GB2171821A

GB2171821A - The combination of an electronic wrist-watch and a two- way radio communication system

Info

Publication number: GB2171821A
Application number: GB08604494A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Howard Robert Jacobson
Original assignee: CHEETAH MARKETING Ltd
Current assignee: CHEETAH MARKETING Ltd
Priority date: 1985-02-25
Filing date: 1986-02-24
Publication date: 1986-09-03
Also published as: GB8504817D0; GB2171821B; GB8604494D0

Abstract

A combined electronic wrist- watch and two-way radio communication system enables communication between two persons within the range of reception without the need for extra equipment to be carried. The wrist-watch has a metal casing (10) a digital liquid crystal display (12) buttons (14) for setting the time and displaying other information, a combined microphone and loud speaker (18), buttons (17) for actuating transmit and receive circuits to establish two-way radio communication and an aerial (20) formed within the strap of the wrist- watch. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION The combination of an electronic wristwatch and a two-way radio communication system The present invention relates to the combination of a wrist-watch and a two-way radio communication system.

In present day life there is a need for greater communication between individual people, whether this be for the purpose of business, work, sport or leisure.

Radio paging systems for use in offices, factories and playing fields are of course well known. However, such systems have to be carried around and tend to be unnecessarily bulky, even when they are worn or otherwise secured or contained within an article of clothing.

With the advent of miniaturization in the electronics industry it now becomes feasible to include necessary electronic circuits for a two-way radio communication system within an electronic or digital watch so avoiding the need to carry around any additional personal equipment.

According to the present invention there is provided in combination an electronic wristwatch; an electro-acoustic transducer; and electronic circuits for transmitting and receiving radio signals, whereby two-way radio communication can be established between two similar wrist-watches.

Preferably, the wrist-watch is a digital watch having a liquid crystal display.

Preferably, the electro-acoustic transducer is a dual purpose microphone and loud speaker located on a part of the upper surface of the wrist-watch which contains the digital display.

The range of the two-way radio communication can be extended to cover a larger area by utilizing a cellular system of the type used in mobile telecommunication.

The present invention will now be described in greater detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of a digital wrist-watch incorporating the appropriate electronic circuits for a two-way radio communication with another similar wrist watch; Figure 2 is a black circuit diagram of the two-way radio communication system arranged within the wrist-watch shown in Fig.

1; and Figure 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating how the range of the two-way radio communication can be extended using a cellular system of the type used in mobile telecommunication.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the digital wristwatch and the two-way radio communication system are housed within a metal casing 10.

The digital watch includes a liquid crystal display 12 and appropriate control buttons 14 mounted on the side of the casing 10, to enable the correct time to be set and also to display other functions such as seconds, the day of the week, the day of the month, and the month of the year. The casing 10 is provided with a strap 16 for securing around the wrist of the wearer, and with radio communication buttons 17.

An electro-acoustic transducer 18 is also mounted within the casing togehter with all the electronic circuits which make up the digital watch and the two-way radio communication system. An antenna 20 is conveniently either provided on the strap 16 being electri cally insulated therefrom, or in the case where the strap is made of electrical insulating material, woven thereinto.

The electronic components which make up the combined digital watch and two-way radio communication system are shown in Fig. 2, and include: a master crystal oscillator 22; a frequency generator and clock control circuits 24; a receiver circuit 26; a transmitter circuit 28; and gate 30; and batters 32.

The batteries 32 supply both the watch circuits and the transmitter-receiver circuits of the two-way radio communication system.

The master crystal oscillator 22 supplies the frequency generator 24 with a fixed frequency signal, and the frequency generator 24 supplies the transmitter and receiver circuits, 28 and 26 respectively with the selected transmission and reception radio frequencies.

The actual frequencies selected can be chosen from the presently available bands, namely 35 to 78 MHz and 173 to 175 MHz.

The electro-acoustic transducer 18 serves both as a loudspeaker and microphone. Control of transmission and reception is by means of the buttons 1 7 which switch the circuits either to transmit or receive.

The two-way radio communication system has adequate sensitivity and power to provide communication over a distance of 200 to 600 metres.

The range of the two-way radio communication system can be substantially increased by using techniques now proposed for mobile telecommunication, i.e. the cellular link. This would be particularly useful to cover a large factory or works areas. Such a cellular system is shown in Fig. 3.

The cellular system operates by dividing the area to be covered into a number of cells.

Each cell has a transmitter and receiver at the centre of the individual area to be covered and is linked to a central unit.

Referring to Fig. 3, a plurality of individual cells 40a to 40e, each have a respective receiver 42a to 42e and a respective transmitter 44a to 44e. A central unit 46 is linked by respective landlines 48a to 48e to the individual cells 40a to 40e.

If, for example, person A wishes to get in touch with person B, then he operates his transmit button 17. The transmitted signal is received by the nearest receiver 42b and via the central unit 46 and landlines 48 to all the transmitters 44, the signals are transmitted, that from the transmitter 44d reaching the wrist-watch of person B.

If person A happens to be walking whilst talking the person B, in the direction of the arrow Z, then when he passes through a critical zone between the cells 40b and 40c, his signals will be picked up from the receiver 42c and likewise the return transmission from B to A will be transmitted from the transmitter 44c.

Thus with the above described cellular system, a large factory or works area can be fully covered for two-way radio communication.

The combined electronic wrist-watch and two-way radio communication system is thus very compact and has sufficient range particularly when extended by the cellular system described above, to enable it to operate satisfactorily over most offices, factories or playing areas. Moreover, two-way communication can be established between two persons, without either having to carry or wear any additional equipment, such as the conventional paging or "walkie-talkie" radio equipment.

Claims

1. The combination of an electronic wristwatch; an electro-acoustic transducer; and electronic circuits for transmitting and receiving radio signals, whereby two-way radio communication can be established between two similar wrist-watches.

2. The combination according to claim 1, wherein the electronic wrist-watch is a digital watch having a liquid crystal display.

3. The combination according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electro-acoustic transducer is a dual purpose microphone and loud speaker located on a part of the upper surface of the electronic wrist-watch.

4. The combination according to any one of the preceding claims, additionally including a crystal oscillator and a frequency generator which is supplied with a fixed frequency signal from the oscillator and which supplies the electronic circuits for transmitting and receiving the radio signals.

5. The combination according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said electronic wrist-watch is provided with switch means whereby the electronic circuits are switched to either receive or transmit.

6. The combination according to any one of the preceding claims, including a cellular system of the type used in mobile telecommunications whereby the range of the two-way radio communication can be extended.

7. The combination according to claim 6, wherein said cellular system includes a plurality of cells which between them cover the whole of the area of communication, each having a transmitter and a receiver; a central unit; and two-way communication means between the central unit and each cell, whereby two-way radio communication can be established between two wrist-watches via two of the cells and the central unit.

8. The combination of an electronic wristwatch; an electro-acoustic transducer; and electronic circuits for transmitting and receiving radio signals, substantially as herein described with reference to and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.