System and associated method of operation for managing bandwidth in a wireless communication system supporting multimedia communications
First Claim
1. A communication system for providing wireless voice and multimedia communications to a plurality of wireless mobile units, the communication system comprising:
- a base station controller including;
a wired Internet connection that provides access to the Internet;
a public switched telephone system connection;
a base station coupled to the base station controller, the base station providing wireless coverage within a cell, the base station having a bandwidth for providing the wireless coverage, the wireless coverage facilitating both voice communications and multimedia communications; and
a wireless service interface coupled to the base station controller and to the base station, the wireless service interface comprising;
a bandwidth allocator that allocates the bandwidth among transmit multimedia communications, receive multimedia communications, transmit voice communications and receive voice communications in response to requirements of the plurality of wireless units;
a multimedia communication segmentation unit that segments outgoing multimedia communications for transmission according to allocated bandwidth; and
a multimedia communication assembly unit that reconstructs incoming segmented multimedia communications according to allocated bandwidth.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A communication system provides wireless voice and multimedia communications and includes a base station, a plurality of wireless mobile units and a bandwidth allocator. The base station provides wireless coverage throughout a service area and has a bandwidth for providing the wireless coverage. The plurality of wireless mobile units operate within the service area and communicate with the base station to transmit and receive both voice communications and multimedia communications. The bandwidth allocator selectively allocates the bandwidth in response to wireless multimedia communication requirements to achieve a minimum transmission rate for multimedia communications. The communication system may include a plurality of channels, each having a channel bandwidth with the bandwidth allocator selectively allocating the channels in response to the multimedia communication requirements to achieve the minimum transmission rate. The base station may also include a plurality of data modems, each of the data modems providing a respective portion of the bandwidth, the bandwidth allocator selectively allocating the plurality of data modems of the base station to achieve the minimum transmission rate. Further, at least one of the wireless mobile units may include a plurality of data modems with the bandwidth allocator selectively allocating the data modems of the wireless mobile unit to achieve the minimum transmission rate. In such case, each of the of the plurality of modems may be assigned a channel. In some constructions, the bandwidth allocator may allocate time divisions of the plurality of channels bandwidth while in other constructions may allocate allocating code divisions of the bandwidth to achieve the minimum transmission rate.
326 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A communication system for providing wireless voice and multimedia communications to a plurality of wireless mobile units, the communication system comprising:
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a base station controller including; a wired Internet connection that provides access to the Internet; a public switched telephone system connection; a base station coupled to the base station controller, the base station providing wireless coverage within a cell, the base station having a bandwidth for providing the wireless coverage, the wireless coverage facilitating both voice communications and multimedia communications; and a wireless service interface coupled to the base station controller and to the base station, the wireless service interface comprising; a bandwidth allocator that allocates the bandwidth among transmit multimedia communications, receive multimedia communications, transmit voice communications and receive voice communications in response to requirements of the plurality of wireless units; a multimedia communication segmentation unit that segments outgoing multimedia communications for transmission according to allocated bandwidth; and a multimedia communication assembly unit that reconstructs incoming segmented multimedia communications according to allocated bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. In a communication system for providing wireless voice and multimedia communications that includes a base station providing a bandwidth of wireless coverage within a service area to a plurality of wireless units operating within the service area, a method of operation comprising the steps of:
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receiving bandwidth requirement requests from at least some of the plurality of wireless units, the bandwidth requirement requests including multimedia bandwidth requirements; allocating the bandwidth among the plurality of mobile units based upon the bandwidth requirement requests, the bandwidth allocated among transmit multimedia communications, receive multimedia communications, transmit voice communications and receive voice communications; segmenting outgoing multimedia communications for transmission to a wireless unit of the plurality of wireless units according to a respective allocated bandwidth; transmitting the segmented multimedia communications to the wireless unit using the respective allocated bandwidth; receiving the segmented multimedia communications at the wireless unit; and reconstructing the segmented multimedia communications at the wireless unit. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 35)
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26. A wireless unit for operation with a communication system that includes at least one base station that supports wireless multimedia communications within a corresponding cell, the wireless unit comprising:
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terminal circuitry; a radio frequency interface coupled to the terminal circuitry that is capable of wirelessly interfacing with the base station; and a multimedia interface unit coupled to the terminal circuitry and to the radio frequency interface, the multimedia interface comprising; a bandwidth negotiation unit that interacts with the base station to obtain an assignment of an allocated bandwidth for transmit multimedia communications, receive multimedia communications, transmit voice communications and receive voice communications; a multimedia communication segmentation unit that segments outgoing multimedia communications for transmission according to the allocated bandwidth; and a multimedia communication assembly unit that reconstructs incoming segmented multimedia communications according to the allocated bandwidth. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 36)
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Specification