HK1018156B - Multi-media receiver and system therefor - Google Patents

Description

Multimedia receiver and system thereof

The present invention relates generally to multimedia systems, and more particularly to multimedia systems that communicate using paging channels.

Multimedia systems combine graphical, audio and textual information to provide interesting information representations to users. Applications for such presentations range from educational information presentations to games. The use of sound and graphics is an important tool in obtaining and maintaining the interests of the listener.

Multimedia systems typically utilize workstations, personal computers, or portable computers with audio and video capabilities. Because these systems use large files, the files are stored in part on a mass storage device, such as a hard drive, or on a file server that communicates with the multimedia terminal using a mass communication channel.

The paging channel provides an excellent means for communicating with groups and individuals. Multimedia presentations are advantageous because they can maintain the interests of the listener. It is also highly desirable to extend multimedia presentations to small portable products. However, without special handling, large multimedia files may completely block the radio paging channel.

Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for reducing the amount of data sent to a user while maintaining an interesting representation of information. There is also a need for a multimedia system that reduces the amount of data to be transmitted and forms the data to be transmitted suitable for transmission over a selected medium.

Thus, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multimedia receiver comprising a receiver for receiving information, text events, image events, sound events and multimedia commands transmitted over a radio frequency channel. The multimedia instructions control the presentation of multimedia events including the simultaneous presentation of text events, image events and sound events. The multimedia receiver includes a memory for storing received information, pre-programmed text events, image events, sound events and multimedia instructions for transmission to the multimedia receiver. The multimedia receiver is coupled to a controller that periodically retrieves pre-programmed text events, image events and sound events stored in memory in response to multimedia instructions stored in the memory. The multimedia receiver further includes a display device responsive to the retrieved pre-programmed text events, image events and sound events for providing a display of the multimedia events.

Thus, according to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a system for transmitting information and a multimedia presentation to a multimedia receiver. The system comprises a multimedia information terminal. The multimedia information terminal has a controller for preparing and transmitting a multimedia presentation and a multimedia file. The multimedia file includes user-programmed text events, image events, sound events and multimedia instructions. The controller of the multimedia information terminal is connected with a memory and a multimedia interface, and the memory is used for storing text events, image events, sound events and multimedia instructions programmed by a user. The multimedia interface provides an interface for transferring the transferred multimedia file from the multimedia information terminal to the paging system. The paging system has an encoder coupled to the multimedia interface for encoding the received information and multimedia files for transmission. And a transmitter coupled to the encoder for transmitting the encoded information and the multimedia file.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system for providing multimedia transmission and presentation in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an electrical block diagram of the multimedia messaging terminal of fig. 1 and an associated paging transmitter providing multimedia transmissions in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an electrical block diagram of the encoder multiplexer shown in fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is an electrical block diagram of the multimedia terminal shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 5 illustrates an example of a multimedia presentation having simultaneous sound, image, and text representations transmitted using the system shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart of steps for generating the multimedia presentation of fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of the form of an event file used in the multimedia presentation shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 8 illustrates an instruction sequence file resulting in the multimedia presentation shown in fig. 3.

Fig. 9 illustrates a flow chart of steps for locating memory in the multimedia receiver of fig. 1.

FIG. 10 illustrates the use of 4 FLEX^TMA separate channel of the protocol to provide multimedia transmission in the system shown in figure 1.

Fig. 11 illustrates the use of one channel to provide multimedia transmission in the system shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 12 is a flow chart illustrating the process steps during a multimedia presentation using the multimedia receiver of fig. 1.

Fig. 13 is an electrical block diagram of the multimedia receiver of fig. 1 in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system, such as a paging system, that provides multimedia transmissions in accordance with the present invention.

The invention will now be described by way of example with a paging system. It should be understood that other communication systems for transmitting multimedia programs may benefit from the present invention. Paging systems are designed to serve a variety of subscribers requiring different services, such as alpha paging services, digital paging services and voice paging services. Paging systems may also provide specialized services such as inquiry services and multimedia program transmissions as described herein. Examples of multimedia programs are information service messages, advertisements and instructional announcements for individuals or groups of users. The multimedia user composes a program consisting of a sequence of new events, previously generated events, and/or library events using the multimedia terminal 116. The multimedia terminal 116 processes the program and generates a series of sound event files, image event files, and text event files as well as multimedia command files. The multimedia terminal 116 transmits the files to the multimedia messaging terminal 106 over the communication link 118. The calling subscriber may also place a general call by communicating with the multimedia messaging terminal 106 through the telephone 102 via the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)104 and PSTN connection 120. The multimedia messaging terminal 106 encodes the file received from the multimedia terminal 116 or the information received from the paging subscriber and places the encoded information into a transmission queue. The paging information is also referred to herein as selective call information. At the appropriate time, the information is transmitted by the paging transmitter 108 via the transmit antenna 110. It should be understood that in a simultaneous transmission system, multiple transmitters covering different geographical areas may also be used.

The multimedia service subscriber has a multimedia receiver 114 for receiving information and text events, image events, sound events and multimedia instructions transmitted over a radio channel and performing multimedia event presentation. The signal transmitted from the transmitting antenna 110 is received by the receiving antenna 112 and processed by the multimedia receiver 114. The user of the paged multimedia receiver 114 is placed in a standby state and displays information or makes a notification depending on the type of information received.

Fig. 2 is an electrical block diagram of a multimedia messaging terminal 106 and a paging transmitter 108 utilizing digital voice compression processing in accordance with the present invention. The multimedia messaging terminal 106 shown is one that is used to serve a large number of simultaneous users, such as in a commercial radio common Carrier system (RCC). The multimedia messaging terminal 106 utilizes a number of input devices, signal processing devices, and output devices that are controlled by the controller 216. The communication between the controller 216 and the various devices and making up the multimedia messaging terminal 106 is carried by the digital control bus 210. It should be appreciated that the digital control bus 210 may be expanded to allow for expansion of the multimedia messaging terminal 106.

The interface between the PSTN104 and the multimedia messaging terminal 106 is provided by a plurality of PSTN connections 120. It should be understood that the plurality of PSTN connections 120 may be a plurality of multiple calls per line of a multiplexed digital PSTN connection, or a plurality of multiple calls per line of an analog PSTN connection.

Each PSTN connection 120 is used by a telephone interface 204. The telephony interface 204 provides the required signal conditioning, signaling, checking, synchronization, demultiplexing, analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion, dual tone multi-frequency (DTME) decoding and generation, modem tone generation and decoding and conventional protection requirements for operating a paging terminal in accordance with the present invention. The request for service and monitoring responses is controlled by the controller 216, as described below. Communication between the telephone interface 204 and the controller 216 is via the digital control bus 210.

The multimedia interface 208 provides a communication interface between the multimedia messaging terminal 106 and the multimedia terminal 116 over the communication link 118 for the transfer of multimedia files. In the case where the multimedia terminal 116 is located remotely from the multimedia messaging terminal 106, the multimedia interface 208 is, for example, a conventional modem and the communication link 118 is typically a leased telephone line. The multimedia interface 208 is, for example, an RS232 interface in case the multimedia terminal 116 and the multimedia messaging terminal 106 are co-located.

For example, in the case of transmitting digital information, the processing of the paging request is performed in the following manner. When an incoming call is detected, a service request is issued from the telephony interface 204 to the controller 216. The controller 216 is programmed to perform all of the signal processing functions required to complete the paging process. The controller 216 activates the DTMF message originator. The telephone interface 204 receives DTMF digits generated by the originator's telephone and generates digital information in accordance with the received DTMF digits. Digital information generated by telephone interface 204The information is coupled to the paging encoder 228 through the digital control bus 210 under the control of the controller 216. Paging encoder 228 encodes the data in accordance with a suitable paging protocol. Preferably, the paging protocol utilizes a well-known digital selective call signaling protocol, such as Motorola FLEX^TMA protocol of a class. It should be understood that other high speed signaling protocols, such as the POCSAG 2400 paging protocol, may also be used. The controller 216 causes the encoded data generated by the paging encoder 228 to be stored in a data storage device 226 (e.g., RAM or a magnetic medium such as a hard disk drive) via the digital control bus 210. At the appropriate time, information in the form of encoded data is downloaded to transmitter control unit 220 over digital control bus 210 under the control of controller 216 and transmitted using paging transmitter 108 and transmit antenna 110.

Paging transmitter 108 includes a four-stage Frequency Modulation (FM) modulator 230 for modulating the encoded data. FLEX^TMThe protocol provides data transmission at 1600 bits per second (bps), 3200bps, and 6400 bps. FLEX operating at 6400bps^TMThe protocol transmits 3200 symbols per second, each symbol representing two bits. The following table illustrates the relationship between the bits and the FM shift stage.

Bit 0	Bit 1	Frequency of
			1	0	Carrier +4800Hz
1	1	Carrier +1600Hz
			0	1	Carrier-1600 Hz
0	0	Carrier wave-4800 Hz

FIG. 3 is a diagram for implementation by FLEX^TMA circuit block diagram of a 4-channel paging encoder 228 is provided by the protocol. By FLEX^TMThe 4 channels provided by the protocol are referred to herein as subchannels (subchannels) and are interleaved for transmission at a single carrier frequency. Bus interface 304 is coupled to controller 216 via digital control bus 210. The bus interface 304 transfers the event file to the appropriate buffer under the control of the controller 216. In the present invention, a sound event file is temporarily stored in the first buffer 306, an image event file is also stored in the second buffer 308, a text event file is stored in the third buffer 310, and a multimedia command file is stored in the fourth buffer 312. The outputs of the first buffer 306, the second buffer 308, the third buffer 310, and the fourth buffer 312 are coupled to a 4-frame encoder 314 that uses a (32, 21) BCH codeword format.

The encoded codewords from the four frame encoder 314 are interleaved bit-by-bit in an interleaver and phase multiplexer 316. The interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 rotates through 4 phases and at the first turn, during phase 1, the interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 selects the first bit of the encoded address and text codeword. During phase 2, the interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 selects the first bit of the encoded image codeword. During phase 3, the interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 selects the first bit of the encoded sound codeword. During phase 4, interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 selects the first bit of the encoded instruction codeword. Phase 1 of the second revolution follows phase 4 of the first revolution. The interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 continues to rotate by 4, one bit forward per revolution, until all codewords are inserted. The output of the interleaver and phase multiplexer 316 is connected to the digital control bus 210. Interleaving enables the simultaneous transmission of sound event files, image event files, and text event files as well as multimedia instruction files providing multimedia instructions, thus greatly reducing the time required to transmit all the files.

Fig. 4 is a circuit block diagram of the multimedia terminal 116. The multimedia terminal 116 is preferably a personal computer. Computer workstations may also be used. The multimedia terminal 116 comprises an audio interface 358, a keyboard 354 and a display 352 connected to the central processing unit 350 for composing and entering a multimedia presentation. The central processing unit 350 includes a mass storage device 356, such as a hard drive, for storing multimedia files and records of memory utilization in the multimedia receiver 114. The multimedia interface 360 provides a communication interface between the multimedia terminal 116 and the multimedia messaging terminal 106 via the communication link 118 for the transfer of multimedia files.

Fig. 5 shows an example of a multimedia presentation according to the invention. The originator of a multimedia presentation may design a sequence of events that best delivers a representation of the information that the originator wants to deliver to the recipient. Such a representation may include, for example, a series of events as described below. For ease of illustration, three timelines are shown, an audio channel timeline 402, an image channel timeline 412, and a text channel timeline 430. The audio channel timeline 402, the image channel timeline 412, and the text channel timeline 430 are used simultaneously and indicate how related events may be mixed to generate attention that remains represented. The program begins at time marker t0 when the first incoming sound event 404 begins, followed by the first text event 432 at time marker t 1. The second audio event 406 then begins at time marker t2 and the first image event 414 begins at time marker t 3. At this time, a sound event, an image event, and a text event are being transmitted. Beginning at time marker t4, an image event 416 begins, followed by another image event 420 and a sequence of image events 416. The two image events alternate at times t6, t7, t8, and t10, producing an eye-visible representation. At t5, the text changes to a second text event 434. At t8, a third sound event begins simultaneously with a change in one of the series of alternating image events. At time marker t11, sound event 410 ends, image event 428 and text event 438 begin, thereby completing the procedure.

It will be appreciated that an image event may comprise a static representation or a repeating series of sub-events that produce some degree of animation effect. Similarly, a sound event may comprise a long non-repeating event or a short event that occurs repeatedly until the total time required for completion. Such as a repeatedly occurring short tune.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps taken to generate a multimedia presentation. These steps are implemented using a multimedia terminal 116 connected to a paging terminal via a communication link 118. Processing begins at step 502 when the originator enters a series of events that make up a presentation. The multimedia terminal 116 generates a program script including the event table and the time stamp at step 504. The multimedia terminal 116 retrieves 506 a library of programmed event files stored at the multimedia terminal 116 and a list of event files generated for previous programs still stored in the multimedia receiver 114. When no event file matching the event is found in the current program, a new event file is generated in step 508. A list of event files that must be sent to the multimedia receiver 114 is generated in step 510. A more detailed description of the event file will be given below with reference to fig. 7. The multimedia terminal 116 maintains a table of event files stored in the memory of the multimedia receiver 114 and the event files still in the memory of the multimedia receiver 114 are not retransmitted. This reuse of the event file reduces the amount of data that must be sent to the multimedia receiver 114. In step 512, a sequence of multimedia instructions is generated. A sequence of multimedia instructions is a file with time stamps and an event file to start at these time stamps. A more detailed explanation of the instruction sequence will be given below with reference to fig. 8. The new sound event file is sent in step 514. The new image event file is sent at step 516. The new text event file is sent, step 518, andstep 520 sends a sequence of multimedia instructions. Steps 514, 516, 518 and 520 at the same level in FIG. 6 indicate that they can be utilized simultaneously by FLEX^TMThe 4 channels provided by the protocol are transmitted. It should be understood, however, that their order of transmission may be arbitrary.

Fig. 7 illustrates an example of an event file 600 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. The format shown in fig. 7 is for a sound event file, an image event file, and a text event file. The file begins with a file identifier 602. The file identifier 602 includes a name and an extension that identifies the type of file. For example, name.aud is used for sound event files, name.bmp is used for image event files, and name.txt is used for text event files. The time stamp 604 indicates the time the file was transferred and is used to help clear old event files from the memory of the multimedia receiver 114 when the memory must be cleared for new files. The runtime 606 represents the total runtime of the event and is used to design the program. The memory location 608 is used to specify the location in the memory of the multimedia receiver 114 where the event file is to be after the file is transmitted by the multimedia messaging terminal 106 and received by the multimedia receiver 114. Data 610 is sound event file, image event file or text event file data for a multimedia presentation. The file preferably ends with an end of file marker 612.

Fig. 8 shows an example of a multimedia instruction sequence file 700 generated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The file begins with a file identifier 702. The file identifier 702 includes a name and identifies that the file is an extension of the multimedia command sequence file 700, such as name. A presentation start time period 704 is provided for specifying a program start time when the program is to start at a particular time. In case no specific start time is specified, this field should be blank. Following the presentation start time field 704 is a series of event groups. For example, event group 710 includes a time stamp t 0706 and a sound file pointer AP 1708. The time stamp t 0706 specifies the time from the start of the program to start of the event in the event group. In this case, the time stamp t 0706 will be 0, since this is the first event group in the program. The sound file pointer AP 1708 is a vector to the memory location in the multimedia receiver 114 where the first sound event file is stored. Similarly, event groups 712, 714, 716, 718, 720, 722, 724, 734, and 736 each specify a time stamp and a vector of memory locations in the multimedia receiver 114 for storing the associated event file.

Event group 726 is an example where two events begin at the same time stamp. At time stamp t 8728, the sound event file pointer AP 3730 points to a memory location in the multimedia receiver 114 where the sound event file 408 is stored. The pointer GP 3732 points to a memory location where the image event file 420 is stored. Event group 738 is an example where three events begin at the same time stamp. At time marker t 11740, the sound event file pointer AP 4742 points to the memory location where the sound event file 410 is stored. The image event file pointer GP 5744 points to a memory location where the image event file 428 is stored and the text event file pointer TP 4746 points to a memory location where the text event file 438 is stored.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating the steps for locating memory in the multimedia receiver 114 before sending the event file 600 to the multimedia receiver 114. Preferably, the multimedia terminal 116 maintains a record of memory usage in the multimedia receiver 114 and uses this record to identify one or more multimedia files that can be overwritten. The process begins when the event file is ready to be sent to the multimedia receiver 114, step 802. In step 804, the multimedia terminal 116 retrieves the memory usage record in the multimedia receiver 114 to obtain the available memory. When sufficient memory is available, processing proceeds directly to step 816. At memory location 608, the available memory locations are added to the event file 600. The file is then sent to the multimedia messaging terminal 106 for transmission to the multimedia receiver 114.

When there is not enough memory available in the multimedia receiver 114 for the event file 600 to be transmitted, the process proceeds to step 806 where the record is retrieved to find the oldest timestamp. In step 810, a check is made to determine if the event file with the oldest timestamp is part of an event scheduled to be sent in the future. In the case where the event file with the oldest timestamp is part of an event scheduled for future transmission, the process proceeds to step 808 where a search is made for an event file with the next oldest timestamp. From step 808, the process proceeds to step 810. When the event file with the oldest time stamp is not part of an event scheduled for future transmission, its storage location is marked as available in step 812. Step 814 checks to determine if sufficient memory has been obtained. When sufficient memory has been available, the process proceeds to step 816 and the data is transmitted to the multimedia messaging terminal 106 as described above. When sufficient memory is not available, the process proceeds to step 808 where additional memory is made available. This process leaves the latest event file in memory for future use of the information and the successive multimedia instructions and successive multimedia presentations. The multimedia receiver 114 stores the earlier multimedia presentations until they are overwritten by the later multimedia presentations. It should be understood that the processing described may also be performed in the multimedia receiver 114. It will also be appreciated that other memory management methods may be used.

FIG. 10 illustrates FLEX when sending a presentation to multimedia receiver 114 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention^TMThe use of 4 independent channels provided by the protocol. FLEX^TMThe protocol provides 4 communication channels, represented as channel 1902, channel 2908, channel 3914, and channel 4922. In this example, channel 1902 is used to transmit sound event files 904 and 906. Channel 2908 is used to send image event files 910 and 912. Channel 3914 is used to send text event files 916, 918, and 920. Channel 4922 is used to transmit multimedia instruction sequence files 924. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event files and multimedia command sequence files 924 can be sent in a random order and mixed with other paging services. It should also be understood that event files and multimedia instructions with delayed start timesThe sequence file 924 may be held in a queue until a low traffic period, such as night or night, occurs before transmission. FLEX^TMThe protocol uses a 128 frame period, repeated every 4 minutes, and synchronized to the time of day on the clock. Multimedia receiver 114 calculates FLEX^TM128 frame periods, the exact time for starting the multimedia presentation is obtained at the specific time specified in the presentation start time field 704.

FIG. 11 illustrates the utilization of FLEX in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention^TMA single channel outside the protocol, such as provided by the POCSAG protocol, transmits a representation to the multimedia receiver 114. The single communication channel is represented by communication channel 1002. In this example, the communication channel transmits the text event file 1916, and then transmits the sound event file 1904, the multimedia instruction sequence file 924, the sound event file 2906, the image event file 1910, the text event file 2918, the text event file 3920, and the image event file 3912 in this order. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the event files and multimedia command sequence files 924 can be sent in random order and mixed with other paging services.

Fig. 12 is a flow diagram of a presentation process 1100 illustrating the steps taken to perform a multimedia presentation using the multimedia receiver 114. The multimedia presentation may be initiated by a request from the user of the multimedia receiver 114 or automatically timed by the presentation start time field 704 in the multimedia instruction sequence file 700. The user of the multimedia receiver 114 may select and initiate a multimedia presentation using the user interface 1224 in a manner similar to selecting and displaying paging information. The operation of user interface 1224 is described below in conjunction with fig. 13. When a presentation is selected, the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 associated with the presentation is retrieved, step 1102. In step 1104, the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 is checked to see if it indicates that there is an entry in the start time field 704. When the start time field 704 is indicated as having an entry, step 1108 checks to see if the start time has elapsed. The presentation with the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 with an entry in the presentation start time field 704 is automatically initiated by the multimedia receiver 114 at the time specified in the presentation start time field 704 and is not allowed to be initiated before the presentation start time field 704. When the current time is before the time specified in the presentation start time field 704, processing exits the presentation routine, informing the user of the reason for the exit, and waiting for another user input, at step 1122. Providing this feature facilitates simultaneous notification of user communities. When the program has no entries in the indication start time field 704, or when the start time specified in the indication start time field 704 has elapsed, the process proceeds to step 1109. In step 1109, the process checks the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 to see if all event files 600 specified in the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 are present in the memory of the multimedia receiver 114. When one or more event files 600 are missing, processing proceeds to step 1122 where processing exits as described above. When all of the event files 600 specified in the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 are present, the multimedia presentation is initiated at step 1114. The program goes to the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 and gets the file pointer or pointers associated with the first time stamp in step 1114. The process begins processing event file 600 located in the memory specified by the event file pointer number file pointer. In step 1116, processing checks for the next event in the multimedia instruction sequence file 700. When the next event in the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 is the end of the file marker 748, indicating completion, the process moves to step 1122 and exits. When the next event is another time stamp, processing waits for the time specified in the stamp to elapse in step 1118. When the time has elapsed in step 1118, the next event is retrieved in step 1112 and sent in step 1114. Processing continues until the end of the file marker 748 is found in step 1116.

Fig. 13 is a circuit block diagram of the multimedia receiver 114 according to the present invention. The signal transmitted from the transmitting antenna 110 is received by the receiving antenna 112. The receive antenna 112 is coupled to a receiver 1204. Receiver 1204 processes the signal received by receive antenna 112 and generates a receiver output signal that is a replica of the transmitted encoded data. The receiver output signal is coupled to a deinterleaver 1205. The deinterleaver 1205 is synchronized to 4 phases of the input data and deinterleaves the data of the 4 channels in a process inverse to the interleaving process described above, see fig. 3. The deinterleaver 1205 produces four channels of encoded codewords corresponding to the four channels of encoded codewords produced by the four frame encoder 314. The first channel of encoded code words is connected to an address decoder 1242 and an information/text event decoder 1244, the second encoded code words is connected to an image event decoder 1246, the third channel of encoded code words is connected to a sound event decoder 1248 and the fourth channel of encoded code words is connected to a multimedia command decoder 1250.

Address decoder 1242 decodes FLEX^TMThe address portion of the protocol. The output of the address decoder 1242 is connected to the controller 1208. The controller 1208 compares the received address to a unique address stored in an Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) to determine whether the data was intended for the multimedia receiver 114. The outputs of the address decoder 1242, information/text event decoder 1244, sound event decoder 1248, and multimedia command decoder 1250 are coupled to an address data bus 1231 and controller 1208 via input/output circuitry (I/O) 1240. The controller 1208 stores the event file 600 and the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 in designated locations of the random access memory 1234 for retrieval of the multimedia instruction sequence file 700 during the presentation process 1100.

The controller 1208 is also coupled to the battery saver switch 1206, the digital to analog converter 1210, the image display 1220, the user interface 1224, and the deinterlacer 1205 through the I/O circuitry 1240 and the address data bus 1231 to provide basic control of the various functions of the multimedia receiver 114.

The multimedia presentation device 1226 includes a user interface 1224, a text/image display 1220, and audio circuitry. The audio circuitry includes a digital-to-analog converter 1210, an audio amplifier 1212, and a speaker 1214. The user interface 1224 provides audible, visual, or mechanical signals to the user indicating receipt of information and pushes buttons or switches for the user to input commands to control the receiver. Text/image display 1220 is preferably a dot matrix LCD display capable of displaying image event portions of a multimedia presentation. The text/image display 1220 may include an image processor and a display driver. The digital-to-analog converter 1210 receives the audio data portion of the digitized multimedia presentation from the controller and generates an analog audio signal that is coupled to an audio amplifier 1212 and a speaker 1214. The battery saver switch 1206 provides a means to selectively disable power to the receiver during periods when the system is communicating with other pagers or is not transmitting, thereby reducing battery drain and extending battery life in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

The controller 1208 for use in the multimedia receiver 114 includes a processor 1230, such as a digital signal processor, a Read Only Memory (ROM)1232, a Random Access Memory (RAM)1234, a crystal oscillator 1238, a count timer 1237, an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) 1236, and I/O circuitry 1240. Processor 1230 is preferably a DSP56100 type digital signal processor manufactured by motorola, inc. The ROM1232 is used to store instructions used by the processor 1230 in performing functions used in the operation of the multimedia receiver 114. The functions stored in the ROM1232 include a selector, FLEX, for initiating the retrieval of one or several multimedia events^TMDecoding function, timing function, receiver control and battery saving function, image event processing function, text event processing function and general alphanumeric page turning function. The RAM is used by the processor 1230 to store temporary variables used in performing the above-described functions and to store paging information 1235, text event files 1258, sound event files 1254, image event files 1260 and multimedia instruction files 1256. The EEPROM1236 stores unique identification information or address information required by the controller 1208 to perform a selective call. A crystal oscillator 1238 provides a timing signal to controller 1208 and is coupled to processor 1230 and to count timer 1237. Count timer 1237 is used by processor 1230 to provide timing functions such as event start time and time stamp. It should be understood that one or several of the elements making up the controller 1208 may be and are integrated in the same integrated circuit. It will also be appreciated that the digital signal processor may execute a deinterleaver 1205, an address decoder 1242, and information/text event decoding represented by functional block 1252The functions of the image event decoder 1246, the sound event decoder 1248 and the multimedia command decoder 1250.

It can be seen from the above that the present invention reduces the amount of data sent for multimedia presentations by utilizing a multimedia instruction sequence file and reusing previously sent event files. The resulting multimedia presentation can be sent over the conventional paging channel without affecting the system's capabilities, thus increasing user satisfaction and making the system commercially successful. Additional multimedia presentations may be developed by multimedia originators that need only send multimedia instruction files when all event files are in a page (pager). In this example, even the files stored in the page may be displayed in a different order, resulting in many different multimedia presentations that only require the transmission of a multimedia instruction file.

Claims (11)

1. A multimedia receiver, comprising:

a receiver for receiving information transmitted over a radio channel and each of digitally encoded multimedia event files, each of the digitally encoded multimedia event files comprising one or more text event files representing text events, one or more image event files representing image events, one or more sound event files representing sound events and a multimedia instruction file for correlating the text event files, the image event files and the sound event files as a multimedia event representation;

a memory coupled to the receiver for storing the received information and for storing each of the digitally encoded multimedia event files and multimedia command files;

presentation means for presenting a representation of a multimedia event;

a user interface for enabling a user to initialize a representation of a multimedia event using the representation means; and

a controller coupled to said memory and responsive to said user interface for storing multimedia command files in said memory for controlling the selective retrieval of text event files, image event files and sound event files from one or more text event files, one or more image event files, and one or more sound event files stored in said memory,

the controller is also coupled to the presentation means for controlling the substantially simultaneous presentation of the selectively retrieved text event file, image event file and sound event file to thereby generate a multimedia event presentation.

2. The multimedia receiver of claim 1, wherein the multimedia event representation comprises a substantially simultaneous representation of a sequence of text event files, image event files, and sound event files selectively retrieved from one or more of the text event files, one or more of the image event files, and one or more of the sound event files stored in the memory.

3. The multimedia receiver of claim 2, wherein the multimedia command file includes a time stamp for specifying a start time of a sequence of one or more of the text event file, the image event file, and the sound event file.

4. The multimedia receiver of claim 3, further comprising: a timer coupled to the controller for generating a timing signal, wherein the controller is responsive to the timing signal and the time stamp for controlling the retrieval of the selection of the sequence of text event files, image event files and sound event files.

5. The multimedia receiver of claim 1, wherein the selective retrieval of one or more of the text event file, the image event file, and the sound event file is controlled by retrieving different multimedia command files to represent different multimedia event representations

6. The multimedia receiver of claim 1, wherein the receiver receives information transmitted on a plurality of sub-channels, and wherein the text event file, the image event file, the sound event file, and the multimedia instruction file are received substantially simultaneously on different ones of the plurality of sub-channels.

7. The multimedia receiver according to claim 1, characterized in that said presentation means comprise:

a display for displaying the text event file and also for displaying the image event file; and

an audio circuit for reproducing sound event files.

8. A system for transmitting a message and a multimedia presentation to a multimedia receiver, the system comprising:

a multimedia terminal, comprising:

a processing unit for controlling the preparation and transmission of a multimedia presentation, said multimedia presentation comprising a plurality of individual digitally encoded multimedia files, said multimedia files comprising: one or more user-programmed text event files representing text events, one or more user-programmed image event files representing image events, one or more user-programmed sound event files representing sound events, and a user-programmed multimedia instruction file for correlating text events, image events, and sound events;

a memory coupled to said processing unit for storing said one or more user programmed text event files, said one or more user programmed image event files, said one or more user programmed sound event files, and user programmed multimedia instruction files;

said memory further for storing a record of said multimedia file, which record is transmitted to and stored in the multimedia receiver; and

a first multimedia interface, coupled to said processing unit, for transferring said multimedia file;

a paging system, comprising:

a multimedia messaging paging terminal, comprising:

a second multimedia interface for receiving multimedia files being transmitted from said first multimedia interface, and

an encoder coupled to said second multimedia interface for encoding received messages and said multimedia files for transmission; and

a transmitter, coupled to the encoder, for transmitting the encoded message and multimedia file.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein said memory further maintains a record of said multimedia file for future use by a multimedia receiver.

10. The system of claim 8 wherein said memory further stores a record of memory utilization in said multimedia receiver.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the record of memory usage comprises a table of multimedia files stored in the multimedia receiver, wherein the memory stores the table.