Weather radio with channel acquisition system
View Patent ↗A weather radio adapted to automatically select a preferred channel of operation. A receiver is coupled to a signal quality circuit that outputs signal quality parameters. A controller is coupled to control the frequency of reception of the receiver and is coupled to receive the signal quality parameters. A memory is used to store several signal quality values, and is coupled to the controller. When the controller receives a stimulus, it controls the receiver to sequentially receive all the weather radio frequencies of reception and store a signal quality value for each. The controller subsequently controls the receiver to receive one of the frequencies of operation based upon a comparison of the stored values to select a preferred one of them. The radio is therefore programmed to receive the preferred channel and monitor NOAA Weather Radio transmissions for the local FIPS codes and other weather alert messages.
1. A radio for decoding messages in accordance with a previously stored geographic location code, comprising:
a receiver;
a signal quality circuit, coupled to said receiver, having a received signal quality output;
a controller coupled to control the frequency of reception of said receiver and coupled to said output;
a memory for storing plural signal quality values and the geographic location code coupled to said controller, and wherein
said controller, upon receipt of a stimulus, controls said receiver to sequentially receive plural frequencies of reception and store plural signal quality values, consistent with said signal quality circuit output, in said memory corresponding to said plural frequencies of operation, and wherein
said controller subsequently controls said receiver to receive one of said plural frequencies of operation based upon a preferred one of said plural signal quality values, and upon reception of a message having location data corresponding to the previously stored geographic location code, said controller operable to decode said message.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said receiver is a weather radio receiver.
3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said weather radio receiver is operable to receive frequencies in the NOAA Weather Radio band, and wherein the messages are NOAA Specific Area Message Encoding messages and the geographic location code is a NOAA Federal Information Processing System encoded.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said signal quality circuit outputs received signal quality according to received signal strength.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said signal quality circuit outputs received signal quality according to the received signal to noise ratio.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said signal quality circuit is a received signal strength indication (R.S.S.I.) circuit.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , farther comprising:
an actuator coupled to said controller, and
wherein activation of said actuator acts as said stimulus.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said controller executes a software routine that provides said stimulus.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an analog to digital convener coupled to receive said received signal quality output as an analog signal and digitize said analog signal prior to coupling to said controller.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said preferred one of said plural signal quality values is the one of said plural signal values having the greatest or least magnitude.
11. A weather radio for receiving signals from the NOAA Weather Radio broadcast systems and for decoding received messages in accordance with a previously stored NOAA Federal Information Processing System geographic location code, comprising:
a receiver selectively tunable to receive plural frequencies, including 162.400 MHz, 162.425 MHz, 162.450 MHz, 162.475 MHz, 162.4500 MHz, 162.525 MHz, and 162.550 MHz
a received signal strength indication (R.S.S.I.) signal quality circuit, coupled to said receiver, having an analog received signal quality output;
an analog to digital converter coupled to said output and operable to convert said analog received signal quality to a digital signal;
a controller coupled to control the frequency of reception of said receiver and coupled to receive said digital signal;
a memory for storing plural signal quality values and the geographic location code coupled to said controller, and wherein
said controller, upon receipt of a stimulus, controls said receiver to sequentially receive said plural frequencies of reception and store plural signal quality values, consistent with said digital signal, in said memory corresponding to said plural frequencies of operation, and wherein
said controller subsequently controls said receiver to receive one of said plural frequencies of operation based upon a preferred one of said plural signal quality values that is selected as having the greatest or least magnitude, and upon reception of a message having location data corresponding to the previously stored geographic location code, said controller operable to decode said message.
12. A method of selecting a preferred frequency of reception and far decoding messages in accordance with geographic location codes, in a radio having a receiver and a memory for storing a geographic Location code, comprising the steps of:
storing the geographic location code in the memory;
sequentially tuning the receiver to receive plural frequencies of reception;
determining plural signal quality values corresponding to said plural frequencies of reception;
selecting a preferred one of said plural frequencies of reception based upon said plural signal quality values;
tuning the receiver to said preferred one of said plural frequencies of reception, and
upon receiving a message having location data corresponding to the geographic location code stored in the memory, decoding the message.
13. The method of claim 12 wherein said receiver is a weather radio receiver.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein said plural frequencies of reception are in the NOAA Weather Radio band, and wherein the messages are NOAA Specific Area Message Encoding messages and the geographic location code is a NOAA Federal Information Processing System encoded.
15. The method of claim 12 wherein said determining step is accomplished with a signal quality circuit in the radio tat outputs a received signal quality according to received signal strength.
16. The method of claim 12 wherein said determining step is accomplished with a signal quality circuit in the radio that outputs received signal quality according to the received signal to noise ratio.
17. The method of claim 12 wherein said determining step is accomplished by a received signal strength indication (R.S.S.I) circuit in the radio.
18. The method of Claim 12 , wherein the radio includes an actuator, further comprising the steps of:
actuating the actuator, and
executing said sequentially tuning step in response to said actuating step.
19. The method of claim 12 wherein the radio has a controller that executes a software routine, and wherein said sequentially tuning step occurs automatically within the software routine.
20. The method of claim 12 wherein said selecting step selects said preferred one of said plural signal quality values as the one of said plural signal values having the greatest or least magnitude.
21. The method of claim 12 wherein the radio has a memory, further comprising the step of:
storing said plural signal values in the memory.