COMMUNICATION RECEIVER HAVING INFORMATIONAL DISPLAYS

Abstract: A paging receiver (10) has stored therein display indicia information related to the identity of paging message originators. After receiving a paging message, the paging receiver (10) operates to determine the origin of the paging message, and displays the indicia that readily identifies the originator of the paging message. In another aspect of the invention, information related to the provision of paging services is provided to the paging user.

Description: COMMUNICATION RECEIVER HAVING INFORMATIONAL DISPLAYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention: This invention is related to communication receivers, and more particularly to communication receivers employing a display. Description of the Prior Art: Contemporary communication receivers, such as paging receivers, are capable of receiving multiple messages by the use of multiple pager addresses . While such practice has its advantages, a detriment arises in that the paging receiver user generally cannot identify the originator of the paging message. This may confuse and frustrate the paging receiver user in that he may have to respond to the page to merely determine the originator of the paging message. One known paging receiver attempts to compensate for this detriment by indicating which of the multiple pager addresses was used to transmit the paging message. For example, "Address 1" or "Source 3" may be displayed to identify a paging message received by address 1 and address 3, respectively. However, knowledge of the paging address may not completely assist the paging receiver user to identify the originator of the paging message, in that several paging message originators may use the same paging address. In the case of multiple address pagers, this becomes even more difficult, as a particular paging message originator, or group of paging message originators may be associated with each address. Knowledge of the paging message originator would be helpful to the paging receiver user in determining if and how to respond to the paging message. Accordingly, a need exists to provide the paging receiver user with the specific identity of the paging message originator. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to inform the paging receiver user of the originator of a paging message. It is a further object of the present invention to provide the paging receiver user with information related to the provision of the paging service. Briefly, according to the invention, a paging receiver has stored therein display indicia related to the identity of paging message originators. After receiving a paging message, the paging receiver operates to determine the origin of the paging message, and displays indicia that readily identifies the originator of the paging message. In another aspect of the invention, information related to the provision of paging services is provided to the paging user. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, together with its further objects and advantages thereof, may be best understood by reference to the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify identical elements, in which, and wherein: FIG. 1 is an electrical block diagram of a communication receiver in accordance with the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps executed by the communication receiver of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of the inventive communication receiver 10 providing an informational display. The heart of the communication receiver, or pager as it is often referred to when carried as a portable, is controller 100. Preferably, controller 100 is an MC68HC05C9 microcomputer, manufactured by Motorola, Inc. or its equivalent. Controller 100 communicates with off-chip random access memory (RAM) 102 to store and retrieve information. Controller 100 also communicates with read only memory (ROM) 104, which contains information used to create displayable graphic or ideomatic characters. Code plug 106 couples to controller 100 and stores address information to which the communication receiver is responsive, and further stores digital words representing the display indicia corresponding to a particular address to be displayed. Operationally, a radio frequency message is received by antenna 108 and provided to radio frequency receiver 110. According to the invention, a received message includes a paging address signal, followed by a message portion and information that identifies the origin of the message. Optionally, the information that identifies the origin of the message may be incorporated into the address portion using signaling techniques known in the art. Receiver 110 recovers and provides the paging message to controller 100. Controller 100 decodes the address using any of a number of known decoding schemes and stores the message and origin information in either on-chip RAM or off-chip RAM 102. The user is alerted either via a silent alert feature 112, such as a vibrator, that is activated to silently annunciate message reception. Also, an audible tone may be generated by tone generator 114 and presented to the user via speaker 116 to annunciate message reception. Typically, after receiving the message annunciation, the pager user reads (i.e. causes to be displayed) the paging message which is displayed on display 118. Preferably, display 118 comprises a 32 x 119 dot matrix LCD display to display four rows of five by seven alphanumeric characters, or two rows of sixteen by fifteen ideographic characters displayed. The LCD display size described is for example only, and other display sizes, such as single and other number multiple line displays, may be used as well. Conventional alphanumeric displays, such as a fourteen segment display, may also be used when ideographic displays are not required. According to the invention, each message that is read has its corresponding origin information processed to retrieve the associated display indicia from code plug 106. Such indicia generally comprises the trademark, trade name, or other common designators that identify the origin of the message without resorting to vague and cryptic function codes, such as "address 1" or "source 3" as in the prior art. As is known, most paging receivers enter a standby operational mode whenever a message is not being received, processed, or displayed. The present invention further provides for the automatic display of indicia related to the provision of paging services. That is, before entering the standby operational mode, a message is displayed that identifies the paging service provider, the paging receiver manufacturer, or other entity associated with the provision of paging services. In this way, the radio paging user has a continual reminder of which paging system he is operating on, or whom to contact for service for warranty claims. Optionally, the name or identity of the paging receiver user, or owner, can be displayed independently or in combination with the display of one or more paging service providers. This practice aids law enforcement authorities in identifying stolen pagers, and assists in the return of stolen property to the rightful owner. In a closely related aspect of the present invention, the paging receiver displays other indicia at the initial activation ( i.e. turn-on) of the paging receiver. The turn- on display indicia may duplicate or compliment indicia presented prior to entering the pager's standby operational mode. According to the invention, the information representing the display indicia may be stored in code plug 106, by the manufacturer, service center, or via an over-the-air command transmitted by the paging service provider. In this way, the display indicia information can be updated, edited, or modified to accommodate changes in service providers, or services. In FIG. 2, the operational steps executed by controller 100 in accordance with the present invention are shown. The routine begins in step 200, which determines whether the radio pager has just been powered-up. If so, the routine proceeds to step 202, where the display indicia associated with the display power on mode is retrieved from code plug 106, and displayed on display 118. A typical power-on display indicia may depict the characters "Manufactured by Motorola" . After displaying this information for a predetermined time interval (preferably .5-5 seconds), the pager enters its standby operational mode. Accordingly, step 203 causes the controller 100 to retrieve the standby display indicia from code plug 106, and display characters associated with the provision of paging service providers, such as, "ABC Paging Company" . Assuming that decision 200 determines that the pager has not recently powered-up, the routine proceeds to step 204, which determines whether controller 100 has been commanded to read a paging message. If so, the routine proceeds to step 206, where the desired paging message is retrieved from RAM (either on-chip or off-chip) and routed to display 118. According to the invention, the paging receiver automatically determines the originator of the displayed message by examining the origin information transmitted with the paging message, or associated with the paging address signal. After determining the origin of the message, the controller 100 retrieves the appropriate display indicia from code plug 106 which is displayed on display 118 at step 210. Typically, message originator display characters may include "ABC Stock Exchange", "XYZ Sports News", or other display indicia commonly associated with the originator of the message. Preferably, the display 118 may represent marks, such as trademark, service marks, and logos together with trade names, or acronyms thereof, that are commonly associated with the originating company. For example, many companies are known by an acronym used in conjunction with the buying or selling of its stock. After displaying the message, and the indicia identifying the message origin, the pager returns to its standby operational mode. Accordingly, step 203, causes controller 100 to retrieve and display the trade name, or trademark of the paging service provider. In summary, the present invention provides automatic identification of the origination of the message, using characters or symbols that readily identify the message originator. Additionally, the identification of the companies associated with the radio pager manufacture, or provision of paging services is displayed from time to time to the pager user, to keep him informed. As will be appreciated, the information displayed in the present invention is of an informational nature, rather than a f nctional nature. Examples of f nctional display information includes "no messages", "source 1", or other messages which are specifically directed toward the operation of the paging receiver. The informational displays described above assist the paging receiver user to understand the origin of the message, to provide information about the paging service provider, or to provide information about the paging receiver user. While specific embodiments of this invention have been shown and described, further modifications and improvements will occur to those skilled in the art. All modifications which retain the basic underlying principles disclosed and claimed herein are within the scope and spirit of the present invention. We claim:

Claims: Claims 1. A communication receiver, comprising: means for receiving a message having an information signal identifying the message origin; means for displaying at least a portion of the received message; memory means for storing display indicia information for depicting the origin of the message; means responsive to the information signal for selecting the stored display indicia information associated with the message origin; and means for displaying the selected display indicia information to identify the message origin. 2. The communication receiver according to claim 1 wherein said display indicia depicts the trade name of the message originator. 3. The communication receiver according to claim 1 wherein said display indicia depicts the mark of the message originator. 4. A communication receiver, comprising: means for receiving an address and an associated message, the address identifying the message origin; means for displaying at least a portion of the received message; memory means for storing display indicia information for depicting the origin of the message; means responsive to the address for selecting the stored display indicia information associated with the message origin; and means for displaying the selected display indicia information to identify the message origin. 5. The communication receiver according to claim 4 wherein said display indicia depicts the trade name of the message originator. 6. The communication receiver according to claim 4 wherein said display indicia depicts the mark of the message originator. 7. The communication receiver according to claim 4 wherein said display means is an LCD display. 8. The communication receiver according to claim 7 wherein said LCD display is a dot matrix display. 9. The communication receiver according to claim 4 wherein said memory means is a random access memory. 10. A communication receiver, comprising: display means for displaying information; memory means for storing display indicia information for display indicia depicting the provision of paging services; means for selecting the stored display indicia information in response to a control signal; and means for displaying the selected display indicia information. 11. The communication receiver according to claim 10 wherein said display indicia depicts the trade name of paging service provider. 12. The communication receiver according to claim 10 wherein said display indicia depicts the trade name of the paging receiver manufacturer. 13. The communication receiver according to claim 10 wherein said control signal is asserted in response to a power on condition. 1 . The communication receiver according to claim 13 wherein said displayed indicia is displayed for a predetermined time interval. 15. The communication receiver according to claim 14 wherein said predetermined time interval is from one-half second to five seconds . 16. The communication receiver according to claim 13 wherein said control signal is further asserted in response to entering a standby mode. 17. The communication receiver according to claim 16, wherein said indicia displayed at power on is different from said indicia displayed during said standby mode. 18. The communication receiver according to claim 16, wherein said indicia displayed at power on is the same as said indicia displayed during said standby mode. 19. The communication receiver according to claim 16 wherein said display indicia displayed depicts the name of pager user. 20. The communication receiver according to claim 10 wherein said control signal is asserted periodically. 21. The communication receiver according to claim 10 wherein said control signal is asserted from time to time. 22. A method for displaying the origin of a message using a communication receiver, said method comprising the steps of: receiving a message having an information signal identifying the message origin; displaying at least a portion of the received message; selecting a display indicia associated with the message origin from display indicia information stored in a memory; and displaying the selected display indicia information to identify the message origin.

Inventors: KUNG PATRICK SHUANG, SHAPIRO STEVEN CURTIS, STAIR MARK TIMOTHY, WEITZEN RANDI FAITH, KUNG, PATRICK, SHUANG, SHAPIRO, STEVEN, CURTIS, STAIR, MARK, TIMOTHY, WEITZEN, RANDI, FAITH
Applicants: MOTOROLA INC, MOTOROLA, INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: H04B7
IPC codes: G08B5