Bearer Preference in Combined Smart-Mic and LMR Radio
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Solution Overview
Problem
Combined Land Mobile Radio (LMR) and Push to Talk over Cellular (PTToC) systems face integration challenges, particularly when a user receives the same call via both LMR and PTToC paths, leading to audio confusion and delayed signals, which existing solutions fail to adequately address, especially in scenarios where network intelligence is not practical.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for a combined LMR/PTToC terminal that determines the preferred bearer for a call based on signal quality, user location, network priority, or user settings, allowing the call to continue on the preferred bearer while muting or discontinuing it on the non-preferred bearer, ensuring clear and uninterrupted audio.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the terminal receives calls on both LMR and PTToC bearers simultaneously, then the terminal can maintain communication redundancy and coverage, but the user experiences audio confusion and difficulty interpreting received audio due to hearing two delayed versions of the same call
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the duplicate audio stream from one of the bearers (either LMR or PTToC) and mutes it at the terminal device. This removes the harmful duplication while preserving the primary communication path, resolving the audio confusion issue while maintaining the redundancy benefit
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of trying to synchronize and combine the two audio streams from different bearers (which would be complex and impractical), the patent inverts the approach by selectively muting one bearer's audio output. This simpler inversion resolves the contradiction by accepting asymmetry in the dual-bearer operation
2Reliability
If the terminal receives calls on both LMR and PTToC bearers simultaneously, then the terminal maintains communication redundancy, but the system complexity increases due to needing to manage two separate audio paths
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and mutes the audio path from the non-preferred bearer, simplifying the audio processing architecture. This removes the complexity of managing two active audio paths while preserving the redundancy benefit through selective path activation
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies different quality states to different bearers - one bearer is activated with full audio processing while the other is muted or disabled. This local differentiation simplifies the overall system by creating clear operational zones rather than attempting uniform processing of both paths
3Adaptability or versatility
If a call is received on LMR bearer and another call arrives on PTToC bearer at the same time, then the terminal can handle multiple calls, but the user experiences confusion from receiving two separate audio streams
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and mutes the audio stream from the second arriving call on the non-preferred bearer, allowing the terminal to handle multiple calls while preventing audio confusion. The user hears only one audio stream at a time, maintaining clarity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic bearer selection where the preferred bearer for receiving calls can change based on which call arrived first or other criteria. This dynamic adjustment allows flexible multi-call handling while maintaining audio clarity through selective muting
Data Source
AI summary
A combined cellular smart-mic and LMR radio terminal is operated to give preference to one wireless bearer over the other. A voice call is often received both on the cellular bearer and the LMR bearer. It is then determined if the cellular or LMR bearer is preferred for calls. The call continues on the preferred bearer only while the same call on the non-preferred bearer is discontinued. The non-preferred call can be muted, disabled or ended for example. The preferred bearer may be determined by signal quality, user location, network priority or user settings, for example.