Wireless local area network using impulse radio technology to improve communications between mobile nodes and access points
First Claim
1. A wireless network comprising:
- a mobile node; and
a plurality of access points each of which is capable of managing a radio coverage area and also capable of enabling an impulse radio wireless link with the mobile node.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A wireless local area network is provided that uses impulse radio technology to improve communications between a mobile node and access point. In one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless network, a mobile node and a method are provided that use the communication capabilities of impulse radio technology to overcome the problematical “dead zones” and “multipath interference” associated with a traditional wireless LAN. In another embodiment of the present invention, a wireless network, a mobile node and a method are provided that have an improved roaming scheme due to the use of the positioning and tracking capabilities of impulse radio technology. These embodiments and several other embodiments of the present invention are described herein.
121 Citations
52 Claims
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1. A wireless network comprising:
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a mobile node; and
a plurality of access points each of which is capable of managing a radio coverage area and also capable of enabling an impulse radio wireless link with the mobile node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A mobile node comprising:
an impulse radio unit capable of using impulse radio signals to interact with an access point. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for improving communications within a wireless network using impulse radio technology, said method comprising the step of:
using impulse radio signals to enable communications between a mobile node and an access point. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A wireless network comprising:
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a plurality of access points each of which is capable of managing a radio coverage area and also capable of enabling a wireless link with a mobile node; and
a positioning network capable of determining a position of the mobile node and also capable of informing at least a first access point about the determined position of the mobile node; and
said mobile node interacting with the first access point can now have more lead time to interact with a second access point before said mobile node has handoff communications to the second access point. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A mobile node comprising:
an impulse radio unit capable of interacting with a position network that determines a position of the impulse radio unit and forwards the determined position to a first access point that informs the mobile node when the determined position of the impulse radio unit is within an overlapped area of at least two radio coverage areas of at least two access points, wherein said informed mobile node having a wireless link with the first access point now has more lead time to interact with a second access point before said mobile node has to handoff communications to the second access point. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A method for improving a roaming scheme within a wireless network using impulse radio technology, said method comprising the steps of:
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generating a map including coordinates of a radio coverage of each access point within the wireless network;
determining a position of a mobile node;
informing the mobile node when the determined position of the mobile node is within an overlapped area of the radio coverage areas of at least two access points;
enabling the informed mobile node having a wireless link with a first access point to now have more lead time to interact with a second access point before said mobile node has to handoff communications to the second access point. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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Specification