System and method for delivering data services in integrated wireless networks

• US 20040203737A1
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Published: 10/14/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kibria, Masud, Shaw, Venson, Myhre, John
• Application Number:
  US10/324,667
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203737A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

A system and method for allowing a mobile telephone or mobile terminal to interact with its wireless telephone/data service, including conventional 2G and 3G systems (hereinafter the “wireless network”), and also to interact with local-area services such as WLAN, BlueTooth, and personal area networks, and to communicate with and use systems and peripherals available on those networks. Since the mobile terminal is a trusted device on the wireless network, it also then acts as a gateway to allow other local-area services and devices to connect and communicate with the wireless network. The user can select, and the wireless network can determine, data services that correspond to local-area devices. Once selected, the data service is delivered to the local-area device via the wireless network and the mobile terminal.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

circuitry for connecting to a wide-area wireless network system and communicating with a first device on the wide-area wireless network system;

circuitry for connecting to a local-area wireless network system and communicating with a second device on the local-area wireless network system;

means for determining a data service corresponding to the second device; and

means for delivering the data service from the first device to the second device, using the mobile terminal as a gateway between the wire-area wireless system and the local-area wireless system.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising means for receiving a user selection of the data service.

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising means for receiving a user selection of the second device.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the data service is a multimedia file.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the data service is a streaming video.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the data service cannot be presented to a user by the mobile terminal.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the second device is a multimedia-capable data processing system.

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the second device is a printer.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the wide-area wireless network is a cellular packet-switched network.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the local-area network is a WLAN network

11. A method for data communications, comprising:

communicating, in a wide-area wireless network, with a mobile terminal;

receiving, from the mobile terminal, data identifying at least one local-area wireless device that is communicating with the mobile terminal;

storing a profile corresponding to the local-area wireless device;

determining at least one data service corresponding to the local-area wireless device; and

delivering the data service to the local-area wireless device via the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal acts as a gateway between the local-area wireless device and the wide-area wireless network.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving a user selection of the data service.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving a user selection of the local-area wireless device.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the data service is a multimedia file.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the data service is a streaming video.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the data service cannot be presented to a user by the mobile terminal.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the local-area wireless device is a multimedia-capable data processing system.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the local-area wireless device is a printer.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the wide-area wireless network is a cellular packet-switched network.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the local-area wireless device communicates with the mobile terminal via a WLAN network.