HANDHELD DEVICE CAPABLE OF PROVIDING DATA TETHERING SERVICES WHILE MAINTAINING SUITE OF HANDHELD SERVICE FUNCTIONS
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- performing the following with a handheld device;
providing a user of said handheld device with access to a data network; and
,concurrently providing a tethering machine with access to said data network, said tethering machine being communicatively coupled to said handheld device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An improved tethering system is described in which a handheld device can be used by a user to reach the same network that the handheld device also provides access to for a tethering machine. Specifically, as described herein, a handheld device provides a tethering machine with access to a remote network (e.g., the Internet) through a wireless network that the handheld device is communicatively coupled to. Not only is the handheld device able to support multiple data flows between the tethering machine and the remote network, but also, the handheld device is capable of being used by a user to “surf” or otherwise access the same remote network that the handheld device provides the tethering machine with access to. For example, if the remote network is the Internet and the handheld device is a “smart phone”, a user who is holding the smart phone can access the Internet concurrently with one or more applications on the tethering machine that are also access the Internet. Moreover, the smart phone is also capable of concurrently supporting other networked services that the smart phone is designed to provide such as voicemail services, messaging services, and telephony (cell phone) services.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
performing the following with a handheld device; providing a user of said handheld device with access to a data network; and
,concurrently providing a tethering machine with access to said data network, said tethering machine being communicatively coupled to said handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A machine readable storage medium containing program code that when executed by a processing core of a hand held device causes the following method to be performed:
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providing a user of said handheld device with access to a data network; and
,concurrently providing a tethering machine with access to said data network, said tethering machine being communicatively coupled to said handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A handheld device having a storage medium, said storage medium having program code stored thereon that when processed by a processing core of said hand held device causes the following method to be performed:
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providing a user of said handheld device with access to a data network; and
,concurrently providing a tethering machine with access to said data network, said tethering machine being communicatively coupled to said handheld device. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A machine readable storage medium have stored thereon program code that when processed by a processing core of a hand held device causes a method to be performed, said method comprising:
performing the following on said hand held device concurrently with said hand held device providing a user of said handheld device with access to a data network; receiving a packet from a tethering machine; replacing said packet'"'"'s source address with a new source address; transmitting said packet into a wireless network; receiving from said wireless network a response packet; replacing said response packet'"'"'s destination address with said packet'"'"'s source address; and
,transmitting said response packet to said tethering machine. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A handheld device having a storage medium, said storage medium having program code stored thereon that when processed by a processing core of said handheld device causes the following method to be performed:
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instantiating on said hand held device a first interface for accessing a data network; instantiating on said handheld device a second interface for accessing said data network; concurrently providing a user of said hand held device and a machine that is tethered to said hand held device with access to said data network by transmitting packets to and from a wireless network, said first interface being used for data flows associated with said user'"'"'s access to said data network, said second interface being used for data flows associated with said tethering machine'"'"'s access to said data network. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification