U.S. patent application number 13/156077 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-13 for systems and methods for communicating with a paging network operations center through wireless cellular devices.
Invention is credited to Ted McNaught, Ed Meyercord, Stephen Oshinsky.
Application Number | 20120315929 13/156077 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 45833520 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-13 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120315929 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oshinsky; Stephen ; et
al. |
December 13, 2012 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH A PAGING NETWORK
OPERATIONS CENTER THROUGH WIRELESS CELLULAR DEVICES
Abstract
Systems, methods, and media are provided for facilitating
bidirectional communication between a wireless device, such as
cellular device, and a paging operator's network operations center
(NOC). Messages from the paging NOC are received over a paging
network through paging circuitry included in the wireless device.
Certain embodiments are directed to systems and methods for
transmitting status messages or response messages pertaining to the
received messages from the wireless device to the paging NOC
through an alternate network, such as a cellular network or the
Internet. Other embodiments are directed to systems and methods for
displaying the received messages, and for determining and
displaying user response actions, based on data included in the
messages and/or stored on the wireless device. These systems and
methods take advantage of the benefits provided by paging and
wireless devices in order to maximize the reliability and minimize
the delay associated with the messaging system.
Inventors: |
Oshinsky; Stephen; (Madison,
MS) ; Meyercord; Ed; (Princeton, NJ) ;
McNaught; Ted; (Windham, ME) |
Family ID: |
45833520 |
Appl. No.: |
13/156077 |
Filed: |
June 8, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/458 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04W 88/02 20130101;
H04W 84/025 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/458 |
International
Class: |
H04W 68/02 20090101
H04W068/02 |
Claims
1. A wireless device for communicating with a paging network
operations center, the device comprising: an application processor;
display circuitry coupled to the application processor; a cellular
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
transceiver coupled to the cellular baseband processor and adapted
to establish a radio connection with a cellular network; a paging
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
receiver coupled to the paging baseband processor and adapted to
establish a radio connection with a paging network and to receive a
paging message from the paging network operations center through
the established radio connection; and wherein, in response to
receiving the paging message, the application processor is adapted
to: transfer the message to the display circuitry for display; and
cause a status message pertaining to the paging message to be
transmitted to the paging network operations center through a
cellular or Internet connection.
2. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein a receiver
portion of the RF transceiver includes the RF receiver.
3. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein at least two
of the application processor, the cellular baseband processor and
the paging baseband processor are integrated within a single
processor.
4. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the Internet
connection is selected from the group consisting of a wireless
network connection, a wired network connection, and a combination
of a wireless network connection and a wired network
connection.
5. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the status
message includes an acknowledgement that the paging message has
been received successfully.
6. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the status
message includes a notification of an error in the receipt of the
paging message.
7. The wireless device according to claim 6, wherein the wireless
device is adapted to receive a retransmitted message including
content that is substantially similar to the content of the paging
message through the radio connection with the paging network in
response to transmitting the status message to the paging network
operations center.
8. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the
application processor is adapted to: receive a notification that
the paging message has been read; and cause the status message to
be transmitted to the paging network operations center in response
to receiving the notification, wherein the status message includes
an acknowledgement that the paging message has been read.
9. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the
application processor is adapted to determine whether the RF
receiver has established a radio connection with the paging
network.
10. The wireless device according to claim 9, wherein the
application processor is adapted to cause a connection status
message to be transmitted to the paging network operations center
in response to determining that the radio connection has not been
established, wherein the connection status message includes a
notification that a radio connection cannot be established with the
paging network.
11. The wireless device according to claim 10, wherein the wireless
device is adapted to receive a retransmitted message through the
cellular or Internet connection in response to transmitting the
connection status message to the paging network operations center,
wherein the retransmitted message includes content that is
substantially similar to the content of the paging message.
12. The wireless device according to claim 9, wherein the
application processor is adapted to cause a connection status
message to be transmitted to the paging network operations center
in response to determining that the radio connection has been
established, wherein the second connection status message includes
a notification that RF receiver has established a radio connection
with the paging network.
13. A wireless device for communicating with a paging network
operations center, the device comprising: an application processor;
display circuitry coupled to the application processor; a cellular
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
transceiver coupled to the cellular baseband processor and adapted
to establish a radio connection with a cellular network; a paging
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
receiver coupled to the paging baseband processor and adapted to:
establish a radio connection with a paging network; and receive a
paging message from the paging network operations center through
the radio connection with the paging network, the paging message
including a message priority attribute; and wherein, in response to
receiving the paging message, the application processor is adapted
to: transfer the paging message to the display circuitry; and cause
the display circuitry to display the paging message based at least
in part on the message priority attribute.
14. The wireless device according to claim 13, wherein the message
priority attribute includes a priority level for the paging
message.
15. The wireless device according to claim 13, wherein the message
priority attribute includes a classification for the paging
message.
16. The wireless device according to claim 13, wherein the
application processor is adapted to: detect whether an application
is executing on the wireless device; determine whether the
execution of the application should be interrupted based at least
in part on the message priority attribute; and cause, in response
to determining that the execution of the application should be
interrupted, the display circuitry to display the paging
message.
17. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the message
priority attribute includes a priority level and the application
processor is adapted to determine whether the execution of the
application should be interrupted by comparing the priority level
to a threshold priority level.
18. The wireless device according to claim 16, wherein the message
priority attribute includes a priority level, the wireless device
includes a stored list of one or more application priority levels
and the application processor is adapted to determine whether the
execution of the application should be interrupted by: identifying
an application priority level for the application from the stored
list of one or more application priority levels; and comparing the
priority level to the application priority level.
19. The wireless device according to claim 18, wherein the stored
list of one or more application priority levels is customizable
based on a user of the wireless device.
20. The wireless device according to claim 17, wherein in response
to determining that the execution of the application should not be
interrupted the application processor is adapted to: store the
paging message in memory; store an attribute with the paging
message that indicates that the paging message has not been
displayed; and generate an alert that indicates the paging message
has been received.
21. The wireless device according to claim 13, wherein the
application processor is adapted to: determine a color scheme for
the paging message based at least in part on the message priority
attribute; and cause the display circuitry to display the message
based on the color scheme.
22. The wireless device according to claim 21, wherein the message
priority attribute indicates that the paging message pertains to a
code blue event and the paging message is displayed with a blue
color scheme.
23. The wireless device according to claim 21, application
processor is adapted to determine a color scheme for the paging
message based on a stored list of one or more message color
schemes.
24. The wireless device according to claim 23, wherein the stored
list of one or more message color schemes is customizable based on
a user of the wireless device.
25. A wireless device for communicating with a paging network
operations center, the device comprising: an application processor;
display circuitry coupled to the application processor; a cellular
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
transceiver coupled to the cellular baseband processor and adapted
to establish a radio connection with a cellular network; a paging
baseband processor coupled to the application processor; an RF
receiver coupled to the paging baseband processor and adapted to:
establish a radio connection with a paging network; and receive a
paging message from the paging network operations center through
the radio connection with the paging network; and wherein, in
response to receiving the paging message, the application processor
is further adapted to: determine a plurality of user response
actions based at least in part on the paging message; and cause the
display circuitry to display a selectable response menu that
includes one or more of the plurality of user response actions.
26. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the
application processor is adapted to determine one or more of the
plurality of user response actions by: identifying a searchable
item from the paging message; and comparing the searchable item to
data stored in a memory of the wireless device.
27. The wireless device according to claim 26, wherein the
searchable item is selected from the group consisting of a name, a
username, a phone number, an address, an email address, and a
URL.
28. The wireless device according to claim 26 wherein the
application processor is adapted to compare the searchable item to
data stored in the memory by determining whether the searchable
item matches an entry in a contact list stored in the memory.
29. The wireless device according to claim 28 wherein, in response
to determining that the one or more searchable items matches an
entry in the contact list, the application processor is adapted to:
determine one or more response mechanisms from the matched entry;
and generate one or more of the plurality of user response actions
based on the one or more response mechanisms.
30. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the paging
message includes one or more predefined responses and the
application processor is adapted to determine one or more of the
plurality of user response actions based on the one or more
predefined responses.
31. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the paging
message includes an attribute that indicates that the paging
message was transmitted to one or more other recipients, and the
selectable response menu includes an option to transmit a response
to the sender of the paging message and the one or more other
recipients.
32. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the wireless
device includes a stored list of predetermined responses and the
selectable response menu includes an option to transmit a response
based on one or more of the predetermined responses.
33. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the
selectable response menu includes an option to input a custom
response.
34. The wireless device according to claim 25, wherein the
application processor is adapted to: receive a notification that
one of the plurality of user response actions has been selected;
and cause a response message to be transmitted based on the
selected user response action.
35. The wireless device according to claim 34, wherein the response
message includes an attribute indicating that the response message
should be delivered to one or more specified recipients.
36. The wireless device according to claim 34, wherein the response
message is transmitted over a network selected from the group
consisting of a cellular network and the Internet.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to systems and
methods for facilitating bidirectional communication between
wireless devices, such as cellular devices, and a paging operator's
network operations center (NOC). More specifically, certain
embodiments are directed to systems and methods for displaying and
responding to messages received over a paging network at a wireless
cellular device having embedded paging circuitry, and for
transmitting status messages back to the paging NOC through a
secondary network, such as a cellular network or the Internet.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Both pagers and wireless devices, such as cellular
telephones, are widely used forms of communication. Although a few
two-way paging systems have been developed, paging systems are
typically one-way radio communications systems. In order to send a
message to a user who has a paging device, the sender contacts a
paging NOC, usually via a telephone or computer network. Upon
accessing the paging NOC, the sender can perform certain
operations, including inputting a call-back number or message to be
sent to the paging device or leaving a voice message for the user
of the paging device. The paging NOC can then deliver the call-back
number, message or the voice message to the paging device through a
paging network using standard Over-The-Air protocols, such as
POCSAG or FLEX.
[0003] Wireless cellular devices, on the other hand, typically
communicate through bidirectional communication systems. Most of
these devices allow for real-time bidirectional communication. For
example, when an individual wishes to contact a user who has a
cellular telephone, the individual usually dials the number
associated with the cellular telephone from the individual's
cellular or landline telephone. Once a connection is established
between the two telephones, voice and other data are transmitted to
and from the cellular telephone through a cellular network, using
standard cellular protocols such as GSM or CDMA.
[0004] The transmitters used in paging systems typically operate at
a higher power level than the transceivers used in cellular
systems. Accordingly, the coverage area associated with individual
transmission towers in paging systems is often greater than the
coverage area associated with individual transmission and reception
towers in cellular systems. For similar reasons, paging systems
also tend to provide greater penetration than cellular telephone
systems. Moreover, unlike cellular systems, paging systems have the
ability to simulcast transmissions by utilizing constructive
interference to strengthen the signal, which further increases the
coverage area and penetration of the paging signals. As a result of
these differences, paging service is frequently available in
certain geographic areas and environments where cellular telephone
service is not available.
[0005] In addition, due to their configuration, paging systems
typically allow for multicasting of paging communications to
multiple devices. Thus, a paging system can broadcast information
to a large number of users simultaneously. Conversely, cellular
telephone systems typically only allow for messages to be
transmitted sequentially (i.e., to a single cellular device at a
time), and cannot broadcast messages to a specific group of users
simultaneously. Paging systems, therefore, generally provide
increased reliability with respect to the delivery and receipt of
communications as compared to cellular telephone systems.
[0006] The need to subscribe to a paging service (in addition to a
cellular service) is important for many users, such as those who
work in certain time-sensitive professions. This is primarily due
to the higher degree of reliability and timeliness provided by
paging systems. This is especially true for people working in
certain fields, such as medical personnel and emergency workers,
who are often required to carry a paging device in addition to
their cellular telephone. In these, and other, professions,
messages need to be received as reliably and as quickly as
possible. For example, in hospitals, minutes and even seconds often
make the difference between life and death. The ability to deliver
messages to doctors and other medical personnel quickly and
reliably decreases the response time for medical emergencies. In
turn, this can often decrease negative impacts to patient health
associated with the time taken to respond to the medical emergency.
Similarly, many emergency workers need to receive messages reliably
and with minimal delay in order to respond and react effectively to
various emergency situations. Frequently, these emergencies involve
life-threatening situations, in which rapid response time is vital.
As a result, in these professions, even small increases in the
reliability, or decreases in the delay, of message delivery and
receipt can significantly impact the number of lives benefitted or
saved.
[0007] Additionally, there has been a substantial rise over the
last two decades in terrorist attacks and "active shooter" events.
A common problem associated with these events is a lack of ability
to immediately transmit mass notification messages to individuals
in the threat area. Without the ability to broadcast messages,
there is no practical way to provide potential victims with status
notifications in real-time. Also, these events are often widespread
and can involve a large number of emergency or response personnel.
As a result, another common problem has been the lack of ability to
simultaneously provide status notifications and instructions to
update and coordinate such personnel in real-time. These issues
have further emphasized the potential benefits to subscribing to
both paging and cellular services.
[0008] In order to subscribe to both paging and cellular services,
however, consumers typically have to carry, monitor and maintain
two separate devices. This leads to a number of inconveniences with
respect to the portability, cost and ease of use of these devices.
While systems have been developed that provide an aggregated pager
and cellular telephone (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,117,449), these
systems have merely attached the two devices together, or combined
the devices within a single housing, in an apparent attempt to
address the problem of owning and carrying separate devices. In
these systems, the pager and cellular telephone typically operate
as separate devices or components within the aggregate device. As a
result, these aggregate devices have exhibited a number of
drawbacks and limitations, which have resulted in their failure to
be adopted by consumers in any meaningful way.
[0009] For example, one drawback to these aggregate devices is that
they do not provide for status messages, such as acknowledgements,
and responses to be sent back to the paging NOC that delivered the
paging message. Another drawback is that these devices do not
provide for the delivery of paging messages through an alternate
path, such as a cellular network or the Internet, in the unusual
circumstances where paging network service is weak or unavailable.
These functionalities are crucial to many paging users, such as
those working in time-sensitive and/or emergency situations,
because they allow for a more efficient, reliable and timely
messaging system. Accordingly, there is a need for an integrated
pager and wireless device that addresses these drawbacks and, in
turn, maximizes the reliability and minimizes the delay of the
messaging system.
[0010] Other systems have been developed in which a pager, that is
connected to or combined with a cellular telephone, is used to
"wake-up," or initiate a call with, the cellular telephone (e.g.,
U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,337). The purpose of these systems, however, is
to conserve the battery life of the cellular device by allowing the
cellular device to go into sleep mode or power down and then be
"woken-up" by the pager prior to an incoming telephone call, rather
than to allow for both cellular and paging functionality in a
single device. As a result, these systems do not provide users with
paging service in addition to cellular telephone service.
Accordingly, these systems do not allow users to receive and view
paging messages on the user's cellular telephone or wireless
device.
[0011] More recently, systems have also been created which have
attempted to use cellular networks in order to mimic the services
offered by paging systems (e.g., PageCopy by American Messaging;
and MessageSync by Indiana Paging). These systems provide users
with an application that can be installed on their cellular
telephone or other wireless device that receives and displays
certain messages on the device. These systems, however, do not
utilize a paging network and, as such, do not provide a user with
true paging services. Instead, these systems merely use the
cellular capabilities of the user's device to deliver messages to
the device through a cellular network thereby mimicking a paging
message. As a result, these systems do not provide users with the
advantages associated with true paging network services, such as
greater coverage areas, penetration, timeliness, and reliability,
as well as the ability to receive multi-casted messages.
[0012] Thus, there is a need for a system which combines the
features and advantages of wireless devices, paging devices and
their associated networks into a single device, while maximizing
the reliability and minimizing the delay of delivering messages to
users. There is also a need for a system which can display paging
messages based on the priority of the messages. There is further a
need for a system which can generate and display possible response
actions based on the received messages and/or data stored on the
device. There is still further a need for the ability to broadcast
emergency messages to a large number of users simultaneously. In
light of the beneficial qualities of paging systems, such as
greater coverage areas, penetration and timeliness, as well as
multicasting, it would be desirable to provide a system which
allows users to receive, view, and respond to messages received
through a paging network on wireless devices, such as cellular
telephones, and which provides status messages back to the paging
NOC, including status messages that indicate successful delivery,
receipt, and/or acknowledgement of the received paging
messages.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] One aspect of the invention is to deliver paging messages to
users of other devices in a manner that maximizes the reliability
and minimizes the delay associated with the delivery and receipt of
such messages. Another aspect of the invention is to provide a
cellular or other wireless device that allows users to receive
messages over a paging network and to view and respond to such
messages without the need for a separate paging device. Yet another
aspect of the invention is to provide such a device that is capable
of bidirectional communication with a paging NOC. Yet another
aspect of the invention is provide such a device that allows for
the transmission of status messages pertaining to the received
paging messages and the status of the connection to the paging
network, as well as response messages back to the paging NOC
through a secondary network such as a cellular network or the
Internet. Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide such a
device that displays received paging messages based on their
priorities. Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide such
a device that can determine a number of user response actions based
on data included in the received paging messages, and/or data
stored on the device, and display the response actions to the user.
Yet another aspect of the invention is to provide a system in which
emergency messages can be broadcasted reliably and simultaneously
to a large group of users.
[0014] The above and other aspects may be realized through systems
and methods for communicating with a paging NOC through a wireless
device. In certain embodiments, systems and methods are provided
for receiving messages from a paging NOC at a cellular or other
wireless device through a radio connection established between the
wireless device and a paging network. The wireless device includes
an application processor, display circuitry and paging circuitry.
The paging circuitry includes a paging baseband processor and a
paging RF receiver. In certain embodiments, the paging RF receiver
may be a separate receiver. In other embodiments, the paging RF
receiver may be incorporated within an existing receiver or
transceiver of the wireless device. The paging RF receiver
establishes a radio connection with the paging network. In response
to receiving a message from the paging network, the paging RF
receiver transfers the received message to the application
processor and the application processor causes the display
circuitry to display the message.
[0015] In certain embodiments, the wireless device may be any
device capable of receiving and transmitting messages over a
cellular network, such as a cellular telephone, smartphone, PDA, or
tablet. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, the
wireless device includes a cellular baseband processor and a
cellular RF transceiver which establishes a radio connection with a
cellular network. In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
the paging RF receiver is included within a receiver portion of the
cellular RF transceiver. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, the cellular baseband processor and the application
processor comprise a single processor.
[0016] In certain embodiments, the wireless device may be any
device capable of establishing a connection with a second network,
other than the paging network, such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, the Internet
or a dedicated network. In certain of these embodiments, the
wireless device includes an RF transceiver which establishes a
radio connection to the Internet. In certain other embodiments, the
wireless device includes circuitry for establishing a wired
connection to the Internet.
[0017] In accordance with certain of these embodiments, status
messages, such as acknowledgements that a paging message has been
successfully received or read, error messages and/or messages
indicating the status of the connection between the wireless device
and the paging network, can be transmitted from the wireless device
to the paging NOC. In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
the status messages are transmitted to the paging NOC through a
cellular network and a connection between the cellular network and
the paging NOC. In other embodiments, the status messages are
transmitted to the paging NOC through a direct network connection
between the wireless device and the paging NOC, such as an Internet
connection.
[0018] In certain embodiments, in response to transmitting a status
message to the paging NOC that the paging network is unavailable,
the wireless device can receive retransmitted paging messages from
the paging NOC through an alternate network. In accordance with
certain of these embodiments, the wireless device receives the
retransmitted paging messages through a cellular network. In other
embodiments, the wireless device receives the retransmitted paging
messages through a direct network connection between the paging NOC
and the wireless device, such as an Internet connection.
[0019] In certain embodiments, the paging messages received by the
wireless device from the paging NOC may include a message priority
attribute. The message priority attributes indicate a priority
level or priority group for the received messages. The application
processor of the wireless device can cause the display circuitry to
display the message based, in part, on the message priority
attribute.
[0020] In accordance with certain of these embodiments, the
application processor determines whether a process executing on the
wireless device, such as an application, should be interrupted to
display the received message based, based at least in part, on the
message priority attribute. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, the application processor interrupts the executing
process in response to determining that a priority associated with
the executing process is lower than the priority of the received
message. In certain embodiments, the priorities of applications and
processes on the wireless device are customizable by a user of the
wireless device.
[0021] In certain embodiments, the application processor determines
the manner in which to display the received paging message based,
at least in part, on the message priority attribute included with
the message. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, the
application processor may determine a color scheme for displaying
the message. In accordance with certain of these embodiments these
color schemes are customizable by a user, or based on the type of
user, of the wireless device.
[0022] In certain embodiments, the application processor determines
a plurality of user response actions based, in part, on the
received paging message. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, one or more of the user response actions are
determined based on responses included with the received paging
message. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, one or
more of the user response actions are determined based on responses
stored in the wireless devices. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, the user response actions include the ability to
receive a custom response message through a user interface of the
wireless device.
[0023] In certain embodiments, the application processor determines
one or more searchable items based on the received paging message.
The application processor compares the searchable items to data
stored in the wireless device, such as contact lists, and, in
response to detecting a match, the application processor can
determine one or more user response actions.
[0024] In certain embodiments, the application processor determines
a selectable response list based on the user response actions. The
application processor causes the display circuitry to display the
selectable response list. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, the application processor can receive a notification
through a user interface that one of the response actions has been
selected. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, a
response message can be transmitted from the wireless device to the
paging NOC through the cellular network and a connection between
the cellular network and the paging NOC, or through a direct
network connection with the paging NOC, such as an Internet
connection.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0025] Further features of the invention, its nature and various
advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed
description of the preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters refer
to like parts throughout, and in which:
[0026] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the interactions
between various components, including the wireless device and the
paging NOC, according to certain embodiments;
[0027] FIG. 2 is a schematic of a portion of the wireless device of
FIG. 1 in accordance with certain embodiments;
[0028] FIG. 3 is a schematic of a portion of the wireless device of
FIG. 1 in accordance with other embodiments;
[0029] FIG. 4 is a schematic of a portion of the wireless device of
FIG. 1 in accordance with yet other embodiments;
[0030] FIG. 5 is a schematic of a portion of the wireless device of
FIG. 1 in accordance with further embodiments;
[0031] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of a process that may be used by
the wireless device in accordance with certain embodiments;
[0032] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of another process that may be used
by the wireless device in accordance with certain embodiments;
[0033] FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of yet another process that may be
used by the wireless device in accordance with certain
embodiments;
[0034] FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating information that may
be stored and used by the wireless device according to certain
embodiments;
[0035] FIG. 10 is a schematic illustrating a portion of the
wireless device according to certain embodiments; and
[0036] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram of yet another process that may be
used by the wireless device in accordance with certain
embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0037] As discussed above, pagers and wireless devices such as
cellular telephones have typically been separate devices which
operate independently. To reduce the inconvenience of having to
own, manage and monitor two separate devices, a wireless device is
provided having paging circuitry such that the wireless device can
communicate with a paging operator's network operations center
(NOC) through a radio connection established between the wireless
device and the paging NOC through a paging network. Certain
embodiments allow the wireless device to receive paging messages
from the paging NOC through the radio connection established over
the paging network and to display received paging messages at the
wireless device. Certain embodiments allow information, such as
status messages and response messages, to be transmitted back to
the paging NOC through a second network, such as a cellular network
or the Internet. Certain other embodiments allow the wireless
device to display the received paging messages based on a message
priority attribute pertaining to the messages. Yet other
embodiments allow for a plurality of user response actions to be
determined based on the received paging messages and data stored on
the wireless device. The wireless device displays a selectable
response menu based on the plurality of user response actions. As
used herein, the term "message" means a communication comprising
one or more alphanumeric characters intended to be displayed to the
recipient. The term "display," as used herein, means a visual,
audible, or tactile display or any combination thereof. The systems
and methods described below take advantage of the benefits provided
by both paging devices and wireless devices in order to maximize
the level of reliability with respect to the delivery and receipt
of paging messages sent to users.
[0038] FIG. 1 is a pictorial diagram of a paging and cellular
system in accordance with certain embodiments. The system includes
Paging NOC 300 which coordinates and manages the delivery of paging
messages. Paging NOC 300 utilizes a paging network including paging
transmitter tower 350 to transmit messages to paging devices
through narrowband paging signal 360. Narrowband paging signal 360
may be transmitted in accordance with any standard paging protocol
such as FLEX, POCSAG, or any other suitable protocol. Also shown in
FIG. 1 is Cellular NOC 400 which coordinates and manages the
communications to and from cellular devices. Cellular NOC 400
utilizes a cellular network including cellular transceiver tower
450 to transmit and receive voice and data to and from wireless
devices such as cellular devices through cellular signal 460.
Cellular signal 460 may be transmitted in accordance with any a
standard cellular protocol such as GSM, CDMA, PHS, or any other
suitable protocol. As shown in FIG. 1, Paging NOC 300 and Cellular
NOC 400 communicate with each other through network 500. Network
500 can be a local area network, VPN connection, the Internet, or
any other suitable connection. It will be appreciated that Paging
NOC 300 and Cellular NOC 400 may utilize a plurality of paging
transmitter towers and cellular transceiver towers, respectively,
although only one of each is shown for illustration purposes. The
transmission of paging signals from Paging NOCs to paging devices
and the transmission of cellular signals from Cellular NOCs to
cellular and other wireless devices is well known in the art.
[0039] Also shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a wireless device 100.
Wireless device 100 receives paging messages sent by Paging NOC 300
through paging transmitter tower 350 using narrowband paging signal
360. In certain embodiments, wireless device 100 also receives
various attributes associated with the received messages, such as a
message priority attribute or one or more predefined responses,
from paging NOC 300. In certain of these embodiments, as discussed
in the description that follows, wireless device 100 can use these
attributes to determine when and how to display the received
messages. In certain embodiments, wireless device 100 can use these
attributes, as well as the received messages themselves, to
determine user response actions for the received messages.
[0040] In certain embodiments, such as is illustrated in FIG. 1,
wireless device 100 can be a cellular telephone or any other PDA,
tablet, smartphone, or handheld device equipped with some or all of
the circuitry shown in any of FIGS. 2-5 and capable of wireless
communication as discussed in the description that follows.
Wireless device 100 receives cellular signals 460 from, and
transmits cellular signals to (e.g., signals sent and received over
mobile carrier networks), Cellular NOC 400 through cellular
transceiver tower 450. In certain of these embodiments, wireless
device 100 can communicate with Paging NOC 300 through Cellular NOC
400 and network 500. Accordingly, wireless device 100 can transmit
various status messages, such as acknowledgements that the message
has been received successfully or read, notifications of the status
of the connection to the paging network, and error notifications,
as well as response messages, to Paging NOC 300 through cellular
NOC 400 and network 500. In certain of these embodiments, such as
where the status message is an error notification or a notification
indicating that the wireless device is unable to establish a
connection to the paging network, wireless device 100 can receive
retransmitted paging messages from Paging NOC 300 over the cellular
network through network 500 and cellular NOC 400.
[0041] In certain embodiments, as is also illustrated in FIG. 1,
wireless device 100 can communicate with Paging NOC 300 through a
direct connection to network 500, such as a WiFi connection
(without going through Cellular NOC 400). In yet other embodiments,
wireless device 100 can communicate with Paging NOC 300 through a
dedicated network or any other suitable network connection. In
certain of these embodiments, wireless device 100 can transmit the
status and response messages to Paging NOC 300, such as through the
direct connection to network 500 or a dedicated network connection
to Paging NOC 300. In certain of these embodiments, such as where
the status message is an error notification or a notification
indicating that the wireless device is unable to establish a
connection to the paging network, wireless device 100 can receive
retransmitted paging messages from Paging NOC 300 through the
direct connection to network 500 or through a dedicated network
connection to Paging NOC 300.
[0042] One advantage of the systems and methods described herein,
as can be seen in FIG. 1 and its accompanying description, is the
ability for users to receive, view and respond to paging messages
received from a paging NOC through a paging network on a cellular
or other wireless device. In turn, this allows users to subscribe
to paging (as well as cellular) services while only having to own,
operate and monitor one device. Another advantage is that status
and response messages can be sent back to the paging NOC from the
wireless device through a secondary network such as a cellular
network and/or Internet connection. Yet another advantage is that
the wireless device can receive retransmitted messages through such
secondary connection, such as in circumstances where the wireless
device is unable to connect to the paging network. As a result, the
reliability, portability and ease-of-use of the messaging system is
increased.
[0043] FIGS. 2 through 5 are block diagrams which illustrate a
portion of a wireless device suitable for use in accordance with
certain embodiments. As shown in FIG. 2, in certain embodiments,
wireless device 100 includes Cellular RF Transceiver 110 and
Cellular Baseband ("BB") Processor 120, which may be any standard
cellular transceiver components capable of receiving and decoding,
as well as encoding and transmitting, voice and/or data signals
over a cellular network, such as a GSM, CDMA, PHS, or any other
suitable cellular network. Cellular RF Transceiver 110 utilizes one
or more antennas, such as antennas 190 and 191, to transmit the
signals to, and receive the signals from, the cellular network. In
certain embodiments, such as is illustrated in FIG. 2, antennas 190
and 191 may be separate antennas. For example, antenna 190 may
transmit and receive cellular signals over a frequency range of
approximately 1.8-2.0 Gigahertz, while antenna 191 may transmit and
receive cellular signals over a frequency range of approximately
0.8-0.9 Gigahertz. In other embodiments, antennas 190 and 191 may
be a single antenna that is capable of transmitting and receiving
cellular signals over one or more different cellular frequency
ranges.
[0044] Cellular RF Transceiver 110 passes voice and/or data signals
to, and receives voice and/or data signals from, Cellular BB
Processor 120. Cellular BB Processor 120, in turn, decodes the
voice and/or data signals received from Cellular RF Transceiver 110
and passes the decoded signals to Application Processor 150.
Likewise, Cellular BB Processor 120 encodes the voice and/or data
signals received from Application Processor 150 and passes the
decoded signals to Cellular RF Transceiver 110. Application
Processor 150 may be any standard computer processor, such as a
CPU, microprocessor, or any other suitable type of computer
processor, control unit or computer circuitry. Although Cellular RF
Receiver 110, Cellular BB Processor 120 and Application Processor
150 are shown in FIG. 2 as separate components, in certain
embodiments two or more of these components may be combined into a
single chip. In certain other embodiments, Cellular BB Processor
120 may be specialized firmware or software running on a separate
processor, or may be software code running on Application Processor
150.
[0045] According to certain other embodiments, wireless device 100
may also be any wireless device that is capable of communicating
one or more networks other than the paging network, such as
cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, the Internet, and/or any other suitable
networks. For example, wireless device 100 may be a PDA, tablet,
laptop, smartphone, etc. In certain of these embodiments, wireless
device may include a WiFi transceiver that can establish a
connection to network 500 and transmit status and response messages
to, and receive retransmitted paging messages from, paging NOC 300
through such connection.
[0046] As shown in FIG. 2, wireless device 100 also includes Paging
RF Receiver 130 and Paging BB Processor 140, which may be any
standard paging receiver components capable of receiving and
decoding paging signals 360 over a paging network, such as FLEX or
POCSAG, or any other suitable paging network. Paging RF Receiver
130 utilizes one or more antennas, such as antenna 192, to receive
the signals from the paging network. In certain embodiments, such
as is illustrated in FIG. 2, antenna 192 may be a separate antenna.
In other embodiments, as described in more detail below, antenna
192 may be incorporated with another antenna included with wireless
device 100 that is capable of receiving paging signals over the
paging network from a paging NOC.
[0047] Paging RF Receiver 130 receives, through antenna 192, paging
signals 360 that are transmitted from a paging NOC through a paging
network, such as a FLEX or POCSAG Over-The-Air Protocol paging
network, and passes the paging signals to Paging BB Processor 120.
Cellular BB Processor 120, in turn, decodes the paging signals and
passes any messages in the decoded signals, which are addressed to
wireless device 100 to Application Processor 150. Although Paging
RF Receiver 130, Paging BB Processor 140 and Application Processor
150 are shown in FIG. 2 as separate components, in certain
embodiments two or more of these components may be combined into a
single chip. In other embodiments, Paging BB Processor 140 may be
specialized firmware or software running on a separate
microprocessor, or may be software code running on Application
Processor 150.
[0048] In certain embodiments, Application Processor 150 may cause
various status messages and response messages to be transmitted
back to the paging NOC. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, such as where wireless device is a cellular device,
Application Processor 150 can cause Cellular RF Transceiver 110 to
transmit these messages through the cellular network to a cellular
NOC. The cellular NOC can then pass these messages to the paging
NOC through any suitable network connection between the cellular
and paging NOCs, such as an Internet connection. In accordance with
certain other embodiments, Application Processor 150 can cause
these messages to be transmitted to the paging NOC through a direct
connection with the paging NOC, such as an Internet connection, or
any other dedicated network connection with the paging NOC.
[0049] For example, in response to receiving a paging message from
the paging NOC, wireless device 100 may transmit a status message
back to the paging NOC acknowledging that the message has been
received successfully. Wireless device 100 may also transmit other
status messages to the paging NOC, such as notifications that the
message has been received with errors or that the message has been
read. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, wireless
device 100 may also transmit notifications to the paging NOC that
indicate whether or not the wireless device is able to establish an
RF connection with the paging network. In other embodiments,
wireless device may transmit response messages to paging NOC, such
as when a user wishes to respond to a message received by wireless
device 100. This functionality allows for bidirectional
communication with the paging NOC, which provides a number of
benefits. For example, one benefit is that the paging network can
record a full audit trail of the delivery, receipt, read, and
status of the messages, including any errors in the messaging
process. Another benefit is that the system can better ensure that
messages are received and read by users. For example, if the paging
network does not receive an acknowledgement that a message has been
received or read within a certain amount of time, receives an error
notification, or receives a notification that the wireless device
is unable to establish a connection to the paging network, the
paging NOC can retransmit the message to the wireless device
through the paging network and/or retransmit the message to the
wireless device through an alternate network, such as a cellular
network or a direct network connection with the wireless device.
Importantly, this functionality increases the overall reliability
and timeliness of the messaging system.
[0050] In certain embodiments, the paging functions, such as those
associated with receiving and displaying paging messages and
transmitting status and response messages back to the paging NOC,
may be implemented in software running on Application Processor
150, such as a mobile device application. In other embodiments,
these functions may be integrated in the operating system running
on Application Processor 150. Alternatively, these functions could
be incorporated on a specialized chip, such as a microprocessor,
which may be connected to Application Processor 150, and which
includes program instructions in firmware.
[0051] As shown in FIG. 2, wireless device 100 may also include
memory 170, which can be utilized by Application Processor 150 to
store paging messages decoded and passed from Paging BB Processor
140. In certain embodiments, one or more attributes may be included
with the received messages, such as in the message header. In other
embodiments, Application Processor 150 may associate one or more
attributes, such as status attributes with the received messages.
For example, these attributes may include certain information
related to the status of the message, such as whether it was
received with errors or whether it has been displayed, information
related to the priority of the message, or information related to
possible response actions. These attributes may also be stored in
memory 170.
[0052] As shown in FIG. 2, wireless device 100 includes user
interface 160, which may be connected to Application Processor 150.
In certain embodiments, user interface 160 includes one or more
hardware or software components, or a combination of hardware and
software, which may be used to receive input from, and output
information to, a user of wireless device 100. For example, as
illustrated and described in connection with FIG. 9, user interface
160 may include a display, such as LCD or touch-screen, and/or
display circuitry. In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
in response to receiving a paging message over the paging network,
Application Processor 150 may instruct the display circuitry to
display the message. In certain embodiments, Application Processor
150 may also instruct the display circuitry to display a selectable
response menu to the user as described in connection with FIG. 11.
The messages and/or response menus may be displayed in any suitable
manner that is consistent with standard procedures used by wireless
device 100. In certain of these embodiments, Application Processor
150 may display the message based on a determination of whether or
not to interrupt an application or process that is executing on
wireless device 100, and/or to determine a particular color scheme
used to display the message, as described in more detail in
connection with FIGS. 8-10. In certain embodiments, where the
display is a touch-screen, Application Processor 150 may also
receive input from the user through the display and/or display
circuitry, such as when the user touches portions of the
display.
[0053] It will be appreciated that, in certain embodiments, user
interface 160 may include a number of other standard hardware
components, such as one or more visual, audio, or tactile
mechanisms used to output information or alerts to, and receive
input from, the user. For example, user interface 160 may also
include one or more LEDs. As another example, user interface 160
may include a number of physical keys or buttons capable of
receiving input from a user of the device. As yet another example,
user interface 160 may include a speaker and/or microphone. In
certain embodiments, the wireless device may output the text of
received messages through the speaker, such as by outputting
prerecorded audio messages or by converting the message text to
audio using standard text-to-speech conversion mechanisms. In other
embodiments, the wireless device may receive audio input from the
user through a microphone, such as voice commands or message
responses. As yet another example, user interface 160 may include a
tactile alert mechanism, such as a mechanism capable of causing the
wireless device to vibrate.
[0054] In certain of these embodiments, one or more of these
visual, audio and/or tactile mechanisms may be used to generate one
or more audible, visual or tactile alerts. For example, Application
Processor 150 may generate such alerts by causing audio to be
outputted through a speaker, causing one or more LEDs to turn on,
or flash, and/or causing the wireless device to vibrate. In certain
of these embodiments, Application Processor 150 may generate one or
more of the alerts in response to receiving a new paging message.
In other embodiments, Application Processor 150 may generate one or
more alerts in response to a determination that an application or
process that is executing on wireless device 100 should not be
interrupted in order to display the received paging message. In yet
other embodiments, Application Processor 150 may generate one or
more alerts to indicate the status of the connection between
wireless device 100 and the paging network.
[0055] FIGS. 3-5 are block diagrams which illustrate a portion of a
wireless device suitable for use in accordance with other
embodiments. As shown in FIGS. 3-5, wireless devices 100a, 100b,
and 100c may include generally the same components as wireless
device 100 illustrated in FIG. 2. In the preferred embodiment, as
can be seen from FIG. 2 and the accompanying description, Cellular
BB Processor 120 and Application Processor 150 are separate
processors in wireless device 100. Also, Cellular RF Transceiver
110 and Paging RF Receiver 130 are separate RF (trans/re)ceivers,
both utilizing one or more separate antennas, such as antennas
190-192. As shown by wireless device 100a in FIG. 3, however, in
certain embodiments, Cellular BB Processor 120 and Application
Processor 150, may be replaced with a single processor, such as
processor 121. Processor 121 performs the functions associated with
both the cellular BB processor and the application processor. In
certain of these embodiments Paging BB processor 140 may also be
integrated within Processor 121, which can perform the functions
associated with the cellular BB processor, the paging BB processor
and the application processor.
[0056] Similarly, as shown by wireless device 100b in FIG. 4, in
certain embodiments, Paging RF receiver 130 and Cellular RF
Transceiver 110 may be combined into a single RF Transceiver, such
as RF Transceiver 111. The paging RF transceiver is incorporated
within the receiver portion of RF Transceiver 111. In accordance
with certain of these embodiments, RF Transceiver 111 may utilize
two antennas, such as antennas 190 and 191, which receive and
transmit cellular signals over a cellular network and receive
paging signals over a paging network. In other embodiments, RF
Transceiver 111 may utilize a single antenna capable of
communicating over both networks. In certain embodiments, as shown
in FIG. 5, wireless device 100c may include both RF Transceiver 111
and processor 121.
[0057] In certain of these embodiments, such as where the paging
receiver and cellular transceiver are combined in a single
transceiver, or where the wireless device utilizes a single
antenna, the wireless device may time-share the transceiver and/or
antenna in a manner to allow an optimal scan of the paging channel
while also allowing cellular connectivity. For example, in a FLEX
paging system, the wireless device may utilize the paging part of
the transceiver and/or the antenna during the correct home frames
of the FLEX paging network. This would allow the paging receiver to
use the antenna during the particular frames utilized for its
paging address and, even then, only for a very short period unless
a message is present, in which case the paging receiver may remain
in control to capture the paging message. In certain embodiments,
during other, non-home frame, periods the transceiver and/or
antenna may be utilized by the wireless device as needed, such as
to access the cellular or other wireless networks.
[0058] Accordingly, whenever the disclosure provided herein refers
to a function performed by Application Processor 150 or Cellular BB
Processor 120, it should be understood that such function may be
performed by the combined processor 121. Likewise, whenever the
disclosure provided herein refers to a function performed by
Cellular RF Transceiver 110 or Paging RF Receiver 130, it should be
understood that such function may be performed by the combined RF
Transceiver 111 and whenever the disclosure provided herein refers
to a function performed by antenna 192, it should be understood
that such function may be performed by antennas 190 or 191, which
could themselves be a single combined antenna. In addition,
whenever the disclosure provided herein refers to a function
performed by wireless device 100, it should be understood that such
function may be performed by any of wireless devices 100a, 100b,
and 100c.
[0059] As can be seen from FIGS. 1-5 and their accompanying
descriptions, the systems and methods described herein allow users
to receive, view, and respond to messages received from a paging
network on a wide range of cellular and other wireless devices.
Accordingly, one significant advantage, is that these individuals
can receive the benefits associated with paging services, such as
increased reliability, without the need to purchase, carry and
operate a separate paging device.
[0060] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the
wireless device described in FIGS. 1-5 in accordance with certain
embodiments. At step 200, Paging RF Receiver 130 of wireless device
100 scans the appropriate paging frequency for any new
transmissions from the paging NOC over the paging network. In
response to detecting a transmission, at step 201, Paging RF
Receiver scans the transmission for the address of wireless device
100. If the address of wireless device 100 is not detected, flow
returns to step 200 and Paging RF Receiver 130 continues to scan
the appropriate paging frequency for any new transmissions.
Otherwise, in response to detecting the address of wireless device
100 in the transmission, Paging RF Receiver 130 captures the
transmission and passes the associated data to the Paging BB
Processor 140 for decoding. Paging BB Processor 140 decodes the
received data into a message based upon the appropriate standard
paging protocol, (e.g., FLEX, POCSAG, etc.). At step 202, Paging BB
Processor 140 checks to see if the decoded message has any errors.
If errors are detected, flow proceeds to step 204 and Paging BB
Processor 140 attempts to correct any errors that are correctable
by using any standard error detection and correction mechanisms
(e.g., using a checksum or other similar algorithm to correct any
errors or replacing missing characters with error characters).
Paging BB Processor also marks the status of the message
appropriately, such as "With Errors." On the other hand, if no
errors are detected, flow proceeds to step 203 and Paging BB
Processor 140 marks the status of the message appropriately, such
as "No Errors." In either case, flow then proceeds to step 205.
[0061] At step 205, Paging BB Processor 140 passes the message to
Application Processor 150, which compares the received message with
any previously stored messages to determine if it is a duplicate
message. Application Processor 150 may base this determination, in
part, on a comparison of one or more attributes included with the
received message to one or more attributes included with the stored
messages. In accordance with certain embodiments, such as where a
connection to the paging network is weak or unavailable,
Application Processor 150 may receive the message (e.g., a
retransmitted or new message) from Cellular BB Processor 120
instead of Paging BB Processor 140. In other embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may receive the message from other
circuitry in wireless device 100 that manages a network connection
for the wireless device, such as a dedicated network or Internet
connection. If the received message is determined to be a duplicate
message, at step 206, Application Processor 150 may cause Cellular
RF Transceiver 110 to transmit a status message to the paging NOC,
in accordance with the process discussed below, and flow returns to
step 200, where Paging RF Receiver 130 continues to scan the
appropriate paging frequency for any new transmissions. Otherwise,
if the received message is determined not to be a duplicate
message, Application Processor 150 stores the received message and
the message status in memory 170 at step 207. In certain
embodiments, as discussed below, Application Processor 150 may also
store any message attributes detected in the received message. In
certain of these embodiments, Application Processor 150 may also,
or alternatively, store additional attributes associated with the
received message, such as a timestamp or delivery status in memory
170.
[0062] Application Processor 150 may also cause Cellular RF
Transceiver 110 to transmit a status message indicating the status
of the received message (e.g., received successfully or received
with errors) to the paging NOC through the cellular network and a
connection between the cellular network and the paging NOC.
Although in this example, e.g., where the wireless device is a
cellular device, the status message is transmitted to the paging
network through the cellular network, in other embodiments, the
wireless device may transmit the status message to the paging NOC
through a direct network connection, such as a Wi-Fi, WiMAX, or
hardwire Internet connection with the paging NOC. In yet other
embodiments, such as where the paging network is capable of
bidirectional communication, the wireless device may transmit the
status message to the paging NOC over the paging network. In
certain embodiments, Application Processor 150 may cause the status
message to be transmitted to the Paging NOC prior to determining
whether the received message is a duplicate message. In certain
embodiments, such as in response to transmitting a status message
to the Paging NOC that indicates the message was received with
errors, the wireless device may receive a retransmitted message
from the Paging NOC. In accordance with certain of these
embodiments, the wireless device may receive the retransmitted
message over the paging network. In other embodiments, the wireless
device may receive the retransmitted message over an alternate
network such as a cellular network or the Internet.
[0063] At step 208, Application Processor 150 checks the message
header for any attributes that may be included with the message and
decodes any such attributes. For example, the message may include a
message priority attribute, as discussed in more detail in
connection with the process described in FIG. 8. As another
example, the message may include one or more response attributes,
as discussed in more detail in connection with the process
described in FIG. 11.
[0064] At step 209 Application Processor 150 causes user interface
160 to display the received message. In certain embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may transfer the received message to
display circuitry included in the wireless device and cause the
display circuitry to display the message such as in a paging
message display window, such as a pop-up window on the display, or
any other suitable display mechanism. According to certain
embodiments, as is discussed in connection with FIGS. 8 and 9,
Application Processor 150 may determine whether or not to interrupt
a current application to display the received message and/or may
determine a color scheme for display, based on the priority of the
message. Application Processor 150 may also generate one or more
audio, visual, or tactile alerts, such as alerts indicating that a
new message has been received or that a new message has been
received but not displayed. In certain of these embodiments, the
received message or the alerts may be displayed, or managed, in
accordance with standard procedures used by wireless devices, such
as are used in connection with SMS text messaging.
[0065] After displaying the message, at step 210 Application
Processor 150 detects whether the message has been acknowledged or
read by the user of wireless device 100 (e.g., by the user pressing
one or more keys on, or the display screen of, the wireless device)
and, if not, Application Processor 150 waits for the user to
acknowledge and/or read the message at step 211. In certain
embodiments, in response to determining that a certain period of
time has passed without such acknowledgement, Application Processor
150 may stop displaying the message (e.g., by closing the paging
message display window). In certain of these embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may transmit a status message indicating
the lack of acknowledgment to the paging NOC in a similar manner to
the process described in connection with step 207. Once the user
has read the message, at step 212 Application Processor 150 causes
a "message read" status message to be transmitted to the paging
NOC. The message read status message may be transmitted to the
paging NOC in a similar manner to that described in connection with
step 207 above.
[0066] At step 213 Application Processor 150 determines whether the
user wants to respond to the received message. For example,
Application Processor 150 may receive a notification from user
interface 160 when the user chooses to respond to the message, such
as by the user pressing a key on, or a "reply" button on the
display screen of, wireless device 100, the user inputting a voice
command into a microphone, or any other suitable user input
mechanism. If Application Processor 150 determines that the user
does not want to respond to the message (e.g., by receiving a
notification that the user chose to close the message), the flow
proceeds to step 216.
[0067] Otherwise, at step 214, Application Processor 150 determines
a user response message. In certain embodiments, Application
Processor 150 may determine a plurality of user response actions
based on the received message and/or one or more attributes
included in the received message, as well as data stored on the
wireless device, and cause user interface 160 to display a
selectable response menu to the user, as discussed in connection
with FIG. 11. At step 215, Application Processor 150 causes the
response message to be transmitted to the paging NOC in a similar
manner to that described in connection with step 207 above. At step
216, Application Processor 150 causes user interface 160 to stop
displaying the message (e.g., by closing the paging message display
window). In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may also, or alternatively, disable any
alerts associated with the received message. The process then
returns to step 200 and Paging RF Receiver 130 continues to scan
for new transmissions from the paging network.
[0068] In certain embodiments, the systems and methods described
above can be used to multicast messages to groups of users. For
example, the paging NOC can create and transmit a message, which is
addressed to more than one wireless or paging device. Each device
to which the message is addressed could then receive the message at
the same time. As a result, one advantage is that messages, such as
emergency notifications or instructions, can be broadcast to
specified groups of individuals simultaneously, which could
minimize the delay associated with the receipt of, and response to,
such messages.
[0069] FIG. 7 is a flowchart further illustrating the operation of
the wireless device described in FIGS. 1-5 in accordance with
certain embodiments. Wireless device 100 can monitor the status of
its connection to the paging network (i.e., the ability to receive
paging messages from the paging network through Paging RF Receiver
130 and/or antenna 192). This status can then be transmitted to the
paging NOC, which in certain embodiments, can then send messages to
wireless device 100 through an alternate network connection, such
as a cellular network, Internet connection or any other suitable
network. This increases the reliability with respect to the
delivery and receipt of messages by allowing for alternate message
delivery paths to be utilized to deliver messages to wireless
device 100, such as in circumstances where wireless device 100 is
unable to connect to, and/or receive messages from, the paging
network.
[0070] As shown in FIG. 7, at step 220, Paging RF Receiver 130
scans the appropriate paging frequency and, at step 221, it detects
whether or not the paging channel is present (e.g., whether the
paging network is available) and passes a notification to
Application Processor 150 indicating the status of the paging
channel. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, wireless
device 100 may determine that the paging message is not present
based on detecting that a connection cannot be established with the
paging network. In other embodiments, the wireless device may
determine that the paging network is not present based on detecting
that the signal received from the paging network is too weak, or
that one or more messages have been received with errors. If the
paging channel is present, the flow proceeds to step 222, otherwise
the flow proceeds to step 224.
[0071] At step 222, Application Processor 150 checks whether the
previously stored paging channel status is marked as "Present." In
certain embodiments, the paging channel status may be stored in
memory 170 of wireless device 100. If the previously stored paging
channel status is marked as "Present," the flow returns to step 220
and wireless device 100 continues to monitor the status of the
paging channel. Otherwise, at step Application Processor 150 marks
the paging channel status as "Present," and flow proceeds to step
226. If the paging channel is not present, Application Processor
150 checks whether the previously stored paging channel status is
marked as "Not Present." If the previously stored paging channel
status is marked as "Not Present," the flow returns to step 220 and
wireless device 100 continues to monitor the status of the paging
channel. Otherwise, at step 225 Application Processor 150 marks the
paging channel status as "Not Present," and flow then proceeds to
step 226.
[0072] At step 226, Application Processor 150 causes a status
message to be transmitted to the paging NOC indicating the status
of the connection between the wireless device and the paging
network. The status message may be transmitted to the paging
network in a similar manner to that described in connection with
FIG. 6 above. At step 227, Application Processor 150 may cause
display circuitry 180 to update a paging channel status indicator
on the display of wireless device 100. Flow then returns to step
220 and wireless device 100 continues to monitor the status of the
paging channel.
[0073] In certain embodiments, wireless device 100 may monitor the
status of its connection with other networks, such as a cellular
network or Internet connection and transmit one or more status
messages to paging NOC indicating the status of these connections,
in a similar manner as described above in connection with FIG. 7.
In accordance with certain of these embodiments, wireless device
100 may generate one or more audio, visual, and/or tactile alerts
in response to determining that a connection to a network, such as
a cellular network, or the Internet, is not present. Wireless
device 100 may later disable such alerts in response to determining
that the connection to such network is present.
[0074] In accordance with certain of these embodiments, in response
to receiving a status message indicating that the paging network is
unavailable on wireless device 100, the paging NOC can direct the
cellular NOC to retransmit messages, and/or transmit any new
messages, to wireless device 100 through the cellular network, or
can communicate such messages to wireless device 100 through a
direct network connection with the wireless device. The direct
transmission of messages to wireless device 100 may replace, or may
be in addition to, the transmission of such messages to wireless
device 100 over the paging network. In accordance with certain of
these embodiments, the paging NOC may cease, or may direct the
cellular NOC to cease, the transmission or retransmission of
messages to wireless device 100 through these alternate networks,
in response to receiving a status message that a connection to the
paging network is available on wireless device 100.
[0075] Accordingly, the successful delivery and receipt of messages
is maximized, and any associated delay is minimized, by providing
alternate message delivery mechanisms in certain situations, such
as where paging messages cannot be received successfully by the
wireless device over the paging network. In turn, this provides
redundancy and, therefore, results in an overall increase to the
reliability of the messaging system.
[0076] FIG. 8 is a flowchart further illustrating the operation of
the wireless device described in FIGS. 1-5 in accordance with
certain embodiments. Paging messages received by wireless device
100 may include a message priority attribute with a received paging
message, such as an attribute that indicates a priority value or
class for the received message. In response to receiving and
decoding the message priority attribute, the wireless device can
determine when and/or how to display the received message based, at
least in part, on the message priority attribute. In certain
embodiments, wireless device 100 can use the message priority
attribute to determine whether or not to interrupt an executing
application or process in order to display the received message. In
other embodiments, wireless device 100 may determine a color scheme
based on the message priority attribute for displaying the received
message. These features further increase the reliability and
ease-of-use of the messaging system by ensuring that important
messages are displayed promptly and that certain types of messages
are easily recognizable by their recipients. The process
illustrated in FIG. 8 pertains to this priority based messaging
functionality.
[0077] As shown in FIG. 8, in connection with receiving a paging
message, at step 228 Application Processor 150 decodes the header
of the received paging message for any message attributes included
in the received message. At step 229, Application Processor 150
determines whether the message header includes a message priority
attribute. If not, at step 230, Application Processor 150 may
associate a default message priority attribute, such as a
predefined priority level, with the received message. In certain
embodiments, the message priority attribute may be a number or
value that indicates the priority level of the received message. In
other embodiments, the message priority attribute may indicate a
priority class or group for the received message. In yet other
embodiments, the message priority attribute may be any attribute
pertaining to the priority of the received message Although in this
example, the message priority attribute is included within the
message header, in other embodiments, Application Processor 150 may
determine the priority based on the content of the received
message. In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may scan the message content for certain
characters, words or phrases, such as "emergency," "code blue," or
"fire," and set the priority based on detecting such content. In
other embodiments, Application Processor 150 may determine the
message priority based on other information associated with the
message such as the sender of the message and/or previously
received messages. For example, messages from certain senders may
always be set to a high priority. As another example, messages that
are received multiple times within a short period of time may be
set to a high priority. As yet another example, Application
Processor 150 may compare one or more previous messages sent by the
sender to determine the priority level. The message priority
attribute may be stored with the received message in memory
170.
[0078] At step 231, Application Processor 150 determines whether
the wireless device is busy (e.g., whether an application or
process is executing on wireless device 100). For example, where
wireless device 100 is a cellular device, the user of the wireless
device may be on a phone call. As another example, the user may be
browsing the Internet, reading or writing an e-mail or text
message, playing a game, or running one or more other applications
on wireless device 100. Also, wireless device 100 may be running
other processes, such as scanning, or receiving or transmitting
data over, the cellular, paging, or other network. If Application
Processor 150 determines that wireless device 100 is not busy, the
flow proceeds directly to step 233. Otherwise, if Application
Processor 150 determines that wireless device 100 is busy, e.g.,
running a process or application, at step 232 Application Processor
150 determines whether the priority of the received message is
greater than the priority of the executing application or process.
In certain embodiments, as is discussed in more detail in
connection with FIG. 9, wireless device 100 may include one or more
priority tables stored in memory 170 that indicates the priority
relationship of certain applications and/or processes that run on,
and the types of messages that may be received by, the wireless
device. Application Processor 150 may use this priority list to
compare the priority of the executing application or process to the
priority level of the received message. In certain of these
embodiments, Application Processor 150 may compare the priority
level of the received message to the priority level of a plurality
of applications or processes running on wireless device 100. In
other embodiments, Application Processor 150 may determine whether
to interrupt an executing application based on whether the priority
of the received message is above a specified threshold. In
accordance with certain of these embodiments, the threshold may be
a predefined threshold that is based on, or may be customized by,
the user of the wireless device.
[0079] If Application Processor 150 determines that the priority
level of the received message is lower than the priority level of
one or more executing applications or processes, at step 235
Application Processor 150 causes the received message and message
priority attribute to be stored in memory 170 for display at a
later time. In certain embodiments, Application Processor 150 can
repeatedly check whether the wireless device is busy, and whether
one or more messages in memory 170 that have not been displayed
have a higher priority level than a currently executing application
or process. In accordance with certain of these embodiments,
Application Processor 150 may cause a status message to be
transmitted to the paging NOC indicating that the message cannot be
displayed in a similar manner to that described in connection with
FIG. 6.
[0080] In response to determining that either the wireless device
is not busy or the priority of the received message is higher than
the priority of one or more executing applications or processes,
flow proceeds to step 233, at which time Application Processor 150
determines whether a color scheme should be used to display the
message. In certain embodiments, as is discussed in more detail in
connection with FIG. 9, wireless device 100 may include a stored
color scheme table, which indicates the color scheme that is to be
applied to certain types of paging messages. If Application
Processor 150 determines that a color scheme should be used, at
step 234, Application Processor 150 applies the color scheme to the
message. Otherwise, at step 236, Application Processor 150 applies
a default color scheme to the message, such as a predefined color
scheme. In certain embodiments, Application Processor 150 may then
cause user interface 160 to display the message, e.g., by causing
the message to be displayed on a screen of wireless device 100, in
accordance with the process described in FIG. 6.
[0081] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of data stored in the wireless
device in accordance with certain embodiments. The particular
tables illustrated by FIG. 9 are an exemplary diagram of the types
of priority-related and color scheme tables that may be utilized by
Application Processor 150 in connection with determining when and
how to display a paging message received at the wireless device
from a paging NOC. As shown in FIG. 9, wireless device includes a
message priority table 240. Message priority table 240 may include
one or more lists of information related to the priorities and
color schemes of certain paging messages. As depicted in FIG. 9,
message priority table 240 includes paging message priority list
241, with entries for paging message priority levels one through
five. Message priority table 240 also includes a message type list
242 and a color scheme list 243, which include entries that
correspond to each of the message priority levels in paging message
priority list 241. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, paging message
priority level one is associated with "code blue" paging messages
and a blue color scheme. A "code blue" message is a type of
message, typically used by hospitals, that indicates an emergency
situation, such as a life-or-death incident. As another example,
paging message priority level two is associated with "code pink"
paging messages and a pink color scheme. As yet another example,
paging message priority level three is associated with "code green"
paging messages and a green color scheme. "Code pink" and "code
green" messages are types of messages, also typically used by
hospitals, that indicates a child abduction situation and the
presence of hazardous materials, respectively.
[0082] In certain embodiments, a particular message priority level
may be associated with more than one type of paging messages.
Similarly, more than one message priority level may be associated
with a particular color scheme, such as is illustrated in FIG. 9,
where the color scheme "black" is associated with message priority
levels four and five. In certain embodiments, message priority
table 240 may also include a "default" message priority level
and/or color scheme, which is used to display any received paging
messages that do not include a message priority attribute. In
certain of these embodiments, the default priority and/or color
scheme may be customizable by the, or based on the type of,
user.
[0083] As is also shown in FIG. 9, in certain embodiments, wireless
device 100 may additionally or alternatively include application
priority table 244 stored in memory 170. Application priority table
244 includes a list of at least some of the applications and
processes that may execute on wireless device 100, as well as types
of paging messages that may be received by the wireless device. In
certain embodiments, these applications, processes, and messages
may be listed in descending order of priority. As illustrated in
FIG. 9, application priority table 244 includes eleven entries,
including "Paging Message 1," "Voice," "Paging Message 2," "Paging
Message 3," and "SMS," which correspond to the applications,
processes, and messages with the five highest priorities,
respectively. In certain embodiments, as shown in FIG. 9,
application priority table 244 may include classes of paging
message that correspond to the paging message priorities in paging
message priority table 240.
[0084] In accordance with certain of these embodiments, Application
Processor 150 may utilize message priority table 240 and
application priority table 244 to determine whether to interrupt an
executing application or process in order to display received
paging messages, as well as to determine a color scheme that should
be applied when displaying the messages in accordance with the
embodiments illustrated and described in connection with FIG. 8.
For example, if the user of wireless device 100 is on a phone call
and the wireless device receives a "code blue" message, Application
Processor 150 can determine that the voice call should be
interrupted to display the message because the priority of a "code
blue" message (e.g., paging message 1) is higher than the priority
of a voice call. Application Processor 150 can also determine that
a blue color scheme should be applied to the message based on
paging message priority table 240. If, however, a "code green"
message is received while the user is on a voice call, Application
Processor 150 can determine that the voice call should not be
interrupted, and may store the message for later display. At a
later time, if Application Processor 150 determines that wireless
device 100 is no longer busy, or an application with a lower
priority than a "code green" message is executing, such as email
application or a game, Application Processor 150 can then apply a
green color scheme to the message and cause the message to be
displayed. In accordance with certain of these embodiments, the
priority levels of the classes of paging messages as well as the
respective priorities of the applications, processes and messages
may be customized by, or based upon, a user of the wireless
device.
[0085] FIG. 10 is a pictorial diagram of the display of the
wireless device described in FIGS. 1-5 in accordance with certain
embodiments. The particular display shown in FIG. 10 is an
exemplary illustration of a type of display that may be presented
to a user of wireless device 100 in connection with a certain
priority level associated with a paging message received from
paging NOC 300. As shown in FIG. 10, wireless device 100 includes a
display screen 161 that includes a paging message display window
162. Paging message display window 162 may include message text 164
corresponding to the body of a received paging message, which, in
the example shown in FIG. 10, includes the text "Code Blue In Room
123."
[0086] In certain embodiments, paging message display window 162
may also include one or more buttons, such as reply button 165, and
close button 166 shown in FIG. 10. In certain of these embodiments,
a user of wireless device 100 may select one of these buttons in
order to respond to the message, or close the paging message
display window, in accordance with the processes described in FIGS.
6 and 11. As shown in FIG. 10, in certain of these embodiments,
such as where display 161 is a touch screen, these buttons may be
selected by pressing on a portion of display 161. In other
embodiments, these functions may be selected by pressing one or
more keys included on wireless device 100, or by any other suitable
input means, such as voice commands through a microphone. In
certain embodiments, the paging message received by wireless device
100 may include a message priority attribute in accordance with the
process illustrated and described in connection with FIGS. 8-9. In
certain of these embodiments, such as is illustrated in FIG. 10,
paging message display window 162 includes a message display border
163 that corresponds to the color scheme associated with the
received message. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 10, paging
message 164 is a "code blue" message associated with a blue color
scheme, in which case message display border 163 may have a blue
background. As another example a paging message may be received
with a message priority attribute that indicates that the message
is an "active fire" message, which announces the need for
firefighters to respond to a fire. Message display border may then
be displayed with a red background. In other embodiments, the color
scheme of the received message may be used to modify the color of
paging message text 164 and/or the background of paging message
display window 162.
[0087] FIG. 11 is a flowchart further illustrating the operation of
the wireless device described in FIGS. 1-5 in accordance with
certain embodiments. In response to receiving and displaying a
paging message, such as in accordance with the processes described
in connection with FIG. 6, wireless device 100 may determine a
plurality of user response actions based, at least in part, on the
received message. In certain embodiments, the user response actions
may include transmitting one or more reply messages (e.g.,
predefined, canned, or custom responses), using one or more
response mechanisms (e.g., e-mail, voice call, text message, etc.),
performing functions associated with other applications on the
wireless device (e.g., creating contact entries, calendar entries,
etc.) or any other actions related to responding to, or managing,
the received message.
[0088] In certain embodiments, wireless device 100 may determine
whether one or more searchable items are present in the message
body. In certain of these embodiments, wireless device 100 can then
search data stored in the memory of the wireless device, such as a
contact list or other databases, for entries matching the
searchable items, and generate one or more user response actions
based on the matching entries. Wireless device 100 may also include
a predefined list of response messages stored in memory and
generate one or more user response based on the stored list. In
certain embodiments, the received paging message may include one or
more response attributes, such as a list of predefined response
options, and/or response mechanisms, and the wireless device can
generate one or more user response actions based on the response
attributes. In certain of these embodiments, the wireless device
can generate a selectable response menu based, at least in part, on
the plurality of user response actions and may display the
selectable response menu to a user. In response to receiving a
notification that the user has selected one of the menu options,
the wireless device may transmit a response message to the paging
NOC based on the user's selection. These features allow users to
respond to received paging messages quickly and efficiently and, in
turn, increases the overall reliability and ease-of-use of the
messaging system. The process illustrated in FIG. 11 pertains to
this user response action functionality.
[0089] As shown in FIG. 11, at step 250, Application Processor 150
receives a notification through user interface 160 that the user
wants to reply to the received paging message in accordance with
the process described in connection with FIG. 6. At step 251,
Application Processor 150 determines whether the paging message
header includes a response attribute, and if so, Application
Processor 150 decodes the response attribute at step 252. In
certain embodiments, as is illustrated in FIG. 11, the response
attribute may include one or more predefined responses, such as a
multiple choice list of response options. In other embodiments,
such as where the received paging message was transmitted to
multiple recipients, the response attribute may include one or more
response mechanisms, including the option to reply to all, or a
subset, of the recipients. In yet other embodiments, the response
mechanism may indicate that any response to the message should be
delivered to a person other than the sender, either directly (such
as through email or text message) or via the paging NOC. In yet
other embodiments, the response mechanism may indicate that the
message recipient should call a specified individual. In accordance
with certain of these embodiments Application Processor 150 may
then add these response options and/or mechanisms to a selection
list that may be stored in memory 170.
[0090] At step 253, Application Processor 150 may determine whether
the received paging message includes one or more functional items,
such as by scanning the message text for certain recognizable
characters, words, or phrases. In certain embodiments, these
functional items may include names, phone numbers, addresses,
e-mail addresses, user names, uniform resource locators (URLs),
date, time, or other items, such as information that may be used to
search for matching data stored on wireless device 100. In response
to determining that one or more functional items are present in the
received paging message, Application Processor 150 decodes the
functional items and adds them to the stored selection list at step
255.
[0091] At step 256, Application Processor 150 may add one or more
predefined (e.g., canned) responses, that are stored in memory 170,
to the stored selection list. In certain embodiments, Application
Processor 150 may determine which of these predefined response to
include in the stored selection list based on the text of the
received paging message. Application Processor 150 may then cause a
selectable response menu to be displayed on wireless device 100
based, at least in part, on the stored selection list. In
accordance with certain of these embodiments, the selectable
response menu may include an option for the user to input a custom
response message. Although in the example illustrated in FIG. 11
Application Processor 150 checks for the existence of, and/or
determines whether to generate user response actions based on,
predefined responses in the message header, searchable items in the
message content, and predefined responses stored in the wireless
device, it should be understood that in certain embodiments, only
one or two of these items, may be checked and/or used to generate
the user response actions. In other embodiments, other information
associated with the received message and/or stored in the wireless
device may be utilized instead of, or in combination with, such
items in order to generate the user response actions.
[0092] At step 257, Application Processor 150 determines whether
the user has selected one of the selectable response options and,
if not, Application Processor 150 waits for the user to make a
selection at step 258. In certain embodiments, such as where
wireless device 100 includes a touch-screen display, the selectable
response menu may be displayed as a list of selectable options on
the display, each of which may be selected by the user by touching
a portion of the display. In other embodiments, the user may select
one of the selectable options by pressing a key on wireless device
100, or by any other suitable input means. In response to
determining that the user has made a selection, at step 259,
Application Processor 150 determines whether the user has selected
a functional item. If a functional item is selected, Application
Processor 150 may perform the associated function at step 160. In
certain embodiments, such as where the functional item is a name,
address, phone number, or e-mail address, the function may be to
store this information in the wireless device (e.g., by creating or
updating an entry in a contact list). In other embodiments, the
function may be to search one or more databases stored on the
wireless device, such as a contact list, for an entry matching the
functional item.
[0093] For example, if the functional item is a name, Application
Processor 150 may search the contact list to determine whether
there is a entry corresponding to the name. In accordance with
certain of these embodiments, Application Processor 150 may
determine one or more response options based on the matching entry,
such as an option to send a response message to an email address or
phone number, or to initiate a voice call to a phone number that
included in the matching entry. In other embodiments, such as where
the functional item is a date and/or time, the function may be to
create and store a reminder associated with the functional item.
For example, Application Processor 150 may cause a calendar item to
be created based on the functional item by using a standard
interface to a calendar application included in wireless device
100. In certain embodiments, after performing the function
associated with the selected functional item, Application Processor
150 may update, or create a new, selection list based on the
performed function, cause the selection list to be displayed and
return to step 257.
[0094] In response to determining that the user has selected a
response option other than a functional item, at step 261,
Application Processor 150 returns the selected user response
action. In certain embodiments, Application Processor 150 may then
cause a response message to be transmitted to the paging NOC based
on the selected response message and/or response mechanism
according to the process described in connection with FIG. 6. In
accordance with certain of these embodiments, such as where the
received message was transmitted to multiple recipients, the
response message may include an attribute indicating that the
response is to be transmitted to all of the recipients of the
original message. In other embodiments, such as where the user has
chosen to respond to a particular individual, Application Processor
150 may cause a response message to be transmitted to the
individual directly.
[0095] In certain embodiments, such as where the user of the
wireless device is unavailable, the user may setup an auto-response
message. In certain embodiments, the user may input the
auto-response at the wireless device and the wireless device may
notify the paging NOC by transmitting a status message in
accordance with the processes described in connection with FIG. 6.
In other embodiments, the user may notify the paging NOC directly,
such as through a separate device, or the auto-response may be
created and/or inputted manually at the paging NOC. In accordance
with certain of these embodiments, the paging NOC, in response to
receiving a request to deliver a message to the user, may transmit
back the auto-response to the requestor. The paging NOC may also
determine another user, who is available, to which the requested
message can be delivered. Similarly, in certain embodiments, such
as where a message is delivered to multiple recipients, the paging
NOC can monitor whether each of the recipients have received the
message and track each recipient's response. This functionality
increases the reliability and efficiency of the messaging system by
allowing the paging NOC to keep track of the availability or
schedules of certain users, notify senders when recipients are
unavailable and/or maximize the chance that messages are delivered
to users who are able to respond.
[0096] For example, an emergency situation may require a certain
number of users to respond and go to a specified location. The
paging NOC can transmit a corresponding message to a greater number
of individuals and keep track of the number of individuals who are
able to take the requested action based on their responses to the
message. If the paging NOC determines that this number is less than
the required number of individuals, a second message can be
transmitted to the same, or another, group of individuals
indicating the need for additional responders. If, however, the
paging NOC determines that enough individuals are available, a
message can be transmitted to the remaining individuals indicating
that no further responders are necessary. This functionality
further increases the reliability and efficiency of the messaging
system by allowing the paging NOC to keep track of the availability
of certain users, notify senders when recipients are unavailable
and/or maximize the chance that messages are delivered to users who
are able to respond. This functionality further increases the
reliability and efficiency of the messaging system by allowing the
paging NOC to minimize the delay associated with responding to
emergencies and ensure that the appropriate number of users respond
to the emergency.
[0097] It is understood that the various devices and methods
described in connection with the foregoing figures are exemplary,
and any other suitable devices or methods may be used. The
foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of this
invention and various modifications can be made by those skilled in
the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the
invention. As an example, although certain embodiments of the
wireless device have been described in connection with having two
or three antennas associated with particular frequency ranges, the
paging device could have any number of antennas associated with any
one or more frequency ranges. One skilled in the art will
appreciate that the present invention can be practiced in other
than the described embodiments, which are presented for purposes of
illustration and not limitation, and the present invention is
limited only by the claims which follow.
* * * * *