Abstract:
A wireless response system and method of receiving user responses from a plurality of users at a base unit includes providing a base unit having a base transceiver that is adapted to wireless signal transmitting and wireless signal receiving and providing a plurality of response units. Each of the response units includes a response unit transceiver and a user input device. The response unit transceiver is adapted to wireless signal transmitting and wireless signal receiving. User input selections are received with the user input device. A response user transmission is transmitted with the response unit transceiver in response to the user input device receiving a user input selection. A base transmission is transmitted with the base unit transceiver. The user response transmissions are asynchronously transmitted after receipt of a base transmission.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/595,932, filed on Aug. 18, 2005, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention is directed to response systems in which user responses entered in respective response units, also known as keypads, are retrieved at a base unit and, in particular, to such a response system in which the base unit acknowledges receipt of valid data from the response units.  
         [0003]     One known form of response system utilizes time division multiplexing for organizing retrieval of user responses entered into response units, which are typically handheld units provided to a gathering of users. In such a system, a transmission by the base unit initiates a series of timeslots, each assigned to a particular response unit. Each unit having a selection entered by the user responds to the base unit transmission in its assigned timeslot. While pure time division multiplex systems accommodate the sending of data from the base unit to the response unit, such as data acknowledging receipt of valid data from particular response unit(s), it is not without limitation. For example, as the number of response units increase, the increase in assigned timeslots can excessively increase the duration between transmissions from the base unit.  
         [0004]     Asynchronous response systems are also known. Timing of transmission from response units in an asynchronous response system is event driven, rather than controlled by the base unit. In particular, entry of a response by a user typically results in an immediate transmission of data from that response unit. Because more than one user may make an entry at the same moment, resulting in potential interference between transmissions, schemes have been devised for handling such data collisions. However, the asynchronous nature of the transmissions from the response units has made the acknowledging of validly received data by the base unit not practical.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0005]     The present invention is directed to a response system having at least one base unit and a plurality of response units that accommodates acknowledgement by the base unit of valid data received from response units in an asynchronous system.  
         [0006]     A wireless response system and method of receiving user responses from a plurality of users at a base unit according to an aspect of the invention includes providing a base unit having a base transceiver that is adapted to wireless signal transmitting and wireless signal receiving and providing a plurality of response units. Each of the response units includes a response unit transceiver and a user input device. The response unit transceiver is adapted to wireless signal transmitting and wireless signal receiving. User input selections are received with the user input device. A response user transmission is transmitted with the response unit transceiver in response to the user input device receiving a user input selection. A base acknowledgement transmission is transmitted with the base unit transceiver in response to receipt of a valid response unit transmission that was transmitted by a response unit. The user response transmissions are asynchronously transmitted.  
         [0007]     These and other objects, advantages and features of this invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a wireless response system useful with the invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a signal timing diagram for transmissions between a base unit and a representative response unit, also known as a keypad, according to an aspect of the invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 2   a  is the same view as  FIG. 2  of an alternative embodiment thereof;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3  is the same view as  FIG. 2  of an alternative embodiment; and  
         [0012]      FIG. 4  is the same view as  FIG. 2  of another alternative embodiment. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0013]     Referring now specifically to the drawings, and the illustrative embodiments depicted therein, a wireless response system  10  includes one or more base units  12  and a plurality of response units, or keypads, or handheld units,  14  which communicate with the base unit(s) over one or more wireless communication links  16 . The base units send signals, also known as base packets or base transmission, to the response units over wireless communication links  16  between one or more antenna  26  on the base unit(s) and one or more antenna  60  on the respective response unit. The response units send response data, also known as response packets or keypad transmission, to the base unit over the wireless communication link(s). The response data is entered in the respective response unit  14  by a user. An illustration of further details of base unit  12  and response units  14  is generally as disclosed in commonly assigned United States Published Patent Application Nos. 2003/0153347 A1; 2003/0153321 A1; 2003/0153263 A1; 2004/0229642 A1; and 2006/0072497 A1 and issued U.S. Pat. Nos. 35,499; 5,724,357; and 6,021,119, the disclosures of which are hereby collectively incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0014]     Each response unit  14  may include user input devices, such as a hardware keypad  18 , a series of soft keys  20 , or the like. Other input devices may be utilized, such as handwriting recognition pads, joysticks, or the like. Each response unit  14  may additionally include a display  22  for displaying information to the user as well as indicating user selections. Base unit  12  may be connected with a command computer  24  in order to provide top level control of wireless response system  10 , as well as to run software applications to analyze data produced by wireless response system  10 . Such application software is known in the art and has been developed for various commercially available response systems including Applicant&#39;s REPLY® response system. They may include programs which produce data synchronized with an event to illustrate user responses, and which may be broken down by categories of users during each interval of the event. Other examples include various data-charting applications, statistical analysis applications, and the like.  
         [0015]     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , an event driven keypad transmit with event driven acknowledge asynchronous protocol  100  for a response system includes the base continuously listening for keypad transmissions. The base unit  12  will not transmit unless it receives a legitimate keypad transmission  102  from a response unit  14 . Keypad transmissions may consist of a header, channel identification (id), keypad address, message, and error-checking code. If the base unit receives a keypad transmission, it responds to the keypad by transmitting an acknowledge packet  104  which may consist of a header, channel id, optional keypad address, receive acknowledgement or correct/incorrect bits, and error-checking codes. This acknowledgement packet can either be sent immediately upon receipt of the keypad transmission, whereby referencing the address is not necessary. Alternatively, the acknowledgement packet may be sent after a delay  106 , in which case, the address of the keypad may be included in the packet so that its contents will not be misinterpreted by another keypad.  
         [0016]     The message transmitted from the response unit  14 , usually the keypad user entry, may be passed on by the base unit to an application running on a master computer, such as personal computer  24 . Alternatively, the application running on the personal computer could determine data validity and/or answer correctness. The base unit may examine the data received from the keypads for data validity and, optionally, to determine if the user entry matches a correct or incorrect answer to a particular question.  
         [0017]     If a keypad is not acknowledged within a certain period of time, the keypad may retransmit its packet again at  102   a  after a delay determined from a variable assigned to that keypad, such as its address, such as disclosed in commonly assigned United States Published Patent Application No. 2003/023689 A1, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This process continues until the keypad is acknowledged, times out, or polling is closed, at which time the keypad may either go into a deep sleep or totally power down. When a keypad receives its intended base transmission, it can light an LED indicating that the keypad transmission has been received. Alternatively, a correct or incorrect LED may be illuminated, or alternately, a message may be delivered to LCD display  22  depending on the mode.  
         [0018]     The sequence resulting in a keypad transmission is initiated by the user making an entry on the keypad  18 . The exact time when the keypad transmits depends on when a key is pressed and, in the case of a retransmission, a variable delay determined from the address of the keypad. While this could result in more than one keypad transmitting at a given time, due to similar delays having to be repeated at different addresses throughout the address range, the acknowledge process allows for retransmission using a different address-derived-delay to reduce the likelihood of this occurring more than once in a row. Assuming subsequent transmissions are needed for retries, the keypad delays its re-transmission by an amount calculated from a variable, such as its address. The purpose of the delay is to reduce the likelihood of a collision of transmissions from more than one keypad at the same time.  
         [0019]     An alternative protocol  100   a  may include a provision in the base acknowledge packet  104  for additional bits to allow keypads to be sent an additional message ( FIG. 2   a ). This can be of either a global, subgroup, or individual keypad nature depending on the referenced addresses in the base packet. This allows for custom messages to be sent to keypads allowing the base to command the keypads into a special mode or for configuration. The protocol may further be modified to prove for the response unit  14  to send an acknowledge response unit packet  108  to the base unit. In such two-way acknowledgement scheme, the base sends a base message then listens for response unit acknowledgement messages from the keypads to determine if all relevant keypads received a base transmission. The base unit can retransmit a base packet to one or more keypads that did not acknowledge receipt of the original base transmission. This repeats until all keypads acknowledge or the system produces an error message that a “problem” keypad is unable to receive base transmissions because it is in a blind spot or otherwise malfunctioning.  
         [0020]     In a two-way acknowledgement scheme  100   a , the acknowledgement message transmitted  108  by the keypad may or may not include data entered by a user. The keypad may be instructed during a prior base acknowledgement to stay in an alert mode and not go into a deep sleep or power down. This allows the keypads to be in a state of preparation to receive a subsequent base transmission.  
         [0021]     An alternative to a two-way acknowledgement scheme is to have the base unit send the base message multiple times, such as three times without expecting an acknowledge response unit packet  108  and without the response unit sending such acknowledge response unit packet  108 . A tradeoff is made between a simpler scheme, but at a somewhat less level of reliability.  
         [0022]     Optionally, the base unit  12  may be capable of sending independent packets to the keypads on an occasional basis for the purpose of passing messages to single or multiple keypads. This can be done on a regular, scheduled basis or as commanded by the application running on a personal computer  24 . These packets may contain keypad address information to identify which keypads the messages are intended for. This provides an optional capability of remotely and automatically configuring the keypads and displaying messages in the case of keypads with LCD displays. This can be done either with or without requiring the keypads to respond to this base message with a message received acknowledgement packet. The base would carry out an acknowledge process for this message received acknowledgement in the same manner as if it were a normal key press it had received.  
         [0023]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , an event driven keypad transmit with a schedule driven acknowledge asynchronous protocol  200  is similar to protocol  100 , but includes a schedule driven base acknowledgement, whereby the base transmits an acknowledge bit packet  220  that may consist of keypad acknowledgement or correct/incorrect bits at a regularly scheduled interval for all valid keypad transmissions receiving since the prior acknowledge bit package was sent, whether or not the base has received any keypad messages. The acknowledge contents of this packet may be for all keypads in use or for a sub-group of keypads. The base packet  220  may contain an address specification to allow the keypads to properly interpret the acknowledge bit package. Such address specification may be, for example, a list of keypad addresses that are being acknowledged. Alternatively, the address specification may be an address of a first keypad of a group of keypads to receive a message. Alternatively, the bit package may be a bitmap of the type disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,357.  
         [0024]     The sequence resulting in a keypad transmission  222  is initiated by the user making an entry on the keypad  18 . The exact time when the keypad transmits depends at least on when a key is pressed. It may further be dependent on a variable delay determined from a variable assigned to that keypad, such as the address of the keypad, particularly in the case of a retransmission from a keypad that was not acknowledged. This is in order to reduce the likelihood of a repeat collision.  
         [0025]     Referring now to  FIG. 4 , a quasi-event driven keypad transmit with collision avoidance asynchronous protocol  300  is similar to protocol  200 , but includes the response units  14  being configured to wait until one base packet  330  has been received by the response unit before transmitting a keypad packet  332  to prevent a collision with a base packet. Waiting for a base transmission has the advantage of allowing the base to send messages to the keypads without having to first receive a keypad transmission, while reducing the likelihood of collision between keypad transmissions and base transmissions. Allowing the keypad to receive a message from the base without the base first receiving a keypad transmission can provide additional functionality. Following receipt of the base packet  330 , the keypad can transmit its response  332  delayed by an interval calculated from a variable assigned to that keypad, such as the address of the keypad. While this could result in more than one keypad transmitting at a given time, due to similar delays having to be repeated at different addresses throughout the address range, the acknowledge process allows for retransmission from interfering keypads using a different address derived delay to reduce the likelihood of this interference occurring more than once in a row. If a keypad has not been acknowledged, it waits again for a base transmission and the next time uses a different delay amount so that it will not transmit at the same time after the base transmission as before. While keypad transmissions  332  may be timed at least in part on receipt of a base transmission, more keypads are possible for a given base transmission interval than with a traditional time division multiplex scheme. This is because more than one keypad may be allowed to transmit after a particular delay from receipt of a base transmission. However, not-all keypads are likely to have a user input to transmit after a particular base transmission and any resulting collision between keypad transmissions can be resolved by retransmissions after a delay period that will vary for subsequent keypad transmissions.  
         [0026]     Protocol  300  may include a provision in the base-to-keypad acknowledge packet  330  for additional bits to allow keypads to be sent an additional message. This can be of either a global, subgroup, or individual keypad nature depending on the referenced addresses in the base packet. This allows for custom messages to be sent from the base unit  12  to keypads allowing the base to command the response units  14  into a special mode or for configuration. This can be done either with or without requiring the response unit to respond to this base message  330  with an acknowledge message, such as message  108  shown in  FIG. 2   a . If the keypads are required to acknowledge the base message, they would do this through the same process as if they had made a key entry, but the message from the keypad would be a message-received acknowledge, not user input data, and the base would carry out the acknowledge process in the same manner as if it were a normal key press it had received.  
         [0027]     Additionally, the base unit  12  may be capable of sending independent packets  330  to the response units  14  on an occasional basis for the purpose of passing messages to single or multiple keypads. This can be done on a regular, scheduled basis or as commanded by the application running on a personal computer. These packets may contain keypad address information to identify which keypads the messages are intended for. This provides a capability of remotely and automatically configuring the keypads or displaying messages in the case of keypads with LCD displays.  
         [0028]     For any of the event and schedule driven acknowledgement protocols  100 ,  100   a,    200 ,  300 , instead of the base determining if and when the base sends its packets, an application running on personal computer  24  controlling the system may determine the actions of the base. This allows either event or schedule driven acknowledgement and keypad interaction to occur but follows the same principles of keypad to base communication. It has an advantage of flexibility in allowing the application to determine the functionality of the system without fixing it in the base hardware and/or firmware.  
         [0029]     Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the principles of the invention which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.