Patent Application
20080262974
Wireless communications have become pervasive in recent years. At first, telecommunications provided cordless handsets to enable consumers to use a home telephone without being restricted by a telephone cord. Mobile telephones further provided freedom to consumers by enabling them to use a telephone while away home. Finally, computers that were once attached to a wall socket to communicate over the Internet became wireless through the use of wireless routers and other consumer wireless access points (e.g., home consumer wireless routers).
Mobility further expanded by commercial wireless access points becoming available and proliferating throughout society. Broadband wireless access points have become available at coffee shops, airports, hotels, and other commercial locations to resell wireless access. These commercial wireless access points have become available for a number of reasons, including attracting computer users who enjoy accessing the Internet and generating network access fees. Commercial reseller access points are provided by a commercial establishment becoming a reseller of network access. For example, Starbucks® coffee shops are resellers of T-Mobile® communications services. Each of these commercial companies financially benefit when users access the T-Mobile® communications network via the wireless access points within Starbucks®.
One situation that has developed by home consumer wireless routers becoming so pervasive is non-subscribers accessing wireless routers and network services being paid by their consumer subscriber neighbors. This situation arises when a consumer subscriber does not password protect access to the wireless router. In the case of a non-subscriber's unauthorized access of a subscriber's wireless router, this act is considered theft of wireless communications services. In the case where the subscriber knowingly allows for non-subscribers to access the wireless router, such an act is generally prohibited by terms and conditions of consumer service agreements between the service provider and the consumer subscriber.
Another situation that has developed is one where a third-party, non-communications carrier sells wireless routers that are connected to network connections of subscribers of communications carriers. The third-party, non-communications carrier sells subscription agreements to customers to access a network via these wireless routers. The customers of the third-party, non-communications carrier are able to connect to the network via the wireless routers without having to pay the communications carriers, thereby saving money. However, such configurations and subscription agreements are against the terms and conditions of subscription agreements of the subscribers of the communications carriers because, in effect, those subscribers providing access to non-subscribers are operating as resellers of network access. In some cases, the subscribers that provide access to non-subscribers are paid by the third-party, non-communications carrier to provide access to subscribers of the third-patty, non-communications carrier network
Commercial companies that provide telecommunications and other wireless services (e.g., wireless Internet services via commercial wireless routers at office buildings) to its employees use conventional communications devices and systems. For example, many employers provide its employees with mobile telephones and broadband wireless communications cards, in the case of wireless Internet access. Commercial employees who service consumer residential properties are often out-of-range of mobile communications services, which is a problem when they are to handle ongoing calls and communications with other employees of the company. For example, a garage door installation team might be working on a residential property at a new subdivision that is remote or has limited communications services from existing telecommunications services. An employee attempting to notify the garage door installation team might be incapable of notifying the team of another job or time remaining to complete an installation, which is problematic from a work scheduling standpoint.
While wireless routers have enabled computer users to access the Internet with unprecedented freedom, bandwidth of these routers are relatively slow. Today's technology provides users with 50 megabit (MB) per second communications. However, these speeds are relatively slow when downloading large amounts of content, such as a movie.
A number of third-party bandwidth expansion products have been developed to increase bandwidth to those who purchase these bandwidth expansion products. One such product provides a subscriber with a device to aggregate bandwidth from local wireless routers. Essentially, communication with each local wireless router is performed in parallel. However, the act of bandwidth pooling by consumer non-resellers is also considered a violation of the terms and conditions of a communications carrier's subscription agreement because non-subscribers or users other than the subscriber who owns the wireless router are provided access to the wireless routers and telecommunications services without paying a telecommunications carrier for that access or expanded access.
To overcome the problem of commercial subscribers of a communications carrier to have access to a communications network provided by the communications carrier, the communications carrier may provide a subscription agreement having terms and conditions that enable commercial subscribers to access the communications network via a network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers. This subscription agreement provides for intra-network roaming of consumer subscriber wireless access points of the communications carrier.
An embodiment of a system in accordance with the principles of the present invention may include a system for enabling commercial subscribers of a communications carrier to communicate over wireless access points hosted by the communications carrier. The system may include a storage unit configured to store at least one database including information identifying commercial subscribers and associated subscriber subscription agreements provided by a communications carrier. A network of wireless access points associated with consumer subscribers of the communications carrier may be included, where at least one of the subscription agreements enables commercial subscribers to access wireless access points of consumer subscribers of the communications carrier to communicate over a communications network A computing system may be in communication with the storage unit and network of wireless access points of the commercial and consumer subscribers. The computing system may be configured (i) to receive a request signal from a wireless device of a user via a consumer wireless access point within the network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers to communicate over the communications network (ii) query the database(s) stored in the storage unit to determine whether the user is a commercial subscriber has a subscription agreement enabling the commercial subscriber to communicate over the communications network via the network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers, and (ii) enable the wireless device to access the wireless access point in response to determining that the commercial subscriber has a subscription agreement enabling communication over the communications network via the network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers.
An embodiment of a method in accordance with the principles of the present invention may include a method for enabling commercial subscribers of a communications carrier to communicate over wireless access points of subscribers of the communications carrier. A request signal may be received from a wireless device of a user via a wireless access point of a consumer subscriber of the communications carrier to communicate over a communications network A database may be queried to determine whether the user of the wireless device is a commercial subscriber of the communications carrier and has a subscription agreement enabling the commercial subscriber to communicate over the communications network via a network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers. The wireless device may be enabled to access the wireless access point in response to determining that the commercial subscriber has a subscription agreement enabling communication over the communications network via the network of wireless access points of consumer subscribers.
Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, which are incorporated by reference herein and wherein:
In communicating with the wireless access point 106a, the wireless device 114a may wirelessly communicate using data packets 118 using a wireless communications protocol, such as WiFi WiWax, or any other wireless communications protocol for communicating voice and/or data over the network 116. The data packets 118 may be communicated via the wireless access point 106a and over the network 116.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a network of wireless access points 106 is formed by the consumer subscribers having wireless access points 106 being served by the communications carrier 102. The consumer subscribers of the communications carrier may have a subscription agreement that provides for wireless access to wireless access points of other consumer subscribers of the communications carrier and allows for other consumer subscribers to access their respective wireless access points (“intra-network roaming” subscription agreement). The commercial subscribers, which include employees and associated workers of business entities, may have a subscription agreement that provides for wireless access to wireless access points of consumer and/or commercial subscribers of the communications carrier, a commercial intra-network roaming subscription agreement. It should be understood that commercial subscription agreements may be made with the commercial entity or employees and associated workers of the commercial entity in a manner that provides for a group discount for the commercial subscribers. For example, a commercial subscriber having an intra-network roaming subscription agreement with the communications carrier 102 enables the commercial subscriber using the wireless device 114a to access a network of wireless access points 106 of other consumer subscribers to communicate over the communications network 116. The commercial subscription agreement may also enable the commercial subscribers to access wireless access points of other commercial subscribers.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the wireless access points 106 may have a private communications interface and a public wireless communications interface. In one embodiment, each of the private and public wireless communications interfaces may be in communication with respective antennas 108a(1) and 108a(2). Alternatively, both may be in communication with a single antenna 108a(1). The private wireless communications interface may be one that a consumer or commercial subscriber at the residential location 104a or commercial location 105, respectively, may access, but no others subscribers may access. The public wireless communications interface may be an interface that both the subscriber located at the residential location 104a may use and a subscriber other than one located at the residential location 104a may utilize. In other words, subscribers having an intra-network roaming subscription agreement may access any of the wireless access points 106 that are within communication range of their respective wireless devices. Of course, a subscriber who owns the wireless access point 106a may be given priority over other subscribers accessing their wireless access points. For example, if the subscriber who owns the wireless access point 106a decides to download a movie from the network 116, that movie download would be given priority over other subscribers, consumer or commercial subscribers, who are accessing the wireless access point 106a.
In one embodiment, the communications carrier 102 provides a subscription agreement that allows for subscribers to aggregate bandwidth from multiples wireless access points 106. In this case, if a wireless device, such as wireless device 114n operated by a subscriber who has a subscription agreement that enables bandwidth aggregation, is within range of multiple wireless access points 106o and 106n, then the wireless device 114n may use unused bandwidth from the wireless access points 106o and 106n.
As shown, each of the residential locations is provided a certain bandwidth. More specifically, residential location 104a receives a 5 MB bandwidth, residential location 104o receives a 10 MB bandwidth, and residential location 104n receives a 30 MB bandwidth. These bandwidths are paid for by each of the respective subscribers, where the subscriber at residential location 104a may pay less for a 5 MB bandwidth than a subscriber at residential location 104n with a 30 MB bandwidth. If the subscriber at residential location 104a is within wireless communication range of the wireless access point 106o, the aggregated wireless communications for the subscriber at residential location 104a is potentially a 15 MB bandwidth (i.e., the sum of the 5 MB and 10 MB bandwidths) while communicating with both the wireless access points 106a and 106o. If the subscriber at residential 104o is in wireless communication range of wireless access points 106a and 106n, then the subscriber may have 45 MB bandwidth (i.e., the sum of the 5 MB, 10 MB, and 30 MB bandwidth), and if the subscriber at residential location 104n is in wireless communication range of the wireless access point 106o, then the subscriber at residential location 104n has a 40 MB bandwidth (i.e., the sum of the 10 MB and 30 MB bandwidth) while communicating with both wireless access points 106o and 106n. The same wireless bandwidth aggregation principles may apply to commercial subscribers.
A wireless access point 214a may include a processor 216 that executes software 218. The software 218 may provide for both private and public wireless interface communications. The processor 216 may be in communication with memory 220 and I/O unit 222. Antennas 223a and 223b maybe in communication with the I/O unit 222 for providing both private and public wireless communications services to subscribers within range of the wireless access point 214a. The software 218 may be configured to enable owners of the wireless access point 214a to have unrestricted access to the wireless access point 214a and have priority for wireless communications with the wireless access point 214a over non-owners (i.e., other subscribers who are using the public wireless communications interface to access a network or to aggregate wireless communications bandwidth) accessing the wireless access point 214a. The wireless access point 214a may be in communication with a communications network 224, such as a telecommunications network Internet, or other communications network. In one embodiment, the network 224 is a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
A server 226, which may be operated by a communications carrier or other service provider, may include a processor 228 that executes software 230. The processor 228 may be in communication with memory 232, I/O unit 234, and storage unit 236. Data repositories 237a-237n (collectively 237) may be stored on the storage unit 236 and be utilized to store subscriber information of the service provider. The data repositories 237 may include one or more databases. In one embodiment, data stored in the data repositories 237 include information about subscribers who have subscription agreements that provide for intra-network roaming wireless access of a communications network via wireless access points of other subscribers. In another embodiment, the subscribers may have a subscription agreement to receive aggregated wireless communications services, such that the subscribers, in addition to being able to access other subscribers' wireless access points, may also simultaneously access multiple wireless access points 214a-214n to receive increased wireless communications bandwidth.
The software 230 may be configured to determine when a wireless device is attempting to access a wireless access point 214a to determine whether the wireless device is owned by the owner of the wireless access point. In the case of the wireless access point 214a having a private and public wireless communications interface, the determination may be made to determine whether the wireless device is attempting to access the private or public wireless communications interface. This determination may be made in conjunction with software executing on the wireless access point 214a. For example, software being executed by the wireless access point 214a may (i) receive a signal, including information representative of a wireless device (e.g., device number or IP address), from a wireless device attempting to communicate with the wireless access point 214a and (ii) communicate the signal to the server 226 for the software 230 to compare the information representative of the wireless device with the information stored in the data repositories 237 to determine whether the wireless device is communicating with a home wireless access point or a wireless access point of another subscriber of the communications carrier. If the wireless device is not owned by the owner of the wireless access point 214a, then a determination may be made as to whether the user has a subscription agreement that enables him or her to access the network of wireless access points of subscribers of the communications carrier. If it is determined that the user is a subscriber of the communications carrier that enables intra-network roaming, then a determination may be made as to whether the subscriber has a subscription agreement that provides for aggregated wireless communications services. If the user is not a subscriber of intra-network roaming or aggregated wireless communications services, then the software 206 and/or 230 may intercept and prevent such unauthorized access and enable the user to pay for limited access (see,
The previous detailed description is of a small number of embodiments for implementing the invention and is not intended to be limiting in scope. One of skill in this art will immediately envisage the methods and variations used to implement this invention in other areas than those described in detail. The following claims set forth a number of the embodiments of the invention disclosed with greater particularity.
