Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-25
2004-02-10
Maung, Nay (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S418000, C455S419000, C455S432200, C455S435100, C455S558000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06690947
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to wireless communication devices and related apparatus. More particularly, this invention relates to a flexible system of interchangeable wireless telecommunication componentry that is adaptable for use with different wireless communication systems and featuresets.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The current providers of wireless communication and cellular telephone products are constantly developing new equipment and related services. As these wireless communication advancements become more and more demanding on the functional capabilities of the mobile communication equipment, the relative cost of these portable devices continue to rise while consumers attempt to keep up with the latest available technology.
The number of cellular telephone network systems available today places a heavy financial burden on consumers who attempt to maintain state of the art services and equipment. In general, mobile telephones throughout different countries of the world operate on different wireless network systems or standards which may be broadly divided into either analog or digital systems. Examples of well established analog systems include AMPS, which is used primarily in the United States and Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and Asian-Pacific countries. Other types of analog type networks include ETACS and NMT which are used throughout Europe, Russia, and Asian-Pacific countries. Meanwhile, the recent advent of digital technology in wireless communications has naturally spawned its own set of digital wireless systems across the globe. Global Standard for Mobile communications (GSM), for example, is heavily used in Asian-Pacific countries, and is considered by many to be the digital standard of Europe. Other common digital systems include DCS 1800 which is used in many different countries. PCS-1900 and D-AMPS are other digital systems used to some extent in the United States, Canada, and a variety of Asian-Pacific countries. Additional digital systems include North American Digital Cellular (NADC), Personal Handy System, and Digital European Cordless Telephone (DECT). While digital network systems are relatively new in comparison to their analog counterpart, it is widely acknowledged that digital systems will continue to provide more cellular telephone features and improved transmission security. Today, new wireless communications systems and protocols are continually emerging as additional providers enter the market and attempt to establish still more purported standards.
There are several new wireless technologies, in particular, that are slowly emerging but not widely available or accepted yet in many countries. Personal Communication Systems (PCS) are currently in high demand, as well as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, and the Omnipoint system which is now used in the eastern region of the United States. As these systems become more accepted and accessible, consumers will migrate from older systems using wireless standards such as AMPS or NADC to these newly developed technologies. Unfortunately, migrating to a new system with present wireless telephone technologies often requires the purchase of a new telephone unit. Because wireless telephones today are designed for use with a specific system, they often can not be used with other systems. For example, a telephone designed for a NADC network system cannot be used with a GSM network system. Each wireless network system has its own designated frequencies and protocols, and the supporting electronics contained within these wireless telephones are generally designed to work only within these specified parameters.
Within each particular network system, a wireless standard is established which may be generally defined as a specification for the manufacturing and operation of wireless components within the system such as the base stations, handsets, and switches. A wireless standard may further specify specific rules and protocols such as how a wireless telephone communicates with a base station, how a base station relays signals to another base station, and what types of signals are to be used.
Most countries designate different frequencies for their subscribers within a particular type of cellular telephone network system. The particular wireless standard within each system typically allows different implementations of the standard including variations within a carrier frequency range. Multiple implementations of the standard often require different handsets since each of these implementations practically represent another wireless system or subsystem. The frequencies used by different wireless systems may vary between approximately 900 MHz to 2.1 GHz or more. For cellular telephones operating in the 900 MHz range, wireless chipsets may be ordinarily formed of silicon. But with respect to devices that operate within the 2.1 GHz range, different materials such as GaAs is often required. Even different chip process technologies are therefore used in telephones built for different systems. In fact, the same wireless network system may include multiple implementations or subsystems of a wireless standard which require different cellular telephone handsets. For example, even if the GSM standard is adopted in many continents, each region of the world essentially implements a different wireless system because the frequency range within each system is different. On the other hand, there are a few localized systems such as the AMPS system which is consistently implemented across the United States so that the wireless system and the wireless standard are mutually coextensive. In those instances where there is no deviation from the specification of a wireless standard, or if there is only one implementation in effect, the wireless system effectively becomes the same as the wireless standard.
The widespread lack of uniformity among wireless systems today continues as new cellular telephones are introduced. However, most of these wireless units may be conceptually divided into two basic sections. One section may contain most of the basic electronics that support a particular wireless communication system, and may be referred to as internal electronics. The other section may contain remaining wireless telephone components such as a display, speaker, microphone, keypad, battery, and may be referred to as external componentry. The internal electronics generally contain the specific components for operation with a particular wireless system. Today, there exists at least two industry cost trends that relate to the internal and external componentry of a wireless telephone. The first trend involves the change in relative costs of the two sections. The cost of the internal electronics has been dropping significantly. Simpler wireless chipsets are reducing design costs, and high volume production provides more economical computer chips. The cost of the external components, however, are not dropping as fast for various reasons such as the maturity of external component technologies and the demand for increased complexity in external components. As this trend progresses, the external componentry may constitute a larger percentage of the wireless telephone cost. The second trend which has been observed is directed to the increase in the total cost of wireless telephones. Advanced wireless telephones in the future will most likely incorporate more expensive components such as color active matrix displays, advanced microprocessors, high capacity memory devices, Internet access and electronic e-mail systems, and improved casing and component materials. The majority of this increased cost may be attributed to the external componentry of the wireless telephone. This cost trend will tend to further increase the comparative cost of the external componentry in relation to the cost of the internal electronics. Unlike the decreasing cost of the internal electronics, the cost of the external componentry in advanced wireless telephones is most likely to increase. The wireless commu
Kantan Inc.
Maung Nay
Orgad Edan
Squire Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.
LandOfFree
Methods and apparatus for a flexible wireless communication... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Methods and apparatus for a flexible wireless communication..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Methods and apparatus for a flexible wireless communication... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3329807