Enhanced mobility and address resolution in a wireless premises based network
First Claim
1. A communication network providing wireless communication within a premises, the wireless network comprising:
- a wired network operating according to a wired protocol, the wired network having a first network segment and a second network segment;
a wireless terminal having a wired network protocol address;
a first access point coupled to the first network segment;
a second access point coupled to the first network segment; and
a data link tunnel that communicatively couples the second access point to the first access point when the wireless terminal is in wireless communication with the second access point.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A premises based wireless network having a multi-segment wired network and a plurality of wireless access points connected to the wired network. The wired network operates according to a wired network protocol which may be the Internet Protocol. Wireless terminals communicate with the wireless access points according to a wireless network protocol, inconsistent with the wired network protocol. Each of the wireless terminals has a wired network address corresponding to one of the wireless access points. Each wireless terminal also has an address according to the wired network protocol. As the wireless terminals roam throughout the premises, protocol tunnels route communications between wireless terminals, thereby preserving communications while roaming by allowing the wireless terminals to retain their wired network addresses during the ongoing communications. The wireless terminals are connected to wireless access points. These wireless access points are in turn linked by data link tunnels to a root access point for a subnet. The data link tunnels enable the root access point for a subnet to forward data to the wireless access points. The forwarded data is not bridged onto the particular subnet that connects the wireless access point and the root access point for that subnet.
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Citations
39 Claims
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1. A communication network providing wireless communication within a premises, the wireless network comprising:
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a wired network operating according to a wired protocol, the wired network having a first network segment and a second network segment;
a wireless terminal having a wired network protocol address;
a first access point coupled to the first network segment;
a second access point coupled to the first network segment; and
a data link tunnel that communicatively couples the second access point to the first access point when the wireless terminal is in wireless communication with the second access point. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A communication network comprising:
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a wired network having a first network subnet and a second network subnet;
a first tunnel coupling the first network subnet with the second network subnet;
a roaming terminal communicatively coupled with the firs network subnet; and
a second tunnel concatentated with the first tunnel to provide a logical extension of the first subnet for the roaming terminal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A communication network comprising:
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a wired network having a first network subnet and a second network subnet;
a first tunnel coupling the first network subnet with the second network subnet;
a roaming terminal communicatively coupled with the first network subnet; and
a second tunnel concatentated with the first tunnel to provide a logical extension of the first subnet for the roaming terminal without requiring the dynamic assignment of pseudo addresses. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A communication network providing wireless communication within a premises, the wireless network comprising:
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a wired network operating according to a wired protocol, the wired network having at least a first network segment and a second network segment;
a wireless terminal having a wired network protocol address;
a first fixed access point connected to the second network segment;
a second fixed access point connected to the second network segment; and
a data link tunnel that communicatively couples the first and the second fixed access points via wireless communications only such that bridging communication data onto the second network segment is avoided when communications between one of the fixed access points and the wireless terminal require communication with the other fixed access point. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. A communication network comprising:
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a wired network having a first network access point and a second network access point;
a data link tunnel communicatively coupling the first network access point with the second network access point via wireless communications only; and
a roaming terminal communicatively coupled to the first network access point wherein communications from the roaming terminal pass within the data link tunnel to the second network access point. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification