FLEX Overview

FLEX Message Word Definitions

Long addresses are grouped into the following sets.

Table A-21 Long Address Sets

The address type indicates how messages on a particular address can be delivered in multi-phase FLEX frames. Messages sent on single-phase addresses can only be delivered in a particular phase (a, b, c, or d). Messages sent on anyphase addresses can be delivered in any phase, but a single message is limited to a single phase per frame. Messages sent on all-phase addresses can be delivered in any phase, and a single message can be spread across multiple phases in a single frame. All-phase messaging is a future feature of FLEX and has not been completely defined.

The assigned phase is required only for single-phase devices. It determines the phase (a, b, c, or d) in which the messages will be sent.

The assigned frame and battery cycle determine the frames in which the decoding device typically looks for messages (other system factors can cause the decoding device to look in other frames in addition to the typical frames).

The battery cycle is a number between 0 and 7 and defines how often the decoding device looks for messages on the FLEX channel. For a given battery cycle, b, the decoding device looks in every 2b frames. Thus, an address with an assigned frame of 3 and a battery cycle of 5 will typically look for messages in frame 3 and every 32 frames thereafter (i.e., frames 3, 35, 67, and 99)

The FLEX CAPCODE is defined to represent either a short or a long address. The short address is defined in the FLEX protocol as one code word on the RF channel and is represented by a 7-digit decimal field. The long address is defined in the FLEX protocol as two code words on the RF channel and is represented by a 9- or 10-digit decimal field. The long addresses in set 1–2 are represented by a 9-digit decimal field. The long addresses in sets 1–3, 1–4, 2–3, and 2–4 are represented by a 10-digit decimal field. An alphabetic character known as the “CAPCODE type” always precedes the 7-, 9-, or 10-digit decimal address field. The CAPCODE type indicates the type of address and distinguishes FLEX CAPCODEs from CAPCODEs of other paging protocols.