CA2016009A1 - Method and apparatus for externally defining the operational mode of a digital radio transceiver - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
Different digital radio transceiver front panel escutcheon plate assemblies are provided for different optional transceiver configurations. A
digital signal controller which is part of the main transceiver circuitry is capable of performing any of various basic and option functions under control of program control instructions stored in an associated non-volatile memory. Subsets of those features are selectively disabled by irreversibly modifying the transceiver unit from the outside of the unit (e.g., by cutting certain PC board pathways through holes provided in the transceiver unit front panel). The controller enables (executes) portions of the program control instructions stored in its associated non-volatile memory and disables (does not execute) other portions of the stored program control instructions in response to detection of continuity/discontinuity over those certain pathways.

Description

4 52~r,0~0g ~D A~ APPARATUS EO~ ~EB~ DE~Y~NING T~
OPE~O~L ~ OF A I)IGITA~ R~XO ~IVE:R
CRO~S-~5EEREPIOE TO RE:r~TED APP~I~TION5 l~i~ appllcation i~ relat~d to the followlng con~nonly a~s~ gned U. S. Pat~nt Appllcation~:

S~rial No. _, of Hodsdorl ( attorrley dockat no. 46-154; GE: docket no. 45-MR-611) filed concurrerltly herewith; and S~rial No. , of Seczutkow3k~ et al (attorney dockf~t no. 46-157; G}3: dock~t no.
45-~-612) filed coslcurrently h~rewi~.

Th~ two paterlt applicat:Lon~ ident$ied above ar~l3 h~re3:~y incorporate~ herein by reerenca.

T}li8 appllCatlOn i3 al80 related to copending commonly a3~ ed U. S . P~t~nt Appl~cation serial no .
07/183, 212 ~ d 19 April î988 in th~ na~ of Ingham ( attoraloy dock~t no. 46-85; GE dock~t no .
45~ 551 ) .

D OF_T~ IN~T~O~

Thio ~ tion i r~lated to di~it~l rad~o communic~iona d~vice~. Mor~ part~cularly, tho irLvon~ n r~lato~ to radlo comm~nication~ dav~ce ~cur~ty arr~ngQm~t~ whlch porm~t a u~or to accea~
standard conunur~icatlons unctl ons ( a~ well a~
addltl3nal unctlons ~o ~ser roqu~ts a~ t~ m~ of .
, '. ~ ' : , . :

', ... ~ .. :- ~ , .

3 ~
~5MRû060~
-pllrchase of tha radio ) whi le 3; reventing ~cha u~r rom acce~alng addltional unc~:1onE~ not reque~sted at time of purcha~e. 5till more particularly, th~
inv~sntion r~late~ to ~oftware con~roll~d digital radio transc~iver~3 which per~orm varlou~ ~unctlons under control of internally ~tored program control instruction~, and arrangement~ for substant.lally irrever~ibly inhibiting c:er~ain E~uch functlorls rom operating based on minc~r transceiver mod~2icatlo~a pr~ rably made fro~ ths outside of the transcelsrer ub~Qsluent to tima of manufacture.

B~ GEaO~ AND_SU~RY OF T~113 INV~TION

For marketing and oth~r rea~on~, marluf acturers s~f radio communication~ d~vicea typlcally of~ar several differ~nt con~iguratlon for ~ach "mod~l"
of conununication~ product manuactured. A
partic:ulax model of mobile radio tran~ceiver may hav2 a "ba~ic" or minimal coIlfiguration but may optlonally be provlded with ~dditional feature~ at additional co~t.

For exampl~, a ba~ic tran~ceivQr c:on~i~ur~tion may provid~ communicatlon~ ever a limited number of communi~atlon~ channsls or ba~ic radio tran~mitting and recq3lving function~ re~uir~d hy all u~er3. Some user~ may, howev~r, have additional requiremant~
r~guiring addltional ~aturQ~ uch a~ addi~ional communic~t~on~ chann~ s, r~ iver chas~al sc2mnin~, t~ p~ons ac:c~ (DTMF) capability, ~tc. Th~
ability o a manufacturer to provide ~uch additlonal featur~s increas~ the l~l~xiblllty, versatiliky, ' ~ . :. ' . . .

.
.
-- ~ :

2 (~ 5MR0 0 ~ 0 9 desir~ lty and range of appllcakionE~ of th2~
product wi'chou~ penali2:ing purc:haaori3 of the ba~:lc c:onfiguralt:lo~ wi~l lncrea~l3d coat. Purchaaer~ o~
th~ ba~iç ~od~l pay a minimum price for the minimal configllration, whil~ u~r~3 requiring additional features pay an increa~sd price ba~ed on the nurnber and typ~ of opti on0 they r~qui r~ .

In th~ pa~t, additional ~eatur~a w~3r~ genarally provided by incorporating additlorlal components and circuitry into th~ tranaceiv~r. For axample, channel ~canning capability or additional oper~'cing chann~lo we3r~ added by ln~talling additional frequ2ncy ~lection circuitry. Similarly, DTMF
( TOUC~I TONE ) c:apabi lity r~quir~d an additional tone gen~rator clrcult arld a~aoc~ ated k~ypad to be in~talled. Transc~iver de~ rs u~d modular architecture~ to accommoda'ce additiollal plug-in modules .

An e~a~mple of this deoign approach i~ the prior art "MI,S~ ~r~os rad~o trarls~sivor~ manufactured for G~n~rs~ c:tr~ c Company by Japan Radio Corp. ~e~e "ML5'1 tranw~lv~rs includ~ basic trarlsc~iver circuitry dispo~dl within a hou~lng. T~e front pane!l a~embly of the tra~sceiver housing i~
manufact~lred separately" and con~i~t~ of a ~eparable ~ro~t panel "escutcheora" plate~. M~chanic~lly mounted to ths~ ~scutchoon plat~ i~ al printed c~ rcuit bo~rd whlc~ plug-~;onn~cto to th~ b~llc transcelver circuitry w~en t~ e~cutcheon pl~to 18 m~chanlcalLy a~ten~d to the hou~lng. Th~ ~3cutchao~ plat~ ~nd a~sociated prlnt~d circuit board thu~ comprlse~ a .
- , ~

-'. - ~'' ' ;' 2 ~ ~ 6 ~ 5MRo0609 module aeparable ~rom the tran~ceiv~r main hou~ing and basic circllitry, thi~ module including u~er control~, circuitry requlred to co~nect ~ha user control3 to ~hQ tran~c~iV0r circuitry, ~nd additional circuitry ne~ded to parorm the additional function~.

~ lnco add~tional features in many ca~ requ~r~
difer~nt additional u~ar control~, di~f~r~nt modol~
o escutch~on plate module6 were produced for ~h~
"M~S" serio~ tran~ceiv~r~. In partlcul~x, the ~M~"
tr nsceiv~r wa~ mad~ availabl~ in ~ev~ral diferent versions, ~uch a~- (1) a two-cha~nal "~a~ic"
ver~ion; ~2~ an 8-c~annel ver~ion with scan f~ature;

(3) a 16-chann~l v~r~ion without ~can; and ~4~ a 16-channel ver ion with ~can feature. Diff~r~nt interchangeabl~ escutch~on plate~ with di~fererlt u~er c:ontrol arrangement~3 corre~ponding to ~e~
diferent tran3eelver v~r~ion3 were provided. Th~
particular escutcheon plat~/control panel installed on a particular "MLS~ tran~ceiver limited th~
transc~v~r ~a~ur~ the u~er could access. For example, th~ ~scutcheon plat~ corresponding to th~
"MLS~ tran~c~lver veraion with 16-channel capabllity and no ~can ~atur~ does not have a control to actuate the ~can eatur2 -- pr~venting th~ user from obtaining ~h~ ben~it of th~ ~can featur~.
Similarly, th~ o~cutcheon plateo corresponding to th~ ~-chann~l tran~ceiver v~rslon~ do not lnclud~
user control~ to ~cc~o mor~ th~n B channol~. :

Slnc~ all "M~S" transceiver~ includ~d identic~l ba~ic t~anscelver circuitry and maln housing, /~5~qE~00~;0 5 2~g;~

reduced manufac:turing c0~ 3 nnd lncrea~ecl reliabillty derlved from large Escale manuactllrlng wer~ obtairl~d. Specl~ic purch~er ~el~cted addi~iorlal featllr~E~ could 1~ provlded in a particular unit 31mply by ins'calling ~he appropriate e~cutcheon plate modula -- a procedure~ which could b~ performed in th~ ld or at the distrlbutor if d~ired. Incorpor~tlon of ~h~ circuitry performlng the additlonal function~ and u3~r control~
int~racting with such clrcuitry wl'chin the ~
ront panol e~cutcheon plat~ modul~ p~rmltt~d a tran3ceiv2r to bç!! re!conigured by ~imply "unpluggin~" one module and "plug~ing in" ~
diferent module ( ur~ r increasi2~g reliabllity and decrea~lng manu~acturing C08~

Digital microproce~or controllecl radio communi c~tiorl~ devices such a~ the "MLSq series tran~ceiver are generally ~ulown, O~e cour~e. The followtng i8 a (by no mean3 exhaustive) listinç~ of prior pa~e~t~ and publication~ generally relesrant to th~ state of the~ art o ~o-called "digi~al radio~":
U. 5. Patent No. 4, 378, 551 -- Drapac - U. S. Patenlt No . 4, 392 ,135 -- Ohyagi U. S~ Patent No. 4, 525, 865 -- Mear~
U.S. Patent No. ~,247,951 -- Elattori et al U. 5. Patent No. 4, 254, 504 ~- Lewi~ ~t al U. S. ~atent No. 4, 510, 623 -- Bonn~au e~ al U.S. Patent No. 4,688,261 ~- Killoway e~ al U. S. Pl~t~nt No. 4, 618, 997 -- Imazoki ~t al U.S. PatQnt ~o. 4,771,399 -- 5nowden ~t al U. S. Patent ~o. 4, 484, 355 -- Henke et al U.S. ~?at~nt No. 4,555,805 -- Talbot U. S. Patent No. 4, 638,120 -- Herve "D~A T-A~C 6000X Unlver~al Moblle Telephone", Motorola ( 1984) :
' -.
. . ~

. ....... - . . ' . ' .

-, . .

~5M~oo~os -Groh, "The uP: The Rey to an Advancad Erequ~ncy Sy~h~iz~d HF SSP Amateur Radio Tran~ceiYer'1, IEE~ Tran~actions on Çon~umer Electronic~ Yol.
CE-26 (19803~

Such references teach controlling tran~ceiv~r functions in addltion to tran~ceiver operating paramet~r3 (e.g., operaki~g frequencies) in respon~e to digital 3ignal~ stvred in a memory devic~ hll~
older radlo transceiver~ r~guired additional c~rcuitry to p~rform addltlonal, optional function~
such a~ channel scanning, tone activated squelch and th~ like, modern digital microproce~sor controllad transceiver~ are capabl~ o~ performing such additional functions und~r ~oftwar~ control wi~h little or no additional circuitry. For exampl~, rece~v~r chann~l scanning can be implem~nt~d by providing an enhanced receiver progr~m control rout,ne controlling the microproces~or to periodically monitor actlvity on variou~ channels --and additional frequency data can b~ stored in a memory device to provid~ addit~onal tran~ceiver operating chann~ls. Additional ton~ g~nerating, dacod~ng and con~rol algoritbms performed by th~
microproce~or under control o~ additional program contro~ software can provid2 advanced squelch control function~, DTMF and oth~r tone signalling function~, and tha like.

It would be u~fair (and al~o poor marXeting ~trategy) to reguire u~er~ needing only a minimal transceiver conflguration to pay or th~ high developms~t cost o advanc~d feature~ and enhancement~. Accordlngly, or various reason~ it , ,~ .
.
, :

, .
:.

~5MR0060~3 7 2 ~

i l l very much advantagesu~ to oer th~
purcha~er al "ba~ict' lower co~t ~r~naceiv~r configuration whll~ p~rmittin~ h1m to select additional eatures a~t hlgh~r co~t -- ~3v~n though the main eand ~ometimQf3 the only) diferenc~ batweer th~ ba~ and the enhanced tran~ceiverE~ may rei3id4 in the 8pQCifiC pro~ra2n control routine~ they exeeut~. Thi~ marketl~ atrateg3 ~llow~ th~
manufacturer to o~er th~ ba~ie unlt at reducsd co~t and at th~ ~ame tlmE3 requirel3 purchaser~ requlring enhaneed op~ratlorl ~o bear 1:h8 additional co~t~
a~so~iated with dev010ping and provlding tha additional featuro~. A ~till further benefit achiev~d by thi3 strategy i8 that ovorall developmerlt, manufacturing and lnve2ltory CoB1:~ are reduced sub~tarltially -~ 8ince the a~allle }~a~ic hardwar~3 conf~guration caxl b3 used for all model~ of the product.

For thi 8 mar~ting ~trategy to b~ 8ucc~88ful, howev@r, purchase~rs of low C08t basic transc~lver conflguration0 must not be ablo to ea~lily modi~y thelr unitY~ to obtain more~ ~xponslvo oatur~.
Ol:herwl~o, ~no~t purcha~er~ would simply buy thet "bottc~m-o~-th~-lina" mod~l and then modiy it to obtaln addition~l foaturQs ~ 3reby defeating the marketing stratoyy and ~ï~o unfairly obtaining the ben~fit of featuros ~or which thoy dld not pay d~velopm~nt or llcensirlg co~tl3).

One po~ibl~ way ~o pr~v~nt purchaser~ ~rom modifylng transcolver uni~ to obtain ea~ure~ they have not paid 2`or i3 to pro-vld~ dlf~or~nt . ~ .
. .

; . ' ` ': ' , .

'R ~ 9 tran~sc~ivex conflguratlonf3, each coniguratlon havlr;g e~ ntlally tho ~ame har~war~ bu~ includlng a different PE~OM ~programmal~ r0ad only memory) ~toring only the~ 8ub~9t 0~ ~e program control instructiona and traxlsc:eiver pararn~tar data as~oci ated with t~e 8peci~1c configura~ion purcha~cl. Thia approach ha~ 3everal dl~advanta~es, how~v~r. Ultra~ iaturlzatlon provided by modern ~anufacturing and packagillg ~ch~ now maXe lt po~ibl~ to inexperlsiv~ly "pack~ hun~red~ 02 thousand~ o component~ into a very ~mall physical volum~ ~.g., th~ interlor volume of a ~a~d-held digital radio transc~iver3. Su~h as~emblie~ are oten extrom~ly dl~1cult, ~owever, to di~assembls a~ter ~h~y have boen a~emblQd at tho ~actory --requiring ~he appropriat~ progr~m 8tore me~ory to b~
installed at tim~ of manufasture. A larg~ inv~ntory o~ tho various diff~rent vQrsions o~ ~h~ prqgram ~tore me~sry mu~t b~ maintainQd, a~d the fi~al configuration o a particular transceiver mu~t be determined at time of manufacture. It would be highly desirabl~ to somehow def~r that con~iguration de~erminatlon until closer to timo o purch~ae (~o ~h~t, or ~x~mpl~, di3tributors would only need to ke~p one b~3ic unit in in~entory).

Con~only as~igned U.S. Patent No. 4,525,865 to M~ars di 8c1080~ ~ arrangement wh~reby a non-volatile me~ory wlthln a mobile radio tran w ~vor c~n b~ r~progr~mm~d wlthout phy31cal entry i~to the tran~c~iv~r or remo~al of components to provlde tho rad~o w~th addltlona1 oporatlon~1 optio~3 ( ~ . g., ton~ or digital addr~ , carrier i : :

:
.

~5MR00~G~i 9 ~ J ~ ~I
-corli:rol tlm~r~, or the llk~)~ EloweYer, i~ auch reprogr~ing were ua~d 'co provide optlonal advanced fe:atur~s, ther8 may b~ nothin~ ~oth~r than ~e copyright laws) prevontlng an ~nt~ll$gent purcha/~r from dc~wnloading upgradl3 lnormatlon into hi~
tran~ceiver' 8 interxlal non volatil~ memory. Thu~, l:he Mear~ solution i~ highly effectlYe to p~rmi'c cus~omiza~lo~ oî transc~3iver "per~onall~y in ormation~, but may hav~ mor~ llmlt~d utility in ~electing the l3et o baslc operat~o2lal feature~ to b~ provlded by particular tran~calvers.

U. S. Patent No. 4, 392, 135 to Ohyagi and U. S.
Patent ~lo. 4,378,551 to Drap~ac listQd abov~
clil3clo~e security arr~ngament~ for enabllng and/or ir~lbltlng featurs~ in pag~ ng receiver~ .

S~hyagi teaches an "information sett~r circuit"
comprisin5~ an 8x9 bit PROM in which 1~ storQd "optlon ~lection bits" or ~electing variou~
functional optionl3 of th~ paging r~ceiver ( ~ . g ., automatic re~ett~ng~ aft~r an al~rt, paglng by mechanlcal vibration ln lieu of 'con~, and a battery sa~ring ~e~tur~ ) . 1~ microproces~or readq t~e in~ormation stored in thi8 circui~ il8 an input to the prograrn c:ontrol algorithm 1~ execute~ and en~le~s or lnhibits the various option ~eatures acc:ordlngly.

Th~ Drapac patont di~clo~ discret~ logic security c:lrcultry lncorporat~d a~ par~ o th~ pager whlch conn~c:t3 w~Lth opt~on s~l~ction clrcultry c:ontained ln a s~parable "codo plug. n Th~ codo plug ' , ' ,.:

4 ~ME~006~g 10 2 ~

lncludal circtlit:ry controlliny tone ~es::odi~g, and addltional simpl~ fu~:lble link type clrcul~ry whlch contxoll3 ~elec:t:aon o~ varioua optlons Eluch aa batt~ry ~saviny, automatlc re~3t, and dual call op~rsLtion. I.oglc level ~i~ala ar~ conn~cted through th~3 ~Eusibl~ link~ tha code plug to ~e s~curity loglc circuitry, and th~3 logic clrcuitry in ~ur~ enable~ or d~ les th~ variouR op~:ion~
~ecurity loglc circuitry detec~s wh~ a uaer tamper~
wlth the cod~ plug ~uaible link connactions ancl prevent~ activation of the paglng devlc~ wherlev2r tamp~rlng occursO

Whil~ ~uch arrangeme~t~- may ~ sati~factory in th~ cont~xt o~ a paginS~ clevic2, th@y do not readily l~nd thema~lve~ to the more complex environmant of a ~ull-eatured digital radio transceiver -- in which many mor0 op~ions may b~ provided ar~d ~ome additional circuitry and user control~ may be re~uired to implement th~ various option~. In addltion, ~reater ~acurity than Drapat:'s code plug can provid~ i8 n~c:~s~ary to preYen~ purchasers from succ~3a~fully ~2labling tran~ce!iv~r adva~c~d opt~on ~atur~s~ throu~h ta~p~ring.
, .
It i~ al~o lcnowrl ln c~rtaiIl prior axt davice~
to di~ une:~ion~ by sub~tant:ially lrreversibly modi4y~ng circultry. On~ example o such a technigu~ ound cable t~l~vl~ion application~.
Somo o~ly c~ tole~ri8ion d~coder~3 included multipo~itiosl channel salec~or ~wltches wit:h each c:har~l po~l~lon corr~ponding to a diffQr~nt tel~vl~ion chanr~ol ~ soma o~ which war~ cat~goriz~d - ' ' , , . .

~ ~T~E~U060~
11 2 ~ 3 ~3 ~

aEI npr~mi~ ch~n~ela ) . A aub~crlber c:ollld subacribe to all of th~ ~elevl~ion cha~el~ or to orlly selec:ted t~levision cha~nel~ ~bu~ o~ cour~e, his monthly ~ubscrlptiorl fee would be inGreas~d i~
he sub~cribed to a gre~ter rlumb~r o~ "premlum"
c}lannel:~). $~e "premium chann~ wera ~ran~3mitted over th~ cabl~ t~lsvl~ion network lrl "scrambled"
form ~ ~ . g~ th suppr~s~d v~l3rtlc~1 8ync 8~ B or with ~ome other ~s~s2~tial signal component ~uppr~ ed or alt~recl) to pre~ren~ m rom b~in~
prop~rly receilr0d and di~played by a standard t~levi 8ion rec~iv~r . ~e decoder uni~s ~nçluded a "de~cramblQr" circuit (e.g., a filt~r~ampll~ier network for restoring ver~i~al ~ync Ot oth~r ea~eRtial mi3~1ng ~ignal component~) coupled ko the m~ltipo~ition ~wltch.

All ~uch decoder unit~ were ~hipped ~xom th~
factory in a standard corlfigura~ion in which the multipoaition ~w~tch disabl~d 'ch~ descrambler circuilt fro~ op~r~ti~g on aLl :hann~l~. How~ver, PC
board pathw~ys cormect~d to dif~Eer~rlt ~witch po~itions could be cut to prevont th~ d~acrambler circult ro~ b41~S~ disabled (l.e., to ~nable th~
de~cr~ r c~rcuit) at certain switch (channel~
posltion~ u~ providing a capability to sub taLnti~lly irrev~r~ibly modi~y tha decoder to ~el~ctive~ly ~3rlable~/di~able descrambling unctlons on a chann~l-by chanr~l baEli~). The Cable T~ïsviaion Company could thu~ "progr~n" a d~3codor to doocrambl~
only th~ ~p~cific pr~ml~ra channels subscr~l~ed ~co by p~rtic~ r subwrlber by opening l:h~ decodar unit to acce~ lt~ int~rnal PC board and cutting ~el~c~ad ~, .
.

ROr)~09 2 ~

individual PC~3 pa~way~ coupled to corre~3ponding channel IYelactor ~3witch po0ition~ decoder wa3 typically hou~ed in a ~cure 3ealed c:~inot ~h~t was dificult or impo~ihl~ 'co ~m~sal wi1~hou'c u~ing apecial toolE~ -- efectively pre~ventiIlg th~ avarag~
consumor rom accQssins~ and ~ev~ring additional pathways to erlable de~crambllng o~ ad~ditlora~l premium chaNlel~ .

Thi~ tQchniqua ha~ now gen~3rally b~:n di~c:ard~d by th~ sle televif~ion insl7~atr~ in favor of po~ioclically digitally downloading chann~l enabl~mer~t tablQ~ lntc~ a non-volatil~ memory with~n the decoder and u~i~ag this c~annel ~nablem~nt information to ~electiv~1y enabl~ 10 de~cramblin5~ on a channel-by-chax~el ba~ie. In any event, it is difflcult to ~sa how any o th~8~ prior art cabl~ tel~vislon tec~ ue3 could provide practieal solution~ to th~ probl~m of sel~cting function~ to be~ provid~3d by digltal radio commun~ s:atio~ tran~G~iV~rs.

It 18 al~o g~norally known to s~t hardwaro con1gu~at~ on8 by solocking eon~ uity/discontinuity b~1:wee~n procça3~0r-rondablo connec:tions~ For example, it: is c:om~on for m~nuacturor~ o board~
or per~o~al computer3 to include~ ~o-c:alled DI~
(du~l iA-llno pac:kag~ Witc~aEI or ~ump~rs~ on th~lr boards to ~llow th~ r to ~ot parame~t~r~ (~.g., bua add~s, lrlt~rrupt, or th~ lik~) nsaocillt~d. wlth th~s hardw~ro. Such ~wltchoQI/~wnper~ may ln 00m~
~:ase~s b~ u~ad to provid~ in~o~n~tlon t e . g., "my addres~ i' or "my hardw~ro configuratiorl l~n) to .

.

) 0 6 0 9 13 2 ~

the proc~ox cornmunlcating with the h~rdware ( thu~
allow~ ng th~ ~yst~m to automatlcally "c:02l~i~re"
it~lf under ~o~twar~ corltrol upon powe)r up, o examplo ) . Of cour~ ump~r~ and DIP swltch0~3 are d~s~gned ~uch that it iB ea~y to chang~
coniguratiorl~ thay ~3el~act. As a C08t IÇ3IlVinl~
measurQ, some manuacturerEI m~y in tha pn3t ~av~
~liminat~d ~ ~umpara and/or DIP ~witch~a altog~thor and in~t~ad provld~d PC bo~rd p~way~
th~ u~r or in~tall~r mu~t cut or 8c:r5p~ of ~o provid~ bu~ address info~nation or the like. ~e arraIlge~ent~ are ot2~ troublesome, howev~r ( ~lnce~ a solderinLç~ iron i~ ne~ded to changs t~he configuratlon once it ha~ beex~ ~elected) and are the!~r~ore typically re~rved for 1:h~ cheapest o device~.

It :IB unclear how ~umper~ or 1:3IP ~witches could be u~d to sp~c:iy rad~ o corlfiguration on th~
hardwar~ leve~l at timo of radio purchas~ whl le provonti~g u~r~ ~rom later changing tht~ ~pecifi~d configuratiorl. Jump-3r~ and DIP ~wikche~ ~re typic~lly r~l~tiv~ly ~a~y to 3~t, snd aro t:~er~for~
rol~ voly e~oy to c~aIlgo . Mor30Y~r, such dsviceo ~ro ~ormQ113! mounted d~ r~ct,ly on ~ printed clrcult board or 1:h~ lik~ -- and would therefore reguir~ the radio to be di~as~embled. for th~ ~ump~r~ or DI~
~wltche~ to be~ ~t a~ da3ir~d. l~ua, thl~
"~olutior~ similar to t~o solution dis~u~sod above o~E provldin~ dl~rorlt program ~tor~ mQmori~
~or dl~foront tr~n~coivor vor~lon~ md hao mAny o ~ dl~ac~vant~s (~g., r~quirlng tra~dc~lv~s~ configura'clon to b~ ~pe~ci1~d At tim~ o~
manu~actur~ ) .

.: . ., :
.. . .
.
~ ' ~ , ' :' .

4 5MROO~;09 2 ~

_ 1~

The copending patent ~pplication aerlal no.
07/183,~12 of Ingh~m fll~d on 19 April lg~8 ( a'ctorn~y docket ns3 46-85 ) ref ~rred to abo~r~
provlde~ a highly 8UitEilb12 and ~ucce~ul ~olution to th~ prob~em o con~lguring a dlgltal radio transceiv~r ~ equenLt to tim0 o~ manuscture. In tha~ arrangem~ , a single "ba~e" 'cran~celver unlt i~ manu~actured, thi~ ltran~celver bas~ unl~ be~ng comanorl to all o ~everal d1 f~r~nt transcelver configuratio~. Diffe~r~n~ tran3c~1ver front pan~l "escutch~on plates" carryinçl dlferent control coniguratlon3 ar~ provided for the~ di~rellt tran~celver con~igurations. l~lese front panel escutcheon plate~ inte~rconnect both m~chanically and electrl cally to the transceiver bas~ unit .

Thu~, the e3cutcheo2l plates in the preferred embodiment disclos~d in ~he Inghasn applica~lon carry entir~ electrical switch a~s!mbli~s - including el~ctrical contacts arlcl as~ociated actuator "bukto~ cu~cheo~ plal:e module~
correg~pondlng to all but th~ "basic" configuration all3o c~rry a " ~ecurity cire:uit" which communlcates wit~ tran~c~iVer microproceasor wlthin th2 ba8e unit at cartai~ time~ ( e . g., during tran~ceiver 'powar up" ) . Diff~ren~ securi~y circuit8 ar~
pr~vid~d ~or the dlforç~nt e~cutcheon plate configuratlons, each o~ the dlff~rent ~acurity circuit~ p~rmuting signal~ ~ant to them in a dl iE~:re~nt way .

In tho Ingh~ arrange!!m~nt tlle tran~c~iver ~erlda ~rial fla~a si~al~ to ~ s~curity circu~ t disps~ed .
- .
., ..

..
:: .
. ~
. . .~ ' . .

~ 5~ 0 () 6 ~ 9 o~ escu~cheon pla~0 connec~d to it, alld reca~ves back a permuted ver~lon o~ tho8e ~3ignal8 (lf 'ch~ escu~eheon pla~e c:orr~pond~ to some conflguratioll oth~3r 1:han th2~ ba~lc configur~tion~.
Th~ mlcroproc2~0r d~te~mlne~ th~ configura'clon of the escutcheon plate modul~ in re pon~e to which permuted version of the ~ignal~ r~ceives bach:
fro~ th~ security clrcuit. l~us, ~:hQ purcha~er cannot obtai~ addiklonal functlonallty by ~ner~ly provid~ ng additional control~ - hn must al~o provid~ a ~ecur~ ty circuit corresporad~ ng to th~ new control con~iguraticjn. Great Q~curity i~ provided a~ainst tampering with or defeatlng o th~ securlty clrcuit becau~ the permu~ation functlon performed by the circuit is complex and emula~ion of thi~
unc:t1on would requlre~ sophlsticatQd techniquea and/or a physlcally large c:ircuit.

Whlle the Ingh~n arrangeme~rlt is highly ~UCC~ Ul ln it13 own right, urther improvement~
are possibl~. I~ particular, th~ escutch~on plate~
u8e~:31 ln t~e Ingh~ arrangemerlt ar~ ll3omewhat expe~siv~ ~o n~anufactur~ ce th~ may carry ~ntlr~ 01~s:tro~n~chanical ~witch a~sesnbli~s, Qlectrical coIm~ctor3, and ~for unit3 having 'toptlon~l" ~atur~s) am eleckro~ic aecurity s:ircuit. It would ~ highly de~irabl~ to provide interchan5J~able ass~ut{:heon plato a~
compri~ o~ly a f~w mechanical par~. Such a pur~ly m~s:hani~ wutch~30n plat~ modul~ d~
would ~liminate the~ co~tly (and occ:a0ionally unr~liablQ) elec~rlcal conne~c~ors U~d in th~ prior ~rt to cor~n~3ct ç!~cutch~on platl~ modul~0 to : .
~: . . .

' -: ' ' "'' ~ .' ~ ' ~5MRor)~r~s tran~celver ba~a uzllts.

Unfortu~ately, th8 e~tr~smely diff:Lcult probLer~
ari ~ as ~o how to pre~enk a purcha~er o ~ne basic coniguratlon ver3ion ~rom aimply in~lllng differerlt mec:ha~ical part~ to provld~ addlt:Lonal f~a~ures. ThQ probla~ that 'chQ ~ama ~a'cure~
making lt pos~ibl3 ~or th~ manu~ac~urer or di~tr~butor ~o ~auickly, ea lly and conveni~ntly chans~e tr~n~c~iv~r con~lguraltion~ al~o maks lt posaibl2 ~or purchas E3r~ to alt~r th~ configuratlo of their own traIlsceiver~ ( and ~u~ def~3at manuactur2r' ~ marketing strategie~ a~ well il8 obtaiLnlng "or fr¢~" th~ bene1tEI of adYanced tran~ceiver func:tior~s and featur~ purcha~er should in all falrness be re$mbur3iIlg th~
manu~acturer or developing~.

The pre~82nt invention provide~ a solution to thi~ problem. Lik~ th~ prlor art "I~LS" ~r1 e~ radio trar~c~iver~ a~d th~s ~rr~ng~ms~1: de~cribQd in th~
commor~ly- a~sig~ec3L Ing}~a~ appllcation, th~ pr~ent ~n~¢rltion provld~ dif~r~nlt transcol~v~r front paneJl e~eutcheor~ plato as3embll~ for di~rant tranac,~iv~r ~eatur~ confi~ration~. Unliko pa~t ~rra~ment~, how~v~r, th4~ pr~s*n1: inventio~ doe~ ~
not re~ire any ~lectr~cal compon~nt0 to b~ provided wi~hin d~far~ntly c:on~lgur~d ~nt~rchang~
escutcheon platl3 aE18~mbli~!\~!1.

In accordance~ with on~3 ~aapect of the pr~ent lnvention, t~ a~e basic ~r~nai::oivor ~ u~ed ~or several dl~r~n~ ~ran~c~3iv~r aature ... .

: . :
..
.
: : ' .

~sMRo~6os con~iguratlon~ baslc ~rarl~celv~r un:lt typic211y may pxovid13 all o the (softw~re corltrolled~ feature~ and flmction~ of t~ "top of th~ lin~" trarlac~ive:r ~e~atur~ conf:Lgurat:~on ~ and ~ua provids~ a aupe:rsq~t o~ the ~eaturaa and function~ provlded by 'ch~ ot~er tran~ oiver Wmodel~ ba~ic tran~c~iv~r al~30 provid~3s a mech~n~ 6m for ~ taIltlally irreversibly sel~ct~rlg a ot o ~* total ~ atur~ provided by ~a ba~ c transce$vç~r unit -- ~i8 a~l~ctio~ mec~an~m prs~rably bo~ operabl~ from oul:3~d~ 0~ the trarl~3c~iv~r ca~ç~. Onc~ made, the E~012ction i~
preferably di~Eicult or imposaiblQ to reverse -- -prav~nt~ng a purchaser from deeating the ~lection in aa~ attempt to en~le additional tranacelvar ~unctis~

In th2 pref2rred e~bodimer~t, ~or e~sample, 'chere are hol~ cu~ through the tra~E3ceiver front panel in registry wlth a~ociated underlyi~g print2d circuit bsa~rd pathw~y~. To irreve~sibly di~3abl~ certain tran~cs!~lv4~r functlorls, 1~ e¢o~sary only to sevor the pat~way~. Ssv~ring t~ pathway~ does not de~troy hardw~r~ unctlonality in th~ pr~errod ~mbodim~nt, but inatead dl~ p~rformanco of certain port~on~ of t~e 1:ranscoiY~or mlcroproces~or so~twaro proSIrunr~ing ~ mplem~ntinq ad~anc~d or n optio2~ atur~.

A8 m~s~tioned ~bo~o, 1:h~ fe~ture~ ctlon m~chanlsm provided by the~ pr~sent invontion i~
pr~rably ~ antlally irrov~r~ible~. ~or ~xampl~, a purch~ar trylng to foa~m ~oldor o~ otl~r ~l~ll~r - : -" ` ~ ' ' " ' ,: ~ ', ' ' ' .
.. . .
. - .

a~5MR00609 conductiv~ bridgea over the ~severed prlnt0d clrc:uit boarcl pa~way~ ln order 'co ~leE3a~ ~he ~e~ture tiorl (and t~u~ "upgradç~" hl~ tran~c~lver ~o prs~vida addltional foature~ wi~out paying th~
additional aaaociat~d purcha~ prlce to compen~ate th~ manu~acturer for tha clevelopment co~t~
a~sociated wi~h th08~ additlvn~l featuree) would probably find it n~ce~ry to di~3assembl~3 and r~aE~sembl~ c3 tran~c~iv~r ( in all lilc~311hood damaglng c~rtairl compone!!nt~ in th~ proc~

and other featura~ and advantage~ of the prosent lnvent~on will ba better and ~nor~a complately undcrstood by ref~rrlng to th0 followlng det~l1ad de~criptior~ of pre~ently prof~3rred e~semplary embodiment~ in con~unction with ~ append~d sheet3 of drawlng~3, oSE which:

FIGU~E 1 is an olevated side v18w ln perspective o a pre~ently proferrod exemplary embodiment o a diqital radio tran~coi~rer 1I1 accordanc~ wilth 1:h~ preserlt inve2~tlon lncluding an, escutch~o~ plalt~ assembly having a full-f~atured "SYSTEMn corltrol c:onfigurat:lon;

FIGl~tE 2 1~ an ~xplodod sid~ parspective view of th~ ~scutcheon plat~ assembly shown lr~ FIGURE 1 showing h ow th~ a~sembly i 8 mounted to thQ
transcoiver ront panel;

FIGI~S 3 and 4 ara elevated front vlew~ in pl n o ~cutch~on plat~ a~ae~ nt~rchar~ sblo wlth ~ho e~c:utcheon pla~ as6nm~1y ~hown ln F~GUE~E l;

~5M~O~os FIGU~ 5 i ~ a f rorl~ pl an vl ew o f 'c;he tr~an:~c~iver ~3ho~m in FIGUR~ 1 w~ he e~3cutcheon plate asaembly r~:nov~3d to ~XpOEI~ t~e tran~c ivar caE~e front pan~l;

FIGURE 6 i~ ~ top plan view of an ~x~mpl~ry fle3cible prlnted wirl:ng board (PWES) dl ~po~3~d wit:hin the FIGIJR~ 1 tran~ce3iver b~neath thQ3 fro2l~ panel ~xpo~ed ln th~ FIGURÆ 5 ~rlew;

l?IGU~ 7 i~ a ~chematic block dlagr2~ o~ ~n ~acemplary miGroproce~cJr-ba~d circuit wlthi~
FIGURE 1 trar~ceiv~r;

FIGUR~ 8 1~ ~ d~tailad ~chem~tic diagrazn of an easemplary ke~ypad ~canr~ g ci rcuit portiorl of th~
circult ~hown in ~IGURE 7; and FIGUR~ 9 ig a flowchart of exemplary program control ~t~ps per~orm~d by tha tran~c~iver digital mlcroproc~sao~ s~own 1~ FIGURE 7.

D~IL~ D13~ I?TION OE 1~3B P~SE:Nl~
PBI~ReD ~lPLAR~ ~DIM~NT8 FIGUR~ :1 18 ~ ~idn perspectiv~ view o a pr~ ly preferrod exemplary embodiment of a dlgltal radlo tran~ce~vor 5C) i. accordanc~ with th~
presont ~nv~nt:ion. Tra~Hc~lv~r 50 incllld~ a main modul~3 51 and batt~ry op~rated power ~upply modul0 52. In the pr~forrod ~ 0diment, tran~c~lv~r 50 lo th~ tran~ce~ disclo~ed in in cop~nding commonly-a~ d. lu.s. P~t~nt Appl~cation 9e~nl No.
_ o ~odsdo~ il0d concurrently h~r~with (th~

`

-- .
. , , :

0 0 ~ 0 9 2(~

entlre dl~closur~ of which i~ ~ereby inGorporated herein ~y re~rence) ~ at~orney docke~ no. 46-157; CE
docket no. 45 MR-61~

Brlefly, tran~ceiver 50 lnclude~ c:onven~ional mlcroproce~sor ba~ed dlgltal and cll~ltally controllQd ci.rcuitry or gener~tiny modulated RE
nal~ ~or radla~ion by an~enna 5~ and for xecelving and demodulatinq RE ~signal~ received by th~ antenna. A corlv~nt~ onal fr~quency ~ iz~r circuit int2rnal to transceiv*r 50 determlne~ RF
tran~mit and rec0ivQ ~reguenc:ie~ under c:ontrol of digital siqn3Lls produced by an internal mlcroproces~or. A Pu~h-To-Talk (PTT~ swltGh 56 contxol~ tran~mit/recelve mode o tran~ce~lver 50" and as~ LCD type display 58 dlsplay~ channel, s~atu~ and other in~ormation. In ~:he transc~iver configuration ~hown in EIGURE 1, the user may furth~r control the function8 o transceiv~r by depre~slng one or ~Rore keys 59 provided on a ront pan~l escutcheon plate a~mbly 60. On/O~ cor~trol and volum~ control 18 perfor~ed by a knob 62, w~
a urt:her knsb 64 can b~ op~ratod to control ch~nel 8~1Q~:t10n 3~y th~ m1CrOPrOC~g~O

II1 the prQerred embod~ment, transceiYer 50 provided in sev~ral dlf~erent conflgurations, inc:luding:
(a) th~ "Sy~t0m" con~iguration (which pro~ida~
chans~l scannin~ capab~liti~ und~r control o ~
oux-k~y keyp~d 68 ~nd DTM~ ~onu generatlon undor control of ~n additional 12-key ~elephon~ typ~
keypad 66 );

. ':

.

, ~5~R00605 ~1 2~
-(b) th~ "Sc:an" con1guration (which proYlde~
channel scarLrl:Lng capabilitle~ but doe~ not, provide DT~ tone generation or the twelve-kQy telephone type keypad 66 ); and (c) the "Select" conPiguration (whlch provld no cha~el scaxming, no DrMF ton~ g~nera'cion, and relies solely on knob 64 for operatin~ chan~
sel~ctlon) .

~ transceiYer 50 shown in FIGURE 1 ha~ the "Sy~t~m~ con~iguratlon. Keypad a~embly 6C for thi~
configura lon lnclude~ ~ twelva-k~y keypad subarray 66 for controlling generation of DTM~ tone ( 1. e ., TOU~-TO~E) telephon~ typ2 dlaling ~ignals, and a urther four~key keypad s~array 68 for controlling ~cannlng func:tions. Thi8 follr-k~y subarray 68 in th~ pre~erred embodiment provide~ keys labelled "~3:NU~, "SELECT", "EXIT" ~nd "SCAN" to r~spectivaly call up ~can se~lection display menu options on LCD
display 58, 3elect entrie~ from the rnenu, axit the menu display mode, and initiata cha~el ~can~ing.

FIGURE 2 show~ an exploded ~ de p~arf~pective view of keypad array 60 and a~ociatsd assembly showr~ in FIGURE 1. A~ ~hown in FIGURE 2, t~e pref~rr~d embodlment escutch~on plate assembly 60 include~ a ~lexibl0 k~ypad 70 deining key ~ubarraya 66, 68, and further include~ a rigld pla~tl~
mountinS~ ~zol 72 providing openinS~ 74 in re~i8'cry with 1~ va~iou~ k~ya o subarray~ 66, 6a. A~
ds~cribedl i~ muc~ great~r detall in the copend~ ng ~od~don paten't application, keypad 70 and a0soci~ted bezel 72 mount onto the transc:elver front panal 76 '~ ': ' . ' ' ' . . .
: . .
.. . . . .
: ' ' .
~ `: ' . `

45MR006(~9 ~!2 ~ 9 t:hrough a comb:lnation o lntorlocking p~rta and ~asterle~r~ Frorlt panQl 76 includ~ a plur~llty ~
openlng~ 7~31 provld:Lng acc~3 by ~e ~ubarray key~ 59 to coxrespo~ding ~lec:trlcal swltch contact Re!lt8 di 3po~d ben~ath th~ transceiv~r front p~nel .

FIGIJ~ 6 il3 a top view in plan of an ~xemplary fl0xibla printad wiring board (P'~) 80 mount~d beneat:h front pan~l 76. P~ 80 define~ a plurality o~ el~ctrlcal contact se'c~ ~2, ~ach contact ~3t including co2lventlonall oppo~lng interdigitat~d non-cs:~nt~cti2iLg 81QCtriCa1 pat~lway~ 83. In the preerr~3d embodim~nt, t~ere ar~ ~lxt~3en contact ~et~
82(2)-82(17): twelv3 co~tact-s~t~ 82(6~-82(17) corre~ponding to th~ twolve k~y~ 59 wi~hin subarray 66, ~nd ano~h~r ~our contact ~et~ 82(2)-82(5) corre~ponding to th~ sur key~ in BUbarray 6a. Each key 59 defi~ed by k~ypad 70 i~clude~ a cylindxical memb~r ~nok 3hown) ter~inati~g 1n an electrically conductive pad. Thes~ merriber~ descend. through ~ront panQl ho~ 78 and are in regi~try with contact ~tB
82. Wh~n ~ key i~ depxess~d, its associat~d condu~t$vo pad mov~ dow~ward i~to direct conk~ct wlt~ ~e i~t~rdig~tated pathway~ 83 of as30ciated contact ~ot 82 to establi~h electrlcal contact b~t~e~n tho~ interdigitatsd pathway~ -- thus '~closl~g" tho ~lectr~cal ~witch formed by the combinntion of th$ contact ~0t and th~ Xey conductiv~ p~d.

Th~ dif~ren~ tran~ceiver eature~
configuxa~lo~s r~quire~ dl ~3rent keypad c~ntrol con~lguratlona S ~ince con~lguration~ with fewor , .
.

-~51~ROo~o~
~3 feature~ gen~rally u~3~ f~3wer ke~yn). A~ d~crlb~3d la~
~at copendln~ Etodsds:~n application, dlfferent keyp~d~ 70 ar3 provldç!ld ~o ~cc43~3~ di~3r~3nt ~et~
of the ~1~3ctric~1 cont~c~ 8e~ 2 dl~po~e3d on PWB
BO. For ea~ampl~, tho ~le~siblo keyp~d 70 and associated front bez~l 72 ~3hown in FIGUR~ 2 ha~ a ~ull ~t o~ twenty k3y~ 59 to acce~ nd p~er~nit the us~r to alc:tuat~3 all,~any o the underlylng el~ctrlcal swltch conkact ~ek~ 82. Howev~x, thE3 fl~sib3Le l~eyp~ds and as~ociat~d bezol~ for oth~r con~isur~tion~ o tran~3c~iv~r 50 hav~ only parSial set~ o k~y~ S9 ~nd p9rlllit: th0 u~er to actuate only ~ome of th~ ~d~rlying contact ~ats 82 -- wi~
dii~feretlt keypad~ acce~sl~g dlff~r~nt ~ eSs of ul~derlylnq switch contact 8et8. T~lU~ ferent control con~Elguratiorls and a~aoclat~d tran~ceiver funcSion corlfiguration~ can b~s provid~d by installit~g appropriate as~30ci~ted m~chanical portions ( ~ . g., th~ rubberized Xeypad 70 and a~sociat~d bçzel 72) onto the transceiver ront panel 76.

FIGUX~ 3, ~or ~xa~pl~, i8 a sld~ v1ew irl plan o~ ~ ~urt~r ~scu~c:h~on plat~ a~sembly 60A
corre~potld~g to ttl~ traslsceiv2r 50 n SCAN"
con~i~ra~ion. ~ "SCAN" con~lguraSion escu~cheon pla~e as~e~bly 60A compri~s a ~pad 70A providing only key ~rr~y 68 ~ and not kay subarr~y 6~ ), and a corre~pondlng b~z~l plat~ 72A whlch lnclud~ only Gpeninq~ 7~ in r~qi~try wi~ koy~ S9 o' oub~rr~y 66. Escu~ch~on pla~o a~mbly 60A shown in FIGUR~5 3 i8 fully int~ ha3l~e~ble wlth thQ as~embly 60 shown ln FIGUR~ n a~aembly 60~ 1~ in~tall~d on .
- ~ .
' ~5M~00~0~
24 2~

tran3c:elver fron~ p~n~l 76, electrl ::al c:on~ac~ a~t~
82~6)-~2~17) di~porsed on Pq~ 80 ar~3 di~able~d fro operatlng ( ~ince there ar~ no corre~ponding k~y~ 59 and a~Roclat~d conductiv~ member~ to desc~nd ~hrou fron1: pimel hol~3~ 7fl arld mak~ contact between the corre~ponding contact ~et interdigitated pathway~
83). Thu~, installing escutcheon plate a~sembly 60A
in lieu of as3embly 60 ef~ct~v~1y prevent~ the u~er rom cce~sinS~ DTMF tone3 gen~ratlon ~unctlozls provided by tran~cslvç~r 50 (as ~o~ tone gensratlon function~ respond only to electrical clo~ur~ o contact ~et8 82 ( 6 ~ -82 ( 17 ) .
.
FIGURE 4 is a front vie~ in plaal of a further e~cutcheon plate ~88el0bly 60B corre ponding to the tran~c~iver 50 "SE:LE:CT" c:on~iguration. Thi~
"S~3LECT" confiç~uration prov1des neither cha2u~el scanning fsatures nor DTMF tone generation feature~
-- and thu8 ther~ i~ no need for either of key ~ubarray~ 66, 68. According1y, keypad 70E~ define~
no key~ and i 8 provlded mere1y to weatherproo~
transcoiver front pane!~1 76. Simi1ar1y, bezel 72B
defin~ no openi~gs 74 and compri~es a "b1ank" front plat:e. W~n transc~iv~r 50 i8 configur~d with e~cutcheon pla~e a~mbly 60B corr~sponding to the "S131~:C:T" feature conf1guration, none of th~
underlying electrlcal contact set~ 82 are acce~ible by the u3er ( s1ns:e t}le:ra ar~ rlo koy~ de~i~ed i ~seypad 70B ~o provide cont~ct c10~urs).

Thu~, keypad~ 70, 70A ancl 70ES ~ in a~ociation with b~1s 72, 72~, 72B, r~pective1y) ~el2ct a t of ~e ~1ectrica1 contact #ats 82 di spo~ed on '; ' ' ' .
.

~5MRO()GOg 25 ~ 0~

PWB 80 ~or operatiorl by a u~r and æ:Efectiv~ly prevent the U8el:' from operatl~g any contact ~et~ not within ~e 3electad 8Ub~elt. For thl3 e~semplary escutcheon plate as~embly configuration~ de~cribed, a~sembly 60 ~eleci:s all slxteen elac~rical cont~ct ~et~ 82 or operation by the u~er; a~embly 60A
selects only a row of Pour electrical contact ~et~
82(2~-82(5) for operation (ans?l pra3vQIlts t~ a u~3er from operatlng any of th~ o~Qr tw~lve contact 8et8 82 ( 6 ) -82 t 17 ~ ); and a~ embly 60B ~elect~ no electrical contact 8at8 82 or user operatioh ~ ~u~
preventing ~e u er from operating any of the 1mction~ performed in respos~ to el~ctrical closure o tho~e contact 8e t8 ) ~

0~ cours~, it i~ highly d2sirable ~hat escutcheon plate a~semblies 60, 60A, 60B be completely interchangeabl~ and very easy to in~tall and replace (t~us, ~or ~3xampl3, p~rmitting the mar~ufacturer or distr~but~r of tran~ceiver 50 to sel~ct t}le~ tran~ceiv~r configuration at or near the tim~ tran~c~iv~r i~ prov~d~d to th~ ~ustom~r).
Un~ortun~t~ly, th28~ de~irabl~ fealtura~ al80 create t~ pote~tial that a purc~as~r c:ould himRel~E
"upgrade" his tratl~3ceivox co~:iguration ( ant th~r~by avoid po88i~1y highQr co#ts or purcha31ng tran~c~lv~rs with addition~l functionality). For example, a purcha~er could purc:ha~ a trall~c~iver 50 configured a3 a "SELECT" unlt wit~ no keypad key~
~nd a blanl~ plato 72B, romove~ tha 006utchoon plat~
a~embly 60B from the tran~c~:Lvar ront pan~l, and inatall an ~cutcheo~ pla~t0 a~embly 60A or 60 to upgrad~ tho transc~iv~r unctlon~11ty to that o~ a .
'-' ..
, ,. ~ . .
.
- ., . ,:

, . '.
'~ . ' ~ ~;MRo 0 6 o 9 "SCAN" or '7SYSTE:M" coniç~ur~d transc~1ver.

An importallt a8pect: o th~ pro~ent inventlon i~
to prevenk a purchilser r :7M "up~rading" hi a transc~ive:r configura~lon by mersly s~ t~tuting ona ~scutch~osl p1ate a3sQmbly 60 for anoth~r.

Isl accordaIlcs w1~ an importank ~eature of pre~3er~t invelntion, transce~ r mala~ unit 51 i~
provid~d with a mean~ ~or 8Ub8 1::ant~ y no2l-revors1bly disablin~ c~rtain transc~iv~r function~. Ref~rring more particulRr1y to FIGUR13 5, transcQiver front panel 76 d~ine~ ( in addition to the opening~ 78 permitting a~:ce~ by keypad 70 to the electrical contact ~ts 82 di~po~d on underlying PWB 80) two add~tlon~l smalle!r openings lOOA, lOOB. These additional openialgs lOOA, lOOB
ar~ in reqJi3try re~pectively with underlying PWB
pathway~ 102A, 102B dl spol3ed on PWB 80 ( s2e FIGURE
6). Op~niny~ lOOA, lOOB ar~ ~ust large enough in the~ pr~3err~d ~mbod~ent to p~r~lt a ~m~ harp tool to ds~c:ond to the l~ l o~ P~B 80 aa~d removo (i.~., ~ca:~pe!\ of) a cro~s-~ect1on o pathways 102A, 102B. A~ ~ill ba ~xplaln~d shortly, 'che di~$tal microproce~sor inter~al to tran~ce~iv~r SO ~ c2~pabl2 of de~tocting ind~pendently wh~t~er pa~ways 102A, 102B ar~ con1:inuou~, and di~ablos c~rtain func:tioras if it det~ct~ that on~ or bot:h p~thway~ hav~ bean ~ver~d .

One~ r of pathwayz 102A, 102B hav~ ~e~n CUt;, it i8 ~xtr~sme~ly di~icult to mako th~ pathwaya contiLnuou~ onc~ ag~in. Op0ning~ 100~, lOOB aro too . . ' . :
.

, , 45MF,~0()60'3 mall to accomsnodat~3 the tip of a ~oldering iron or OthQr connes::tlon-formins~ tool, and ln the pr~3ferr d embodim~l~t PWB 80 1~ mountq3d nearly flu~h with the irmer ~urf;a-::e d~3firled by Pro~t parlel 76 ~ ~o that a connection forming tool d~cending through another, larger hole cannot access pathwayE~ 102A, 102B).
Transceiver ~ront pan~l 76 l~s pr~f~rably c~amposed o an ~lectr~cally coslduc:tive material ~n~intain~d at ground potentlal (~ot RF ~hield~ng ~fect~).
Ther20r4, solder b~ads or other conductive rnaterial in~erted into hol~ lOOA, lOOB ln an attempt to r~-e~tabli~h elQctr~ cal continu:Lty ove3r pathway~
102A, 102B would in all likelihood merely ~ervs to short the pathways to the fr~nt panel a~d thus to gro~md potential. A3 will be explaitlsd, shorting the pathways 102R, 102B to ground potential would not cau~ traalsceiv~r 50 to re-enable th~ di sabled tran~s:eiv2r function~ ( and ln fact would actually di able the certain contact s~t~ 82 from functloninga ~

P~rhap~ orlly practical and effectiv~ wAy to ree!~t~li~h continuity ovor pa~hway13 102A, 102B onc~
tho~e pathway~ ha~ro b~er~ cut i~ to almoat entirely d~sa~s~mbla tra~sceiirer 50 'co acG~ ~ PWB 80, r~move P~ 80 from th~ transc~iYer, provide sold~r or other conductivo mat~r~al to brids~e th~ cut portiorl3 of pathway~ 102A, 10213, and to then rea~mblo th~
tran~cei~r~r. Whlle~ illul el~ctronica technici~n çould no dou~7c po~orm t}~i~ compl~x ~nd time~ on~umlrlg ope~ration, it ia b~yond tho capabiliti~ of tho av~ra~e purchasor and therefore t~ cutting o~ patl~way~ 102A, lt)2~ abstantlally, . . .- . : -: .. . .

:' . :
'' , :~, :' "' , :' O U ~ O 9 2~3 2~ 9 eff2ctlv~1y arld pr~c~lcally irreversl~31e.

FIGU~ 7 i~ a schematlc block dl~gra~ of ~x~mplary tr~nscolv~r circuitry 150 - zome of which i8 includ~d on PWB ~0. Transceiver 50 includ~3s a microproGe~E30r 152 (preferably includiny an in~ernal r~ d only memory type program ~tor~ not ahown), a "p~r~onallty de1nlng" non-volatil~ m~mory devlce 154, an RF circuitry block 156 coupled to RF antanrla 5~ ~ loudsp~aker 160, a micropho~ 162, and al us~3r cont:rol interac~ cirs:u~t :164. In the pr~I~rr~3d embodiment, u~er control interf~c~ c~ rcuit 164 i~
dis~:aosed (at lea~t îor th~ mo~t part) on P~B 80 alo~g with pathway~ 102A, lO~B.

Microproce~sor 152 controla th~ operation oî RF
circuitry 156 in a conventional mann~r by applylng dlgital ~ignals to and r~ceiving digital ~ig~als from th~ RF circuitry. RE circuitry 156 (which in th~ pr~Perred embodiment irLcludes a convenkional digitally controll~d rellue~ncy ~3ynthe~izer) receives ancl d~modul~te~ RE slgnala, and ge~ rate~, modulata~
and trans~it3 ~E ~lgnal~ -- all at Rl? fresluencie~
sE~cifl~d. by microproces~or 152 under program control t ~ g , a~ opera.ting ~re~uencie~ de'cermined by dat~ stor~d in PROM 154).

U~r con~rol interface circui~ 16g in ~
pref~rred ~mbodimenl; provldes a ma~rix ~ype keypad scann~r arrangement. Thl~ acanning ~rrangem2nt include~s 1l ~h~ ft regi~t~r 171:3 ~or ~enerating ~c:annin~ ~lgnals and applying th@~ ~canning ~ignals to ~wltch contact ~ts E~2; ~nd a urther ~hlt , ~ . , '- ~

.. . ~ , ~
' ~5Mf~.00~,0~
~9 regi~ter 172 ~or r~ading switch ~tate~ ~rom the ~wltch contact set~ and provlding an indlcation of tho8e ~tate~ to ~lcroproce~sor 152. In ~he preferred embodim~nt, contact set0 82 ~re arrangsd in a so-called "matrix" 176 o~ ~iyht rows (R0-R7) and our column8 (C0-C3). Microproce~or 152 typic~lly performs keyboard ~cannlng by writlng data to ~he ~erial input o shl~t regisker 170 and the~
reading data ~ro~ shlft reglst~r 172.
In ~h~ pr~ferred e~bodlme~t, ~hlt regl~ter 170 1~
a serlal-to-parallel convert~r wlth a~ output latch thU8, regi~ter 173 r~celve~ data serlally, co~v~rt8 th~ data into parallel form, and latche~ ~h~ -parallel da~a to ge~erate ou~put~ upon recelpt of a sig~al "SR STBW from microproces~or 152.
Microproce~or 15~ can thU8 control ~if~ r~gi~ter 170 ~uccessively propagate an ac~lve low signal lev~1 to it~ out~ut~ C0 (Q1), C1 (Q2), C2 (Q3), and C3 (Q4) by wri~ing the following four by~e~ in sequence to the shift register:
O111:KXXX
lOllxxxx llOl~x~
lllOx~xx (where nx" i8 a ~don't cars" with respect to the control ~ca~ing algorithm). Thi8 seguenc~ o bytes results ln ~ignals (0, C1, C2 and C3 belng gen~rated in 8e~UenC~ with no two o~ th~ slgnal~ being genQrated slmultaneously.

Upon colum~ slqnal C0 b~co~ln~ activ~ low, shi~t r~gi~t~r 172 per~orm~ a par~llol lo~d o eight bits (one byt~) correapondlng to th~ ~witch stat~a . :, ~' ~' . ~'. ' , ,, , .' .
, ~ 5MR0 o ~ o 9 30 2 ~

o:r nominally ~ight (but only ~ix ln ~lb pre~rred embodim~nt~ difî'er~n~ ~wl'cch contact setE~ 82 and transfers th~ r~ulting bytl3 to mlcroproc~or 152 via the microproce~sor DATP~ IN line:. Wh~n ~ignal C1 becomes actlve~ low, ~hlft register parallel-loada another elght bits correspondlng to the swl'cch ~tates o~ eight mors ~witch contact 8et:8 and 'che re~ulting byt~ i~ tran~ferrzd serially to microprocefl~or 152. Thl~ proc~sE~ i~ r~peated to cau3e colu~n ~lgnals C~ and C3 to succQ~ ly bec:ome actlve low -- providln~ two ~nore se~ial byte~
to microproce~sor 152, each of thes~ byte~
indicatin~ a maximtlm of eig~t ~witch states. -The resulting 32-bit bit map o switch ~tat~3~
is used by the microproces~or to determ~ne whic~, if any, of key~ 59 havs been depre~s~d by ~e u~er (and al~o to indicat~s the state o chann~l knob 64 and the state~ of ~ome additional tran~ceiver controls such as ~?TT switch 56, an "emerg~ncy" (EMER~ ~witch, etc. ) . The following i8 an exemplary table o~ e 31gnificanc~ of tha variou~ bita in t~z bit map by row (R0-R7 corre~pond to t~ eight parallel input~
o~ ~hit r~g~ 81:~r 172 ) and colu~n ( a~ mentioned abovaO CO~C3 corr~pond to successlvely gen~rated output~ of ~hl~t reg~teF 170).

' - .

- . - . .
. . ~ ~ , . . .
.

~5MROO~;09 T A 13 ~ B

SRi~R7 R6 RS Rb, R3 R2 R1 R0 CO 82(2)82t3)82(5) EM~R M~NPIT
Cl ~2(6)82(7)~2(9)82(10)82(12) 8~(13~ 82(16 C2 ~2~8)82(4)~2(11~ 82(1~
C3 102(B3102(~) ROT~RY Cll~ L 8WlTC}I

Th~3 tabl~ ~et or~h above includ~s entris~s corresponding to the ~tato o ~ac~ o~ v2rtouB
~l~ctrical con~act ~et~ 82. EIow0ver, ~ ta~l~3 al~o includes ~ntri~ corre~3pondln5~ to pathway~ 102A, 102B. In the pr~rrod embod~ment, th~ 3tato~"
( continuou~ or di ~sconti~uous ) o~ pathw~y~3 102 are sca~ned ~t the 8arne~ tim~ tranE~c~ ver 50 scall~ the stat~ o~ rotary switch 64, and microproc~sor ~52 r~ad~ t~e ~tat~l3 of pat:}lw~y~ 102 ~n e88~nti~ y t~lo 8am~ man~or a~ pathway~ compri~od ~ddit~ ollal elactrom~hanical ~witch~. Microproc~2~30r 152 thu~
r~c~ v~ the r~ultl~ ~tate indicatlo~s co~ro3pondlng to pa~w~ys 102 withir~ 3amo bitmap lnd~cating th~ ~tat~l~ o~ k~yll 59 and oth~r controls o~ tran~c~ivox~ 50.

R~f~rrlng for a momsnt to t~a~ d~tailed sch~matic dlagram o~ F~C;URE 8, pathwayls 102A, 102B
aro ~chematically ahown at tho bottom c~3nto~ oE tho drawing al3 ~o-c~llod ~umporo" (ov~ houg~ thoy do not havo in act havo t~ t~uctur~ alorm~lly .

:

ROOf,O9 3~

a~ociat~d with a conv~ntlonal "~ump~r" but; in~t~3~d compriso consrorltlon~l conductlve~ met~l p~thway~
pern~an~ntly ~onded to P~B 80 ) . The C3 ( Q4 3 output of shlft r~gi~ter 172 1~ connect~d 'co the cathode o~
a diode 185 t:he anode of whlch i ~ connected to one end of pathw~y 102A. l~e oth~r ~nd o pathway 102A
i~ connected to ~3hl~t regi~tor 170 parall~l load input P6 via a pull-up re~ tor n~twork 186~
S~n~llarly, ~ C3 shl~t rogl0t~r output i~ conn~ct~d to the c~thod~ of a diode 187 th~ anode of wht ch i~
conne{:ted to one end of pathway 102B. Th~3 o~er end of pathway 102B i8 connect~d to shift regi~t@r 170 parallel load ir~put :E 5 vla another pull-up re~i~tor network 188.

A~sume pathways 102 ar~ both uncut. Whexl C3 drops to logic level zero ( actlve low~, th~ lev~l of ~hift regl~ter 170 input P6 i~ "pulled down" vla re~istor network 186, pathway 102A, diode 185 and active low ~hit r~gi3te~r 172 output C3. Electrical continulty to ground i~ ~imilarly pro~ided betwe~n shift regi~ter ~ nput P6 and shift regl~ter 172 output C3. ~oth o resistor network~ 186, ~B8 are thus "pulled down" to ground potential, providlng logic level 0 levels a'c s~ift regi~t0r 170 input~
P6, ~5 -- and re~ultin~ loç~ic l~vel 0 bit values provided to microproce~sor 152 ln tho ~witch scaa~ning blt-map indicate that bot~a path~ayD 102 are continuous .

5uppo~ now that pathway 102A i~ cut. No contir~ulty i~ provided through pathway 102A to th~
activ~ low C3 output o~ ~hift regl~ter 172, and ~, . . .

.

~ 5MRû 0 ~ O g 2 ~

a~soc~ ated r~ or n~work 186 i~ accordingly not "pull~d down" to loglc lf~v01 z-3ro but in~t:ead remain~3 ~t logic l~v~31 one. T}l~ entry in ~h3 ~witch scanning bit-map corre~pondiny to pathway 102A
accordingly wlll be a lo~ic level 1 rat:h~r than logic level 0 -- ~ndlcatin~ to mic:roproces~or 152 tllat pathway 102A ha~ been cut. Cutting of pathway 102B ~imllarly chang~ it~ corrasporldi2lg bit-map en~ry from logic level 0 to logic level 1.

Th~ re ulting two-blt 1e~1d ln th~ bit-map . pro~id~d to microprocessor 152 t~ke~ on one sf four ~3tate~ (no pathways cut; only pat~way 102A cut; only pathw~y 102B cut; both pathway~ cu~) depe~dltlg upon how the traIl~ceiv~r 50 has been irreversibly modified but cutting ~or not cutting) pathway~ 102.
Note that cutting o~E pathways 102 in the preferred embodimen~ do~ not di~able any har~war~
functioraallity. That i8, pathw~ys 102 in the preferred embodiment don' t pexform any function w~at~oeveY ln th~ transceiver 50 o'cher than to lndicat~ how (if) the transceiver ha3 bee~
irreversibly modif~ed. Scamling of the tates of k~y~ 59 ir~ array~ 66, 68 i~ p~r~ormQd ln exactly ~he~ 8ame~ way r~gardle~ o wh2ther or not pathwayc 102 ha~r~ been cut, and cutting of the pathway~ doea not dlrectly di~ablo any hardware ~rom op~rating.

How~wr~ tampering resultlng in permanant shortlng o o~ther of pathwaya lO~A, 102B to groun~a potentlal (~.g., by ins~ertln~ a ~oldor baad betw~en th~ pathw~y~ and tran~celver ron~ panel 76) would psrtnan~ntly "pull down" as~ociat~d r~si~tor network~

' ' ~ . :

., . ~:

~5M~oosos 186~188 thu~ c3i8abllng E5 ::aE~ing o~ all o~er l~ey~
59 conn~ct~d to tho~ row~.

A~ mesltiaaled previou~ly, in ~ prefarred embodime~t a "per~onallty EEPROM" non-volatile m~mory 154 coupled tr3 microprocessor 152 ~tore~
informatlon ~pecifying variou~ puxchaaer-~pecific operatlllg paramots~r~ (a.y., OperA'Cing requenci~, radlo identlfiGation, ide~ntification of other groups~iradivldual ~ the tran~c~iver i8 authorlzed to call, etc. ) O The personali'cy-d~inlIlg iI~forZhatlon stored in per~nality EE:PROM 154 may thu~ be ~pecific to th~ co~figurat~on ~SYSTEM, SC~N, or SEL~CT) of ~h~ tran~c~lver. Thi~ info~matio~ may be ~torsd into tran~ce~ver 50 rom a personal cornputer type progr~mming devlce or ~he llke ln a co~ve~tional manner via an external programming connec~or 155 at tim~ o~ purcha~2 o~ ~he tran~ceiver. In the pr~f~rred embodiment, th~
programmer load~ ln~o memory 154 a ~radio type IDn byte specifylng ~h~ con~lguration o~ the tran~oeiver (~.g., SYSTEM, SCA~ or S8~CT). Thi~ radio typ~ ID
ha~ a value dlrectly corr~3ponding to the e~cutch~on plate arran~em~nt 60 inatalled on th~ radio. I~
addi~io~, ~u~t b~for~ th~ appropriate e~cutcheon plat~ a~embly 60 13 in~talled on transce$ver 50, thR s~ller may cut on~ or bo~h pathways 102A, 102B
to further ~dlcat0 tr~n w eiver t~p~, Eor exampl~, ~uppo~e a cu~tomer ha~ order~d a SELECT type tranaceiver. The distri~utor downloads th~ appropriate custom~r-~pecific param~t~r~
sorr~pondlng to the cu~tom~r'~ trunked radlo sy~em .
.
.

.

~5MRO()t~O'~
2~

into the ~ran~c~ver per~onality ~PROPI 1~4 do~loaded information includlng ~ T~E" byt~
~pecl~yln~ the traxl~celvex iB a SELECT ~ype radio ( and not a SYST13P~ or 8CAN typ~ r~dlo 3 . Irl the pre~ tly pref~rr2d embodim~nt, the dl~tributor al~o cut~ p~thway 102A and leav*s p~thway 102B intact ~lU3 al~o indicating the transc~iv~r i~ a SELECT
type radio ~ and in~tall~ ~3GUtCheOIl plate ~rrangemeat 60B or~to tho transc~iv~r front parael 76. E~e~co, th~ cut/un~ut coafiguration o~ pa~way~
10:2A, 102B; ~h~ TYPE byt~ ~tored ln per~onallty E13PROM 154; and ~o ~scutc:h~on plate3 arrangement 60B
all corre~pond. The direct correspondenG~ :batwee2~ -~e~ cut~un~ut conf~rat~on ~ pathways 102A, 102B
and the particular es3cutch~0n pl at~ arrangement 60, 60A, 60B ins3talled on the tran~calver ~ront panel 76 i3~ u~d by tran~ceiv~r 50 to pr~vent a us~r from ga~ ni~ag ~dditional functionality by in~talling a non corresponding ~sc:utchQon plate arrangement ( as will now ba expla~n~d).

In 'ch~ prs3~0rr~d embodiment, pathways 102A, 102B c~u~e~ m~croproce~or 152 ~o iDhi~it/di~able ~o~tw~r~-c:or~t~oll~d furlctionality. FIGIJRE 9 18 a ~ch~ atic 10wchart of ~xemplary program control ~top~ per~ormod by microproce~or 152. l~i~
~lowc:hart depict~ two dl~orant, indepe~den~
exemplary ~lgorithm~ by whi~ll p~thway~ 102A, 102B
may b~ u~d to di ~ble tr~n~c~iv~r ~unctionality.
R~ rrin~ now to ~IGU~ 9, upon transce~iv~r 50 powor up ~ and po~olbly al~o por~odically durlng tr~nscol~r~r op0ratlon) tho tr~nscls~v~r road~ tho TYPE byto ~tor~d l~a momory 154 (bloclc 200) ~nd th~n , . .
'". ' .' `

.~ .

4 5MRo o 6 o 9 36 2~

pe:rform~ a conventional keypad acannlng rout:lne to read in (via shi~t regiaters 170,172 ) the k~y depr~aion bit-map de~cribed prev:lou~ly ~block 2t)2;
not~ ~t ~i~ keyboard scanning routine i8 per~ormed periodlcally cluring operation o~
transc~ivQr 50 to datec~ switch depre~3sion by the u~ar) .

In the pre~ferrQd ~mbodimerlt, microprocs~aor 152 th0n doccd~ the two bit~ corra~ponding to p~thway~
102A, 10213 in tha re~ult~g bit~map to det~rminQ the rad~o TYPE: specified by th~ paShway~ (block 204~. A
suitabl~ ~xemplary bit aszlgnm~nt ~or the bit map bita corr~sponding to pathw~y~ 102A, 102B i8 a~
ollow~:

102A 102B RADIO m~ ESCUTCE~. TYPE
O O SYST~SM 60 SELE :CT 60B
0 Not U~d I~ the~ radio TYPE informatlon provid~d by decod~ ng th~ blt-map blt~ ccsrr~sponding to the cu1:/uncut stat~ oS pat:hway~ lO~At 102B (~blocX 204) doe . not match the~ radio mE lnformation obtain~d ~rom th~
pe~r~onali~y E13~ROM 154 (d~ci~ion block 208), all fusth~r op~ratio~ o~ s tranocqive!r 50 may bo dio~ d (block 208) (or Illtnrnatively, th~ radio TY}?13 byt~ tor~d in por~on~llty E~SPROM 154 may bo ignorod a~ad th~ tranoc~lv~r m~,y ln~tel~d opQra~a a~
th~ co~1guration lndicat~d by pathw~y~ 102, ~ will :
.
' , . .

2 ~
~ 51~ g _ no~r b~3 ~x~ lned~.

In additlon to (or :In lie3u o~) blocks Z00 ~nd 20$-208, tran~c~ivor mic:roproce~or lS~ mny ~tor~
thE3 TYPE informat~ on obtained }: y block 204 ~rom decodinq the pathway blts (block 210) and u~e thi~
inform~tie~n to lnhibit or au~orize ~x~cution o ~pecif~c softwar~ functions a~ociated with the dlf~rRnt tran~ceivor c:c~nfiguratlonl3. For ~ampl~, sinc~3 all transcY~iver~ 152 p~rform a ce~rt~in ~ubae~t o basic l~unction~ tho~ unction3 are p~r~orm~d wlthout firr~t det~rmining t:he atate of pathway3 102 (block 212 ) . How~v~r, certain chan~el ~czmning -funGtions ar~ only p~rformed hy SCAN or SYSTEM typ~
traIlsceiv3r3 50 ~uipp~d with an esGutcheon pla~
arrarlgesne;lt ~1:) or 60A.

~ f suGh a scan functlon i~ invoksd ( ~8 tested or by deci~ion blook 214), miGroprOCe~Or 152 det~rmines (ba~ed on new, recent or pa8t re8ult8 s~f corltrol ~cannl3~g routine block 202 ) whsther pa~ways 1û2A, 1021S hav~ alpp~op~ia~ sta~e~ au~ortzlng ~cannin~y ~unctlo~as to b~3 per~ormod (block 216). In t~ p~eerred esmbodimont, for ~ mpl~, d~3cl~lon block 216 ch~sck~ tho blt~ corr~posldlns~ to pathway~
10~ in the ~it-map ~o d~te~nln~ whether th0 tran~c~ typ~ i~ SCAN or SY5TEM. I~ pathway3 lOZ
indlcat~ tha'c the tr~nsceiv~r typo 1~ SESr.ECT, micropxoc~sor 152 doe~ not por~orm tho ucan ~unctlo~ ("N" ~xlt o~ doci~ion block 216). I~, on the oth~3r hand, pat:hwayel 102 irdicat0 th~
transc~lvor typo i~ SCAN or 5YSTEM, mlcropr~ca~or 152 perform~ t~8 re<;~uo~t~d ~canning function (blocls .
. , .

2 ~
~L5Mf~00609 ~18). Lih:ewl~, decl~io~ block 2~2 inhlbit~
microproca~sox 152 ~rom per~ormirlg t~ F gen~ratior ~arld other ~ull ~ea~ure ~eypa~ ~unc~ion~ unl~s~
pathway~ 102A, 102B are bo~h uncu~c and thua :Indi cat~
tran~celv~r typ~ a~ SYSTEM.

A~ arrangement ha~ been describ2d which allow~
radio tran3ceivers to be flexibly, easily co~flgured subseguent to tim~ of manuaeture by providing o~ly interc~angeable, inea~pe~slYe mechanical compon~nt~.
Thi~ arrangement preven'cs a purcha~er from l~t~r reconfigurlng hls transcelver to obtain add1tlonal fu~ctionality. The arrangem~nt o~ers huge co~t saving~ (i~ term8 of invsn~ry and m~nu~acturing C08t~ reat~r flexib~lity (by perMitting a radio transce~ver ~o be configur~d "at the la~t mlnute"
su~h a3 ~u8t prior to ~ala, rather than requirlny lt to be conf~urad at tims of manufac~ure), and y2t prevents purchaser~ from ~rustrating marketing considerations (and unfairly obtaining f~atur~s they hav~ not h~lp~d to pay for th~ developmant of~ by providing a machanism o~ no~-rev~rsibly modlying the transc~lv~r from outsld~ o~ ~ha as~embl~d tra~ceiv~r. Thi8 non r~v~r~lble modiicatlon preerably does not di~able or de~troy hardware functionality in the preferred embodim~nt but rather inhibit~ certain so~twara-controLlad function~ from being p~rform~d.

Whll~ ~h~ i~v~ntlon ha~ b~en de~cr~b~d in conn~ction w~h what 1~ pr~sen~ly considered to be ~he mo~t practical ~nd prearr2d ~mbodimant~, it i3 to ~ under~tood ~hat th~ invention iB not to b~

, 2 ~
45MRo06()g limi~ad to the disclo~d embodiment, but on th~
con~rary, i8 lnten~sd to cov63r v~rioun modi~ica~lon~
and ~qulv~lent arrangQmen~ includ~d wi~in th~
~pirit and 8cope~ o ~he appended claim~.

.

, . .. . . .

~. - : .... .
- . : .
., , . .:
. -: . . . . .
. .~ . . .:
. . .
.

Claims (11)

1. In a digital radio transceiver of the type including interchangeable user control arrangements disposed on an outer surface of a housing, said transceiver including digitally controlled circuitry disposed within said housing, a method of preventing someone from obtaining additional transceiver functionality by substituting user control arrangements, said method including the following steps:
(a) substantially irreversibly modifying said transceiver from outside of said housing so as to specify a particular user control arrangement, said particular user control arrangement having a corresponding set of functions associated therewith;
(b) detecting the particular user control arrangement specified by said substantially irreversible modification; and (c) disabling said digitally controlled circuitry from performing any functions other than said corresponding set of functions associated with said particular user control arrangement in response to said detected specified arrangement.

2. A method as in claim 1 wherein said step (a) includes the step of providing a modification encoding any one of more than two possible modification states, each of said modification states corresponding to a different particular user control arrangement.

3. A method as in claim 1 wherein said detecting step (b) includes the step of electrically detecting said modification.

4. A method as in claim 1 wherein:
said modifying step (a) includes the step of altering the conductivity of at least one electrical pathway within said digitally controlled circuitry without creating any additional entry points into said housing;
said transceiver is of the type which periodically scans the state of controls with in said control arrangement disposed on said housing outer surface; and said periodic control state scanning includes the further step of scanning the conductivity state of said at least one electrical pathway.

5. A digital radio transceiver including:
a housing having an outer surface;
digitally controlled circuitry disposed within said housing;
a user control arrangement disposed on an outer surface of a housing, said control arrangements cooperating with said digitally controlled circuitry to actuate a set of functions corresponding to said user control arrangement;
substantially irreversibly modifiable indicating means coupled to said digitally controlled circuitry for being modified from outside of said housing, said indicating means having a state specifying said set of functions corresponding to said user control arrangement;
said digitally controlled circuitry including:

means coupled to said indicating means for detecting the state of said indicating means, and means for preventing said digitally controlled circuitry from performing any functions other than said corresponding set of functions associated with said particular user control arrangement in response to said detected state.

6. A digital transceiver final assembly kit comprising:
a first user control arrangement having a first set of enhanced functions associated therewith;
a second user control arrangement having associated therewith a second set of enhanced functions different from said first set of functions;
and a basic transceiver unit comprising:
a housing having an outer surface, digitally controlled circuitry disposed within said housing, said digitally controlled circuit being preprogrammed to perform said first and said second sets of enhanced functions;
means disposed on an outer surface of said housing for interchangeably coupling either of said first and second control arrangements to said digitally controlled circuitry and for providing cooperation between said said digitally controlled circuitry and said coupled control arrangement, and irreversible means coupled to said digitally controlled circuitry for storing a state substantially irreversibly changeable form outside of said housing, for permitting said digitally controlled circuitry to perform one of said first and second set of functions, and inhibiting said digitally controlled circuitry form performing the other of said first and second set of functions.

7. A kit as in claim 6 wherein:
said housing defines a hole therethrough; and said digitally controlled circuitry includes:
electrically conductive pathway means disposed in registry with said hole for providing electrical conductivity and for ceasing to providing electrical conductivity when severed by a sharp tool inserted into said hole, and means for selecting between said first and second set of functions in response to detected conductivity of said pathway means.

8. A kit as in claim 6 wherein said digitally controlled circuit means includes means for electrically detecting the state of said irreversible means.

9. A kit as in claim 6 wherein said irreversible means includes means for indicating first, second and third mutually exclusive states, said first state selecting said first set of functions, said second state selecting said second set of functions, said third state selecting neither of said first and second set of functions.

10. A method of assembly a radio transceiver comprising the following steps:
selecting an escutcheon plate assembly from among a plurality of different such assemblies, said plurality of different escutcheon plate assemblies providing a corresponding plurality of different control configurations, said plurality of different control configurations having associated therewith a corresponding plurality of different transceiver functionalities;
coupling said selected escutcheon plate assembly to a digital radio transceiver main unit adapted to interchangeably receive any one of said plurality of different escutcheon plate assemblies; and substantially irreversibly modifying said digital radio transceiver main unit, including the step of inserting a sharp tool into a hole defined through the housing of said main unit: and inhibiting said radio transceiver from performing any functionalities other than the functionality associated with said selected escutcheon plate assemble in response to said substantially irreversible modification.

11. The invention as defined in any of the preceding claims including any further features of novelty disclosed.