Federated multiprotocol communication
First Claim
1. A method for use in a system comprising a mobile unit, a cellular network including a cellular base station, a wireless local area network, and a remote server system that is remotely coupled via an Internet to both the cellular base station and the wireless local area network, wherein the remote server system is configured to facilitate a handoff operation at least in part by managing compatibility issues associated with roaming between different types of networks, the method comprising:
- establishing an application layer communication between a first peer application program resident in the mobile unit and a second peer application program resident in a remote computerized device;
the mobile unit receiving, at least indirectly from the remote server system, one or more executable software modules that are not already present in the mobile unit prior to the handoff operation to be loaded into the mobile unit in order to implement a communication protocol feature to enable the mobile unit to communicate using the communication protocol feature after the handoff operation; and
switching a wireless Internet access connectivity of the mobile unit from the cellular network to the wireless local area network, to thereby effect the handoff operation, wherein the switching is performed at least in part, by switching at least one portion of a lower layer of a protocol stack in the mobile unit from a cellular network air interface protocol software to a wireless local area network air interface protocol software, and the wireless local area network air interface protocol software includes at least one of the one or more executable software modules;
wherein the first peer application program interacts with the protocol stack at an interface point above the at least one portion of the lower layer of the protocol stack affected by the switching, so that the switching is transparent to the first peer application program, and whereby the switching is performed in a manner which results in continuity of the application layer communication before and after the handoff operation.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods, apparatus, and business techniques are disclosed for use in distributed communication systems comprising a plurality of communication protocols. In one embodiment a first air interface is used to initiate communication between a wireless client and a remote server at least partially using a first wireless access point. The server sends the wireless client a stub of a distributed object. The stub is used to instantiate an object class. The object class defines an interface that the remote client can use to communicate with the remote server using an upper layer interface. The distributed object stub also provides an implementation of a software radio configuration for a set of lower protocol layers in a second air interface. The wireless client can thereby communicate with a second wireless access point using said second air interface protocol. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are disclosed that focus on toll-tag and electronic-commerce related highway systems, distributed federated wireless access systems, and wide area wireless system capacity augmentation.
113 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A method for use in a system comprising a mobile unit, a cellular network including a cellular base station, a wireless local area network, and a remote server system that is remotely coupled via an Internet to both the cellular base station and the wireless local area network, wherein the remote server system is configured to facilitate a handoff operation at least in part by managing compatibility issues associated with roaming between different types of networks, the method comprising:
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establishing an application layer communication between a first peer application program resident in the mobile unit and a second peer application program resident in a remote computerized device; the mobile unit receiving, at least indirectly from the remote server system, one or more executable software modules that are not already present in the mobile unit prior to the handoff operation to be loaded into the mobile unit in order to implement a communication protocol feature to enable the mobile unit to communicate using the communication protocol feature after the handoff operation; and switching a wireless Internet access connectivity of the mobile unit from the cellular network to the wireless local area network, to thereby effect the handoff operation, wherein the switching is performed at least in part, by switching at least one portion of a lower layer of a protocol stack in the mobile unit from a cellular network air interface protocol software to a wireless local area network air interface protocol software, and the wireless local area network air interface protocol software includes at least one of the one or more executable software modules; wherein the first peer application program interacts with the protocol stack at an interface point above the at least one portion of the lower layer of the protocol stack affected by the switching, so that the switching is transparent to the first peer application program, and whereby the switching is performed in a manner which results in continuity of the application layer communication before and after the handoff operation. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for use in a system comprising a mobile unit, a cellular network including a cellular base station, a wireless local area network, and a remote server system that is remotely coupled via an Internet to both the cellular base station and the wireless local area network, wherein the remote server system is configured to facilitate a handoff operation at least in part by managing compatibility issues associated with the mobile unit roaming between different types of networks, the method comprising:
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the mobile unit receiving, at least indirectly from the remote server system, one or more executable software modules that are not already present in the mobile unit prior to the handoff operation to be used by the mobile unit to implement a communication protocol feature after the handoff operation; and switching a wireless Internet access connectivity of the mobile unit from the cellular network to the wireless local area network, to thereby effect the handoff operation, wherein the switching is performed at least in part, by switching at least one portion of a lower layer of a protocol stack in the mobile unit from a cellular network air interface protocol software to a wireless local area network air interface protocol software, and at least one layer of the protocol stack beneath a transport layer includes at least one of the one or more executable software modules; wherein the switching is performed in a manner which results in continuity of an upper layer communication between the mobile unit and a remote computerized device coupled to the Internet, to thereby provide transparency of the handoff operation to one or more upper layer software modules involved in the upper layer communication, wherein the upper layer is a layer of the protocol stack above an uppermost layer of the protocol stack involved in the switching. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A method for use in a system comprising a mobile unit, a cellular network including a cellular base station, a wireless local area network, and a remote server system that is remote to both the cellular base station and the wireless local area network and is configured to facilitate a handoff operation at least in part by managing compatibility issues associated with the mobile unit roaming between different types of networks, the method comprising:
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the mobile unit receiving, at least indirectly from the remote server system, one or more executable software modules that are not already present in the mobile unit prior to the handoff operation to be used by the mobile unit to implement a communication protocol feature after the handoff operation; and switching a wireless access connectivity of the mobile unit from the cellular network to the wireless local area network, to thereby effect the handoff operation, wherein the switching is performed at least in part, by switching at least one portion of a lower layer of a protocol stack in the mobile unit from a cellular network air interface protocol software to a wireless local area network air interface protocol software that includes at least one of the one or more executable software modules; wherein the switching is performed in a manner which results in continuity of an upper layer voice communication session between the mobile unit and a remote voice telephony endpoint.
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Specification