Cellular channel bonding for improved data transmission bandwidth

• US 7,684,807 B2
• Filed: 01/13/2006
• Issued: 03/23/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 06/22/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fleet Connect Solutions LLC (Empire IP LLC)
• Original Assignee: Gallitzin Allegheny LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Schmidt, Dominik J.
• Primary Examiner(s): GELIN, JEAN ALLAND
• Application Number:
  US11/331,787
• Publication Number:
  US 20060176861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,530 Days
• Field of Search: 370/329, 370/226, 370/315, 370/331, 370/335, 370/337, 370/310, 370/322, 370/336, 370/341, 370/348, 455/450, 455/451, 455/452.1, 455/452.2, 455/453, 455/41.2, 455/552.1, 455/550.1, 455/553.1
• US Class Current: 455/450
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0005 Time-frequency
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 5/0094 Indication of how sub-channels of the path are allocated
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/16 Performing reselection for specific purposes
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/0453 Resources in frequency domain, e.g. a carrier in FDMA
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/20 Control channels or signalling for resource management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/21 in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/23 in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems and methods wirelessly communicate data over a plurality of cellular channels by requesting an allocation of cellular frequency channels from a mobile station to a base station; allocating available frequency channels in response to the request from the mobile station; and bonding the available frequency channels to communicate data.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

a mobile station receiving an allocation of at least two cellular frequency channels;

the mobile station aggregating available wireless channels by bonding together the at least two cellular frequency channels and a short-range radio channel to increase transmission bandwidth; and

the mobile station communicating a set of data between the mobile station and a base station using the bonded at least two cellular frequency channels and the short-range radio channel concurrently.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically bonding the short-range radio channel with the at least two cellular frequency channels based on a current traffic load.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically bonding the short-range radio channel with the at least two cellular frequency channels based on priority of service.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the data comprises video information.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving from the mobile station a request to increase the transmission bandwidth.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the mobile station determining a number of the cellular frequency channels to request based on the requested transmission bandwidth.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising deallocating the at least two cellular frequency channels after communicating the data.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the mobile station communicating data and voice information simultaneously over the bonded cellular frequency and short-range radio channels.

9. An apparatus comprising:

a processor;

a first transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with a base station over cellular frequency channels;

a second transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with the base station over a short-range radio channel; and

a circuit configured to aggregate by bonding together a plurality of the cellular frequency channels and the short-range radio channel to increase transmission capacity;

wherein the first and second transceivers are further configured to communicate a set of data to the base station using the aggregated plurality of cellular frequency channels and the short-range radio channel concurrently.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the first and second transceivers are configured to communicate multimedia files via the aggregated channels.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile station.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the circuit is configured to aggregate the channels based upon demand.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the processor comprises an integrated circuit having a reconfigurable processor core that includes a plurality of digital signal processors (DSPs).

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the reconfigurable processor core includes one or more reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the circuit comprises a router coupled to the reconfigurable processor core.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the router is configured to aggregate the plurality of the cellular frequency channels and the short-range wireless channel.

17. A mobile station comprising:

a processor;

a long-range transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with a base station over cellular frequency channels;

a short-range transceiver coupled to the processor and configured to communicate with the base station over a short-range radio channel;

means for aggregating wireless channels including bonding together a plurality of the cellular frequency channels and the short-range radio channel to increase data communication bandwidth between the mobile station and the base station; and

means for transmitting a set of data to the base station using the bonded short-range radio channel and the plurality of cellular frequency channels concurrently.

18. The mobile station of claim 17, wherein the processor comprises a reconfigurable processor core including a plurality of digital signal processors (DSPs).

19. The mobile station of claim 18, wherein the reconfigurable processor core includes one or more reduced instruction set computer (RISC) processors.

20. The mobile station of claim 18, wherein the means for bonding comprises a router coupled to the reconfigurable processor core.