Wishing a safe and happy weekend for all readers of The Wireless Messaging News.

Ira Wiesenfeld

ETA and IWCE Offer Veteran and Student Scholarships

It includes one seat in the Radio Frequency Interference Mitigation hands-on training workshop conducted by Ira Wiesenfeld, P.E., of IWA Technical Services, Inc., along with ETA's RFIM certification test, a $949 total value. The Veteran scholarship also includes five nights hotel stay. . .

[Source: LinkedIn News]

A News Release follows below with more details.

Now on to more news and views.

Wayne County, Illinois

Emergency Radio Communications Wireless Messaging Critical Messaging Telemetry Paging Wi-Fi

Wireless Messaging

A new issue of the Wireless Messaging Newsletter is posted on the web each week. A notification goes out by e-mail to subscribers on most Fridays around noon central US time. The notification message has a link to the actual newsletter on the web. That way it doesn’t fill up your incoming e-mail account.

There is no charge for subscription and there are no membership restrictions. Readers are a very select group of wireless industry professionals, and include the senior managers of many of the world’s major Paging and Wireless Messaging companies. There is an even mix of operations managers, marketing people, and engineers — so I try to include items of interest to all three groups. It’s all about staying up-to-date with business trends and technology.

I regularly get readers’ comments, so this newsletter has become a community forum for the Paging, and Wireless Messaging communities. You are welcome to contribute your ideas and opinions. Unless otherwise requested, all correspondence addressed to me is subject to publication in the newsletter and on my web site. I am very careful to protect the anonymity of those who request it.

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Back To Paging

Still The Most Reliable Protocol For Wireless Messaging!

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MIT researchers discover method to triple wireless speeds

Credit: Thinkstock

Synchronized wave phases are used in MegaMIMO 2.0

By Matt Hamblen
Computerworld
Aug 23, 2016 5:00 AM PT

MIT researchers have found a way to transfer wireless data using a smartphone at a speed about three times faster and twice as far as existing technology.

The researchers developed a technique to coordinate multiple wireless transmitters by synchronizing their wave phases, according to a statement from MIT on Tuesday. Multiple independent transmitters will be able to send data over the same wireless channel to multiple independent receivers without interfering with each other.

Since wireless spectrum is scarce, and network congestion is only expected to grow, the technology could have important implications.

The researchers called the approach MegaMIMO 2.0 (Multiple Input, Multiple Output).

For their experiments, the researchers set up four laptops in a conference room setting, allowing signals to roam over 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi. The speed and distance improvement is expected to also apply to cellular networks. A video describes the technology as well as a technical paper (registration required), which was presented this week to the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Data Communications (SIGCOMM 16).

The researchers, from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, are: Ezzeldin Hamed, Hariharan Rahul, Mohammed Abdelghany and Dina Katabi.

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• TAP, COMP2, Scope, WaveWare, SNPP, PET and SIP Input Protocols
• PIN Based Routing to Multiple Remote Paging Systems
• 2W, 5W Radio Paging

MARS (Mobile Alert Response System)

• Combines Paging Protocol Monitoring and Wireless Sensor Monitoring (Inovonics and Bluetooth LE)
• Improves Mobile Response Team Productivity using Smartphone App
• Low-Latency Alerts using Pagers, Smartphones, Corridor Lights, Digital Displays and Annunciation Panels
• Automated E-mail Based Alert Response and System Status Reports
• Linux Based Embedded System with Ethernet and USB Ports
• Browser Based Configuration

STG (SIP to TAP Gateway)

• Monitors SIP protocol (engineered for Rauland Responder V nurse call)
• Outputs TAP protocol to Ethernet and Serial Port Paging Systems
• Linux Based Embedded System
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A Problem

The Motorola Nucleus II Paging Base Station is a great paging transmitter. The Nucleus I, however, had some problems.

One of the best features of this product was its modular construction. Most of the Nucleus' component parts were in plug-in modules that were field replaceable making maintenance much easier.

One issue was (and still is) that two of the modules had to always be kept together. They are called the “matched pair.”

Motorola used some tricks to keep people in the field from trying to match unmatched pairs, and force them to send SCM and Exciter modules back to the factory for calibrating them with precision laboratory equipment.

The serial numbers have to match in the Nucleus programing software or you can't transmit. Specifically the 4-level alignment ID parameter contained in the SCM has to match the Exciter ID parameter.

Even if someone could modify the programing software to “fudge” these parameters, that would not let them use unmatched modules effectively without recalibrating them to exact factory specifications.

So now that there is no longer a Motorola factory laboratory to send them to, what do we do?

I hope someone can help us resolve this serious problem for users of the Nucleus paging transmitter.

Please let me know if you can help. [ click here ]

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New TIA Standard Improves Communication in Tower Construction

Fri, August 26, 2016

A new standard to facilitate improved communication between engineers and contractors when planning and assessing tower construction is being released by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the leading association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high tech communications networks.

This effort revises and redacts TIA’s original 1019-A standard first published in 2012, and the American National Standard Institute (ANSI) version – ANSI/TIA-322 for Loading Criteria, Analysis, and Design Related to the Installation, Alteration and Maintenance of Communication Structures. The development of TIA-1019-A was a joint effort between TIA and American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) to ensure the standards were synchronized.

The groups have evolved the original TIA-1019-A standard for two distinct audiences in construction planning and implementation.

Construction related loading, analysis and design requirements are now contained in the standard, while the construction means and methods provisions from ANSI/TIA-1019-A are covered in the ANSI/ASSE A10.48 standard. ANSI/TIA-322 and ANSI/ASSE A10.48 each represent important roles required to complete the planning and construction process. Both standards will go into effect January 1, 2017.

“I am extremely proud of the way our member volunteers worked together to develop and release this standard in less than a year,” said TIA CEO Scott Belcher. “The revisions have been anticipated for over a decade, so it was due to extraordinary work and focus by TIA’s TR-14 Engineering Committee to step-up and move this forward.”

James Ruedlinger, chair of the TIA-322 task group developing ANSI/TIA-322, commented, “I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to all TIA members who served on the TR-14 Task Group 7 responsible for the ANSI/TIA-322. Tremendous time and effort has been expended to produce this industry leading standard as it relates to loading, analysis, and design of communication structures under construction as well as specialized design criteria for tower lifting devices.”

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Apple advises immediate update to iOS 9.3.5 after discovery of targeted iPhone spyware

Independent researchers tracked down malware sent to a Middle Eastern human-rights activist and alerted Apple, which patched three separate zero-day exploits.

Glenn Fleishman | @GlennF
Senior Contributor, Macworld Aug 25, 2016 2:52 PM

Apple released an update to iOS 9 on Thursday—iOS 9.3.5—that patches multiple critical zero-day vulnerabilities that have been shown to already have been deployed, allegedly by governments to target activists and dissidents, according to a report from Citizen Lab and Lookout Security . Apple turned around an update within 10 days from when the company received Citizen Lab’s initial report. The update is recommended immediately for all iOS 9 devices.

When used together, the exploits allow someone to hijack an iOS device and control or monitor it remotely. Hijackers would have access to the device’s camera and microphone, and could capture audio calls even in otherwise end-to-end secured apps like WhatsApp. They could also grab stored images, tracking movements, and retrieve files.

Some of the exploits may have been discovered months ago or longer, so there’s no way to know how widely they’re in use, but details suggest these active exploits in previous versions of iOS 9 weren’t in wide use and were deployed against individual targets.

“What we have seen from looking at these exploits is that it seems that they have been in the wild a bit longer than the 9.3.3/9.3.4 timeframe,” report co-author Bill Marczak of Citizen Lab said in an interview. iOS 9.3.3 was released on July 18.

An Apple spokesperson said, “We were made aware of this vulnerability and immediately fixed it with iOS 9.3.5. We advise all of our customers to always download the latest version of iOS to protect themselves against potential security exploits.”

Jailbreaks have been demonstrated but not yet released for iOS 9.3.4, and it’s possible those jailbreaks relied on one or more aspects of the three flaws now patched.

Zero-day exploits in iOS aren’t uncommon, based on efforts by jailbreakers, security researchers, and companies that sell flaws to governments (some of them selling to anyone who pays) at prices that can hit $500,000 to $1 million. However, this appears to be the first time the action of major active exploits was captured in the wild and thoroughly documented. Marczak said his organization had been tracking the infrastructure behind the exploit for some time before an activist forwarded phishing links, which matched against a domain Citizen Lab had already been following.

The odds of any combination of these exploits being used to hit iOS users broadly are very low, as any widely-exploited bugs would have been observed by researchers and Apple. It’s most likely the flaws were kept close to the vest by any parties who discovered them, and were deployed for use only with high-value subjects of government or criminal syndicate interest.

As Lookout Security noted , “The going price for Pegasus [a mobile espionage product] was roughly $8 million for 300 licenses, so it’s not likely to be used against an average mobile device user, only targets that can be considered of high value.”

Nonetheless, it’s critical to install the update now that the exploits have been documented, as attackers may attempt to weaponize this approach for out-of-date devices. However, Marczak noted, “It was a fairly sophisticated exploit and we did omit some details about which functions were vulnerable,” so criminal organizations may not be able to take advantage before most iOS users have updated.

Users should also avoid—now and forever! —clicking on links in SMS messages from unknown parties. Because SMS messages can be spoofed, it may be dangerous even from known parties.

How the exploits work

Citizen Lab is a project at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs, where researchers have looked into how power is exercised in digital realms, specializing in human rights and global security. The Citizen Lab report was conducted in collaboration with Lookout Security, and it builds on previous work the group did to chart the extent of a group it labeled Stealth Falcon —which targeted internal and external critics of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government. While Citizen Lab had identified Stealth Falcon’s infrastructure, it hadn’t connected active malware with it.

On August 10, prominent UAE human-rights activist Ahmed Mansoor received dubious SMS messages with links to click for information ostensibly about abuses. Mansoor has been jailed, is banned from traveling outside the UAE, and is the victim of two previous so-called “lawful intercept” efforts. Lawful intercept refers to a government using the force of local law to obtain information from a network, although the methods used may not always fit within statutory or constitutional protections in the country in which they occur.

Rightly dubious, Masoor forwarded the messages to Citizen Lab, which then partnered with Lookout Security to test the malware, and identify three separate zero-day exploits—flaws that can be exploited in currently released software. Here’s how the chain of exploits work:

• The URL sent by SMS opens a webpage, which loads JavaScript and then retrieves remote binary files (available for both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of iOS). An exploit in the WebKit rendering component of iOS allows these binaries to execute within Safari.
• The executed binary uses an exploit that allows it to bypass a protection Apple uses within the operating system—Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization (or KASLR)—which should prevent malicious software from identifying where the core of the operating system is found running in memory.
• With the knowledge of where in memory the kernel can be found, a third exploit triggers, which corrupts memory in the kernel to disable iOS from blocking software from running that hasn’t been signed by Apple. This effectively jailbreaks the phone.

Researchers found that after these exploits were triggered in sequence, the executed binary then downloads and runs the spyware payload, which is designed to be persistent across rebooting iOS. It disables Apple’s automatic updates and removes other jailbreaks.

The report says the jailbreak installs hooks all over iOS to intercept data, and specifically monitors for a number of apps, which include “iMessage, Gmail, Viber, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Skype, Line, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Surespot, Imo.im, Mail.Ru, Tango, VK, and Odnoklassniki.” The malware connects to remote command-and-control servers to exfiltrate captured data.

Marczak said that a characteristic of highly targeted attacks is that URLs stop working after a single click, the intent being to infect one party and then be unavailable for further investigation. Marczak said they followed the link on a standard-issue iPhone and captured the infection process, but when the malware started to communicate back to the operator’s server, he and his coworkers became nervous about the microphone being enabled and GPS coordinates being transmitted.

“Very quickly, we turned it off and put it in a metal box,” Marczak’s colleague, Nick Weaver, said. “We didn’t want them to hear us giggling with glee.”

Citizen Lab and Lookout Security connect the software with NSO Group, an Israel-based company that sells surveillance software to governments. The group is similar to FinFisher and Hacking Team, both of which firms’ software was previously used to target Mansoor. The report also includes evidence that ties the spyware installation attempt to the UAE government.

The report also ties an attempt a year ago in Mexico to target journalist Rafael Cabrera, who has reported on a conflict of interest involving the president of Mexico and the president’s wife. While the links connected to those attempts weren’t serving malware, Cabrera provided Citizen Lab with more recent phishing attempts, which the researchers connected with servers they believe are operated by the NSO Group—and which, if the links were followed, would have resulted in infections.

Marczak said that the software was designed to be used in stealth, monitoring data use and battery consumption to disable features that might show their hand. The software could also disable itself or remove itself entirely if an analysis environments was detected or remote operators wanted to pull the plug.

Update your device now

To install the update on your iOS device, launch the Settings app, then tap General > Software Update. You also can update within iTunes with your device connected to your Mac.

Editor's note: This story was originally published on August 25, 2016, at 11:00 a.m. Pacific. It was updated at 2:45 p.m. Pacific later that day with more details.

Glenn Fleishman Senior Contributor Glenn Fleishman is the author of dozens of books, including mostly recently Take Control of Slack Basics, a book on mastering and becoming efficient in Slack. He's a senior contributor to Macworld , where he writes the Private I and Mac 911 columns and hosts the Macworld podcast, and contributes regularly to many periodicals.

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Disaster-Proven Paging for Public Safety

Paging system designs in the United States typically use a voice radio-style infrastructure. These systems are primarily designed for outdoor mobile coverage with modest indoor coverage. Before Narrowbanding, coverage wasn’t good, but what they have now is not acceptable! The high power, high tower approach also makes the system vulnerable. If one base station fails, a large area loses their paging service immediately!

Almost every technology went from analog to digital except fire paging. So it’s time to think about digital paging! The Disaster-Proven Paging Solution (DiCal) from Swissphone offers improved coverage, higher reliability and flexibility beyond anything that traditional analog or digital paging systems can provide. 

Swissphone is the No. 1 supplier for digital paging solutions worldwide. The Swiss company has built paging networks for public safety organizations all over the world. Swissphone has more than 1 million pagers in the field running for years and years due to their renowned high quality.

DiCal is the digital paging system developed and manufactured by Swissphone. It is designed to meet the specific needs of public safety organizations. Fire and EMS rely on these types of networks to improve incident response time. DiCal systems are designed and engineered to provide maximum indoor paging coverage across an entire county. In a disaster situation, when one or several connections in a simulcast solution are disrupted or interrupted, the radio network automatically switches to fall back operating mode. Full functionality is preserved at all times. This new system is the next level of what we know as “Simulcast Paging” here in the U.S.

Swissphone offers high-quality pagers, very robust and waterproof. Swissphone offers the best sensitivity in the industry, and battery autonomy of up to three months. First responder may choose between a smart s.QUAD pager, which is able to connect with a smartphone and the Hurricane DUO pager, the only digital pager who offers text-to-voice functionality.

Bluetooth technology makes it possible to connect the s.QUAD with a compatible smartphone, and ultimately with various s.ONE software solutions from Swissphone. Thanks to Bluetooth pairing, the s.QUAD combines the reliability of an independent paging system with the benefits of commercial cellular network. Dispatched team members can respond back to the call, directly from the pager. The alert message is sent to the pager via paging and cellular at the same time. This hybrid solution makes the alert faster and more secure. Paging ensures alerting even if the commercial network fails or is overloaded.

Swissphone sets new standards in paging:

Paging Network

• It’s much faster to send individual and stacked pages digitally than with analog voice.
• If you want better indoor coverage, you put sites closer together at lower heights.
• A self-healing system that also remains reliable in various disaster situations.
• Place base station where you need them, without the usage of an expensive backhaul network.
• Protect victim confidentiality and prevent unauthorized use of public safety communications, with integrated encryption service.

Pager

• Reliable message reception, thanks to the best sensitivity in the industry.
• Ruggedized and waterproof, IP67 and 6 1/2-feet drop test-certified products.
• Battery autonomy of up to three months, with a standard AA battery.
• Bluetooth enables the new s.QUAD pager to respond back to the dispatch center or fire chief.

Dispatching:

• Two-way CAD interfaces will make dispatching much easier.
• The new s.ONE solution enables the dispatcher or fire chiefs to view the availability of relief forces.
• A graphical screen shows how many of the dispatched team members have responded to the call.

Swissphone provides a proven solution at an affordable cost. Do you want to learn more?
Visit: www.swissphone.com or call 800-596-1914.

ETA and IWCE Offer Veteran and Student Scholarships

Friday, August 26, 2016

Veterans and students interested in wireless communications careers are encouraged to apply by essay to win scholarships to attend Education Forum at the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE). Winners will meet industry leaders at the Job Training and Education Center, featuring over 350 wireless companies.

GREENCASTLE, IN (PRWEB) AUGUST 25, 2016

One fortunate US Military Veteran and one student will each earn a scholarship to attend Electronics Technicians Association, (ETA®) International’s Education Forum 2017 (EF17) and Penton’s International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE), co-locating March 27-31, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV.

Students and honorably discharged US Military Veterans interested in the many exciting and lucrative technical careers in the wireless communications field are encouraged to submit an essay for a scholarship to attend EF17@IWCE. Winners will have the opportunity to meet industry leaders and recruiters at the Job Education and Training Center, featuring over 350 wireless companies.

The student scholarship essay contest includes one short course package conference pass ($549 value), one coach class plane ticket to Las Vegas, NV (value up to $400), two nights hotel stay at IWCE’s host hotel (approximate value of $400), access to IWCE’s exhibit hall and recognition during ETA’s annual award banquet.

Last year’s student winner was Kelly Krenek from A&M Consolidated High School, College Station, TX. Although her focus was on information technology, after the EF16@IWCE experience, she now plans to concentrate her continued education on networking and wireless communication.

"While I entered the conference with the intention to become a systems engineer, I've now discovered even more opportunities and careers I could choose from within wireless communications,” Krenek said.

To be eligible, the student must have at least a 2.5 grade point average and must be currently enrolled in a school or other technical training program. This essay must describe the student’s ideal career in wireless communications, how this scholarship could benefit their future personally and professionally, as well as why they should be considered for this scholarship.

Honorably discharged Veterans with an FCC Amateur Radio License or those with a strong communications background are encouraged to apply for the Veteran Scholarship. It includes one seat in the Radio Frequency Interference Mitigation hands-on training workshop conducted by Ira Wiesenfeld, P.E., of IWA Technical Services, Inc., along with ETA's RFIM certification test, a $949 total value.

The Veteran scholarship also includes five nights hotel stay (room charge and tax) at IWCE’s host hotel; one Short Course Package conference pass to IWCE — $549 value. one coach class plane ticket to Las Vegas, Nevada — value up to $400; access to the Job Training & Education Center along with IWCE’s two-day exhibit hall and recognition during ETA’s annual award banquet.

Last year’s Veteran co-winners were Brian C. Anderson, CET, and Marcus Irvine, CETsr, both from Veteran’s Assembled electronics (FL).

“Brian and Marcus both attended IWATSI's Line and Antenna Sweep workshop to earn certification and gain critical knowledge with hands-on skills to launch successful civilian careers,” said VAe CEO John Shepard.

Students and Veterans interested in applying must submit a 1,000-word or less essay, along with a recent resume, cover letter and picture no later than January 9, 2017 to ETA at eta(at)eta-i(dot)org.

ETA will once again host training from top industry experts at IWCE to obtain valuable hands-on skills with the opportunity to earn ETA certification. Training will include Basic Electronics, Communications Site Installer (Motorola’s R56), Distributed Antenna Systems, Fiber Optics Installer, General Communications Technician, Line and Antenna Sweeping, Mobile Communications Electronics Installation and RF Interference Mitigation from such respected trainers as ATRG Technical Services, Bird Technologies, Commdex Consulting, Dover Telecommunications Services, IWA Technical Services, Inc. and Light Brigade.

As more Veterans, students, technicians and educators discover the ETA Education Forum at IWCE and the remarkable value it offers, the partners will continue to offer professional development opportunities at a reasonable price. To see the IWCE conference agenda, including ETA-hosted industry training and ETA certification exams, please visit http://www.iwceexpo.com .

About ETA International — Since 1978, ETA has delivered over 200,000 professional certifications. ETA certifications are widely recognized and frequently used in worker job selection, hiring processes, pay increases, advancements, and often required as companies bid on contracts. ETA’s certifications are personal and travel with the individual, regardless of employment or status change and measure competencies of persons, not products or vendors. All ETA certifications are accredited through the International Certification Accreditation Council (ICAC) and align with the ISO-17024 standard. http://www.eta-i.org

About INTERNATIONAL WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS EXPO (IWCE) — Since 1977, the International Wireless Communications Expo (IWCE) has been the premier annual event for communications technology professionals. IWCE features over 380 exhibitors showcasing the latest products and trends in the industry. Over 7,000 individuals attend from a diverse group of industry professionals including government/military, public safety, utility, transportation and business enterprise. IWCE 2017 will be held March 27-31, 2017 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit http://www.iwceexpo.com

Federal Circuit affirms Apple iPhone patent victory over GPNE

By Gene Quinn & John M. Rogitz
August 23, 2016

Earlier this month the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuited issued its decision in GPNE Corp. v. Apple, Inc. , a precedential case that challenged a claim construction made by the district court. Following a seven-day jury trial, the district court found that the asserted claims in U.S. Patent No. 7,570,954 and U.S. Patent No. 7,792,492 were not infringed. The Federal Circuit panel, which was made up of Chief Judge Prost, Judge Taranto and Judge Chen, affirmed.

GPNE sued Apple for direct infringement of claims in two of GPNE’s patents. The patents at issue relate to a two-way paging system, where the paging devices are capable of not only receiving messages but also sending messages back in response. The devices communicate through a central control station, which passes the message on to a recipient device. The central control station can also receive a message from a telephone, as would be the case with a typical pager, and pass it on to a recipient device. The specification specifically discloses a two-way paging system that operates independently from a telephone system for wireless data communication between users, which is consistent with the prosecution history as well.

The claims asserted by GPNE all recited “nodes” rather than “pagers,” even though the word “node” was not used anywhere other than in the Abstract of the two patents containing the asserted claims. Seizing on this, Apple argued at the Markman hearing that a “node” as claimed should be construed as being a “pager.” The district court ultimately agreed with Apple, construing the term “node” to be a “pager with two-way data communications capability that transmits wireless data communications on a paging system that operates independently from a telephone network.”

At trial both GPNE and Apple presented evidence regarding whether Apple’s accused devices could be properly characterized as “pagers.” In fact, Chief Judge Prost writing for the panel noted that Apple had contrasted the accused iPhone and iPad to characteristics of pagers common in the 1990s during both the opening and closing arguments. Furthermore, Apple asked their own experts, as well as GPNE experts, whether they thought an iPad or an iPhone was a pager. While GPNE did provide rebuttal testimony, Prost observed that GPNE did not object to these questions or arguments.

Ultimately, the jury was instructed to use the plain and ordinary meaning for “pager” and ultimately issued a verdict in favor of Apple, finding no infringement. On appeal, GPNE took issue with two aspects of the “node” claim construction — the “pager” aspect and the “operates independently of a telephone network” aspect.

Beginning first with “pager”, the Federal Circuit noted the patent consistently refers to “nodes” as “pagers.” Prost explained that when a term in the patent is consistently used to characterize a claim term in a particular way it is proper to construe the claim in accordance with the characterization used in the specification. Prost then went on to observe that the words “pager” and “pager units” appear in the specification more than 200 times, and, apart from the Abstract, the specification repeatedly and exclusively uses “pager” and “pager units” to refer to the devices in the patented system. Furthermore, the Court found that nothing in the specification is inconsistent with the characterization of the devices as a type of pager. Moreover, the prosecution history also supports construing “node” as a type of “pager” because the inventor’s Rule 131 declaration consistently and exclusively describes the invention as a system of pagers. Ultimately, based on this, the Federal Circuit had little difficulty determining that the district court did not err in characterizing a “node” as a “pager.”

Regarding the language “operates independently of a telephone network”, GPNE argued it was improper to use this phrase because the entire phrase was imported from a single summation sentence from the specification. That sentence read as follows: “Thus, the invention provides a two-way paging system which operates independently from a telephone system for wireless data communication between users.” The Federal Circuit held that it was proper for the district court to rely on this sentence in the specification when construing the claim because it is a limiting to describe features of the invention when describing the invention as a whole. The Court pointed out that this understanding of the limiting nature of this sentence is bolstered by the prosecution history, particularly the Rule 131 declaration provided by the inventor, which similarly characterizes the invention as operating independently of a telephone network.

Ultimately, the Federal Circuit ruled that it was proper for the district court to conclude that in order to be infringing a “node” should be able to operate independently from a telephone network.

At first glance this case may seem to demonstrate yet another cautionary tale against using the word “invention” during drafting and prosecution. Such a reading of this case, or any similar case that finds “the invention” limiting, risks missing the forest for the trees. It would be better to consider this case an illustration of an unnecessarily narrow specification that did not disclose an invention that was anything other than a paging system that operates independently from a telephone system.

The problem isn’t the use of some magic term or phrase; it is the fact that the description is specific and narrow. Thus, focus on some magic term or phrase misses the entire point of the Federal Circuit’s cases. If you articulate narrowly in the specification then your claims cannot cover broad, undisclosed articulations of the invention. For example, in Absolute Software, Inc. v. Stealth Signal, Inc. , 659 F. 3d 1121, 1136-1137 (Fed. Cir. 2011), the Court per Judge O’Malley (with then Chief Judge Rader and then Judge Prost) explained: “the phrase “present invention” or “this invention” is not always so limiting, such as where the references to a certain limitation as being the “invention” are not uniform, or where other portions of the intrinsic evidence do not support applying the limitation to the entire patent.” In other words, if you describe your invention as having A, B and C and there is no support for the invention being anything other than A, B and C, then your invention is limited to A, B and C. The problem for GPNE was there was support only for an invention that operates independently from a telephone system. Had there been examples or discussion of a system that operated relying on a telephone system then the outcome should have been different, although the wording in the summary sentence could and should still have been better.

The Federal Circuit also addressed another issue raised by GPNE that the district court improperly failed to give to the jury a construction for “pager”, instead leaving the issue for the jury itself to decide. On this, the CAFC first noted that a previous case, O2 Micro International Ltd. v. Beyond Innovation Technology Co., 521 F.3d 1351, 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2008), provided the general rule that “[w]hen the parties present a fundamental dispute regarding the scope of a claim term, it is the court’s duty to resolve it…[because] the ultimate question of construction [is] a legal question.” Nonetheless, the Federal Circuit went on to explain that the duty is not without limit. and that the district court is under no obligation to address potential ambiguities that have no bearing on the scope of the claim. The Federal Circuit then concluded “the district court’s construction was sufficient to resolve the dispute over the scope of the disputed claim term “node.”

THE AUTHORS

Gene Quinn

Gene Quinn is a Patent Attorney and Editor and founder of IPWatchdog.com. Gene is also a principal lecturer in the PLI Patent Bar Review Course and an attorney with Widerman Malek. Gene’s specialty is in the area of strategic patent consulting, patent application drafting and patent prosecution. He consults with attorneys facing peculiar procedural issues at the Patent Office, advises investors and executives on patent law changes and pending litigation matters, and works with start-up businesses throughout the United States and around the world, primarily dealing with software and computer related innovations. Gene is admitted to practice law in New Hampshire, is a Registered Patent Attorney and is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

John M. Rogitz

John M. Rogitz is of counsel to Rogitz & Associates and is a registered patent attorney. His patent background includes preparation and prosecution of a large number of patent applications for Fortune 500 high-tech institutions in a wide range of technologies. John has also been active on behalf of his clients in the acquisition of patent portfolios. John writes frequently for various publications on developments in patent law. He also regularly appears as a guest lecturer on intellectual property at DeVry University. Previously, John was engaged in civil litigation at the Watkins Firm, a San Diego-based law firm. Prior to that, John worked as a web developer for Loyola Marymount University. John received his J.D. in 2009 from California Western School of Law.

Wireless Communication Solutions

USB Paging Encoder

• Single channel up to eight zones
• Connects to Linux computer via USB
• Programmable timeouts and batch sizes
• Supports 2-tone, 5/6-tone, POCSAG 512/1200/2400, GOLAY
• Supports Tone Only, Voice, Numeric, and Alphanumeric
• PURC or direct connect
• Pictured version mounts in 5.25" drive bay
• Other mounting options available
• Available as a daughter board for our embedded Internet Paging Terminal (IPT)

Paging Data Receiver (PDR)

• Frequency agile—only one receiver to stock
• USB or RS-232 interface
• Two contact closures
• End-user programmable w/o requiring special hardware
• 16 capcodes
• POCSAG
• Eight contact closure version also available
• Product customization available

Other products

Please see our web site for other products including Internet Messaging Gateways, Unified Messaging Servers, test equipment, and Paging Terminals.

Contact

Hark Technologies 717 Old Trolley Rd Ste 6 #163 Summerville, SC 29485

Tel: 843-821-6888

Fax: 843-821-6894

E-mail: sales@harktech.com CLICK

Web: http://www.harktech.com CLICK

SEE WEB FOR COMPLETE LIST:

www.preferredwireless.com/equipment

Rick McMichael
Preferred Wireless, Inc.
Telephone: 888-429-4171
(If you are calling from outside of the USA, please use: 314-575-8425)
rickm@preferredwireless.com

Selected portions of the BloostonLaw Telecom Update, and/or the BloostonLaw Private Users Update — newsletters from the Law Offices of Blooston, Mordkofsky, Dickens, Duffy & Prendergast, LLP — are reproduced in this section with the firm’s permission.

The BloostonLaw Telecom Update newsletter will be on our traditional August recess, in light of the usual slowdown in the news cycle at this time of year. We will resume publication on September 7. Meanwhile, we will keep clients apprised of significant developments via memos and special supplements.

Brad Dye, Ron Mercer, Allan Angus, Vic Jackson, and Ira Wiesenfeld are friends and colleagues who work both together and independently, on wireline and wireless communications projects.

Click here for a summary of their qualifications and experience. Each one has unique abilities. We would be happy to help you with a project, and maybe save you some time and money.

Note: We do not like Patent Trolls, i.e. “a person or company who enforces patent rights against accused infringers in an attempt to collect licensing fees, but does not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.” We have helped some prominent law firms defend their clients against this annoyance, and would be happy to do some more of this same kind of work.

Some people use the title “consultant” when they don't have a real job. We actually do consulting work, and help others based on our many years of experience.

“If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it.”
— Chinese Proverb

Wireless Network Planners
Wireless Specialists

www.wirelessplanners.com
wirelessplannerron@gmail.com

R.H. (Ron) Mercer Consultant 217 First Street East Northport, NY 11731
Telephone: 631-786-9359

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Life Is Short

“Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.”

—Henri Frederic Amiel

Louisiana Flood

Travis Guedry and his dog Ziggy glide through floodwaters looking for people in need. President Barack Obama declared the flood a major disaster, with 20 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes damaged. Scattered reports of looting emerged, and governor John Bel Edwards said some parishes would enforce curfews. The floods could have an impact well beyond the region; Exxon Mobil Corporation slowed production at its Baton Rouge oil refinery, the fourth-largest refinery in the US.