Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-02
2001-04-10
Bost, Dwayne (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S421000, C455S067150, C340S870030, C340S870030
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216001
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to the field of wireless communications. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of recognizing a service area in which the wireless communication device is located and indicating the current service level to the user of a wireless communication device and a method of registering the wireless communication device with a messaging system.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Communications systems generally transfer information between a source and a destination. An exemplary two-way communication system
100
is illustrated by FIG.
1
A. The communication system
100
includes a network
110
(e.g., a paging system or other messaging system) and a wireless communication device
120
(e.g., a pager or other mobile wireless communication device). The communication system
100
also includes a transmitter, such as base transmitter
111
, and a receiver, such as base receiver
112
, which transmit and receive information signals over some media, respectively. This media may be cable wiring or the atmosphere, for example. When communications occur over the atmosphere, or air waves, they are commonly referred to as “wireless” communications. Examples of wireless communications systems include digital cellular, packet data paging, digital cordless telephones, wireless modems, wireless local and wide area networks, digital satellite communications and personal communications networks.
Returning to
FIG. 1A
, the base transmitter
111
is typically mounted to a tower that is 120 to 800 feet high and is significantly more powerful than the transmitter of the wireless communication device
120
which is typically located approximately 3 feet from the ground. Consequently, the distance at which reliable message exchange can take place from the base transmitter
111
to the wireless communication device
120
, labeled R
1
, is much greater than the distance at which reliable message exchange can take place from the wireless communication device
120
to the base receiver
112
, labeled R
2
. Therefore, one of the many challenges faced by designers of communications systems and wireless communication devices is how to resolve the imbalance in bit-error rates between the forward channel (i.e., the path from the network
110
to the wireless communication device
120
) and the reverse channel (i.e., the path from the wireless communication device
120
to the network
110
).
One prior technique for balancing the in-bound and out-bound bit-error rates in a two-way paging system is illustrated by FIG.
1
B. According to this technique, the problem is solved with an appropriate network design. In this example, the network topology is designed such that whenever a wireless communication device
120
is within range of a base transmitter
111
, it will also be within range of a base receiver
112
. However, it should be appreciated this solution is extremely costly. Further, since occasional lapses in coverage on the reverse channel are tolerable for pager users, the additional expense to make the forward and reverse channel coverage areas identical is not cost effective.
What is desirable, therefore, rather than additional receivers per transmitter, is a mechanism for distinguishing between the various coverage combinations and for effectively conveying the current service level (e.g., the current capabilities of the wireless communication device) to the user. Advantageously, in this manner, the user of the wireless communication device will have the appropriate expectation of his/her current ability to originate and/or receive messages by way of the wireless communication device. Additionally, it is desirable to use this same mechanism as a foundation for the wireless communication device's registration processing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and apparatus for service level recognition and registration processing in a wireless communication device are described. According to one aspect of the present invention, the current service level of a wireless communication device is determined. Three distinct levels of service are provided including a first level of service, a second level of service, and a third level of service. The method distinguishes between the first service level and the second service level based upon one or more characteristics of a forward channel from a messaging system to the wireless communication device. The method further distinguishes between the second service level and the third service level based upon one or more characteristics of a reverse channel from the wireless communication device to the messaging system.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for transitioning between service modes and indicating a current service mode to a user of a wireless communication device. The status of a signal associated with a forward channel from a messaging system to the wireless communication device is determined. A quality metric is determined based upon the status over a predetermined period of time. Three service modes, including a full service mode, a basic service mode, and a storing service mode are provided. In the storing service mode, after determining the quality metric is better than a first predetermined threshold a transition is made to the basic service mode. In the basic service mode, after verification of a reverse channel from the wireless communication device to the messaging system a transition is made to the full service mode. In the full service mode if the reverse channel becomes degraded, then a transition is made to the basic service mode. The current service mode is indicated to the user.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a wireless communication device performs registration processing based upon the current service mode of the wireless communication device. Three service modes are recognized, including: a storing service mode in which new messages destined for the wireless communication device are not received by the wireless communication device; a basic service mode in which new messages destined for the wireless communication device are received by the wireless communication device, and a full service mode in which both new messages and stored messages are received by the wireless communication device. A registration process determines what action to take based upon the current service mode.
Other features of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description which follows.
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patent: 5625881 (1997-04-01), Sandler et al.
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Motorola, “Page Finder User's Guide”, pp. 1-16.
Skytel, “Sky World Plus—Store and Deliver Paging”, 1997, product literature #1.
Skytel, “Sky World Plus—Get Skytel. Get the Message”, 1997, product literature #2.
Ghirnikar Avinash L.
Lima Paul J.
Lippitt Carl Edward
Pinter Gregory J.
Blakely , Sokoloff, Taylor & Zafman LLP
Bost Dwayne
Gary Erika A.
Wireless Access
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