Abstract:
A wireless base station wirelessly connecting to an electronic apparatus and maintaining a connection via a first packet includes a main body, a receiver, a micro-processor and a transmitter. The receiver is disposed in the main body for receiving a first signal. The micro-processor is for adjusting a state of at least a reserved bit of the first packet to form a second packet according to the received first signal. The transmitter is for sending out the second packet to replace the first packet.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 94134999, filed Oct. 6, 2005 , the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by conference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The invention relates in general to a wireless base station, and more particularly to a wireless base station with identification function.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Wireless network is a mainstream network at present. Users need not to use a lot of long network lines but a wireless network card for receiving or broadcasting signals on a wireless base station, such as a wireless access point (AP), a router, and so on.  
         [0006]     However, due to popularity and convenience of the wireless base station, users can receive signals broadcasted by different wireless base stations via an on-line operation.  
         [0007]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a schematic diagram of a conventional wireless device is shown. At present, many conference rooms are equipped with wireless projectors having function like a wireless base station. In  FIG. 1 , three conference rooms  101   a ˜ 101   c  are shown. The conference room  101   a has a PJT- 01   a  wireless projector  103   a , the conference room  101   b  has a PJT- 01   b  wireless projector  103   b  and the conference room  101   c  has a PJT- 01   c wireless projector  103   c . The symbols PJT- 01   a , PJT- 01   b  and PJT- 01   c  are service set identifiers (SSID). When the user receives signals from a wireless network via a computer  105 , the three SSIDs PJT- 01   a , PJT- 01   b  and PJT- 01  are displayed on the computer  105 . If there exist other wireless base stations in the neighborhood of the computer  105 , more SSIDs of wireless base stations will be displayed on the computer  105 . As a result, except that users are very familiar with the names of all wireless base stations or the settings and operations of the wireless network, they will be easily confused about which wireless base station they are using or they have to use and thus can not decide which wireless projector to use as a wireless base station for broadcasting and receiving signals.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a wireless base station. When users use the wireless network, they can easily identify each of the wireless base stations and thus perform system settings for broadcast and reception of wireless signals conveniently.  
         [0009]     The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a wireless base station wirelessly connecting to an electronic apparatus and maintaining a connection via a first packet. The wireless base station includes a main body, a receiver, a micro-processor and a transmitter. The receiver is disposed in the main body for receiving a first signal. The micro-processor is for modifying a state of at least a reserved bit of the first packet to form a second packet according to the received first signal. The transmitter is for transmitting the second packet to replace the first packet.  
         [0010]     The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a method for identifying a wireless base station, applied to a wireless base station and an electronic apparatus. In the method, first, transmit a first packet from the wireless base station to the electronic apparatus to maintain a connection. Next, trigger the wireless base station and modify a state of at least one reserved bit to form a second packet. Then, transmit the second packet to replace the first packet. Finally, identify the wireless base station according to the second packet.  
         [0011]     The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a wireless network communication system including at least one wireless base station and an electronic apparatus. The wireless base station includes a main body, an access-point identification receiver, a first micro-processor and a first wireless network transmitter. The receiver is disposed in the main body for receiving a first signal. The micro-processor is for modifying a state of a reserved bit of the first packet to form a second packet according to the received first signal. The electronic apparatus receives the second packet, analyzes the second packet, and then identifies the at least one wireless base station according to the second packet.  
         [0012]     The invention achieves the above-identified object by providing a method for operating a wireless communication system. The method includes triggering an event for providing a first signal via a user; receiving the first signal via a receiver of the wireless base station; adjusting a state of at least a reserved bit of the first packet via a micro-processor of the wireless base station; broadcasting the adjusted first packet via the wireless base station; receiving the first packet broadcasted by the wireless base station via the computer; decoding the analyzing the first packet via the computer; determining whether a reserved-bit state of the first packet is adjusted via the computer; marking a name of the wireless base station on the computer; and waiting for receiving a next packet by setting the computer in a standby mode.  
         [0013]     Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with conference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a conventional wireless device.  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of three wireless base stations in communication with a computer.  
         [0016]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of a method for broadcasting from a wireless base station.  
         [0017]      FIG. 4  is a flow chart of the method for a computer to receive packets broadcasted by a wireless base station. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a schematic diagram of three wireless base stations in communication with a computer is shown. The three wireless base stations  203   a ,  203   b  and  203   c  respectively have main bodies  207   a ,  207   b  and  207   c  and receivers  209   a ,  209   b  and  209   c . Each of the wireless base stations  203   a ˜ 203   c  has a micro-processor. The wireless base station is a wireless projector, a wireless broadband router or a wireless router. The above mentioned wireless base stations  203   a ,  203   b , and  203   c  are exemplified as wireless access points (AP), routers, and so on. The receivers  209   a ,  209   b , and  209   c  are exemplified as access point identification receivers.  
         [0019]     A notebook computer  205  is used to receive signals from the three wireless base stations  203   a ˜ 203   c . The notebook computer  205  acquires the user which wireless base station is used as a main source of signals. If the user does not know how the three wireless base stations displayed on the computer  205  correspond to the practical three wireless base stations  203   a ˜ 203   c , the problem can be solved by using the following method.  
         [0020]     For example, when the user would like to use the wireless base station  203   c , he/she can press a key of the wireless base station  203   c  or send out a first signal S 1  toward the wireless base station  203   c  by using a remote controller  220 . After the key-pressing operation is performed on the wireless base station  203   c  or the first signal S 1  of the remote controller  220  is received by the wireless base station  203   c , a second signal S 2  is sent back to the notebook computer  205  for notifying the user that the broadcast signal is received by the wireless base station  203   c.    
         [0021]     In the following description, a mechanism for broadcasting signals from the wireless base station  203   c  to the notebook computer  205  is illustrated. Referring to  FIG. 3 , a flow chart of a method for broadcasting from a wireless base station is shown. With respect to the wireless base-station  203 , it needs only to determine whether the received event is triggered in order to decide the subsequent steps. Therefore, first, in step  301 , the wireless base station  203   c  determines whether an event is triggered. If no, the process is ended and the wireless base station  203   c  waits for a next event to be triggered. If yes, proceed to the step  303 , in which the wireless base station  203   c  sets a period for broadcasting a first packet. The first packet is periodically transmitted to the notebook computer  205  according to the period. Next, in step  305 , the micro-processor adjusts a reserved-bit state of the first packet. Following that, in step  307 , the wireless base station  203   c  broadcasts the adjusted first packet via an embedded transmitter. Then, in step  309 , determine whether the broadcasting time has exceeds the period for broadcasting the first packet. If no, return to the step  307  to continuously broadcast the adjusted first packet. If yes, execute a step  311  to recover an original state of the first packet and return to the step  301  to wait for a next event to be triggered for subsequently broadcasting a second packet or a third packet.  
         [0022]     In the step  301 , an event is triggered means that the key of the wireless base station is pressed or a signal is sent to the wireless base station from a control device, such as a remote controller, via a user. In addition, in step  305 , the packet is a unit for broadcast communication. The packet includes ten layers, such as a first layer of timestamp, a second layer of beacon interval, a third layer of compatibility information, a fourth layer of SSID. The third layer of compatibility information includes reserved bits (as shown in Table 1) wherein the compatibility information B 0 ˜B 15  is for describing compatibility of packet units and mechanism of network security. Some bits of the information B 5 ˜B 15  can be adjusted to meet users&#39; different requirements. That is, the state of a reserved bit can be adjusted by changing the address of the reserved bit to trigger a corresponding event.  
                                           TABLE 1                                       B0   B1   B2   B3   B4   B5-&gt;B15 (reserved bits)                      
 
         [0023]     The above-mentioned steps are performed for broadcasting signals from the wireless base station. In the following description, a process of receiving wireless base station broadcast signals by a notebook computer is  
         [0024]     shown. Referring to  FIG. 4 , a flow chart of the method for a computer to receive packets broadcasted by a wireless base station is shown. First, in step  401 , receive a first packet from a wireless base station. Following that, in step  403 , decode and analyze the first packet. Next, in step  405 , determine whether the reserved-bit state of the first packet is adjusted. If no, the process is ended. If yes, proceed to a step  407  to mark the name (SSID) of the corresponding wireless base station on the notebook computer  205  by identifying and analyzing the first packet. Finally, in step  409 , set the notebook computer in a standby mode to wait for a next packet to be received.  
         [0025]     In step  407 , the name of the corresponding wireless base station can be displayed on a screen of the notebook computer  205  in a reverse-video way, marked with a circle, or selected by a cursor to achieve the purpose of identifying the various wireless base stations communicating with the notebook computer  205 .  
         [0026]     The wireless base station disclosed by the above-mentioned embodiment of the invention is equipped with a wireless base station identification receiver for users to display the name of the wireless base station to be used on a computer by a key-pressing or remote controlling way. Therefore, the users can accordingly determine the name of each wireless base station so as to decide which wireless base station to select as a medium for broadcasting and receiving signals, thereby improving product convenience.  
         [0027]     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.