Multi-access terminal with capability for simultaneous connectivity to multiple communication channels

• US 8,107,457 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2009
• Issued: 01/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/19/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Trustees of The Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens Institute Of Technology)
• Original Assignee: The Trustees of The Stevens Institute of Technology (Stevens Institute Of Technology)
• Inventors: White, Patrick E., Girard, Nicolas
• Primary Examiner(s): Karikari, Kwasi
• Application Number:
  US12/399,338
• Publication Number:
  US 20090168701A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,061 Days
• Field of Search: 709/230, 709/228, 709/220, 370/236, 370/396, 370/474, 370/350, 370/469, 370/467, 370/351, 370/252, 370/238, 370/328, 370/465, 370/437, 370/310, 370/352, 370/329, 370/331, 370/400, 455/456.2, 455/435.2, 455/442, 455/443
• US Class Current: 370/350
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/5692 Selection among different networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/00 Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/10 Flow control between communication endpoints
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/24 Negotiating SLA [Service Level Agreement]; Negotiating QoS [Quality of Service]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/15 Setup of multiple wireless link connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/00 Wireless network protocols or protocol adaptations to wireless operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Abstract

An apparatus is disclosed for permitting a mobile terminal having multiple, heterogeneous network connections (e.g., multiple wired or wireless transceivers of various types) to set up and maintain virtual connections over multiple networks to either the same or to multiple destinations. The mobile terminal can “load-share” traffic, i.e., it can distribute segments of traffic over a full set of heterogeneous networks, significantly improving the reliability and availability of communications. In a first embodiment, a mobile terminal is configured with multiple radio frequency (RF) transceivers. Operating system software is provided for dynamically establishing and maintaining traffic flow for user applications over multiple communications paths, and for automatically adapting to variations in the networking environment, application traffic flow requirements, end user preferences, or mobility. In a second embodiment, a software-defined radio is used to implement the physical layer protocols for each desired network, eliminating the need for multiple transceivers.

Claims

1. A multi-access system adapted for allowing communication between a first system and a second system, said multi-access system comprising:

first means for receiving and transmitting data using a plurality of communications protocols;

second means for establishing a plurality of communications paths with the use of said first means, at least some of said communications paths forming an aggregated communications pipe over which the first system can communicate with the second system, said second means being configured to allow communication between the first system and the second system through the simultaneous use of at least two of said at least some of said communications paths;

an application awareness layer module for extracting traffic flow requirements from the first system; and

a profile and policy manager module for storing theoretical and real-time application profiles, theoretical and real-time information about networks connected to said multi-access system, and mobility triggering events.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said second means includes a decision engine for distributing traffic across said at least some of said communications paths.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein said decision engine aggregates and prioritizes said at least some of said communications paths, monitors communications performance across said at least some of said communications paths, adjusts traffic across said at least some of said communications paths in response to a mobility trigger event, performs multi-path routing of traffic across said at least some of said communications paths, and implements an optimal path graph for selecting an optimal communications path from said at least some of said communications paths.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said second means includes a connection management module for establishing and maintaining said communications paths, and for establishing a new communications path through the use of said first means.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein said connection management module generates a trigger event in response to a status change in one of said at least some of said communications paths.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein said status change further includes an onset of congestion, a link failure, channel interference, and degradation in quality of service (QoS).

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said second means includes a virtual routing support subsystem for routing traffic flows across said at least some of said communications paths.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said second means includes a multi-homing protocol for communicating across said at least some of said communications paths.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising an analog radio for communicating voice information to a second analog radio at a remote location.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said first means includes a plurality of wireless network transceivers, each of which is configured for receiving and transmitting data using one of said communications protocols.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said plurality of wireless network transceivers includes a transceiver selected from the group consisting of an Ethernet transceiver, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) transceiver, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) transceiver, a 1XRTT transceiver, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) transceiver, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UTMS) transceiver, a Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) transceiver, a High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSPDA) transceiver, a satellite transceiver, an Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) transceiver, and a cellular telephone transceiver.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein said first means includes a software defined radio.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein said second means includes an application flow detection and profiling module for detecting and profiling traffic flow requirements.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the network capacity of each of said communications paths includes at least one of a bandwidth, a quality of service, a latency, a jitter and an error rate.