GROUP MESSAGE DELIVERY IN A TIME-DIVISION MULTIPLEXED PAGING SYSTEM

摘要

Group message delivery in a time multiplexed paging system (10) is accomplished by providing in normal message packets (18) a group ring indicator (18d). A paging device (12) collecting a message interrogates the group ring indicator (18d) to determine availability of a pending group message. If a group message is available, the paging device (12) can target a dedicated time slot associated with group message transmission. In this manner, a single transmission of a group message is made available to all paging devices (12) of the paging system (10). In one embodiment, the group ring indicator (18d) is a single bit indicating merely availability of a pending group message, the paging device (12) then targeting and collecting the available group message to determine whether the paging device (12) subscribes to that particular group message service (3). In a second embodiment, the paging device (12) determines based on the value of the group ring indicator (18d) whether the indicated available group message need be pursued.