Patent Publication Number: US-6670884-B1

Title: Disposable wireless messaging devices and systems and methods related to same

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The principles of the present invention are directed generally to wireless communication devices and, more particularly, to disposable wireless messaging devices, computer systems that incorporate disposable wireless messaging devices, and methods of operating the same. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The demand for better and cheaper wireless messaging services and equipment continues to grow at a rapid pace. Much of this growth is due to the increase of service types coupled with a decrease in service costs, with users typically renting or buying pagers for use over an extended period of time. However, as costs decrease and services increase, there are increasing demands for messaging services provided for short time durations (i.e., temporary messaging services). 
     For instance, the day-surgery facilities of hospitals in larger urban areas sometimes provide pagers for temporary use by a patient&#39;s family member or friend. This service provides the patient&#39;s representative with the freedom to leave the medical facility without the need for continually calling to determine the status of the patient or to determine the exact time for patient pick-up. It can also relieve the patient of concern for undue disruption of their relative&#39;s or friend&#39;s daily routine and some anxiety associated with getting out of the hospital as soon as possible. Besides providing a feeling of good-will toward the hospital, this service also provides more time for hospital staff to actually serve the patient by decreasing the amount of pressure from waiting family or friends. 
     In a similar manner, hospitals may provide pagers for temporary use by the husbands of expectant women who otherwise do not require paging services. In these cases, a mother-to-be can page her husband when she is unable to reach him by telephone. If text messaging services are available, she may provide more detailed messages, such as “Meet me at the hospital, now!” 
     The increased demand for temporary wireless messaging services also creates a need for lower cost pagers to provide these services. Presently, hospitals and other businesses, such as automotive repair shops, may loan or rent pagers to customers. Invariably, providing this type of customer convenience eventually results in increased costs as pagers are lost, damaged, or otherwise not returned to the provider. Furthermore, it may be hard to predict the maximum number of pagers, including back-ups, which must be available for providing the same level of paging service to all potential users. 
     Improvements in paging services and lower costs allow users to develop new uses for these services, especially temporary uses. For instance, a parent may want to give a two-way pager to a child for a football trip. This would provide the student with an economical means for contacting the parent if a transportation emergency or other type of emergency occurs. 
     Temporary wireless messaging devices also allows an organization, such as a trade union, to rapidly poll its members during, for example, contract negotiations. If inexpensive, limited capability wireless messaging devices are available, the union can distribute disposable wireless messaging devices to its membership for more or less instantaneous voting. Once negotiations are complete, the union can subsequently transfer a universal disabling message to all distributed wireless messaging devices, thereby disabling the devices and preventing further service charges. 
     Therefore, there exists a need in the art for an improved wireless communication system that minimizes the equipment costs associated with individual pagers or other types of wireless messaging devices. In particular, there is a need for a low-cost, disposable wireless messaging device that can be used for a short-duration of time or a limited number of transactions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, an object of the teachings of the present invention is to provide a disposable wireless messaging device comprising: 1) a receiver capable of receiving signals wirelessly; 2) a messaging controller coupled to the receiver capable of extracting wireless messages from the wirelessly received signals and communicating the wireless messages to a user, wherein the messaging controller is further capable of (i) monitoring use of the disposable wireless messaging device in relation to a utilization threshold, and (ii) inhibiting, in response thereto, the operation of at least a portion of the messaging controller; and 3) a housing that is at least substantially rigid and that is capable of enveloping at least a portion of the messaging controller and the receiver. 
     According to one embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is further capable of controlling power consumption of the disposable wireless messaging device. 
     According to another embodiment of the present invention, the disposable wireless messaging device further comprises a power supply for supplying power to the disposable wireless messaging device. 
     According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller inhibits the operation by controlling the power supply. 
     According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the disposable wireless messaging device further comprises a power controller that is capable of increasing a voltage from a power supply to the messaging controller in response to a triggering event. 
     According to a further embodiment of the present invention, the disposable wireless messaging device further comprises means, having an output signal corresponding to the triggering event, for selectively enabling the power controller. 
     According to a still further embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is further capable, in response to the power supply voltage being initially increased to the messaging controller, of performing diagnostics on at least a portion of the disposable wireless messaging device. 
     According to a yet further embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is further capable, in response to the diagnostics completion, of inhibiting the selectively enabling means. 
     In one embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is further capable, in response to the power supply voltage being increased to the messaging controller, of inhibiting the selectively enabling means upon one of an undesirable comparison among the monitored use and the utilization threshold and an expiration of a time period. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the disposable wireless messaging device further comprises means, associated with the messaging controller, for communicating the wireless messages to a user. 
     In still another embodiment of the present invention, the disposable wireless messaging device further comprises a transmitter that is associated with the housing and the messaging controller, and that is capable of transmitting signals wirelessly. 
     In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the receiver and the transmitter are integrated into a transceiver that is capable of receiving and transmitting signals wirelessly. 
     In a further embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is responsive to a received control message to modify the monitored use of the disposable wireless messaging device as related to the utilization threshold. 
     In a still further embodiment of the present invention, the housing is adapted for association with a computer system. 
     In a yet further embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is capable of tracking a quantity of wireless messages extracted from the wirelessly received signals. 
     In another embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is capable of determining whether a particular wireless message is received more than once. 
     In still another embodiment of the present invention, the messaging controller is further capable of inhibiting operation of at least one of (i) the receiver, (ii) the messaging controller, and (iii) the power supply. 
     The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they may readily use the conception and the specific embodiment disclosed as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. 
     Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers designate like objects, and in which: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary disposable wireless messaging device in accordance with the principles of the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method of operating the disposable wireless messaging device of FIG. 1 in accordance with the principles of the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a system diagram of an exemplary disposable wireless messaging device interfaced with a computer system. 
     FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an exemplary method of operating the disposable wireless messaging device of FIG. 3 in accordance with the principles of the present invention; 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a base station which uses conventional techniques to communicate in forward channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices; 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a base station which uses conventional techniques to communicate in forward and reverse channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices; and 
     FIG. 7 illustrates a base station which communicates in forward and reverse channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices using electrical downtilt techniques disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/002,191. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Turning initially to FIG. 1, illustrated is a functional block diagram of exemplary disposable wireless messaging device (generally designated  100 ) in accordance with the principles of the present invention. Exemplary disposable wireless messaging device  100  illustratively includes housing  105 , transceiver  110 , messaging controller  115 , power supply  120 , power controller  125 , display  130 , and user interface  135 , all of which are illustratively and suitably associated by bus  140 . 
     According to the illustrated embodiment, exemplary housing  105  is adapted to envelop transceiver  110 , messaging controller  115 , power supply  120 , and power controller  125 , and to partially envelop display  130  and user interface  135 . The term “envelop” and derivatives thereof, as used herein, are defined broadly to mean enclose, blanket, surround, encompass, contain, encase, encircle, insulate, package, shield, shelter, safeguard, or the like. 
     Housing  105  is preferably at least substantially rigid. This desired feature meets two primary objects of housing  105 , namely, (i) to provide protection for the above-identified components and (ii) to provide, in embodiments in which disposable wireless messaging device  100  is associated with a computer system (an exemplary embodiment is discussed with reference to FIGS. 3 and  4 ), a physical adaption that enables a cooperation among disposable wireless messaging device  100  and the computer system. Housing  105  may, for instance, be fabricated from an impact resistant cardboard, or, alternatively, housing  105  may, as another example, be fabricated from a plastic, such as a highly impact resistant injection polymer. 
     Housing  105  includes outer layer  145  and inner layer  150 . Exemplary outer layer  145  is a shock-resistant material, that minimizes the shock from external forces. Housing  105  may be constructed in multiple parts (not shown) that are preferably secured together during assembly to form housing  105 . The multiple housing parts may suitably be secured together with recessed screws or adjoining members that may be bonded, snap-fit, interference fit or the like, in reciprocating recesses in the respective parts. Housing  105  includes an illustrative elongated attachment member that can be used to associate disposable wireless messaging device  100  with a computer system. Housing  105  includes a cavity or aperture for display  130  and for user interface  135 . 
     Exemplary transceiver  110  is associated with housing  105  and messaging controller  115 , and includes receiver  165  and transmitter  170  that respectively receive and transmit signals wirelessly. In certain one-way messaging embodiments of the present invention, disposable wireless messaging device  100  may include only receiver  165  for receiving signals wirelessly. In other one-way messaging embodiments, disposable wireless messaging device  100  may include only transmitter  170  for transmitting signals wirelessly. 
     Exemplary messaging controller  115  operates to extract wireless messages from the wirelessly received signals and to communicate the wireless messages to a user via display  130 . Messaging controller  115  is capable, in accord with the principles of the present invention, (i) to monitor use of disposable wireless messaging device  100  in relation to a utilization threshold, and (ii) to inhibit, in response thereto, the operation of at least a portion of its own operation (at least a portion of the operation of messaging controller  115 ). 
     Exemplary power supply  120  provides power to disposable wireless messaging device  100 . Exemplary power controller  125 , which is illustratively associated with power supply  120  and messaging controller  115 , controls power consumption by disposable wireless messaging device  100 . According to the illustrated embodiment, power controller  125  is capable of increasing, maintaining and decreasing a voltage from power supply  120  to messaging controller  115 . According to an advantageous embodiment, power supply  120  is a limited-life battery that provides power, once enabled. In an alternate embodiment, power supply  120  may suitably be charged or re-charged. According to one embodiment, power supply  120  includes conventional light sensing panels that enable power supply  120  to generate power via a sensed light source and to store the generated power in, and supply power from, the battery. 
     In short, power supply  120  may suitably be any appropriate means for supplying power to disposable wireless messaging device  100 , whether that source of direct current, or otherwise. For instance, using the integrated disposable wireless messaging device  100  and computer embodiment, power may be delivered directly from the computer to disposable wireless messaging device  100 . 
     Exemplary display  130  operates to present a visual display of data. As stated above, messaging controller  115  extracts wireless messages from the wirelessly received signals. Messaging controller  115  includes display driver  175  that communicates the wireless messages to the user via display  130 . Display  130  and display driver  175  provide an exemplary interface, associated with messaging controller  115 , for communicating the wireless messages to a user. Alternate interfaces may include audio systems, braille systems, other video systems, combinations of these components, and the like. 
     Exemplary user interface  135  is associated with messaging controller  115  and is operative to enable the user to interact with disposable wireless messaging device  100  and, more particularly, messaging controller  115 . In general, use of user interfaces with messaging controller  115  and, more broadly, with wireless messaging devices is known. 
     Turning next to FIG. 2, illustrated is a flow diagram of an exemplary method (generally designated  200 ) of operating disposable wireless messaging device  100  in accordance with the principles of the present invention. For purposes of illustration, concurrent reference is made to FIG. 1 during the discussion hereof. 
     To begin, disposable wireless messaging device  100  detects that a user has requested the initiation of wireless service by depressing a button, such as an ENTER button, at user interface  135 . Subsequently, disposable wireless messaging device  100  transmits an activation message that is designated for a remote service center (process step  215 ). At some later time, receiver  165  associated with disposable wireless messaging device  100  receives an activation message from the remote service center with its designation code and transfers this signal to messaging controller  115 . Messaging controller  115  decodes the received message as an activation trigger message (process step  225 ). 
     Messaging controller  115  starts an interval timer and generates an enabling signal for power controller  125 . Power controller  125  detects the presence of the enabling signal and enables output power for display driver  175  and display  130  (process step  230 ). In one embodiment, an activation display (such as “******”) is enabled by messaging controller  115  through display driver  175  as an indication that the disposable wireless messaging device has been activated for full service capability. 
     Once activated for full service, disposable wireless messaging device  100  receives and displays designated wireless messages and transmits messages input through user interface  135  as authorized for the designated level of service (process step  240 ). 
     Disposable wireless messaging device  100  continues to provide authorized transceiver functions until messaging controller  115  or power controller  125  detects that the activation interval for the service has been achieved. This activation interval may be equivalent to an elapsed amount of time or to a limited number of displayed messages or to a limited number of transmitted messages or some combination of the above. In the simplest of embodiments, messaging controller  115  may detect that an END SERVICE message has been received as an indication that the service interval is over. Working together, messaging controller  115  and power controller  125  disable the transceiver function by, for instance, removing power from display  130  and disabling entry of new information through user interface  135  (process step  290 ). 
     At the point of de-activation and depending upon the configuration of disposable wireless messaging device  100 , the user may discard the device or return it to a service center for re-cycling. Re-cycling services may range from permanent disposal through re-activation for service by the same or different user. 
     Turning next to FIG. 3, illustrated is a high level block diagram showing disposable wireless messaging device  300 , including mating connector  310 , interconnected through cable  320  to computer system  330  at computer mating connectors  335 . For this embodiment, disposable wireless messaging device  300  provides the same function as disposable wireless messaging device  100 , with inclusion for mating connector  310 . Mating connector  310  provides an interface to computer system  330  through cable  320 . Connectors  310  and  335  and cable  320  are compatible with present art peripheral interfaces with a standard off-the-shelf personal computer (PC) or similar control device. Computer system  330  with connector  335  represents a present art PC or similar device and interconnecting cable  320 . 
     For this exemplary embodiment, disposable wireless messaging device  300  transfers an activation request to computer system  330 . In turn, computer system  330  may transfer a unique paging address plus activation signal to disposable wireless messaging device  300 . Subsequently, disposable wireless messaging device  300  receives and stores its assigned address in messaging controller  115 . Disposable wireless messaging device  300  then receives an activation signal from computer system  330 . Messaging controller  115  stores and decodes the received activation signal and uses it to enable operation for the specified duration interval. As previously described, the duration interval may have one or more determining characteristics such as number of messages received, number of message transmitted, length of operation time, battery supply time, etc. 
     FIG. 4 provides a high level exemplary flow diagram showing the operation of disposable wireless messaging device  300 . When the activation key is depressed at user interface  135 , disposable wireless messaging device  300  transfers an activation request to interfacing computer system  330  (process step  415 ). When the address message is transferred by computer system  330 , disposable wireless messaging device  300  receives and stores the address message and enables the stored address as the address assigned for inclusion with all wireless communications to and from itself (process step  425 ). Disposable wireless messaging device  300  then receives the activation message from computer system  330 . Disposable wireless messaging device  300  sets the duration interval and enables power supply  120  and display  130  as indicated by the content of the received activation message (process step  440 ). Once activated, disposable wireless messaging device  300  performs authorized wireless transceiver functions (process step  450 ). When wireless messaging device  300  determines that the designated duration interval has been satisfied, it disables operation as specified by the prior activation message (process step  460 ). Depending upon the particular implementation, wireless messaging device  300  may permanently disable itself (self-destruct) so that it cannot be activated again or it may place itself in an idle mode until again activated by computer instruction or other available means. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates base station  511 , which uses conventional techniques to communicate in forward channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices. One-way wireless messaging systems typically employ electrical “downtilt” in the antennas associated with base stations in order to reduce the effective range of the forward-channel signals. The forward-channel represents the transmission channel of the base station and the receive channel of the exemplary disposable wireless messaging device. 
     Base station  511  comprises tower  501  for holding antenna  503  in an elevated position above ground  505 . Base station  511  comprises transmitter  506  for transmitting messages in the forward-channel. The forward-channel is transmitted to disposable wireless messaging devices (not shown) and the forward-channel and control messages are appropriately transferred to and from a central control facility (not shown). 
     Reference beam  521  is a horizontal reference axis indicating the relative position of the horizon. Antenna  503  employs electrical downtilt to transmit messages in the forward-channel along beam  522 . Beam  522  represents the direction of travel with respect to the horizon of the main power lobe transmitted by antenna  503 . As FIG. 5 indicates, beam  522  is transmitted below the horizon at a downtilt angle, θ 1 , for reception by any compatible disposable wireless messaging units of the present invention which are in its path. The downtilt angle θ 1  is determined by the electrical characteristics of antenna  503  and is dependent on the transmission frequency of the forward-channel. Disposable wireless messaging devices of the present invention are configured to receive one or more frequencies of the forward-channel with the specific receive operating frequency being fixed or computer defined or remotely programmed through the disposable wireless messaging device&#39;s control channel. 
     The primary purpose in employing electrical downtilt in beam  522  is to restrict the size of the coverage area for the indicated base station. If forward-channel beam  522  is oriented directly toward the horizon with no electrical downtilt, much of the energy of the signal transmitted by antenna  503  would be transmitted to infinity, and therefore lost. Since the one-way embodiment of disposable wireless messaging devices provides no means for the disposable wireless messaging devices to transmit information to base station  511 , base station  511  and the broader messaging system have no means for determining the geographical location of any specific disposable wireless messaging device. 
     FIG. 6 illustrates base station  611 , which uses conventional techniques to communicate in forward and reverse channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices. Prior art two-way wireless messaging systems, such as two-way paging systems, typically employ previously described electrical “downtilt” in the antennas associated with the base stations in order to reduce the effective range of forward-channel signals and to attenuate reverse-channel signals received from distant wireless messaging units or other base stations. Although the discussion that follows of prior art electrical downtilt techniques centers on base station  611 , it should be noted that this is by way of illustration only, and that the following discussion applies with equal force to the other base stations in a messaging network. 
     Base station  611  comprises tower  601  for holding antenna  603  in an elevated position above ground  505 . Base station  611  also comprises transmitter  606  for transmitting messages in the forward-channel and receiver  607  for receiving messages in the reverse-channel. The forward and reverse-channel messages are transferred to and from disposable wireless messaging devices (not shown) and a central control facility (not shown). 
     Reference beam  621  is a horizontal reference axis indicating the relative position of the horizon. Antenna  603  employs electrical downtilt to transmit messages in the forward-channel along beam  622 . Beam  622  represents the direction of travel with respect to the horizon of the main power lobe transmitted by antenna  603 . As FIG. 6 indicates, beam  622  is transmitted below the horizon at a downtilt angle, θ 1 , for reception by any compatible disposable wireless messaging units of the present invention. The downtilt angle θ 1  is determined by the electrical characteristics of antenna  603  and is dependent on the transmission frequency of the forward-channel. Disposable wireless messaging devices of the present invention are configured to receive one or more frequencies of the forward-channel with the specific receive operating frequency being fixed, computer defined, or remotely programmed through the disposable wireless messaging device&#39;s control channel. 
     Antenna  603  employs electrical downtilt to receive messages in the reverse-channel along beam  623 . Beam  623  represents the direction of travel with respect to the horizon of an incident signal transmitted from an exemplary disposable wireless messaging device located an optimum distance away from antenna  603 . The downtilt angle, θ 2 , of beam  623  is below the horizon and is also below the downtilt angle, θ 1 , of the beam  622 . 
     The primary purpose in employing electrical downtilt in beam  622  is to restrict the size of the coverage areas for the indicated base station, as previously described for FIG.  5 . Furthermore, employing only a small angle of electrical downtilt would direct the main power lobe of forward-channel beam  622  toward very distant disposable wireless messaging devices in other coverage areas, resulting in weak forward-channel messages being received by the distant exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices. 
     Electrical downtilt in the forward-channel sends a stronger signal to relatively near disposable wireless messaging devices located at the optimum distance from antenna  603  (closer to the perimeter of the coverage area), while minimizing the interfering forward-channel signal sent to relatively remote disposable wireless messaging devices. 
     Similarly, employing electrical downtilt in beam  623  enables antenna  603  to amplify reverse-channel signals from nearby disposable wireless messaging devices, while attenuating reverse-channel signals from more distant disposable wireless messaging devices. 
     FIG. 7 illustrates base station  711 , which communicates in forward and reverse channels with exemplary disposable wireless messaging devices using electrical downtilt techniques disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/002,191. The base station  711  comprises tower  702  for holding antenna  703  in an elevated position above ground  505 . The base station  711  also comprises transmitter  706  for transmitting messages in the forward-channel to disposable wireless messaging devices and receiver  707  for receiving messages in the reverse-channel from disposable wireless messaging devices. The forward and reverse-channel messages are also appropriately transferred to or from a central control facility (not shown). Tower-top amplifier  704  may optionally be included to strengthen received signals from antenna  703  before relaying the received signals to receiver  707 , in order to compensate for line losses occurring on long cables between antenna  703  and receiver  707 . 
     Reference beam  721  is a horizontal reference axis indicating the relative position of the horizon. Antenna  703  employs electrical downtilt to transmit messages in the forward-channel along beam  722  to disposable wireless messaging units. Beam  722  represents the direction of travel with respect to the horizon of the main power lobe transmitted by antenna  703 . As FIG. 7 indicates, beam  722  is transmitted below the horizon by antenna  703  at a downtilt angle, θ 1 . The downtilt angle, θ 1 , is determined by the electrical characteristics of antenna  703  and is dependent on the transmission frequency of the forward-channel. Disposable wireless messaging devices of the present invention are configured to receive one or more frequencies of the forward-channel with the specific receive operating frequency being fixed, computer defined, or remotely programmed through the disposable wireless messaging device&#39;s control channel. 
     Antenna  703  employs electrical downtilt to receive messages from disposable wireless messaging devices in the reverse-channel along beam  723 . The downtilt angle, θ 2 , is dependent on the transmission frequency of the disposable wireless messaging device and on the electrical characteristics of antenna  703 . Beam  723  represents the direction of travel with respect to the horizon of an incident signal transmitted from a disposable wireless messaging device located an optimum distance away from antenna  703 . 
     However, unlike the system of FIG. 6, the downtilt angle, θ 2 , of reverse-channel (beam  723 ) is now above the downtilt angle, θ 1 , of the forward-channel (beam  722 ). The use of a smaller angle of electrical downtilt in the reverse-channel focuses antenna  703  on signals from more distant paging units, including those beyond the boundaries of the coverage area in which base station  711  resides. The availability of disposable wireless messaging devices that are compliant with this type of system optimization increases the probability that antenna  703  will receive reverse-channel signals from remote messaging units, including disposable wireless messaging devices, in other coverage areas, thereby increasing the overall macro-diversity of messaging network and decreasing the number of additional required receivers. 
     Although the present invention has been described in detail, those skilled in the art should understand that they can make various changes, substitutions and alterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.