Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
2001-08-08
2004-08-31
Gary, Erika (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S418000, C455S419000, C455S420000, C455S522000, C375S222000, C375S235000, C379S093290, C718S102000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785556
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to wireless radio frequency modems and, more specifically, to detachable wireless radio frequency modems that can be configured for multiple modes of operation using software downloaded by a host computing device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current wireless radio frequency (“RF”) modems that cooperatively operate with a host computing device (“host computer”) typically include: (1) a radio portion, also called an RF front end or an RF head; (2) a modulator/demodulator portion, also called a baseband processing unit or baseband chip; (3) a central processing unit (“CPU”) or processor; (4) a memory; and (5) an interface. During a receive mode of a wireless communication process, these modem components collectively to receive an electromagnetic RF signal, wherein the received RF signal contains information to be extracted. In a transmit mode, the components work collectively to transmit an electromagnetic RF signal, wherein the RF signal contains the information to be transmitted.
During the wireless communications process, the modem components collectively operate to perform three principal modem functions: RF conversion, baseband processing and protocol stack control. During the receive mode, RF conversion is the preparation of the RF signal received at the antenna for demodulation and, during the transmit mode RF conversion is the preparation of the modulated baseband analog signal for transmission. During the receive mode, baseband processing is the demodulation of the modulated baseband analog signal to extract a plurality of data bits that correspond to the information being received, and during the transmit mode it is the generation of the modulated baseband analog signal from a plurality of data bits.
As part of the above wireless communications process, data bits being transmitted are wrapped with protocol bits of data to facilitate transmission, routing, and receiving of the data bits. Likewise, this protocol data must be removed to accurately reproduce, in the receiving RF modem, the data that was sent. The adding or stripping of the protocol bits, also called protocol stack control, is generally performed by the processor in the RF modem under the control of a protocol stack software program stored in the RF modem's memory. Finally, the interface feeds the data bits from the host computer to the RF modem for processing and transmission and feeds to the host computer the reproduced data bits that were extracted from the RF signal.
The host computer may typically be a laptop or palmtop computer, a Personnel Digital Assistant (PDA), a point of sale terminal, or some other computing system. Typical interfaces between the wireless RF modem and the host computer are RS-232, USB, Parallel Port, IrDa, PCMCIA, or Compact Flash. However, other interfaces are also used, including a variety of proprietary interfaces. Moreover, there are many wireless RF standards that must be considered in the design of any wireless RF modem. Some examples include: circuit switched commercial telecommunications standards including AMPS, CDMA (IS95A & B), and GSM; packet switched standards including CDPD, 1XRTT, GPRS, EDGE, and W-CDMA; and proprietary wide area wireless networks such as Metricom, Re-Flex, FLEX, Mobitex, and ARDIS.
Typically, detachable wireless modems are single mode and can operate according to only one of the above telecommunications standards. However, the trend is toward more flexible wireless modems that are capable of operating according to multiple modes, i.e., multiple telecommunications standards. Prior art multi-mode modems are limited, however, in that they do not take advantage of the attached host computer in configuring the modem to operate under multiple standards. Most prior art multi-mode modems achieve the different modes of operation through additional hardware in the modem. Moreover, although some modems have components that are programmable, the modem typically self-configures using software stored in the modem's memory.
What is needed is a detachable wireless RF modem that is constructed to be configured for different modes of operation with minimal need for additional hardware, resulting in a lower cost multi-mode modem. What is also needed is a modem that uses its host computer for reconfiguration and eliminates the need for additional memory to store relevant reconfiguration software, again reducing the cost of the multi-mode modems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed at addressing the above-mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages, and problems of the prior art.
Broadly stated, the present invention comprises a detachable software configurable wireless radio frequency (“RF”) modem that facilitates wireless data communications according to a plurality of modes of operation. The RF modem is constructed to plug into a host computing device having a storage unit and a central processing unit (“CPU”), said host computing device operative to download software into said RF modem in response to a trigger signal generated by said RF modem, to enable said RF modem to change from a present mode of operation to a selected alternate mode of operation. The RF modem according to the present invention includes an antenna for receiving or transmitting an electromagnetic RF signal, a software configurable RF front end coupled to said antenna for performing RF conversion, a software configurable baseband processor coupled to said RF front end for performing baseband processing, a software configurable modem CPU coupled to said baseband processor and said RF front end for performing protocol stack control and for facilitating said RF modem mode change, and a modem reconfiguration trigger for detecting that at least one predetermined criterion has been met and for generating said trigger signal in response thereto that identifies said selected alternative mode of RF modem operation. The modem CPU operates in response to said downloaded software to reconfigure said RF front end, said baseband processor and said modem CPU so as to cause said RF modem to operate according to said selected alternative mode of operation.
In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the RF modem further comprising a geographic positioning device coupled to said modem CPU for determining the geographic location of said RF modem.
The present invention also comprises a method for generating a mode change in a detachable and software configurable wireless radio frequency (“RF”) modem from a present mode of operation to a selected alternate mode of operation. The method comprises the steps of: detecting whether at least one predetermined criterion has been met; scanning a predetermined plurality of RF modem modes of operation to determine one or more modes of operation that satisfy said at least one predetermined criterion; selecting a mode of operation from said one or more modes of operation determined in the previous step; generating said trigger signal to identify to said host computing device the identity of the mode of operation selected in the previous step; and configuring said RF modem using the software downloaded from said host computing device to cause said RF modem to operate according to said mode of operation selected by the method.
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pa
Afshar Kamran
Coudert Brothers LLP
Novatel Wireless Inc.
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