Voice channel control of wireless packet data communications

• US 7,733,853 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2009
• Issued: 06/08/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Karma Automotive LLC (Wanxiang Group Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Airbiquity Incorporated
• Inventors: Moinzadeh, Kamyar, Quimby, David C., Garret, Darrin L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jung, Min
• Application Number:
  US12/372,255
• Publication Number:
  US 20090154444A1
• Time in Patent Office: 476 Days
• Field of Search: 370/346, 370/449, 370/493, 370/496, 370/353
• US Class Current: 370/353
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/14 Multichannel or multilink protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 68/00 User notification, e.g. alerting and paging, for incoming communication, change of service or the like
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/00 Connection management

Abstract

A data session with a wireless device ordinarily cannot be initiated from the network side because the wireless device has no predetermined IP or other network address. Methods are disclosed for instead causing the wireless unit to initiate a data session with a target destination, thereby obviating the IP addressing problem. A voice call is first initiated by a requester application to a remote wireless unit. The requester transmits a request message to the remote wireless unit via the wireless voice channel using in-band techniques; preferably including a payload in the polling message that identifies the target destination. In response, the remote wireless unit initiates a packet data session with the target destination.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing a voice call session between a requester unit and a wireless unit, the voice call session established on a wireless voice channel of a telecommunications network;

after the voice call session is established between the requester unit and the wireless unit, transmitting a digital polling message from the requester unit to the wireless unit via the wireless voice channel;

including a payload in the digital polling message, wherein the digital polling message is transmitted in-band over the wireless voice channel separately from an out-of-band control channel, and wherein the payload is encoded as audio frequency signals selected to pass through the wireless voice channel unobstructed by vocoders operating in the telecommunications network; and

in the wireless unit, responsive to the digital polling message, initiating a data session with a target.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a location of the target is carried in the payload in the digital polling message so as to enable the wireless unit to initiate the data session.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the payload in the digital polling message includes a network address of the target usable for initiating the data session with the target.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the network address comprises a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) carried in the payload, the URL represented by the audio frequency signals.

5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the network address comprises an Internet Protocol (IP) address carried in the payload, the IP address represented by the audio frequency signals.

6. A method for pulling data from a remote wireless unit, the method comprising:

transmitting a digital polling message to the wireless unit;

including a target address in the polling message; and

in the wireless unit, in response to the polling message, initiating a wireless network data session with the target address in response to receiving the digital polling message and without manual user intervention at the wireless unit, the wireless network data session to be used by a computing device associated with the target address to pull data from the wireless unit over the wireless network data session.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the polling message is transmitted in-band in a voice channel call via a digital wireless telecommunications network, and the polling message includes at least one delivery parameter, the delivery parameter represented by the audio frequency signals.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the delivery parameter specifies at least one of a selected wireless network packet data service, a data rate and a priority parameter.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the polling message identifies a type of data to be transmitted from the wireless unit to the target address in the wireless data session.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the type of data to be transmitted is data indicating a location of the wireless unit.

11. An apparatus, comprising:

a processor coupled to a telecommunications network; and

a polling requester application executable on the processor for sending a polling message through a wireless voice channel of the telecommunications network, wherein the polling message is represented by audio frequency signals selected to pass through the wireless voice channel unobstructed by vocoders operating in the telecommunications network;

wherein the polling message is configured to cause a wireless unit to initiate a data session with a target responsive to recovering the polling message from the voice channel.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the polling requester application transmits a payload in the polling message.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the polling requester application identifies the target in the payload and information for initiating the data session with the target.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the payload includes indicia of at least one data session parameter.

15. A machine readable medium encoded with instructions that, if executed by a processor, result in:

processing a received voice call in a wireless unit via a wireless telecommunications network;

recovering a request message from the voice call, wherein the request message is encoded as audio frequency signals transmitted in-band in a wireless voice channel of the received voice call, wherein the audio frequency signals are received over the wireless voice channel and separately from an out-of-band control channel; and

responsive to the recovered request message, initiating a data session between the wireless unit and a target resource for uploading data using a digital wireless data service.

16. The machine readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the instructions further result in downloading data to the wireless unit in the data session.

17. The machine readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the data session is initiated with a predetermined network resource in response to recovering the request message.

18. The machine readable medium according to claim 17, wherein the network resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Locator or an Internet Protocol address in the request message.

19. The machine readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the recovered request message includes a network address of the target resource.

20. The machine readable medium according to claim 15 wherein the wireless unit comprises a cell phone.