Simulcasting or multicasting of multimedia call sessions in a LAN/WLAN/PAN via a broadband access gateway

• US 7,986,704 B2
• Filed: 03/16/2010
• Issued: 07/26/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Seshadri, Nambirajan, Bennett, James D., Karaoguz, Jeyhan
• Primary Examiner(s): CHRISS, ANDREW W
• Application Number:
  US12/725,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20100172283A1
• Time in Patent Office: 497 Days
• Field of Search: 370/401
• US Class Current: 370/401
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/18 for broadcast or conference , e.g. multicast
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1026 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/103 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1036 at the edge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1094 Inter-user-equipment sessions transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4126 The peripheral being portable, e.g. PDAs or mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/0007 for multicast or broadcast services, e.g. MBMS multicast or broadcast application services H04W4/06; resource management for broadcast services H04W72/30; connection management for selective distribution or broadcast H04W76/40
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/1446 wherein at least one of the networks is unlicensed
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

A method and system for simulcasting multimedia information via a broadband access gateway and a wireless wide area network, is disclosed. An access device such as, for example, a mobile multimedia handset engaged in a call served by a wireless wide area network may migrate to within the coverage area of an associated broadband access gateway with a wireless interface. The wireless wide area network may simulcast call content to the broadband access gateway via a broadband network. A user in the proximity of the broadband access gateway may be notified of the simulcasting of the call, and may elect to continue the call via a WLAN/PAN-enabled wireless handset or other access device that is compatible with the wired and/or wireless interfaces of the broadband access gateway.

Claims

1. A system for a communication device supporting simulcasting of a wide area network call via a broadband access gateway, the system comprising:

at least one processor for operably coupling to at least one wireless interface and to a broadband network, the at least one processor operable to, at least;

receive from a wireless wide area network via the broadband network, multimedia information also received wirelessly by a first of a plurality of access devices via a simulcast transmission directly from the wireless wide area network, wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network according to predefined associations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway and of the gateway and the wireless wide area network, known to the wireless wide area network;

establish with a second of the plurality of access devices, a call path for communication of the multimedia information to the second of the plurality of access devices; and

communicate the multimedia information to the second of the plurality of access devices.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is operable to, at least:

notify the second of the plurality of access devices of the establishment of the call path for the communication of multimedia information.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein the first and second of the plurality of access devices are the same access device.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is operable to, at least:

filter the multimedia information so as to be compatible with the second of the plurality of access devices.

5. The system according to claim 1 wherein multimedia information comprises one or more of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one wireless interface comprises two wireless interfaces.

9. The system according to claim 1 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), and/or the Internet.

10. The system according to claim 1 wherein the wireless wide area network comprises one or more of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

11. The system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), and/or a wireless handset.

12. The system according to claim 1 wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network using information about physical locations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway.

13. The system according to claim 1 wherein the gateway causes the second of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

14. The system according to claim 1 wherein the wireless wide area network causes the first of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

15. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one processor establishes a call path for communication of the multimedia information with the second of the plurality of access devices, using the at least one wireless interface.

16. The system according to claim 1 wherein the gateway modifies components of the multimedia information from a first encoding to a second encoding and/or from a first format to a second format to make the multimedia information usable by one or both of the first and/or the second of the plurality of access devices.

17. The system according to claim 1 wherein the at least one processor is operable to redirect a portion of the multimedia information.

18. The system according to claim 17 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information comprise information elements not able to be processed by one or both of the first and/or the second of the plurality of access devices.

19. The system according to claim 17 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information is transmitted to a location other than that of the first and the second of the plurality of access devices.

20. The system according to claim 17 wherein redirecting a portion of the multimedia information comprises storing the portion at the gateway.

21. The system according to claim 4 wherein filtering comprises removing information elements from the multimedia information.

22. The system according to claim 1 wherein the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated directly between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

23. The system according to claim 1 wherein the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

24. A system for a communication device supporting simulcasting of a wide area network call via a broadband access gateway, the system comprising:

at least one processor for operably coupling to at least one interface circuit for communicating over a broadband network and with a plurality of access devices, the at least one processor operable to, at least;

receive from a wireless wide area network via the broadband network, multimedia information also received wirelessly by a first of a plurality of access devices via a simulcast transmission directly from the wireless wide area network, wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network according to predefined associations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway and of the gateway and the wireless wide area network, known to the wireless wide area network; and

store the received multimedia information.

25. The system according to claim 24 where the at least one processor is operable to, at least:

establish with a second of the plurality of access devices, a call path for communication of the multimedia information with the second of the plurality of access devices.

26. The system according to claim 25 wherein the first and second of the plurality of access devices are the same access device.

27. The system according to claim 25 wherein the at least one processor is operable to, at least:

filter multimedia information so as to be compatible with the second of the plurality of access devices.

28. The system according to claim 27 wherein filtering comprises removing information elements from the multimedia information.

29. The system according to claim 25 wherein the at least one processor is operable to, at least:

notify the second of the plurality of access devices of the establishment of the call path for the communication of multimedia information.

30. The system according to claim 25 wherein the gateway causes the second of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

31. The system according to claim 24 wherein the interface circuitry comprises at least one wireless interface.

32. The system according to claim 31 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

33. The system according to claim 31 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

34. The system according to claim 31 wherein the at least one wireless interface comprises two wireless interfaces.

35. The system according to claim 24 wherein multimedia information comprises one or more of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

36. The system according to claim 24 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), and/or the Internet.

37. The system according to claim 24 wherein the wireless wide area network comprises one or more of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

38. The system according to claim 24 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), and/or a wireless handset.

39. The system according to claim 24 wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network using information about physical locations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway.

40. The system according to claim 24 wherein the wireless wide area network causes the first of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

41. The system according to claim 24 wherein the gateway modifies components of the multimedia information from a first encoding to a second encoding and/or from a first format to a second format to make the multimedia information usable by one or more of the plurality of access devices.

42. The system according to claim 24 wherein the at least one processor is operable to redirect a portion of the received multimedia information.

43. The system according to claim 42 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information comprises information elements not able to be processed by the first of the plurality of access devices.

44. The system according to claim 42 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information is transmitted to at least a second of the plurality of access devices.

45. The system according to claim 42 wherein redirecting a portion of the multimedia information comprises storing the redirected portion at the gateway.

46. The system according to claim 24 wherein the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated directly between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

47. The system according to claim 24 wherein the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

48. A non-transitory machine readable storage having stored thereon a plurality of code sections, each code section comprising instructions executable by at least one processor operably coupled to at least one wireless interface and to a broadband network, the instructions causing the at least one processor to perform a method of operating a communication device supporting simulcasting of a wide area network call via a broadband access gateway, the method comprising:

receiving from a wireless wide area network via the broadband network, multimedia information also received wirelessly by a first of a plurality of access devices via a simulcast transmission directly from the wireless wide area network, wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network according to predefined associations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway and of the gateway and the wireless wide area network, known to the wireless wide area network;

establishing with a second of the plurality of access devices, a call path for communication of the multimedia information to the second of the plurality of access devices; and

communicating the multimedia information to the second of the plurality of access devices.

49. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the method comprises:

notifying the second of the plurality of access devices of the establishment of the call path for the communication of multimedia information.

50. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the first and second of the plurality of access devices are the same access device.

51. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the method comprises:

filtering the multimedia information so as to be compatible with the second of the plurality of access devices.

52. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 51 wherein filtering comprises removing information elements from the multimedia information.

53. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein multimedia information comprises one or more of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

54. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

55. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

56. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the at least one wireless interface comprises two wireless interfaces.

57. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), and/or the Internet.

58. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the wireless wide area network comprises one or more of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

59. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), and/or a wireless handset.

60. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network using information about physical locations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway.

61. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the gateway causes the second of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

62. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the wireless wide area network causes the first of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

63. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the at least one processor establishes a call path for communication of the multimedia information with the second of the plurality of access devices, using the at least one wireless interface.

64. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the gateway modifies components of the multimedia information from a first encoding to a second encoding and/or from a first format to a second format to make the multimedia information usable by one or both of the first and/or the second of the plurality of access devices.

65. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the at least one processor is operable to redirect a portion of the multimedia information.

66. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 65 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information comprise information elements not able to be processed by one or both of the first and/or the second of the plurality of access devices.

67. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 65 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information is transmitted to a location other than that of the first and the second of the plurality of access devices.

68. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 65 wherein redirecting a portion of the multimedia information comprises storing the portion at the gateway.

69. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated directly between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

70. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 48 wherein the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

71. A non-transitory machine readable storage having stored thereon a plurality of code sections, each code section comprising instructions executable by at least one processor operably coupled to at least one interface circuit for communicating over a broadband network and with a plurality of access devices, the instructions causing the at least one processor to perform a method of operating a communication device supporting simulcasting of a wide area network call via a broadband access gateway, the method comprising:

receiving from a wireless wide area network via the broadband network, multimedia information also received wirelessly by a first of a plurality of access devices via a simulcast transmission directly from the wireless wide area network, wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network according to predefined associations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway and of the gateway and the wireless wide area network, known to the wireless wide area network; and

storing the received multimedia information.

72. The non-transitory machine readable storage medium according to claim 71 wherein the method comprises:

establishing with a second of the plurality of access devices, a call path for communication of the multimedia information with the second of the plurality of access devices.

73. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 72 wherein the first and second of the plurality of access devices are the same access device.

74. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 72 wherein the method comprises:

filtering multimedia information so as to be compatible with the second of the plurality of access devices.

75. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 74 wherein filtering comprises removing information elements from the multimedia information.

76. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 72 wherein the method comprises:

notifying the second of the plurality of access devices of the establishment of the call path for the communication of multimedia information.

77. The computer readable medium non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 72 wherein the gateway causes the second of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

78. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the interface circuitry comprises at least one wireless interface.

79. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 78 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with the Bluetooth V1.2 or compatible personal area network (PAN) specification.

80. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 78 wherein the at least one wireless interface is compliant with one or more of:

the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, and/or 802.11n standards.

81. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 78 wherein the at least one wireless interface comprises two wireless interfaces.

82. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein multimedia information comprises one or more of:

streaming video, broadcast video, voice, digital data, text, digitized audio, digitized still images, digitized video, and/or digitized music.

83. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the broadband network comprises one or more of:

a digital subscriber line (DSL) network, a cable network, a satellite network, a local multipoint distribution system (LMDS), and/or the Internet.

84. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the wireless wide area network comprises one or more of:

a global system for mobile communications (GSM) network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network, and/or a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) network.

85. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the plurality of access devices comprises one or more of:

a mobile multimedia handset, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a personal computer (PC), and/or a wireless handset.

86. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the simulcast transmission to the gateway is initiated by the wireless wide area network using information about physical locations of the first of the plurality of access devices and the gateway.

87. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the wireless wide area network causes the first of the plurality of access devices to periodically alert a user of the simulcasting of the multimedia information to the gateway.

88. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the gateway modifies components of the multimedia information from a first encoding to a second encoding and/or from a first format to a second format to make the multimedia information usable by one or more of the plurality of access devices.

89. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 81 wherein method comprises:

redirecting a portion of the received multimedia information.

90. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 89 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information comprises information elements not able to be processed by the first of the plurality of access devices.

91. The non-transitory machine readable storage to claim 89 wherein the redirected portion of the multimedia information is transmitted to at least a second of the plurality of access devices.

92. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 89 wherein redirecting a portion of the multimedia information comprises storing the redirected portion at the gateway.

93. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the bandwidth of the multimedia information communicated directly between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.

94. The non-transitory machine readable storage according to claim 71 wherein the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the at least one processor via the broadband network is higher than the data resolution of the multimedia information communicated between the wireless wide area network and the first of the plurality of access devices.