Cellular communication network with vocoder sharing feature
First Claim
1. A communication network, comprising:
- a group of base stations, each base station being operative to establish an RF communication with a wireless terminal over an air interface, each base station being capable of exchanging with a respective wireless terminal data packets of compressed audio information, each base station being free of a vocoder;
a group of vocoders for selectively encoding or decoding audio information from either one of said base stations, said group of vocoders including less vocoders than base stations in said group of base stations;
a digital network interconnecting said group of base stations and said group of vocoders, said digital network being operative to establish a first pathway to allow at least two base stations of said group of base stations to exchange data packets of compressed audio information, said pathway being free of vocoders, said digital network being further operative to establish a second pathway between a base station and a vocoder to allow a base station of said group of base stations to exchange data packets of compressed audio information with a vocoder of said group of vocoders.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a novel system and a method for improving the voice quality of wireless-to-wireless calls or wireless-to-fixed terminal calls, while permitting a more efficient utilization of network resources. In a first aspect, the invention provides a communication system including a plurality of base stations connected to one another through a digital network (such as TDM, frame relay or ATM). Also, a plurality of vocoder channels, separate from the individual base stations, provide a data flow path from the base stations to wireline terminals first through the digital network via a Mobile Switching Center and finally through a landline network. In a wireless-to-wireless call, the compressed audio signal travels from one base station to another without undergoing any de-compression/compression. This avoids undesirable vocoder tandeming known to degrade voice quality. If the call is identified as being of a wireless-to-wireline terminal nature, the data is directed to a vocoder channel for decompression into PCM samples. The samples are then transmitted to the fixed terminal through the landline network. The main advantage of this network architecture is that fewer vocoders are required by comparison to prior art systems, therefore fewer costs are incurred. In addition, voice quality is improved.
67 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A communication network, comprising:
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a group of base stations, each base station being operative to establish an RF communication with a wireless terminal over an air interface, each base station being capable of exchanging with a respective wireless terminal data packets of compressed audio information, each base station being free of a vocoder; a group of vocoders for selectively encoding or decoding audio information from either one of said base stations, said group of vocoders including less vocoders than base stations in said group of base stations; a digital network interconnecting said group of base stations and said group of vocoders, said digital network being operative to establish a first pathway to allow at least two base stations of said group of base stations to exchange data packets of compressed audio information, said pathway being free of vocoders, said digital network being further operative to establish a second pathway between a base station and a vocoder to allow a base station of said group of base stations to exchange data packets of compressed audio information with a vocoder of said group of vocoders. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification