WO1996039783A1

WO1996039783A1 - Communication system and method for automatically deferring messages intended for a pager

Info

Publication number: WO1996039783A1
Application number: PCT/US1996/004080
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jeffrey Scott King; Tara Friedman; Michael Thomas Minuto
Original assignee: Motorola Inc.
Priority date: 1995-06-05
Filing date: 1996-03-25
Publication date: 1996-12-12

Abstract

A communication system and method for a selective call transceiver (122) to automatically request deferment of transmission of messages received by the paging terminal (100) from a caller via a telephone network when the selective call transceiver (122) is turned off. The paging terminal greets the caller with a voice message from a user of the selective call transceiver indicating message deferment is active for the selective call transceiver. The deferred messages are stored in a message queue (218) of the paging terminal for a period that the selective call transceiver is off. When the selective call transceiver is turned on, the selective call transceiver automatically requests forwarding of messages from the paging terminal and, in response, the paging terminal transmits deferred messages.

Description

COMMUNICAΗON SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATICALLY DEFERRING MESSAGES INTENDED FOR A PAGER

Field of the Invention

This invention relates in general to communication systems, and more specifically to a paging communication system and method for automatically deferring messages intended for a pager.

Background of the Invention

Paging systems are well known, including the more recently developed two-way paging systems. In modern paging systems the paging message is often received by a pager less than a minute after a caller makes a paging request, in other words, in near real time. It is also well known that the battery life of pagers, both selective call receivers and the more recently developed selective call transceivers, is not unlimited. A most basic technique to extend battery life is to simply manually turn off the pager prior to the period when a page is not expected. Also well known is automatic on-off circuitry within the pager to automatically turn the pager off at a certain hour and to automatically turn the pager on at a certain hour. Unfortunately, a pager cannot receive a page when it is off. As a result, when a pager is off, a caller will possibly repeat the paging request one or more times thereby creating the problem of wasting valuable air time. Some known paging systems have tried to avoid this problem of wasting valuable air time by providing a pager user with the option notifying a paging terminal to hold paging requests. An example of such a system is the Automatic Nationwide Paging System described in U.S. Patent No. 4,178,476 issued December 11, 1979 to Frost. In such systems, an owner or user of the pager telephones the paging terminal of the paging system to cause the terminal to defer, or stop, transmitting pages. The system then accepts, records, but does not transmit, any subsequent pages. At some later time, the user again telephones the terminal to cause the terminal to transmit the held pages and to resume transmitting future pages as future paging requests are made. However, known systems such as the one described in Frost do not provide any notice to the caller that a paging deferral request has been made by the pager user. Therefore, a caller will probably continue to make one or more paging requests to the system thereby detrimentally occupying telephone lines to the system, and the caller will become disenchanted with the paging system and /or disgruntled with the pager owner when it appears that the page was not received in near real time.

A communication system with two-way communication capability between base stations and selective call transceivers, or two-way pagers, provides an important means for the base stations to determine the reliability of a paging transaction. Two-way communication can be used by a caller to determine whether a pager has received the caller's page. There are times, however, when it may not be possible for the pager to receive a page, for example, if the called party's pager is turned off or when the pager is out of range. Prior art systems such as U.S. Patent No. 4,868,560 issued September 19, 1989 to Oliwa et al and/or U.S. Patent No. 4,928,096 issued May 22, 1990 to Leonardo et al., both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, have tried to avoid this problem by deferring future messages for a selective call transceiver when a message acknowledgment is not received from the selective call transceiver belonging to a called party. In such systems, the caller is informed of the paging terminal's problem with communicating with the designated pager. The caller is then given the option to store a page for later transmission. The systems disclosed in Oliwa et al., and Leonardo et al., provide satisfactory performance under most, but not necessarily all, operating circumstances. These prior art systems, however, cannot determine the reason the pager could not be reached such as, for example, the pager having been turned off by automatic on/off circuitry, or the user manually having turned off the pager. Consequently the paging terminal cannot always accurately inform the caller of the true status of the called party's pager. Furthermore, in known paging systems, the limited information obtained about the status of a pager is obtained only after an attempt is made to transmit a signal to the pager, thereby disadvantageously occupying valuable air time.

Thus, what is needed is a communication system and a method for automatically deferring and forwarding of messages intended for a selective call transceiver when the selective call transceiver is turned off, and turned on, respectively, and for automatically providing notification to a caller of the status of a selective call transceiver without the communication system first attempting to transmit a page to the selective call transceiver.

Summary of the Invention

One aspect of the present invention is a communication system having a paging terminal connected to a telephone network for receiving messages from callers, the paging terminal selectively transmitting messages to at least one of a plurality of pagers, a method for individually deferring transmission by the paging terminal to one of the plurality of pagers of messages for the one of the plurality of pagers, comprising the steps of: receiving a signal to defer transmission by the paging terminal to the one of the plurality of pagers of messages for the one of the plurality of pagers; and activating an automated telephonic voice message for informing a caller originating a message for the one of the plurality of pagers that transmission deferral is active for the one pager.

Brief Description of the Drawings

FIG. 1 is an electrical block diagram of a communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed electrical block diagram of the controller and the base station of the communication system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a more detailed electrical block diagram of the selective call transceiver of the communication system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of elements of an outbound protocol and an inbound protocol of the base stations and selective call transceivers of the communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIGs. 5, 6 and 7 are flow charts depicting the operations of the base station and the controller of the communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIGs. 8 and 9 are flow charts depicting the operations of the selective call transceiver in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Description of the Preferred Embodiment

Referring to FIG. 1, an electrical block diagram of a communication system such as a two-way paging or selective call communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a controller 112, a plurality of base stations 116 including base station transceivers 118, base station receivers 117, base station transmitters 119, and a plurality of selective call transceivers 122 and selective call receivers 123. Both selective call transceivers 122 and selective call receivers 123 are pagers. For clarity of illustration, only a limited number of base stations 116 are shown in FIG. 1. The controller 112 provides a means for directing operations of a paging terminal 100. The paging terminal 100 comprises the controller 112 and a plurality of base stations 116. The communication system preferably uses a plurality of base station receivers 117 and one base station transmitter 119 for two-way communication; alternatively, more than one base station transmitter 119 can be used. Hereinafter reference to base stations 116 will include base station transceivers 118, base station receivers 117, and base station transmitters 119. The base stations 116 are used for two-way communication with a plurality of the selective call transceivers 122 and for one-way communication with a plurality of the selective call receivers 123, utilizing conventional techniques well known in the art. The base stations 116 are coupled by communication links 114 to a controller 112 which controls the base stations. Hereinafter, reference to selective call transceivers 122 will include selective call receivers 123 unless it is clear otherwise from context that only a pager with a transmitter is being referred to.

Each of the base stations 116 transmits radio signals to the plurality of selective call transceivers 122 via an antenna 121, and receive radio signals from the plurality of selective call transceivers 122 via an antenna 121. The radio signals comprise selective call addresses and messages transmitted to the selective call transceivers 122 and acknowledgments received from the selective call transceivers 122. It will be appreciated that the selective call transceivers 122 can also originate messages other than acknowledgments, as will be described below. The controller 112 preferably is coupled by telephone links 101 providing means for communicating with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 110 for receiving selective call originations therefrom. Selective call originations comprising voice and data messages from the PSTN 110 can be generated, for example, from a conventional touch-tone telephone 124 coupled to the PSTN 110 in a manner that is well known in the art.

Data and control transmissions between the base stations 116 and the selective call transceivers 122 preferably utilize a protocol similar to Motorola's well-known FLEX™ digital selective call signaling protocol as described more fully in U.S. Patent No. 5,168,493 issued December 1, 1992 to Nelson et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Outbound channel transmissions comprising data and control signals from the base stations 116 preferably utilize two and four-level frequency shift keyed (FSK) modulation, operating at 1,600 or 3,200 symbols-per-second (sps), depending on traffic requirements and system transmission gain. Inbound channel transmissions from the selective call transceivers 122 to the base stations 116 preferably utilize four-level FSK modulation at a rate of 9600 bits per second (bps). Inbound channel transmissions preferably occur during predetermined data packet time slots synchronized with the outbound channel transmissions. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, other signaling protocols, modulation schemes, and transmission rates can be utilized for either or both transmission directions. The outbound and inbound channels preferably operate on a single carrier frequency utilizing well-known time division duplex (TDD) techniques for sharing the same frequency. It will be further appreciated that, alternatively, the outbound and inbound channels can operate on two different carrier frequencies using well-known frequency division multiplexing (FDM) techniques. U.S. Patent No. 4,875,038, issued October 17, 1989, to Siwiak et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes more fully an acknowledge-back communication system and is hereby incorporated by reference.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the controller 112 comprises a processor 210 for directing operation of the base stations 116. The processor 210 preferably is coupled through a transmitter interface 208 to a transmitter 202 via the communication links 114. The transmitter interface 208 provides a means for the controller 112 to transmit outbound information to the selective call transceivers 122. The communication links 114 use conventional means well known in the art, such as a direct wire line (telephone) link, a data communication link, or any number of radio frequency links, such as, a microwave transceiver link, or a satellite link. The transmitter 202 transmits two and four-level FSK data messages to the selective call transceivers 122. The processor 210 is also coupled to at least one receiver 204 through a receiver interface 206 via the communication links 114. The receiver interface 206 provides a means for the controller 112 to receive inbound information from the selective call transceivers 122. The receiver 204 can be co-located with the base stations 116, as implied in FIG. 2, but preferably is positioned remote from the base stations 116 to avoid interference from the transmitter 202. The receiver 204 is for receiving one or more acknowledgments and /or messages from the selective call transceivers 122.

The processor 210 is coupled to a random access memory (RAM) 214 comprising a message queue 216 and a deferred message queue 218. The message queue 216 temporarily stores messages destined for selective call transceivers 122 originated by callers using the PSTN 110. The deferred message queue 218 stores messages received by callers using the PSTN 110 which have been deferred from transmission by request from the selective call transceivers 122, as will be described below. Deferred messages for a selective call transceiver 122 are transmitted when the controller 112 receives a signal from the selective call transceiver 122 via the base stations 116 indicating the selective call transceiver 122 is active and ready to receive deferred messages stored in the deferred message queue 218. The processor 210 is coupled to a telephone interface 212 for communicating with the PSTN 110 through the telephone links 101 for receiving selective call originations. The telephone interface 212 incudes a dual tone multi-frequency (DTMF) decoder 213 for decoding conventional touch tone dialing by a user using a conventional touch-tone telephone 124. An automated telephonic voice message system 220 is coupled to the processor 210 providing the means to inform a caller originating a message for a selective call transceiver 122 that transmission deferral is active for the intended selective call transceiver 122. The automated telephonic voice message system 220 includes an originator greeter element 222 and a user greeter element 223. The originator greeter element 222 provides the user of a selective call transceiver 122 the option of programming a personal voice greeting to inform a caller that message deferment is active for the selective call transceiver 122. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, the user can use a default voice greeting programmed by a service provider. Once programmed, the originator greeter element 222 provides an automated voice menu to a caller originating a message to select by using appropriate functions on the conventional touch-tone telephone 124 among options: a) to store the message in the deferred message queue 218 until a selected time, b) to store the message until transmissions are reinstated by a signal sent to the controller 112 by the selective call transceiver 122, and c) not to store a message at all. The originator greeter element 222 uses the DTMF decoder 213 to decode the options selected by the caller using the conventional touch-tone telephone 124. Alternatively, the originator greeter element 222 uses a voice recognition element (not shown) to decode the options selected by voice by the caller. The automated telephonic voice message system 220 can be alternatively implemented as firmware elements (that is, software or machine code) included in the ROM 224. The firmware elements use digital voice messaging techniques well known in the art.

The user greeter element of the automated telephonic voice message system 220 interactively greets, by way of a voice message, a user of a selective call transceiver 122 with the options: a) to request the controller 112 to defer and store messages in the deferred message queue 218 received from callers originating messages for the selective call transceiver 122 of the user, and to request the controller 112 to forward deferred messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 to the base stations 116 which in turn transmit the deferred messages to the selective call transceiver of the user. Similar to the originator greeter element, the user greeter element also uses the DTMF decoder 213 or the voice recognition element (not shown) to decode the options selected by the user. Alternatively, the user preferably communicates with the automated telephonic voice message system 220 through radio frequency wireless means provided by the two-way paging communication system.

The processor 210 also is coupled to a read-only memory (ROM) 224. It will be appreciated that other types of memory, e.g., electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) or magnetic disk memory, can be utilized for the ROM 224, as well as the RAM 214. It will be further appreciated that the RAM 214 and the ROM 224, singly or in combination, can be integrated as a contiguous portion of the processor 210. Preferably, the processor 210 is similar to the DSP56100 digital signal processor (DSP) manufactured by Motorola, Inc. It will be appreciated that other similar processors can be utilized for the processor 210.

The ROM 224 of the processor 210 also includes firmware elements for use by the processor 210. The firmware elements include a call processing element 226 and a message routing element 228. The call processing element 226 handles the processing of an incoming telephone call conveying a paging message. The call processing element 226 controls the transmitter 202 of the base station transceiver 118 for sending a selective call message to a selective call transceiver 122 utilizing techniques well known in the art. Similarly, the call processing element 226 handles processing of an incoming message from a selective call transceiver 122. When the message from the selective call transceiver 122 is an acknowledgment message, acknowledging reception of a message transmitted by the base stations 116, the call processing element 226 records the acknowledgment and optionally reports the reception of the message to the caller originating the selective call message preferably using the PSTN 110. When the message from the selective call transceiver 122 is a message routing request, the call processing element 226 invokes the message routing element 228. The message routing request transmitted from the selective call transceiver 122 is a message deferment request or a message forwarding request. The message routing element 228 provides a means for processing a message deferral request or message forwarding request from the selective call transceiver 122. For a message deferment request, the processor 210 calls on a message deferment element 230 for processing the message deferment request, and in response, stores messages, received from callers via the PSTN 110, in the deferred message queue 218. The message deferment request can request deferment of messages indefinitely until the paging terminal receives notification from the selective call transceiver 122 to remove the deferment status. Alternatively, the message deferment request can request deferment of messages for a finite time period, the finite time period comprising preferably a calendar date and time, whereby the message deferment status is removed upon expiration of the finite time period. In response to expiration of the finite time period, messages received by the paging terminal are transmitted to the selective call transceiver 122. The processor uses a real-time clock 211 which tracks conventional calendar dates and conventional time to determine when the finite time period of message deferment for the selective call transceiver 122 has expired. For a message forwarding request, the processor 210 calls on a message forwarding element 232 which processes the message forwarding request, and in response, transmits the deferred messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 for the selective call transceiver 122.

In an alternate embodiment in accordance with the present invention, the user of selective call receiver 123 uses the PSTN 110 to communicate with the paging terminal to request message deferment and message forwarding. The user of the selective call receiver 123 is initially greeted by the voice message provided by the originator greeter element 222. The user of the selective call receiver 123 preferably enters an identification number which is interpreted by the originator greeter element 222 to identify the user of the selective call receiver 123. Upon identifying the user of the selective call receiver 123, the originator greeter element 222 invokes the user greeter element 223 for further processing of the user's call. The user greeter element 223 provides the user of the selective call receiver 123 the options to program the controller 112 for message deferment or message forwarding. The controller 112 directs the message deferment request or message forwarding request to the message routing element 228 wherein the message routing element 228 processes either request as described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the selective call transceiver 122 comprises an antenna 302 for transmitting radio signals to the base stations 116 and for intercepting radio signals from the base stations 116. The antenna 302 is coupled to a transceiver 304 utilizing conventional techniques well known in the art. The transceiver 304 provides a means for inbound and outbound communication with the controller 112. Radio signals received by the transceiver 304 produce demodulated information at the output. The demodulated information is coupled to the input of a microprocessor 308 which provides a means for directing operations of the selective call transceiver 122, and in particular which processes the demodulated information in a manner well known in the art. Response messages are processed by the microprocessor 308 and delivered to the transceiver 304, coupled to the microprocessor 308, for transmission to the paging terminal 100. The response messages transmitted by the transceiver 304 are preferably modulated using four-level FSK. A conventional power switch 306, coupled to the microprocessor 308, is used to control the supply of power to the transceiver 304, thereby providing a battery saving function. The microprocessor 308 is coupled to a random access memory (RAM) 320 for storing messages 322 in message storage locations. The microprocessor 308 is also coupled to a ROM 310. It will be appreciated that other types of memory, e.g., EEPROM, can be utilized for the ROM 310 and RAM 320. The ROM 310 includes firmware elements comprising a call processing element 312 which handles incoming outbound messages and handles transmission of inbound messages such as acknowledgments and message routing requests utilizing techniques well known in the art. On the outbound channel when an address is received by the microprocessor 308, the call processing element 312 compares one or more addresses 316 stored in an EEPROM 314, and when a match is detected, a call alerting signal is generated to alert a user that a message has been received. The call alerting signal is directed to a conventional audible or tactile alerting device 326 for generating an audible or tactile call alerting signal. In addition, the call processing element 312 processes the message which is received in a digitized conventional manner and then stores the message 322 in one of the message storage locations in the RAM 320. The message can be accessed by the user through user controls 324, which provide functions such as lock, unlock, delete, read, etc. More specifically, by the use of appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324, the message is recovered from the RAM 320, and then displayed on a display 328, e.g., a conventional liquid crystal display (LCD). When transmitting inbound messages, the call processing element 312 constructs the inbound message which includes an inbound sync 414 and an inbound message 416, as will be described below. The inbound message 416 comprises either an acknowledgment message or a message routing request. Once the inbound sync 414 and inbound message 416 have been constructed, the call processing element 312 sends the completed message to the transceiver 304 where the message is modulated onto a carrier and transmitted by the transmitting antenna 302 destined for the base stations 116. The firmware elements further comprise a routing request element

318 providing a means for automatically requesting deferment of messages from the controller 112 when the selective call transceiver 122 is turned off, and for requesting forwarding of deferred messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 by the paging terminal when the selective call transceiver 122 is turned on. The microprocessor 308 uses an auto on / off element 319 to provide a user with a programming option by using appropriate functions on the user controls 324 for setting an automatic turn on time and turn off time for the selective call transceiver 122. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, other apparatus can be used such as utilized in U.S. Patent No. 4, 894, 649 issued January 16, 1990 to Davis et al., and/or as utilized in U.S. Patent No. 4, 860, 005 issued August 22, 1989 to Deluca et al., which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention and which are hereby incorporated by reference.

When the selective call transceiver 122 is turned off, either by the automatic function provided by the auto on/off element 319, or by manually using appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324, the microprocessor 308 calls on the routing request element 318 which sends a message deferment request to the base stations 116 requesting that the controller 112 defer all messages received from a caller using the PSTN 110. When the auto on/off element 319 attempts to turn off the selective call transceiver 122, the routing request element 318 first sends the message deferment request preferably comprising a deferment request command to the base stations 116 prior to powering down the selective call transceiver 122. In addition, the message deferment request includes information defining the time for when the selective call transceiver 122 will return to service. Once the deferment request has been transmitted to the base stations 116, the selective call transceiver 122 waits for a confirmation from the base station 116 that the deferment request has been accepted by the paging terminal, which is now deferring messages received by callers using the PSTN 110 corresponding to the selective call transceiver 122. At this point, the selective call transceiver 122 powers down until the auto on/off element 319 reactivates the selective call transceiver 122 when the reactivation time is reached. It will be appreciated that the delay for receiving confirmation from the base stations 116 is transparent to the user of the selective call transceiver 122. The microprocessor 308 preferably implements a software based timer using a local oscillator as the time base of the timer. The software based timer (not shown) is used by the microprocessor 308 to determine time of day, and thus is used by the auto on/off element 319 to deactivate and activate the selective call transceiver 122, respectively. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, the software base timer can be implemented instead with a hardware based real-time clock utilizing conventional logic techniques well known in the art. The controller 112, as described above, uses the defined time period to determine when to remove the deferment status for the selective call transceiver 122. When the user manually attempts to turn off the selective call transceiver 122 by using appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324, the message deferment request comprises a deferment request command without information defining when the selective call transceiver 122 will return to service. In this case, the controller 112 maintains the deferment status for the selective call transceiver indefinitely. Alternatively, provision is made through user controls 324 on the selective call transceiver 122 to chose a turn-on time even when the selective call transceiver is turned off manually. In such an instance, the time the user chooses as the turn-on time is included in the deferment request command and the controller 112 acts upon a manually chosen turn-on time in the same way as if the turn- on time was automatically generated by the auto on/ off feature of the selective call transceiver 122. What is important is that, unlike prior art pagers, the selective call transceiver 122 does not immediately turn off upon attempted manual deactivation by the user. Rather, a signal is sent from the user controls 324 or the auto on/off element 319 to the microprocessor 308, which causes the routing request element 318 to send the message deferral request to the paging terminal via a transmission from transceiver 304. Of course, the message deferral request is also sent prior to every automatic, deactivation pursuant to the auto on/off feature. The period of time between the attempted deactivation of the selective call transceiver 122 and the actual deactivation is up to one cycle of the FLEX™ protocol, or approximately four minutes. When the selective call transceiver 122 is turned on, either by the automatic function provided by the auto on/off element 319, or by manually using appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324, the microprocessor 308 calls on the routing request element 318 which sends an inbound message to the base stations 116 requesting that the controller 112 forward all messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 by the paging terminal corresponding to the selective call transceiver 122. Referring to FIG. 4, a timing diagram 400 depicts elements of an outbound protocol and an inbound protocol of the base stations 116 and the selective call transceivers 122 of the communication system in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention. Using TDD transmission the outbound RF channel transmission is depicted during an outbound transmission time interval 402, while the inbound RF channel transmission is depicted during an inbound transmission time interval 404. The outbound transmission time interval 402 and the inbound transmission time interval 404 are subdivided by a time boundary 403. The time boundary 403 depicts a point in time when the outbound transmissions cease and the inbound transmissions commence.

The elements of the outbound protocol comprise an outbound sync 406, a selective call address 408, a message vector 410 and an outbound message 412, while the inbound protocol comprises an inbound sync 414 and an inbound message 416. The outbound sync 406 provides the selective call transceiver 122 a means for synchronization utilizing techniques well known in the art. The selective call address 408 identifies the selective call transceiver 122 for which the outbound message 412 is intended. The message vector 410 points in time within the TDD signal format to the position of the outbound message 412 to be received by the selective call transceiver 122. The outbound message 412 is preferably a selective call message originated by a caller using the PSTN 110.

Similarly, the inbound sync 414 provides the base stations 116 a means for synchronization utilizing techniques well known in the art. The inbound message 416 can be either a well known acknowledge-back response message, or a message routing request comprising either a message deferment request or a message forwarding request as described above. All inbound messages 416 comprise of code words for sending information to the controller 112. The code words are preferably unique 32 bit binary codes which, when interpreted by the controller 112, are understood to represent any one of possible messages such as, for example, an acknowledgment message, a message deferment request, or a message forwarding request. The acknowledgment message, the message deferment request and the message forwarding request preferably comprise a single code word. It will be appreciated that, alternatively, the code words can be of other bit lengths such as, for example, 64 bits, 128 bits, etc. It will be further appreciated that, alternatively, the acknowledgment message, the message deferment request and the message forwarding request can comprises more than one code word to identify the message. During selective call messaging between the base stations 116 and the selective call transceivers 122, the communication system protocol described above begins with an outbound message which delivers a message to a selective call transceiver 122. The selective call transceiver 122 can, optionally, acknowledge reception of the message on the inbound channel. Acknowledgment messages from the selective call transceiver 122 are transmitted on the inbound channel during a scheduled period which is referenced to the time boundary 403 described above. Scheduled inbound messages are preferably reserved for acknowledgment messaging from the selective call transceivers 122. However, when a user turns off or turns on the selective call transceiver 122, the selective call transceiver invokes the routing request element 318 which sends a message routing request to the base stations 116 which deliver the message to the controller 112. To send the message routing request, the routing request element 318 uses an unscheduled time period (slot) referenced to the time boundary 403 for unscheduled messaging to the base stations 116. Note during inbound messaging, a time period referenced to the time boundary 403 is reserved for both scheduled and unscheduled inbound messages. Therefore, there is no contention between scheduled and unscheduled inbound messages. Since the number of unscheduled time slots is limited, it is possible for contention to exist among a plurality of selective call transceivers 122 transmitting unscheduled inbound messages comprising message routing requests. To resolve contention with unscheduled inbound messages, the present invention preferably utilizes an ALOHA protocol as is well known by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Referring to FIG. 5, a flow chart depicting user programming of the paging terminal in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention begins with step 502 where the controller 112 receives a call from a subscriber user via the PSTN 110. In step 504 the subscriber user programs the automated telephonic voice message system 220 with a personal voice greeting. The voice greeting is presented to a caller when the controller 112 is in a message deferment mode previously invoked by a deferment request received by the base station 116 from the selective call transceiver 122. The automated telephonic voice message system will also provide the caller the option to store the message in the deferred message queue 218 until a selected time, or the option to store the message until transmissions are reinstated by a signal sent to the controller 112 by the selective call transceiver 122. Referring to FIG. 6, a flow chart depicting the paging terminal processing of message deferment and message forwarding requests from selective call transceivers 122 in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention begins with step 506 where the controller 112 receives a message routing request from a selective call transceiver 122. In step 508 the controller 112 determines the type of message routing request. If the message routing request is a message deferment request, then the controller 112 proceeds to step 510 where it asserts message deferment for the selective call transceiver 122. In this mode, the controller 112 defers all messages received by a caller using the PSTN 110 to the deferred message queue 218 stored in the RAM 214. In addition, the controller 112 will activate the automated telephonic voice message system 220 so that callers using the PSTN 110 will be greeted preferably by the subscriber users own personal voice greeting. If the message routing request is a message forwarding request, then the controller 112 proceeds to step 512 where it de-asserts message deferment for the selective call transceiver 122. The controller 112 then proceeds to step 514 where it reads all messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 corresponding to the selective call transceiver 122. In step 524 of FIG. 7 the controller 112 processes messages destined for the selective call transceiver 122 and sends them to the base station 116 for transmission. In step 526 the base station 116 transmitter 202 transmits the message destined for the selective call transceiver 122. In step 528 the base station 116 waits for an acknowledgment from the selective call transceiver 122 confirming that the messages transmitted have been received successfully. If an acknowledgment is not received, then in step 530 the controller 112 checks if the message has already been re-transmitted, and if so, the controller 112 checks if the re-send count has been exceeded. If the re-send count has not been exceeded, then the controller 112 proceeds to steps 524 and 526 where the message or messages are re-transmitted. If the re-send count, however, has been exceeded, then the controller 112 ceases transmitting the message or messages to the selective call transceiver 122. Referring to FIG. 7, a flow chart depicting operation of the paging terminal when a caller originates a message destined for a selective call transceiver 122 begins with step 516 where the controller receives a message from a caller using the PSTN 110. In step 518 the controller 112 checks if message deferment is on for the selective call transceiver 122 for which the message is intended. If message deferment is on, then the controller 112 proceeds to step 520 where the automated telephonic voice message system 220 informs the caller with a voice greeting, preferably in the voice of the user of the selective call transceiver 122, of the deferment status for the intended selective call transceiver 122. Additionally, the automated telephonic voice message system 220 provides the caller with the option to store the message in the deferred message queue 218 until a selected time, or the option to store the message until transmissions are reinstated by a signal sent to the controller 112 by the selective call transceiver 122. In step 522 the controller subsequently stores messages received by callers using the PSTN 110 during a period when the controller 112 is in message deferment mode for the selective call transceiver 122. Steps 524, 526, 528 and 530 are equivalent to previous descriptions given above. A more detailed description of apparatus and methods for deferral of messages in two-way paging communication systems is shown in U.S. Patent No. 4,868,560 issued September 19, 1989 to Oliwa et al., and U.S. Patent No. 4,928,096 issued May 22, 1990 to Leonardo et al., both assigned to the assignee of the present invention, and hereby incorporated by reference. Referring to FIGs. 8 and 9, a flow chart 600 depicting the operation of a selective call transceiver 122 when the selective call transceiver 122 is turned off and on in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, begins with step 602 where the user manually turns the selective call transceiver 122 off by the use of appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324. Similarly, in step 604 the selective call transceiver 122 can be turned off automatically by the user programming an automatic off time by the use of appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324. When either step 602 or 604 occur, the selective call transceiver 122 proceeds to step 606 where it sends a message routing request to the base stations 116 requesting deferment of messages received during the interim period while the selective call transceiver 122 is turned off. In step 608 the user manually turns the selective call transceiver 122 on by the use of appropriate functions provided by the user controls 324. Similarly, in step 610 the selective call transceiver 122 is turned on automatically by the user programming an automatic on time for the selective call transceiver 122. When either step 608 or 610 occur, the selective call transceiver 122 proceeds to step 612 where it sends a message routing request to the base stations 116 requesting forwarding of messages stored in the deferred message queue 218 of the controller 112 received during the period that the selective call transceiver 122 was turned off. Thus, it should be apparent by now that the present invention provides a method and apparatus for automatically deferring and forwarding of messages intended for a selective call transceiver. In particular, the present invention provides a novel method and apparatus for automatically deferring and forwarding messages received by a paging terminal by the selective call transceiver 122 automatically sending a message routing signal indicating the "power off" and "power on" status of the selective call transceiver 122. This method, advantageously, provides a system for deferring and forwarding messages received by the paging terminal without requiring, as in prior art, the need for the user of the selective call transceiver 122 to access a conventional touch- tone telephone 124 to inform a paging terminal of the "power off" and "power on" status of the selective call transceiver 122. Moreover, by having the selective call transceiver 122 automatically send "power off" and "power off" status signals to the paging terminal, the present invention advantageously provides a better method than prior art systems for the paging terminal to be informed quickly of the status of the selective call transceiver 122, and thereby reducing the chances of loosing a message transmitted by a paging terminal which was unaware that the selective call transceiver 122 intended to receive the message was turned off.

What is claimed is:

Claims

1. In a communication system having a paging terminal connected to a telephone network for receiving messages from callers, the paging terminal selectively transmitting messages to at least one of a plurality of pagers, a method for individually deferring transmission by the paging terminal to one of the plurality of pagers of messages for the one of the plurality of pagers, comprising the steps of: receiving a signal to defer transmission by the paging terminal to the one of the plurality of pagers of messages for the one of the plurality of pagers; and activating an automated telephonic voice message for informing a caller originating a message for the one of the plurality of pagers that transmission deferral is active for the one pager.

2. The method of claim 1, in which at least the one of the plurality of pagers includes a transmitter and wherein the signal to defer transmission by the paging terminal is transmitted by the transmitter.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal to request deferment of transmission by the paging terminal is received via the telephone network.

4. The method of claim 1, in which the paging terminal further includes a memory, and including the step of storing in the memory deferred messages for the one of the plurality of pagers.

5. The method of claim 4, including the steps of: receiving a message forwarding request from the one of the plurality of pagers, and in response, the paging terminal transmitting deferred messages in the memory to the one of the plurality of pagers.

6. The method of claim 1, including the step of programming the automated telephonic voice message to inform a caller of a period of time that transmission deferral is active for the one of the plurality of pagers.

7. The method of claim 1, including the step of providing an automated voice menu to a user of the one of the plurality of pagers for selecting a period of storage for messages.

8. A communication system having a paging terminal connected to a telephone network for receiving messages from callers and for individually deferring transmission by the paging terminal to one of a plurality of pagers of messages, the communication system comprising: a processor; a telephone interface coupled to the processor for communicating with the telephone network; a transmitter interface coupled to the processor for controlling a transmitter for sending information to the one of the plurality of pagers; a receiver interface coupled to the processor for receiving a message deferral request from the one of the plurality of pagers; a message routing element coupled to the processor for processing the message deferral request from the one of the plurality of pagers; and an automated telephonic voice message system to inform a caller originating a message for the one of the plurality of pagers that transmission deferral is active for the one of the plurality of pagers.

9. The communication system of claim 8, wherein the paging terminal further comprises a memory and wherein, in response to receiving the message deferral request, storing in the memory deferred messages for the one of the plurality of pagers during an interim period.

10. The communication system of claim 8, wherein the receiver interface receives a message forwarding request from the one of the plurality of pagers, and wherein the message routing element processes the message forwarding request, and in response, the transmitter interface transmits deferred messages in the memory to the one of the plurality of pagers.

11. A selective call transceiver, comprising: means for two-way wireless communication with a paging terminal; and means for automatically requesting deferment of messages from the paging terminal when the selective call transceiver is being turned off.

12. The selective call transceiver of claim 11, in which the means for automatically requesting deferment of messages from the paging terminal when the selective call transceiver is turned off includes means for requesting forwarding of deferred messages stored by the paging terminal when the selective call transceiver is turned on.

13. The selective call transceiver of claim 11 in which the means for automatically requesting deferment of messages includes a microprocessor for delaying turn-off of the selective call transceiver.

14. The selective call transceiver of claim 13 in which the microprocessor activates the means for two-way wireless communication and thereafter, turns off the selective call transceiver.