SIGNAL INDICATOR FOR MULTI-TIER WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES

Abstract: A system and method for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network adapted to interface with one or more wireless devices. The inventive system includes a circuit for providing an electrical signal indicative of at least one network condition. A second circuit is included for providing, in response to the electrical signal, a sensory output signal representive of the occurrence of the condition. In the illustrative application, the first circuit is a Network Access Point and the networked devices are Bluetooth enabled. In one embodiment, the sensory output signal is provided by a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on the Network Access Point. In a preferred embodiment, the Network Access Point is equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter. Network status output signals are received by a Bluetooth receiver mounted in a Personal Digital Assistant.

Description: SIGNAL INDICATOR FOR MULTI-TIER WIRELESS COMMUNICATION DEVICES BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention: The present invention relates to systems and methods for wireless data networking. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for providing system status indications for wireless data networks. Description of the Related Art: A wireless technology called 'Bluetooth' is under development to enable ease of synchronization and mobility for a plethora of corporate and consumer applications. Bluetooth is described in BLUETOOTH SPECIFICATION VERSION 1.0B CORE, published in December 1999. Bluetooth technology will open up many possibilities for communication via wireless networks. Currently, Bluetooth enabled wireless networks often include a Network Access Point or 'NAP'. A NAP is a typically a stationary, hard wired transceiver adapted to communicate with mobile wireless devices. Typically, the NAPs are located in places that are out of the way of the users and therefore difficult to access. Unfortunately, it is often necessary to access the NAP to check network status and to perform routine maintenance. Hence, a need exists in the art for a system or technique for providing easy access to network access points for wireless networks that would otherwise be difficult or cumbersome to access. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The need in the art is addressed by the system and method of the present invention. The inventive system is adapted to provide a visual indication of a condition of a network adapted to interface with one or more wireless devices. In a most general implementation, the inventive system includes a circuit for providing an electrical signal indicative of at least one network condition. In accordance with the present teachings, a mechanism is included for providing, in response to the electrical signal, a sensory output signal representative of the occurrence of the condition. In the illustrative application, the first circuit is a Network Access Point and the networked devices are Bluetooth enabled. In a first embodiment, the sensory output signal is provided by a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on the Network Access Point. In a second embodiment, the Network Access Point is equipped with a Bluetooth transmitter. Network status output signals are received by a Bluetooth receiver mounted in a Personal Digital Assistant. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of the system for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative implementation of a Network Access Point in accordance with the present teachings. Fig. 3 is a detailed schematic diagram of the illustrative implementation of a Network Access Point in accordance with the present teachings. Fig. 4 is a more detailed block diagram of an illustrative implementation of the mobile administrative subsystem of Fig 1. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Illustrative embodiments and exemplary applications will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings to disclose the advantageous teachings of the present invention. While the present invention is described herein with reference to illustrative embodiments for particular applications, it should be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the teachings provided herein will recognize additional modifications, applications, and embodiments within the scope thereof and additional fields in which the present invention would be of significant utility. Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an illustrative embodiment of the system for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network of the present invention. The system 10 includes a Network Access Point 20. Network Access Points are well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Patent No. 5,983,098, issued Nov. 9, 1999, to Gerszberg, et al., and entitled DUAL-MODE NETWORK ACCESS POINT the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. Returning to Fig. 1, the Network Access Point or 'NAP' 20 includes a switching circuit 30 which operates under the command of a control circuit 40 to selectively connect a telephone or other device represented generally at 50 to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 60 via a wired interface 70. In addition, the switching circuit 30 selectively interconnects a number of wireless interfaces 80, 82, 84 and 86 to each other and to the PSTN 60. Each wireless interface includes a transmitter and receiver (or transceiver) not shown. In the best mode, the wireless interfaces are implemented in accordance with the above-noted Bluetooth Specification. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an illustrative implementation of a Network Access Point in accordance with the present teachings. As shown in Fig. 2, the NAP 20 is equipped with a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) 1 - 11 which comprise the status display 90 of Fig. 1. The following is illustrative of a mapping between status indications and visual indications of an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. LED Usage #1 Power #2 Ethernet Connection indicator #3 Ethernet Collision indicator #4 Bluetooth Connection indicator (one user is available) #5 Bluetooth Connection indicator (two users are available) #6 Bluetooth Connection indicator (three users are available) #7 Bluetooth Connection indicator (four users are available) #8 Bluetooth Connection indicator (five users are available) #9 Bluetooth Connection indicator (six users are available) #10 Bluetooth Connection indicator (seven users are available) #11 Indication that some users are in a "Parked" mode (more that seven users are available). Fig. 3a is a block diagram of an illustrative implementation of a Network Access Point in accordance with the present teachings. Fig. 3b is a detailed schematic diagram of the illustrative implementation of a Network Access Point in accordance with the present teachings. As shown in Figs. 3a and 3b, the NAP 20 includes a switching circuit 30, which in the embodiment of Fig. 3a, is shown as including a Bluetooth baseband controller 40. The controller 40 selectively activates each of the wireless interfaces (shown generally as a radio 80) via transmit, tuning and power digital to analog converters (DACs) 22, 24 and 26 in Fig. 3b. The controller 40 receives signals from each interface 80 via first and second analog to digital converters 28 and 32. The controller 40 communicates with flash memory 34 and SDRAM 36 via a data bus 38. An RS232 interface 42 connects to the bus 38 and to a modem 44 for digital data communication via the PSTN 60 of Fig. 1. Numerous additional devices and components are provided as is common in the art. Returning to Fig. 1, in accordance with the present teachings, as an alternative to the exclusive use of the status indicators 90 of Fig. 1 , one wireless interface 80 of the NAP 20 is adapted to communicate with a mobile administrative subsystem 100 implemented in a Personal Digital Assistant 110 (PDA). In the preferred embodiment, the PDA 110 is equipped with an expansion slot to receive an expansion card 116 on which a wireless (preferably 'Bluetooth enable') interface 122 is provided. Handspring makes a PDA adapted to receive an expansion card and the present assignee, Widcomm, manufactures a Bluetooth transceiver mounted on an expansion card suitable for this purpose. In any event, the PDA 110 has a central processing unit (CPU) 126 which receives signals transmitted from the NAP 20 regarding network status and provides a visual (and/or audio) indication thereof via a display 112. An advantage of this implementation is that the controller 40 of the NAP 20 may be programmed via the wireless interfaces 80 and 122 to provide any output desired in response to any network condition. Fig. 4 is a more detailed block diagram of an illustrative implementation of the mobile administrative subsystem of Fig 1. The wireless interface (transceiver) 122 is connected to an antenna 124 and communicates with a central processing unit (CPU) 126 of the PDA 100 via a bus 125. A flash memory circuit is provided on the card 116 to provide application specific information to the CPU via the bus 125. The flash memory is read-only memory (ROM) and contains module header information and any other applications needed for the module or card 116. In the illustrative embodiment, the CPU 126 runs with a standard Palm ® operating system. The display 112 is adapted to show a number of individual indicators such as those shown generally as 90 in Fig. 2, and/or any other text and/or graphic information desired via liquid crystal or other suitable display technology. Although a single NAP is shown in Fig. 1, it is understood that several NAPs may be interconnected in a network configuration. In this case, the NAPs will ensure that a user would never be out of a designated coverage area and the NAPs will serve to expand the range of Bluetooth-enabled handheld devices allowing access to services provided by enterprise servers. This concept requires that each NAP be aware and report the existence and connection status of neighboring NAPs. The present invention addresses the need to convey this information to a user such as a system administrator. The following is illustrative of the mapping of indications to network conditions in ' accordance with the present teachings. Example 1. (Single Visual indicator) 1. The NAP can not detect the presence of another NAP within its coverage area. The visual would be assigned a specific color. 2. The NAP has detected and has established connectivity with a single NAP within its coverage area; the visual would be assigned a specific color that would be different than when in the non-detect mode. 3. The NAP has detected and has established connectivity with multiple NAPs within its coverage area, the visual would be assigned a specific color that would be different than either the non detect or single detect mode. 4. The NAP detects a disruption of service from any previous connection the visual would reach a flashing state. If that connection were recovered the visual would return to its previous state. Example 2. (Dual Visual indicators) 1. The NAP can not detect the presence of another NAP within its coverage area; both visual indicators would be assigned a specific color or in an off state. 2. The NAP has detected and has established connectivity with a single NAP within its coverage area; one visual indicator would be assigned a specific color that would be different than when in the non detect mode. The other visual indicator would remain in the non-detect state. 3. The NAP has detected and has established connectivity with multiple NAPs within its coverage area; both visual indicators would be assigned a specific color that would be different than when in the non-detect mode. 4. The NAP detects a disruption of service from any previous connection one visual indicator would reach a flashing state. If that connection were recovered, the visual indicator would return to its previous state. Example 3. (Series of Visual indicators) 1. In a series of visual indicators, no indicator is lit when the NAP can not detect the presence of another NAP within its coverage area. 2. In a series of visual indicators, one indicator is lit when the NAP has detected and has established connectivity with a single NAP within its coverage area. 3. In a series of visual indicators, one indicator is lit for each NAP that has been detected and has established connectivity within its coverage area. 4. In a series of visual indicators, if connectivity has been established and then disrupted, the assigned visual will flash a specific color. Example 4. (Visual Indicator) 1. A visual "window" will contain the status and statistics of connectivity with other NAPs with the coverage area. 2. A combination of button would provide the user with menu type options that would direct the information gathering to a specific response. Example 5. (Audio Indicator) 1. A series of tones will be emitted when a NAP establishes connectivity with another NAP. 2. A series of tones will be emitted when a NAPs connectivity has been disrupted with another NAP. Example 6. (Audio Indicator) 1. A voice indication will respond when a new connection has been established with the NAP. 2. A voice indication will respond when a connection is disrupted with another NAP. 3. A voice indication will respond to a query with current status or statistics of NAP connections. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present teachings are not limited to the specific conditions and mappings shown. Thus, the present invention has been described herein with reference to a particular embodiment for a particular application. Those having ordinary skill in the art and access to the present teachings will recognize additional modifications applications and embodiments within the scope thereof. It is therefore intended by the appended claims to cover any and all such applications, modifications and embodiments within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A system for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network, said network adapted to interface with one or more wireless devices, and said system comprising: first means for providing an electrical signal indicative of said condition and second means, responsive to said electrical signal, for providing a sensory output signal representative of the occurrence of said condition. 2. The invention of Claim 1 wherein said wireless devices are Bluetooth enabled. 3. The invention of Claim 1 wherein said first means is a Network Access Point. 4. The invention of Claim 1 wherein said second means is a light emitting diode. 5. The invention of Claim 1 wherein said first means includes a wireless transmitter for transmitting said output signal via a wireless link. 6. The invention of Claim 5 wherein said second means includes means for receiving said transmitted output signal. 7. The invention of Claim 6 wherein said means for receiving said transmitted output signal is a Personal Digital Assistant. 8. The invention of Claim 7 wherein said transmitter and said receiver are Bluetooth enabled. 9. A system for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network adapted to interface with one or more wireless devices, said system comprising: a Network Access Point; a wireless transmitter electrically connected to said Network Access Point; a wireless receiver in electromagnetic communication with said transmitter; and a display connected to said wireless receiver. 10. The invention of Claim 9 further including a Personal Digital Assistant connected to said wireless receiver. 11. The invention of Claim 9 wherein said wireless devices are Bluetooth enabled. 12. The invention of Claim 9 wherein said transmitter and said receiver are Bluetooth enabled. 13. A method for providing a visual indication of a condition of a network adapted to interface with one or more wireless devices, said method comprising the steps of: providing an electrical signal indicative of said condition and providing, in response to said electrical signal, a sensory output signal representative of the occurrence of said condition.

Inventors: MCCRACKEN DEWAYNE, MCCRACKEN, DEWAYNE
Applicants: WIDCOMM INC, WIDCOMM, INC.
Application year: 2001
Main classification: H04L12
IPC codes: H04L12, H04M1, H04W24