Patent Description:
The invention is generally related to encoded information reading (EIR) terminals and is specifically related to an EIR terminal comprising a multi-protocol wireless communication interface.

Encoded information reading (EIR) terminals equipped with wireless communication interfaces are widely used in retail stores, shipping facilities, etc. While wireless communication of EIR terminals offers many advantages as compared to wired communications, traditional wireless communication interfaces have noticeable shortcomings, e.g., by failing to support more than one communication protocol and/or standard.

Accordingly, there is a need for further advances in EIR terminals and systems which would support multiple communication protocols and standards.

Specific embodiments are defined in the dependent claims. In one arrangement, there is provided an encoded information reading (EIR) terminal comprising a microprocessor electrically coupled to a system bus, a memory communicatively coupled to the microprocessor, an encoded information reading (EIR) device, and a wireless communication interface.

The EIR device can be selected from the group consisting of a bar code reading device, an RFID reading device, and a card reading device. The EIR device can be configured to perform outputting raw message data containing an encoded message and/or outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message.

The wireless communication interface can comprise a radio frequency front end configured to perform receiving a first radio signal and/or transmitting a second radio signal. The radio frequency front end can be electrically coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) which can be electrically coupled to the system bus and/or to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) which can be electrically coupled to the system bus.

The microprocessor can be configured to execute a base-band encoder software program and/or a base-band decoder software program. The base-band encoder software program can be configured to produce a first encoded bit stream by performing at least one of the following functions: source encoding of a first bit stream, encryption, channel encoding, multiplexing, modulation, frequency spreading, and media access control. The DAC can be configured to output to the radio frequency front end an analog signal corresponding to the first encoded bit stream.

The ADC can be configured to output a second encoded bit stream corresponding to an analog signal produced by the radio frequency front end. The base-band decoder software program can be configured to produce a second bit stream corresponding to the second encoded bit stream by performing at least one of the following functions: media access control, frequency de-spreading, de-modulation, de-multiplexing, channel decoding, decryption, and source decoding.

In another arrangement, there is provided an encoded information reading terminal comprising a microprocessor electrically coupled to a system bus, a memory communicatively coupled to the microprocessor, an encoded information reading (EIR) device, and a wireless communication interface.

The wireless communication interface can comprise an RF front end configured to perform receiving a first radio signal and/or transmitting a second radio signal. The RF front can be end electrically coupled to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) which can be electrically coupled to the system bus and/or to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) which can be electrically coupled to the system bus.

The EIR terminal can be configured to execute a wireless communication protocol selector software program, which can optimize a value of a user-defined criterion in order to dynamically select a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, and/or a parameter of a wireless communication protocol.

The EIR terminal can be configured to dynamically select a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, and/or a parameter of a wireless communication protocol responsive a user action and/or to scanning a pre-defined bar code.

In another arrangement, there is provided an encoded information reading terminal comprising a microprocessor electrically coupled to a system bus, a memory communicatively coupled to the microprocessor, an encoded information reading (EIR) device, and a wireless communication interface configured to support at least two wireless communication protocols.

In a further arrangement, there is provided an encoded information reading terminal comprising a microprocessor electrically coupled to a system bus, a memory communicatively coupled to the microprocessor, an encoded information reading (EIR) device, and a wireless communication interface configured to support at least two wireless communication protocols.

For the purpose of illustrating the invention, the drawings show aspects of one or more embodiments of the invention. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown in the drawings, wherein:.

In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views.

There is provided an encoded information reading (EIR) terminal for incorporation in a data collection system. The data collection system, schematically shown in <FIG>, can include a plurality of EIR terminals 100a-100z in communication with a plurality of interconnected networks 110a-110z. In one aspect, the plurality of networks 110a-110z can include at least one IEEE <NUM> conformant wireless network. In another aspect, an EIR terminal 100a can be in communication with at least one wireless device over Bluetooth ™ wireless communication protocol. In a further aspect, the plurality of networks 110a-110z can include at least one GSM wireless network. In a further aspect, the plurality of networks 110a-110z can include at least one CDMA wireless network. Still further, the plurality of networks 110a-110z can include at least one <NUM> wireless network, e.g., UMTS, HSUPA/HSDPA, or CDMA2000EvDO. In another aspect, the plurality of networks 110a-110z can include at least one <NUM> wireless network, e.g., LTE, UWB, or <NUM> (WiMax). A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that wireless networks implementing other wireless communication protocols are within the scope of this disclosure.

In one aspect, an EIR terminal can comprise a wireless communication interface. The EIR terminal 100c can establish a communication session with the host computer <NUM>. In one embodiment, network frames can be exchanged by the EIR terminal 100c and the host computer <NUM> via one or more routers, base stations, and other infrastructure elements. In another embodiment, the host computer <NUM> can be reachable by the EIR terminal 100c via a local area network (LAN). In a yet another embodiment, the host computer <NUM> can be reachable by the EIR terminal 100c via a wide area network (WAN). A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other methods of providing interconnectivity between the EIR terminal 100c and the host computer <NUM> relying upon LANs, WANs, virtual private networks (VPNs), and/or other types of network are within the scope of this disclosure.

In a further aspect, the wireless communication interface can be configured to support at least two wireless communication protocols. In one embodiment, the wireless communication interface can be configured to support HSPA/GSM/GPRS/EDGE protocol family and CDMA/EV-DO protocol family. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that wireless communication interfaces supporting other communication protocols are within the scope of this disclosure.

In one embodiment, the communications between the EIR terminal 100c and the host computer <NUM> can comprise a series of HTTP requests and responses transmitted over one or more TCP connections, although a person skilled in the art would appreciate the fact that using other transport and application level protocols is within the scope of this disclosure.

In one aspect, at least one of the messages transmitted by the EIR terminal can include decoded message data corresponding to, e.g., a bar code label or an RFID label attached to a product or to a shipment item. For example, an EIR terminal can transmit a request to the host computer to retrieve product information corresponding to a product identifier encoded by a bar code label attached to the product, or to transmit an item tracking record for an item identified by a bar code label attached to the product.

A wireless communication interface <NUM> best viewed in <FIG>, can comprise a transmitter circuit <NUM> electrically coupled to a data source <NUM>. The transmitter circuit <NUM> can be implemented by one or more specialized microchips, and can perform the following functions: source encoding <NUM>, encryption <NUM>, channel encoding <NUM>, multiplexing <NUM>, modulation <NUM>, and frequency spreading <NUM>.

The wireless communication interface <NUM> of <FIG> can further comprise a receiver circuit <NUM> electrically coupled to the data sink <NUM>. The receiver circuit <NUM> can be implemented by one or more specialized microchips, and can perform the following functions: frequency de-spreading <NUM>, demodulation <NUM>, de-multiplexing <NUM>, channel decoding <NUM>, decryption <NUM>, and source decoding <NUM>.

Each of the transmitter circuit <NUM> and receiver circuit <NUM> can be electrically coupled to a radio frequency (RF) front end <NUM>. The RF front end <NUM> can be used to convert high frequency RF signals to/from base-band or intermediate frequency signals. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that RF front ends of different data rates, sensitivities, output powers, operating frequencies, and measurement resolutions are within the scope of this disclosure.

On the receiving side, the RF front-end <NUM> can include all filters, low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and down-conversion mixer(s) needed to process modulated RF signals received by the antenna into based-band signals. In one embodiment, the receiving part of the RF front end <NUM> can comprise one or more of the following components:.

On the transmitting side, the RF frond-end area can be described as a "mirrored" version of a receiver. The front end of a transmitter up converts an outgoing base-band signal and then feeds the signal to a high power amplifier. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other ways of implementing the RF front end are within the scope of this disclosure.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the wireless communication interface supporting at least two wireless communication protocols can be implemented using a single dual-protocol (or multi-protocol) chipset. The chipset can include integrated circuits (ICs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or other components providing the necessary functionality.

In another embodiment, the wireless communication interface supporting at least two wireless communication protocols can be implemented using two or more chipsets. Each of the chipsets can include integrated circuits (ICs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and/or other components providing the necessary functionality.

In a yet another embodiment, at least some of the functions of the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit can be advantageously performed by one or more software programs executed by a microprocessor. In one embodiment the EIR terminal <NUM> can comprise at least one microprocessor <NUM> and a memory <NUM>, both coupled to the system bus <NUM>, as best viewed in <FIG>.

The microprocessor <NUM> can be provided by a general purpose microprocessor or by a specialized microprocessor (e.g., an ASIC). In one embodiment, the EIR terminal <NUM> can comprise a single microprocessor which can be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU) and which can perform at least some of the functions of the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit. In another embodiment, the EIR terminal <NUM> can comprise two or more microprocessors; for example, a CPU providing some or most of the EIR functionality and a specialized microprocessor performing some of the functions of the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that different schemes of processing tasks distribution among the two or more microprocessors are within the scope of this disclosure.

The EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise one or more encoded information reading (EIR) devices <NUM>, including a bar code reading device, an RFID reading device, and a card reading device, also coupled to the system bus <NUM>. In one embodiment, an EIR reading device can be capable of outputting decoded message data corresponding to an encoded message. In another embodiment, the EIR reading device can output raw message data containing an encoded message, e.g., raw image data or raw RFID data.

Of course, devices that read bar codes, read RFID, or read cards bearing encoded information may read more than one of these categories while remaining within the scope of the invention. For example, a device that reads bar codes may include a card reader, and/or RFID reader; a device that reads RFID may also be able to read bar codes and/or cards; and a device that reads cards may be able to also read bar codes and/or RFID. For further clarity, it is not necessary that a device's primary function involve any of these functions in order to be considered such a device; for example, a cellular telephone, smartphone, or PDA that is capable of reading bar codes is a device that reads bar codes for purposes of the present invention.

The EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise a keyboard interface <NUM> and a display adapter <NUM>, both also coupled to the system bus <NUM>. The EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise a battery <NUM>.

In a further aspect, the EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise an RF front end <NUM>. In a further aspect, the EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter <NUM>, the input of which can be electrically coupled to the RF front end <NUM>. The choice of ADC can be determined by the receiver architecture, and can depend upon the selectivity of the filters, the dynamic range afforded by the front-end amplifiers, and the bandwidth and type of modulation to be processed. For example, the level or dynamic range of signals expected to be presented to the ADC will dictate the bit resolution needed for the converter. An ADC can also be specified in terms of its spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). The ADC's sensitivity can be influenced by wideband noise, including spurious noise, and can be improved through the use of an anti-aliasing filter at the input of the ADC to eliminate sampling of noise and high-frequency spurious products. To avoid aliasing when converting analog signals to the digital domain, the ADC sampling frequency must be at least twice the maximum frequency of the input analog signal. This minimum sampling condition derived from Nyquist's theorem, must be met in order to capture enough information about the input analog waveform to reconstruct it accurately. In addition to selecting an ADC for IF or baseband sampling, the choice of buffer amplifier to feed the input of the converter can affect the performance possible with a given sampling scheme. The buffer amplifier should provide the rise/fall time and transient response to preserve the modulation information of the IF or base-band signals, while also providing the good amplitude accuracy and flatness needed to provide signal amplitudes at an optimum input level to the ADC for sampling.

In another embodiment, the EIR terminal <NUM> can further comprise a digital-to-analog (DAC) converter <NUM>, the output of which can be electrically coupled to the RF front end <NUM>. In a further aspect, a DAC can be viewed as a component providing a function reversed to that of an ADC.

In a further aspect, the output of the ADC <NUM>, and the input of the DAC <NUM> can be electrically coupled to a system bus <NUM>. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other microprocessors, memory, and/or peripheral devices can be electrically coupled to the system bus <NUM> without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

In another aspect, the microprocessor <NUM> can execute a base-band encoder software program which can encode a bit stream which needs to be transmitted over a wireless medium. The encoded bit stream outputted by the base-band encoder software program can be fed to the input of the DAC <NUM>. The analog signal representative of the encoded bit stream can be outputted by the DAC <NUM> to the RF front end <NUM> in order to be transmitted over a wireless medium.

In one embodiment, the base-band encoder software program <NUM> can perform at least one of the following functions schematically shown in <FIG>: source encoding <NUM> of a bit stream <NUM>, encryption <NUM>, channel encoding <NUM>, multiplexing <NUM>, modulation <NUM>, frequency spreading <NUM>, and media access control <NUM>. In one embodiment, the remaining functions (i.e., those not implemented by the base-band encoder software program) can be implemented by one or more dedicated hardware components.

In one aspect, the source encoding function <NUM> can be provided by a process of encoding information using a different number of bits (or other information bearing units) than an un-encoded representation would use, through use of specific encoding schemes.

In another aspect, the encryption function <NUM> can be implemented by using an algorithm (cipher) suitable to transform an unencrypted ("plain text") information stream to an encrypted information stream.

In a further aspect, the channel encoding function <NUM> can be provided by a process suitable to encode the transmitted information stream into a form, which would allow guaranteed reliable information transmission at a rate close to the maximum channel capacity. According to the Shannon theorem, for a given bandwidth and signal-to-noisy ratio, the theoretical maximum channel capacity (reliable information transfer rate) for a particular noise level is defined by the following equation: <MAT>.

For any information transmission rate R < C, there exists an encoding scheme that would allow the probability of errors at the receiver to be made less than a pre-defined value ε. The channel encoding function <NUM> can select and/or implement an encoding scheme for a pre-defined value of ε.

In a further aspect, the multiplexing function <NUM> can be employed to combine multiple signals or data streams into one signal transmitted over a shared physical transmission medium (wireless channel). The multiplexing function <NUM> can implement one or more of the multiplexing technologies including TDMA (Time division multiple access), FDMA (Frequency division multiple access), CDMA (Code division multiple access), CSMA (Carrier sense multiple access), etc..

In a further aspect, the frequency spreading function <NUM> can implement one or more of the following technologies: DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum), FHSS (Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum), and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing).

In a further aspect, the media access control function <NUM> can provide addressing and channel access control mechanisms.

In another aspect, the RF front end <NUM> can output to the ADC <NUM> an analog signal representative of a signal received over the wireless medium. The ADC <NUM> can output a digital signal representative of the analog signal outputted by the RF front end <NUM>. The microprocessor <NUM> can execute a base-band decoder software program which can input the digital signal outputted by the ADC <NUM> and can decode the digital signal into a form suitable for further processing by other software programs.

In a further aspect, the base-band decoder software program <NUM> can perform at least at least one of the following functions schematically shown in <FIG>: media access control <NUM>, frequency de-spreading <NUM>, de-modulation <NUM>, de-multiplexing <NUM> the analog signal, channel decoding <NUM>, decryption <NUM>, and source decoding <NUM>. In one embodiment, the remaining functions (i.e., those not implemented by the base-band decoder software program) can be implemented by one or more dedicated hardware components.

In one aspect, each of the frequency de-spreading <NUM>, de-modulation <NUM>, de-multiplexing <NUM>, channel decoding <NUM>, decryption <NUM>, and source decoding <NUM> functions can be implemented as a reverse function of the frequency spreading <NUM>, modulation <NUM>, multiplexing <NUM>, channel encoding <NUM>, encryption <NUM>, source encoding <NUM> functions, respectively.

In another aspect, the base-band encoder software program can be implemented as two or more software programs. In another aspect, the base-band decoder software program can be implemented as two or more software programs. In a further aspect, the base-band encoder software program and the base-band decoder software program can be implemented as a single software program.

In another aspect, due to advantageously performing at least some of the source bit stream encoding functions by a software program, the EIR terminal <NUM> can be devoid of dedicated hardware components configured to implement at least one of the following functions: source encoding of said first bit stream, encryption, channel encoding, multiplexing, modulation, frequency spreading, and media access control.

In another aspect, due to advantageously performing at least some of the analog signal decoding functions by a software program, the EIR terminal <NUM> can be devoid of dedicated hardware components configured to implement at least one of the following functions: media access control, frequency de-spreading, de-modulation, de-multiplexing, channel decoding, decryption, and source decoding.

In a further aspect, the EIR terminal <NUM> can be configured to dynamically select a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, or one or more parameters of the wireless communication protocol (e.g., frequency or transmission power) to be used by the RF front end <NUM>.

Due to its ability to dynamically select a wireless communication network and a wireless communication protocol, the EIR terminal <NUM> according to the present invention can be advantageously used, e.g., by a company operating in several geographies with different wireless communication standards. Using the EIR terminal <NUM> according to the present invention would allow such a company to deploy the same EIR terminal <NUM> model in all the geographies.

In one embodiment, selection of a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, or one or more parameters of a wireless communication protocol can be performed manually by the user of the EIR terminal <NUM>. In one embodiment, the selection can be performed by scanning a pre-defined bar code. In another embodiment, the selection can be performed by the user interacting with the user interface (e.g., via a graphical user interface (GUI), or via a hardware-implemented control). A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other methods of manually selecting a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, or one or more parameters of the wireless communication protocol are within the scope of this disclosure.

In another embodiment, selection of a wireless communication network, a wireless communication protocol, or one or more parameters of the wireless communication protocol can be performed by a wireless communication protocol selector software program executed by the EIR terminal <NUM>. The wireless communication protocol selector software program can optimize a value of a user-defined criterion.

In one embodiment, the value of the user-defined criterion can be calculated based on one or more of the following parameters: frequency range, network status, signal strength, service cost, communication channel throughput, and user preferences. The user preferences can be represented, e.g., by network preference, service preference, protocol preference, or frequency preference. A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other types of user preferences are within the scope of this disclosure.

In one embodiment, the value of the user-defined criterion can be calculated as a weighted sum of components each of which is represented by either a parameter itself (e.g., the signal strength) or a difference between the value of a parameter and the desired value of the parameter (e.g., communication channel throughput). In another embodiment, the value of the user-defined criterion can be calculated as a square root of a weighted sum of squares of components each of which is represented by either a parameter itself (e.g., the signal strength) or a difference between the value of a parameter and the desired value of the parameter (e.g., communication channel throughput). A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other methods of calculating the user-defined criterion value are within the scope of this disclosure.

For example, if a user is more concerned about the cost than about other communication parameters, the user would want the user-defined criterion to yield the cheapest covered service provider (while the bandwidth, frequency range, and/or network protocol can possibly be secondary factors affecting the service provider and/or network selection). In another example, if a user is more concerned about the signal quality than about other communication parameters, the user would want the user-defined criterion to yield the network with best quality (while the cost can be a secondary factor affecting the service provider and/or network selection). In a yet another example, if a user is more concerned about maintaining uninterrupted communication session than about other communication parameters, the user would want the user-defined criterion to yield the network with best connection reliability (while the bandwidth, frequency range, and/or network protocol can possibly be secondary factors affecting the service provider and/or network selection). A skilled artisan would appreciate the fact that other methods of defining the user-defined criterion are within the scope of this disclosure.

In one embodiment, the EIR terminal <NUM> can be configured to search beacon signals over a pre-defined frequency range (e.g., between <NUM> and <NUM>), and then select a wireless communication network and/or frequency channel which would produce the optimal value of the user-defined criterion.

In one embodiment, the value of the user-defined criterion can be calculated immediately before the EIR terminal <NUM> attempts to initiate a communication session, so that a wireless communication network and/or a wireless communication protocol can be chosen which would optimize the user-defined criterion.

In another embodiment, the value of the user-defined criterion can be calculated periodically at established time intervals so that the EIR terminal <NUM> can change the wireless communication network and/or the wireless communication protocol between communication sessions or during a communication session if a wireless communication network and/or a wireless communication protocol is detected yielding a value of the user-defined criterion which is closer to the optimum than that of the current network or protocol. In yet another embodiment, the value of a user-defined criterion can be calculated responsive to a pre-defined event (e.g., the signal quality falling below a pre-defined level, or the signal quality exceeding a pre-defined threshold), so that the EIR terminal <NUM> can automatically (i.e., without user intervention) change the wireless communication network and/or the wireless communication protocol between communication sessions or during a communication session. Thus, the EIR terminal <NUM> can always maintain a network connection irrespectively of changing external conditions (e.g., when the terminal is physically moved).

Form factors and housings for the EIR terminal <NUM> according to the invention are now being described. The components of EIR terminal <NUM> can be incorporated into a variety of different housings. As indicated by the embodiment of <FIG>, the components of <FIG> can be incorporated into a hand held housing <NUM>. EIR terminal <NUM> of <FIG> is in the form factor of a hand held portable data terminal. EIR terminal <NUM> as shown in <FIG> includes a keyboard <NUM>, a display <NUM> having an associated touch screen overlay, a card reader <NUM>, and an imaging module <NUM> which includes the components of imaging assembly as described herein; namely, image sensor array incorporated on an image sensor IC chip. Imaging module <NUM> has an associated imaging axis, ai. As indicated by the side view of <FIG>, the components of the block diagram of <FIG> may be supported within housing <NUM> on a plurality of circuit boards <NUM>. Imaging module <NUM> may include an image sensor array having color sensitive pixels as described in <CIT>, <CIT>, <CIT>, and <CIT>, all of which are entitled Digital Picture Taking Optical Reader Having Hybrid Monochrome And Color Image Sensor, and all of which are incorporated herein by reference.

In the embodiment of <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> is in the form of a transaction terminal which may be configured as a retail purchase transaction terminal or as a price verifier. Housing <NUM> of the transaction terminal shown in <FIG> is configured to be portable so that it can be moved from location to location and is further configured to be replaceably mounted on a fixed structure such as a fixed structure of a cashier station or a fixed structure of the retail store floor (e.g., a shelf, a column <NUM> best viewed in <FIG>). Referring to bottom view of <FIG>, the housing <NUM> of the EIR terminal <NUM> has formations <NUM> facilitating the replaceable mounting of EIR terminal <NUM> on a fixed structure. Referring now to <FIG>, EIR terminal <NUM> includes a display <NUM> having an associated touch screen 504T, a card reader <NUM>, an imaging module <NUM>, and a luminous shroud <NUM>. When light from the illumination block (not shown in <FIG>) strikes luminous shroud <NUM>, the shroud glows to attract attention to the location of imaging assembly. In certain operating modes as indicated in <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> in accordance with any of <FIG>, displays on display <NUM> a PIN entry screen prompting a customer to enter PIN information into touch screen 504T. In other operating modes, as indicated in <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> displays on display <NUM> a signature prompt screen prompting a customer to enter signature information into the device with use of a stylus <NUM>.

Referring to <FIG>, various installation configurations for the EIR terminal of <FIG> are shown. In the view of <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> is installed as a retail purchase transaction terminal at a point of sale cashier station. In the setup of <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> is configured as a retail purchase transaction terminal and is utilized to aid and facilitate retail transactions at a point of sale. A customer may enter a credit card or a debit card into card reader <NUM> and retail purchase transaction terminal may transmit the credit card information to credit/debit authorization network.

In the view of <FIG>, the EIR terminal <NUM> is configured as a price verifier to aid customers in checking prices of products located on a store floor. EIR terminal <NUM> may be mounted on a shelf (not shown in <FIG>) or on a column <NUM> or other fixed structure of the retail store. EIR terminal <NUM> may decode bar code data from bar codes on store products and transmit decoded out bar code messages to a store server for lookup of price information which is sent back from the store server to terminal <NUM> for display on display <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An encoded information reading terminal (<NUM>) comprising an RF front end (<NUM>) of a wireless communication interface (<NUM>) of the terminal (<NUM>),
wherein the RF front end (<NUM>) is configured to search beacon signals over a pre-defined frequency range and, between communication sessions or during a communication session, select a wireless communication network that optimizes a value of a user-defined criterion, responsive to detecting a user action.