprising:

a base unit and a plurality of remote input devices;

the base unit configured to select a set of quiet channels from a plurality of available channels and to transmit a vote invitation message to the plurality of remote input devices, the vote invitation message comprising an identifier tag and identification of the set of quiet channels, the base unit further adapted to transmit an acknowledgement message to at least one of the plurality of remote input devices after receipt of a vote message from the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices;

each of the plurality of remote input devices configured to generate the vote message and to transmit the vote message across a first channel of the set of quiet channels after receiving the vote invitation message from the base unit, each of the plurality of the remote input devices further configured to re-transmit the vote message across a second channel of the set of quiet channels after receipt of a second vote invitation message if the vote acknowledgement is absent from the second vote invitation message.

2. The audience response communication system of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of remote input devices is further configured to re-transmit the vote message across a third channel of the set of quiet channels after receipt of a third vote invitation message if the vote acknowledgement is absent from the third vote invitation message.

3. The audience response communication system of claim 2, wherein the third vote invitation message is a portion of a third beacon.

4. The audience response communication system of claim 1, wherein the first vote invitation message is a portion of a first beacon.

5. The audience response communication system of claim 1, wherein the second vote invitation message is a portion of a second beacon.

6. The audience response communication system of claim 1, wherein the base unit is adapted to periodically transmit vote invitation messages within a beacon, and where the plurality of remote input devices transmits the vote message sequentially via the set of quiet channels until the acknowledgement message is received or a predetermined number of re-transmissions has occurred.

7. The audience response system of claim 1, wherein the base station after transmitting a vote invitation message assesses the plurality of available channels to select a second set of quiet channels.

8. The audience response system of claim 1, wherein the base station selects the predetermined number of quiet channels by measuring the Received Signal Strength Indication of each of the plurality of channels.

9. The audience response system of claim 8 wherein the base station base calculates a continuous running average of the Received Signal Strength Indication reading for each channel.

10. An audience response communication system, comprising:

a base unit and a plurality of remote input devices; and

the base unit configured to assess the quietness of a plurality of available channels, to select a set of quiet channels and to periodically transmit a beacon receivable by each of the plurality of remote input devices, the beacon including a vote invitation message and identification of the set of quiet channels, the base unit further configured to include an acknowledgement message in the beacon addressed to at least one of the plurality of remote input devices after receiving a vote message from the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices;

the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices configured to generate the vote message and store the vote message in memory, the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices further adapted to receive the beacon from the base unit and thereafter to transmit the vote message via a first channel of the set of quiet channels,

the at least one of the remote input devices further configured to re-transmit the vote message across a second channel of the set of quiet channels upon receipt of a subsequent beacon when the subsequent beacon does not include the acknowledgement message addressed to the at least one of the remote input devices.

11. The audience response communication system of claim 10, wherein the at least one of the remote input devices further configured such that after receipt of a subsequent beacon that does not include the acknowledgement message addressed to the at least one of the remote input devices, the at least one of the remote input devices sequentially re-transmits the vote message across another member of the set of quiet channels.

12. The audience response system of claim 10, wherein the base station after transmitting a beacon including a vote invitation message re-assesses the quietness of the plurality of available transmission channels to select a second set of quiet transmission channels.

13. The audience response system of claim 10, wherein the base station assesses the quietness of each of the plurality of transmission channels by measuring the Received Signal Strength Indication.

14. The audience response system of claim 13 wherein the base station base calculates a continuous running average of the Received Signal Strength Indication reading for each channel.

15. An audience response communication system, comprising:

a base unit and a plurality of remote input devices; and

the base unit configured to assess the quietness of a plurality of available channels and to select a set of quiet channels, and to periodically transmit a beacon receivable by each of the plurality of remote input devices, the beacon including a vote invitation message and an identification of the set of quiet channels, at least one of the plurality of remote input devices configured to transmit a vote message addressed to the base unit after receiving the beacon, the vote message being transmitted via a first channel of the set of quiet channels;

the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices further configured to receive a first subsequent beacon and determine whether an acknowledgement message addressed to the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices is included in the first subsequent beacon;

the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices further configured to transmit the vote message via a second channel of the set of quiet channels if the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices determines the first subsequent beacon does not include the acknowledgement message addressed to the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices.

16. The audience response communication system of claim 15, wherein the at least one of the remote input devices is further configured to transmit the vote message via a third channel of the set of quiet channels if the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices determines a second subsequent beacon does not include the acknowledgement message addressed to the at least one of the plurality of remote input devices.

17. The audience response communication system of claim 16, wherein the at least one of the remote input devices is adapted to sequentially re-transmit the vote message via the first, second, and third channels a predetermined number of attempts, and to generate an error indicator if the at least one of the remote input devices does not receive an acknowledgement message after the predetermined number of attempts.

18. The audience response system of claim 15, wherein the base station after transmitting a beacon including a vote invitation message re-assesses the quietness of the plurality of available transmission channels to select a second set of quiet transmission channels.

19. The audience response system of claim 15, wherein the base station assesses the quietness of each of the plurality of transmission channels by measuring the Received Signal Strength Indication.

20. The audience response system of claim 19 wherein the base station base calculates a continuous running average of the Received Signal Strength Indication reading for each channel.