Radio paging receiver having display control means
Contents
1. 455 38 4 412 217 10 1983 Willard et al 340 825 44 FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS 2118337A 10 1983 United Kingdom 340 311 1 Primary Examiner Donald J Yusko Attorney Agent or Firm Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak amp Seas 57 ABSTRACT A radio paging receiver which generates an alert tone and a message display on receipt of a selective calling signal includes a manually operated non lock type switch which generates first and second control signals The first control signal stops the generation of the alert tone while the second control signal initiates a time out period after which the displayed message is turned off Depressing the switch produces the first control signal while its release produces the second control signal 6 Claims 11 Drawing Figures 1 MESSAGE BEING DISPLAYED 30 3 DISPLAY MESSAGE OF MEMORY WR RELEASED YES 3 a 5 ELAPSE WR SWITCH DEPRESSED 0 8 Patent Aug 20 1985 Sheetlof3 4 536 761 CLOCK counter 40s f OUTPUT PORT mf DATA BUS 406 ey 412 401 INPUT WAVEFORM Snes ACCUMULATOR PORT 407 408 403 OUTPUT lt 2 CONTROLLER A PORT 240 DATA MEMORY INPUT 5 i 41 DISPLAY CONTROLLER DECODER SECTION IVE 2020224 22281 Od 1 U S Patent FIG ia2. 36 TURN OFF DISPLAY RETURN STEP YES 23 NO 24 25 ELAPSE MR SWITCH 8 sec DEPRESSED YES STOP COUNT YES OF TIMER 27 TURN OFF DISPLAY RETURN TO STEP Il 4 536 761 1 RADIO PAGING RECEIVER HAVING DISPLAY CONTROL MEANS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a radio paging re ceiver and more particularly to an improvement in the control means for the display and alert tones Radio paging receivers with display function in the prior art generate alert tones upon reception of a selec tive calling signal and store display information or a message subsequent to the selective calling signal The alert tone stops when a switch is pressed down and the stored display information is simultaneously displayed on a visual display device Examples of such receivers are disclosed in U S Pat No 4 091 373 issued to J Nakamura and also in U S Pat No 4 249 165 issued to T Mori and assigned to the assignee of the present application In these radio paging receivers stored dis play information can be displayed when needed by depressing a switch however as the switch is released the information on the display device immediately dis appears In order to confirm the displayed information the switch must be continuously depressed In order to obviate such inconvenience there has been proposed a selective paging receiver provided with a timer which is activated when a switch is
3. DSP FIG 3B DSP DSP FIG4A DSP ALT DSP FIG 4B FIG 4C DSP FIG5A osp FIG 5B DSP Aug 20 1985 Sheet2of3 4 536 761 AAR DAR 21 RELEASED DAR i MR SW R SW DEPRESD 0 MR SW ARS DEPRESSED F A AAR ade a 048 1 A 7 NDEPRESSED RELEASED DAR MR SW MR SW Pea 50 SIGNAL 1 RECEPTION RELEASED 6 R SW MR SW m 8sec asl p MR SW eee 22 1 RELEASE i tq 55 t7 RELEASED DEPRESSED RELEASED DEPRESSED MR SW 0 INITIALIZE 8 START 8 TIMER Y 19 STOP ALERT TONE 8 STOP ALERT TONE TURN OFF DISPLAY U S Patent Aug 20 1985 Sheet 3 0f3 4 536 761 FIG 6 NO 15 SELECTIVE MR SWITCH CALLING SIGNAL DEPRESSED DETECTED 15 MESSAGE BEING DISPLAYED GENERATE ALERT TONE DISPLAY MESSAGE START 8 sec TIMER 16 1 NO ELAPSE 8 sec ES 30 READ QUT OF MEMO NEXT MESSAGE amp DISPLAY IT NO IS MR SWITCH DEPRESSED YES 20 STOP COUNT OF RETURN TO STEP TIMER RETURN STEP li MR SWITCH RELEASED 2 DEPRESSED 34 15 ELAPSE MR SWITCH 8 sec YES
4. display is stopped by DAR function at the time point 16 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 or 8 seconds after the time point t4 when the MR switch 9 is released Even in the receiver with AAR function if MR switch 9 is pressed within 8 seconds from the turning on of the power switch the alert tone immedi ately stops thereon and the display is automatically suspended by DAR function after 8 seconds from the release of the MR switch The operation will become identical to the one shown in FIG 3B In FIG 3C the MR switch is pressed down at the time point t2 within 8 seconds from the time point ti when the power switch is turned on and the MR switch is released at the time point ty If the MR switch is pressed again within 8 seconds after its release or at the time point ts the display is suspended therefrom Secondly the control at the time a calling signal is received will be described referring to FIGS 4A to 4C and 6 In the description hereinafter the numbers to indicate respective steps in the flow charts in FIG 6 will be written in parenthesis after the explanatory phrases or sentences If a selective calling signal is de tected Step 12 a message signal subsequent to the selective calling signal is received and stored Step 13 At the same time the alert tone is emitted and the mes sage signal is displayed on the LCD8 from the time point t Steps 14 15 as shown in FIG 4A Th
5. AR 8 second timer counter starts counting Steps 32 and 33 and after 8 seconds have elapsed the display is ceased to return to the condition of stand ready Steps 34 and 36 As shown in FIG 5B the MR switch 9 is depressed at the time point t3 before 8 seconds elapse after the release of the MR switch Step 35 the DAR timer counter stops its counting Step 37 and displays the second latest message Steps 29 and 30 Similarly if the MR switch 9 is depressed before 8 seconds elapse on the DAR timer counter after the release of the MR switch as shown in FIG 5B for instance at the time point ts the messages in the data memory 410 will be sequen tially read out and displayed When all of the stored 4 536 761 5 plural messages have been displayed it returns to the latest message and recycles the display As is obvious from the description in the foregoing according to the present invention the audible alert tone can be stopped by depressing the MR switch while the visual display can be erased after a predetermined period of time by releasing the MR switch In short this invention incorporates a very simple manual element the conventional automatic reset function for display operation to enhance flexibility as well as reliability of the paging receiver For instance when one attempts to give a phone call while looking at a phone number displayed on the display device one can keep the num ber kept on display by pus
6. FFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENTNO 4 536 761 DATED August 20 1985 INVENTOR S Kazuyuki TSUNODA It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent is hereby corrected as shown below Column 3 line 29 autoreset should read auto reset line 60 autoreset first occurence should read auto reset Signed and Sealed this Twenty second D a y 0 f April 1986 ISEAL Altest DONALD J QUIGG Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks
7. United States Patent Tsunoda et al 54 RADIO PAGING RECEIVER HAVING DISPLAY CONTROL MEANS 75 Inventors Kazuyuki Tsunoda Yoshio Ichikawa both of Tokyo Japan 73 Assignee Nippon Electric Co Ltd Tokyo Japan 21 Appl No 466 383 22 Filed Feb 10 1983 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Feb 12 1982 JP Japan 242414 11 57 19764 51 Int 5 04 H04Q 9 00 1521 US Cl iesse 340 825 44 340 799 455 38 58 Field of Search 455 38 340 799 825 44 340 311 1 179 2 EB 307 141 Al RECEIVING OPERATION DETECTED YES RECEIVE B STORE MESSAGE GENERATE ALERT TONE START TIMER 6 5 7 1 SWITCH ELAPSE DEPRESSED 9 STOP ALERT TONE 8 YES 20 TURN OFF DISPLAY 1510 ALERT STOP COUNT OF TIMER J WR SWITCH RELEASED YES 2 INITIALIZE 8 START 8 TIMER STEP 8 YES TIMER OF TINE TURK OFF DISPLAY RETURN STEP II SELECTIVE WR SWITCH CALLING SIGNAL DEPRESSED YES 8 7 READ OUT OF MEMO WEXT MESSAGE 8 OISPLAY_IT 5 5 INITIALIZE B START 8 lt TIMER ELAPSE MR SWITCH B see DEPRESSED YES 36 5 7 TURN OFF DISPLAY STOP COUNT OF TIMER RETURN TO STEP 11 Patent Number 5 Date of Patent 4 536 761 Aug 20 1985 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 4 091 373 5 1978 Nakamura
8. ay LCD for display As an end mark code is finally detected by the decoder section 4 the battery saving operation is restored The battery saving operation mentioned above is substantially the same as the one disclosed in Digital Radio Paging Communication System by Masaki et al In FIG 2 a decoder 4 may be a single chip central Drocessing unit CPU such as the microprocessor 1 7502 manufactured and marketed by the assignee of the present application Nippon Electric Co Ltd The demodulated signal from the waveform shaping circuit 3 is supplied to a data bus 402 through an input port 401 An output port 403 receives instruction via the data bus 402 and provides address signals in order to read out of P ROM 5 calling number data corre sponding to the assigned selective calling signal An input port 404 receives the data read out of the PROM 5 and transmits the same to the data bus 402 An output 4 536 761 3 port 405 receives an instruction via the data bus 402 and feeds an alert tone to the amplifier 6 A program counter 406 is activated as it receives the input from the data bus 402 and supplies an address to a program memory 407 Instruction group codes which are read out by the address are supplied to a control circuit 408 The control circuit 408 decodes the codes and supplies control signals C to other blocks in order to carry out the instructions An arithmetic and logic unit ALU 409 executes arit
9. e 8 second timer counters called AAR and DAR timer counters hereinafter respectively for the AAR and DAR functions are simultaneously activated Step 16 As illustrated in FIG 4A when the 8 second timer counters come to the end of the preset time period the alert tone and the display automatically stop at the time point Steps 17 and 19 If the MR switch 9 is pressed at the time point 12 before 8 seconds expire as in FIG 4B the alert tone becomes suspended from thereon and the DAR timer counter stops its counting Steps 18 20 and 21 At the time point t4 as the MR switch 9 is released this 8 second timer counter is simultaneously preset again to start counting Steps 22 and 23 When 8 seconds elapse under this condition at the time point 16 the display stops as shown in FIG 4B and returns to stand ready for the reception of the next calling signal Steps 24 and 27 If as illustrated in FIG 4C the MR switch 9 is depressed at the time point ts before 8 seconds set on the display timer counter elapse the timer counter stops counting and simultaneously suspends the display to return to the stand ready condition Steps 25 26 and 27 If the MR switch 9 is depressed at the time point t while standing ready as shown in FIG 5A and if plural messages are stored in the data memory 410 See FIG 2 the latest message will be displayed first Steps 28 and 31 Concurrently with MR switch release at the time point t2 D
10. hing down the MR switch Further the DAR function of the receiver can prevent in operation caused when one forgets to turn off the display or to maintain release a message What is claimed is 1 A radio paging receiver having a display means and a switch which can be selectively activated and released said receiver comprising a first means for detecting a selective calling signal assigned to said receiver a second means for receiving and storing a message transmitted subsequently to said selective calling signal a third means for generating an alert tone in response to the detection of said selective calling signal a fourth means for displaying the message stored in said second means on said display means in re sponse to the reception of said message a fifth means for stopping the generation of said alert tone and the display of said message after a first predetermined period of time has elapsed a sixth means for stopping the generation of said alert tone when said switch is activated within said first predetermined period of time a seventh means for stopping the display of said mes sage after a second predetermined period of time 10 15 20 25 30 35 45 50 55 65 6 that starts from the release of the activated switch and an eighth means for stopping the display of said mes sage when said switch is activated within said sec ond predetermined period of time 2 A radio paging
11. hmetic calculations the result of which is stored in an accumulator 412 The accumulator is also used for data exchange among the memory input output 1 0 ports and registers A data memory 410 stores the content of the message signal which has been supplied from the input port 401 to the data bus 402 subsequent to the selective calling signal The stored message signal is fed to LCD 8 via a display control driver 411 for a predetermined time by control ling the timer housed in the data memory 410 for dis play As illustrated in FIG 2 a manual reset MR switch 9 whose operation will be described hereinafter is con nected between the input port 401 and for instance ground Although a non lock type push switch is assumed to be used as the MR switch 9 in the following description the MR switch may be any other non lock type switch such as a slide switch of this type In the case where the receiver has alert tone autoreset AAR and display auto reset DAR functions which will be described later the decoder section 4 includes timer counters not shown for these functions When the MR switch 9 is depressed the timer counter for the AAR function is reset to eliminate the alert tone alone When the MR switch 9 is released the timer counter for the DAR function is re started Under the control of the controller 408 a counter 412 generates timing signals to drive respective elements in the decoder section in re sponse to the cl
12. means for storing a message signal transmitted subse quently to the selective calling signal a third means for generating an alert tone in response to the output of the first means a fourth means for displaying for a first predetermined time period the message signal stored in the second means on said display means in response to the output of the first means a fifth means for stopping the generation of the alert tone in response to a first control signal a sixth means responsive to a second control signal for defining first predetermined time period and a seventh means for generating the first and 5 10 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 second control signals response to respectively the actuation and release of a switch BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Other objects features and advantages of the present invention will now be described in more detail referring to the attached drawings wherein FIG 1 is a schematic block diagram to show an em bodiment of the radio paging receiver having user friendly display control means according to the present invention FIG 2 is a block diagram of a decoder section of the receiver shown in FIG 1 FIGS 3A to 3C 4A to 4C 5A and 5B are time charts to explain the operation of the receiver shown in FIG 1 and more specifically the control function for the alert tone and the display at the times when the power source is turned on when a calling sig
13. nal is received and when the receiver is waiting to receive the calling signal respectively and FIG 6 is a flow chart to explain the operation of the receiver shown in FIG 1 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG 1 a radio calling signal received by an an tenna 1 is amplified and demodulated by a receiver section 2 The demodulated signal is converted to a rectangular wave signal by a waveform shaping circuit 3 to be supplied to a decoder section 4 The calling signal employed may be the one disclosed in U S Pat No 4 194 153 issued to M Masaki et al and assigned to the assignee of the present invention While the output from the waveform shaper circuit 3 is being fed to the decoder section 4 a preamble signal is first detected and then the battery saving function is suspended with the battery kept turned on Then as a word synchronization code is detected the operation proceeds to the detection of the selective calling signal assigned to the receiver in which the received calling signal is compared with the one written in a program mable read only memory P ROM 5 When the as signed selective calling signal is detected an alert tone is immediately provided A message signal subsequently following the selective calling signal is received at the same time The alert tone is amplified by an amplifier 6 to drive a speaker 7 The message signal is fed to a display device 8 made of for example liquid crystal displ
14. ock from outside and supplies the same to the elements through the data bus 402 For a detailed description of the CPU shown in FIG 2 reference is made to the User s Manual of the 7502 published by Nippon Electric Co Ltd May 23 1980 The control to stop the alert tones and the control to drive the display will now be described referring to the time charts shown in FIGS 3A to 3C 4A to 4C 5A and 5B and the flow chart of FIG 6 In the time charts the abbreviation ALT stands for the control chart of the alert tones while DSP stands for the control chart of the display Referring to FIGS 3A to 3C the control will now be explained when a power switch not shown is turned on After the power switch is turned on at the time point ti if the manual reset MR switch 9 is not used the alert tone and the display are suspended after a given period of time or preferably after 8 seconds at the time point t3 as illustrated in FIG 3A This operation is done in the case where the receiver is provided with alert tone autoreset AAR and display auto reset DAR functions with which alert tone and display are auto matically eliminated after 8 seconds respectively In the case where the receiver does not have such an AAR function it will assume the operation as shown in FIG 3B After the power switch is turned on at the time point t the alert tone alone is suspended at the time point 2 when the MR switch 9 is depressed and the
15. pressed down to control the display on the display device by the output of the timer Reference is made to the Japanese Patent Publication No 55 2099 dated Jan 18 1980 According to the system described in this reference manual operation of a switch can operate the receiver to reset a sound circuit for alert tones and at the same time to activate a display device for a predetermined time preset by the timer function thereof The receiver how ever still is defective in that the information can not be visually presented while the alert tone is present Fur ther if the time for the visual display is preset for a predetermined short period of time a longer informa tion can not be displayed while if it is preset for a prede termined longer period of time a short information unavoidably leaves a void space SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a radio paging receiver having user friendly display con trol means wherein a reset means for the alert tones and a reset means for the display are separately provided so that an optimum time period for visual display can be set thereby eliminating mistakes caused by overlooking of the display or carelessness in switching off the opera tion According to the present invention there is provided a radio paging receiver having a display means said receiver comprising a first means for detecting a selec tive calling signal assigned to the receiver a second
16. receiver as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a ninth means for displaying all the stored messages from the latest one to the oldest when said switch is repeatedly activated while said receiver stands ready for receiving a selective calling signal thereto and a tenth means for stopping the display by said ninth means after a third predetermined period of time that starts from the release of said switch 3 A radio paging receiver as claimed in claim 2 wherein said first through third predetermined periods of time are of the same length 4 A radio paging receiver as claimed in claim 3 wherein said same length of time is 8 seconds 5 A radio paging receiver as claimed in claim 1 wherein said switch is a non lock type push switch 6 A method for displaying a message on the display means of a paging receiver comprising the following steps a detecting a selective calling signal followed by said message and assigned to said paging receiver b generating an alert tone in response to the detec tion of said selective calling signal c receiving and storing said message d displaying the stored message e stopping the generation of said alert tone in re sponse to the activation of a switch included in said paging receiver and f stopping the display of said message after a first preset period of time that starts from the release of the activated switch UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK O
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