This invention relates generally to visual indicators used in the operation a paging receiver including reading messages received by the paging receiver. In particular, this invention relates to the changing of the colors of visual indicators in response to addresses received by the paging receiver, the operating state of the pager and the status of messages displayed on the display of a paging receiver.
As the features and functions of paging receivers evolve and increase, it becomes increasingly difficult for the user of a pager to comprehend the operations of the pager. For example, a pager operating on the POCSAG paging protocol has four specified alert patterns, one alert pattern for each of four functions associated with an address assigned to the pager. This alert sequence would adequately provide for alerting one address having up to four functions. As the capabilities and functions of a pager increase, it becomes desirable to increase the number of four functions addresses beyond a single address. It is also desirable to keep the same alert for each function while distinguishing between addresses.
New pagers have an increasing variety of operations with respect to a message received by the paging receiver. The increasing variety of operations presents the pager user with the more difficult task of remembering and comprehending the new operations. The operations include reading an unread message, rereading a message, protecting a message and deleting a message. Thus it is desirable to provide the user with additional indication of the operation being activated. With the additional indication, the user may more readily comprehend the pager operations.
When a prior art pager has a back-light for illuminating a display, the back-light provides only for the illumination of the display and provides no indication of the message content. Thus it would be desirable to operate the back-light in response to the message content.
The Motorola PMR 2000 pager and the NTT RC-101 numeric pager are prior art pagers which possess the aforementioned operating characteristics. A description of the operating characteristics may be found in the operational descriptions of these pagers.