Dual mode unit for short range, high rate and long range, lower rate data communications
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A subscriber unit comprising:
- a cellular transceiver configured to communicate with a cellular wireless network via a plurality of assigned physical channels;
an IEEE 802.11 transceiver configured to communicate with an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network; and
a processor configured to maintain a communication session with the cellular wireless network in an absence of the plurality of assigned physical channels while the IEEE 802.11 transceiver communicates packet data with the IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A technique for communication with a local area network (LAN) via a wireless connection determines whether a first short-range, high-speed, wireless communication path is available and connects to the LAN using a longer range, lower speed wireless communication path if the short-range, high-speed wireless communication path is not available. The low-range, high-speed wireless communication path is a wireless communication path is a wireless LAN connection such as an IEE 802.11-compliant wireless LAN and the long-range, low-speed wireless communication mode is a cellular CDMA-type connection. Determining whether the first IEEE 802.11 mode is available can be done by detecting a beacon signal, or transmitting a probe request message and detecting a probe response message in response to the probe request, indicating the presence or availability of the short-range, high-speed wireless communication path. Alternatively, the availability of short-range, high-speed wireless communication path can be detected by simply detecting activity on it.
185 Citations
44 Claims
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1. A subscriber unit comprising:
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a cellular transceiver configured to communicate with a cellular wireless network via a plurality of assigned physical channels; an IEEE 802.11 transceiver configured to communicate with an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network; and a processor configured to maintain a communication session with the cellular wireless network in an absence of the plurality of assigned physical channels while the IEEE 802.11 transceiver communicates packet data with the IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for use in a dual mode subscriber unit, the method comprising:
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establishing a communication session with a cellular wireless network; maintaining the communication session in an absence of any physical channels associated with the cellular wireless network; and communicating packet data with an IEEE 802.11 wireless local area network while maintaining the communication session with the cellular wireless network. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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Specification