Systems and methods for automatic connection with a wireless network

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DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods for automatic connection to a wireless network

Background

1. Technical field

The embodiments described in this document refer, in general, to wireless communication and, more specifically, to automatic connection to a wireless Wide Area Network (WAN) through a Hotspot. Wireless Mobile Intelligent Mobile HotSpot (IMHS).

two. Related art

There are wireless modems that can be inserted into, or otherwise interconnected with, a computer and that enable data communication over a wireless Wide Area Network (WAN) such as a cellular-type network. The first versions of these cards had connectors that were compliant with the PCMCIA standard and that were inserted into a slot on the side of the computer. Newer versions have USB connectors to interface with the computer. Such modems allow access to the Internet, or to the World Wide Web (WWW), even where there is no wired network connection and, often, most of them are interconnected with a laptop or other device laptop computer.

Figure 1 illustrates a conventional system 100 in which a data connection can be established over a wide area network using a conventional wireless modem 104. In Figure 1, the modem 104 is interconnected, for example, via a PCMCIA slot or a USB connection, with a computing device 106 via the connection 110. The modem 104 can then establish a data connection between the base station 102, which is associated with, for example, a cellular type network, and the computer 106. The modem 104 and the base station 102 can communicate by means of wireless signals 108.

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a conventional process by which such a data connection can be established. First, at step 202, a user of computing device 106 inserts modem 104 into, or connects to, computer 106. Then, at step 204, modem 104 anchors to computing device 106. Once the modem 104 is tethered to the computing device 106, a connection manager that is running on the computing device 106 can be launched in step 206. Often the connection manager will show whether the network is available, that is, the WAN. If it is, then in step 208, the user can select the network, which will result in a Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP) connection being established between the base station 102 and computer 106 via modem 104 in step 210.

In networking, PPP is a data link protocol commonly used to establish a direct connection between two networking nodes. It can provide connection authentication, stream encryption privacy, and compression. PPP is used in many types of physical networks, including serial cable, telephone line, trunk line, cell phone, specialized radio links, and fiber optic links such as SONET. For example, most Internet service providers (ISPs) use PPP for dial-up customer access to the Internet. PPP is commonly used as a data link layer protocol for connection over synchronous and asynchronous circuits, where it has largely replaced the unconventional Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP). , older, and to the standards stipulated by the Telephone Companies, such as the Balanced Link Access Protocol (LAPB) in the set of X.25 protocols. PPP is designed to work with numerous network layer protocols, including Internet Protocol (IP), Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX) from Novell, NBF, and AppleTalk.

One drawback of the system 100 of FIG. 1 is that only a single computing device 106 can be interfaced with the base station 102 via the modem 104. This is because the modem 104 is tethered to the computing device 106.

The inventors of the present invention are aware of the teachings of US 2002 / 0118663A1, which discloses a mobile wireless router that includes a first wireless transceiver and a network interface for connecting a wireless client device to a mobile network. This has been used as the basis for the pre-characterizing portion of the independent claims. The inventors of the present invention are also aware of US 2005 / 0286476A1 and US 2005 / 0265323A1.

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Summary

This document discloses an Intelligent Mobile Wireless Hotspot (IMHS) that can interconnect multiple computing or wireless LAN client devices with a base station.

The present invention relates to an Intelligent Mobile Wireless Coverage Zone, a method and a system as set forth in claims 1, 6 and 7. Additional embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims.

These and other features, aspects and embodiments are described hereinafter in the section entitled "Detailed Description".

Brief description of the drawings

Features, aspects, and embodiments are described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional system for using a wireless modem to access a WAN;

Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a conventional process for establishing a data connection using a modem that is included in the system of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system for using an IMHS to access a WAN in accordance with one embodiment;

Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for establishing a data connection using an IMHS that is included in the system of Figure 3 in accordance with one embodiment; Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating exemplary components that may be included in an IMHS that is included in the system of Figure 3 in accordance with one embodiment;

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating modem and router instructions that can be loaded into volatile memory in the IMHS of Figure 5 in accordance with one embodiment;

Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary method of loading and initializing the modem and router instructions of Figure 6 in accordance with one embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary image of the router instructions of FIG. 6 in accordance with one embodiment; and Figures 9A-D are diagrams illustrating various exemplary implementations of an IMHS.

Detailed description

In the embodiments hereinafter, an IMHS is used to interconnect a plurality of computing devices or LAN client devices with a wireless WAN. For example, the WAN can be configured to implement one of the Third Generation (3G) protocols, such as the EDGE, CDMA2000, or Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) protocols, Packet Access protocols. High Speed ​​(HSPA, High Speed ​​Packet Access) or HSPA +, Long Term Evolution protocols (LTE, Long Term Evolution), rev. A for Evolution - Data Optimization (EV-DO) (DOrA), WiMAX, or other newer 4G protocols. The computing devices interface with the IMHS through a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) such as a WiFi network, a wireless USB network, an ultra-wideband network, or a Zigbee network; however, it will be understood that the descriptions that follow are not intended to limit the embodiments herein to particular standards or architectures, the embodiments being provided by way of example only.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system 300 for using an IMHS to access a WAN in accordance with one embodiment. IMHS 304 is paramount for the 300 system. Although not illustrated in detail in Figure 3, the IMHS 304 may comprise two radio communication interfaces: one for communicating with a base station 302 that is associated with a WAN, and one for communicating with a plurality of computer or wireless LAN client devices 306 via a wireless LAN. Therefore, IMHS 304 can communicate with base station 302 via wireless signals 208 and with devices 306 via wireless signals 310, where signals 308 and 310 implement different protocols that are associated with the related network.

In certain embodiments, the IMHS 304 for example can be configured to interface as many as five (5) computing devices 306 with the base station 302. Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process by which the Devices 306 can be interfaced with base station 302. As can be seen in Figure 3, the IMHS 304 can comprise a single power switch or button 312, when a user presses the button 312 to turn on the IMHS 304, in step 402, then the IMHS 304 will turn on and set automatically a data connection, eg, a PPP connection, with base station 302 in step 404. As illustrated, this PPP connection is between base station 302 and IMHS 304, and not between base station 302 and devices 306. Then, in step 406, IMHS 304 will enable the LAN. In step 408, devices 306 can automatically connect to the WAN

ES 2 629 007 T3 via IMHS 304 and LAN 310 connections. In other words, IMHS 304 can act as a wireless LAN access point for 306 devices. Communication between IMHS 304 and devices 306 can be via TCP / IP over WiFi. In certain embodiments, users of devices 306 are required to provide a password when accessing the LAN. The password can be printed on device 304 or displayed on device 304.

Therefore, all that is required to enable multiple computing devices 306 to access the wireless WAN is to turn on the IMHs 304 and possibly provide a password. IMHS 304 will automatically establish a connection to the WAN and enable wireless LAN hotspot in response. There is no anchoring of the IMHS 304 with the 306 devices.

Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating certain components that can be included in the IMHS 304 in accordance with one embodiment. It will be understood that additional components may be included in the IMHS 304. The example in Figure 5 is not intended to exhaustively show all components, but rather is provided by way of example to illustrate certain components in relation to systems. and methods described herein. In this sense, the example of figure 5 should not be considered as limiting the systems and methods described in this document to a specific design or architecture. Furthermore, it is obvious that the components illustrated in figure 5 are shown at a high level. It will be understood that, in practice, the components can be implemented by means of multiple components such as multiple integrated circuits, discrete devices, or both, and can be encapsulated in a single package or in multiple packages. It will also be understood that the IMHS 304 is often battery powered and will therefore comprise a battery (not shown).

Referring to Figure 5, the IMHS 304 may comprise a processor 502 that is interfaced with memory 504, LAN radio interface 510, WAN radio interface 512, and user interface 514. Often times, the processor 502 will comprise various processing cores such as a digital signal processing core, a microprocessing core, math coprocessors, and so on.

Memory 504 may comprise various forms of memory, such as non-volatile memory 506 and volatile memory 508. Non-volatile memory is used to store data and instructions that should be maintained even when power to the IMHs 304 is removed. Volatile memory is used to store instructions and data for which it is not important whether they are retained when power is removed. For example, the code used to run IMHS 304 can be stored in non-volatile memory 506 such that it is maintained even when IMHS 304 is powered off and such that IMHS 304 can access this code. when it is activated again; however, the code can be copied to volatile memory 508 when IMHS 304 is active. This can, for example, allow faster access to instructions and data by processor 502.

Examples of non-volatile memory include Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, and most types of magnetic computer storage devices, for example, hard drives, floppy disks, and magnetic tape and disks. optical, although the latter devices are not generally used for IMHS 304. Rather, the above, which can be referred to as electrically addressing non-volatile memories, are generally used for IMHS 304. Non-volatile memory is generally used for secondary storage, or persistent storage. long-term. Most forms of nonvolatile memory have limitations that make them unsuitable for use as primary storage. Non-volatile memory generally either costs more than or performs worse than volatile random access memory. Nonvolatile electrical addressing memories can include a Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM), Flash memory, or some combination thereof.

Volatile memory, which is also known as volatile storage or primary storage device, is computer memory that requires power to maintain stored information, as opposed to non-volatile memory that does not require a sustained power supply. The most widely used form of primary storage today is a volatile form of Random Access Memory (RAM), which means that when the computer is turned off, everything in the memory is lost. RAM. Most modern forms of RAM are volatile storage, including Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and Static Random Access Memory (SRAM). Therefore, the IMHS 304 can include DRAM, SRAM, or some combination thereof, even though the IMHS 304 is more likely to include SRAM than DRAM.

In certain embodiments, some portion or even all of the non-volatile memory 506, the volatile memory 508, or both, may be included with the processor 502.

The LAN radio interface 510 may comprise all of the hardware that is required for the radio front end of the wireless LAN interface. Similarly, the WAN 512 radio interface can

ES 2 629 007 T3 comprise all of the hardware that is required for the radio front end of the Wireless WAN Interface. The processor 502 or some components thereof may serve as the processing back end for both the 510 and 512 radio interfaces. Alternatively, a separate processing circuitry may be included for each of the LAN function and the LAN function. of WAN. In such embodiments, the processing functionality described herein can be included in either the LAN processing circuitry or the WAN processing circuitry.

User interface 514 may comprise only button 312. But in other embodiments, it may also comprise a screen, for example, to display a password.

Instructions that are stored in memory 504 can be used by processor 502 to control the operation of IMHS 502, including control of radio interfaces 510 and 512. Therefore, instructions that are stored in memory 504 They should include instructions for controlling the operation of radio interfaces 510 and 512 as well as for connecting communications between base station 320 and devices 306 and for configuring IMHS 304. In certain embodiments, the instructions for controlling the WAN 512 radio interface, and the authentication procedures for connecting to the WAN, may be included in a conventional code that is associated with the WAN 512 radio interface. Reference may be made to these instructions as modem instructions. Separate instructions for controlling the remaining functions of the IMHS 304 can then also be stored in memory 504, including procedures and settings for controlling the LAN radio interface 510. These instructions may be referred to as router instructions.

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating exemplary blocks of instructions that can be stored in memory 504. For example, instructions can be stored in non-volatile memory 506 and, for example, can be copied to memory. volatile memory 508 during operation. As can be seen, the instructions illustrated in Figure 6 may comprise modem instructions 602 and router instructions 604. Each set of instructions may comprise an initialization routine 610 and 612, respectively, and be associated with a table of functions 606 and 608, respectively. Router instructions 604 can also be associated with a known offset or address, eg, A000, where they should be loaded into volatile memory.

A process for allowing these two sets of instructions to interact is then to be implemented in such embodiments. Figure 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary process for loading modem instructions and router instructions into volatile memory 508 for execution by processor 502 and for configuring the instructions to interact with each other. At step 702, upon startup, eg, activation of button 312, modem initialization function 610 can generate a modem function pointer table 606, which can be populated with modem functions. In step 704, a memory block can be reserved in volatile memory 508, for example, in the known offset direction, and router instructions 604 can be loaded into the reserved block in non-volatile memory 508. The router initialization function 612 can then be invoked in step 706. The initialization function 612 in the router instructions 604 can then populate the function table 608 with router functions. The 602 modem instructions will need to use, or invoke, certain functions that are included in the 604 router instructions. Similarly, it will be necessary for the 604 router instructions to invoke certain functions in the 602 modem instructions. Consequently, the initialization functions can cause each instruction set to exchange pointers to the relevant functions, such that the modem function table 606 will include pointers to the relevant functions in the router instructions 604 and the address table. Router 608 functions will include pointers to the relevant functions in the 602 modem instructions.

Alternatively, a single function table with the appropriate functions and pointers can be created and used by both modem and router instructions 602 and 604; however, it will be understood that how the function tables are described is a matter of convenience and that what is important is that there is an association between the functions and the pointers to the functions in the various instructions that are maintained within the IMHS 304 .

The initialization function 612 can also be configured to create a set of related tasks, for example an http server task, a WiFi controller task, a bridge task, and so on. For example, once the functional tables have been initialized, the router instructions can begin to execute at step 708. Different tasks can then be invoked in steps 712, 714, and 716, which can result in initialization functions that are related to each of the tasks being executed in steps 718, 720, and 722. These functions of Initialization can then initialize the related tasks such that they can be executed in steps 724, 726 and 728.

Upon successful initialization, the router instructions 604 can be configured to notify the modem instructions 602 through either a return value or a signal.

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Modem instructions 602 can begin to execute at step 708. As the modem instruction and router tasks are executed, they can communicate with each other using the set of function pointers that populate the tables of functions. pointers to function. For example, a typical function that a router task can use is "efs_open" or "rex_sleep". Modem instructions 602 for example may invoke a broadcast function in the router WiFi controller or they may invoke address translation functions.

A partition table for memory 504 can have, for example, an additional partition of, for example, 3 MB for router instructions 604. Router instructions 604 can be integrated into a binary file from, for example, an elf file. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary image 802 of router instructions 604 in accordance with one embodiment. A header can be added to the binary and can include a signature field 804, for the image signature; a checksum field 806, which, for example, may comprise a 4-byte checksum and a 2-byte version, as well as 2 reserved bytes; and an entry point field 808 to contain the address offset; and a 4-byte reserved field 810. Then image 802 may consist mostly of binary image 812 for instructions 604.

On startup, the operating system can verify the checksum, version compatibility, and magic string from the image header before proceeding to the next step, eg, step 702.

Consequently, the 604 router instructions are not statically bound in the 602 modem instructions. Rather, these will be compiled and bound into a separate binary with a fixed entry point (offset address) that is specified in the router image header. This binary can then be loaded into that exact location that is specified by the offset address at run time. The memory location that is specified by the offset address should specify a block of memory that is not used by memory instructions. Once the memory section has been created, the router binary, except for the header, can then be loaded to the address where the image was created. After the initialization of the modem instruction has completed, it will invoke an initialization function that is located in the router binary. This location will be known to the modem instructions because it will be known where the router binary was loaded into memory. The router initialization function can then fill in the rest of the function pointers in the structure described above for the modem instructions. From this point on, the modem and router instructions can communicate with each other using the set of functions that have been stored in the function pointer table.

Once the IMHS 304 has been powered on, the connection to the base station 302 is established, the LAN is activated, and the IMHS 304 is ready to route data packets from the devices 306 to the base station 302. The devices 306 they can then access, for example, the Internet via IMHS 304. All that may be required for the 306 devices to access the Internet or, more generally, the WAN that is associated with the base station 302 is a password, which can be displayed on the IMHS 304. Contrast this with the system 100, in which only a single device 106 can access the WAN.

Figures 9A-D are diagrams illustrating various example implementations of the IMHS 304. As can be seen, each implementation includes a single button 312. Additionally, as illustrated in Figure 9D, the IMHS 304 can include a USB connection or other data connection 902 to interface with the IMHS 304. In certain embodiments, the IMHS 304 can be roughly the size of a credit card. In other words, the IMHS 304 can comprise a length (1) and a width (w) that are very close to those of a credit card. Also, IMHS 304 can comprise a thickness that is very small. Although it can be thicker than a credit card, the overall dimensions can be such that the IMHS can easily fit in a pocket or even a purse.

Although certain embodiments have been described above, it will be understood that the embodiments are described by way of example only. Accordingly, the systems and methods described herein should not be limited based on the described embodiments. Rather, the systems and methods described herein should only be limited in light of the claims that follow when taken in conjunction with the foregoing description and accompanying drawings.