Extended cellular telephony protocol

• US 8,249,106 B2
• Filed: 08/23/2004
• Issued: 08/21/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Battaglia, Frederic, SAMUEL, LOUIS G., Sizer, Theodore
• Primary Examiner(s): Chriss, Andrew
• Assistant Examiner(s): PASIA, REDENTOR M
• Application Number:
  US10/924,115
• Publication Number:
  US 20060039349A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,920 Days
• Field of Search: 370/328, 370/331, 370352-353, 370/389, 370/392, 370/401, 370465-467, 370/469, 370/474, 370/476, 709/230, 709227-228, 709/236, 709/246, 709/249, 455/422.1, 455/426.2, 455/432.2, 455/436, 455/437, 455442-444
• US Class Current: 370/474
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• 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 76/10 Connection setup
• 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

The present invention provides a method for transmitting voice packet data over a selected one of a first network in which multiple devices belonging to a defined set communicate with each other according to a first protocol and a second network in which multiple devices communicate with each other according to a second protocol, different from the first protocol. The method includes establishing at least one radio bearer between at least two devices in the first network according to the first protocol, receiving at least one voice packet that conforms to the second protocol, modifying the at least one voice packet to conform to the first and the second protocols, and transmitting the at least one modified voice packet using the at least one radio bearer.

Claims

1. A method supporting roaming of a mobile unit between a first network in which multiple devices belonging to a defined set communicate with each other according to a first protocol, wherein the first protocol is a Bluetooth protocol and a second network that provides wireless connectivity according to a cellular telephony protocol, the mobile unit being capable of operation according to the first protocol and the cellular telephony protocol, the method comprising:

receiving a voice packet for transmission over at least one radio bearer between at least two devices in the first network, said at least one radio bearer being established according to the first protocol and the voice packet conforming to the cellular telephony protocol;

appending a header to the voice packet so that a cellular control stack controls processing of the voice packet according to the first protocol when a field of the header comprises a first value and the cellular control stack controls processing of the voice packet according to cellular telephony protocol when the field of the header comprises a second value different than the first value; and

transmitting the voice packet using said at least one radio bearer.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the voice packet for transmission over the radio bearer comprises receiving the voice packet for transmission over the radio bearer according to the Bluetooth protocol.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein appending the header to the voice packet comprises appending the header to the voice packet so that the cellular control stack can manage a voice channel between an application and a speech synchronization controller according to the first protocol or the cellular telephony protocol depending on said at least one field of the header.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the header comprises at least one field indicating at least one of a protocol discriminator, a message type indicator, and a radio bearer type indicator.

5. The method of claim 1, comprising mapping, using the cellular control stack, said at least one radio bearer to a wireless communication link that conforms to the cellular telephony protocol based upon said at least one field of the header.

6. A method for transmitting voice packet data over a selected one of a piconet in which multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices within a defined set communicate with each other by exchanging messages with a master device within the set using a Bluetooth protocol and a cellular wireless network in which mobile units and base stations exchange messages according to a cellular telephony protocol, the method comprising:

receiving a voice packet for transmission over at least one radio bearer between at least two devices in the piconet, said at least one radio bearer being established according to the Bluetooth protocol and the voice packet conforming to the cellular telephony protocol;

appending a header to the voice packet so that a cellular control stack can control processing of the voice packet according to the Bluetooth protocol when a field of the header comprises a first value and the cellular control stack controls processing of the voice packet according to cellular telephony protocol when the field of the header comprises a second value different than the first value; and

transmitting the voice packet using said at least one radio bearer.

7. The method of claim 6, comprising establishing said at least one radio bearer in an Industrial, Scientific, Medical (ISM) band at about 2.4 GHz.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein receiving the voice packet for transmission comprises receiving the voice packet using at least one of a mobile unit and a base station.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein appending the header to the voice packet comprises appending the header to the voice packet so that the cellular control stack can manage a voice channel between an application and a speech synchronization controller according to the first protocol or the cellular telephony protocol depending on said at least one field of the header.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein appending header to the voice packet comprises appending the header comprising at least one field indicating at least one of a protocol discriminator, a message type indicator, a radio bearer type indicator, and a cellular control type indicator.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein appending the header comprises appending the header comprising at least one of a protocol discriminator field value of 0x4 and a message type indicator field value of 0x1F to indicate that the cellular control stack is to manage the voice channel according to the cellular telephony protocol.

12. The method of claim 6, comprising mapping, using the cellular control stack, the radio bearer to a wireless communication link that conforms to the cellular telephony protocol based upon at least one value of the header appended to the voice packet.

13. A method for wireless telecommunications using a first network in which multiple devices belonging to a defined set communicate with each other according to a first protocol wherein the first protocol is a Bluetooth protocol and a second network in which multiple devices communicate with each other according to a second protocol wherein the second protocol is a cellular telephony protocol, the method comprising:

forming a wireless telecommunications link between a first device configured to send and receive messages according to the first protocol and a second device configured to send and receive messages according to the second protocol, the wireless telecommunications link comprising a portion that operates according to the first protocol and a portion that operates according to the second protocol, and wherein the messages sent over the wireless communication link between the first and second devices comprise a header, and wherein a cellular control stack controls processing of the messages according to the first protocol when a field of the header comprises a first value and the cellular control stack controls processing of the messages according to the second protocol when the field of the header comprises a second value different than the first value.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein detecting the first device comprises detecting the first device based upon at least one of a paging message and an access request.

15. The method of claim 13, comprising controlling processing of the messages transmitted over the wireless telecommunications link by managing a voice channel with a speech synchronization controller according to the first protocol or the second protocol depending upon values of at least one of a protocol discriminator, a message type indicator, a radio bearer type indicator, or a cellular control type indicator included in at least one field of the header.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein forming the wireless telecommunications link between the first device and the second device comprises forming a random access channel between the first device and the second device.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein forming a wireless telecommunications link between the first and the second device comprises providing at least one of a cell identification value and a common pilot channel value.

18. A method for wireless telecommunications using a piconet in which multiple Bluetooth-enabled devices within a defined set communicate with each other by exchanging messages with a master device within the set using a Bluetooth protocol and a cellular wireless network in which mobile units and base stations exchange messages according to a cellular telephony protocol, the method comprising:

forming a random access channel between a first device configured to send and receive messages according to the Bluetooth protocol and a second device configured to send and receive messages according to the cellular telephony protocol, the random access channel comprising a portion that operates according to the Bluetooth protocol and a portion that operates according to the cellular telephony protocol, and wherein the messages sent over the random access channels between the first and second devices comprise a header, and a cellular control stack controls processing of the messages according to the Bluetooth protocol when a field of the header comprises a first value and the cellular control stack controls processing of the messages according to the cellular telephony protocol when the field of the header comprises a second value different than the first value.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein detecting the first device comprises detecting the first device based upon at least one of a paging message and an access request.

20. The method of claim 19, comprising controlling processing of the messages transmitted over the wireless telecommunications link by managing a voice channel with a speech synchronization controller according to the Bluetooth or cellular telephony protocols depending upon values of at least one field in the header indicating at least one of a protocol discriminator, a message type indicator, a radio bearer type indicator, and a cellular control type indicator.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein forming the random access channel between the first device and the second device comprises forming the random access channel between a mobile unit and a base station.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein forming the random access channel between the first and the second device comprises providing at least one of a cell identification value and a common pilot channel value.