Expanding the scope of coverage of wireless cellular telephone systems into regions beyond the cellular array areas by proliferating the installation of transmission repeaters into automobiles that may be randomly driven within these regions

• US 7,003,261 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2002
• Issued: 02/21/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Malik, Nadeem, Dietz, Timothy Alan, Kobrosly, Walid
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): DOAN, PHUOC HUU
• Application Number:
  US10/205,674
• Publication Number:
  US 20040203706A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,307 Days
• Field of Search: 455/11.1, 455/16, 455/561, 455/560, 455/434, 455/440, 455/8, 455/527, 455/512, 455/13.1, 455/15, 455/446, 455/422.1, 340/905
• US Class Current: 455/11.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/30 by measured or perceived connection quality data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/302 due to low signal strength
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/04 adapted for relaying to or from another terminal or user

Abstract

If RF transmission repeater units could be mounted in as many automobiles as possible, particularly automobiles owned by drivers residing in low population regions, the likelihood would increase that there could be established wireless transmission paths between a wireless telephone unit and cellular array base stations, including a set of at least one automobile mounted repeater unit intermediate and independent of said wireless telephone unit and said base station. With enough automobiles with mounted repeaters travelling in the remoter regions, there would be a reasonable likelihood that such sequential sets of repeaters connecting to base towers of adjacent cellular arrays could be randomly established. The situation could occur that two or more alternate paths could be establishable between a cellular telephone and cell base stations via two different sets of repeaters. In such a case, as set forth hereinafter in greater detail, there are likely to be different cell base stations, each for a different path. In such a case, any conflict could be resolved by selecting the path having the best transmission attributes. This conflict could readily be resolved through conventional cellular telephone system technology that switches moving cell phones within cellular array areas that “hand-off” or switch a moving cell phone as it moves from conventional cell to cell. This hand-off is based upon attributes like signal-to-noise ratio or strength of signal.

Claims

1. In cellular telephone systems having arrays of cellular areas with a base station in each area, a method of expanding the scope and usage of the system into regions beyond the cellular areas of the system comprising:

offering economic incentives to drivers of automotive vehicles to mount repeaters in the vehicles;

mounting said repeaters on numbers of vehicles so great that there is a substantial likelihood that randomly driven vehicles with repeaters will be in the regions beyond the cellular areas of the system;

establishing two alternate transmission paths between a mobile wireless telephone in said regions beyond and a base station in a cellular area via a sequential set of a plurality of said repeaters mounted in said randomly driven vehicles; and

selecting the transmission path having the best transmission attributes based upon the signal-to-noise ratio of the transmission.

2. In cellular telephone network having arrays of cellular areas with a base station in each area, a system for expanding the scope and usage of the system into regions beyond the cellular areas of the system comprising:

means for offering economic incentives to drivers of automotive vehicles to mount repeaters in the vehicles;

means for mounting said repeaters on numbers of vehicles so great that there is a substantial likelihood that randomly driven vehicles with repeaters will be in the regions beyond the cellular areas of the system;

means for establishing two alternate transmission paths between a mobile wireless telephone in said regions beyond and a base station in a cellular area via a sequential set of a plurality of said repeaters mounted in said randomly driven vehicles; and

means for selecting the transmission path having the best transmission attributes based upon the signal-to-noise ratio of the transmission.

3. A computer program having code recorded on a computer readable medium for expanding the scope and usage of a cellular telephone system having arrays of cellular areas with a base station in each area into regions beyond the cellular areas of the system comprising:

means for offering economic incentives to drivers of automotive vehicles to mount repeaters in the vehicles;

means for mounting said repeaters on numbers of vehicles so great that there is a substantial likelihood that randomly driven vehicles with repeaters will be in the regions beyond the cellular areas of the system;

means for establishing two alternate transmission paths between a mobile wireless telephone in said regions beyond and a base station in a cellular area via a sequential set of a plurality of said repeaters mounted in said randomly driven vehicles; and

means for selecting the transmission path having the best transmission attributes based upon the signal-to-noise ratio of the transmission.