Device with passive receiver
View Patent ↗A wireless communications apparatus includes a wake-up receiver adapted to receive a wake-up signal and an initially powered-off, sleeping wireless communications transceiver. When the wake-up receiver receives the wake-up signal, it can in turn power on the wireless communications transceiver. In another aspect, the invention includes an apparatus for sending a wake-up signal to the wake-up receiver. The wake-up transmitter and the wake-up receiver can communicate via a variety of wireless communications protocols, including the BLUETOOTH™ standard.
1. A wireless communications apparatus, comprising:
(a) a wake-up receiver adapted to receive a wake-up signal over a secondary network;
(b) an initially powered-off, sleeping wireless communications transceiver communicating over a primary network and adapted to be powered on by the wake-up receiver when the wake-up receiver receives the wake-up signal;
(c) wherein the wake-up receiver receives data other than the wake-up signal; and
(d) wherein the data is an activation signal causing the secondary network to take over the function of the primary network.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wake-up receiver only draws power from the wake-up signal.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wake-up receiver and the powered-off, sleeping wireless communications transceiver share components.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary network and the secondary network use the same frequency band.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary network and the secondary network use different frequency bands.
6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the secondary network is bi-directional, the wake-up receiver being a transceiver.
7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wake-up receiver is powered by a power source distinct from that powering the wireless communications transceiver.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data is an identification code, and further comprising a filter comparing the received identifier code to a stored code.
9. The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein components associated with the sleeping wireless communications transceiver are activated if the identifier code matches the stored code.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data is a security protocol governing the activation of the primary network.
11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the data is a query to the sleeping wireless communications transceiver, which returns a response to the query.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the secondary network utilizes a magnetic signal.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the secondary network utilizes a radio frequency signal.
14. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the secondary network utilizes short-range data communications protocols.
15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the short-range data communications protocols are selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth™, HomeRF™, IEEE 802.15, and IEEE 802.11.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the primary network utilizes short-range data communications protocols.
17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the short-range data communications protocols are selected from the group consisting of Bluetooth™, HomeRF™, IEEE 802.15, and IEEE 802.11, an ad hoc networking.
18. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a long-range bi-directional transceiver associated with the sleeping wireless communications transceiver.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising a remote system communicating with the long-range bi-directional transceiver over a long-range network.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the long-range network utilizes communications protocols selected from the group consisting of CDPD, CDMA, GSM, 3G, WAP, Aloha, PDC, PHS, PCS, trunk radio, TDMA, FLEX™, ReFLEX™, iDEN™, TETRA™, DECT, DataTAC™, Mobitex™, RAMNET™, and Ardis™.
21. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the long-range network utilizes communications protocols selected from the group consisting of POCSAG, MBS, RDS, ERMES, Golay Format, NEC-D3 Format, Mark IV/V/VI Formats, Hexadecimal Sequential Code, FLEX™ format, Advanced Paging Operations Code, ReFLEX™ format, inflexion format, and NexNet format.
22. The apparatus of claim 1 , where the data comprises connection information to accelerate the activation of the sleeping wireless communications transceiver to communicate with other systems.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , where the data is selected from the group consisting of timing data, frequency hopping patterns, and network protocols.