System and method of wirelessly communicating with mobile devices
DCFirst Claim
1. A communication system comprising:
- a plurality of stationary access points coupled to a communication network; and
a mobile access point configured to communicate with the plurality of stationary access points and provide a plurality of host devices access to the communication network without address renegotiation, wherein the mobile access point and the plurality of host devices move relative to the plurality of stationary access points;
wherein the communication network is connected to an external communication network by a forwarding device; and
wherein data addressed to a network layer address of a first host device of the plurality of host devices and received by the forwarding device from the external communication network is forwarded from the forwarding device to the first host device through the mobile access point and at least one of the plurality of stationary access points based on a data link layer address of the first host device.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for providing network access to mobile devices that travel with a vehicle, such as a train, a bus, a boat, etc. along or adjacent to a relatively fixed path that may extend over a large geographic area. Mobile devices access the network through stationary access points arranged along or adjacent to the path and communicate with a communication network. The communication network may be arranged as an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) local area network emulation (LANE) network. One of the mobile devices may be a mobile access point which can couple other mobile devices to the network and record authentication information of other mobile devices so that fast transitions can be made from one stationary access point to another as the vehicle moves along the path.
60 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A communication system comprising:
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a plurality of stationary access points coupled to a communication network; and a mobile access point configured to communicate with the plurality of stationary access points and provide a plurality of host devices access to the communication network without address renegotiation, wherein the mobile access point and the plurality of host devices move relative to the plurality of stationary access points; wherein the communication network is connected to an external communication network by a forwarding device; and wherein data addressed to a network layer address of a first host device of the plurality of host devices and received by the forwarding device from the external communication network is forwarded from the forwarding device to the first host device through the mobile access point and at least one of the plurality of stationary access points based on a data link layer address of the first host device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method of forwarding data to a moving host device, the method comprising acts of:
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maintaining, in a first forwarding device of a plurality of forwarding devices of a communication network, forwarding information for the moving host device based on a data link layer address of the moving host device; receiving data addressed to a network layer address of the moving host device at the first forwarding device; and forwarding a representation of at least a portion of the received data along a path to the data link layer address of the moving host device based on the maintained forwarding information; wherein the act of maintaining comprises an act of establishing a new virtual circuit through at least a portion of a new path from the first forwarding device to the moving host device when the path to the moving host device from the first forwarding device changes. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of forwarding data to a moving host device, the method comprising acts of:
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maintaining, in a first forwarding device of a plurality of forwarding devices of a communication network, forwarding information for the moving host device based on a data link layer address of the moving host device; receiving data addressed to a network layer address of the moving host device at the first forwarding device; and forwarding a representation of at least a portion of the received data along a path to the data link layer address of the moving host device based on the maintained forwarding information; wherein the act of maintaining includes acts of; sending, responsive to the path to the moving host device from the first forwarding device changing, updated forwarding information to the first forwarding device through the communication network along at least a portion of the changed path; and associating, at any forwarding devices along the portion of the changed path and the first forwarding device, the updated forwarding information with the moving host device. - View Dependent Claims (27)
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Specification