Hierarchical data collection network supporting packetized voice communications among wireless terminals and telephones Number:7,142,535 from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) owispatent A packet-based, hierarchical communication system, arranged in a spanning tree configuration, is described in which wired and wireless communication networks exhibiting substantially different characteristics are employed in an overall scheme to link portable or mobile computing devices. The network accommodates real time voice transmission both through dedicated, scheduled bandwidth and through a packet-based routing within the confines and constraints of a data network. Conversion and call processing circuitry is also disclosed which enables access devices and personal computers to adapt voice information between analog voice stream and digital voice packet formats as proves necessary. Routing pathways include wireless spanning tree networks, wide area networks, telephone switching networks, internet, etc., in a manner virtually transparent to the user. A voice session and associate call setup simulates that of conventional telephone switching network, providing well-understood functionality common to any mobile, remote or stationary terminal, phone, computer, etc.<H communications, Hierarchical, Hierarchical, da, 7142535.html, Patent, pto, 7142535

Title: Hierarchical data collection network supporting packetized voice communications among wireless terminals and telephones

Abstract: A packet-based, hierarchical communication system, arranged in a spanning tree configuration, is described in which wired and wireless communication networks exhibiting substantially different characteristics are employed in an overall scheme to link portable or mobile computing devices. The network accommodates real time voice transmission both through dedicated, scheduled bandwidth and through a packet-based routing within the confines and constraints of a data network. Conversion and call processing circuitry is also disclosed which enables access devices and personal computers to adapt voice information between analog voice stream and digital voice packet formats as proves necessary. Routing pathways include wireless spanning tree networks, wide area networks, telephone switching networks, internet, etc., in a manner virtually transparent to the user. A voice session and associate call setup simulates that of conventional telephone switching network, providing well-understood functionality common to any mobile, remote or stationary terminal, phone, computer, etc.

Patent Number: 7,142,535 Issued on 11/28/2006 to Kubler, et al.

Inventors: Kubler; Joseph J. (Boulder, CO), Morris; Michael D. (Cedar Rapids, IA)
Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Irvine, CA)

Appl. No.: 10/822,462

Filed: April 12, 2004

Related U.S. Patent Documents


Application Number	Filing Date	Patent Number	Issue Date
10141506	Feb., 2005	6850510
09037535	May., 2002	6389010
08539817	Mar., 1998	5726984

Current U.S. Class: 370/353 ; 370/413

Current International Class: H04L 12/66 (20060101)

Field of Search: 370/347,235,236,252,232,412,419,508,516,517 379/3,406.01,406.06,406.08

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Primary Examiner: Nguyen; Brian
Attorney, Agent or Firm: McAndrews,Held & Malloy

Parent Case Text

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS (Claiming Benefit Under 35 U.S.C. 120)

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 10/141,506 filed May 8, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,850,510 issued Feb. 1, 2005, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/037,535 filed Mar. 10, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,010 issued May 14, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/539,817 filed Oct. 5, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,726,984 issued Mar. 10, 1998.

The subject matter of the present application is related to the following United States Patent Applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/682,591, filed Oct. 9, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/701,865, filed Nov. 5, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/760,057, filed Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/760,035, filed Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/759,969, filed Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/760,167, filed Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,587, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,572, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/760,322, filed Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/706,425, filed Nov. 12, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/801,472, filed Mar. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,888, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/784,005, filed Feb. 20, 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,312, issued Nov. 1, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,873, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,883, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,477, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,894, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,437, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/783,375, filed Feb. 20, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/183,704, filed Jul. 18, 2005; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/839,373, filed May 5, 2004; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/822,447, filed Apr. 8, 2004.

The application U.S. Ser. No. 8/279,148 is a continuation-in-part of: PCT application Ser. No. PCT/US/94/0537 filed May 6, 1994; U.S. application Ser. No. 08/205,639 filed Mar. 4, 1994; and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/275,821, filed Jun. 10, 1994.

PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US94/05037 is based on U.S. application Ser. No. 08/198,404, filed Feb. 22, 1994, which is itself a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/198,452, filed Feb. 18, 1994, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/168,478, filed Dec. 16, 1993, and PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US93/12628 filed Dec. 23, 1993. The application U.S. Ser. No. 08/168,478 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/147,377 filed Nov. 3, 1993, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/101,254 filed Aug. 3, 1993, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/085,662 filed Jun. 29, 1993, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/076,340 filed Jun. 11, 1993, which is in turn a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/062,457, filed May 11, 1993.

PCT Application Ser. No. PCT/US93/12628 is based on pending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/027,140 filed Mar. 5, 1993, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/997,693 filed Dec. 23, 1992, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/982,292 filed Nov. 27, 1992, now abandoned, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/700,704 filed May 14, 1991, now abandoned, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/699,818 filed May 13, 1991, now abandoned.

The application U.S. Ser. No. 08/205,639 is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/735,128 filed Jul. 22, 1991, which is itself a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 07/467,096 filed Jan. 18, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,020.

U.S. application Ser. No. 08/062,457 is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/876,776, filed Apr. 28, 1992, which is itself a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/854,115, filed Mar. 18, 1992, which is in turn a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/558,895, filed Jul. 25, 1990. U.S. Ser. No. 07/558,895 is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/529,353, filed May 25, 1990, which is itself a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/347,602, filed May 3, 1989, which is itself a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 07/345,771, filed May 2, 1989, which is itself a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 07/345,200, filed Apr. 28, 1989, which is itself a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 07/305,302, filed Jan. 31, 1989.

The application U.S. Ser. No. 07/876,629 is also a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/854,115, filed Mar. 18, 1992, with its parentage as listed above.

The application U.S. Ser. No. 08/267,758 is a continuation in part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/748,150, filed Aug. 21, 1991, now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,349,678 on Sep. 20, 1994.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The above referenced applications, PCT Application No. PCT/US92/08610 filed Oct. 1, 1992, as published under International Publication No. WO 93/07691 on Apr. 15, 1993, together with U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,536, by Mahany et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,426, by Sojka, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,794, by Mahany, are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety, including drawings and appendices, and hereby are made a part of this application.

Claims

We claim:

1. A circuit for processing data representative of voice signals, the circuit having two signal paths comprising: in a first signal path, a queue for storing first voice data representative of a first voice signal; and a digital to analog converter having an output, the digital to analog converter for receiving the first voice data from the queue, the digital to analog converter converting the first voice data to a first analog representation of the first voice signal, and, in a second signal path, an analog to digital converter having an input, the analog to digital converter for converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal to second voice data; and signal processing circuitry for removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data, and wherein the circuit further comprises at least one processor that enables processing of received voice packets into the first voice data and processing of the second voice data into transmit voice packets; and wherein the at least one processor enables adjusting the operation of the queue according to a rate of packet arrival.

2. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the signal processing circuitry comprises a subtractor.

3. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the signal processing circuitry delays the voice data representative of the portion of the first voice data.

4. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

5. The circuit of claim 1 wherein the operation of the queue is adjusted based upon a propagation delay of a communication network.

6. The circuit of claim 1 further comprising: at least one signal coupling circuit for coupling voice signals from a two wire telephone network connection to the input of the analog to digital converter; and the at least one signal coupling circuit for coupling voice signals from the output of the digital to analog converter to the two wire telephone network connection.

7. A method of processing data representative of voice signals, the method comprising: receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; queuing the first voice data; converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a rate of packet arrival.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

11. The method of claim 7 further comprising: processing received voice packets to produce the first voice data; and processing the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising: coupling to a two-wire telephone network connection, voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal; and coupling voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

13. A computer-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections for processing data representative of voice signals, the code sections executable by a processor to perform the operations comprising: receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; queuing the first voice data; converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a rate of packet arrival.

14. The machine-readable storage of claim 13 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

15. The computer-redable storage of claim 13 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

16. The computer-readable storage of claim 13 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

17. The computer-readable storage of claim 13 wherein the operations further comprise: processing received voice packets to produce the first voice data; and processing the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

18. The computer-readable storage of claim 13 wherein the operations further comprise: adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a propagation delay of a communication network.

19. The computer-readable storage of claim 13 wherein the operations further comprise: coupling to a two-wire telephone network connection, voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal; and coupling voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

20. A system for processing data representative of voice signals, the system comprising: at least one processor that enables receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; at least one queue located within or external to the at least one processor; the at least one processor enabling queuing the first voice data into the at least on queue; the at least one processor enabling converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; the at least one processor enabling converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; the at least one processor enabling removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and wherein the at least one processor enables adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a rate of packet arrival.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one processor enables processing of received voice packets to produce the first voice data, and enables processing of the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the at least one processor enables adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a propagation delay of a communication network.

26. The system of claim 20 wherein the voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal are communicatively coupled to a two-wire telephone network connection, and voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection are communicatively coupled to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

27. A circuit for processing data representative of voice signals, the circuit having two signal paths comprising: in a first signal path, a queue for storing first voice data representative of a first voice signal; and a digital to analog converter having an output, the digital to analog converter for receiving the first voice data from the queue, the digital to analog converter converting the first voice data to a first analog representation of the first voice signal, and, in a second signal path, an analog to digital converter having an input, the analog to digital converter for converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal to second voice data; signal processing circuitry for removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and wherein the operation of the queue is adjusted based upon a propagation delay of a communication network.

28. The circuit of claim 27 wherein the signal processing circuitry comprises a subtractor.

29. The circuit of claim 27 wherein the signal processing circuitry delays the voice data representative of the portion of the first voice data.

30. The circuit of claim 27 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

31. The circuit of claim 27 further comprising: at least one processor that enables processing of received voice packets into the first voice data; and the at least one processor enabling processing of the second voice data into transmit voice packets.

32. The circuit of claim 27 further comprising: at least one signal coupling circuit for coupling voice signals from a two wire telephone network connection to the input of the analog to digital converter; and the at least one signal coupling circuit for coupling voice signals from the output of the digital to analog converter to the two wire telephone network connection.

33. A method of processing data representative of voice signals, the method comprising: receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; queuing the first voice data; converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and adjusting operation of the queuing based upon a propagation delay of a communication network.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

35. The method of claim 33 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

36. The method of claim 33 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

37. The method of claim 33 further comprising: processing received voice packets to produce the first voice data; and processing the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

38. The method of claim 33 further comprising adjusting operation of the queuing according to a rate of packet arrival.

39. The method of claim 33 further comprising: coupling to a two-wire telephone network connection, voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal; and coupling voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

40. A computer-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program having a plurality of code sections for processing data representative of voice signals, the code sections executable by a processor to perform the operations comprising: receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; queuing the first voice data; converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a propagation delay of a communication network.

41. The computer-readable storage of claim 40 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

42. The computer-readable storage of claim 40 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

43. The computer-readable storage of claim 40 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

44. The computer-readable storage of claim 40 wherein the operations further comprise: processing received voice packets to produce the first voice data; and processing the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

45. The computer-readable storage of claim 40 wherein the operations further comprise: coupling to a two-wire telephone network connection, voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal; and coupling voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

46. A system for processing data representative of voice signals, the system comprising: at least one processor that enables receiving first voice data representative of a first voice signal; at least one queue located within or external to the at least one processor; the at least one processor enabling queuing the first voice data into the at least on queue; the at least one processor enabling converting the first voice data into a first analog representation of the first voice signal; the at least one processor enabling converting a second analog representation of a second voice signal into second voice data; the at least one processor enabling removing from the second voice signal represented by the second voice data, a portion of the first voice signal representative of the first voice data; and wherein the at least one processor enables adjusting queuing and converting the first voice data according to a propagation delay of a communication network.

47. The system of claim 46 wherein removing comprises subtracting.

48. The system of claim 46 wherein removing comprises delaying the portion of the first voice signal represented by the first voice data.

49. The system of claim 46 wherein the portion removed comprises undesirable components of the first voice signal present in the second voice signal.

50. The system of claim 46 wherein the at least one processor enables processing of received voice packets to produce the first voice data, and enables processing of the second voice data to produce transmit voice packets.

51. The system of claim 46 wherein the voice signals representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal are communicatively coupled to a two-wire telephone network connection, and voice signals from the two wire telephone network connection are communicatively coupled to produce a voice signal representing the first analog representation of the first voice signal and the second analog representation of the second voice signal.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to data communication networks having a plurality of wired and/or wireless access servers configured to support remote processing, data storage and voice communication. More specifically, this invention relates to the intelligent routing of packetized voice communication between telephones and radio terminals through wireless and hardwired channels in a data processing network.

While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility.

2. Description of Related Art

To support data collection, multiple radio base station networks have been developed to overcome a variety of problems with single radio base station networks such as spanning physical radio wave penetration barriers, wasted transmission power by portable computing devices, etc. However, multiple radio base station networks have their own inherent problems.

For example, in a multiple base station network employing a single shared channel, each base station transmission is prone to collision with neighboring base station transmissions in the overlapping coverage areas between the base stations. Therefore, it often proves undesirable for each base station to use a single or common communication channel.

In contradistinction, to facilitate the roaming of portable or mobile devices from one coverage area to another, use of a common communication channel for all of the base stations is convenient. A roaming device may easily move between coverage areas without loss of connectivity to the network.

Such exemplary competing commonality factors have resulted in tradeoff decisions in network design. These factors become even more significant when implementing a frequency hopping spread spectrum network. Frequency hopping is a desirable transmission technique because of its ability to combat frequency selective fading, avoid narrowband interference, and provide multiple communications channels.

Again, however, changing operating parameters between coverage areas creates difficulties for the roaming devices which move therebetween. In particular, when different communication parameters are used, a portable or mobile device roaming into a new base station coverage area is not able to communicate with the new base station without obtaining and synchronizing to the new parameters. This causes a communication backlog in data collection networks.

Such data collection networks and their communication protocols have been specifically designed for data collection and forwarding through wireless and hardwired links. They are designed in attempts to optimize overall data flow through the network. Among other flow optimizing techniques used, the data is segmented and packetized in preparation for transmission. Packet by packet, the data is transmitted as channel bandwidth becomes available.

Thus, instead of disabling a channel by dedicating bandwidth to service only a pair of participants exchanging potentially large amounts of data (data possibly having no immediate need), the channel is shared by many participants, each sending segments of data in packets whenever an opening in the channel occurs.

In contrast, to support the delivery of real time voice, alternate network design constraints must be considered. For example, such networks often dedicated bandwidth to voice transmission exchanges. However, by dedicating channel bandwidth to voice, efficient communication of data through such networks is seriously impacted. Data communication would have to wait for longer periods of time until dedicated voice bandwidth has been released. Similarly, data communication would have to be immediately discontinued upon requests for voice bandwidth.

Thus, there is a need for a communication network that provides efficient distribution and utilization of network resources in support of both data and voice delivery.

An object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus wherein seamless voice and data communication is provided among both roaming devices within wireless portions of a communication network and stationary devices within hardwired portions of the network.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hierarchical communications system for providing an efficient communication pathway for both data and voice.

Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves many of the foregoing problems in a variety of embodiments. For example, in one embodiment, a communication network is disclosed which operates to support voice and data communication within a premises. The communication network comprises a plurality of mobile network devices, a stationary network device, a wireless network, a hardwired network and a telephone.

Each mobile network device has a buffer that stores incoming digital voice information for a predetermined queuing period before beginning voice reproduction from the stored digital voice information. Each mobile network device uses the wireless network to selectively exchange voice and data packets with other mobile network devices. Similarly, the hardwired network is connected to both said stationary network device and the wireless network, and is used to route voice and data packets between the stationary network device and the plurality of mobile network devices which participate via the wireless network.

The telephone, which is connected to the stationary network device, captures, delivers, receives and reproduces voice in an analog voice stream form.

The stationary network device also has a buffer that stores digital voice information, received from the wireless network, for a predetermined queuing period before converting it into an analog voice stream. After conversion, the stationary network device delivers the analog voice stream to the telephone. In addition, the stationary network device converts analog voice streams received from the telephone into voice packets for delivery via the hardwired and wireless networks to a selected one of the mobile network devices.

Further detail regarding this embodiment and variations thereof are also disclosed. For example, the predetermined queuing period can be determined through examining delays found in test signal routing. The stationary network device can be a computer. The wireless network may utilize a polling protocol and spanning tree routing. The stationary network device can provide call setup assistance for the telephone.

Moreover, the communication network may further comprisea telephone switching network, connected to the stationary network device, which selectively routes analog voice streams received from the telephone onto the telephone switching network. The stationary network device may also selectively route analog voice streams received from the telephone switching network to the telephone.

Further detail regarding the present invention (and embodiments thereof) may be found in reference to the claims below, in view of the following detailed description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagrammatic illustration of a hierarchal communication system built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagrammatic illustration of another hierarchal communication system built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 1C is a diagrammatic illustration of still another hierarchal communication system built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a basic access interval structure used by a hierarchical network of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the frequency of operation periodically changing corresponding to access interval boundaries in a frequency hopping communication protocol of the present invention.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate more than one access interval being used per hop in a frequency hopping communication protocol of the present invention.

FIG. 5A illustrates an embodiment of an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention wherein a reservation phase is Idle Sense Multiple Access.

FIG. 5B illustrates an embodiment of an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention wherein a device response follows a reservation poll.

FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment of an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention having multiple reservation slots for transmission of a Request For Poll signal.

FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention wherein general devices contend for channel access.

FIG. 7A illustrates a sequence in an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention for transferring data from a remote device to a control point device.

FIG. 7B illustrates a sequence in an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention for transferring data from a control point device to a remote device.

FIG. 8 illustrates a preferred embodiment of an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention.

FIGS. 9A and B conceptually illustrate how multiple NETs may be employed in an idealized cellular-type installation according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates an access point coverage contour overlap for the multiple NETs Infrastructured Network of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 illustrates hopping sequence reuse in a multiple NET configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a hierarchical infrastructured network of the present invention wherein a wireless link connects access points on separate hard wired LANs.

FIG. 13 illustrates a hierarchical infrastructured network of the present invention including a wireless access point.

FIG. 14 illustrates conceptually access points communicating neighboring access point information to facilitate roaming of portable/mobile devices.

FIG. 15 illustrates a secondary access interval used in the MicroLAN or peripheral LAN in the hierarchical communication network according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart illustrating the selection of an access point by a mobile computing device for communication exchange.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating a terminal maintaining synchronization with the network after it has gone to sleep for several access intervals.

FIG. 18 is a flow chart illustrating a terminal that maintains or achieves synchronization with the network after it has gone to sleep for several seconds.

FIGS. 19A and 19B are flow charts illustrating an access interval during inbound communication.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are flow charts illustrating an access interval during outbound communication.

FIG. 21 illustrates a sequence in an access interval used in the hierarchical communication network of the present invention with Time Division Multiple Access slots positioned at the end of the access interval.

FIG. 22 illustrates a sequence in an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention with the Time Division Multiple Access slots positioned immediately following the SYNC.

FIG. 23 illustrates a sequence in an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention with the Time Division Multiple Access slots positioned immediately following the SYNC and Reservation Poll.

FIG. 24 illustrates another sequence in an access interval used by the hierarchical network of the present invention with the Time Division Multiple Access slots positioned immediately following the SYNC.

FIG. 25 illustrates a portion of an access interval including the preamble, SYNC and Reservation Poll.

FIG. 26 illustrates the information contained in a sample SYNC message.

FIG. 27 illustrates the information contained in a sample Reservation Poll.

FIG. 28A illustrates a warehouse environment incorporating a communication network which maintains communication connectivity between the various network devices according to the present invention.

FIG. 28B illustrates other features of the present invention in the use of a vehicular LAN which is capable of detaching from the premises LAN when moving out of radio range of the premises LAN to perform a service, and reattaching to the premises LAN when moving within range to automatically report on the services rendered.

FIG. 28C illustrate other features of the present invention in the use of a vehicular LAN which, when out of range of the premises LAN, is still capable gaining access to the premises LAN via radio WAN communication.

FIG. 29A is a diagrammatic illustration of the use of a peripheral LAN supporting roaming data collection by an operator according to the present invention.

FIG. 29B is a diagrammatic illustration of another embodiment of a peripheral LAN which supports roaming data collection by an operator according to the present invention.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating the functionality of RF transceivers built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 31 is a diagrammatic illustration of an alternate embodiment of the peripheral LAN shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram illustrating a channel access algorithm used by peripheral LAN slave devices in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 33A is a timing diagram of the protocol used according to the present invention illustrating a typical communication exchange between a peripheral LAN master device having virtually unlimited power resources and a peripheral LAN slave device.

FIG. 33B is a timing diagram of the protocol used according to the present invention illustrating a typical communication exchange between a peripheral LAN master device having limited power resources and a peripheral LAN slave device.

FIG. 33C is also a timing diagram of the protocol used which illustrates a scenario wherein the peripheral LAN master device fails to service the peripheral LAN slave devices.

FIG. 34 is a timing diagram illustrating the peripheral LAN master device's servicing of both the higher power portion of the premises LAN as well as the lower power peripheral LAN subnetwork with a single or plural radio transceivers.

FIGS. 35 and 36 are block diagrams illustrating additional power saving features according to the present invention wherein ranging and battery parameters are used to optimally select the appropriate data rate and power level of subsequent transmissions.

FIG. 37 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a radio unit capable of current participation on multiple LANs according to the present invention.

FIG. 38 illustrates an exemplary functional layout of the frequency generator of FIG. 37 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 39 illustrates further detail of the receiver RF processing circuit of FIG. 37 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 40 illustrates further detail of the receiver signal processing circuit of FIG. 37 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 41 illustrates further detail of the receiver signal processing circuit of FIG. 37 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 42 illustrates further detail of the memory unit of FIG. 37 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 43 illustrates a software flow chart describing the operation of the control processor in controlling the battery powered radio unit to participate on multiple LANs.

FIG. 44 is an alternate embodiment of the software flow chart wherein the control processor participates on a master LAN and, when needed, on a slave LAN.

FIG. 45 illustrates another embodiment of the communication system of the present invention as adapted for servicing a retail store environment.

FIGS. 46a b illustrate a further embodiment of the communication system of the present invention which illustrate the use of access servers that support local processing and provide both data and program migration.

FIG. 47a is a flow diagram which illustrates the functionality of the access servers of FIGS. 46a b in handling data, processing and direct routing requests.

FIG. 47b is a flow diagram utilized by the access servers of FIGS. 46a b to manage the migration of data and program code from a source storage and/or processing device toward an end-point device.

FIG. 48 is a schematic diagram of the access servers of FIGS. 46a b illustrating an exemplary circuit layout which supports the functionality described in relation to FIGS. 47a b.

FIG. 49 is a specific exemplary embodiment of an access point in a multi-hop communication network utilized for remote processing of 2-D (two-dimension) code information.

FIG. 50 is a schematic diagram similar to that shown in FIG. 48 which illustrates the circuit layout used in the access point of FIG. 49 to process the 2-D code information.

FIGS. 51a b are flow diagrams illustrating the operation of the 2-D code processing access point of FIGS. 49 50.

FIG. 52 illustrates the structuring of 2-D code information so as to support a hierarchical recognition strategy as used by the access point of FIGS. 49 50.

FIG. 53 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary 2-D code wherein the hierarchical structure of FIG. 52 is implemented.

FIG. 54 is a flow diagram illustrating the functionality of the access point of FIGS. 49 50 in carrying out the hierarchical recognition strategy of FIG. 52.

FIG. 55a is a diagram illustrating the overall flow of both data and voice through another embodiment of the hierarchical communication network of the present invention.

FIG. 55b is a diagram which illustrates a summary of the various types of communication pathways for setting up voice sessions between a source and destination network device.

FIG. 56a illustrates an embodiment of the conversion circuitry contained within a computer card 5601 which plugs into the computer 5515 of FIG. 55a.

FIG. 56b illustrates an alternate embodiment of the conversion circuitry of FIG. 56a wherein instead of using an analog subtraction process to separate outgoing voice signals from the combined incoming and outgoing signals, a digital subtraction process is used (at a subtraction circuit 5653).

FIG. 57 is an illustration of the back of the telephone 5525 (also illustrated in FIG. 55a) as built in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 58 is a schematic block diagram which illustrates the implementation of one embodiment of the conversion circuitry within the telephone 5525 of FIGS. 55 and 57.

FIG. 59 is a block diagram illustrating the packet processing functionality of the access devices illustrated in FIG. 55a.

FIG. 60 is a flow diagram illustrating the functionality of a source device in the setup of a voice session.

FIG. 61 is a flow diagram illustrating the functionality of the source device (or assisting access device) when performing call setup.

FIG. 62 is a flow diagram illustrating ongoing voice session processing performed by a source device (or its assisting access device if needed) and destination device (or its assisting access device if needed).

FIG. 63 is a diagram which illustrates further application of the present invention in an embodiment which transparently utilizes internet connectivity to support low-cost voice sessions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1A illustrates a hierarchical communication system 10 within a building in accordance with the present invention. The illustrated hierarchical communication system 10 includes a local area network (LAN) for maintaining typical communication flow within the building premises, herein referred to as a premises LAN. The premises LAN is designed to provide efficient end-to-end routing of information among hardwired and wireless, stationary and roaming devices located within the hierarchical communication system 10.

The premises LAN consists of an infrastructure network comprising radio base stations, i.e., wireless access points 15, and a data base server 16 which may be part of a more extensive, wired LAN (not shown). Herein, base stations which participate in routing and relaying data throughout the communication network are referred to as "access points." If they also participate in the storage or migration of data and program code or in local processing, the base stations are referred to herein as "access servers." As will become apparent below, an access point may be modified with additional circuitry and/or programming resources to become an access server. Additionally, access servers and access points are both referred to herein as "access devices."

The access points 15 may communicate with each other via hardwired links, such as Ethernet, RS232, etc., or via wireless (radio frequency) links. A plurality of roaming terminal devices, such as a roaming computing device 20, participate in the premises LAN of the hierarchical communication network 10 to exchange information with: 1) other roaming computing devices; 2) the data base server 16; 3) other devices which might be associated with data base server 16 (not shown); and 4) any other devices accessible via the premises LAN (not shown). A roaming computing device can be, for example, a hand-held computer terminal or vehicle mounted computer terminal (vehicle terminal).

In most circumstances, the premises LAN provides a rather optimal solution to the communication needs of a given network. However, in some circumstances, to serve a variety of particular communication needs, the premises LAN does not offer the optimal solution. Instead of relying on the premises LAN for such communications, when and where beneficial, alternate LANs are spontaneously created by (or with) network devices, such as the roaming computing device 20, within the hierarchical communication system 10. Such spontaneously created LANs are referred to herein as spontaneous LANs. After the immediate benefits end, i.e., a task has been completed, or if the participants of the spontaneous LAN move out of range of each other, the spontaneous LAN terminates operation.

An exemplary spontaneous LAN involves the use of peripheral devices as illustrated in FIG. 1A. Although bulk data transfer destined for a peripheral device 23, such as a printer, from the roaming computing device 20 might be communicated through the premises LAN, a more direct interconnection proves less intrusive, saves power, and offers a lower cost solution. Specifically, instead of communicating through the premise LAN, the roaming computing device 20 needing to print: 1) identifies the presence of an available printer, the peripheral device 23; 2) establishes an RF link (binds) with the peripheral device 23; 3) directly begins transferring the bulk data for printing; and 4) lastly, when the roaming terminal finishes the transfer, the spontaneous LAN with the peripheral device 23 terminates. A spontaneous LAN created between the computing devices and peripheral devices is herein referred to as a peripheral LAN. Other types of spontaneous LANs, such as vehicular LANs, are also possible. Embodiments described below identify vehicular LANs and wide area radio networks (WANs) which are part of the hierarchical communication system according to the present invention.

Although a spontaneous LAN may operate completely independent of the premises LAN, it is more likely that there will be some degree of coordination between the two. For example, while participating in the peripheral LAN, the roaming computing device 20 may terminate participation in the premises LAN, and vice versa. Alternately, the roaming computing device 20 may only service the peripheral LAN when specific participation on the premises LAN is not required, or vice versa. Moreover, the roaming computing device 20 may attempt to service each peripheral LAN as necessary in a b