CA1269773A - Communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A process for a communication network advantageously uses existing broadcast channels to instruct remote receivers and eventually use automatic dial-up capability for forming a telephone communication link with a central processing facility. The network is capable of providing many services from remote reading of meters to electronic mail and electronic billing. The network is preferrably shared by a number of large users communicating with a host of subscribers.

Description

~97~
WH-6774-1 . 1 . l~l~llH/0062F

TITLE: COMMUNIC~TION SYSTEM

BACKGROUND OF T~E INVENTION
The present application relates to communication networks, and particularly to communication networks which use existing physical channels of communication which cooperatively form a new system for transfer of information in at least one, and preferably two, directions without the construction of additional physical communication channels or major upgrades to existing physical communication channels. The structure disclosed in this application has application for the automatic reading of various meters provided in homes, businesses, and institutions, as well as in electronic mail, electronic TELEXTM-type applications and security systems, and other data communication applications, as but some examples.
Various systems have been proposed for establishing a communication network between individual subscribers and certain utilities, such as the water utility, the gas utility, or the electric utility, whereby the meter of the particular utility is read electronically and the reading forwarded to the utility electronically. To a large extent, many of these systems required a telephone communication link being initiated by the utility causing the telephone within the subscribers' dwelling to be activated. Some arrangements placed equipment before the telephone to recognize an incoming signal, however, these have not provén popular. The main problem with this system is that all phones are activated by the incoming call resulting in inconvenience to the subscriber.
It has also been proposed to u-tilize existing cable television systems as a two way communication channel;
however, owing to the high cost of conversion from one-way to two-way, such systems have proven to date only to be speculative. It has also been recognized that it would be possible to again hard wire a further communication channel -: . - . .
, ..:~ -:

-, .: ~ - :
.

~.X697'73 WH-6774-l . 2 . l~4lH/0062F

withln a clty or region which is in ef~ect what has happened wlth the use of TELEX systems; however, the cost ~or doing thls has been prohlbitive in most cases.
According to the present inven-tlon, the communlcation system combines the communication capabilities of the telephone and broadcast media wlth the power of distrlbuted micro-processor intelligence. This information delivery system requires a receiver installed on the premises of each subscriber which interfaces with varlous communication channels. The receiver ls adapted to continually monitor a particular broadcast slgnal ln which authorlzlng codes are transmitted. The receiver, upon matching its authorizing code wlth a received signal, initiates a telephone communication from the receiver to the central processing facility. In this way, the problems associated with a telephone call being placed to the subscriber from the processing facility are avoided.

- SUMMARY ûF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a method for delivering information to selected individual subscriber equipment over existing telephone lines uses a process intermediary which activates appropriate subscriber equipment by means of a non-telephone authorizing signal.
The method comprises receiving information destined for a subscriber identified by code, creating a non-telephone authorizing signal and transmitting the non-telephone authorizing signal for reception by said subscriber equipment and including in said signal codes of the particular subscriber equipment for which information is destined, receiving the authorizing signal at each subscriber equipment and activating the subscriber equipmen-t for which information is destined by identifying the particular code, forming a telphone communication link between each activated subscriber equipment and the process intermediary, identifying the particular activated .~ ;: .
. . ~ .
:' ~ ' -,: ' .
: . ~ . . . .
: . :. -.. .

~97~73 WH-6774-1 . 3 . 1441H/0062F

subscriber equipment to the process intermediary and delivering via the -telephone communication link the destined information to the particular subscriber equi.pment.
According to an aspect of the invention, -the method for delivering in-Formation creates and transmits a separate paging transmission by means of which particular stations are authorized.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the method not only delivers information, but also receives information destined for an identified subscriber and delivers this information to the particular subscriber equipment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Preferred embodiments of the invention are found in the drawings wherein;
Figure 1 is an overview of how the communication system connects various subscribers and each subscriber with one of several large utilities.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The schematic of the communication network is shown in Figure 1 and includes a plurality of subscriber stations generally shown as 2, which are linked to a central processing intermediary generally shown as 20 via telephone modems 4 and the non-dedicated telephone lines 24. Each subscriber station 2 includes an input means, in this case the antenna 6, for receiving the free air communication broadcast generally shown as 32. It can be appreciated that the antenna 6 could be replaced with a connection to a broadcast carried over a cable network as but one alternative. Each station includes a number of input/output channels generally designated as 8 for allowing connection to the remotely readable gas, wa-ter and electricity meters generally designated 10, 12 and 14 respectively. In addition, a hot water heater 19 or other interruptible load ., - ~ , , ~

..",, ' :,:', ' , , ' .' ' '~' `

97~73 WH-6774-1 . 4 . 14~l:L~l/0062F

is connected to the receiver/processor 16 in a manner to allow interruption of the power supply to the hot water heater or other load to effect load shedding as will be discussed subsequently.
Central processing intermediary 20 is a central computer with the capability of automatically answering various telephone signals conducted over the normal non-dedicated telephone lines. The automatic answer lines are generally designated as 22. The central processing intermediary 20 is also connected to a radio station 28 via the transmission line 26 to effect transmission of an instructing signal to the radio station 28. The instructing signal at least identifies the address code of desired subscriber stations, with this instructing signal being superimposed on the normal broadcast signal eventually received by the antennas 6. The receiver processor 16, of each subscriber station 2, continuously listens or hears the instructing signal, and when a match between the particular address of the receiver/processor 16 and the instructing signal is achieved, certain functions will be carried out by the receiver/processor. Preferrably command codes are also transmitted with the address codes such that the receiver/processor 16 carries out certain functions generally in preparation for communicating with the central process intermediary 20. Therefore, in effect, the broadcast signal 32 which includes the address signals, is used as an outbound link to identify the particular subscriber stations that are to carry out a particular function such as meter reading. In this case, the instructing signal would actuate certain receiver/processors 16 which would then determine the various values of meters 10, 12 and 14. These values may already be stored in memory of the receiver/processor 16 if the signals from the meters are continuously fed to the receiver/processor 16. The receiver/processor 16 via the telephone modem 4 and an automatic dial-up capability places an outgoing telephone : ,............ .
: ~ . : ~ .-, :. :: . ...
.- ::

" i ~ -. . ;

7;~
WH-6774-1 . 5 . 1~41H/0062F

call to the central process intermediary 20, whereaFter identification of the subscriber station and the various readings will be -transmitted. The central process intermediary 20 would record these values and, preferrably, process -them with other data received from subscriber stations for appropriate distribution to the utilities such as electrical utility 34, gas utility 36 and water utility 38 which can be electronically connected to the central process intermediary via dedicated or non-dedicated communication lines 37 or may be connected in a conventional manner such as by mail. Obviously, the electronic communication is preferred, and will allow more rapid invoicing by the various utilities.
In addition, other institution type users 39 of the system are shown and include governments, banks, brokers, newspapers, advertisers, security agencies, ticket agencies, credit card companies, data base services, market survey firms etc., who desire electronic communication with subscribers. These users may have a dedicated or non-dedicated connection to the central process intermediary 20 and may or may not require two way communication. This group would also "subscribe" to the system but because of its particular purpose, has been separately identified.
These other users 39, may require additional equipment 18 at each subscriber station for functions such as information display, printing, entering, editing, storage, and processing. This equipment may include a printer, display, keyboard, storage means, and computer system, among other devices.
It is also possible to use this communication system for other functions, such as load shedding which will be discussed with respect to interruptible loads such as the hot water heater 19. It is well known that the electrical utility must operate within fairly rigid maximum load requ;rements and pay substantial penalties for exceeding the maximum. In order to provide them with control or at least - :. -- . .
' ~,', ' ~ . .

~: .
. ........ . .

37'i';~

WH-6774-1 . 6 . 1~ /00~2F

some control over the total demand for electrical power, certain interruptible appliances within individual premises can be au-toma-tically disconnected for a short period of time to thereby reduce the peak load. This is true of hot water heaters and central air conditioners, and water heater 19 has been connected with the receiver/processor 16 and upon an appropriate signal being transmitted to the receiver/processor 16, the power supply of the hot water tank can be temporarily interrupted as required, Many advantages are possible by having a central process interemdiary which effectively connects individual subscribers with individual utilities and other institutional users. Centralized meter reading for example, becomes an economic reality~ In addition, the basic equipment can be added to make possible electronic mail and electronic billing as additional services. The communication network uses existing technology to allow the completion of a telephone communication link between the subscriber station and the central processing intermediary to be activated by the subscriber station upon receipt of an instructing signal. Therefore, two existing communication channels, broadcast and dial-up telephone, have been advantageously combined and a central processing intermediary has been introduced to substantially reduce the capital cost associated with each station. Furthermore, secondary features such as load shedding and time of day billing can be accomplished providing further economic justification of the capital costs.
The receiver/processor 16 includes logic such that the outgoing call to the central processing intermediary 20 only occurs when the telephone line is available and aborts the call in the event that another phone connected to the line is used. In this way, the normal operation of the telephone within the subscriber's premises remains unchanged and the subscriber station 2 only uses the line when not in use by the occupants.
.:' . . ~. ., " . ' ' ' . -. . ~: :: . . . -- : , . .. , -.. ..

~ 2 ~ 7~

WH-6774-1 . 7 . 1~ 1/0062F

It can be appreciated that the var.ious utilities can make requests of -the central processing int~rm~diary via the preferred direct communication lines 37, however, it is somewhat more effective if all meter readings are transFerred from the subscriber station to the central processor intermediary at the same point in time.
Therefore, in order to transfer the required information to separate utilities, the central processing facility processes the information received from each subscriber and separates the same into the appropriate groups for distribution to the separate utilities. In this way, the central processing intermediary processes the information into a suitable form for use by other parties.
Figure 1 up to this point, has been discussed with respect to the communication system for use in gathering information available at the subscriberls premises and/or the possibility of load shedding with respect to some appliances. It is also possible with this system -to implement such services as dynamic time of day billing for electrical power, time of day metering for electrical utilities, quality of service monitoring for electrical utilities, supply pressure monitoring for water and gas utilities, control of certain uses of water, on-line monitoring of fuel oil tank levels, on-line monitoring of gas leaks, inventory monitoring for industrial gas cylinders, inventory monitoring for vending machines and remote monitoring and control of distributed equipment.
These services require the use of specialized sensors of` one sort or another, which result in an electrically-readable signal. The receiver/processor can be appropriately programmed -to process these signals and provide a telephone communication link between the receiver/processor and the process intermediary. It is also possible in the present system to provide on-line monitoring of security alarms, on-line monitoring of smoke and fire alarms, on-line monitoring of flood alarms, heat loss alarms, panic switch ':., `':" . . '`.
.~ . .
.

' ~ 2697~73 ~H-6774-1 . 8 . 1~ l/0062F

alarms, medical monitoring and extended power fallure a;larms using the proposed communication network and suitable sensors.
In order to provide electronic mail or messages, the receiver/processor of the subscriber would be provided with a terminal 18 for -the presentation and entry of information and preferrably some processing means and memory capacity. In a more sophisticated embodiment, it may utilize a personal computer as the terminal equipment 18 connected to receiver/processor 16 via line 17. A message would be originated at one subscriber station which thereafter would make the telephone communication link with the central processing intermediary 20 and transfer the desired message with the address of the subscriber or user to whom the message is destined. The central processing intermediary 2û would then extract the address code of the subscriber or user to which the message is to be sent and have a signal produced and transmitted with the broadcast signal generally indicated as 32. As all receiver/processors 16 are continuously listening they would recognize their particular address code and, in this case, may recognize a further code indicating that a message was waiting for them at the central process intermediary. The user of that particular receiver/processor would have a message or indication appearing thereon produced by his own receiver/processor acknowledging a message had been received by the central process intermediary. In this manual-type operation, the person would then complete a telephone communication link and have the message transmitted to him.
It is also possible to automatically have this message transfered once the signal was received by the station using its automatic dial-up capability for contacting the central process intermediary 20. Therefore, this arrangement again uses the existing dial-up telephone lines to effect a communication link between the subscriber and the central process intermediary while using the broadcast signal to . ....~:

.
," ;'~

~ ~i977~
WH-6774-1 . 9 . 1441H/0062F

alert the subscriber equipment of particular ~unctions to be performed.
The system described above provides an interactive subscriber service, which in effect, ac-ts as a medium S suitable for electronic mail, electronic delivery o~
invoices, electronic bill paying, electronic direct mail advertising, personalized real time information services, personlized notification services, electronic message services, shop at home services, home banking services, consumer surveys, plebisites, electronic purchase and delivery of tickets, and home lottery selection and ticket delivery to mention only a few of the possibilities. This full interactive subscriber service is accomplished without the creation of a new physical communication channel, by using the existing communication channels in a unique manner.
Although various preferred embodimen-ts of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that variations may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

; . , - : :

. : :

Claims (7)

WH-6774-1 . 10 . 1441H/0062F

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A method for delivering information to selected individual subscriber equipment over existing telephone lines by means of a process intermediary and where each subscriber equipment is activated by a non-telephone authorizing signal, said method comprising receiving information destined for a subscriber identified by code, creating a non-telephone authorizing signal and transmitting the non-telephone authorizing signal for reception by said subscriber equipment and including in said signal codes of the particular subscriber equipment for which information is destined, receiving the authorizing signal at each subscriber equipment and activating the subscriber equipment for which information is destined by identifying the particular code, forming a telphone communication link between each activated subscriber equipment and the process intermediary, identifying the particular activated subscriber equipment to the process intermediary and delivering via the telephone communication link the destined information to the particular subscriber equipment.

2. A method for delivering information as claimed in claim 1 wherein said step of receiving information includes receiving the information by means of a telephone communication.

3. A method for delivering information as claimed in claim 1 wherein said step of creating and transmitting a non-telephone authorizing signal produces a separate paging transmission by means of which at least one particular station is authorized.

WH-6774-1 . 11 . 1441H/0062F

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said step of forming a telephone communication link includes automatically dialing a telephone number of the process intermediary only when a telephone line is available.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including receiving the information to be delivered by means of a telephone communication with said process intermediary.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein received information is stored and processed to extract the code of the subscriber equipment for which information is destined.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 including initially receiving information from one subscriber equipment destined for another subscriber equipment at the process intermediary and extracting from that information the subscriber code for the particular subscriber for which the information is destined and authorizing the same by means of the extracted subscriber code.