초록 ▼

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 a

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 BLUETOOTH짰 standard.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 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 b

What is claimed is: 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 Bluetooth짰, HomeRF짰, 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 Bluetooth짰, HomeRF짰, 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, FLEX짰, ReFLEX짰, iDEN짰, TETRA짰, DECT, DataTAC짰, Mobitex짰, RAMNET짰, and Ardis짰. 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, FLEX짰 format, Advanced Paging Operations Code, ReFLEX짰 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.