Abstract:
A system is disclosed having a remote access unit and two transceiver modes, one for implementing wireless wide area network communications and another for implementing local wireless network communications. High speed data communications with a cellular system may be maintained in the wireless wide area network mode with the advantage of a flexible and unconstrained remote access unit, which can be placed for improved wireless reception. Computers and other devices with complementary wireless personal network communications protocol units may connect to a wireless wide area network through the remote access unit.

Description:
[0001]    Home and mobile computers, such as laptops and personal digital assistants, may need access to a network such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN) so they can gain access to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), Internet Access Provider (IAP), or a private local area network. To achieve this end, most home and mobile computers use modems that are connectable to the PSTN through a standard RJ-11 plug and cable. A drawback to this approach is that cables must be strung and carried, and the length of the cable, and/or placement of a wall jack limits the field of workspace.  
           [0002]    To overcome the constraints imposed by cabling, telecommunications and networking companies have developed wireless modems for laptops and personal computers. The wireless modems may remove many of the physical constraints previously imposed by physical cabling, but also introduce new constraints. Now, the antenna itself, often a short monopole or a small internal conformal element integrated with a PCMCIA compliant card, presents drawbacks.  
           [0003]    The drawbacks introduced by the standard antenna solution may include poor radio reception and transmission. The physical constraints previously imposed by the length of the physical cabling are now present in the form of electrical/physical constraints attendant to the antenna radiation patterns and gain. As for poor reception, the most common problem is that the antenna is designed to meet the unobtrusive form factor (for instance the PCMCIA enclosure), which may result in less than desirable signal quality and data rates.  
           [0004]    Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an antenna in the desired form factor while maintaining good reception and electrical characteristics. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0005]    The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to organization and method of operation, together with objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a remote access unit;  
         [0007]    [0007]FIGS. 2 and 3 depict embodiments of an exemplary dipole antenna module;  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of the remote access unit, as used in a typical wireless networking system, including a local computing device; and  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of a wireless networking system using an embodiment of the remote access unit with a wireless wide area network transceiver removed from the remote access unit. 
     
    
       [0010]    It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements are exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0011]    In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the present invention.  
         [0012]    In the following description and claims, the terms “coupled” and “connected,” along with their derivatives, may be used. It should be understood that these terms are not intended as synonyms for each other. Rather, in particular embodiments, “connected” may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. “Coupled” may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact. However, “coupled” may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 depicts a wireless remote access unit  10  that may be shaped and configured so that it can be mechanically attached to a wall, window, or other mounting bracket where antenna reception to an external cellular network is strong. As for the physical packaging, it may be configured to mechanically accommodate a wide variety of cellular antenna configurations, including antenna types with narrow beam widths and higher gain than short monopole antennas.  
         [0014]    Wireless remote access unit  10  may be configured to have two transceivers, an LWN transceiver  14  and a WWAN transceiver  22 . LWN transceiver  14  may access a Local Wireless Network (LWN)  50  such as, for example, a Wireless Personal Access Network (WPAN.) A Bluetooth or another IEEE 802.15 compliant wireless network access protocol or a wireless local area network protocol may be employed.  
         [0015]    WWAN transceiver  22  may access a Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN)  54 , such as the well known and widely deployed GSM, GPRS, and CDMA protocols, or another broadband cellular/wireless network access protocol. Through WWAN transceiver  22 , an Internet Access Provider (IAP), or Internet Service Provider (ISP) may be contacted so that network communications through a Virtual Private Network (VPN) or access to the Internet may be achieved.  
         [0016]    In one embodiment, the two transceivers operate simultaneously and data may be exchanged between LWN transceiver  14  and WWAN transceiver  22 , typically after a protocol conversion module  18  conditions the data. However, in another embodiment, one or more of the transceiver models may be partially implemented so that wireless wide area network decoding is performed by a unit associated with another transceiver model or another computing device. For instance, WWAN transceiver  22  may be configured to sample the WWAN radio received waveform, but the WWAN packets may actually pass through link  42  to another device with an LWN transceiver  14 , and that device, or a protocol conversion module communicatively coupled with it, may decode and process the signals that originally were sampled by WWAN transceiver  22 . Thus, WWAN transceiver  22  may sample the received data, but pass the sampled data to another unit for re-transmission or re-routing to a computational unit that may perform further call processing on the sampled data.  
         [0017]    Wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver  22  may be coupled through a protocol conversion module  18  to Local Wireless Network (LWN) transceiver  14 . WWAN transceiver  22  may be plugged into wireless remote access unit  10  as a Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) type card, an application specific integrated circuit, or a portion of the chipset of a printed circuit board that includes one or more microprocessors that perform the methods and techniques described herein.  
         [0018]    Protocol conversion module  18  typically includes software modules that may be executed from a persistent memory communicatively coupled to a microprocessor. In another embodiment, protocol conversion module  18  may include hardwired-circuitry such as, for example, glue logic, gate arrays, or other electronic circuit components or even an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that executes and functions without the need for a microprocessor. Protocol conversion module  18  may include instructions and logic for conditioning, buffering, and arbitrating data and control signals between the two transceiver protocols. Thus, protocol conversion module  18  may receive data having a first format (from a first transceiver) and provide the data having a second format (for a second transceiver), so that the respective transceivers may handle the underlying data.  
         [0019]    Electrically coupled to WWAN transceiver  22  may be a WWAN antenna  26 . WWAN antenna  26  may be a dipole antenna, or alternatively, a planar quad-band dipole antenna. The type of antenna coupled to WWAN transceiver  22  does not limit the subject matter of the claimed invention. WWAN antenna  26  and WWAN transceiver  22  maintain a link  46  to WWAN  54 . Likewise, LWN transceiver  14  is electrically coupled to the LWN antenna  30  and the combination of the two elements maintains link  42  to LWN  50 .  
         [0020]    A power module  15  is also shown in remote access unit  10 . Power module  15  may include a power transformer for receiving an external AC power supply or a battery pack that may include conditioning circuitry for regulating power to the various elements of remote access unit  10 .  
         [0021]    Also shown in FIG. 1 is an optional WWAN transceiver slot  34  for receiving WWAN transceiver  22 . The slot may include a mechanical guide portion  35  for aligning the received WWAN transceiver  22 , and an electrical receptacle  36  for communicatively coupling/mating one end of WWAN transceiver  22  to protocol conversion module  18 . According to one embodiment, WWAN transceiver slot  34  is preferably a PCMCIA Type II or Type III conforming slot and receptacle configured to receive a 68-pin connector at the inserted end of WWAN transceiver  22 , which makes a preferred embodiment of WWAN transceiver  22  a PCMCIA Type II or Type III conforming enclosure. In the slotted remote access unit embodiment, an RF cable  38  may be used to electrically couple WWAN antenna  26  to WWAN transceiver  22 .  
         [0022]    Alternatively, WWAN transceiver  22  may be communicatively coupled to WWAN antenna  26  through one or more of the 68-pin connector leads/receptacles, or it may be coupled through electrically conductive bumps or spring contacts. In yet another embodiment, the connector may be an integrated blind mate, which is configured to mechanically connect with WWAN transceiver  22  when the transceiver is inserted into WWAN transceiver slot  34 .  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment having a planar quad band dipole antenna module. Antenna module  400  may be characterized by two sets of dipole antenna elements, i.e.,  438  and  442 , both disposed on the same side of a substrate  430 , although they may be on opposite sides of the substrate. Here, substrate  430  is approximately 4 inches (10.16 cm) wide and 1.20 inches (3.05 cm) tall, although the dimensions of substrate  430  are not limiting to the scope of the claimed invention.  
         [0024]    Each set of dipole antenna elements may be broken into four components. Elements  404  and  408  are broadband antenna elements. Elements  406  and  410  are tapered lower frequency elements. The two sets of dipole antenna elements  438  and  442  may further include pads  414  and  416  that may be centered between the two major elements of each set of dipole antenna elements. In one embodiment, elements  404  and  408 , and pads  414  and  416  may each have a height of 0.20 inches (0.51 cm). Elements  404  and  408  may each have a width of 1.17 inches (2.97 cm), while pads  414  and  416  may each have a width of 0.50 inches (1.27 cm).  
         [0025]    Extension tuning elements  407  and  411  may also be included with the two sets of dipole antenna elements. Tuning elements  407  and  411  may have a height of 1.14 inches (2.90 cm), which may be close to the height of substrate  430 . However, depending on the enclosure that surrounds substrate  430 , tuning elements  407  and  411  may be trimmed for varying enclosure configurations.  
         [0026]    As is depicted in FIG. 2, the first set of dipole antenna elements  438  may be reflected about an axis  450 , creating a mirror image second set of dipole antenna elements  442 . While, in general, the two sets of dipole antenna elements typically match, it should be noted that the extension tuning elements  407  and  411  may be varied between the two sets, as one enclosure design might change the RF impedance of one of the sets of dipole antenna elements.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 3 depicts a second surface of antenna module  400 . Here, a connector  420  is shown formed on the second surface, with a coaxial cable  422  secured to substrate  430 . The center conductor of coaxial cable  422  may be connected to one of the dipole antenna elements (for instance it may be passed through substrate  430  at pad  421  and soldered, connecting the center conductor of coaxial cable  422  to element  416  (FIG. 2). The shield of coaxial cable  422  may be connected to the other dipole antenna element. For instance, the shield may be soldered and/or clasped to connector  420  on a backside  434  of substrate  430  and electrically coupled to antenna element  414  through a series of vias.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 4 illustrates a wireless data networking system  200  in accordance with the present invention. It should be noted that remote access unit  10  is configured to show an exemplary local computing device, such as a laptop computer  62 , which includes a LWN transceiver (not shown) that is complementary to the LWN transceiver  14 . LWN transceiver  14  may be added to the chipset of the mother board within laptop computer  62  or it may be coupled to computer  62  through an input/output port such as, for example, a Universal Serial Bus, parallel port, or a PCMCIA slot. A LWN antenna  58 , shown primarily for illustration purposes, is used to provide a link  42  to LWN  50 .  
         [0029]    Data communications may occur between computer  62  and an IAP, ISP, or another remote computer coupled to WWAN  54 . A PCMCIA WWAN transceiver  22  may be placed in WWAN transceiver slot  34  of the remote access unit  10 , thereby providing coupling between computer  62  and remote access unit  10 . When computer  62  attempts to logon to a remote network (at the other end of the WWAN  54 ), a LWN transceiver within computer  62  links through LWN antenna  58  to the LWN transceiver  14  within remote access unit  10 . Signals received by LWN transceiver  14  may be passed through protocol conversion module  18  to WWAN transceiver  22 . Note that protocol conversion module  18  may repackage or condition the signals received from LWN transceiver  14  for the WWAN transceiver  22  (and vise-versa), by reassembling packet data. Thus, WWAN transceiver  22  receives the data from computer  62  and provides signals for the IAP or ISP at one end of WWAN  54 .  
         [0030]    The signal from the WWAN transceiver  22  may be radiated out from WWAN antenna  26  to the wireless wide area network  54  over wireless wide area network link  46 . From the wireless wide area network  54 , the data and communications from the computer  62  may be routed over a leased line or other physical network, or the data and communications may be re-transmitted over another wireless link to a base station or other processing center.  
         [0031]    In one embodiment, LWN transceiver  14  in remote access unit  10  may be configured to maintain multiple LWN links  42  to various local computing devices, which may themselves provide network access to multiple users. As well, the local computing devices may be shared resources on a network, such as a printer or fax, or a personal digital assistant.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of a wireless data networking system  300 , with the WWAN transceiver  22  removed from remote access unit  10  and re-inserted into a computer  66 . A wireless wide area network antenna  70  is shown attached to WWAN transceiver  22 , although it may be installed within computer  66 .  
         [0033]    By now it should be apparent that a wireless data networking system having improved antenna performance has been described. The improved antenna performance provides increased speed and bandwidth for a computing device, as well as increased reliability in the wireless interconnection to a remote network, such as an IAP or ISP.  
         [0034]    Although particular embodiments of the present inventions have been shown and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the present inventions to the preferred embodiments, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present inventions. Thus, the present inventions are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the present inventions as defined by the claims.