Destination packet 52 may contain both voice frame 54 and text frame 56. In this case, proceeding as discussed hereinabove; server 42 produces frames 54 and 56 as desired for destination packet 52. 14 shows a block diagram depicting a destination unit of an information-packet dispatching system in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The method of claim 27 wherein receiving includes receiving a notifying task indicative of a text dispatch. If query task 222 determines that recipient 174 prefers dispatch output delayed, then a delaying task 224 (FIG. 13) delays dispatch output until requested by recipient 174. This may be useful when recipient 174 cannot be disturbed by the outputting of a voice dispatch.
In this case, portions 116, 66, and 154 of server 42 may be individual entities interconnected into a single whole. The method of interconnect is preferably a packet-switching network 162 (e.g., the Internet). Variations in the configuration and interconnections of server 42 do not depart from the spirit of the present invention. For group dispatches, there exists more than one destination unit 26 (see FIG. 1). Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, in this case, components of configuration portion 66 and the entirety of destination portion 154 would be replicated for each destination unit 28.
Within an insertion element 90 (FIG. 8), an enclosing task 92 (FIG. 7) then encloses voice frame (V-FRM) 54 within origination packet (O-PKT) 50. This completes subprocess 70, and control is returned to process 68 (FIG. 6). Within an encoding element 82 (FIG. 8), an encoding task 84 (FIG. 7) encodes voice signal (V-SIG) 76 into voice frame (V-FRM) 54.
The use of such a processing element and/or such tables to perform any of such tasks does not depart from the spirit of the present invention. 1 shows a block diagram depicting a system 20 for dispatching an information packet 22 in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It is another advantage of the present invention that PTT cellular communication is provided that permit traditional incoming and outgoing telephone calls over the same equipment. It is another advantage of the present invention that a PTT cellular communication system is provided that permits silent reception of a voice dispatch. It is another advantage of the present invention that a PTT cellular communication system is provided that allows inter-system communication without the need of specialized equipment.
Such a “chain of command†structure is ideal for coordination during major emergencies , but cannot be readily realized with conventional PTT dispatching services without the complexity and expense of military-type equipment. In an alternative dispatching scheme, the centralized dispatching unit may have multiple transmission frequencies. This allows normal dispatches (i.e., those intended for all field units) to be transmitted on a first frequency with selective dispatches being transmitted on a second frequency. In this scheme, the dispatcher would instruct the appropriate field units to switch to the second frequency prior to the transmission of a selective dispatch. However, this scheme requires an increase in complexity in both the dispatch and field units, including the incorporation of a switching mechanism with a corresponding decrease in reliability.
The destination unit is configured to receive the destination packet utilizing a non-circuit-switching service of the network , and to present the contents of the destination packet to a recipient . The above and other advantages of the present invention are carried out in another form by a system for simplex dispatch of an information packet utilizing a telecommunication network. The above and other advantages Dispatch App of the present invention are carried out in one form by a method of simplex information-packet dispatching utilizing a telecommunication network. The method contains a transmitting activity wherein an information packet containing a voice frame from an origination unit is transmitted.
The method of claim 47 further comprising notifying said recipient of a delayed dispatch. The method of claim 40 further comprising notifying said recipient of a delayed dispatch. It is another advantage of the present invention that a PTT cellular communication system is provided that utilizes the conventional cellular systems while effectively eliminating dial-up delay. Accordingly, it is an advantage of the present invention that an improved system for dispatching information packets and a method therefore is provided. Where the PTT dispatch system is less critical, the failure of the dispatch unit causes the system to be inoperative while the dispatch unit is repaired or replaced.