Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at separate stations – Distortion – noise – or other interference prevention,...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-25
2004-03-23
Trost, William (Department: 2683)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at separate stations
Distortion, noise, or other interference prevention,...
C455S067110, C455S522000, C455S404200, C370S318000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06711381
ABSTRACT:
RELATED APPLICATIONS
Not applicable
FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not applicable
MICROFICHE APPENDIX
Not applicable
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of communication systems, and in particular, to a wireless communication system that manages interference between wireless transceivers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Enterprise communication systems are prevalent in most parts of the world. An enterprise communication system provides voice and data transfer within the enterprise and typically includes an intranet that allows for web-like interaction among enterprise personnel. The enterprise communication system also provides public telephone, Internet, and private data connectivity to the enterprise.
Wireless communications between wireless phones and wireless communication systems is also prevalent in most parts of the world. The wireless communications include voice conversations, e-mail, and web sessions. Some wireless communication systems use push technology to select and provide information to the wireless phones.
Wireless transceivers that interface with wireless phones and with public wireless base stations are being developed for private use. Unfortunately, these wireless transceivers have not been effectively used to provide an interface between wireless phones and enterprise communication systems. Systems are needed that allow wireless phones to more effectively inter-operate with enterprise communication systems. This inadequate interface between wireless phones and enterprise communication systems becomes an acute problem when the wireless phone is used by a visitor to the enterprise who may need more or different information than enterprise personnel.
These wireless transceivers face additional problems. Manual engineering is required to initially configure the transceivers to use the appropriate frequencies and signal strengths. Signal strength is especially critical with dense concentrations of spread spectrum systems because the signal represents noise to neighboring transceivers. Many enterprises or residence do not have the available engineering prowess to properly configure their transceivers.
Technology has been developed to configure a computer for external communications when it is booted. The computer's CPU scans a range of memory addresses that are assigned to peripheral device interfaces. The CPU then installs the appropriate drivers for each interface that was detected to configure the computer for external communications. Such technology has not been applied effectively to wireless transceiver configuration.
Since, many residences or enterprises cannot properly configure their transceivers, it is likely that the unauthorized use of frequencies and signal strengths will be a problem. Untrained users are likely to adjust or move their transceiver without regard to neighboring systems. Systems are needed to counter this problem.
Transactions, such as purchases, are the key activity in many enterprises. Two important aspects of a transaction are user authentication and account code validation. Typically, user authentication is handled by a credit card with a user name and a transaction receipt with a user signature. Photographic identification, personal identification numbers, and voice recognition systems are also used to authenticate users. Account code validation is typically handled by point-of-sale terminals that request account code validation from a bank network. Unfortunately, credit cards are stolen and signatures are forged to defeat user authentication. Systems are needed that integrate effective user authentication into the enterprise systems described above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention solves the above problems with a communication system that manages interference among wireless transceivers. Advantageously, the communication system detects unauthorized frequency use and improper signal strength, so untrained persons may properly operate their wireless transceivers without unduly affecting their neighbors.
The communication system comprises a plurality of wireless transceivers and a control system. The wireless transceivers periodically monitor transmit signals from the wireless transceivers to determine transmit signal strengths and transmit signal frequencies. The wireless transceivers transfer messages associating the wireless transceivers with the transmit signal strengths and transmit signal frequencies. The control system receives the messages. The control system generates an alarm if one of the transmit signal strengths at one of the transmit signal frequencies for one of the wireless transceivers exceeds a threshold. In some examples of the invention, the control system determines the position of the offending wireless transceiver and displays its position on a geographic display.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5093924 (1992-03-01), Toshiyuki et al.
patent: 5276908 (1994-01-01), Koohgoli et al.
patent: 5497505 (1996-03-01), Koohgoli et al.
patent: 5640675 (1997-06-01), Pinault et al.
patent: 6052594 (2000-04-01), Chuang et al.
patent: 6434386 (2002-08-01), Lundborg
patent: 6442393 (2002-08-01), Hogan
patent: 2001/0049281 (2001-12-01), Duplessis
patent: 2002/0142788 (2002-10-01), Chawla et al.
Office Action, dated Sep. 5, 2002, for Application Ser. No. 09/578,972, from Examiner Lana N. Le.
Office Action, dated Apr. 11, 2003, for Application Ser. No. 09/578,972, from Examiner Lana N. Le.
Cook Fred S.
Linebarger John William
D'Agosta Stephen
Sprint Communications Company L.P.
Trost William
LandOfFree
Interference management for a wireless communication system does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Interference management for a wireless communication system, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Interference management for a wireless communication system will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3280478