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Software Patent Abstract
Vocoding conversions are reduced by dynamically loading a software-defined
vocoder into a handset. The software-defined vocoder may be selected
based on the calling party's network type, wherein a notification
of network type is transmitted to the called party's network during
call setup. The software-defined vocoders may be stored in the network
and downloaded into the handset; alternatively, the software-defined
vocoders may be stored in the handset. Voice data is tunneled from
the calling party's handset and the calling party's network, through
any number of different networks, to the called party's network
and called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions, except
at the handsets.
Software Patent Claims
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e)
to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/169,814, filed Dec.
8, 1999, by William C. Y. Lee and David J. Y. Lee, and entitled
"CELLULAR IP FEATURES AND PROTOCOLS," which application
is incorporated by reference herein.
This application is related to the following co-pending and commonly-assigned
U.S. patent applications:
Ser. No. 09/733.549, filed on Dec. 7, 2000, by Jau Young Lee and
William C. Y. Lee, entitled "QUALITY OF SERVICE ENHANCEMENTS
FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS", Lee, entitled "TUNNELLING
VOICE OVER THE INTERNET PROTOCOL IN A CELLULAR NETWORK,";
Ser. No. 09/590,346, filed Jun. 8, 2000, by David J. Y. Lee, Ce
Xu, and William C. Y. Lee, entitled "MOBILE INTERNET PROTOCOL
SQUARE"; and
Ser. No. 09/589,974, filed Jun. 8, 2000, by David J. Y. Lee, Ce
Xu, and William C. Y. Lee, entitled "ARCHITECTURE OF INTERNET
PROTOCOL-BASED CELLULAR NETWORKS";
all of which applications are incorporated by reference herein.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
What is claimed is:
1. A method for tunneling voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) transmitting a notification to a called party's
network that a calling party's handset is calling from a particular
type of network; and (b) loading one of a plurality of software-defined
vocoders into the called party's handset based on the transmitted
notification, wherein the loaded software-defined vocoder, when
executed by the called party's handset, translates voice data communicated
between the calling party's handset and the called party's handset.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the voice data is tunneled from
the calling party's handset and the calling party's network, through
any number of different networks, to the called party's network
and called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions, except
at the handsets.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the software-defined vocoder
is stored on a component of the called party's network and is downloaded
from the component to the called party's handset.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the notification is transmitted
during call setup.
5. An apparatus for tunneling voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) means for transmitting a notification to a called
party's network that a calling party's handset is calling from a
particular type of network; and (b) means for loading one of a plurality
of software-defined vocoders into the called party's handset based
on the transmitted notification, wherein the loaded software-defined
vocoder, when executed by the called party's handset, translates
voice data communicated between the calling party's handset and
the called party's handset.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the voice data is tunneled
from the calling party's handset and the calling party's network,
through any number of different networks, to the called party's
network and called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions,
except at the handsets.
7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the software-defined vocoder
is stored on a component of the called party's network and is downloaded
from the component to the called party's handset.
8. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the notification is transmitted
during call setup.
9. A method for tunneling voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) receiying a notification from a calling party's
network that it is a particular type of network; and (b) loading
one of a plurality of software-defined vocoders into a called party's
handset based on the received notification, wherein the loaded software-defined
vococler, when executed by the called party's handset, translates
voice data communicated between the calling party's handset and
the called party's handset.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the voice data is tunneled from
the calling party's handset and the calling party's network, through
any number of different networks, to the called party's network
and called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions, except
at the handsets.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the software-defined vocoder
is stored on a component of the called party's network and is downloaded
from the component to the called party's handset.
12. The method of claim 9, wherein the notification is transmitted
during call setup.
13. An apparatus for tunneling, voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) means for receiving a notification from a calling
party's network that it is a particular type of network; and (b)
means for loading one of a plurality of software-defined vocoders
into a called party's handset based on the received notification,
wherein the loaded software-defined vocoder, when executed by the
called party's handset, translates voice data communicated between
the calling party's handset and the called party's handset.
14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the voice data is tunneled
from the calling party's handset and the calling party's network,
through any number of different networks, to the called party's
network and called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions,
except at the handsets.
15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the software-defined vocoder
is stored on a component of the called party's network and is downloaded
from the component to the called party's handset.
16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the notification is transmitted
during call setup.
17. A method for tunneling voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) loading one of a plurality of vocoders into a processor
of a called party's handset, wherein the loaded vocoder is selected
based on a notification of a particular type of network communicating
with a calling party's handset; and (b) executing the loaded vocoder
in the processor of the called party's handset, wherein the vocoder
translates voice data communicated to the called party's handset
from the calling party's handset.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the voice data is tunneled
from the calling party's handset and the calling party's network,
through any number of different networks, to the called party's
network and the called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions,
except at the handsets.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the vocoder is stored on a
component of the handset and is loaded into the processor from the
component.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the vocoder is stored on a
network component and is downloaded from the network component into
the processor of the handset.
21. An apparatus for tunneling voice data over one or more networks,
comprising: (a) means for loading one of a plurality of vocoders
into a processor of a called party's handset, wherein the loaded
vocoder is selected based on a notification of a particular type
of network commUnicating with calling party's handset; and (b) means
for executing the loaded vocoder in the processor of the called
party's handset, wherein the vocoder translates voice data communicated
to the called party's handset from the calling party's handset.
22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the voice data is tunneled
from the calling party's handset and the calling party's network,
through any number of different networks, to the called party's
network and the called party's handset, without any vocoding conversions,
except at the handsels.
23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the vocoder is stored on
a component of the handset and is loaded into the processor from
the component.
24. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the vocoder is stored on
a network component and is downloaded from the network component
into the processor of the handset.
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Description
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless voice systems, and, in
particular, to tunneling wireless voice data over various networks
using software-defined vocoders.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the Internet and the associated Internet Protocol (IP) gaining
popularity with customers, it is now possible to use IP via the
Internet (or an intranet) to deliver wireless voice services, also
known as Voice-over-IP (VoIP). Next generation cellular networks,
public land mobile networks (PLMNs) and public switched telephone
networks (PSTNs) most likely will be implemented using IP networks.
In IP networks, it is critical to best utilize system resources
and reduce delays.
One of the key challenges for wireless systems using VoIP is the
issue of delay. The encoding and decoding of voice into digital
data (also known as "vocoding") can introduce substantial
delay into VoIP. The introduction of vocoding delays has been a
major hindrance to the deployment of VoIP.
Moreover, significant cost savings can be realized by the elimination
of specialized vocoder hardware. For example, a typical single-mode
handset requires a vocoder that costs approximately $5 (and provides
about 20 MIPs of processing power), while a typical dual-mode handset
requires two vocoders. The cost of a vocoder is roughly the same
cost as a processor for a handset (which only needs about 5 MIPS
of processing power). One way to reduce costs is to eliminate hardware-based
vocoders, and have the processor perform some of the functions of
the vocoder. Moreover, this allows handsets to be smaller and less
complex.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To overcome the limitations in the prior art described above, and
to overcome other limitations that will become apparent upon reading
and understanding the present specification, the present invention
discloses a method for reducing vocoding conversions by dynamically
loading a software-defined vocoder into a handset. The software-defined
vocoder may be selected based on the calling party's network type,
wherein a notification of network type is transmitted to the called
party's network during call setup. The software-defined vocoders
may be stored in the network and downloaded into the handset, or
the software-defined vocoders may be stored in the handset itself.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numbers represent
corresponding parts throughout:
FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate exemplary network configurations
that could be used to implement inter-network communications;
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network configuration that uses
software-defined vocoders according to the preferred embodiment
of the present invention;
FIG. 3 illustrates the structure of a handset that uses software-defined
vocoders according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
and
FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates the logic of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the following description of the preferred embodiment, reference
is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and
in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in
which the invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that
other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be
made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
Overview
The present invention reduces vocoding conversions between different
networks, such as between cellular networks, public land mobile
networks (PLMNs), public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), and
Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Specifically, the present invention
tunnels voice data from the originating handset and the originating
network, through different networks, to the destination network
and destination handset, without any vocoding conversions, except
at the handsets.
To accomplish this, the following steps are performed. After the
calling party dials the called party, the called party's network
is notified that the calling party is calling from a particular
type of network. In one embodiment, the called party's network may
load an associated software-defined vocoder into the called party's
handset in response to this notification.
This provides more efficient use of available bandwidth and vocoding
resources, and reduces potential delays that may occur for inter-network
communications. As such, the invention is a key enabler of wireless
VoIP applications.
Environment
FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C illustrate exemplary network configurations
that could be used to provide inter-network communications. Each
of these configurations may be comprised of interconnected cellular
networks (e.g., AMPS, GSM, TDMA, or CDMA cellular networks), public
land mobile networks (PLMNs), public switched telephone networks
(PSTNs), and Internet Protocol (IP) networks.
In the example of FIG. 1A, a cellular network 100 includes at least
one MSC (Mobile Switching Center) 102, at least one BSC (Base Station
Controller) 104, and at least one BTS (Base Transceiver Station)
106 for communicating with one or more handsets 108 or other transceivers.
The BSC 104 includes a vocoder 110 for encoding and decoding voice
signals received from and sent to the handset 108.
The MSC 102 of the cellular network 100 connects to both a PSTN
110, as well as a MSC 102 of a PLMN 112. Like the cellular network
100, the PMLN 112 includes at least one MSC 102, at least one BSC
104, at least one BTS 106 for communicating with one or more handsets
108 or other transceivers.
Both the cellular network 100 and the PMLN 112 also include a vocoder
110 in their respective MSCs 102 for converting the voice data to/from
the format of the other network. This additional vocoder introduces
significant delay into inter-network communications.
In the example of FIG. 1B, the MSC 102 of a GSM-type PMLN 112 connects
to the MSC 102 of a CDMA-type PLMN 112. Both the GSM-type PMLN 112
and the CDMA-type PMLN 112 include a vocoder 110 in their respective
MSCs 102 for converting the voice data to/from the format of the
other network. Again, this additional vocoder introduces significant
delay into inter-network communications.
Finally, in the example of FIG. 1C, the MSCs 102 of two different
cellular networks 100 each connects to a separate VoIP Gateway 116
that interfaces into an IP network 118. In this manner, the cellular
networks 100 communicate across the IP network 118. Both cellular
networks 100 include a vocoder 110 in their respective VoIP Gateways
116 for converting the voice data to/from the format of the other
network. Like the other configurations, this additional vocoder
introduces significant delay into inter-network communications.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network configuration that uses
software-defined vocoders according to the preferred embodiment
of the present invention. This exemplary network configuration is
similar to FIG. 1C, in that the MSCs 102 of two different cellular
networks 100 each connects to a separate VoIP Gateway 116 that interfaces
into an IP network 118, so that the cellular networks 100 can communicate
across the IP network 118.
However, the cellular networks 100 in this embodiment do not include
a vocoder 110 in their respective VoIP Gateways 116 for converting
the voice data to/from the format of the other network. Instead,
one or more software-defined vocoders 110 are stored in the BSC
104 and then downloaded into the handset 108 for encoding and decoding
voice signals sent to or received from the handset 108. Voice data
is tunneled from the originating handset and the originating network,
through different networks, to the destination network and destination
handset, without any vocoding conversions, except at the handsets.
This configuration eliminates any vocoder delay introduced by inter-network
communications.
According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention,
after the calling party dials the called party, the called party's
network 100 is notified that the calling party is calling from a
particular type of network 100. From this signaling, the called
party's network 100 can determine how the handset 108 should handle
the call.
In the preferred embodiment, the BSC 104 of the called party's
network 100 preferably maintains one or more software-defined vocoders
110 in local storage. Upon receipt of the notification that the
calling party is calling from a particular type of network 100,
the BSC 104 downloads an associated software-defined vocoder 110
into the handset 108.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a handset
108. Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize that this
embodiment is provided for illustration purposes and is not intended
to limit the present invention to exact structure shown. Indeed,
those skilled in the art will recognize that other components and
structures may be used for the handset 108 without departing from
the scope of the present invention.
The handset 108 is usually comprised of a microprocessor and associated
control logic 300, digital signal processor (DSP) 302, active network
304 for radio frequency (RF) transmissions that includes a transmitter
306 and receiver 308, microphone and speaker 310, display driver
312 and display 314, and keypad 316. In essence, the present invention
provides a "universal vocoder" concept, wherein vocoders
110 are downloaded into the DSP 302 and alter the way that voice
data is encoded and decoded. Thereafter, the voice data is transmitted
in its original vocoding format, while it tunnels from the originating
handset and the originating network, through different networks,
to the destination network and destination handset, without further
conversions or decoding, until it reaches the receiving end of the
connection, i.e., the called party's handset 108, at which point
the voice data is de-vocoded.
As a result, the present invention integrates signaling between
wireline and wireless networks, so that wireless voice can be tunneled
through different networks without any unnecessary vocoding and
conversions, except at the handsets 108. This enables more efficient
use of available bandwidth and vocoding resources, and reduces possible
delays introduced by vocoding.
Logic
FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the logic of the preferred
embodiment of the present invention.
Block 400 represents a notification being transmitted from a calling
party's network to a called party's network. This notification indicates
that the calling party's network is a particular type of network.
Preferably, this notification is transmitted at call setup, although
it may be transmitted at other times as well.
Block 402 represents the notification being received at the called
party's network.
Block 404 represents a software-defined vocoder 110 being loaded
into a processor of the called party's handset 108 based on the
transmitted and received notification. In one embodiment, the software-defined
vocoder 110 is stored in a component of the called party's network
and is downloaded from the component into a processor of the called
party's handset 108. In another embodiment, the software-defined
vocoder 110 is stored in a component of the called party's handset
108 and is loaded from the component into the processor of the called
party's handset 108. In both embodiments, it is expected that a
plurality of different vocoders 110 will be available for loading
into the processor of called party's handset 108.
Block 406 represents the software-defined vocoder 110 being executed
by the processor of the called party's handset 108, wherein the
software-defined vocoder 110 translates voice data tunneled from
the calling party's handset 108 and the calling party's network
100, through any number of different networks 100, to the called
party's network 100 and called party's handset 108, without any
vocoding conversions, except at the handsets 108.
CONCLUSION
This concludes the description of the preferred embodiment of the
invention. The following describes some alternative embodiments
for accomplishing the present invention.
Although the software-defined vocoders 110 are shown in FIG. 2
as being used in when communicating between cellular networks 100
across an IP network 118, other network configurations could use
the software-defined vocoders as well. For example, the software-defined
vocoders 110 could be used in the network configurations of FIGS.
1A, 1B, 1C, or any other network configurations. Moreover, the software-defined
vocoders 110 could be used by a single network, and do not require
inter-network communications.
In another embodiment, any number of different signaling schemes
could be used to determine which software-defined vocoder 110 should
be downloaded into a handset 108. Those skilled in the art will
recognize that the particular type of notification is not as important
as the information being conveyed.
In yet another embodiment, handsets 108 need not be used. Although
the preferred embodiment is described in conjunction with handsets
108, those skilled in the art will recognize that any transceiver
device could be used in place of the handsets 108.
In still another embodiment, the software-defined vocoders 110
could be stored other than in components of the network. For example,
those skilled in the art will recognize that a plurality of vocoders
110 could be stored in the handset 108 or other transceiver device,
e.g., in some memory device therein.
In an alternative embodiment, the software-defined vocoders 110
could be loaded into the handset 108 or other transceiver device
in order to provide multi-mode operation. For example, the handset
108 may always load a software-defined vocoder 110, e.g., for normal
operation, rather than just for inter-network communication.
In summary, the present invention discloses a method for reducing
vocoding conversions by dynamically loading a software-defined vocoder
into a handset. The software-defined vocoder may be selected based
on the calling party's network type, wherein a notification of network
type is transmitted to the called party's network during call setup.
The software-defined vocoders may be stored in the network and downloaded
into the handset, or the software-defined vocoders may be stored
in the handset itself.
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiment of the invention
has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description.
It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to
the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are
possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the
scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description,
but rather by the claims appended hereto. |