Systems and methods for communication

• US 20050163093A1
• Filed: 12/21/2004
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/28/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tamiras Per Pte Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: National University of Singapore
• Inventors: Krishna, Raj, Garg, Hari Krishna
• Granted Patent: US 7,542,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/342
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 25/14 Channel dividing arrangements , i.e. in which a single bit stream is divided between several baseband channels and reassembled at the receiver
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections

Abstract

A method of conducting communication over one or more communication networks without making any change to the communication network infrastructure, the method comprising: selectively establishing L≧2 communication paths between first and second devices, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of the communication networks; splitting a communication data stream from the first device into at least L sub-streams; transmitting the sub-streams via the L communication paths; and combining the sub-streams for processing at the second device.

Claims

1. A method of conducting communication over one or more communication networks, the method comprising:

selectively establishing L≧

2 communication paths between first and second devices, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of the communication networks;

splitting a communication data stream from the first device into at least L sub-streams;

transmitting the sub-streams via the L communication paths; and

combining the sub-streams for processing at the second device.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication paths comprise communication paths of different types.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two communication paths are provided by the same communication networks.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the communication paths from one communication network comprise communication paths of different types.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least two sub-streams are transmitted over the same communication paths.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first, second, or both devices comprise a mobile station or a data server.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the mobile station comprises one or more of a group consisting of a phone, a mobile phone, a PDA, a desktop computer, and a laptop computer.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the data server comprises an intermediate data server connected to a further data server, the Internet, or both via dedicated respective data transfer links.

9. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising determining location information about the first, second, or both devices based on two or more of the communication paths.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein said two or more communication paths are from different communication networks.

11. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising adding further data to the communication data stream.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the further data is added prior to, after, or both prior and after the splitting of the communication data stream.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the further data is added during the splitting of the communication data stream.

14. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the further data is utilized to improve reliability of the communication.

15. The method as claimed in claim 14, comprising utilizing coding of the communication data stream to improve the reliability of the communication.

16. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the further data is utilized to improve a security of the communication.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16, comprising utilizing one or more of a group consisting of encryption, path hopping, and spread spectrum communications, to improve the security of the communication.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein two or more sub-streams are encrypted using different encryption codes.

19. The method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising compressing the data stream, at least one sub-stream or both.

20. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more of the communication paths comprise a varying number of communication channels between end-points of the communication path.

21. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more of the communication paths comprise one or more communication channels provided by one or more communication networks under a roaming configuration.

22. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication networks comprise one or more of a group consisting of a cellular/mobile network, a wired network, and a wireless network.

23. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication paths comprise one or more of a group consisting of GSM, EDGE, GPRS, 3G, CDMA, WLAN, LAN, cable, DSL, ADSL, dial-up, and UWB.

24. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the splitting of the communication data stream from the first device into at least L sub-streams is based on at least one parameter.

25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the parameters comprise one or more user preferences.

26. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the parameters comprise one or more monitored characteristics of respective data paths.

27. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the splitting of the communication data is adjusted during transfer depending on the parameters.

28. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more data protocols used in the transmission of data are adapted at end points only in transmitting and receiving the at least L sub-streams.

29. The method as claimed in claim 28, wherein the data protocols comprise existing protocols, dedicated protocols, or both.

30. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the adaptation of the data protocols is dependent on an application, performance criteria, or both.

31. A communication device comprising:

means for selectively establishing L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks;

means for splitting a communication data stream from the communication device into at least L sub-streams; and

means for transmitting the sub-streams via the L communication paths to the further device.

32. A communication device comprising:

means for selectively establishing L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks;

means for receiving data sub-streams via the L communication paths; and

means for combining the sub-streams into a communication data stream from the further device for processing at the communication device.

33. An ancillary device for use with a communication device, the ancillary device comprising:

means for instructing the communication device to selectively establish L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one or more communication networks;

means for splitting a communication data stream from the communication device into at least L sub-streams; and

means for instructing the communication device to transmit the sub-streams via the L communication paths to the further device.

34. An ancillary device for use with a communication device, the ancillary device comprising:

means for instructing the communication device to selectively establish L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks; and

means for combining data sub-streams received at the communication device via the L communication paths into a communication data stream from the further device for processing at the communication device.

35. A communication device comprising:

a transceiver selectively establishing L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks;

a splitter splitting a communication data stream from the communication device into at least L sub-streams; and

wherein the transceiver transmits the sub-streams via the L communication paths to the further device.

36. A communication device comprising:

a transceiver for selectively establishing L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks;

wherein the transceiver receives data sub-streams via the L communication paths; and

a combiner for combining the sub-streams into a communication data stream from the further device for processing at the communication device.

37. An ancillary device for use with a communication device, the ancillary device comprising:

a processor for instructing the communication device to selectively establish L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one or more communication networks;

a splitter for splitting a communication data stream from the communication device into at least L sub-streams; and

wherein the processor instructs the communication device to transmit the sub-streams via the L communication paths to the further device.

38. An ancillary device for use with a communication device, the ancillary device comprising:

a processor for instructing the communication device to selectively establish L≧

2 communication paths to a further device, each communication path comprising one or more communication channels of one of one or more communication networks; and

a combiner for combining data sub-streams received at the communication device via the L communication paths into a communication data stream from the further device for processing at the communication device.