Hierarchical data collection network supporting packetized voice communications among wireless terminals and telephones

• US 8,149,825 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2004
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/1995
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kubler, Joseph J., Morris, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): ROBERTS, BRIAN S
• Application Number:
  US10/760,035
• Publication Number:
  US 20040146020A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,000 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/388
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/163 Wearable computers, e.g. on a belt
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/0225 User interface arrangements, e.g. keyboard, display; Interfaces to other computer systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 17/0022 arrangements or provisious for transferring data to distant stations, e.g. from a sensing device "transfer between computer elements G06F13/00 "; data-transmission H04L
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10702 Particularities of propagating elements, e.g. lenses, mirrors G06K7/10831 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10722 Photodetector array or CCD scanning
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10841 Particularities of the light-sensitive elements semiconductor devices H01L
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10851 Circuits for pulse shaping, amplifying, eliminating noise signals, checking the function of the sensing device basic electronic circuitry H03
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10881 constructional details of hand-held scanners
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/1098 the scanning arrangement having a modular construction
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/12 using a selected wavelength, e.g. to sense red marks and ignore blue marks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/343 Cards including a counter
• CPC Class Codes: G07F 7/02 by keys or other credit registering devices
• CPC Class Codes: G07G 1/0045 with a code reader for reading of an identifying code of the article to be registered, e.g. barcode reader or radio-frequency identity [RFID] reader
• CPC Class Codes: H03C 3/0908 using a phase locked loop
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/04 Circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/1615 Switching on; Switching off, e.g. remotely battery saving circuits associated with selective call operation H04W52/00; details of power consumption reduction in a PLL, H03L7/0802, H03L7/14, H03L2207/08, H03L2207/18; muting amplifiers by gain control see H03G3/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0802 using antenna selection H04B7/0868 takes precedence; antenna beam directivity switching H01Q3/24
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0002 : by adapting the transmission rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0003 : by switching between different modulation schemes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0025 : Transmission of mode-switching indication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/0032 : Without explicit signalling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1671 : the supervisory signal being transmitted together with control information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/1685 : the supervisory signal being transmitted in response to a specific request, e.g. to a polling signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/12 : Modulator circuits; Transmitter circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/14 : Demodulator circuits; Receiver circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 27/156 : with demodulation using temporal properties of the received signal, e.g. detecting pulse width
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 : Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/48 : Routing tree calculation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/00 : Network arrangements, protocols or services for addressing or naming
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/103 : in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/104 : in the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 : Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 : In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1095 : Inter-network session transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 : Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 : Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/32 : Architecture of open systems interconnection [OSI] 7-layer type protocol stacks, e.g. the interfaces between the data link level and the physical level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 : Network security protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 : adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/14 : including a card reading device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/006 : Networks other than PSTN/ISDN providing telephone service, e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) , including next generation networks with a packet-switched transport layer H04L65/00 takes precedence; aspects not specific to the type of network H04M3/00; special services in those networks H04M3/42
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/14 : using intermediate storage
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/18 : Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/00 : Communication routing or communication path finding
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 : Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 : Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0261 : managing power supply demand, e.g. depending on battery level
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/04 : TPC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/38 : TPC being performed in particular situations
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/46 : in multi hop networks, e.g. wireless relay networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/12 : Wireless traffic scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 : Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 : Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/22 : Manipulation of transport tunnels
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 : Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 : Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 : adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 : Gateway arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 : Inter-networking arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks

Abstract

A packet-based, hierarchical communication system, arranged in a spanning tree configuration, is described in which wired and wireless communication networks exhibiting substantially different characteristics are employed in an overall scheme to link portable or mobile computing devices. The network accommodates real time voice transmission both through dedicated, scheduled bandwidth and through a packet-based routing within the confines and constraints of a data network. Conversion and call processing circuitry is also disclosed which enables access devices and personal computers to adapt voice information between analog voice stream and digital voice packet formats as proves necessary. Routing pathways include wireless spanning tree networks, wide area networks, telephone switching networks, internet, etc., in a manner virtually transparent to the user. A voice session and associate call setup simulates that of conventional telephone switching network, providing well-understood functionality common to any mobile, remote or stationary terminal, phone, computer, etc.

Claims

1. A portable terminal device supporting voice communication via a wireless packet network, the portable terminal device comprising:

a microphone for transducing sound into a first analog voice stream;

at least one converter for converting the first analog voice stream to produce digital voice packets;

a transmitter for transmitting, via the wireless packet network, the digital voice packets from the at least one converter;

a receiver for receiving digital voice packets from a base station serving a plurality of portable terminal devices in the wireless packet network;

the at least one converter for converting received digital voice packets to a second analog voice stream;

a transducer for transducing the second analog voice stream into sound;

wherein the transmitter is arranged to send, to a first remote system, a request for information identifying a second remote system accessible to the portable terminal device via the wireless packet network and operable to, at least, convert between digital voice packets of the portable terminal device and voice signals compatible with a public telephone network;

wherein the receiver is arranged to receive the requested information;

wherein the transmitter is arranged to send a message identifying a subscriber on the public telephone network, to the second remote system, to initiate a call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network, using the requested information;

wherein the receiver is arranged to receive a message indicating establishment of the call connection with the subscriber; and

wherein the transmitter is arranged to communicate digital voice packets to the second remote system upon receipt, by the receiver, of the message indicating establishment of the call connection with the subscriber.

2. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using an Internet protocol (IP).

3. The portable terminal device of claim 2 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using transmission control protocol (TCP) over Internet protocol (IP).

4. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the wireless packet network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

5. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a frequency hopping spread spectrum technique.

6. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a direct sequence spread spectrum technique.

7. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the at least one converter comprises:

an analog to digital converter for converting the first analog voice stream to digital voice data; and

a packetizer for assembling the digital voice data to produce digital voice packets.

8. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the at least one converter comprises:

a depacketizer for extracting digital voice data from received digital voice packets; and

a digital to analog converter for converting the extracted digital voice data to produce the second analog voice stream.

9. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the transmitter is arranged to communicate with the base station in each of a series of regular time intervals using bandwidth of a shared channel allocated by the base station in response to requests received from the plurality of portable terminal devices for each time interval.

10. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the receiver is arranged to buffer the received digital voice packets for a certain period of time before conversion to the second analog voice stream.

11. The portable terminal device of claim 10 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the receiver after the call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network is initiated, and before communication of digital voice packets to the second remote system begins.

12. The portable terminal device of claim 10 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the receiver during communication of digital voice packets with the second remote system.

13. The portable terminal device of claim 1 wherein the receiver provides routing pathways for voice communication to a user of the portable terminal device, using the received information identifying the second remote system.

14. One or more circuits for a portable terminal device supporting voice communication via a wireless packet network, the one or more circuits comprising:

at least one converter for converting a first analog voice stream to produce digital voice packets;

a transmitter for transmitting, via the wireless packet network, the digital voice packets from the at least one converter;

a receiver for receiving digital voice packets from a base station serving a plurality of portable terminal devices in the wireless packet network;

the at least one converter for converting received digital voice packets to a second analog voice stream;

wherein the transmitter is arranged to send, to a first remote system, a request for information identifying a second remote system accessible to the portable terminal device via the wireless packet network and operable to, at least, convert between digital voice packets of the portable terminal device and voice signals compatible with a public telephone network;

wherein the receiver is arranged to receive the requested information;

wherein the transmitter is arranged to send a message identifying a subscriber on the public telephone network, to the second remote system, to initiate a call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network, using the requested information;

wherein the receiver is arranged to receive a message indicating establishment of the call connection with the subscriber; and

wherein the transmitter is arranged to communicate digital voice packets to the second remote system upon receipt, by the receiver, of the message indicating establishment of the call connection with the subscriber.

15. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the wireless packet network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 igahertz.

16. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using an Internet protocol.

17. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using transmission control protocol (TCP) over Internet protocol (IP).

18. The one or more circuits of claim 14 further comprising:

a microphone for transducing sound into the first analog voice stream.

19. The one or more circuits of claim 14 further comprising:

a transducer for converting the second analog voice stream into sound.

20. The one or more circuits of claim 14 further comprising:

a keypad for receiving user input.

21. The one or more circuits of claim 14 further comprising:

a display device to provide visual feedback to a user.

22. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the transmitter is arranged to communicate with the base station in each of a series of regular time intervals using bandwidth of a shared channel allocated by the base station in response to requests received from the plurality of portable terminal devices for each time interval.

23. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the receiver is arranged to buffer the received digital voice packets for a certain period of time before conversion to the second analog voice stream.

24. The one or more circuits of claim 23 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the receiver after the call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network is initiated, and before communication of digital voice packets to the second remote system begins.

25. The one or more circuits of claim 23 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the receiver during communication of digital voice packets with the second remote system.

26. The one or more circuits of claim 14 wherein the receiver provides routing pathways for voice communication to a user of the portable terminal device, using the received information identifying the second remote system.

27. A method of operating a portable terminal device for supporting voice communication via a wireless packet network, the method comprising:

transmitting, to a first remote system from the portable terminal device via the wireless packet network, a request for information identifying a second remote system accessible to the portable terminal device via the wireless packet network and operable to, at least, convert between digital voice packets of the portable terminal device and voice signals compatible with a public telephone network;

upon receiving the requested information, sending a message identifying a subscriber on the public telephone network, to the second remote system, to initiate a call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network, using the requested information;

evaluating a message wirelessly received from the wireless packet network;

sending an indication of a data rate based upon the evaluation;

receiving digital voice packets via the wireless packet network at a data rate;

initiating conversion of the received digital voice packets to produce sound;

enabling conversion of sound to digitized voice information;

creating digital voice packets from the digitized voice information; and

upon receiving a message indicating establishment of a call connection with the subscriber, begin sending the created digital voice packets to the second remote system via the wireless packet network.

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the wireless packet network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

29. The method of claim 27 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a frequency hopping spread spectrum technique.

30. The method of claim 27 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a direct sequence spread spectrum technique.

31. The method of claim 27 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using an Internet protocol.

32. The method of claim 31 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using transmission control protocol (TCP) over Internet protocol (IP).

33. The method of claim 27 wherein the evaluation evaluates reception of a message received periodically via the wireless packet network.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the message received periodically is a polling message.

35. The method of claim 27 wherein the evaluation evaluates reception of a message preamble.

36. The method of claim 27 wherein the portable terminal device communicates with a base station in each of a series of regular time intervals using bandwidth of a shared channel allocated by the base station in response to requests received from a plurality of portable terminal devices for each time interval.

37. The method of claim 27 wherein the portable terminal device buffers the received digital voice packets for a certain period of time before conversion to a signal representative of sound.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the portable terminal device after initiating the call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network, and before communication of digital voice packets to the second remote system begins.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the portable terminal device during communication of digital voice packets with the second remote system.

40. The method of claim 27 wherein the portable terminal device offers routing pathways for voice communication to a user of the portable terminal device, using the received information identifying the second remote system.

41. A system for use in a portable terminal device supporting voice communication via a wireless packet network the system comprising:

at least one processor arranged to communicate over the wireless packet network, the at least one processor operable to, at least;

transmit, to a first remote system via the wireless packet network, a request for information identifying a second remote system accessible to the at least one processor via the wireless packet network and operable to, at least, convert between digital voice packets of the portable terminal device and voice signals compatible with a public telephone network;

upon receiving the requested information, send a message identifying a subscriber on the public telephone network, to the second remote system, to initiate a call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network, using the requested information;

evaluate a message wirelessly received from the wireless packet network;

send an indication of a data rate based upon the evaluation;

receive digital voice packets via the wireless packet network at a data rate;

initiate conversion of the received digital voice packets to produce sound;

enable conversion of sound to digitized voice information;

create digital voice packets from the digitized voice information; and

upon receiving a message indicating establishment of a call connection with the subscriber, begin sending the created digital voice packets to the second remote system, via the wireless packet network.

42. The system of claim 41 wherein the wireless packet network communicates at a frequency of approximately 2.4 gigahertz.

43. The system of claim 41 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a frequency hopping spread spectrum technique.

44. The system of claim 41 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using a direct sequence spread spectrum technique.

45. The system of claim 41 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using an Internet protocol.

46. The system of claim 45 wherein the wireless packet network communicates using transmission control protocol (TCP) over Internet protocol (IP).

47. The system of claim 41 wherein the evaluated message is received periodically via the wireless packet network.

48. The system of claim 47 wherein the message received periodically is a polling message.

49. The system of claim 41 wherein the evaluating evaluates reception of a message preamble.

50. The system of claim 41 wherein the at least one processor is arranged to communicate a base station in each of a series of regular time intervals using bandwidth of a shared channel allocated by the base station in response to requests received from a plurality of portable terminal devices for each time interval.

51. The system of claim 41 wherein the at least one processor is arranged to buffer the received digital voice packets for a certain period of time before conversion to a signal representative of sound.

52. The system of claim 51 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the at least one processor after the call connection through the second remote system to the subscriber on the public telephone network is initiated, and before communication of digital voice packets to the second remote system begins.

53. The system of claim 51 wherein the certain period of time is determined by the at least one processor during communication of digital voice packets with the second remote system.

54. The system of claim 41 wherein the at least one processor provides routing pathways for voice communication to a user of the portable terminal device, using the received information identifying the second remote system.