Seiko Epson Corporation

Seiko Corporation

At&e Corporation

Seiko Communications Holding N.v.

Seiko Communications Systems Inc.

Other

Elko Corp.

Seiko Communications Holdings N.v.

Daniel J Park

Garold B Gaskill

Don G Hoff

Joseph F Stiley, Iii

Robert G Rullman

Lewis W Barnum

Donald T Rose

Jeffrey R Owen

Mark R Gehring

Lawrence H Ragan

Bruce C Nepple

James D English

William H Peek

Carl D Shanks

Rick T Wells

Kenneth G Gray

Norbert E Dey

Garth Upshaw

Ronnie S Tardif

Gary A Price

James K Collar

Portable and lightweight hanger for raising and supporting weights such as game carcasses from posts, such as tress. The hanger can include a triangular crane shaped frame having a bent tip end, and an enlarged base with open side portion that abuts against a surface of the tree. A cable having stopper ends attaches an upper portion of the frame to the tree by having stopper ends being inserted into keyhole slots on a midportion of the frame. The bent tip can have a slot for allowing a rope to be pulled therethrough to list game carcasses up into the air to be cleaned. The hanger can be carried and installed on a tree by a single hunter without damaging the tree since no fasteners such as nails, and screws are used.

Tree hanger

The effective transmission range of a wireless paging system is varied by changing the transmission data rate. The transmission data rate is lowered in regions with sparse transmitter coverage to increase the effective transmission range of the transmitter. The dual transmission data rates are transmitted either on separate subcarriers on the same FM channel, on the same subcarrier of different FM channels or alternatively on different subcarriers of different FM channels. In a region with dense transmission coverage, the receiver decodes transmission messages at the faster transmission data rate. In regions with sparce transmission coverage, the receiver decodes messages at the slower transmission data rate.

Dual channel dual speed FM subcarrier paging system

A phase locked loop circuit employing a single phase detector provides limited maximum lock time by avoiding hang-up. The circuit first establishes a gross indication of phase relation sufficient to establish a direction of phase shift away from the unstable equilibrium point. The phase is then shifted by a predetermined value to establish a bounded phase relation exclusive of the unstable equilibrium point and inclusive of the stable equilibrium point. Conventional phase locking then provides the desired frequency and phase relation, but without potential for hang-up.

Phase locked loop with limited lock time

An FM signal or protocol analyzer (PA) system: The PA system is capable of analyzing the broadcast signal at many levels, from analysis of the physical RF link to comprehensive analysis of the subcarrier messaging. The PA system is built on a computer including special hardware and software. The custom hardware comprises at least one precision RF receiver and signal processing circuitry. The custom software includes data acquisition, data analysis and data presentation software. As a feature of the present invention, a PA system is designed to be 'user friendly.' As such, it operates in a windowing environment and makes extensive use of graphical displays. The PA system can operate in a networking environment so the receiver and signal processing circuitry can be physically distant from the user's display and keyboard, in another computer connected to the network. The look and feel of the PA system being operated over a network is similar to the look and feel of a PA system with all its components being local, except for any performance limitations that are imposed by network throughput.

Analyzer for frequency modulated signals

A paging system repeatedly broadcast each message and associates a sequential message number with each paging message. The message number in each message serves two functions. First, the message number is used to determine if the same message was previously received and second, when a subscriber reviews the messages, missing messages can be readily detected by skipped message numbers. All messages that are transmitted are also stored at a clearinghouse and a subscriber can telephone the clearinghouse facility and request that particular missed messages be retransmitted or given by voice response over the telephone.

Paging system with message numbering prior to transmission

Two separate subcarriers are used to transmit portions of a single message to one or more receivers on an FM radio signal. The synchronization and addressing data necessary to identify the message to a target receiver is located in the first subcarrier. The second subcarrier, in turn, consists almost entirely of raw message data. Thus, transmitting multiple subcarriers substantially increases the overall data transmission payload when transmitting digital messages. Because each subcarrier is located within a different frequency band, the communication system is also adaptable to different subcarrier allotments in the FM baseband.

Transmitting digital data using multiple subcarriers

A wide area paging system is disclosed in which paging messages input to the system in one local area can be broadcast to a receiver in any other local area without necessarily broadcasting the message in all areas. A local area clearinghouse in each area stores resident subscriber data including current location and receiver serial number. This data is used to transfer messages over a data network to the correct clearinghouse. The system uses a TDM data protocol. The data is encoded and transmitted at a very high rate (e.g. , 19,000 baud) in short packets (256 bits/13 milliseconds) via stereo FM sidebands. Receivers are assigned to receive sequentially numbered time slots matching a portion of their address. The addresses of intended receivers are included in the data packets. Battery-powered receivers are deactivated between packets and reactivated in accordance with the sequential time slot number scheme to receive an incoming packet. Messages longer than a packet are segmented and transmitted in two or more packets, linked together by data contained in the packets. A watch pager used in the system employs a wristband antenna which electromagnetically couples to the user's body. The watch pager displays time, telephone numbers and icons representing common types of paging messages.

Watch pager with icons

Battery saving can be achieved in a selective call receiver (i.e. in a radio pager) by only periodically activating the receiver. The activation rate or time cycle of the receiver determines how often the receiver can receive messages and the amount of time between the periods when messages can be received. The present invention provides a selective call receiver which has variable cycle rates. A system includes a plurality of receivers, some of which have a first cycle rate and some of which have a second cycle rate.

Watch pager system and communication protocol

A wireless communication system uses transmitted data signals to monitor and control redundant modulator hardware. A modulator unit signature identifying the modulator unit currently transmitting data is embedded into each data frame carried by the transmission signal. Each modulator unit can then independently monitor the transmission signal to determine which modulator is currently transmitting data. Each modulator unit then monitors the transmission signal in case the modulator unit actively generating the transmission signal fails. In a failure situation, the active modulator unit disconnects itself from the transmission circuity while the backup modulator unit independently connects to the transmission circuitry to begin active transmission.

Method and apparatus for switching between redundant hardware in a

A method and apparatus for paging message encryption and decryption is shown and described. Paging messages may be encrypted at their source or by the paging system and delivered by radio signal in secure fashion to a paging system for delivery to a remote radio signal receiving paging device. Advantageously, certain paging device hardware and software resources are used to both detect transmission errors and to decrypt paging messages.

Encrypted paging message transmission

A paging system using synchronized transmission protocol and pagers active during monitor intervals to receive data transmitted during corresponding message intervals is provided with adaptive on-off radio receiver control for reducing monitor interval duration to conserve battery power. The adaptive on-off control is a function of recent timing errors and thereby accounts for environmental conditions.

Adaptive on-off control for radio receiver

Data flow control is achieved by use of variable length flags delimiting information packets whereby longer flags result in less information flow and shorter flags result in greater information flow. A single channel carries message data as well as status and command data in information packets delimited by the variable length flags. The channel runs continuously such as to provide a constant flow of status and command data, yet includes flow control for preventing overflow and underflow of message data at the receiving end of the channel.

Method of data flow control

Real time synchronization of radio signal data is achieved by a feedback loop between a clearinghouse generating data and a radio station transmitting data. Transmission time is adjusted in response to detected timing errors by selectively inserting padding data between certain data packets to shift data packet position within a data stream transmitted at a predetermined transmission rate. Data flow control is achieved by use of variable length flags delimiting data packets whereby longer flags result in less data flow and shorter flags result in greater data flow.

Radio signal data transmission synchronization

A frequency agile data receiver checks are needed, according to a first protocol, among a plurality of channels to find a channel carrying data. A control activated by the user interrupts this first protocol and institutes a second protocol different than the first. Applied to a paging receiver, the first protocol may sequentially tune the receiver to a plurality of previously identified channels to locate a channel on which paging data is satisfactorily received. The second protocol may sequentially tune to all possible channels to locate such a channel. By this arrangement, a person who knowingly moves to a new locality (e.g., flies to another city) can instruct the paging receiver to abandon a previously identified list of candidate channels and to begin a spectrum-wide scan to locate a new satisfactory paging channels.

Scanning receiver with manual override of frequency scanning routine

A wide area paging system is disclosed in which paging messages input to the system in one local area can be broadcast to a receiver in any other local area without necessarily broadcasting the message in all areas. A local area clearinghouse in each area stores resident subscriber data including current location and receiver serial number. This data is used to transfer messages over a data network to the correct clearing-house. The system uses a TDM data protocol. The data is encoded and transmitted at a very high rate (e.g., 19,000 baud) in short packets (256 bits/13 milliseconds) via stereo FM sidebands. Receivers are assigned to receive sequentially numbered time slots matching a portion of their address. The addresses of intended receivers are included in the data packets. Battery-powered receivers are deactivated between packets and reactivated in accordance with the sequential time slot number scheme to receive an incoming packet. Messages longer than a packet are segmented and transmitted in two or more packets, linked together by data contained in the packets. A watch pager used in the system employs a wristband antenna which electromagnetically couples to the user's body. The watch pager displays time, telephone numbers and icons representing common types of paging messages.

Growing community of inventors

Portland, OR, United States of America

Daniel J Park