Method and apparatus for data communication utilizing the North American Terrestrial System

• US 7,194,523 B2
• Filed: 04/08/2004
• Issued: 03/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: AT&T Mobility II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cingular Wireless II LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nelson, Eric A., O'Meara, Michael B.
• Primary Examiner(s): WINDER, PATRICE L
• Application Number:
  US10/819,944
• Publication Number:
  US 20040193732A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,076 Days
• Field of Search: 709/218, 709/228, 709/246, 370/310.1, 370/331, 701/3, 701/14
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18506 Communications with or from aircraft, i.e. aeronautical mobile service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/063 Content adaptation, e.g. replacement of unsuitable content
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/25 of the same type
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0236 Filtering by address, protocol, port number or service, e.g. IP-address or URL
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/02 Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/06 Airborne or Satellite Networks space-based or airborne stations H04B7/185

Abstract

A method and apparatus for enhancing the current data communication capabilities of the North American Terrestrial System (NATS) Network is presented. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, an airborne data server (ADS) is added to the airborne architecture of the current NATS Network and a ground data gateway (GDG) is added to the ground-based architecture of the current NATS Network. The ADS functions as a router/gateway connected to many local area networks (LANs) aboard the aircraft. The ADS provides for the automation of data services such as scheduling, routing and translation. The GDG is the central hub for the network and dispatcher of data to customer premises or to the aircraft.

Claims

1. A method for providing Internet services utilizing a network comprising a first server adapted to be connected to a North American Terrestrial System (NATS) radio set and a second server adapted to be connected to a plurality of ground stations, wherein data packets are exchanged between an application program running on the first server and an application program running on the second server via a wireless connection between the NATS radio set and at least one of the plurality of ground stations, and wherein both the first server and the second server are adapted to transmit data to and receive data from devices outside the network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from a general purpose computer, a query for Internet data;

generating a response including said Internet data, if said response may be generated utilizing data currently available;

generating said response including said Internet data utilizing data uploaded via an air-to ground link to an appropriate ground-based device, if said response may not be generated utilizing data currently available;

sending said response to said general purpose computer;

updating said currently available data by periodically uploading time-sensitive update data via an air-to ground link to at least one ground-based device;

updating flight avionics software via said air-to-ground link; and

transmitting voice-over-Internet protocol packets via said air-to-ground link.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first server is an airborne data server (ADS) and said second server is a ground data gateway (GDG).

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said query is received via a private branch exchange (PBX), said PBX interconnecting at least one telephone handset to said ADS.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said PBX is included within the NATS radio set.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said PBX is included within a cabin telephony unit (CTU).

6. The method of claim 2, wherein said ADS includes at least one modem, said at least one modem terminating a telephone call from said general purpose computer, said telephone call utilized to establish data communication between said general purpose computer and said ADS.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein Internet data includes at least one from the group of:

POP3 data, SMTP data;

IMAP e-mail data, a web page, HTTP data, and multimedia data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said operations of said second server further include validation of packets in a private message format.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said operations of said second server further include message encryption.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said operations of said second server further include source/destination IP address and port validation to enable trusted services and disable mistrusted services.

7. A computer-readable medium embodying instructions to perform a method utilizing a network comprising a first server adapted to be connected to a North American Terrestrial System (NATS) radio set and a second server adapted to be connected to a plurality of ground stations, wherein data packets are exchanged between an application program running on the first server and an application program running on the second server via a wireless connection between the NATS radio set and at least one of the plurality of ground stations, and wherein both the first server and the second server are adapted to transmit data to and receive data from devices outside the network, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving, from a general purpose computer, a query for Internet data;

generating a response including said Internet data, if said response may be generated utilizing data currently available;

generating said response including said Internet data utilizing data uploaded via an air-to ground link to an appropriate ground-based device, if said response may not be generated utilizing data currently available;

sending said response to said general purpose computer;

updating said currently available data by periodically uploading time-sensitive update data via an air-to ground link to at least one ground-based device;

updating flight avionics software via said air-to-ground link; and

transmitting voice-over-Internet-protocol packets via said air-to-ground link.