1. A mail production system comprising:
a mail finishing system (12) for converting documents into finished items of mail ready for hand-over to a postal service; and
a secure accounting system (14) for generating accounting data relating to the items of mail produced by the mail finishing system (12);
wherein the secure accounting system (14) is able to generate signals to control operation of the mail finishing system (12).
2. A mail production system according to claim 1, wherein the mail finishing system (12) comprises a print sub-system (120) for applying a postage indicium to an item of mail produced by the mail finishing system (12) in accordance with the accounting data generated by the secure accounting system (14); and the secure accounting system (14) controls operation of the print sub-system (120).
3. A mail production system according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the secure accounting system is able to delay or stop operation of the mail finishing system (12).
4. A mail production system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the mail finishing, system (12) comprises an inserter machine for inserting collations of documents into envelopes and an inserter system controller for controlling said inserter during normal operation thereof, said secure accounting system (14) being able to override control of said inserter machine by said inserter, system controller by providing control signals to said inserter system controller.
5. A method of producing mail comprising converting documents into finished items of mail ready for hand-over to a postal service under control of a secure accounting system for generating accounting data relating to the items of mail thus produced.
6. A method of producing mail according to claim 5, further comprising applying a postage indicium to an item of mail being produced in accordance with the accounting data generated by the secure accounting system.
7. A method of producing mail according to claim 5 or claim 6, wherein control of the mail production by the secure accounting system includes delaying or stopping production of the items of mail.
8. A method of producing mail according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein converting documents into finished items of mail comprises inserting said documents as collations into envelopes under control of an inserter system controller, normal operation of which can be overridden by said secure accounting system.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable including detecting whether said communication uplink change will cause an uplink resource limit to be exceeded; and
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable.
2. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of evaluating alternatives when said uplink change event is not practicable.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of detecting a communication uplink change includes detecting an uplink allocation change event.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of detecting an uplink allocation change event includes detecting an event requesting a time slot characteristic change.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of detecting an uplink allocation change event includes detecting an event requesting a change in the number of channel codes.
6. The method according to claim 3, wherein said step of detecting an uplink allocation change event includes detecting a power change request.
7. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
monitoring uplink performance including determining whether the portable communication device is in a data mode, a voice mode, or a data and voice mode;
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable; and
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable, wherein said step of permitting said uplink communication change includes permitting a higher data throughput capacity in a data only mode.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said step of monitoring includes monitoring data throughput capacity.
9. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable;
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable;
detecting a near-field mass; and limiting data throughput when detecting proximity to the near-field mass.
10. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable;
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable; and
evaluating alternatives when said uplink change event is not practicable including evaluating feasibility of decreasing power and increasing data throughput capacity.
11. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable;
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable; and
evaluating alternatives when said uplink change event is not practicable including evaluating feasibility of decreasing data throughput capacity and increasing power.
12. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable;
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable; and
evaluating alternatives when said uplink change event is not practicable including evaluating as alternatives to increasing power making no change; requesting handoff to another link; and reducing data throughput capacity.
13. A method of operating a portable communication device, comprising the steps of:
detecting a communication uplink change;
determining whether said communication uplink change is practicable;
permitting said communication uplink change when said communication uplink change is determined by the portable communication device to be practicable; and
evaluating alternatives when said uplink change event is not practicable including evaluating as alternatives to increasing data throughput capacity making no change and requesting hand-off to a better communication link.
14. A portable communication device comprising:
a transceiver; and
a controller coupled to said transceiver, said controller operable to respond to a channel uplink change event to determine whether an uplink change resulting from said channel uplink change event is practicable, and to permit said uplink change if said uplink change is practicable, and to evaluate alternatives
wherein said controller is further operable to receive a power change request, and is responsive to said power change request to request a change in data throughput if said power change request exceeds a setting limit.
15. The portable communication device as defined in claim 14, wherein said controller is operable to request an increase in an uplink allocation.
16. The portable communication device as defined in claim 14, further including a link monitor.
17. A method of operating a network to communicate with at least one portable communication device, the method comprising the steps of:
determining that a portable communication device requires a power change;
transmitting to the portable communication device a power change request;
receiving from the portable communication device a response to said power change request comprising an uplink allocation change; and
transmitting an updated uplink channel allocation when available, including terminating a data resource to support a voice only mode.
18. The method as defined in claim 17, further including the step of retransmitting a power change request upon transmitting said updated uplink channel allocation.
19. The method as defined in claim 17, further including the step of participating in a hand-off procedure to a better communication link when a decrease in channel allocation is required to support a higher uplink transmit power.