Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
2003-03-21
2004-10-19
Kuntz, Curtis (Department: 2643)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S461000, C455S554100, C455S554200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06807431
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a method and apparatus that provides for wireless calls in private network environments and in public network environments. More particularly, this invention relates to communication systems that interconnect wireless networks with private networks where the private networks typically are corporate networks that connect to public networks such as PSTN, ISDN and the Internet.
Conventional Cellular Systems
Present day cellular mobile telephone systems provide for a large and increasing demand for mobile services. Cellular systems “reuse” frequency within a group of cells to provide wireless two-way radio frequency (RF) communication to large numbers of users. Each cell covers a small geographic area and collectively a group of adjacent cells covers a larger geographic region. Each cell has a fraction of the total amount of RF spectrum available to support cellular users. Cells are of different sizes (for example, macro-cell or micro-cell) and are generally fixed in capacity. The actual shapes and sizes of cells are complex functions of the terrain, the man-made environment, the quality of communication and the user capacity required. Cells are connected to each other via land lines or microwave links and to the public-switched telephone network (PSTN) though telephone switches that are adapted for mobile communication. The switches provide for the hand-off of users from cell to cell and thus typically from frequency to frequency as mobile users move between cells
In conventional cellular systems, each cell has a base station with RF transmitters and RF receivers co-sited for transmitting and receiving communications to and from cellular users in the cell. The base station employs forward RF frequency bands (carriers) to transmit forward channel communications to users and employs reverse RF carriers to receive reverse channel communications from users in the cell.
The forward and reverse channel communications use separate frequency bands so that simultaneous transmissions in both directions are possible. This operation is referred to as frequency division duplex (FDD) signaling. In time division duplex (TDD) signaling, the forward and reverse channels take turns using the same frequency band.
The base station in addition to providing RF connectivity to users also provides connectivity to a Mobile Services Switching Center (MSC). In a typical cellular system, one or more MSC will be used over the covered region. Each MSC can service a number of base stations and associated cells in the cellular system and supports switching operations for routing calls between other systems (such as the PSTN) and the cellular system or for routing calls within the cellular system.
Base stations are typically controlled from the MSC by means of a Base Station Controller (BSC). The BSC assigns RF carriers to support calls, coordinates the handoff of mobile users between base stations, and monitors and reports on the status of base stations. The number of base stations controlled by a single MSC depends upon the traffic at each base station, the cost of interconnection between the MSC and the base stations, the topology of the service area and other similar factors.
A handoff between base stations occurs, for example, when a mobile user travels from a first cell to an adjacent second cell. Handoffs also occur to relieve the load on a base station that has exhausted its traffic-carrying capacity or where poor quality communication is occurring. The handoff is a communication transfer for a particular user from the base station for the first cell to the base station for the second cell. During the handoff in conventional cellular systems, there may be a transfer period of time during which the forward and reverse communications to the mobile user are severed with the base station for the first cell and are not established with the second cell.
Conventional cellular implementations employ one of several techniques to reuse RF bandwidth from cell to cell over the cellular domain. The power received from a radio signal diminishes as the distance between transmitter and receiver increases. Conventional frequency reuse techniques rely upon power fading to implement reuse plans. In a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) system, a communications channel consists of an assigned particular frequency and bandwidth (carrier) for continuous transmission. If a carrier is in use in a given cell, it can only be reused in cells sufficiently separated from the given cell so that the reuse site signals do not significantly interfere with the carrier in the given cell. The determination of how far away reuse sites must be and of what constitutes significant interference are implementation-specific details. The cellular Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) currently in use in the United States employs FDMA communications between base stations and mobile cellular telephones.
In time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, multiple channels are defined using the same carrier. The separate channels each transmit discontinuously in bursts which are timed so as not to interfere with the other channels on that carrier. Typically, TDMA implementations also employ FDMA techniques. Carriers are reused from cell to cell in an FDMA scheme, and on each carrier, several channels are defined using TDMA methods. The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and PCS 1900 standards are examples of TDMA methods in current use.
The present specification uses a GSM system for purposes of explanation but the present invention applies to any wireless system protocol.
GSM Cellular Systems
The GSM system architecture is described, for example, in detail by M. Mouly and M.-B. Pautet, The GSM System for Mobile Communications, 1992 and Mouly and M.-B. Pautet,
GSM Protocol Architecture: Radio Sub
-
system Signaling
, IEEE 41 st Vehicular Technology Conference, 1991. The following sections highlight some unique aspects of GSM systems.
The development of GSM started in 1982, when the Conference of European Posts and Telegraphs (CEPT) formed a study group called Groupe Special Mobile. The main purpose of this group was to provide a single Digital Cellular standard in the 900 MHz band that could be used to unify the disparate analog standards across Europe. In 1989, the responsibility for GSM was transferred to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI), and the Phase I GSM recommendations were published in 1990. At that time, the United Kingdom requested a specification based on GSM but for higher user densities with low-power mobile stations, and operating at 1.8 GHz. The specifications for this system, called Digital Cellular System (DCS 1800) were published 1991. Commercial operation of GSM networks started in mid-1991 in European countries.
The GSM system specifications incorporate many advanced services and features including:
ISDN compatibility based upon Q.931
World-wide roaming with other GSM networks
Two way messaging
Data Services
FAX Services
ISDN Supplementary Services.
However, the GSM system is designed fundamentally for use in a traditional Circuit Switched environment that uses 64 kbps voice and data transport.
GSM System Architecture
The standard GSM network includes three major components, namely, the
Mobile Station
(
MS
),
Base Station Sub
-
System
(BSS) and the
Network Sub
-
System
(NSS). The GSM Specifications define the network entities and their associated interfaces within the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). The complete suite of specifications also includes documents that define the type approval procedures for mobile stations allowing mobile stations to be used in different countries, independently of the country in which they were type approved.
Base Station Subsystem (BSS)
The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) is composed of two main parts, the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) and the Base Station Controller (BSC). The BTS includes the radio transceivers that define the radio cell boundary and handles the radio (Um) interface protocols with the
Long Paul Jan
Sayers Ian Leslie
Yang Sheausong
Cisco Technology Inc.
Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds P.C.
Kuntz Curtis
Taylor Barry W
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