EP0927409A1 - Radio call receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

A radio call receiver for a call signal of a radio call service connected to a telecommunication network, provided with a means to decode the call signal and connected to a means of producing a control signal from a control section of the call signal, wherein the control signal is connected across an interface in order to control an electronic appliance. For security reasons it is an advantage to provide a means of reviewing an identification section of the call signal, wherein the control signal is only connected across the interface of the radio call receiver after the identification section has been inspected successfully.

Description

description

Pager

The present invention relates to a pager for a call signal of a paging service, which is connected to a telecommunications network, which has a means for decoding the call signal.

Paging receivers of this type are generally known under the name beeper or pager. These receivers are used to call people, e.g. Used by doctors or security personnel in emergencies. The number of the pager is dialed via a stationary telephone and a telephone number of the calling party or a specific code for a message is dialed. A radio center is then selected via the telecommunications network, which generates the call signal and forwards it to a transmitter. The call signal is received and decoded on the mobile pager. The arrival of a call signal is usually indicated by a beep and the number dialed for the calling party or the message is shown on a display of the radio paging receiver.

The advantages of a pager over stationary telephones, mobile phones or two-way radios include the fact that they can be manufactured inexpensively and operated inexpensively (free of charge). Nevertheless, they allow the wearer of a pager a high degree of mobility since they can be reached practically anywhere. The low energy consumption makes them largely independent of a general power supply, since they can be operated much longer with one set of batteries. Due to their small dimensions, they are hardly noticeable and can be easily transported. The invention is based on the idea of not only using a radio paging receiver for calling people. For this purpose, the radio pager has a means connected to the means for decoding for generating a control signal from a control part of the call signal, the control signal for controlling an electrical device being connected to an interface of the radio receiver.

This enables a paging receiver to have a variety of new applications in the area of controlling electrical or electronic devices over long distances, e.g. the control of heating / air conditioning systems of buildings or vehicles, the control of irrigation systems, anti-theft devices, etc. the like The number of possible applications is practically unlimited and can be expanded as required.

Switching on electrical devices over long distances by means of an addition to a stationary telephone connection is already known. Austrian Post sells a device of this type under the name "Power switch relay" in which any power device, e.g. a lamp can be switched on by means of a telephone call.

Compared to the known control using a stationary telephone, a radio pager of the type according to the invention has the great advantage that no telephone connection is required for the planned control purposes. The manufacturing costs of a pager are comparatively ^* low. Likewise, the operating costs of paging receivers are comparatively low since there are usually no charges. As a result, costs can be saved both in terms of acquisition and operation. The power supply of a radio paging receiver can be easily by means of

Batteries or solar systems take place, so that for the use of the pager according to the invention, moreover, none Connection to a power supply network must be available. Furthermore, the installation of such a control radio pager is particularly simple since no complicated cabling is necessary. The control of the radio pager can be carried out easily from any point in the world where an ordinary telephone is present, so that the user of the control can also be mobile.

In order to protect the control of the radio paging receiver against undesired manipulation, in a preferred embodiment the radio paging receiver also provides a means for checking an identification part of the call signal, the control signal being applied to the interface only after the identification part has been successfully checked. Part of the call signal is used to check an identification code, e.g. a PIN code is used to protect the pager from unwanted manipulation by third parties. This identification code can either be specified by the manufacturer or, in a particularly advantageous embodiment, can be set by means provided in the radio paging receiver for presetting an identification code. With an individually definable identification code, the user can select a code that is convenient for him to use for each paging receiver, instead of having to memorize arbitrarily specified codes.

In a special embodiment of the radio paging receiver according to the invention, the control part of the call signal has a first section for selecting a specific control channel from a predetermined number of control channels and a second section for selecting a specific control code for the selected control channel. With a single-digit code, for example, 10 channels (0 to 9) can be selected. By selecting control channels, the flexibility of the control can be increased significantly without producing a long call signal. Since the call signal can only be entered using digits of the telephone, it is advantageous if the control section of the call signal is also decoded as a digit code (0 ... 9) and processed accordingly. This digit code can be used to select a specific switching state, e.g. on or off (e.g. the digits 0 and 1) or to select a specific control state, e.g. increase or decrease (e.g. the digits 0 to 9), with each digit assigned this code is assigned to certain switching or control status.

Further advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a non-restrictive exemplary embodiment, reference being made to the accompanying figure, which shows a highly schematic illustration of a pager according to the invention with the associated paging service.

In the figure shown, all the essential components for a paging service are shown schematically, namely a telephone 1 which is connected via a telecommunications network to a telecommunications office TELECOM, which in turn is connected to a paging center PAGE. A suitable radio antenna SEND is connected to the paging center PAGE in order to be able to send the paging signal generated in the center.

The figure also shows a radio paging receiver 1 according to the invention which, like a conventional radio receiver, has a receiving part REC for receiving the call signal and a decoding part DEC for converting the received call signal into a character string (numbers, letters or the like). Instead of displaying the decoded character string on a display as in the case of a conventional radio paging receiver, in a radio paging receiver 1 according to the invention there is a microcomputer μP or a corresponding electronic circuit provided for further processing of the decoded call signal.

The section of the call signal which contains the sequence of numbers dialed by the calling station is usually decoded into the same numbers again by the decoding part DEC. In the application according to the invention, this section of the call signal contains a control part which comprises the control parameters for the device to be controlled. Due to the large number of possible applications, the number and type of parameters can vary widely. For a switching operation on / off, a single-digit code, e.g. 0 and 1 are sufficient. For a more complex control, it has proven to be advantageous if a section of the control part, e.g. one or two characters to choose one

Control channel (of a specific device or a specific function of a device) are provided and other characters for transferring the control parameters are determined. As a result, multiple electrical devices (e.g. an alarm system, one

Heating / air conditioning, an air filter, an irrigation system, a coffee machine, an oven, etc.) can be controlled and, if necessary, several control functions (e.g. on / off, time, temperature setting, sensitivity, etc.) are fulfilled for each electrical device.

As an optional security feature, it has proven to be advantageous if the call signal has an identification part, for example a four-digit PIN code, in order to prevent misuse of the pager, for example in alarm systems. In this case, the code supplied by the decoding part DEC to the microcomputer μP consists of an identification part and into a control part. In this case, the flow chart of the microcomputer μP contains a routine for checking the identification part with a predetermined secret identification code. The identification code can be used in the manufacture of the pager can be specified by the manufacturer in an EPROM or ROM memory or by means of dip switches or jumpers or can be set individually by the user, for example by means of a keyboard or dip switches. In the latter case, the user can decide whether he wants to use a code and, if necessary, which code he wants to use.

After a successful check of the identification code of the call signal, the control part of the call signal is processed by the sequence rogram and a digital control signal is generated in accordance with the programmed application.

This control signal can be used in many electronic devices, e.g. Alarm systems can be used directly to control the connected device via a corresponding serial or parallel interface.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, a digital / analog converter D / A is provided in the paging receiver 2, which converts the digital control signal generated by the microcomputer μP into an analog electrical signal which is transmitted via an interface INT, e.g. a socket is connected to a device to be controlled or a control part for this device, e.g. for switching a transistor or a relay.

In the following, one of many possible applications of the radio paging receiver according to the invention is briefly discussed using the example of an air conditioning system for a vehicle. On a cold winter day, the employees' cars parked in front of an office have cooled down to low temperatures, possibly frozen or snowed in. At the end of a hard day's work, an employee whose car is equipped with a remote-controlled heating system does not have to shovel his car out in cold outside temperatures or scratch the windows and get himself into one put cold car, but can calmly pick up the phone a few minutes before closing time and call the number of the radio call receiver of his car heater, if necessary, dial an identification code and then activate the code for switching on the auxiliary heater of his vehicle. If necessary, he can (for example for energy-saving preheating) also select a target temperature for the control of the auxiliary heating or specify the maximum preheating time. While his colleagues squeeze into the cold vehicles, the user of the vehicle can start a pleasantly warm car with the paging receiver according to the invention. In summer, the radio pager can be used in an analogous manner for remote activation of the vehicle's air conditioning system.

Instead of a (stationary or mobile) telephone, a modem or a specially equipped control module, which can be connected to a telecommunications network, can of course also be provided for dialing the radio paging receiver 2.

In a simple manner, the radio paging receiver 2 of the type according to the invention can be integrated in an adapter plug, similar to time switches which are available as adapter plugs in the trade in order to be able to switch electrical devices on and off.

In a simple alternative embodiment of a radio paging receiver according to the invention, in contrast to the exemplary embodiment shown, the decoding part can already be included in the microprocessor's runtime program, so that the microprocessor decodes and processes the call signal.

Instead of a programmable microcomputer, it is of course also possible to use a corresponding electronic circuit, for example an ASIC. Alternatively, an analog evaluation circuit for the paging signal can also be provided, so that an analog signal is already present at the output of this circuit, which can be adopted directly for the device control.

As already mentioned above, a single pager of the type according to the invention can of course be used to control, regulate or switch several controllable devices, e.g. all remotely controllable devices of a motor vehicle or all remotely controllable devices of a house can be provided. In this case, several interfaces or an interface with several signal lines are provided on the pager. For example, you can use this method to produce a distributor connector with individual remote control for all individual connector connections. With a suitable telephone with programmable number memory, the user can pre-program frequently used control sequences, which he can call up at the push of a button, e.g. Opening the garden gate - Opening the garage door - Switching off the house alarm - Switching on the exterior and interior lighting - Switching on the heating system, etc.

Claims

claims 1. pager for a call signal of a paging service, which is connected to a telecommunications network, the pager having a means for decoding the call signal, characterized in that the pager has a means connected to the decoding means for generating a control signal from a control part of the call signal has and the control signal for controlling an electrical device is applied to an interface of the radio paging receiver. 2. radio pager according to claim 1, characterized in that it further comprises a means for checking an identification part of the call signal, the control signal being applied to the interface only after successful verification of the identification part. 3. Paging receiver according to claim 2, characterized in that it has a means for presetting an identification code, which is compared by the means for checking with the identification part of the call signal. 4. Paging receiver according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control part of the call signal has a first section for selecting a specific control channel from a predetermined number of control channels and a second section for selecting a specific control code for the selected control channel. 5. pager according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control part of the call signal has an at least one-digit number code (0 ... 9) which can be selected by the user of the telecommunications network. 6. Paging receiver according to claim 5, characterized in that the digit code (e.g. 0 and 1) for selection of a specific switching state, e.g. On or Off is used, with each digit of this code being assigned to a specific switching state. 7. Paging receiver according to claim 5, characterized in that the numerical code (e.g. 0 to 9) for selecting a certain rule state, e.g. Increase or decrease is used, each digit of this code is assigned to a specific control state.