Abstract:
A wireless broadband network employing application specific software components in conjunction with existing hardware elements to permit Internet connectivity, VoIP, communications and other broadband and wireless applications in an automated and integrated environment. The system includes a network-accessible software module accessible by a public network to provide access into and out of the system. The system further comprises a secure database, stateless and stateful software elements to provide access to the database and specific tasks on behalf of the system, a task scheduling routine within the system for monitoring pending actions and reactivating system elements, and a function manager that controls activation of objects and delivery of network and system information based on first-in-first-out sequencing.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This utility application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/784,903 filed Mar. 23, 2006, the full disclosure of which is fully incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Broadband (high speed) access to the Internet is available from a variety of vendors, including cable providers, DSL providers, satellite providers and wireless providers. Laptops and hand held devices, which are rapidly becoming the tools of choice in the business community, rely predominantly on wireless access to accomplish the goal of mobility. As the capacity and reliability of wireless data transfer expands, wireless broadband Internet access supports a variety of business related applications including web browsing, VoIP telephony and high speed data transmission (downloads and uploads). Accordingly, the demand for wireless Internet access is growing in large cities, rural markets and other communities. 
         [0003]    Wireless broadband networks are accomplished and supported using a multitude of hardware, software, and configurations. The various modes of establishing a wireless network leads to a freedom when it comes to instituting a wireless network in a particular area. However, the multitude of options results in the absence of a single preferred configuration or solution for creating, supporting and automating wireless broadband networks. This problem is exacerbated by the inherent complexity involving multiple variables associated with the creation and support of wireless broadband networks. The variables include, for example, the geography of the network, strength of signal, bandwidth required, number of users, need for modalities and capacity to upgrade, and a host of other specifications that determine the proper selection of hardware, software, and coordination between the two. 
         [0004]    Traditional approaches to creating wireless broadband networks involve use of “off the shelf” hardware and software to transmit and receive radio signals that connect to the Internet. Installation, operation, and support of these types of networks are generally performed by IT personnel trained to perform these tasks. The present invention is a scalable, automated and integrated network system that combines hardware and software components of wireless broadband networks with additional hardware and proprietary software components, thereby creating an automated system that supports, manages, operates and diagnoses wireless broadband networks. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0005]    The present invention is a unique wireless broadband network employing application specific software components in conjunction with existing hardware elements to permit Internet connectivity, VoIP, communications and other broadband and wireless applications in an automated and integrated environment. The system in a preferred embodiment includes a multifunction application server adapted to receive, process, and store electronic data operating within the context of wireless and wired Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area networks (WAN), Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) and Public Internet. The system further includes a network-accessible software module accessible by a public network to provide access into and out of the system. The system further comprises a secure database, stateless and stateful software elements to provide access to the database and specific tasks on behalf of the system, a task scheduling routine within the system for monitoring pending actions and reactivating system elements, and a function manager that controls activation of objects and delivery of network and system information based on first-in-first-out sequencing. 
         [0006]    Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, the features of the invention 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates both the physical and logical components of the system of the present invention, including the method in which users connect to the system, and the method in which the system connects to the wireless networks that it supports; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  illustrates the physical and logical components of the system of the present invention where users access the system via a customer service sign-on, and illustrates access rights for the customer service sign-on for those physical and logical components; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates the physical and logical components of the system of the present invention where users access the system via operations sign-ons, and illustrates access rights for the operations sign-ons for those physical and logical components; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  illustrates the physical and logical components of the system of the present invention where users access the system via a marketing sign-on, and illustrates access rights for the marketing sign-on for those physical and logical components; and 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates the physical and logical components of the system of the present invention where users access the system via the service development sign-on, and illustrates access rights for the service development sign-on for those physical and logical components. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0012]    For a better understanding of the present invention together with other and further objects, advantages and capabilities thereof, reference is made to the following disclosure and appended claims in connection with the above described drawings. The present invention is generally characterized as an interactive wireless broadband network and business support system, referred hereinafter as the NABSSAM™ system.  FIG. 1  illustrates a first application of the system of the present invention. A primary server  100  is central to the system and is designated the NABSSAM server. The server  100  is capable of receiving, processing, and storing large amounts of electronic data. The server  100  incorporates a logic that governs the processing of user input and network data. The server uses several application languages and protocols in carrying out its operations, including but not limited to the Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE™), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (http), Extensible Markup Language (XML), and vendor proprietary database and system management queries and commands. The server  100  operates within the context of wireless and wired Local Area Networks (LAN), Wide Area networks (WAN), Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) and Public Internet. Inter-application translation methodologies specifically designed to enable communication and information transfer between applications and systems may be interfaced with the server  100  to accommodate a range of standard communication protocols including, but not limited to, simple network management protocol (SNMP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), and internet protocol (IP). The server  100  incorporates a network communication object (NCO), a network accessible software module implemented as JAVA™ Servlet objects that may be visible from a public network and private access into and out of the system of the present invention. The server  100  further includes a messaging mechanism for communication between the components of the system. This mechanism is internal to present system, but is designed such that it may be securely distributed over multiple computer systems, or public or private networks. In the preferred embodiment, data exchange components of the system do not share information that is not “passed” through the messaging mechanism. 
         [0013]    The server  100  incorporates a secure database that stores the persistent information for the system of the present invention. Stateless software elements (objects) provide access to the secure database and any other persistent information repositories. In the current embodiment of the invention, these stateless software elements are implemented as Enterprise Javabeans (EJB™) session beans. Stateful software elements (objects) perform specific tasks on behalf of the system upon receipt of pre-specified events. In the current embodiment of the invention these objects are implemented as EJB™ message driven beans. 
         [0014]    The system delegates certain functions to services that are available over the public (or private) networks. In the current embodiment of the invention, the system uses the standard industry protocols such as XML, simple object access protocol (SOAP), and J2EE for internal process execution and external communication, as well as voice service. A program within system is activated periodically and serves as a task scheduler that monitors pending actions and reactivates system elements. The system further manages activation of objects and delivery of network and system information based on a first-in-first-out scheme (queues). 
         [0015]    Collective operation of the network system involves the following unique functions:
       (1) Management and interaction with multiple systems.   (2) Management (enable, disable, change, and monitor) of end-user access to company services.   (3) Monitoring of how end-users use company services.   (4) Monitoring of how company services perform for end-users.   (5) Management (enable, disable, and change) of business process rules that govern billing, marketing, operational, support, and development services; company services access and use; monitoring data use; inventory management; and configuration management.   (6) Management (enable, disable, and change) of expert system decision trees, that control the NABSSAM™ system users&#39; use of the NABSSAM™ system.   (7) Providing customer support services to customers via a remotely connected network computer as if the provider sat presided in a central location within close proximity to the NABSSAM™ system.   (8) Identification of customers who call the company based on their Caller ID, which is provided by an integrated telephone switching system, before answering the incoming call.   (9) Performance of initial connection and performance problem troubleshooting before inquiring as to the nature of an identified customer&#39;s incoming telephone call.   (10) Management of (enable, disable, and change) customer information.   (11) Management of (enable, disable, and change) customer billing information.   (12) Scheduling of customer appointments for company customer technology service partners.   (13) Management of (add, delete, and modify) the company&#39;s legal artifact library.   (14) Management of (add, delete, and modify) the company&#39;s personnel artifact library.   (15) Management of (add, delete, and modify) the company&#39;s financial bookkeeping records.   (16) Administration and maintenance of the NABSSAM™ system.   (17) Management of (add, delete, modify, and offer) the company&#39;s marketing promotions to customers.   (18) Management and integration of new software and hardware components into the NABSSAM™ system.   (19) Management of (add, delete, and change) asset inventory.   (20) Management of (add, delete, and change) the configuration of network and system components.       
 
         [0036]      FIG. 1  illustrates the various modules that are accessed by the server  100 . The asset database  105  is a separate database for storing the assets of the network provider. The user database  110  is another database to store information on the users of the network. The business rules database  115  maintains information on the network&#39;s business rules. The expert rules database  120  stores instruction pertaining to the expert rules. The billing database  125  is a repository for the information concerning customer billing, and the customer database  130  stores customer identification data as well as other customer related information. The finance  135 , legal artifact  140 , and personnel database  145  are also accessed by the server  100 . 
         [0037]    The main server  100  is supported by three secondary servers, namely the configuration management server  150 , the performance management server  160 , and the network management server  170 . The server is also coupled to a caller ID, voice Extensible Markup Language (XML) module  180  for performing the caller identification function and communicating the information to the server  100 . The server  100  is connected to the internet  200  through a device located in a dedicated computer system environment via a standard connection such as an Ethernet (802.11) connection, for example. The internet is, in turn, linked to a remote web browser  300  and a wireless backbone network  400 . The wireless backbone network  400  in turn is connected to a wireless access network  500 . 
         [0038]    In  FIG. 2 , where like reference numbers represent like elements, the server  100  is incorporated into a customer support application having a reduced number of database modules (business rules  115 , expert rules  120 , billing  125 , and customer  130 ). The caller ID module  180  has been replaced in the second embodiment by a private branch exchange, or PBX, module  190 . The PBX module  190  corresponds to a private telephone network that enables calls external to the PBX module  190 . The PBX module of  FIG. 2  is incorporated into the Business Support System of  FIG. 1  to achieve the Operations embodiment of  FIG. 3 . In  FIG. 5 , the Service Development embodiment eliminates the wireless backbone network  400  and the wireless access network  500  from the Operations embodiment of  FIG. 3 . Finally, the embodiment of  FIG. 4  comprises the server  100 , the internet connection to the remote web browser  300 , and the business rules  115 , expert rules  120 , and customer databases  130 .