Development

of our next

generation pagers

Development of our next generation pagers (Part 1)

The development of our next generation pager is running at full speed. In this blog post the current status of the developments is presented.

First a set of requirements has been assembled. This list is based on our own experience and extensive discussions with our dealers and end-users. The gained insights have resulted in the following key requirements:

  • The housing must be more robust (impact proof) and water proof (minimum IP67)
  • The pager should be backwards compatible with the DP6000 architecture
  • The pager should have similar functionality as the current PS-pager
  • The pager should have an improved and better looking user interface
  • The pager should be able to support new communication architectures (4G/5G and our future mesh based architecture DP7000)
  • The pager should be able to work with user profiles (pagers are programmed for specific users at handout)
  • The pager should operate at least 16 hours without recharging (8 hours with global paging active)

The requirements have been translated to a printed circuit board (PCB) design. At the core of our next generation pager is an NB-IoT/LTE-M module. To this main processor, several sensors, switches and OLED displays are connected. The front display is a color graphic display. The next generation pager also has two independent UHF transceivers with several antenna options for compatibility with the DP6000 and DP7000 system. A layout example is shown in the image. The form factor is smaller than the current PS pager.

Recently 5 prototypes of the PCB have been produced that are used for testing and development of the firmware. These prototypes have just arrived and once all hardware on the PCB is functionally tested, the pager firmware will be developed. We also use these prototypes for the development of the new housing. In the upcoming Part 2 we will describe the results of the functional tests, the first housing prototypes and the first steps of the firmware. So stay tuned for the latest info!