Wireless LAN system capable of re-transmission under management of a base station device to a destination mobile terminal device

• US 5,655,219 A
• Filed: 03/04/1994
• Issued: 08/05/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/05/1993
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Amada, Eiichi, Takiyasu, Yoshihiro, Ishii, Genichi, Ishifuji, Tomoaki, Adachi, Shuichi, Jusa, Hidehiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TO, DORIS HA
• Application Number:
  US08/206,485
• Time in Patent Office: 1,250 Days
• Field of Search: 455/33.1, 455/54.1, 455/53.1, 455/54.2, 455/56.1, 455/67.1, 455/33.4, 455/33.2, 379/59, 379/60, 379/63, 370/85.13, 370/94.1, 370/94.2
• US Class Current: 455/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/71 Hardware identity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 74/00 Wireless channel access
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/02 Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A wireless network is provided for restricting the number of mobile terminal devices which are managed by the base station device for wireless communication with one another. The base station device has a mobile terminal confirming database for registering mobile terminal devices allowed to be subscribers to the wireless network, and a mobile terminal managing database for registering presently-managed mobile terminal devices. The wireless transfer request from one of the mobile terminal devices is tested to determine whether the request-issuing mobile terminal device is one of the subscribers. If the request is accepted, then the identification of the request-issuing mobile terminal device is registered into the managing database.

Claims

1. A wireless LAN system having a plurality of mobile terminal devices and a plurality of base station devices each capable of managing said mobile terminal devices, and a wired LAN connecting the base station devices for communicating with each other, wherein the base station devices register identifications of all presently managed mobile terminal devices in a first database, and each mobile terminal device registers an identification of a base station device by which said mobile terminal device is presently managed in a second database, a wireless communication takes place between a base station device and a mobile terminal respectively specified by the respectively registered identifications, and communication between mobile terminal devices managed by base station devices takes place through the base station devices and the wired LAN, including:

the mobile terminal devices comprising means for issuing a registration request through a wireless communication; and

each base station device comprising a third database for presetting identifications of the mobile terminal devices allowed to subscribe to the system, means for deciding to accept the registration request based on whether or not identification of the request-issuing mobile terminal device is registered in the third database, means for registering acceptance of the request-issuing mobile terminal device into the first database, and means for informing the request-issuing mobile terminal device that the request is successfully accepted.

2. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein said mobile terminal devices and said base station devices have means for deriving a clock of a received signal and means for determining receivability or un-receivability in accordance with whether or not the mobile terminal device or base station device is successfully synchronized with the received signal.

3. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein said mobile terminal devices and said base station devices have means for determining whether a data packet in the received signal includes bit error, means for discarding a data packet if the packet includes bit error, and means for determining receivability or unreceivability based on the rate of packet discard occurrences.

4. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein said means for issuing issues said registration request at a timing when a content of said second database has been erased.

5. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein said mobile terminal devices have means for detecting whether a signal from a base station device is in a receivable state, and means for allowing the means for issuing to send said registration request under said receivable state.

6. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein said mobile terminal devices have a display indicative of whether the mobile terminal device is in an area in which the mobile terminal device cannot communicate with the base station to which the mobile terminal device issues a registration request, means for repeatedly issuing a registration request at a specified time interval, and means for validating said display when said mobile terminal device failed registration to said first database a predetermined p times (where p>

1).

7. The wireless LAN system of claim 6, wherein the mobile terminal devices have means for changing the specified time interval of the (p+1)th or subsequent registration request, and means for invalidating said display when the (p+1)th or subsequent registration request is successfully accepted.

8. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein a first base station device has means for assigning a first mobile terminal device a data transmission slot, and said first mobile terminal device has means responsive to the assignment for sending data directly to a second mobile terminal device which is managed by said first base station device that manages said first mobile terminal device in the wireless communication.

9. The wireless LAN system of claim 8, wherein each mobile terminal device has a movement indicator for displaying a movement instruction, and each base station device has means for erasing registration of a mobile terminal device having communication failure from the first database and means for sending a request to a mobile terminal device having communication failure to validate its said movement indicator when registration or erase of said mobile terminal device in said first database of said base station device is performed a predetermined number of times during a predetermined duration.

10. The wireless LAN system of claim 9, wherein when said mobile terminal device having said movement indicator validated completes a registration to a first database of a base station device, said movement indicator is invalidated.

11. The wireless LAN system of claim 8, wherein the base station device has means for receiving data of the first mobile terminal device while the data is being sent between the first and the second mobile terminal devices in the wireless communication, means for detecting receivability of the second mobile terminal device, and means for re-transmitting the received data to the second mobile terminal device if the second mobile terminal device has communication failure.

12. The wireless LAN system of claim 11, wherein, when said base station device fails re-transmission n times (where n>

1) continuously, a registration of said mobile terminal device indicating a destination of re-transmission in said first database is erased.

13. The wireless LAN system of claim 12, wherein, when a continuous time which includes at least s receivable times (where s>

0), each receivable time being equal to or shorter than r (where r>

0) becomes t (where t>

0) or more during a receiving time of said mobile terminal device, said mobile terminal device erases the content of said second database.

14. The wireless LAN system of claim 8, wherein the first mobile terminal device and the second mobile terminal device which are managed by the same base station communicate directly with one another, and the base station receives data transmitted between the first mobile terminal device and the second mobile terminal device and retransmits data in case of failure of direct communication between the first and second mobile terminal devices.

15. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein at least one mobile terminal device has manual input means for directing the means for issuing to send a registration request to a first database of a base station device.

16. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein a mobile terminal device that was moved to a first service area serviced by a first base station device from a second service area serviced by a second base station device transmits a packet transmittal through the second base station device to all of the remaining base station devices in said system, each base station device has means responsive to said packet transmittal for re-writing a content of said first database if changes are required, and means for discarding said packet.

17. The wireless LAN system of claim 1, wherein a first base station device comprises means for erase of a registration of one mobile terminal device from its first database when a second base station device sends the first base station device a request requiring a registration erase through the wired LAN by specifying the one mobile terminal device.

18. A base station device capable of performing a bidirectional wireless communication with mobile terminal devices through a wireless network and performing a communication with another base station device through a wired LAN, and having a mobile terminal managing database for holding identification of currently managed mobile terminal devices, comprising

a mobile terminal confirming database for pre-setting identification of mobile terminal devices which are allowed as subscribers of said wireless network;

means for refusing a request from a mobile terminal for which identification is not found in the mobile terminal confirming database; and

means for registering identification of a mobile terminal device in the mobile terminal managing database when identification of the mobile terminal device is found in said mobile terminal confirming database.

19. A wireless network control method for a wireless communication network comprising a plurality of mobile terminal devices including a method for restricting the number of mobile terminal devices which are managed by a base station device in said network;

the base station device having a first database which contains identifications of all mobile terminal devices which are allowed as subscribers to said network and a second database which holds identifications of all presently-managed mobile terminal devices, including the steps of;

pre-setting in said first database identifications of the mobile terminal devices which are allowed as subscribers of the base station device in the wireless network;

receiving, by the base station device, a registration request through a wireless communication from one of the mobile terminal devices;

deciding, by the base station device, whether to accept the wireless registration request based on whether or not identification of the request-issuing mobile terminal device is preset in said first database;

registering, by the base station device, acceptance of the request-issuing mobile terminal device into the second database if said identification of the request-issuing mobile terminal device is preset in said first database; and

informing the request-issuing mobile terminal device that the request has been successfully accepted.

20. A wireless network control method according to claim 19, further comprising the step of sending, with an accepted first mobile terminal device, data directly to a second mobile terminal device which is managed by the same base station device as said first mobile terminal device in the wireless communication network.

21. A wireless network control method according to claim 20, comprising the further steps of

receiving, with the base station device, data of the first mobile terminal device while sending between the first and the second mobile terminal devices in the wireless communication network, and

sending, with the base station device, the received data to the second mobile terminal device, if the second mobile terminal device fails to receive the data from the first mobile terminal device.

22. A wireless network control method for controlling a wireless LAN system wherein mobile terminal devices are managed by a base station device in a wireless communication network and the base station device has a mobile terminal managing database which holds identifications of presently managed mobile terminal devices, including the steps of:

assigning, with the base station device, a first mobile terminal device a data transmission slot;

responsive to the assignment, sending, by the first mobile terminal device, data directly to a second mobile terminal device in a wireless communication;

receiving the data, by the base station device, while the data is being sent directly between the first and second mobile terminal devices in the wireless communication;

detecting, by the base station device, receivability of the second mobile terminal device; and

re-transmitting, by the base station device, the received data to the second mobile terminal device if the second mobile terminal has communication failure and the second mobile terminal device is registered in the mobile terminal managing database.

23. A wireless network control method according to claim 22, further comprising the step of prohibiting the re-transmission step if the second mobile terminal device'"'"'s identification is not registered in the mobile terminal managing database.

24. A wireless network control method according to claim 23, further comprising the step of repeating the re-transmission when the second mobile terminal device responds with an acknowledge signal.

25. A wireless network control method according to claim 24, wherein, when a base station device fails re-transmission n times (where n>

1) continuously, the method further comprises the step of erasing a registration of the second mobile terminal device in said mobile terminal managing database.

26. A wireless network control method according to claim 22, comprising the step of requesting, with the base station device, the first mobile terminal device to send the data again if both of the second mobile terminal device and the base station device could not receive the data.