Abstract:
A system and method for intelligently and dynamically deploying a plurality of mobile robotic machines capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically to propagate wireless network connectivity comprising, at least, a mechanical framework, sensors, actuators, communications capability, an energy source, a propulsion means, a control mechanism, and a payload. The payload may comprise electronic or mechanical communication equipment to propagate services such as wireless networking services, in for example, a first responder or emergency environment, or electronic and mechanical jamming services in a military or anti-terrorism environment.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/317,421 filed Apr. 1, 2016, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DYNAMIC DEPLOYABLE WIRELESS SERVICES” the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Art 
     The disclosure relates to the field of robotics, and more particularly to the field of robotic automation and of robotic cooperation. 
     Discussion of the State of the Art 
     In systems known in the art, a wireless base station is deployed to provide wireless network service. This wireless base station has wireless transmitters and receivers which are fixed in place, often mechanically. Although some more advanced wireless base stations provide capability to mechanically adjust the position of the transmit and receive elements, the position of the wireless base station is fixed, and adjustment of the transmit and receive elements is limited. 
     The wireless base station is connected to a central point station, typically utilizing wired backhaul transport. The location and functionality of the central point station varies depending on the type or generation of wireless network service, and is not a critical point of concern in the context of this disclosure. 
     Variants of the prior art may include:
         Wireless backhaul for connecting the wireless base station to the central point station   Multiple transmit and receive elements in the wireless base station   Capability to point or mechanically steer the transmit and receive elements of the wireless base station       

     In all cases of the prior art, the wireless base station is not dynamically deployable. 
     What is needed is a system and method for intelligently and dynamically deploying a plurality of mobile robotic machines capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically to propagate wireless network connectivity. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the inventor has conceived and reduced to practice, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, a system and method for rapid deployment of wireless networks. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, applications of wireless robots are well known and encompass ground based, aerial, as well as undersea instantiations of robotic machines. The nature of wireless robots enables them to operate without fixed means for communications or power, and prior art has shown these machines remotely controlled, and in some cases even capable of autonomous operation. 
     In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a unique combination of teams of wireless robots, coupled together with elements of communications systems, are able to provide capabilities and services, which were not possible with systems known in the art. 
     More specifically, this novel system exploits the miniaturization of wireless robots working together in teams, coupled with the miniaturization and partitioning of the elements of communications systems, such as wireless transmitters and receivers. A system employing this innovative approach will exhibit the following advantageous characteristics:
         Ability to deploy wireless services (for example wireless network services) dynamically   Such wireless services can be deployed extremely fast   Can be deployed in areas previously not possible such as hazardous environments and/or remote areas   Advanced configurations and services can be implemented, which were previously not possible       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       The accompanying drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention according to the embodiments. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the particular embodiments illustrated in the drawings are merely exemplary, and are not to be considered as limiting of the scope of the invention or the claims herein in any way. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware architecture of a computing device used in an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical architecture for a client device, according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing an exemplary architectural arrangement of clients, servers, and external services, according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  is another block diagram illustrating an exemplary hardware architecture of a computing device used in various embodiments of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  an exemplary high-level architecture of a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is an exemplary wireless robot system illustrating functional elements, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 7  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robot system employing a wireless transceiver, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 8  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robot system illustrating cooperation between a plurality of robots, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 9  is an exemplary embodiment of a team of wireless robots illustrating a communication array for collaboration between team members to provide wireless services, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 10  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robots deployed in a first responder scenario. 
         FIG. 11  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robots deployed in a military battlefield scenario. 
         FIG. 12  is an exemplary method illustrating propagation of deployable entities according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 13  is an exemplary method illustrating management of a deployment of a team of wireless robots providing relay functionality. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The inventor has conceived, and reduced to practice, a system and method for rapid and dynamic deployment of wireless networks. 
     One or more different inventions may be described in the present application. Further, for one or more of the inventions described herein, numerous alternative embodiments may be described; it should be appreciated that these are presented for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting of the inventions contained herein or the claims presented herein in any way. One or more of the inventions may be widely applicable to numerous embodiments, as may be readily apparent from the disclosure. In general, embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice one or more of the inventions, and it should be appreciated that other embodiments may be utilized and that structural, logical, software, electrical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the particular inventions. Accordingly, one skilled in the art will recognize that one or more of the inventions may be practiced with various modifications and alterations. Particular features of one or more of the inventions described herein may be described with reference to one or more particular embodiments or figures that form a part of the present disclosure, and in which are shown, by way of illustration, specific embodiments of one or more of the inventions. It should be appreciated, however, that such features are not limited to usage in the one or more particular embodiments or figures with reference to which they are described. The present disclosure is neither a literal description of all embodiments of one or more of the inventions nor a listing of features of one or more of the inventions that must be present in all embodiments. 
     Headings of sections provided in this patent application and the title of this patent application are for convenience only, and are not to be taken as limiting the disclosure in any way. 
     Devices that are in communication with each other need not be in continuous communication with each other, unless expressly specified otherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with each other may communicate directly or indirectly through one or more communication means or intermediaries, logical or physical. 
     A description of an embodiment with several components in communication with each other does not imply that all such components are required. To the contrary, a variety of optional components may be described to illustrate a wide variety of possible embodiments of one or more of the inventions and in order to more fully illustrate one or more aspects of the inventions. Similarly, although process steps, method steps, algorithms or the like may be described in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithms may generally be configured to work in alternate orders, unless specifically stated to the contrary. In other words, any sequence or order of steps that may be described in this patent application does not, in and of itself, indicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. The steps of described processes may be performed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performed simultaneously despite being described or implied as occurring non-simultaneously (e.g., because one step is described after the other step). Moreover, the illustration of a process by its depiction in a drawing does not imply that the illustrated process is exclusive of other variations and modifications thereto, does not imply that the illustrated process or any of its steps are necessary to one or more of the invention(s), and does not imply that the illustrated process is preferred. Also, steps are generally described once per embodiment, but this does not mean they must occur once, or that they may only occur once each time a process, method, or algorithm is carried out or executed. Some steps may be omitted in some embodiments or some occurrences, or some steps may be executed more than once in a given embodiment or occurrence. 
     When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of a single device or article. Similarly, where more than one device or article is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a single device or article may be used in place of the more than one device or article. 
     The functionality or the features of a device may be alternatively embodied by one or more other devices that are not explicitly described as having such functionality or features. Thus, other embodiments of one or more of the inventions need not include the device itself. 
     Techniques and mechanisms described or referenced herein will sometimes be described in singular form for clarity. However, it should be appreciated that particular embodiments may include multiple iterations of a technique or multiple instantiations of a mechanism unless noted otherwise. Process descriptions or blocks in figures should be understood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code which include one or more executable instructions for implementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Alternate implementations are included within the scope of embodiments of the present invention in which, for example, functions may be executed out of order from that shown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art. 
     Hardware Architecture 
     Generally, the techniques disclosed herein may be implemented on hardware or a combination of software and hardware. For example, they may be implemented in an operating system kernel, in a separate user process, in a library package bound into network applications, on a specially constructed machine, on an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or on a network interface card. 
     Software/hardware hybrid implementations of at least some of the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on a programmable network-resident machine (which should be understood to include intermittently connected network-aware machines) selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in memory. Such network devices may have multiple network interfaces that may be configured or designed to utilize different types of network communication protocols. A general architecture for some of these machines may be described herein in order to illustrate one or more exemplary means by which a given unit of functionality may be implemented. According to specific embodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented on one or more general-purpose computers associated with one or more networks, such as for example an end-user computer system, a client computer, a network server or other server system, a mobile computing device (e.g., tablet computing device, mobile phone, smartphone, laptop, or other appropriate computing device), a consumer electronic device, a music player, or any other suitable electronic device, router, switch, or other suitable device, or any combination thereof. In at least some embodiments, at least some of the features or functionalities of the various embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented in one or more virtualized computing environments (e.g., network computing clouds, virtual machines hosted on one or more physical computing machines, or other appropriate virtual environments). 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown a block diagram depicting an exemplary computing device  100  suitable for implementing at least a portion of the features or functionalities disclosed herein. Computing device  100  may be, for example, any one of the computing machines listed in the previous paragraph, or indeed any other electronic device capable of executing software- or hardware-based instructions according to one or more programs stored in memory. Computing device  100  may be adapted to communicate with a plurality of other computing devices, such as clients or servers, over communications networks such as a wide area network a metropolitan area network, a local area network, a wireless network, the Internet, or any other network, using known protocols for such communication, whether wireless or wired. 
     In one embodiment, computing device  100  includes one or more central processing units (CPU)  102 , one or more interfaces  110 , and one or more busses  106  (such as a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus). When acting under the control of appropriate software or firmware, CPU  102  may be responsible for implementing specific functions associated with the functions of a specifically configured computing device or machine. For example, in at least one embodiment, a computing device  100  may be configured or designed to function as a server system utilizing CPU  102 , local memory  101  and/or remote memory  120 , and interface(s)  110 . In at least one embodiment, CPU  102  may be caused to perform one or more of the different types of functions and/or operations under the control of software modules or components, which for example, may include an operating system and any appropriate applications software, drivers, and the like. 
     CPU  102  may include one or more processors  103  such as, for example, a processor from one of the Intel, ARM, Qualcomm, and AMD families of microprocessors. In some embodiments, processors  103  may include specially designed hardware such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and so forth, for controlling operations of computing device  100 . In a specific embodiment, a local memory  101  (such as non-volatile random access memory (RAM) and/or read-only memory (ROM), including for example one or more levels of cached memory) may also form part of CPU  102 . However, there are many different ways in which memory may be coupled to system  100 . Memory  101  may be used for a variety of purposes such as, for example, caching and/or storing data, programming instructions, and the like. It should be further appreciated that CPU  102  may be one of a variety of system-on-a-chip (SOC) type hardware that may include additional hardware such as memory or graphics processing chips, such as a Qualcomm SNAPDRAGON′ or Samsung EXYNOS™ CPU as are becoming increasingly common in the art, such as for use in mobile devices or integrated devices. 
     As used herein, the term “processor” is not limited merely to those integrated circuits referred to in the art as a processor, a mobile processor, or a microprocessor, but broadly refers to a microcontroller, a microcomputer, a programmable logic controller, an application-specific integrated circuit, and any other programmable circuit. 
     In one embodiment, interfaces  110  are provided as network interface cards (NICs). Generally, NICs control the sending and receiving of data packets over a computer network; other types of interfaces  110  may for example support other peripherals used with computing device  100 . Among the interfaces that may be provided are Ethernet interfaces, frame relay interfaces, cable interfaces, DSL interfaces, token ring interfaces, graphics interfaces, and the like. In addition, various types of interfaces may be provided such as, for example, universal serial bus (USB), Serial, Ethernet, FIREWIRE™, THUNDERBOLT′, PCI, parallel, radio frequency (RF), BLUETOOTH™, near-field communications (e.g., using near-field magnetics), 802.11 (WiFi), frame relay, TCP/IP, ISDN, fast Ethernet interfaces, Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA) or external SATA (ESATA) interfaces, high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI), digital visual interface (DVI), analog or digital audio interfaces, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) interfaces, high-speed serial interface (HSSI) interfaces, Point of Sale (POS) interfaces, fiber data distributed interfaces (FDDIs), and the like. Generally, such interfaces  110  may include physical ports appropriate for communication with appropriate media. In some cases, they may also include an independent processor (such as a dedicated audio or video processor, as is common in the art for high-fidelity A/V hardware interfaces) and, in some instances, volatile and/or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAM). 
     Although the system shown in  FIG. 1  illustrates one specific architecture for a computing device  100  for implementing one or more of the inventions described herein, it is by no means the only device architecture on which at least a portion of the features and techniques described herein may be implemented. For example, architectures having one or any number of processors  103  may be used, and such processors  103  may be present in a single device or distributed among any number of devices. In one embodiment, a single processor  103  handles communications as well as routing computations, while in other embodiments a separate dedicated communications processor may be provided. In various embodiments, different types of features or functionalities may be implemented in a system according to the invention that includes a client device (such as a tablet device or smartphone running client software) and server systems (such as a server system described in more detail below). 
     Regardless of network device configuration, the system of the present invention may employ one or more memories or memory modules (such as, for example, remote memory block  120  and local memory  101 ) configured to store data, program instructions for the general-purpose network operations, or other information relating to the functionality of the embodiments described herein (or any combinations of the above). Program instructions may control execution of or comprise an operating system and/or one or more applications, for example. Memory  120  or memories  101 ,  120  may also be configured to store data structures, configuration data, encryption data, historical system operations information, or any other specific or generic non-program information described herein. 
     Because such information and program instructions may be employed to implement one or more systems or methods described herein, at least some network device embodiments may include nontransitory machine-readable storage media, which, for example, may be configured or designed to store program instructions, state information, and the like for performing various operations described herein. Examples of such nontransitory machine-readable storage media include, but are not limited to, magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROM disks; magneto-optical media such as optical disks, and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory devices (ROM), flash memory (as is common in mobile devices and integrated systems), solid state drives (SSD) and “hybrid SSD” storage drives that may combine physical components of solid state and hard disk drives in a single hardware device (as are becoming increasingly common in the art with regard to personal computers), memristor memory, random access memory (RAM), and the like. It should be appreciated that such storage means may be integral and non-removable (such as RAM hardware modules that may be soldered onto a motherboard or otherwise integrated into an electronic device), or they may be removable such as swappable flash memory modules (such as “thumb drives” or other removable media designed for rapidly exchanging physical storage devices), “hot-swappable” hard disk drives or solid state drives, removable optical storage discs, or other such removable media, and that such integral and removable storage media may be utilized interchangeably. Examples of program instructions include both object code, such as may be produced by a compiler, machine code, such as may be produced by an assembler or a linker, byte code, such as may be generated by for example a Java™ compiler and may be executed using a Java virtual machine or equivalent, or files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter (for example, scripts written in Python, Perl, Ruby, Groovy, or any other scripting language). 
     In some embodiments, systems according to the present invention may be implemented on a standalone computing system. Referring now to  FIG. 2 , there is shown a block diagram depicting a typical exemplary architecture of one or more embodiments or components thereof on a standalone computing system. Computing device  200  includes processors  210  that may run software that carry out one or more functions or applications of embodiments of the invention, such as for example a client application  230 . Processors  210  may carry out computing instructions under control of an operating system  220  such as, for example, a version of Microsoft&#39;s WINDOWS&#39; operating system, Apple&#39;s Mac OS/X or iOS operating systems, some variety of the Linux operating system, Google&#39;s ANDROID™ operating system, or the like. In many cases, one or more shared services  225  may be operable in system  200 , and may be useful for providing common services to client applications  230 . Services  225  may for example be WINDOWS&#39; services, user-space common services in a Linux environment, or any other type of common service architecture used with operating system  210 . Input devices  270  may be of any type suitable for receiving user input, including for example a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone (for example, for voice input), mouse, touchpad, trackball, or any combination thereof. Output devices  260  may be of any type suitable for providing output to one or more users, whether remote or local to system  200 , and may include for example one or more screens for visual output, speakers, printers, or any combination thereof. Memory  240  may be random-access memory having any structure and architecture known in the art, for use by processors  210 , for example to run software. Storage devices  250  may be any magnetic, optical, mechanical, memristor, or electrical storage device for storage of data in digital form (such as those described above, referring to  FIG. 1 ). Examples of storage devices  250  include flash memory, magnetic hard drive, CD-ROM, and/or the like. 
     In some embodiments, systems of the present invention may be implemented on a distributed computing network, such as one having any number of clients and/or servers. Referring now to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a block diagram depicting an exemplary architecture  300  for implementing at least a portion of a system according to an embodiment of the invention on a distributed computing network. According to the embodiment, any number of clients  330  may be provided. Each client  330  may run software for implementing client-side portions of the present invention; clients may comprise a system  200  such as that illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In addition, any number of servers  320  may be provided for handling requests received from one or more clients  330 . Clients  330  and servers  320  may communicate with one another via one or more electronic networks  310 , which may be in various embodiments any of the Internet, a wide area network, a mobile telephony network (such as CDMA or GSM cellular networks), a wireless network (such as WiFi, Wimax, LTE, and so forth), or a local area network (or indeed any network topology known in the art; the invention does not prefer any one network topology over any other). Networks  310  may be implemented using any known network protocols, including for example wired and/or wireless protocols. 
     In addition, in some embodiments, servers  320  may call external services  370  when needed to obtain additional information, or to refer to additional data concerning a particular call. Communications with external services  370  may take place, for example, via one or more networks  310 . In various embodiments, external services  370  may comprise web-enabled services or functionality related to or installed on the hardware device itself. For example, in an embodiment where client applications  230  are implemented on a smartphone or other electronic device, client applications  230  may obtain information stored in a server system  320  in the cloud or on an external service  370  deployed on one or more of a particular enterprise&#39;s or user&#39;s premises. 
     In some embodiments of the invention, clients  330  or servers  320  (or both) may make use of one or more specialized services or appliances that may be deployed locally or remotely across one or more networks  310 . For example, one or more databases  340  may be used or referred to by one or more embodiments of the invention. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that databases  340  may be arranged in a wide variety of architectures and using a wide variety of data access and manipulation means. For example, in various embodiments one or more databases  340  may comprise a relational database system using a structured query language (SQL), while others may comprise an alternative data storage technology such as those referred to in the art as “NoSQL” (for example, Hadoop Cassandra, Google BigTable, and so forth). In some embodiments, variant database architectures such as column-oriented databases, in-memory databases, clustered databases, distributed databases, or even flat file data repositories may be used according to the invention. It will be appreciated by one having ordinary skill in the art that any combination of known or future database technologies may be used as appropriate, unless a specific database technology or a specific arrangement of components is specified for a particular embodiment herein. Moreover, it should be appreciated that the term “database” as used herein may refer to a physical database machine, a cluster of machines acting as a single database system, or a logical database within an overall database management system. Unless a specific meaning is specified for a given use of the term “database”, it should be construed to mean any of these senses of the word, all of which are understood as a plain meaning of the term “database” by those having ordinary skill in the art. 
     Similarly, most embodiments of the invention may make use of one or more security systems  360  and configuration systems  350 . Security and configuration management are common information technology (IT) and web functions, and some amount of each are generally associated with any IT or web systems. It should be understood by one having ordinary skill in the art that any configuration or security subsystems known in the art now or in the future may be used in conjunction with embodiments of the invention without limitation, unless a specific security  360  or configuration system  350  or approach is specifically required by the description of any specific embodiment. 
       FIG. 4  shows an exemplary overview of a computer system  400  as may be used in any of the various locations throughout the system. It is exemplary of any computer that may execute code to process data. Various modifications and changes may be made to computer system  400  without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the system and method disclosed herein. CPU  401  is connected to bus  402 , to which bus is also connected memory  403 , nonvolatile memory  404 , display  407 , I/O unit  408 , and network interface card (NIC)  413 . I/O unit  408  may, typically, be connected to keyboard  409 , pointing device  410 , hard disk  412 , and real-time clock  411 . NIC  413  connects to network  414 , which may be the Internet or a local network, which local network may or may not have connections to the Internet. Also shown as part of system  400  is power supply unit  405  connected, in this example, to ac supply  406 . Not shown are batteries that could be present, and many other devices and modifications that are well known but are not applicable to the specific novel functions of the current system and method disclosed herein. It should be appreciated that some or all components illustrated may be combined, such as in various integrated applications (for example, Qualcomm or Samsung SOC-based devices), or whenever it may be appropriate to combine multiple capabilities or functions into a single hardware device (for instance, in mobile devices such as smartphones, video game consoles, in-vehicle computer systems such as navigation or multimedia systems in automobiles, or other integrated hardware devices). 
     In various embodiments, functionality for implementing systems or methods of the present invention may be distributed among any number of client and/or server components. For example, various software modules may be implemented for performing various functions in connection with the present invention, and such modules may be variously implemented to run on server and/or client components. 
     Conceptual Architecture 
       FIG. 5  is an exemplary high-level architecture of a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, a team of wireless robots  503  provides wireless network service  501 . This wireless network service is provided to the user by the use of service channels  502 , as shown in  FIG. 5 . Further, being wireless, connectivity to the central point station  505  is by necessity wireless, the team of robots employing external channels  504  to implement, at least, a wireless backhaul to the central point station  505 . 
     The plurality of wireless robots  503  that comprise the team may be aerial, ground-based, water-based, and the like, or any combination thereof. In most embodiments, the plurality of wireless robots  503  include a plurality of wireless robots acting cooperatively. 
     A wireless robot system  600  is depicted in  FIG. 6 . Functional elements such as mechanical framework  605 , propulsion subsystem  606 , and often times payload  603 , comprise elements of a wireless robot, and as can be appreciated by one with skill in the art, the instantiation of these elements may be different depending on whether the robot&#39;s operating environment is on land, in the air, underground, in the water, or some combination thereof. Propulsion subsystem  606  comprises a source of mechanical power, and means of converting this power into propulsive force that may include, but is not limited to, a propeller system, a combustion or electric engine, a turbine, etc. In some embodiments propulsion subsystem  606  comprises a technological system that uses an engine or motor as the power source, and wheels and axles, propellers, or a propulsive nozzle to generate force. In some embodiments components such as clutches or gearboxes may be added to connect the motor to axles, wheels, or propellers. In other embodiments propulsion subsystem  606  may be driven by balloons (for example whereby lift is generated by helium, hydrogen or some other gas), gliders that may provide lift from a wing arrangement, and other non-motorized methods. 
     Further shown in  FIG. 6  is a control unit  604  for coordinating the various elements of the robot, optional sensors and actuators  601 , depending on the operational task of the robot. Sensors  601  may include, but not limited to, optical sensors, video capture devices, atmospheric sensors, carbon dioxide sensors, smoke detectors, radio frequency sensors, or other specialized sensors, or any combination thereof. Actuators  601  may include, but not limited to, levers, mechanical arms, weapons, water delivery means, motor-driven actuators, hydraulic actuators, piston actuators, and the like. 
     Energy source  607  for providing power to the various other elements in the robot system. Energy source  607  may include, but not limited to, electrical, battery hydrogen fuel cell, solar cell, generator, wind turbine, nuclear generator, compressed air, and the like. In some embodiments the control unit  604  continuously stores location information to a location database  101  (or database  120 ). In addition, various other information is stored that may be associated to location including, but not limited to, connection performance at the particular location. In some embodiments a last known good location is stored in database  101 . In some embodiments, a prioritized list of good locations is stored in database  101 . Whereby a good location is defined as a location where an acceptable performance of connection to central point station  505  is at a certain pre-configured level. In some embodiments, a pre-configured level may be dynamic and change due to conditions, for example, environmental conditions or operating conditions. Other information including environmental information such as temperature, pressure, air quality, and the like may be stored and associated to location. In some embodiments historical information may be stored by control unit  604  including, but not limited to, communication from communication subsystem  602 . 
     Finally shown in  FIG. 6 , is communication subsystem  602  enabling the robot to communicate wirelessly to other robots or devices, using a variety of wireless communication methods (for example, WiFi™, Cellular, short-range interconnected device protocol, and the like) as described previously. Communication subsystem  602  may include a means for communicating with external channel  504 , for transporting various types of information (as outlined previously) between a robot and central point station  505 . Communication subsystem  602  may also include, optionally, a means for communicating with peer channel  609 , which may facilitate information transport such as, location info, relative position, system status, information form external channels, info form service channels, info form sensors, information to actuators between other robots working within that team. One skilled in the art may also appreciate where optionally, the means for communicating with external channel  504 , and for communicating with peer channel  609  may be embodied within the same equipment or device. 
       FIG. 7  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robot system employing a wireless transceiver, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, payload  603  may comprise a wireless transceiver  706  that may include, but not limited to, a combination transmitter/receiver in for example, a single package to provide wireless communications services on various protocols and platforms, for example, cellular, WiFi, RF, Bluetooth, mobile two-way radios, and the like to provide service channel  502  thereby establishing wireless service  501 . 
       FIG. 8  is an exemplary embodiment of a wireless robot system illustrating cooperation between a plurality of robots, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, a more detailed view of a team of “m” wireless robots  801   a - m  working cooperatively to provide wireless network service is shown. As shown in  FIG. 7 , and as can be seen in  FIG. 8 , each of the “m” wireless robots  801   a - m  are capable of utilizing one or more external channels  504  for communication to central point station  505 . Further, each of the “m” wireless robots  801   a - m  are capable of employing service channels  502  to provide wireless network service  501  utilizing a plurality of wireless transceivers  706 . 
     One skilled in the art may appreciate, per  FIGS. 6 and 7 , that each of the “m” wireless robots are capable of communicating with one another utilizing peer channels  609 . Peer channels  609  communication is omitted from  FIG. 8  for clarity. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 8 , one skilled in the art may appreciate a system whereby a subset of the “m” wireless robots  801   a - m  may be in communication with central point station  505  utilizing external channels  504 , and whereby another subset of wireless robots  801   a - m  might not. Such advanced configurations are treated elsewhere. 
       FIG. 9  depicts a team of wireless robots  901   a - m  collaborating in an array formation to provide wireless network service  501 . Such an array formation might be recognizable to those skilled in the art as a means to provide beamforming capability, which in some cases has advantageous characteristics for providing wireless services  501 . According to the embodiment, the team of wireless robots  901   a - n  may be deployed with an appropriate number of spare wireless robots  901   a - m  providing an m+n redundancy capability. In the case where one or more of the wireless robots  901   a - n  providing wireless network service or jamming signals were damaged or destroyed by the military action, one or more spare wireless robots  901   a - m  would join the team of active wireless robots to replace those that may have been lost. 
     Further according to the embodiment, the wireless robots would be deployed in an array structure to enable beamforming. The beamforming would enhance security and effectiveness by focusing the energy of the wireless network service where appropriate. Energy for wireless network service would be focused in areas where friendly units are operating, and energy for jamming signals would be focused in areas where enemy units are operating. One skilled in the art can understand how the gain and phase of the signals processed in the wireless transceiver of each wireless robot could be adjusted to form said directional beams. For example, to implement a technique for directional signal transmission or reception (or both) whereby a beamformer may control a phase and relative amplitude of a signal at each transmitter, in order to create a pattern of constructive and destructive interference in an associated wavefront. In some embodiments, in a receive beamformer, a signal from a plurality of associated antennas antenna may be amplified by a different “weight” whereby different weighting patterns (for example, Dolph-Chebyshev) may be used to achieve desired sensitivity patterns. In some embodiments, beamformers may use a fixed set of weightings and time-delays (or phasings) to combine signals from sensors in array or robots  901   a - m , using, at least, information about a plurality of locations of robots  901   a - m  location of the sensors in space and the wave directions of interest. In some embodiments beamforming may be adjusted by adjusting the position of the one or more robots  901   a - m . In some embodiments, a delay-and-sum beamformer may be implemented whereby the plurality of “weights” of the plurality antenna elements may have equal magnitudes. The beamformer may steered to a specified direction only by selecting appropriate phases for each antenna. In other embodiments, adaptive beamforming techniques may generally combine available information with properties of signals actually received by array  901   a - m , for example, to improve rejection of unwanted signals from other directions. This process may be carried out in, for example, either the time or the frequency domain. In other embodiments, a sound propagation or sonar beamforming configuration may be used. 
     According to a preferred embodiment of the invention advantages over systems known in the art may include:
         Wireless network service  901  may be deployed quickly whereas prior art requires complex installation and commissioning of wireless base stations.   Wireless network service  901  may be deployed anywhere. In a preferred embodiment, human mechanical intervention may not be required to deploy remotely.   Wireless network service  901  may be moved at any time since. In a preferred embodiment, there are no fixed mechanical connections.   One with ordinary skill in the art can appreciate the use of system  900  in tactical communications situations for first responders, anti-terrorism, and in cases where traffic densification is desired.   In advanced beamforming configurations both vertical and horizontal beam adjustment is possible. Specifically, in some embodiments the degree of vertical and horizontal beam adjustment may be highly reconfigurable, by, for example, adjusting the pattern of the collaborating team of wireless robots  903   a - m.      In some embodiments, more advanced beam shapes may be implemented, since positioning of wireless robots does not need to be coplanar and a positioning may be static or dynamic, for example, by combining land robots, air robots, water robots, subterranean robots, and the like, in a beamforming configuration.       

     In another embodiment, system  900  may provide wireless services  501  on a perpetual basis. For example, whereby individual wireless robots of team  901   a - m  retire from service to recharge energy source  607 . Prior to, for example, individual robot  901   a  retiring, a spare or replacement wireless robot  901   b  may be deployed to take the place and perform function of retiring individual robot  901   a.    
     In another embodiment, system  900  may provide wireless jamming services. For example, in cases of law enforcement, anti-terrorism, and military operations where such capability may be desired. In this regard, payload  603  may comprise a plurality of electronic or mechanical jammers to radiate interfering signals towards, for example, an undesired communication infrastructure of a terrorist organization or military enemy by blocking an associated receiver with, for example, highly concentrated energy signals. Such a jammer may be configured to implement noise techniques (for example, spot, sweep, and barrage), repeater techniques, and the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, payload  603  may comprise mechanical jamming techniques to reflect or re-reflect, for example, radar energy back to an undesirable radar (for example, and enemy radar) to produce false target returns on an operator&#39;s scope of the undesirable radar. Mechanical jamming techniques may include chaff, corner reflectors, decoys, and the like. In a chaff configuration, different length metallic strips, may be configured on one or more robots  901   a - m  to reflect different frequencies, so as to create a large area of false returns whereby a real contact would be difficult to detect. In a corner reflector configuration, multiple-sided objects may be configured on one or more robots  901   a - m  to re-radiate radar energy mostly back toward its source. In a decoy configuration, one or more air-capable robots  901   a - m  may comprise maneuverable flying objects intended to deceive a radar operator by emulating actual military aircraft whereby they clutter up a target radar with false aerial targets making it easier for a real attacking aircraft to get within weapons range and neutralize the radar, the threat, or the enemy. Corner reflectors may be fitted onto one or more robots  901   a - m  to make them appear larger than they are, thus furthering the illusion that a decoy robot  901   a - m  is, for example, an actual aircraft. In some embodiments, decoy robots  901   a - m  may have a capability to perform electronic jamming or drop chaff. In some embodiments, decoy robots  901   a - m  may also have a deliberately sacrificial purpose, for example, defenders may fire guided missiles at the decoys, thereby depleting limited stocks of expensive weaponry which might otherwise have been used against genuine high-asset equipment such as real military weaponry such as an aircraft or other high-cost or strategic equipment. 
     In a preferred embodiment, system  900  may optionally be configured to provide fault tolerance. A method for sparing, and replacement of one or more faulty, or damaged wireless robots of wireless robot team  903   a - m.    
     In some embodiments, system  900  may be configured to perform advanced beamforming or spatial filtering or some other signal processing technique used in sensor arrays for directional signal transmission or reception by combining elements in a phased array in such a way that signals at particular angles experience constructive interference while others experience destructive interference. According to the embodiment, beamforming may be used at both the transmitting and receiving ends in order to achieve spatial selectivity. 
     In some embodiments, the system may be configured to provide advanced backhaul configurations utilizing external channels  904  including techniques such as power combining, and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) signal processing to multiply the capacity of an associated radio link using multiple transmit and receive antennas to exploit multipath propagation. 
     Different wireless robots  903   a - m  may provide different wireless services. This would be including, but not limited to different wireless standards, different wireless frequencies, different wireless power levels, and the like. Given that these may be provided simultaneously, and changed dynamically, provides improved capabilities and services not possible in the prior art. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 10  is an exemplary embodiment illustrating an application for first responders, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. In a first step  1001  first responders are called to assist in an area of interest where service is limited or non-existent. The first responders would be equipped with a team of wireless robots  901   a - m  with capabilities described herein, which, in a next step  1002 , may be deployed at or near the area of interest. In a next step,  1003 , first responders would also be equipped with an appropriate central point station  505  to which the wireless robots may communicate utilizing external channels. It should be noted that central point station  505  may be fixed, or mobile, such as in an incident command station. 
     The wireless robots, each being equipped with wireless transceiver  706 , such as that shown in  FIG. 7 , would be capable of, in step  1004 , providing wireless network service  501  to the first responders utilizing service channels  502 . By virtue of being deployed dynamically, and in close proximity to the area of interest, wireless network service  501  provided by the team of wireless robots  901   a - m  may have a characteristically high signal to noise ratio, enabling clear transmission with low error rates, and high throughput. 
     In a next step  1005 , devices associated to the first responders may then be able to exchange information wirelessly, including information such as voice, video, position, telemetry, and the like. One skilled in the art may appreciate that a team of wireless robots may provide wireless network service in public frequency bands as well as specialized wireless frequency bands reserved for first responders. One skilled in the art may further appreciate that, in step  1006 , such a system may provide specialized and highly secure encryption of first responder&#39;s information utilizing the control and communication elements in the wireless robots  801   a - m  as shown in  FIG. 8 , and in the central point station  505  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
       FIG. 11  is an exemplary embodiment illustrating an application for a battlefield, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, where, in a first step  1101 , military personnel may be operating in a hostile environment, the military personnel would be equipped with a team of wireless robots  901   a - m  of the capabilities described herein, which could be deployed in the hostile environment, and would further be equipped, in step  1102 , with an appropriate central point station  505  to which the wireless robots  901   a - m  could communicate utilizing external channels  504 . Central point station  505  may be fixed or mobile, for example, in a military vehicle. 
     In a preferred embodiment, in step  1103 , the team of wireless robots  901   a - m  may be configured with capabilities described in  FIG. 7 , and deployed, in step  1104 , in a system configuration tailored to the particular electronic warfare needs of the military unit. In this regard, wireless transceiver  706  of some of the wireless robots  901   a - m  in the team could be configured, in step  1105 , to provide wireless network service  501  via service channels  502  to, for example, friendly units. Wireless transceiver  706  (or payload  603 ) of other wireless robots  901   a - m  in the team could be configured to provide jamming signals to hamper enemy units as described previously. In some embodiments, communications would be encrypted in step  1106 . 
       FIG. 12  is an exemplary method illustrating propagation of deployable entities  1201  according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. According to the embodiment, a flexible and easily deployable wireless service  1200  is disclosed. According to the embodiment, teams of wireless robots  1201  (for example robots  901   a - m ) providing network wireless services  501  may, in many embodiments of the invention, be in motion. One skilled in the art can appreciate that as the team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501  moves away from central point station  505 , there may come a time when acceptable performance of the communication link over external channels  504  cannot be met. In some embodiments a pre-configured threshold is configured to determine acceptable performance, in other embodiment a dynamic threshold is configured based on, for example, environmental factors that may affect the efficacy of the integrity of external services  504  and connection to central point station  505 , for example, bandwidth problems, channel conflicts with other external networks, and the like.  FIG. 12  illustrates an arrangement whereby wireless network service  1203  may continue to be provided even in the case where the team of wireless robots  1201  providing the wireless service  501  moves, for example, beyond the point where the external channels  504  are able to effectively provide acceptable performance. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 12 , a second team of wireless robots  1202  may be deployed to provide “relay function”  1205 . The purpose of relay function  1205  would be to extend the reach of the team of wireless robots  1201  providing the wireless service function  1203  through service channels  502 . 
     The second team of wireless robots  1202  may implement a set of external channels  1204  to communicate with the first team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501 . Additionally, the second team of wireless robots  1202  may implement a set of external channels  1206  to communicate with central point station  505 . Further, the second team of wireless robots  1202  may relay information between the first team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501 , and central point station  505 . In this regard, one skilled in the art could understand how the first team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501  may now extend their movement further away from central point station  505 . 
     As disclosed above, the movement of the team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501  may be extended by the use of one or more teams of wireless robots  1202  providing relay functionality  1205 . In order to adequately manage a deployment of the team of wireless robots  1202  providing relay functionality  1205 , a method or algorithm illustrated in  FIG. 13  may be employed. 
     In some embodiments, wireless robot arrangement  1200  may be used to provide perpetual service whereby teams  1201  and  1202  maintain service channels  502  active by employing additional teams  1202  as necessary, additional central point stations  505  as necessary, and returning to last known good locations (as discussed earlier) as needed when one or more robots  901   a - m  go out of range. In some embodiments if one or more robots  901   a - m  becomes unresponsive (for example, travelled out of range and was unable to return to a last known good location, got taken out of commissions by an unfriendly source, lost power, etc.), a new robot may be requested by team  1201 , for example, by requesting one or more robots  901   a - m  from team  1202  to join team  1201 . Similarly, team  1202  may request addition robots (not shown) to be deployed by central station  505 . 
     In some embodiments, at least a portion of robots  901   a - m  may provide one service (for example, wireless network service) while another portion of robots  901   a - m  may provide another service (for example, a jamming service). For example, in an anti-terrorism environment, wireless service may be accessible by friendlies, while jamming service may be provided simultaneously to jam enemy equipment. 
       FIG. 13  is an exemplary method illustrating management of a deployment of a team of wireless robots providing relay functionality. According to the embodiment, in a first step  1301 , a team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless network service  501  may be moving toward a target location. As the team  1201  moves farther from central point station  505  the performance of the communications link being transported over the external channels  504  may begin to degrade. The link performance may be monitored by both the team of wireless robots  1201 , and by the central point station  505  to determine whether or not to continue towards a target in step  1302 . Monitoring methods known in the art such as bit error rate, signal strength, propagation delay, and the like may be employed. 
     In step  1303 , if the link performance is acceptable, the team of wireless robots  1201  continues towards the target. At the point in time where the link performance becomes unacceptable, the team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless network service  501  may temporarily move back to the last known location in step  1304 , where link performance was acceptable across external channels  504 . Methods of determining location known in the art may be employed, including but not limited to global position system, inertial guidance, triangulation, and the like. In some embodiments, a particular robot in team  1201  may be used as a reference point for location, for example, aerial robot  901   b.    
     At the same time, a request may be generated, in step  1305  asking for the deployment of a team of wireless robots  1202  to provide relay functionality  1205 , such as in the arrangement shown in  FIG. 12 . In step  1306 , system  1200  may wait (step  1307 ) until the requested team  1202  is on station, and ready to provide relay functionality  1205 . 
     In a next step  1308 , the team of wireless robots  1202  to provide relay functionality  1205  may establish external channels  1206  to communicate with central point station  505 . when channels  1206  are established, the team of wireless robots  1201  to provide wireless service  501  may, in step  1309 , drop its external channels  504  communicating with central point station  505 . It may then, in step  1310 , establish external channels  1204  communicating with the team of wireless robots  1202  to provide relay functionality  1205 . 
     In step  1310 , when the relay functionality  1205  is established, the team of wireless robots  1201  providing wireless service  501  may then be able to continue its movement toward the target location. In a next step  1311 , if the relay functionality  1205  is still connected, the process begins again at step  1302 . If not, the process reverts back to step  1308  to re-establish an external channel  1206  to central point station  505 . The system configuration at this point resembles that shown in  FIG. 12 . 
     In some embodiments, a reconfiguration of one or more robots in team  1201 , or team  1202 , or both, may be performed based on environmental or other changes to the status of other robots in team  1201 , or team  1202 , or both. In some embodiments, multiple teams  1202  may be deployed in order to extend reach of team  1201  whereby each team  1202  acts as a relay function to another team  1202 . In some embodiment, a  1202  team may establish a new central point station remotely connected to central point stations  505  for extending the reach of team  1201 , or for redundancy purposes. In some embodiments, team  1201  and/or team  1202  can each be an individual robot. 
     The skilled person will be aware of a range of possible modifications of the various embodiments described above. Accordingly, the present invention is defined by the claims and their equivalents.