Paging network
First Claim
1. A network of paging terminals, each terminal interfacing with a telephone system and responding to telephone calls by transmitting pages in a locality serviced by said terminal, comprising:
- a multi-drop communication link connected to each of said paging terminals;
means, at each of said paging terminals, for producing a message containing a page and a paging group address to identify from which of said terminals transmission of said page is desired;
means, at each of said paging terminals, for sending each of said messages on said communication link; and
means for establishing an orderly use of said communication link by including a destination address in each of said messages to indicate to all of said paging terminals which terminal has a responsibility to send the next message on said communication link.
14 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A plurality of paging terminals each serving a locality are connected by a multi-drop communication link to establish an inter-regional paging network. The terminals observe a token passing protocol to provide for an orderly sequential use of the communication link. Down terminals are skipped in the sequence. The lack of activity on the communication link will cause a start-up timer in the terminal to reset. Retransmissions are requested by a terminal from another terminal which is on-line when the terminal fails to receive a message in a particular round through the network.
56 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A network of paging terminals, each terminal interfacing with a telephone system and responding to telephone calls by transmitting pages in a locality serviced by said terminal, comprising:
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a multi-drop communication link connected to each of said paging terminals; means, at each of said paging terminals, for producing a message containing a page and a paging group address to identify from which of said terminals transmission of said page is desired; means, at each of said paging terminals, for sending each of said messages on said communication link; and means for establishing an orderly use of said communication link by including a destination address in each of said messages to indicate to all of said paging terminals which terminal has a responsibility to send the next message on said communication link. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A network of paging terminals, each terminal interfacing with a telephone system and responding to telephone calls by transmitting pages in a locality serviced by said terminal, comprising:
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a half duplex multi-drop communication link connected to each of said paging terminals; means, at each of said paging terminals, for receiving a message from said communication link, said message including a destination address to identify the paging terminal in said network which has a responsibility to send the next message on said communication link; and means, at each of said paging terminals, for sending a message on said communication link in response to receiving a message on said communication link having a destination address identifying said terminal as the terminal with the responsibility to send the next message. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A network of paging terminals, each terminal interfacing with a telephone system and responding to telephone calls by transmitting pages in a locality serviced by said terminal, comprising:
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a multi-drop communication link connected to each of said paging terminals; means, at each of said paging terminals, for producing messages, each message including a page and a paging group address to identify the terminal for transmitting said page; means, at each of said paging terminals, for sending each of said messages on said communication link; and token passing means for giving each terminal a turn to use said communication link, wherein the turn of a terminal includes; requesting transmissions from terminals from which a message was not received since the previous turn of said terminal, and sending one of said messages on said communication link, said one of said messages including means for identifying the next terminal to get a turn on said communication link. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for causing a first paging terminal to automatically participate with a plurality of additional paging terminals in an inter-regional paging network in which each paging terminal services a locality, comprising:
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providing a multi-drop communication link to connect said first paging terminal with said plurality of additional paging terminals; receiving messages on said communication link; identifying within said received messages pages that are addressed for transmission in the locality serviced by said first paging terminal; transmitting the identified pages in the locality serviced by said first paging terminal; identifying a destination address within one of said received messages corresponding to said first paging terminal; and sending a message on said communication link in response to identifying the destination address corresponding to said first paging terminal. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A paging terminal that receives a call from a telephone and transmits a page for receipt by a pager assigned to a subscriber identified by the call, comprising:
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trunk module means connected with a telephone system for answering a phone call and creating a paging packet; master memory means for storing information corresponding to each subscriber and for supplying said trunk module means with the information corresponding to the subscriber identified by the phone call; output means for receiving the paging packet from said trunk module means and for converting the paging packet into a page which can be transmitted; and network module means for receiving the paging packet from said trunk module means, producing a message containing the paging packet and providing the message to a network of paging terminals which observes a protocol for taking turns sending messages on a communication link which interconnects the network, said network module means including; a modem connected to said communication link for receiving and transmitting messages on said link; a serial input/output device connected to said modem for converting serial data received from said modem into a parallel format; a parallel input/output device for receiving the paging packet from said trunk module means; and a central processor means connected to said parallel input/output device for producing the message for transmission on said communication link and for recognizing from data provided by said serial input/output device when a message may be transmitted on said communication link according to the protocol of the network. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A paging terminal including means for interfacing with a telephone system, memory means for storing subscriber information, means for processing pages to be transmitted locally by said terminal, and a bus line connecting said interfacing means, said memory means and said processing means, the improvement comprising:
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a modem for transmitting and receiving messages on a communication link connecting a plurality of paging terminals, each servicing a different locality; a parallel input/output device connected to said bus line for sending and receiving pages; and a central processing unit including; means for identifying pages in messages received by said modem which are to be transmitted in the locality of the paging terminal, means for delivering pages, identified by said identifying means, to said parallel input/output device, means for preparing pages, received on said bus line by said parallel input/output device, for transmission to the plurality of paging terminals, and means for evaluating messages received by said modem to determine when said terminal may transmit pages on said communication link. - View Dependent Claims (32)
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33. A module for connection with a paging terminal to enable said terminal to participate on a communication link with an inter-regional paging network comprising:
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a modem for connection with said communication link; processor means for controlling the transmitting of messages containing pages onto said communication link in conformity with a token passing protocol observed by the inter-regional paging network; a serial input/output device connected between said modem and said processor means; and a parallel input/output device fo connection with said paging terminal, said parallel input/output device being controlled by said processor means.
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34. A module for connection with a paging terminal servicing a locality to enable said terminal to participate on a communication link with an inter-regional paging network comprising:
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a modem for connection with said communication link to transmit and receive messages; processor means for controlling the transmitting and receiving of messages containing pages on said communication link, said processor means including, means for identifying within messages received on said communicaton link pages that are addressed for transmission in the locality serviced by said terminal; means for identifying a destination address within one of said received messages corresponding to said terminal; and means for delivering a message to said modem for transmission on said communication link in response to identifying the destination address corresponding to said terminal; a serial input/output device connected between said modem and said processor means; and a parallel input/output device for delivering from said modem to said terminal, pages identified by said processor means for transmission in the locality serviced by said terminal.
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Specification