Patent ID: 8494586

Claim:
A communication system, comprising: a modular wireless communicator comprising: a connector for connecting the communicator to any one of a plurality of jacket devices via a plurality of signal transmission lines, whereby the communicator receives its inputs from the jacket device that is currently connected thereto; a controller, communicatively coupled with said connector, for receiving and identifying jacket identification signals that identify a jacket device that is connected to the communicator, for receiving and identifying user input signals generated by input controls from the identified jacket device, and for decoding the user input signals based on the jacket identification signals, wherein the jacket identification signals represent an n-bit encoded jacket identifier where n is no greater than the number of signal transmission lines; and a modem, communicatively coupled with said controller, for transmitting data over the air in response to the decoded user input signals; and a plurality of jacket devices, each jacket device comprising: a vibrator controlled by a signal received from said communicator over one of the signal transmission lines; a backlight driver controlled by a signal received from said communicator over another one of the signal transmission lines; input controls for receiving user input and generating corresponding user input signals; and a connector, communicatively coupled with said input controls, for connecting the jacket device to said communicator and for transmitting, over others of the signal transmission lines, the jacket identification signals and the user input signals to said communicator controller, wherein the jacket identification signals are transmitted over the same signal transmission lines as at least some of the input signals.