A system and method for wireless communication is disclosed. In one embodiment of a method, a user of a wireless device initiates a communication session during which a wireless data session can be triggered from a voice session and a voice session can be triggered from a wireless data session. During the communication session, data is shared between the wireless data channel and the voice channel.

Method and system for wireless voice channel/data channel integration

The present invention can be used to facilitate the integration of wireless capability provided by wireless access points into an enterprise computer network. A gateway server is interposed between wireless access points and protected networks to provide security and integration functions, for example, authentication, access control, link privacy, link integrity, and bandwidth metering in various embodiments. Use of such a gateway server allows substantial control to be gained over network access even with the use of relatively simple access points. In general, such a gateway server receives a request to access the protected network. An authentication subsystem of the gateway server authenticates the user, preferably by accessing an external authentication server and returns a role to the authenticated user. An access controller in the gateway server provides differential access to the protected network based on the user's assigned role. A multiple gateway servers can be connected together to form a mesh network architecture.

Method and system for managing data traffic in wireless networks

https://www.cs.umd.edu/projects/p2prg/p2p-overview.pdf

Survey of research towards robust peer-to-peer networks: search methods

A gateway server manages connections in a wireless local area network (WLAN). The gateway server provides context information, such as an IP address, that is stored after being previously allocated to a mobile device in a previous connection to the WLAN. The gateway server reassigns the IP address to the mobile device after it reconnects to the WLAN after a disconnection, thus providing seamless roaming for the mobile device from WLAN to WLAN (or subnets within one WLAN) without requiring the user of the device to re-register. The gateway server also provides cluster information (e.g., as part of the context information) for a mobile device making a new connection to the WLAN, such as access privileges associated with the cluster of users of the mobile devices. The gateway server also provides load balancing among two or more WLAN's by directing a newly connection mobile device to another WLAN (or subnet), if less congestion results.

Method and system for enabling seamless roaming in a wireless network

A wireless local area network (WLAN) includes mobile devices that are allowed to transfer wireless connections between WLAN subnets or channels having different access points. The access points connect to a central controller or roaming server that supports seamless hand-offs of mobile devices from one access point to another access point. The roaming server supports the reassignment of session data parameters from one access point to another (e.g., access point address spoofing) so that the mobile device can use the same parameters for communicating to a new access point. The roaming server also supports the seamless handoff of a mobile device from one access point to another by using a master-slave switch technique across two piconets. The roaming server also facilitates the control of access points by establishing a host controller interface and wireless protocol stack in the roaming server and another, complementary wireless protocol stack in the access point. The roaming server then encapsulates host controller commands in a packet based network protocol used for communication between the roaming server and the access points.

Method and system for enabling centralized control of wireless local area networks

An access authentication system is provided for authenticating access for visitors to a wireless local area network (W-LAN), the operator of which administers a visitor authentication, authorisation and accounting (VAAA) server. A user requesting visiting access to the W-LAN, is required to have a valid cellular mobile account, a portable computing device with a browser and a valid W-LAN card from another operator that administers a home authentication, authorisation and accounting (HAAA) server. The user, on requesting visiting access to the W-LAN, inputs, via the VAAA server, identity information that enables the HAAA to issue a personal identification number (PIN) which is encoded and forwarded, preferably by way of a short message service (SMS), to the user's mobile telephone. This encoded PIN is transferred to the browser to authenticate the requested visiting access to the W-LAN, and the costs associated with such access are billed to the user's cellular mobile account; the requested access being achieved via the user's browser. The user may employ the browser to convey the identity information, via the W-LAN, to the VAAA. Alternatively, the user may call the VAAA on the mobile telephone to provide said identity information, in which case, the subject telephone call is preferably forwarded to the HAAA via a premium rate call unit.

Access authentication system

The first age of Internet architectural thinking concentrated on defining the correct principles for designing a packet-switched network and its application protocol suites. Although these same principles remain valid today, they do not address the question of how to reason about the evolution of the Internet or its interworking with other networks of very different heritages. This paper proposes a complementary methodology, motivated by the view that evolution and interworking flexibility are determined not so much by the principles applied during initial design, but by the choice of fundamental components or "design invariants" in terms of which the design is expressed. The paper discusses the characteristics of such invariants, including examples from the Internet and other networks, and considers what attributes of invariants best support architectural flexibility.

/pdf/invariants-a-new-design-methodology-for-network-5f8fkvt58b.pdf

Invariants: a new design methodology for network architectures

An access authentication system is provided for authenticating access for
visitors to a wireless local area network (W-LAN), the operator of which
administers a visitor authentication, authorisation and accounting (VAAA)
server. A user requesting visiting access to the W-LAN, is required to have a
valid cellular mobile account, a portable computing device with a browser and a
valid W-LAN card from another operator that administers a home authentication,
authorisation and accounting (HAAA) server. The user, on requesting visiting
access to the W-LAN, inputs, via the VAAA server, identity information that
enables the HAAA to issue a personal identification number (PIN) which is
encoded and forwarded, preferably by way of a short message service (SMS), to
the user's mobile telephone. This encoded PIN is transferred to the browser to
authenticate the requested visiting access to the W-LAN, and the costs associated
with such access are billed to the user's cellular mobile account; the requested
access being achieved via the user's browser. The user may employ the browser
to convey the identity information, via the W-LAN, to the VAAA. Alternatively,
the user may call the VAAA on the mobile telephone to provide said identity
information, in which case, the subject telephone call is preferably forwarded to
the HAAA via a premium rate call unit.

Access authentication system for a wireless environment

The invention provides an operating protocol for Local Area Network (LAN) systems capable of coping with the problems of user-mobility between LANs. Such mobility is afforded particularly by wireless LAN (WLAN) systems, whereby a user subscribing to a LAN operated by a so-called Home Operator connects, as a “visitor”, to one or more other LAN sites; basing such connection, for charging and other operational purposes, on that user's subscription with its Home Operator. The inventive protocol links a user's identity with the address of the Home Operator, and stores this information at the visited LAN site, thereby permitting a visiting user, once authenticated by user-interaction, as a visitor with regard to a particular LAN, to revisit that LAN for as long as its authentication with the Home Operator remains sound, without the need for further user intervention.

LAN user protocol

Wireless networks, and mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) in particular, are characterized by timevarying link characteristics and network topology. In such an environment, the network must accommodate the changes, providing end-end packet delivery while at the same time incurring low control overhead. This paper proposes a routing algorithm for MANETs with the primary goal of maximizing connectivity while limiting overhead. Rather than using one or more disjoint paths between a source and destination, a set of non-disjoint paths, or braid, is selected. To adapt to link changes, local rerouting is performed within the braid, thus avoiding network-wide recalculations. We analytically characterize the source-destination connectivity of the braid. Through simulation, we compare the reliability of braided routing and various other MANET routing protocols, including Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV) routing, and quantify the relative amounts of control overhead incurred by braided routing and AODV.

Robert Hancock

Papers

Access authentication system

Invariants: a new design methodology for network architectures

Access authentication system for a wireless environment

LAN user protocol

Robust Routing in Dynamic MANETs