Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Remote data accessing
Reexamination Certificate
1997-10-03
2001-03-20
Maung, Zarni (Department: 2758)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Remote data accessing
C709S203000, C709S231000, C370S236000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06205473
ABSTRACT:
Reference to Microfiche Appendix. A microfiche appendix, containing 3 microfiche and 150 total frames is filed herewith. The microfiche appendix includes the computer source code of one preferred embodiment of the invention. In other embodiments of the invention, the inventive concept may be implemented in other computer code, in dedicated electronic hardware, in a combination of these, or otherwise. This software appendix is hereby incorporated in this application in its entirety and is to be considered to be part of the disclosure of this specification.
I. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and systems for communications between computers and other digital information devices. More particularly, this invention relates to communications between computers making use of digital satellite communications channels and computer local area networks, to provide access to the internet, to facilitate data and software distribution, and/or to enhance the capabilities of intranet systems for computers with connections to local area networks.
B. Description of Related Art
It is well established that computers can communicate across local or wide area networks. It is also well known that satellite receivers and transmitters can be used to transfer high volumes of digital data. Some efforts have been made to provide communication systems which can be used to transfer data between computer processors using a variety of communication mediums (see Moura et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,586,121). However, it is desirable to provide a high-speed, low-cost, satellite-based communication system which is designed to optimize the use of digital satellite systems for local area networks (LANs). Optimizing the use of the digital satellite channel is best accomplished through the use of asymmetrical communications between the computer server and the internet as opposed to symmetric communication, in which substantially the same data rates and the same media are used for both the transmit direction and the receive direction, and as opposed to communication system which employ asymmetrical communication between the local area network and the server. Particulary, asymmetrical systems which require upstream router hardware, “backbone” network hardware, or dial-up internet service providers (ISPs) to create a “hybrid” asymmetrical local system with a symmetrical local area network. Since calls to the internet can efficiently be made at relatively low speeds, and since using digital satellites as a communication medium provides the capability of very high speed responses from the internet, an asymmetric transmission from the internet across the digital satellite to the LAN server provides the greatest system efficiency.
The most common method of sending and receiving computer information today is a land line service (i.e., a switched service, a dedicated line, and/or an analog modem, each using telephone wire lines). However, such a system encounters may problems, including slow transmission speeds, high access costs, lack of available wire lines, and internet congestion.
Satellite communication receivers are commonly used to create or supplement existing private wide area data and video networks. When used as an extension to a data network, these satellite links may interconnect local area networks. Satellite links can provide many advantages over land line service, including potentially high speed data transmission and wide availability. However, typical satellite links have required expensive hardware both to transmit and to receive data. The expense of the hardware has made the use of satellite communication channels generally unavailable to those who most need it.
This invention addresses these issues by providing a method and system for providing the advantages of satellite communications for high volume download data packets and typically using a relatively low speed land line for the low volume upload data request packets. By capitalizing on the asymmetrical nature of internet dataflow, this invention provides an efficient solution for LAN to satellite internet communications.
For general background material the reader is directed to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,095,480, 5,379,296, 5,423,002, 5,488,412, 5,534,913, 5,539,736, 5,541,911, 5,541,927, 5,555,244, 5,583,997, 5,586,121, 5,594,872, 5,610,910, 5,610,920, 5,631,907, 5,659,692, 5,668,857, 5,673,265, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for the material disclosed therein.
II. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention is a method and system for efficiently communicating between networked computers using a high speed satellite communications channel. It is an object of this invention to provide a high speed satellite based information delivery system for local area network connectivity to the internet, for file, data, software, and/or multimedia distribution.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a data transmission system particularly well suited to remote location and/or locations where access to high speed data mediums is unavailable or prohibitively expensive.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a high speed data transmission system that utilizes a highly flexible and adaptable software method.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a high speed data transmission system that communicates with the internet while being internet service provider (ISP) independent.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a high speed data transmission system that makes use of digital satellite communications technology to enhance data bandwidth, channel reliability, and accessability.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a high speed data transmission system that utilizes a software method capable of operating on a wide range of server operating systems, including Windows 95, Windows NT, NetWare, Linus, Macintosh, present and future versions and the equivalents.
It is a still further object of this invention to provide a high speed data transmission system that is compatible with a wide range of communication protocols and/or mediums, including ISDN, T1, modem, dedicated phone line, switched phone line, frame relay and ATM.
It is another object of this invention to provide a method for permitting many client computer systems, which may be operating system independent and operating on one or more local area networks, to communicate over a single satellite dish, at very high data rates.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method using software which can operate on a wide variety of hardware, operating system, and software platforms, including, but not limited to: Macintosh, Linux, Unix, OS/2, and Windows NT.
These and other objects of this invention are readily apparent to individuals of ordinary skill in the art upon further study of the drawings, detailed description, claims and abstract that are included in this patent disclosure.
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Mosbarger Myron L.
Thomasson John K.
Helius Development Corporation
Maung Zarni
Parsons Behle & Latimer
Tran Philip B.
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