Cordless telephone equipment, cordless telephone system, and cordless telephone communication method

• US 9,531,857 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Fukuda, Hikaru, Hatae, Eiichi, Ando, Satoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, STEVEN H D
• Application Number:
  US14/292,251
• Publication Number:
  US 20140362839A1
• Time in Patent Office: 942 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72502 with one base station connected to a single line
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/06 including a wireless LAN interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/08 home cordless telephone systems using the DECT standard
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 7/125 Details of gateway equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/045 using private Base Stations, e.g. femto Base Stations, home Node B
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/16 WPBX [Wireless Private Branch Exchange]

Abstract

Cordless telephone equipment includes a portable unit and a base unit. The base unit includes: a portable unit control section controlling a communication protocol with the portable unit through a wireless interface wirelessly connecting with the non-IP terminal type portable unit; a wireless LAN interface section transmitting and receiving packet data to and from a wireless IP terminal and wireless LAN access point; a wireless LAN bridge control section forwarding the received packet data to the wireless IP terminal, or the wireless LAN access point, or within the base unit in accordance with a destination address of the packet data received through the wireless LAN interface section; and a base unit control section processing the packet data received from the wireless IP terminal and forwarded within the base unit, as data received from a portable unit under control of the base unit.

Claims

1. Cordless telephone equipment comprising:

a portable unit that is a non IP terminal; and

a base unit that, in operation, connects with the portable unit wirelessly, wherein the base unit comprises;

a portable unit control section that, in operation, controls a communication protocol between the base unit and the portable unit through a wireless interface that wirelessly connects with the portable unit;

a wireless LAN interface section that, in operation, transmits and receives packet data to and from a wireless IP terminal and to and from a wireless LAN access point, wherein the wireless LAN access point and the wireless IP terminal are located remotely from each other and from the base unit such that the base unit is communicably interposed between the wireless IP terminal and the wireless LAN access point;

a base unit control section; and

a wireless LAN bridge control section that, when a destination address of the received packet data corresponds to the base unit, forwards the received packet data to the base unit control section of the base unit;

when the destination address of the packet data received from the wireless LAN access point corresponds to the wireless IP terminal, forwards the received packet data to the wireless IP terminal; and

when the destination address of the packet data received from the wireless IP terminal corresponds to the wireless LAN access point, forwards the received packet data to the wireless LAN access point;

wherein

the base unit control section processes the packet data forwarded from the wireless LAN bridge control section as data received from the portable unit under control of the base unit.

2. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 1, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a portable unit registration section that, in operation, receives a portable unit registration request message from the wireless IP terminal and registers the wireless IP terminal as a portable unit, wherein

the base unit control section processes packet data received from the wireless IP terminal registered by the portable unit registration section as data received from the portable unit under control of the base unit.

3. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 2, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a portable unit authorization section that, in operation, receives a portable unit authorization request message from the wireless IP terminal registered by the portable unit registration section, and confirms terminal identity between the wireless IP terminal and the portable unit registered by the portable unit registration section, using an authorization ID and an authorization password that are included in the portable unit authorization request message, wherein

the base unit control section processes the packet data received from the wireless IP terminal, for which the terminal identity is confirmed, as data received from the portable unit under control of the base unit.

4. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 1, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a storage section; and

a portable unit authorization section that, in operation, receives a portable unit authorization request message from a wireless IP terminal previously registered in the storage section, and confirms terminal identity between the wireless IP terminal and the registered portable unit, using an authorization ID and an authorization password that are included in the portable unit authorization request message, wherein

the base unit control section processes packet data received from the wireless IP terminal, for which the terminal identity is confirmed, as data received from the portable unit under control of the base unit.

5. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 3, wherein:

the authorization ID is identification information of the wireless IP terminal; and

the authorization password is a MAC address of the wireless IP terminal.

6. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 4, wherein:

the authorization ID is identification information of the wireless IP terminal; and

the authorization password is a MAC address of the wireless IP terminal.

7. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 1, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a base unit search section that, upon receiving a base unit search message from the wireless IP terminal, sends address information of the base unit to the wireless IP terminal.

8. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 7, wherein the address information of the base unit includes a MAC address of the base unit and an IP address of a call control server.

9. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 3, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a storage section that accumulates portable unit additional information including a communication history of each of the portable units; and

the base unit control section, when the terminal identity is confirmed for the wireless IP terminal, sends to the wireless IP terminal the portable unit additional information of the wireless IP terminal registered as the portable unit.

10. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 1, wherein

the base unit further comprises:

a storage section that accumulates portable unit additional information including a communication history of each of the portable units; and

the base unit control section, when a portable unit additional information request message is received from the wireless IP terminal registered as a portable unit, sends to the wireless IP terminal the portable unit additional information of the wireless IP terminal.

11. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 10, wherein

the portable unit additional information is short message information that includes a date and time of when a short message is generated in the portable unit, a phone number of another party, and a text message.

12. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 10, wherein

the portable unit additional information is call history information that includes a time of occurrence of an outgoing or incoming call at the portable unit and a phone number of another party.

13. The cordless telephone equipment according to claim 1, wherein the wireless LAN access point and the wireless IP terminal are separated by a distance that inhibits direct wireless communication therebetween.

14. A communication method in cordless telephone equipment comprising a portable unit, which is a non IP terminal, and a base unit, which includes a base unit control section and which wirelessly connects with the portable unit, the communication method being implemented by the base unit that transmits and receives packet data to and from a wireless IP terminal and to and from a wireless LAN access point, the communication method comprising:

receiving packet data from the wireless IP terminal or the wireless LAN access point, wherein the wireless LAN access point and the wireless IP terminal are located remotely from each other and from the base unit such that the base unit is communicably interposed between the wireless IP terminal and the wireless LAN access point;

when a destination address of the received packet data corresponds to the base unit, forwarding the received packet data to the base unit control section of the base unit;

when the destination address of the packet data received from the wireless LAN access point corresponds to the wireless IP terminal, forwarding the received packet data to the wireless IP terminal;

when the destination address of the packet data received from the wireless IP terminal corresponds to the wireless LAN access point, forwarding the received packet data to the wireless LAN access point; and

processing the packet data forwarded to the base unit control section of the base unit as data received from the portable unit under control of the base unit.

15. The communication method according to claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a portable unit registration request message from the wireless IP terminal and registering the wireless IP terminal as a portable unit.

16. The communication method according to claim 15, further comprising:

receiving a portable unit authorization request message from the wireless IP terminal that has been registered, and confirming terminal identity between the wireless IP terminal and the registered portable unit using authorization information included in the portable unit authorization request message.

17. The communication method according to claim 14, further comprising:

upon receiving a base unit search message from the wireless IP terminal, sending address information of the base unit to the wireless IP terminal.

18. The communication method according to claim 17, wherein the address information of the base unit includes a MAC address of the base unit and an IP address of a call control server.

19. The communication method according to claim 14, further comprising:

accumulating portable unit additional information including a communication history of each of the portable units; and

in response to receiving a portable unit additional information request message from the wireless IP terminal registered as a portable unit, sending to the wireless IP terminal the portable unit additional information of the wireless IP terminal.

20. The communication method according to claim 14, wherein the wireless LAN access point and the wireless IP terminal are separated by a distance that inhibits direct communication therebetween.