Bluetooth access point and remote bluetooth modules for powerline based networking

• US 7,113,763 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2002
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Hynynen, Paavo, Suvitaival, Pekka, Laitinen, Timo M., Heinonen, Tomi, Maillot, Franck
• Primary Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SANTIAGO CORDERO, MARIVELISSE
• Application Number:
  US10/162,290
• Publication Number:
  US 20030224728A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,576 Days
• Field of Search: 455/402, 455 411- 413, 455/561, 455/445, 455/7, 455/11.1, 709/252, 340/310.11, 370/401
• US Class Current: 455/402
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5441 Wireless systems or telephone
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 2203/5445 Local network
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/54 Systems for transmission via power distribution lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/22 with access to wired networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A powerline based network including a powerline, a Bluetooth access point connected to the powerline, and a remote Bluetooth module connected to the powerline capable of communicating with the access point via the powerline. The access point includes a plug for connection to an electrical outlet of the powerline, a Bluetooth communication module for transmitting and receiving wireless data signals, an external network interface for communicating with an external network, and a routing means for routing data signals via the powerline. The remote Bluetooth module includes a plug for connection to an electrical outlet of a powerline, a Bluetooth communication module for transmitting and receiving wireless data signals, and a routing means for routing data signals via the powerline.

Claims

1. A powerline based network, comprising:

a first remote wireless short range radio frequency (RF) communication module (RBTM) for receiving a data signal having a destination wireless short range RF communication device identifier (Device ID) from a first wireless short range RF communication device in a wireless RBTM coverage area of said first RBTM and forwarding the data signal to the powerline;

a wireless short range RF communication access point (AP) for routing the data signal via the powerline to a destination based on the Device ID, wherein a destination RBTM identifier (ID) is appended to the data signal by accessing one or more databases providing associations between each RBTM under control of the AP and Device IDs of wireless short range RF communications devices currently located in the wireless RBTM coverage area of the RBTMs; and

a second RBTM for receiving the routed data signal when the destination RBTM ID is associated with the RBTM and transmitting the data signal to a second wireless short range RF communication device (Device) disposed in a wireless RBTM coverage area of said second RBTM, wherein the Device is associated with the destination Device ID.

2. The network according to claim 1, wherein the RBTM sends a data signal received from the Device to the AP via the powerline.

3. The network according to claim 1, wherein the AP routes a data signal destined for an external network to an external network via an external network interface.

4. The network according to claim 3, wherein the AP replaces a source address of the data signal destined for the external network with an external network address associated with the AP'"'"'s external network interface.

5. The network according to claim 4, wherein the AP stores the source address in a Device/RBTM database.

6. The network according to claim 3, wherein the AP routes a data signal received from the external network to a destination.

7. The network according to claim 6, wherein:

wherein the AP stores an original source address in a Device/RBTM database; and

the AP replaces a destination address with the original source address stored in the Device/RBTM database.

8. The network according to claim 1, wherein the wireless data signal is in accordance with the Bluetooth specification.

9. The network according to claim 1, wherein the wireless data signal is in accordance with one of an IEEE 802.11 Wireless LAN standard specification and the HIPERLAN standard specification.

10. The network according to claim 9, wherein the wireless data signal uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), or Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) techniques.

11. The network according to claim 1, wherein the Device is one of a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable computer, or peripheral device.

12. The network according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of APs.

13. The network according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of RBTMs.

14. The network according to claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of Devices.

15. The network according to claim 1, wherein the Device is capable of communicating directly with the AP when it is disposed in an AP'"'"'s coverage area.

16. The network according to claim 1, further comprising:

a transformer bridge, comprising;

a first detector on an input side of a transformer for filtering and converting data from a data signal received from a powerline during a voltage phase shift;

a conduit for passing the data from the first detector to a second detector; and

a second detector on an output side of a transformer for converting the data to be transmitted over the powerline.

17. The network according to claim 16, wherein the conduit of the transformer bridge is an optical cable, or twisted-pair cable.

18. The network according to claim 1, further comprising:

a current phase bridge, comprising;

a first detector on an input side of a transformer for filtering and converting data from a data signal received from a powerline during a current phase shift;

a conduit for passing the data from the first detector to a second detector; and

a second detector on an output side of a transformer for converting the data to be transmitted over the powerline.

19. The network according to claim 18, wherein the conduit of the current phase bridge is an optical cable, or twisted-pair cable.

20. An accesspoint (AP), comprising:

a plug for connection to an electrical outlet of a powerline;

a local wireless short range radio frequency (RF) communication module (RBTM) for transmitting and receiving a wireless data signal;

an external network interface for communicating with an external network;

a database for storing an address of a remote RBTM and an address of a device disposed in the remote RBTM'"'"'s coverage area; and

routing means for routing a data signal via the powerline to a destination, wherein a destination RBTM identifier (ID) and a destination Device ID are retrieved from the database and appended to the data signal.

21. The AP according to claim 20, wherein the routing means routes a data signal destined for an external network to the external network via an external network interface.

22. The AP according to claim 21, wherein the routing means replaces an original source address of the data signal destined for an external network with the AP'"'"'s external network address.

23. The AP according to claim 22, wherein the routing means stores the original source address in a Device/RBTM database.

24. The AP according to claim 21, wherein the routing means routes a data signal received from the external network to a destination.

25. The AP according to claim 24, wherein:

the routing means stores an original source address in a Device/RBTM database; and

the routing means replaces a destination address from the data signal with the original source address stored in the Device/RBTM database.

26. The AP according to claim 20, wherein the routing means filters data from the data signal received from the powerline.

27. The AP according to claim 26, wherein the routing means converts the data to data packets.

28. The AP according to claim 20, wherein the routing means converts data to be transmitted over the powerline.

29. The AP according to claim 20, further comprising:

a Device database.

30. The AP according to claim 20, further comprising:

a Device/RBTM database.

31. The AP according to claim 20, further comprising:

an electrical outlet for receiving a plug from an electronic device for providing electricity.

32. The AP according to claim 20, further comprising:

configuring means for configuring a powerline based network.

33. A radio frequency communication module (RBTM), comprising:

a plug for connection to an electrical outlet of a powerline;

a wireless short range radio frequency (RF) communication module for transmitting and receiving a wireless data signal, wherein a destination RBTM identifier (ID) and a Device ID are appended to the data signal;

a device database for storing an address of a device disposed in the RBTM'"'"'s coverage area;

an RBTM database for storing an address of the RBTM; and

routing means for wirelessly routing the data signal to a Device associated with the Device ID, wherein the data signal is received from an Access Point (AP) when the destination RBTM ID is associated with the RBTM and the Device ID is stored in the device database.

34. The RBTM according to claim 33, wherein the routing means routes the data signal to a Device associated with a destination Device ID.

35. The RBTM according to claim 33, wherein the routing means routes a data signal received from a Device to an AP via the powerline.

36. The RBTM according to claim 35, wherein the routing means appends an RBTM ID to a data signal received from the Device.

37. The RBTM according to claim 33, wherein the routing means filters data from the data signal received from the powerline.

38. The RBTM according to claim 37, wherein the routing means converts the data to data packets.

39. The RBTM according to claim 33, wherein the routing means converts data to be transmitted over the powerline.

40. The RBTM according to claim 33, further comprising:

an electrical outlet for receiving a plug from an electronic device for providing electricity.

41. A method of communicating between a first Device and a second Device via a powerline based network, comprising:

sending a data signal, from a first Device to a radio frequency communication module (RBTM), wherein the data signal includes a Device identifier (ID);

receiving the data signal, at the RBTM, wherein an RBTM ID is appended to the data signal;

storing the Device ID, at the RBTM, in a Device database;

sending the data signal, from the RBTM to an access point (AP), via a powerline;

receiving the data signal, at the AP, wherein a destination RBTM ID and a destination Device ID are appended to the data signal;

sending the data signal to its destination via the powerline;

receiving the data signal, at a destination RBTM, wherein the destination RBTM ID is associated with the destination RBTM; and

sending the data signal to a second device, which is disposed in communication with the destination RBTM, wherein the second Device is associated with the destination Device ID stored in the Device database.

42. A method of communicating between a Device and an external network via a powerline based network, comprising:

sending a data signal from a Device to a radio frequency communication module (RBTM), wherein the data signal includes a Device identifier (ID);

receiving the data signal, at the RBTM, wherein an RBTM ID is appended to the data signal;

storing the Device ID, at the RBTM, in a Device database;

sending the data signal from the RBTM to an access point (AP) via a powerline;

receiving the data signal, at the AP, wherein the AP replaces an original source address of the data signal with the AP'"'"'s external network address;

storing the original source address, at the AP, in a Device/RBTM database;

sending the data signal, at the AP, to an external network via an external network interface;

receiving a data signal, at the AP, from the external network, wherein the AP replaces a destination address, with the original source address stored in the Device/RBTM database;

sending the data signal, from the AP, to its destination via the powerline;

receiving the data signal, at a destination RBTM, wherein the RBTM ID is associated with the destination RBTM; and

sending the data signal to the Device, which is disposed in communication with the destination RBTM, wherein the Device is associated with the destination Device ID stored in the Device database.

43. An access point (AP), comprising:

a processor;

a memory, communicatively connected to the processor;

a program stored in the memory, including,

a module to route a data signal received via a powerline to a destination, wherein a destination radio frequency communication module (RBTM) identifier (ID) and a destination Device ID are appended to the data signal;

a module to route a data signal destined for an external network to the external network via an external network interface;

a module to replace an original source address of the data signal destined for an external network with the AP'"'"'s external network address;

a module to store the original source address in a Device/RBTM database;

a module to route a data signal received from the external network to a destination; and

a module to replace a destination address from the data signal with the original source address stored in the Device/RBTM database.

44. A radio frequency communication module (RBTM), comprising:

a processor;

a memory, communicatively connected to the processor;

a program stored in the memory, including,

a module to implement a device database for storing an address of a device disposed in the RBTM'"'"'s coverage area;

a module to implement an RBTM database for storing an address of the RBTM;

a module to wirelessly route a data signal to a Device wherein a destination RBTM identifier (ID) and a Device ID are appended to the data signal, and wherein the data signal is received from an access point (AP) when the destination RBTM ID is associated with the RBTM;

a module to route the data signal to a Device associated with the destination Device ID, if the Device ID is stored in the device database;

a module to route another data signal received from the Device to the AP via a powerline; and

a module to append another RBTM ID to the other data signal received from the Device.

45. A powerline based network, comprising:

a first remote wireless short range radio frequency (RF communication routing means for routing a data signal received from a wireless short range RF transmitting means;

a second wireless short range (RF) communication routing means for routing a data signal via the powerline to a destination, wherein a radio frequency communication module (RBTM) identifier (ID) and a Device ID are appended to the data signal;

a remote wireless short range RF communication receiving means for receiving the data signal from the second wireless short range RF communication routing means when the destination RBTM ID is associated with the remote wireless short range RF communication receiving means; and

a wireless short range RF communication receiving means disposed in a remote wireless short range RF communication receiving means coverage area for receiving the data signal from the remote wireless short range RF communication receiving means, wherein the wireless short range RF communication receiving means is associated with the destination Device ID.

46. The network according to claim 45, further comprising:

a transformer means, comprising;

a first detection means for filtering and converting data from a data signal received from a powerline during a voltage phase shift;

a data passing means for passing the data from the first detection means to a second detection means; and

a second detection means for converting the data to be transmitted over the powerline.

47. The network according to claim 45, further comprising:

a current phase means, comprising;

a first detection means for filtering and converting data from a data signal received from a powerline during a current phase shift;

a data passing means for passing the data from the first detection means to a second detection means; and

a second detection means for converting the data to be transmitted over the powerline.

48. A powerline based network, comprising:

means for sending a data signal, from a first Device to a radio frequency communication module (RBTM), wherein the data signal includes a Device identifier (ID);

means for receiving the data signal, at the RBTM, wherein an RBTM ID is appended to the data signal;

means for storing the Device ID, at the RBTM, in a Device database;

means for sending the data signal, from the RBTM to an access point (AP), via a powerline;

means for receiving the data signal, at the AP, wherein a destination RBTM ID and a destination Device ID are appended to the data signal;

means for sending the data signal to its destination via the powerline;

means for receiving the data signal, at a destination RBTM, wherein the destination RBTM ID is associated with the destination RBTM; and

means for sending the data signal to a second device, which is disposed in communication with the destination RBTM, wherein the second Device is associated with the destination Device ID stored in the Device database.

49. A powerline based network, comprising:

means for sending a data signal from a Device to a radio frequency communication module (RBTM), wherein the data signal includes a Device identifier (ID);

means for receiving the data signal, at the RBTM, wherein an RBTM ID is appended to the data signal;

means for storing the Device ID, at the RBTM, in a Device database;

means for sending the data signal from the RBTM to an access point (AP) via a powerline;

means for receiving the data signal, at the AP, wherein the AP replaces an original source address of the data signal with an external network address associated with the AP;

means for storing the original source address, at the AP, in a Device/RBTM database;

means for sending the data signal, at the AP, to an external network via an external network interface;

means for receiving a data signal, at the AP, from the external network, wherein the AP replaces a destination address, with the original source address stored in the Device/RBTM database;

means for sending the data signal, from the AP, to its destination via the powerline;

means for receiving the data signal, at a destination RBTM, wherein the RBTM ID is associated with the destination RBTM; and

means for sending the data signal to the Device, which is disposed in communication with the destination RBTM, wherein the Device is associated with the destination Device ID stored in the Device database.