Acknowledge back pager with adaptive variable transmitter output power

Abstract

An acknowledge back (ack-back) pager is provided for receiving paging signals from a central paging station. The central paging station transmits a group of message signals to a group of ack-back pagers which are addressed as a group. The users of the group of addressed ack-back pagers indicate a response to their respective pagers thus providing ack-back data. The pagers in the group of addressed ack-back pagers then simultaneously transmit back to the central station their ack-back data on different frequency sub-bands, a different frequency sub-band being dynamically allocated to each of the pagers in the group. Each ack-back pager determines whether the paging signals received thereby exhibits a signal level less than a predetermined threshold level. If the paging signals received by a particular ack-back pager exhibit a signal level less than such predetermined threshold level, then the pager transmits back to the central station at a first output power level. Otherwise, the pager transmits at a second ouput power level substantially less than the first output power level. In this manner, the problem of the ack-back signal from a particular pager being so strong at the central station as to mask other simultaneous ack-back signals is substantially ameliorated.