Method and system for providing remote telephone service via a wireless local area network

• US 7,298,702 B1
• Filed: 12/20/2002
• Issued: 11/20/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LLC (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Everson, John M., Jones, Bryce A., Delker, Jason R. A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Chi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Jagannathan; Melanie
• Application Number:
  US10/325,400
• Time in Patent Office: 1,796 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/235
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1043 Gateway controllers, e.g. media gateway control protocol [MGCP] controllers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/03 Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A method and system for providing remote voice communication service via a wireless local area network (WLAN). A WLAN access point is arranged with predefined security settings to establish a VPN tunnel over a packet network with a VPN terminator on a remote network. The access point then wirelessly receives voice traffic from a wireless terminal operating in the WLAN and sends the voice traffic over the VPN tunnel to the remote network, for transmission to a call control device, which provides connectivity with a voice transport network. And the access point similarly receives voice traffic via the VPN tunnel from the remote network and sends the voice traffic wirelessly to the wireless terminal. Advantageously, multiple wireless terminals operating on the WLAN can engage in voice calls concurrently via the access point.

Claims

1. A voice communication system comprising:

a wireless access point connectable in a local area network (LAN); and

a virtual private network (VPN) terminator on a remote network;

wherein the wireless access point includes an integrated VPN client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein, after the wireless access point is connected in the LAN, the wireless access point uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with the VPN terminator on the remote network via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network,

wherein, after establishing the VPN tunnel, the wireless access point receives outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sends the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receives incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel, and

wherein the VPN terminator receives the outgoing VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the wireless access point and sends the outgoing VoP traffic over the remote network to a call control device that provides connectivity with a voice transport network, and the VPN terminator receives the incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the remote network from the call control device and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the VPN tunnel to the wireless access point, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the voice transport network over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point, the VPN tunnel, the VPN terminator, the remote network and the call control device.

2. The voice communication system of claim 1, wherein a plurality of wireless terminals communicate simultaneously via the wireless access point, over the VPN tunnel.

3. The voice communication system of claim 1, wherein the wireless access point communicates the incoming VoP traffic and outgoing VoP traffic with the wireless terminal according to a WLAN protocol.

4. The voice communication system of claim 3, wherein the WLAN protocol is selected from the group consisting of 802.11, an 802.11 variant, Bluetooth and HomeRF.

5. The voice communication system of claim 1, wherein the incoming VoP traffic and outgoing VoP traffic comprises digitized voice encapsulated in data packets.

6. The voice communication system of claim 1, further comprising a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server on the remote network, wherein the DHCP server assigns to the wireless terminal an IP address in a domain of the remote network.

7. The voice communication system of claim 6, wherein the DHCP server resides functionally on the VPN terminator.

8. The voice communication system of claim 1, wherein the call control device is selected from the group consisting of a voice gateway, a computer telephony interface, a switch, a media gateway controller, a private branch exchange server and a proxy server.

9. The voice communication system of claim 1, wherein the voice transport network is selected from the group consisting of the public switched telephone network and the Internet.

10. The voice communication system of claim 1, further comprising an authentication server on the remote network, wherein the authentication server authenticates the wireless terminal when the wireless terminal seeks to engage in voice communication via the call control device.

11. A voice communication system comprising:

a wireless access point connectable in a local area network (LAN), the wireless access point including an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein, after the wireless access point is connected in the LAN, the wireless access point uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with a VPN terminator on a remote network via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network,

wherein, after establishing the VPN tunnel, the wireless access point receives outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sends the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receives incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel, and

wherein the wireless access point further includes logic operable to receive a communication from the wireless terminal, to determine whether the communication constitutes voice traffic, to pass the communication onto the VPN for transmission to the VPN terminator if the determination is that the communication constitutes voice traffic, and to bar the communication from transmission over the VPN if the determination is that the communication does not constitute voice traffic.

12. The voice communication system of claim 11, wherein the wireless access point further includes logic to correlate the wireless terminal with the VPN tunnel.

13. A voice communication system comprising:

a wireless access point connectable in a local area network (LAN), the wireless access point including an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein, after the wireless access point is connected in the LAN, the wireless access point uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with a VPN terminator on a remote network via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network,

wherein, after establishing the VPN tunnel, the wireless access point receives outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sends the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receives incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sends the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel,

wherein the VPN client is configured with a plurality of predefined sets of security settings, and wherein, after the wireless access point is connected to the LAN, the wireless access point uses the plurality of sets to establish a plurality of VPN tunnels, wherein each VPN tunnel extends from the VPN client to a respective VPN terminator on a respective remote network, including a given VPN tunnel extending from the VPN client to a given VPN terminator on a given remote network, and

wherein the wireless access point further includes VPN-selection logic operable (i) to determine a network identifier in an access request transmitted over the air interface from the wireless terminal, (ii) to use the network identifier as a basis to select the given VPN tunnel from the plurality of VPN tunnels, and (iii) to forward a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) request from the wireless terminal over the selected VPN tunnel.

14. The voice communication system of claim 13, wherein the network identifier comprises a service set identifier (SSID).

15. The voice communication system of claim 13, further comprising a DHCP server on the given remote network, wherein the DHCP server receives the DHCP request and responsively assigns to the wireless terminal an IP address in a domain of the given remote network.

16. A voice communication method comprising:

connecting, to a local area network (LAN), a wireless access point that includes an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein the wireless access point then uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with a VPN terminator on a remote network, via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network;

the wireless access point receiving outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sending the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the remotely located VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receiving incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sending the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel; and

the VPN terminator receiving the outgoing VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the wireless access point and sending the outgoing VoP traffic over the remote network to a call control device that provides connectivity with a voice transport network, and the VPN terminator receiving the incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the remote network from the call control device and sending the incoming VoP traffic over the VPN tunnel to the wireless access point, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the voice transport network over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point, the VPN tunnel, the VPN terminator, the remote network and the call control device.

17. The voice communication method of claim 16, wherein the air interface is a WLAN air interface.

18. The voice communication method of claim 17, wherein the WLAN air interface comprises an interface selected from the group consisting of an 802.11 interface, an 802.11-variant interface, a Bluetooth interface, and a HomeRF interface.

19. The voice communication method of claim 16, wherein the incoming VoP traffic and outgoing VoP traffic comprises digitized voice encapsulated in data packets.

20. The voice communication method of claim 16, further comprising:

a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) server on the remote network assigning to the wireless terminal an IP address in a domain of the remote network.

21. The voice communication method of claim 16, further comprising:

an authentication server on the remote network authenticating the wireless terminal when the wireless terminal seeks to engage in voice communication via the call control device.

22. A voice communication method comprising:

connecting, to a local area network (LAN), a wireless access point that includes an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein the wireless access point then uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with a VPN terminator on a remote network, via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network;

the wireless access point receiving outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sending the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the remotely located VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receiving incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sending the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel; and

the wireless access point determining whether a communication from the wireless terminal constitutes voice traffic, passing the communication onto the VPN for transmission to the VPN terminator if the determination is that the communication constitutes voice traffic, and barring the communication from transmission over the VPN if the determination is that the communication does not constitute voice traffic.

23. The voice communication method of claim 22 further comprising:

the wireless access point correlating the wireless terminal with the VPN tunnel.

24. A voice communication method comprising:

connecting, to a local area network (LAN), a wireless access point that includes an integrated virtual private network (VPN) client configured with a predefined set of VPN security parameters, wherein the wireless access point then uses the predefined set of VPN security parameters to establish a VPN tunnel with a VPN terminator on a remote network, via a communication path comprising the LAN and a packet network; and

the wireless access point receiving outgoing voice-over-packet (VoP) traffic transmitted over an air interface from a wireless terminal and sending the outgoing VoP traffic via the VPN tunnel to the remotely located VPN terminator, and the wireless access point receiving incoming VoP traffic transmitted over the VPN tunnel from the VPN terminator and sending the incoming VoP traffic over the air interface to the wireless terminal, whereby VoP traffic thus flows between the wireless terminal and the VPN terminator over a path comprising the air interface, the wireless access point and the VPN tunnel,

wherein the VPN client is configured with a plurality of predefined sets of security settings, and wherein the method further comprises;

(i) after the wireless access point is connected to the LAN, the wireless access point using the plurality of sets to establish a plurality of VPN tunnels, wherein each VPN tunnel extends from the VPN client to a respective VPN terminator on a respective remote network, including a given VPN tunnel extending from the VPN client to a given VPN terminator on a given remote network;

(ii) the wireless access point reading a network identifier from an access request transmitted over the air interface from the wireless terminal;

(iii) the wireless access point using the network identifier as a basis to select the given VPN tunnel from the plurality of VPN tunnels; and

(iv) the wireless access point forwarding a dynamic host control protocol (DHCP) request from the wireless terminal over the selected VPN tunnel.

25. The voice communication method of claim 24, wherein the network identifier comprises a service set identifier (SSID).

26. The voice communication method of claim 25 further comprising:

a DHCP server on the given remote network receiving the DHCP request and responsively assigning to the wireless terminal an IP address in a domain of the given remote network.