Monitoring in communication system with wireless trunk

• US 20020196759A1
• Filed: 08/08/2002
• Published: 12/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Albert H. Yuhan, Ismail I. Sola, Narayan P. Menon, Philip Douglas
• Original Assignee: Albert H. Yuhan, Ismail I. Sola, Narayan P. Menon, Philip Douglas
• Inventors: Douglas, Philip, Menon, Narayan P., Sola, Ismail I., Yuhan, Albert H.
• Granted Patent: US 7,359,364 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/337
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/14 WLL [Wireless Local Loop]; RLL [Radio Local Loop]

Abstract

A communication system having a wireless trunk for connecting multiple phone lines over wireless communication links to a cellular network comprises a central telephone switch, such as a private branch exchange or key system, connected through one or more trunk lines to a wireless access communication unit. The wireless access communication unit preferably comprises a separate subscriber interface for each trunk line from the central telephone switch. The wireless access communication unit collects data from each of the subscriber interfaces, formats the data into a format compatible with an over-the-air protocol, and transmits the information over one or more wireless channels to a cellular base station. The wireless access communication unit thereby connects calls received from the central telephone switch'"'"'s trunk lines over a wireless trunk to a network. A controller within the wireless access communication unit interfaces the subscriber interfaces with a radio transceiver, and assists in the conversion of data from a format suitable for wireless transmission. The controller also assists in distributing data received over the wireless trunk to the separate subscriber interfaces, and converting the data to a format suitable for communication with the central telephone switch. Calls may be selectively routed by the central telephone switch over landlines, instead, to the wireless access communication unit, thereby bypassing landlines.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assigning, to each of a plurality of trunks connected to a wireless access communication unit, a plurality of subscriber identifiers, one subscriber identifier for each trunk;

establishing wireless communication between the wireless access communication unit and a base station of a cellular network;

registering at least one subscriber identifier with the base station;

receiving, at the wireless access communication unit, a request to initiate a call from a user connected to one of the plurality of trunks;

setting up a call over a wireless communication link between the wireless access communication unit and the base station;

communicating between the user and the cellular network across the wireless access communication unit; and

transmitting, from the wireless access communication unit to base station, the subscriber identifier for the trunk connected to the user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, at the wireless access communication unit, a request to initiate a second call from a second user connected to a second one of the plurality of trunks;

setting up a second call over a second wireless communication link between the wireless access communication unit and the base station;

communicating between the second user and the cellular network across the second wireless access communication unit; and

transmitting periodically, from the wireless access communication unit to the base station, the subscriber identifier for the trunk connected to the second user.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving at least one subscriber identifier from a non-volatile memory.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising registering the at least one subscriber identifier with a central register of the cellular network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting comprises periodically transmitting the subscriber identifier within a prescribed time following a previous transmission of the subscriber identifier for registration purposes.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending an alarm message from the base station to a central administrative unit of the cellular network upon a failure to receive the subscriber identifier within a prescribed time following a previous transmission of the subscriber identifier.

7. A wireless access communication unit comprising:

a subscriber port to be connected to a local area telephone switch;

a communication path to be established between the wireless access communication unit and one or more users, wherein the communication path comprises an analog link between the subscriber port and the local area telephone switch;

a radio transceiver to transmit and receive digital information over a wireless connection to a base station;

a subscriber interface to be connected to the subscriber port, wherein the subscriber interface comprises an analog-to-digital converter to convert the digital information to analog information to transmit along the analog link; and

a controller to manage the transfer of the digital information between the radio transceiver and the subscriber interface, the controller to cause the radio transceiver to transmit a registration message to the base station periodically while the wireless connection is maintained.

8. The wireless access communication unit of claim 7, further comprising a nonvolatile memory to store a subscriber identifier associated with the subscriber interface, wherein the registration message periodically transmitted to the base station comprises the subscriber identifier.

9. The wireless access communication unit of claim 7, wherein the base station transmits an alarm message to a central office of a cellular network upon a failure to receive the periodic transmission of the registration message within a prescribed time.

10. The wireless access communication unit of claim 7, wherein the controller causes the radio transceiver to transmit a second registration message to a central-register periodically while the wireless connection is maintained.

11. A method comprising:

providing a communication system comprising a local switch coupled to a wireless access communication unit and a public switched telephone network, wherein the local switch may selectively couple a call request to either the wireless communication unit or directly to the public switched telephone network;

establishing wireless communication between the wireless access communication unit and a cellular network, wherein the wireless access communication unit comprises a plurality of communication ports;

establishing calls to the cellular network over the wireless access communication unit in response to one or more call requests from a plurality of user stations connected to the communication ports; and

registering the communication ports periodically with the cellular network.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising assigning a subscriber identifier for each communication port, and wherein registering the communication ports comprises periodically transmitting, from the wireless access communication unit to the cellular network, the subscriber identifier for each of the communication ports.

13. The method of claims 11, wherein registering the communication ports comprises registering the communication ports with a central register of the cellular network.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein registering the communication ports comprises transmitting each subscriber identifier at a periodic interval shorter than a record retention time of the central register.

15. The method claim 14, wherein the periodic interval is sixteen second or less.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the central register comprises a visitor location register of a mobile switching center of the cellular network.

17. The method claim 11, wherein registering the communication ports comprises registering the communication ports periodically with a base station of the cellular network, and wherein establishing wireless communication comprises establishing wireless communication between the wireless access communication unit and the base station.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising transmitting an alarm message from the base station to a central office of the cellular network upon a failure to receive a periodic registration of at least one of the communication ports at the base station.

19. The method of claim 17, further comprising registering the communication ports periodically with a central register of the cellular network.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the central register comprises a visitor location register of a mobile switching center of the cellular network

21. A wireless access communication unit comprising:

a ports to be connected to a local area telephone switch;

a communication path to be established between the wireless access communication unit and one or more users;

a subscriber interface to be connected to the subscriber port;

a radio transceiver to transmit and receive information over a wireless connection to a base station;

a controller to manage the transfer of data between the radio transceiver and the subscriber interface, the controller to cause the radio transceiver to periodically transmit a registration message to the base station while the wireless connection is maintained; and

a non-volatile memory to store a subscriber identifier associated with the subscriber interface.

22. The wireless access communication unit of claim 21, wherein the registration message comprises the subscriber identifier.

23. The wireless access communication unit of claim 22, wherein the base station transmits an alarm message to a central office of a cellular network upon a failure to receive the periodic transmission of the registration message within a prescribed time.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein registering the communication ports comprises registering the communication ports with a central register of the cellular network.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein registering the communication ports comprises transmitting each subscriber identifier at a periodic interval shorter than a record retention time of the central register.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the periodic interval is sixteen seconds or less.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the central register comprises a visitor location register of a mobile switching center of the cellular network

29. The method of claim 24, wherein registering the communication ports comprises periodically registering the communication ports with a base station of the cellular network, and wherein establishing wireless communication comprises establishing wireless communication between the wireless access communication unit and the base station.

30. The method of claim 29, further comprising transmitting an alarm message from the base station to a central office of the cellular network upon failure to receive a periodic registration of one of the subscriber ports at the base station.

31. The method of claim 29, further comprising periodically registering the communication ports with a central register of the cellular network.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the central register comprises a visitor location register of a mobile switching center of the cellular network.

24. A method comprising:

establishing wireless communication between a wireless access communication unit and a cellular network, wherein the wireless access communication unit comprises a plurality of communication ports;

servicing one or more call requests from a plurality of user stations connected to the communication ports;

establishing calls to the cellular network over the wireless access communication unit in response the one or more call requests;

registering the communication ports periodically with the cellular network; and

assigning a subscriber identifier to each of the communication ports, and wherein registering the communication ports comprises periodically transmitting, from the wireless access communication unit to the cellular network, the subscriber identifier for each of the communication ports.

33. A method comprising the steps of:

a step for assigning to each of a plurality of trunks connected to a wireless access communication unit, a plurality of subscriber identifiers, one subscriber identifier for each trunk;

a step for establishing wireless communication between the wireless access communication unit and a base station of a cellular network;

a step for registering at least one subscriber identifier with the base station;

a step for receiving, at the wireless access communication unit, a request to initiate a call from a user connected to one of the plurality of trunks;

a step for setting up a call over a wireless communication link between the wireless access communication unit and the base station;

a step for communicating between the user and the cellular network across the wireless access communication unit; and

a step for transmitting, from the wireless access communication unit to base station, the subscriber identifier for the trunk connected to the user.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising a step for retrieving at least one subscriber identifier from a non-volatile memory.

35. The method of claim 33, further comprising a step for registering the at least one subscriber identifier with a central register of the cellular network.

37. The wireless access communication unit of claim 36, further comprising a nonvolatile memory means for storing a subscriber identifier associated with the subscriber interface.

38. The wireless access communication unit of claim 36, wherein the base station means is further for transmitting an alarm message means to a central office means of a cellular network means upon a failure to receive the periodic transmission of the registration message means within a prescribed time.

36. A wireless access communication unit comprising:

a subscriber port means;

a communication path means for communication between the wireless access communication unit and one or more users, wherein the communication path means comprises an analog link means between the subscriber port means and the local area telephone switch means;

a radio transceiver means for transmitting and receiving digital information over a wireless connection means to a base station means;

a subscriber interface means to be connected to the subscriber port means, wherein the subscriber interface means comprises an analog-to-digital converter means for converting the digital information to analog information for transmission along the analog link means; and

a controller means for managing the transfer of the digital information between the radio transceiver means and the subscriber interface means and for causing the radio transceiver means to transmit a registration message means to the base station means periodically while the wireless connection means is maintained.