Radio communication method, radio communication system, wide area radio communication base station, and radio communication terminal

• US 7,310,512 B2
• Filed: 12/17/2002
• Issued: 12/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
• Original Assignee: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
• Inventors: Wu, Gang, Mahmud, Khaled, Inoue, Masugi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cumming, William D.
• Application Number:
  US10/500,189
• Publication Number:
  US 20050118997A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,827 Days
• Field of Search: 455/432.1, 455/432.2, 455/435.2, 455/458, 455/459, 455/461, 455/462, 455/550.1, 455/552.1, 455/426, 455/553.1, 455/554.2, 455/556.1, 455/410, 455/426.1, 370/351, 370/352, 370/353, 370/401, 370/466, 370/493, 340/7.21, 340/7.29, 340/7.25, 340/7.28, 340/313
• US Class Current: 455/410
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0212 managed by the network, e.g. network or access point is master and terminal is slave
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The present invention is intended to provide, for a wireless communication system originally having a calling function, a wireless communication system enabling an audio communication service or the like which requires a calling function, and to provide a wireless communication system which reduces power consumption of a wireless terminal when it is in a standby mode. A communication party, which is a calling side, a network to which the communication party is connected, and a wireless LAN base station, a pager base station, and a pager controller which are connected to the network, and a PC, which is a wireless communication terminal, constitute the present invention. The PC includes a wireless LAN card and a pager card 2. This forms the present invention.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method for performing wireless communication by using a network connecting a wide-area wireless communication system capable of wireless paging and one or more wireless communications systems, between a calling side connecting through the network to any wireless communication system or the wide-area wireless communication system and a called side connecting to another wireless communication system in the network, the method comprising:

a paging-sending step of sending a communication request packet including a calling side ID number on the network and a called side ID number on the network to the called side by the calling side;

a converting step of converting the called side ID number on the network into a called side ID number on the wide-area wireless communication system;

a paging step of paging a receiving means in a wireless communication terminal of the called side by sending a paging packet including the called side ID number on the wide-area wireless communication system and the calling side ID number on the network;

a paging detecting step of detecting, by the wireless communication terminal, paging from the wide-area wireless communication system;

a paging notifying step of notifying, by the receiving means in the wireless communication terminal, wireless-communication-controlling wireless communication means that the receiving means has been paged along with the calling side ID number on the network;

a connecting step of connecting the called side to the calling side by sending a reception notification packet from the wireless communication means to the calling side ID number on the network through any wireless communication system in the network;

a communication step of performing wireless communication between the calling side and the called side; and

a disconnecting step of disconnecting connection to the wide-area wireless communication system by at least one of the calling side and the called side.

2. A wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein, in the communication step, a speech conversation is performed.

10. A wireless communication method according to claim 1, which method further comprises after the paging step, activating step of activating wireless communication means in the wireless communication terminal of the called side when the wireless communication means is in an inactivated state.

11. A wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein the communication step is performed through IP packet.

12. A wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein:

the sending of the paging packet on the wide-area wireless communication system uses a pager system, a cellular system, or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) system, and the paging of the receiving means in the wireless communication system uses a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), PAN (Personal Area Network) or ITS (Intelligent Transport System) system.

13. The wireless communication method according to claim 1, wherein in the paging-sending step, the calling side is connected to the network through a cable communication system.

3. A wireless communication system capable of data communication, comprising:

a paging terminal for a calling side to perform communication;

a network connecting one or more wireless communication systems to which said paging terminal is connected;

a wireless communication base station and a wide-area wireless communication base station which are connected to said network; and

a wireless communication terminal for a called side connecting to another wireless communication system in the network to perform communication,

wherein the wireless communication terminal has a receiving means to extract a calling side ID number on the network in a paging packet including the calling side ID number and being sent from said wide-area wireless communication base station; and

communication means for performing data communication with a calling side having the calling side ID number by using any wireless communication systems capable of data communication with said wireless communication base station.

4. The wireless communication system according to claim 3, wherein, in a configuration in which said calling terminal is capable of communicating audio information on said network, said wireless communication terminal comprises:

audio input/output means for inputting and outputting audio; and

audio conversion means for performing mutual conversion between audio information and data information.

5. The wireless communication system according to claim 3 or 4 wherein:

said wide-area wireless communication base station is a pager base station, a cellular phone base station, or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) base station, and the wireless terminal includes receiving means corresponding to said pager base station; and

said wireless communication system is a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), PAN (Personal Area Network), or ITS (Intelligent Transport System) system.

6. A wireless communication terminal capable of communicating with both a wide-area wireless communication system capable of wireless paging, and a wireless communication system capable of data communication by using a network connecting the wide-area wireless communication system capable of wireless paging and one or more wireless communication systems, the wireless communication terminal comprising:

receiving means for receiving a wireless page in the wide-area wireless communication system;

paging-information recognizing means for recognizing information concerning a calling side ID number on the network and paging details, the information being included in the wireless page; and

wireless communication means for performing wireless communication with the calling side having the calling side ID number in the wireless communication system when said paging-information recognizing means requests wireless communication to start.

7. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 6, further comprising wireless-communication-means activating means wherein, in a configuration in which said wireless communication means in the wireless communication terminal is normally in an inactivated state, when the paging-information means requests wireless communication to start, said wireless-communication-means activating means changes said wireless communication means to be activated.

8. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising:

audio/data conversion means for converting data received by said wireless communication means into audio, and converting audio of the calling side into data; and

audio input/output means for outputting the audio obtained by conversion, and inputting audio of a called side to said audio/data conversion means.

9. The wireless communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein:

said receiving means is a pager system terminal, a cellular system terminal or a PHS (Personal Handyphone System) system terminal; and

, in addition,

said wireless communication means is a network adapter for a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), or PAN (Personal Area Network), or is an ITS (Intelligent Transport System) terminal device.