Multiplex communications – Communication over free space – Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-12-04
2003-09-02
Ton, Dang (Department: 2666)
Multiplex communications
Communication over free space
Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by...
C370S342000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06614774
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to providing communications services, and, more particularly, to a method and system for using dynamic Internet protocol (IP) address assignment and dynamic DNS updates to provide wireless data and voice services to subscribers using mobile terminals, for example via the Internet.
Wireless or “mobile” telecommunications are well known for enabling subscribers to have immediate access to voice and data services while roaming large geographic areas. Presently, cellular and personal communication services (PCS) telephones are the most common form of mobile unit for wireless communications. Cellular/PCS telephones operate in cooperation with known wireless networks which include cell sites having controllers and radio transceivers, mobile telephone switching centers, and, of course, mobile units, i.e., portable telephones or handsets. Mobile telephone switching centers are known to those skilled in the art to comprise digital telephone exchanges which switch interconnections between telephony signaling networks and the cell sites for wireline-to-mobile and mobile-to-wireline connections and also for mobile-to-mobile connections. The mobile telephone switching centers also process mobile unit status data received from cell site controllers, switch calls between cells, process diagnostic information, and compile billing data.
Each subscriber to a wireless service is assigned to a wireless home network. The home network stores subscription information for the subscriber along with unique identification information, typically a number, for the mobile unit used by the subscriber. The subscriber is typically able to place and receive wireless calls anywhere within the home network's service area. Most subscribers are also able to place and receive wireless calls while roaming outside the service areas of their home networks since most wireless service providers either have service coverage in other areas or they have established roaming agreements with other service providers. Under roaming agreements, subscribers of a service provider that is a party to an agreement with other service providers can access networks of the other service providers in accordance with the terms of the agreement. Cellular/PCS networks accessed by subscribers roaming out of their wireless home networks are known to those skilled in the art as wireless visited networks. From the subscriber's perspective, a visited network can be either owned and operated by the same service provider who provides services in the home network, or by a different service provider with whom a roaming agreement exists.
In operation, when the mobile telephone switching center in one's home network receives a call from the telephony signaling network and the call is directed to a mobile device user registered with the home network, the mobile telephone switching center deciphers the received telephone number and alerts the controllers at the cell sites to page the corresponding mobile user. Similarly, when a mobile device user registered with the home network places a call in the home network's service area, the mobile telephone switching center in the home network receives the corresponding called number from the cell site controller and transmits the called number to the telephony signaling network.
On the other hand, when a mobile device user registered with the home network places a call outside the home network's service area, the mobile telephone switching center in the visited network communicates with the home network to authenticate the user and determine whether the mobile device user has authority to roam and to place the call. If authentication is confirmed by the home network, the mobile telephone switching center in the visited network accepts the called number from the cell site controller and transmits the called number to the telephony signaling network.
Wireless networks can also provide peer-to-peer and mobile server packet data operations.
FIG. 1
illustrates a communications system
10
for peer-to-peer communication of packet data users and mobile servers. The communications system
10
comprises a plurality of wireless networks
11
-
13
coupled to an IP network
14
, such as the Internet, by respective routers
15
-
17
. A variety of communications devices may access the IP network
14
via the different cellular/PCS networks
11
-
13
. As illustrated in
FIG. 1
, a mobile server
18
(host name: mobile-www.xyz.com) communicates with the IP network
14
via the first cellular/PCS network
11
, a first voice/data mobile device
19
, such as a smart phone, laptop, palm device, (host name: YourName.abc.com) communicates with the IP network
14
via the second cellular/PCS network
12
and a second voice/data mobile device
20
communicates with the IP network
14
via the third cellular/PCS network
13
. A fixed host
21
communicates with the IP network
14
via a standard wireline connection.
Peer-to-peer communications include packet multimedia interactions between the fixed host
21
and the mobile devices
19
,
20
and between the mobile devices
19
,
20
themselves. Mobile server and client packet multimedia interactions are possible between the fixed host
21
and the mobile server
18
and between the mobile devices
19
,
20
and the mobile server
18
.
One of the most convenient means of denoting the destination end point of another party in either peer-to-peer or client-server communications is the use of host name notation. Thus, a fixed or mobile client can communicate with a mobile server by simply referring to the mobile server's host name, e.g., mobile-www.xyz.com. Similarly, a fixed or mobile peer can engage in an IP-telephony conversation with another mobile peer by simply referring to the other mobile peer's host name, e.g., YourName.abc.com. In each case, a Domain Name System (DNS) server associated with the network to which the host name is registered is responsible for translating the symbolic host name to its corresponding IP address which comprises four numbers separated by periods, e.g., 35.1.1.1, which is needed for standard IP packet routing over the IP network. Normally, the host name is registered to the home network to which the mobile device user is registered.
The IP address associated with a particular host name is typically assigned on a per session basis with the assigned IP address being reclaimed once the session ends. Such an assignment of IP addresses is known to those skilled in the art as dynamic IP address assignment. For example, as shown in
FIG. 2
, a wireless home network
24
could assign a session IP address dynamically to a mobile device user
26
using a mobile device
28
to communicate with the home network
24
and update the host name-to-IP address association in its DNS server
30
to allow peer-to-peer communication between the mobile device
28
and a fixed computer host
32
interfacing via an IP network
34
. The home network
24
is coupled to the IP network
34
via a router
36
. As the IP address assigned by the home network
24
and the host name are both registered with the home network
24
, all DNS queries and packet transfers between the computer host
32
and the mobile device
28
are routed through the home network
24
. Both forward and reverse DNS lookups about the mobile device
28
are resolvable by the DNS
30
when the mobile device
28
is connected to the IP network
34
through its home network
24
. A forward DNS lookup is a request for the IP address associated with a particular host name while a reverse DNS lookup is a request for the host name associated with a particular IP address.
Referring now to
FIG. 3
, with like reference numerals referring to like components, the wireless home network
24
could also assign a dynamic address to the mobile device
28
connected through a visited network
38
and update the host name-to-IP address association in its DNS server
30
to allow peer-to-peer communications between the compu
Jagannathan Melanie
Lucent Technologies - Inc.
Ton Dang
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