Wireless classroom response system

Abstract

A wireless classroom response system wireless network is located proximate to a classroom, a base station that coordinates the activities of the wireless network, and a plurality of handheld units. Each handheld unit is associated with an attendee of a class (either on a long-term or “owned basis, or on an ad-hoc or “shared” basis). Each handheld unit performs a discovery process that includes the steps of randomly choosing a wireless channel, attempting to discover the presence of the wireless network on the channel, and repeating these two steps if no wireless network is discovered.

1 . A wireless response system for use in a class, the system comprising: 
 a wireless network located proximate to a room in which the class is being conducted;    a base station that coordinates the activities of the wireless network;    a plurality of handheld units, each of the plurality of handheld units being associated with an attendee of the class, a handheld unit of the plurality of handheld units performing steps comprising: 
 randomly choosing a wireless channel;  
 attempting to discover the presence of the wireless network on the randomly chosen wireless channel; and  
 repeating the choosing and attempting steps if the attempting step fails.  
   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the handheld unit of the plurality attempts to discover the presence of the wireless network by performing steps comprising making a plurality of requests for a beacon frame from the wireless network.  
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the base station performs steps comprising receiving at least one of the requests and, in response to the received request, transmitting a beacon frame that includes the identity of the wireless network.  
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 1 , the wireless network being one of a plurality of wireless networks, wherein another of the plurality of handheld units performs steps comprising: 
 powering on;    remaining unconnected to the wireless network;    detecting that its associated class attendee has performed an action that requires the it to connect to a wireless network of the plurality;    retrieving the identity of the last wireless network of the plurality of wireless networks to which the it was previously connected;    asking its associated attendee whether the attendee wishes to reconnect to the identified last wireless network;    receiving an affirmative response from its associated attendee; and    based on the receiving step, connecting to the identified last wireless network.    
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station performs steps comprising identifying which wireless channel has the least amount of wireless network traffic and directing the handheld unit to connect to the wireless network using the identified wireless channel  
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station comprises a computer and a wireless access point communicatively linked to the computer, the computer performing steps comprising: 
 determining whether health check messages have been received from the wireless access point;    if, based on the determining step, a predetermined number of health check messages have not been received, restarting the wireless access point; and    and wherein the wireless access point performs steps comprising:    determining whether health check messages have been received from the computer;    if, based on the determining step, a predetermined number of health check messages have not been received, rebooting itself.    
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless network is one of a plurality of wireless networks, wherein the handheld unit of the plurality of handheld units performs further steps comprising: 
 requesting a software update from the wireless network;    during the requested update, being interrupted, such that the update does not get completed;    connecting to the first available network of the plurality of wireless networks; and    requesting the software update from the first available wireless network.    
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 1 , the base station performing steps comprising: 
 identifying which of the plurality of handheld units has successfully discovered the wireless network; and    displaying a list of the identified handheld units to a system administrator.    
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the base station performs steps comprising: 
 identifying which of the plurality of handheld units has successfully discovered the wireless network;    determining which attendee is associated with the identified handheld units; and    displaying a list of the attendees associated with the identified handheld units to a system administrator.    
   
   
       10 . A wireless response system for use in a class, the system comprising: 
 a wireless network;    a plurality of handheld units communicatively linked to the wireless network;    a base station communicatively linked to the wireless network, the base station performing steps comprising transmitting a plurality of questions to the plurality of handheld units;    each of the plurality of handheld units comprising:    a display screen for displaying the plurality of questions, and    a navigation control, the navigation control having a first mode, in which it permits an attendee of the class to scroll through the text of a question of the plurality, and a second mode, in which it permits an attendee of the class to jump from one of the plurality of questions to another of the plurality of questions.    
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , the navigation control comprising a button.  
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 receiving the entry of a numerical operation that is to be performed;    transmitting data relating to the numerical operation to the base station;    receiving the result of the operation from the base station;    and wherein the base station performs steps comprising:    receiving the numerical operation data;    computing the result of the numerical operation, and    transmitting the result to the handheld unit.    
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 controlling the pace at which the base station transmits the plurality of questions.    
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 receiving, from the base station, data representing the answers to the plurality of questions that the base station that were received from the rest of the plurality of handheld units.    
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 receiving an input from a system administrator representing a request to recover a personal identification number of the handheld unit;    transmitting a message representing the request to the base station; and    receiving the recovered personal identification number.    
   
   
       16 . A wireless response system for use in a class, the class having a plurality of attendees, the system comprising: 
 a wireless network;    a plurality of handheld units communicatively linked to the wireless network;    a base station communicatively linked to the wireless network, the base station performing steps comprising transmitting a plurality of questions to the plurality of handheld units;    each of the plurality of handheld units comprising a display screen for displaying the plurality of questions, and a non-volatile memory,    each of the plurality of handheld units having 
 an owned mode, in which the handheld unit is assigned to a particular one of the plurality of attendees and has information regarding the attendee to which it is assigned stored in its non-volatile memory, and  
 a shared mode, in which the handheld unit is not assigned to any particular attendee.  
   
   
   
       17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 receiving an input from an attendee indicating that there is an emergency;    broadcasting an alert to the wireless network; and    receiving, in response from the wireless network, an acknowledgement of the alert.    
   
   
       18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein a handheld unit of the plurality performs steps comprising: 
 receiving an input from an attendee indicating that there is an emergency;    broadcasting an alert to the wireless network; and    receiving, in response from the wireless network, a question regarding the emergency; and    displaying the question to the attendee.    
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the base station performs steps comprising: 
 receiving an answer to the question; and    transmitting the answer to an emergency response system via a public network.    
   
   
       20 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the base station performs further steps comprising: 
 receiving an alert from a handheld unit of the plurality of wireless handheld units;    transmitting information regarding the alert to an emergency response system, the information comprising global positioning system data.    
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the global positioning system data includes data regarding the location of the base station.  
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the global positioning system data includes data regarding the location of the handheld unit from which the alert came.