Mobile router device

• US 7,778,230 B2
• Filed: 01/06/2007
• Issued: 08/17/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WAAV Incorporated
• Original Assignee: WAAU Incorporated
• Inventors: Fulknier, John C., Smith, Brian J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): HTUN, SAN A
• Application Number:
  US11/650,634
• Publication Number:
  US 20070110017A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,319 Days
• Field of Search: 370/338, 370/310.2, 370/328, 370/389, 370/401, 455/422.1, 455/552.1, 709/203, 709/208, 709/209
• US Class Current: 370/338
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/60 Router architectures

Abstract

A wireless mobile router (300) includes a CPU (222) and one or more network interfaces for hosting locally reachable devices. The router (300) includes one or more cellular network interface devices (316) configured to make a network connection with a cellular network. The router (300) operates to translate data packets received from locally reachable devices and to direct the translated data packets to public IP address over the cellular network. In addition, a stack of mobile routers (400) includes two or more mobile routers (300) interfaced together to make two or more network connections with a cellular network for increasing bandwidth and for load balancing network traffic passing from the router (300) to the cellular network. The wireless mobile router (300) and the stack (400) are suitable for use in a moving vehicle.

Claims

1. A stack of wireless network routers comprising:

a master router comprising a first CPU for performing program steps, a first memory module in communication with the first CPU, a first and a second wire network interface device each in communication with the first CPU and each configured as a host network access point (AP) for communicating with locally reachable client devices using a wire local area network (LAN) communication protocol, and a wireless network interface device in communication with the first CPU and configured as a host network access point (AP) for communicating with locally reachable client devices using a wireless local area network (LAN), a cellular network interface device in communication with the first CPU wherein the cellular network interface device in communication with the first CPU is configured to connect to a host cellular network reachable thereby using a radio frequency band and cellular network communication protocol matched to the host cellular network and to become a client of the host cellular network and exchange network communication signals between the first CPU and the host cellular network;

one or more slave routers each comprising a second CPU for performing program steps, a second memory module in communication with the second CPU, a first and a second wire network interface device each in communication with the second CPU and each configured as a host network access point (AP) for communicating with locally reachable client devices using a wire local area network (LAN) communication protocol, and a cellular network interface device in communication with the second CPU wherein the cellular network interface device in communication with the second CPU is configured to connect to the host cellular network reachable thereby using a radio frequency band and cellular network communication protocol matched to the host cellular network and to become a client of the host cellular network and exchange network communication signals between the second CPU and the host cellular network;

a first wire jumper connected between the first wire network interface device of the master router and the second wire network interface device of one of the one or more slave routers for exchanging network communication signals between the second CPU and the first CPU over a wire LAN using a wire LAN communication protocol; and

,

one or more second wire jumpers connected between the first wire network interface device of each of the one or more slave routers and the second wire network interface device of another of the one or more slave routers for exchanging network communication signals between interconnected second CPU is over a wire LAN using a wire LAN communication protocol.

2. The stack of claim 1 wherein the wireless network interface device in communication with the first CPU is configured as a WiFi access point.

3. The stack of claim 1 wherein each of the first and second wire network interface devices is configured as a wire Ethernet node.

4. The stack of claim 1 wherein the master router further comprises one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with the first CPU, wherein each of the one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with, the first CPU is configured to connect to the host cellular network reachable thereby using a radio frequency band and cellular network communication protocol matched to the host cellular network and to become a client of the host cellular network and exchange network communication signals between the first CPU and the host cellular network.

5. The stack of claim 4 wherein at least one of the one or more slave routers further comprises one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with the second CPU wherein each of the one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with the second CPU is configured to connect to the host cellular network using a radio frequency band and cellular network communication protocol matched to the host cellular network and to become a client of the host cellular network and exchange network communication signals between the second CPU and the host cellular network.

6. The stack of claim 5 wherein the host cellular, network comprises a plurality of host cellular networks using one of different radio frequency bands and different cellular network communication protocols and further wherein the plurality of first and second cellular network interface devices includes at least one cellular network interface device corresponding with, and configured to become a client of, each of the plurality of host cellular networks.

7. The stack of claim 1 wherein the host cellular network comprises a plurality of host cellular networks using one of different radio frequency bands and different cellular network communication protocols and further wherein the plurality of first and second cellular network interface devices includes at least one cellular network interface device corresponding with, and configured to become a client of, each of the plurality of host cellular networks.

8. The stack of claim 1 wherein at least one of the one or more slave routers further comprises one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with the second CPU wherein each of the one or more additional cellular network interface devices in communication with the second CPU is configured to connect to the host cellular network using a radio frequency band and cellular network communication protocol matched to the host cellular network and to become a client of the host cellular network and exchange network communication signals between the second CPU and the host cellular network.