Patent Publication Number: US-2005136958-A1

Title: Universal wireless multimedia device

Description:
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
      This Application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/856,430, filed May 28, 2004 which claims priority under 35 USC § 119(e) to Provisional Application No. 60/473,967 filed on May 28, 2003, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. This Application is also a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 10/856,124, filed May 28, 2004 which claims priority under 35 USC § 119(e) to Provisional Application No. 60/473,675, filed on May 28, 2003, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      This invention relates generally to wireless communications and more particularly to wireless communications via a multimedia device.  
      2. Background of the Invention  
      The Bluetooth specification provides a platform for establishing a personal wireless point-to-point network (Piconet) that supports data and/or voice communications. Data may be conveyed at various rates depending on the version of Bluetooth being implemented. The Bluetooth specification also provides a headset profile that defines protocols and procedures for servicing a wireless headset in conjunction with another device (e.g., cellular telephone, personal computer, and laptop). When wirelessly coupled, the headset acts as the device&#39;s audio input and output. The wireless communications between the headset and the device may be secured in accordance with an authentication procedure and/or encryption as specified by the Bluetooth standard.  
      While the Bluetooth headset profile provides for basic wireless headset operations, it also provides some restrictions. The restrictions include that the headset is assumed to be the only use case active between the two devices, audio data is transmitted as monophonic, only one audio connection at a time is supported between the headset and device, and multiple calls at the device are not supported.  
      In addition to these restrictions, the headset is operationally tied to one device, thus the mobility of the device and the range of the wireless coupling limit movement of the user while engaged in a communication. Accordingly, if the headset is outside the range of the wireless coupling, it cannot function as the headset for the device.  
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      A universal wireless multimedia device (“wireless headset” or “headset”) of the present invention overcomes the shortcomings of the prior devices, among other shortcomings. The universal wireless multimedia device determines, for an incoming communication, whether a piconet can be established between an initiating device and the wireless multimedia device. The incoming communication may be voice data for a telephone communication (i.e., playback audio data, etc.). If a piconet cannot be established, the processing continues by determining whether the headset can establish a piconet with a device coupled to a network. The network may be a local area network, which includes wireless devices and/or wired devices. For instance, the network may support wireless local area networks (LANs) in accordance with IEEE802.11 (a), (b) or (g) and/or support Ethernet connections. When the wireless multimedia device can establish the piconet with a device coupled to the network, the piconet is established. Once the piconet is established, the processing continues by establishing a logical connection between the initiating device and the device coupled to the network. As such, the incoming communication is supported via the logical connection and the piconet. With such a universal wireless multimedia device, mobility and range of the headset&#39;s user are extended, as well as functionality.  
      In another embodiment, a universal wireless multimedia device is supported for outgoing communications by having the headset transmit a request to establish a piconet with one of a plurality of its host devices. A host device may be a cellular telephone, wire line telephone, personal computer, laptop, personal digital assistant (PDA), access point into a wireless LAN, etc. If none of the host device provides a response to the request for a piconet, the headset transmits a request to establish a piconet with a device coupled to the network. In other words, if the headset is outside of the coverage area of one of its host devices, it communicates with a device within its coverage area. The process then continues by establishing a logical connection between one of the host devices and the device coupled to the network to support the outgoing communication. Such a process provides a universal wireless multimedia device that extends the mobility of the user, extends the range of the headset and expands the headset functionality.  
      In yet another embodiment, a method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device for ongoing communications begins by monitoring signal strength of communications within a piconet that includes the headset and a device coupled to the network. The device coupled to the network may be one of the host devices of the headset or any other device in the network. If the signal strength compares unfavorably with a threshold (e.g., signal strength is below an acceptable signal strength level of, approximately −80 dB or −85 dB), another device coupled to the network is identified. Once the other device is identified, a piconet is established between the device and the headset. In addition, a logical connection may be established between the new device and a host device supporting the communication. Accordingly, a universal wireless multimedia device is provided that extends the mobility of the user, extends the range of the headset and expands on its functionality. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of a wireless geographic area coupled to a wireless local area network in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is a diagram of a modular wireless multimedia device in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of a local area network that includes a host site in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of a local area network supporting an incoming communication in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of a local area network supporting an outgoing communication in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 6  is a schematic block diagram of a local area network supporting roaming of the headset in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 7  is a logic diagram of a method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device in accordance with the present invention;  
       FIG. 8  is a logic diagram of an alternate method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device in accordance with the present invention; and  
       FIG. 9  is a logic diagram of yet another method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device in accordance with the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       FIG. 1  is a schematic block diagram of wireless geographic area  10  that is coupled to a wireless local area network (WLAN). Wireless geographic area  10 , which may correspond to an office, multiple offices, or any other limited space area. Wireless geographic area  10  includes local area network (LAN) connection  50  and access point  21  to provide wireless coupling to the LAN. Within wireless geographic area  10 , a plurality of devices  14 - 22  may be included, as well as universal wireless multimedia device  12 . Devices  14 - 22  may include wire line telephone  14  that couples to a public switched telephone network (PSTN) directly or through a private branch exchange (PBX), Ethernet telephone  15 , laptop computer  16 , personal computer (PC)  18 , personal digital assistant (PDA)  20 , cellular telephone  22  and other like wireless devices known to those skilled in the art. Telephone  15  may be a standard telephone coupled to a voice over internet protocol (VOIP) telephone adaptor or an Internet packet (IP) based telephone.  
      Universal wireless multimedia device  12  when configured as a headset includes earpiece  24 , microphone  26 , interface (e.g., keypad), and associated piconet radio frequency (RF) interface  28 . Alternatively, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may be constructed as described in  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a diagram of a modular wireless multimedia device  12  that includes a wearable earpiece  24 , a wearable microphone  26 , graphic user interface presented with display  17 , and a portable touch-screen or whiteboard  19 . Wearable microphone  26 , wearable earpiece  24 , graphic user interface presented with display  17 , and a portable touch-screen or whiteboard  19  may each be a separate physical. In one embodiment Wearable earpiece  24  is a separate device from wearable microphone  26 , that together function to provide a modular wireless headset shown in  FIG. 1 . Accordingly, wearable earpiece  24  wearable microphone  26 , graphic user interface presented with display  17 , and a portable touch-screen or whiteboard  19  are separate communication devices that may individually communicate with host devices  14 - 22  or access point  21  via separate communication pathways. Alternatively, a single communication pathway using time division may be used to communicate between wearable earpiece  24 , wearable microphone  26 , graphic user interface or display  17 , portable touch-screen or whiteboard  19  and host devices  14 - 22  or access point  21 . This communication may be secured by encryption, validation, or other like methods known to those skilled in the art and may support one-way or two-way audio, video or text communications. One way communications allow the devices to act as receivers to broadcast information, while two-way communications allow real-time audio or video communications such as phone or radio communications which may be augmented with data and text to support interactive net meetings.  
      As shown, wearable earpiece  12 , once authorized or validated, may communicate with host device  16 , which may be a cellular telephone, wire line telephone, Ethernet telephone, laptop computer, personal computer, personal digital assistant, etc, using transceiver (or receiver)  13  via a first communication pathway  18 . Host device  16  is operable to establish a wireless pathway to earpiece  12  or microphone  14 . The wearable microphone  14 , once authorized or validated, may communicate with the host device  16  using transceiver (or transmitter)  15  via a second communication pathway  20 . Graphic user interface presented with display  17 , and a portable touch-screen or whiteboard  19  may communicate with the host device  16  using transceivers (or transmitters)  25  and  27  via communication pathways  21  and  23  respectively.  
      If the communication pathways are established in accordance with the Bluetooth specification, communication resources may be different timeslot allocations on the same synchronous connection orientated (SCO) link, or may be separate SCO links. These communication pathways may be secured by encryption, validation, pairing, or other like means to secure the communications exchanged with the host device. Validation or pairing may prevent unauthorized devices from communicatively coupling to the host device.  
      The quality of data provided to these devices may be adjusted according to which devices are actually present and supported. For example, audio quality can be improved and may even support stereo. This option may limit resources provided to microphone  14 , display  17 , or whiteboard  19  to service multi-channel audio. Another example may favor the use of only earphone  24  and display  17  to view streamed video and audio content. To coordinate the presentation of both audio and video in such an example, the earphone  24  and display  17  or their received communications may be synchronized in order to provide a quality viewing experience. Similarly, to coordinate the presentation of multiple audio channels, earphones  24  may be synchronized in order to provide a quality experience. To coordinate the presentation of real-time two-way audio earphones  24  and microphone  26  may be synchronized such that unacceptable delays do not exist within exchanged voice communications. This coordination ensures there is no undue delay between the presentations provided by these individual devices allowing the user to perceive a seamless presentation. This embodiment allows the multimedia device to support net-meetings that require the delivery of complete Internet conferencing solutions with multi-point data conferencing, text chat, whiteboard, and file transfer, as well as point-to-point audio and video. Additionally, this allows the multimedia device to coordinate the presentation of these different media formats without necessarily requiring shared physical connections of these devices. This direct connectivity previously limited the physical structure that could be used for a wireless headset or multimedia devices that supports net-meetings. In many cases, this results in headsets or multimedia devices that are cumbersome to use and uncomfortable to wear.  
      The protocol used between host devices, access points and other communicatively coupled devices may allow the host device or access point to send data to each device in a coordinated manner that allows for the synchronized presentation of multimedia content by the devices. For example, one embodiment may allocate a predetermined portion of each data transmission for each media format. This would allow host device  16  to transmit the same data to each device, wherein each device only processes that content intended for that device. In another embodiment, host device or access point communicates in parallel with each device. By coordinating the data or packets exchanged with the devices, their individual presentations may be synchronized.  
      In another embodiment, headset  12  may be constructed in accordance with co-pending patent application entitled “MODULAR WIRELESS MULTIMEDIA DEVICE” having an attorney docket number of BP 2755CIP which is hereby incorporated by reference. RF interface  28  may be constructed in accordance with one or more versions of the Bluetooth specification or other similar wireless specifications to allow piconets or longer-range wireless connections. In one embodiment, RF interface  28  includes a radio frequency transmitter that operates at 2.4 gigahertz and associated baseband processing to modulate and demodulate data and/or voice in accordance with one or more versions of the Bluetooth specification and/or other point-to-point wireless communication protocol. Typically, via the corresponding piconet RF interfaces, a synchronous connection orientated (SCO) link will be established between headset  12  and one of the devices  14 - 22  and/or with the access point  21  to create a piconet.  
      Modular ear-piece  24  and microphone  26  may have on-chip operations to support call conferencing, call waiting, flash, and other features associated with telephones. These functions may me accessed and reviewed by a user interface and display within a host device or a user interface and display located on or coupled to either modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26 . The user interface and display, located on or coupled to either the host device or modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  may have a display and button(s) that may be used to program device, perform directory functions including selecting number to call, view caller ID, initiate call waiting, or initiate call conferencing. Additionally, circuitry within modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  may enable voice activated dialing. The actual voice recognition could be performed within modular ear-piece  24 , microphone  26 , or a host device. Thus, modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  may act to initiate calls and receive calls. A link between modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  would allow modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  to share resources, such as batter life, and allow modular ear-piece  24  or microphone  26  to be recharged from a host device.  
      As such, each of the devices  14 - 22  also includes piconet RF interface  28 - 36 . Piconet RF interface  28 - 36  may be constructed to support one or more versions of the Bluetooth specification. As such, each of the piconet RF interfaces  28 - 36  include a radio frequency transceiver that operates at 2.4 gigahertz and baseband processing for modulating and demodulating data that is transceived within a piconet. As such, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may be wirelessly coupled with any one of the devices  14 - 22  and act as the headset communicatively coupled to the devices  14 - 22 .  
      Devices  14 - 22  may further include a wireless LAN (WLAN) RF interface  40 - 48 . The wireless LAN RF interfaces  40 - 48  may be constructed in accordance with one or more versions of IEEE802.11(a), (b), and/or (g) or other WLAN protocol known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, each of the WLAN RF interfaces  40 - 48  include an RF transceiver that may operate in the 2.4 gigahertz range and/or in the 5.25 or 5.75 gigahertz range and further includes baseband processing to modulate and demodulate data that is transceived over the corresponding wireless communication link.  
      Contrasting the functionality of the piconet RF interfaces with the WLAN RF interfaces, the piconet RF interfaces allow point-to-point communication between the associated devices, while the WLAN RF interfaces enable the associated devices to communicate indirectly via access point  21 . For example, via piconet RF interface  34  and piconet RF interface  36 , laptop  16  can communicate directly with cellular telephone  22 . In contrast, via WLAN RF interface  46  and WLAN RF interface  48 , laptop  16  communicates indirectly, via access point  21 , with cellular telephone  22 . In general, the coverage area of a piconet is significantly smaller than the coverage area of a WLAN. Thus, for example, if laptop  16  and cellular telephone  22  were unable to establish a piconet connection via piconet RF interfaces  34  and  36  due to distance between the devices, they would be able to establish a wireless communication link via the WLAN RF interfaces  46  and  48  and access point  21 . Dual communication pathways would allow communications to be switched between these communication pathways, dependent on factors such as audio quality, signal strength, and available bandwidth.  
      Universal wireless multimedia device  12  may establish a piconet with any one of the devices  14  -  22  or with access point  21 , which includes WLAN RF interface  40  and piconet RF interface  38 . As such, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may function as the headset for wire line telephone  14 , Ethernet telephone  15 , personal digital assistant  20 , personal computer  18 , laptop computer  16  and/or cellular telephone  22  provided a piconet can be established with the device. In accordance with the present invention, if a piconet cannot be established with the particular device, an extended network may be created utilizing the WLAN connectivity and at least one corresponding piconet.  
      For example, if a communication is to be processed via wire line telephone  14  (i.e., the host device for this example), but headset  12  is at a distance such that a piconet cannot be established between their piconet RF interfaces  26  and  28 . However, for example, headset  12  is in a range to establish a piconet with cellular telephone  22 . In this instance, the piconet RF interfaces  36  and  28  of cellular telephone  22  and headset  12 , respectively, would establish a piconet, which may be established in accordance with the Bluetooth specification. With this piconet established, cellular telephone  22 , via its WLAN RF interface  48 , establishes a wireless connection with access point  21 . Access point  21  then establishes a communication link with wire line telephone  14 . Thus, a logical connection is established between universal wireless multimedia device  12  and wire line telephone  14  via cellular telephone  22  and access point  21 . Note that wire line telephone  14  may be directly coupled to LAN connection  50  or coupled to a private branch exchange, which in turn is coupled to access point  21 . Accordingly, within wireless geographic area  10 , the range of universal wireless multimedia device  12  may be extended utilizing the WLAN within the geographic area. As such, universal headset  12  extends the mobility of its user, extends the range of headset use and expands on headset functionality. Alternatively, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may establish a piconet with cell phone  22 . This allows cell phone  22  to establish an alternate communication pathway for the communications serviced by wired phone  14 . Then it is possible for the call serviced by telephone  14  to be “handed off” to cell phone  22 .  
       FIG. 3  is a schematic block diagram of a LAN  60  that includes a plurality of sites ( 62 ,  64 ,  100  and  106 ). In this illustration, each site includes an access point  66 ,  68 ,  70 , and  72 , wherein the coverage area of the access points establishes the corresponding site boundaries such as coverage area  74  associated with access point  66 . In addition, each site includes a plurality of devices  76 - 98 . Devices  76 - 98  may be one or more of the devices illustrated in  FIG. 1 , which include, but are not limited to, wire line telephones  14 , personal digital assistants  20 , personal computers  18 , laptop  16  and cellular telephones  22 . The number of devices in each site may range from a single device to any number of devices. In this illustration, each site includes three devices. As shown, site  62  includes devices  94 ,  96 , and  98 , site  100  includes devices  88 ,  90 , and  92 , site  102  includes devices  82 ,  84 , and  86  and home site  64  includes devices  76 ,  78 , and  80 . Each of the access points  66 ,  68 ,  70 , and  72  are coupled via a LAN connection to administrative controller  104 . Administrative controller  104  provides the interconnectivity of the access points and other physically attached devices to create the LAN  60  and also provide coupling to other networks including wide area networks (WAN)  105 , the Internet, the public switch telephone network (PSTN), etc.  
      Site  64  is illustrated to be the home site for universal wireless multimedia device  12 . For example, if universal wireless multimedia device  12  belongs to a particular individual, home site  64  may correspond to this individual&#39;s office and immediate surrounding area. For example, device  76  may correspond to the individual&#39;s cellular telephone, device  78  may be the individual&#39;s personal computer and device  80  may be the individuals wire line telephone. The affiliation of the universal wireless multimedia device to the individual, the individual to home site  64  and the affiliation of devices  76 ,  78 , and  80  to the individual are recorded in tables by administrative controller  104 . Administrative controller  104  also maintains tables that affiliate devices  82 ,  84  and  86  with site  102  via access point  68 , devices  94 ,  96 , and  98  with site  62  via access point  70  and devices  88 ,  90 , and  92  with site  100  via access point  72 . Accordingly, administrative controller  104  maintains topographical information of LAN  60 . In addition, administrative controller  104  maintains a table which identifies each device and/or access point that universal wireless multimedia device  12  could establish a piconet with. This last point will be subsequently discussed in greater detail.  
      As long as universal wireless multimedia device  12  remains within home site  64 , universal headset  12  may function as wireless multimedia device  12  for devices  76 ,  78 , or  80  as discussed with reference to  FIG. 1 . The coordination of functioning as the wireless multimedia device for devices  76 ,  78  or  80  within home site  64  may be controlled by access point  66 , headset  12 , a master host device (e.g., the wire line telephone), and/or by administrative controller  62 . For example, while universal wireless multimedia device  12  is within home site  64  and an incoming call is received via device  80 , device  80  would attempt to establish a piconet with universal wireless multimedia device  12 . If a piconet could not be established, device  80  would communicate with administrative controller  104  via the access point  66  to initiate an extended range use of universal wireless multimedia device  12 . In response to the notice from device  80 , administrative controller  62  would determine which of the other devices within home site  64 , universal wireless multimedia device  12  could establish a piconet with. If, for example, administrative controller  104  determines that device  76  could establish a piconet with universal wireless multimedia device  12 , administrative controller  104  provides a command to device  76  via the access point  66 , which instructs device  76  to establish the piconet with headset  12 . In addition, administrative controller  104  provides a request to devices  76  and  80  to establish a wireless connection via access point  66 . Once the piconet is established between device  76  and headset  12  and a wireless connection is established between devices  76  and  80  through access point  66 , headset  12  may function as the headset for device  80 .  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic block diagram of LAN  60  in which universal wireless multimedia device  12  is located within site  106  (i.e., not home site  62 ). In this example, device  80  of home site  64  is receiving an incoming communication  108 . Upon receiving incoming communication  107 , device  80  attempts to establish a piconet with universal wireless multimedia device  12 . Since headset  12  is outside of home site  64 , the piconet fails. Upon determining that the piconet has failed, device  80  provides request  106  to administrative controller  104  to establish a link with universal wireless multimedia device  12 .  
      Upon receiving request  106 , administrative controller  104  determines the location of universal wireless multimedia device  12 . This may be accomplished by accessing a table containing a listing of each device and access point that the universal wireless multimedia device  12  may establish a piconet with. In addition, administrative controller  104  may access a table that identifies the particular site location of the devices with which universal wireless multimedia device  12  may form a piconet with. The population of the table that indicates which devices and/or access points universal wireless multimedia device  12  may form piconets with is periodically determined by establishing test piconets using universal wireless multimedia device  12 . In response to successfully establishing a test piconet with headset  12 , the corresponding device and/or access point provides a message to the administrative controller  104  indicating that the device has formed a test piconet with headset  12 . The administrative controller then updates the table corresponding to the possible piconets of the headset.  
      In this example, administrative controller  104  determines that universal wireless multimedia device  12  is in site  102 . Accordingly, administrative controller  104  sends command  108  to access point  68 , wherein command  108  corresponds to request  106  to establish a piconet with wireless multimedia device  12 . Command  108  also identifies the particular device or access point that is to establish the piconet. In this illustration, two example piconets  110  and  112  are provided. If a piconet can be directly established between headset  12  and access point  68 , command  108  requests that access point  68  establish piconet  110 . Once piconet  110  is established, administrative controller  104  directs that a link between access point  68  and access point  66  be established and instructs access point  66  to establish a wireless connection with device  80 . Once this logical connection between device  80  and access point  68  exists, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may function as the wireless multimedia device for device  80  even though the headset is not within the same site as device  80 .  
      If administrative controller  104  determines that device  82  is to establish piconet  112  with universal wireless multimedia device  12 , command  108  indicates such a request. Access point  68  receives command  108  and relays the command to device  82  through WLAN  106 . Upon receiving command  108 , device  82  establishes piconet  112  with wireless multimedia device  12 . In addition, command  108  also requests that access point  68  establish a wireless connection with device  82 . Once established, administrative controller  104  establishes a logical connection between access points  68  and  66 . Further, access point  66  establishes a wireless connection with device  80 . Once complete, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may function as the headset for device  80 .  
       FIG. 5  is a schematic block diagram of LAN  60  where universal wireless multimedia device  12  lies outside of home site  64 . In this example, universal wireless multimedia device  12  initiates an outgoing communication. The user of universal wireless multimedia device  12  initiates the process with an outgoing communication request. In response to the outgoing communication request, universal headset  12  attempts to establish a piconet with a default host device within home site  64 . The particular host device first attempts to establish the piconet which may be determined from a list contained within headset  12 . The list may be prioritized by the user or by default. For instance, the list may prioritize the wire line telephone, over the PC, over the cellular telephone. As such, headset  12  will first attempt to establish a piconet with the first host device in the list. When that fails, headset  12  will attempt to establish a piconet with each device in the list in sequential order. When headset  12  fails to establish a piconet with a host device from the list, headset  12  it then attempts to establish a piconet with a device, or access point, within its range. Accordingly, when universal wireless multimedia device  12  generates test piconets to indicate which devices are available to affiliate with, it too stores this information. Alternatively, headset  12  may access an internal list of viable piconets, i.e., the devices the headset can establish piconets with. If a host device is not included in the list, the headset will automatically attempt to establish a piconet with a non-host device.  
      If headset  12  can establish piconet  110  with access point  68 , then it may preferentially establish a piconet with the access point. However, if headset  12  cannot establish a piconet with access point  68 , headset  12  will attempt to establish piconet  112  with an alternate device affiliated with access point  68 . Once the piconet is established, in this example with device  82 , headset  12  provides notice  114  regarding the outgoing communication. Device  82  directs notice  114  to access point  68  via a wireless connection between device  82  and access point  82 , where access point  82  then routes notice  114  to administrative controller  104 . Notice  114  includes identification information associated with universal wireless multimedia device  12 , access point  68  and may further include identity of device  82 , if device  82  is involved in the communication.  
      Administrative controller  104 , based on the content of notice  114 , determines the home site associated with universal wireless multimedia device  12 . In addition to determining the home site, administrative controller  104  determines the preferred device within the home site to support outgoing communications. Accordingly, administrative controller  104  includes a user define list, system define list, or default list that prioritizes the use of the devices and home site  64  for supporting outgoing communications.  
      Having determined the home site and appropriate host device, administrative controller  104  provides request  116  to access point  66  of home site  64  to establish a link with the host device. In this example, the host device has been selected to be device  80 . Once a logical connection between device  82  and device  80  has been established via access points  68  and  66 , the outgoing communication  117  is placed and universal wireless multimedia device  12  functions as the headset for device  80  regarding the outgoing communication and subsequent ongoing communication. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, if device  80  directly couples to LAN  60 , request  116  may be directly provided to device  80  without the need for a wireless connection between device  80  and access point  66 .  
       FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram of LAN where universal wireless multimedia device  12  roams from site  102  to site  100  while servicing an ongoing communication. As shown, piconet  112  or  110  initially service universal wireless multimedia device  12  via access point  68 . Access point  68  in turn, has a logical connection with device  80  to support the communication. However, over time, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may roam from site  102  to, for example, site  100 . This may necessitate the need to handoff the ongoing communication will be handed off from piconet  112  to piconet  118  from access point  68  to either access point  72  or, as shown, device  92  in site  100 . In this example, piconet  122  may be established between roaming headset  12  and either access point  72  or device  92 .  
      The handoff determination associated with an ongoing communication may be based on the signal strength of wireless communications within the currently established piconet, bandwidth or resource utilization within LAN  60 , or other reasons known to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, wireless multimedia device  12  may monitor the signal strength of signals available from access points such as access points  68  and  72 . In addition to or alternatively, access point  68  may monitor the signal strengths of signals received from wireless multimedia device  12 . When the signal strength drops below a desired threshold (e.g., −80 to −85 dB), administrative controller  104  determines that the ongoing communication may need to be handed off. Having made this determination, administrative controller  104  then determines, from the corresponding tables, which device, or access point, to hand the communication off to. In this example, it will determine that device  92  is to facilitate the ongoing communication. In this instance, prior to ending piconet  110  with access point  68 , universal wireless multimedia device  12  establishes piconet  118  with device  92 . With piconet  122  established and/or simultaneously with the establishment of the piconet, administrative controller  104  establishes a new logical connection between device  92  and device  80 . Once the new logical connection and piconet are established, communications are serviced by the new logical connection and piconet and the prior connection and piconet may be deactivated.  
      In another embodiment, the handoff may occur from one device, or access point, to another device or access point within the same site. For example, universal wireless multimedia device  12  may originally be serviced by a piconet established with access point  68 . As the signal strength of this piconet declines, a point may be reached that requires a handoff. Administrative controller  104  or logic within the access point or headset may determine that a handoff to device  82 ,  84 , or  86  is appropriate. In this instance, a piconet would be established with the appropriate device within the same site and a wireless connection between that device and access point  68  would be generated. Once these new connections are in place, the ongoing communication would be transferred thereto.  
      In yet another embodiment, handoff may occur when wireless multimedia device  12  and corresponding device were initially outside of LAN  60  and enter into LAN  60 . For example, if the communications are serviced by a cellular telephone call and an associated piconet between the cellular telephone and headset, the cellular telephone and associated piconet may initially be located outside the WLAN. When the user enters a WLAN coupled to the LAN, the cellular telephone communication may be transferred, via a call transfer request provided back to the central office, to a wire line telephone connection. In addition to establishing the call transfer from the cellular system to the wire line system, the wireless multimedia device may be transferred from the cellular telephone to the wire line telephone. Once the backend transfer has occurred, i.e., the transfer from the cellular system to the wire line system, at the central office and the piconet is established between the headset and the wire line telephone, the call is handed off to device  80  and the ongoing communication continues without the user necessarily being aware of any such switch.  
       FIG. 7  is a logic diagram of a method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device. The method begins at step  140  where a determination is made as to whether a piconet can be established between an initiating device and the universal wireless multimedia device for an incoming communication. The establishment of a piconet may be done in accordance with the Bluetooth specification where the initiating device provides a request to establish the piconet to the headset or some other point-to-point wireless communication protocol. If the headset does not respond within a timeout period, the piconet is not established. If, however, the piconet can be established, i.e., the headset responded within the timeout period, the process proceeds to step  142  where the piconet is established and the headset functions as the audio input and output for the initiating device.  
      When the piconet cannot be established, the process proceeds to step  144  where a determination is made as to whether a piconet can be established between the headset and any device coupled to the network. To determine this, the initiating device provides an indication to the administrative controller of the network that it desires to form a connection with the headset. The administrative controller then may identify the particular universal wireless multimedia device based on the identity of the initiating device, e.g., through a table lookup, and then determines the particular location of the headset, e.g., via another table lookup. As discussed with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 , the administrative controller may maintain tables that identify which devices of the network the headset may establish piconets with to determine the headsets location. Such information is periodically updated to maintain accurate tracking of the headset&#39;s location.  
      If it is determined that a piconet cannot be established between a device coupled to the network and the headset, the process proceeds to step  150  where it is determined that the headset is out of range. In such a case, the incoming communication, such as a telephone call, may be forwarded to an alternate number or other destination such as voice mail.  
      If a piconet can be established, the process proceeds to step  146  where the piconet between the universal wireless multimedia device and the device coupled to the network is established. This may be done as previously described with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 . The process then proceeds to step  148  where a logical connection between the initiating device and the device coupled to the network is established in order to service the communications. This may be done as previously described with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 .  
       FIG. 8  is a logic diagram of another method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device. The process begins at step  160  where a universal wireless multimedia device transmits a request to establish a piconet to one of a number of host devices to establish an outgoing communication. This may be done in accordance with one or more versions of the Bluetooth specification. The headset determines whether one of the host devices has provided a response to the request within a timeout period. If no response is received, the headset attempts to establish a piconet with another host device. The process then proceeds to step  162  where a determination is made as to whether any of the host devices provided a response within the timeout period. If so, the process proceeds to step  164  where a piconet is established between the universal wireless multimedia device and a responding host device. With the piconet in place, the headset functions as the wireless multimedia device for the host device.  
      If, at step  162 , none of the host devices provided a response within a timeout period, the process proceeds to step  166 . At step  166  the universal wireless multimedia device transmits a request to establish a piconet with one of a plurality of devices coupled to the network. This was previously described with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 . The process then proceeds to decision point  168  where, when a response is received, the piconet between the universal wireless multimedia device and the device coupled to the network is established in step  170 . The process then proceeds to step  172  where a logical connection is established between one of the host devices and the device coupled to the network to support the ongoing communication as illustrated and described with reference to  FIGS. 1-5 . Otherwise, the device is determined to be outside communication range as evidenced by step  174 .  
       FIG. 9  is a logic diagram of another method for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device. The process begins at step  180  where signal strength of communications in a piconet and other like factors is monitored. The piconet includes the universal wireless multimedia device and a device coupled to the network. The process then proceeds to step  182  where, in one embodiment, a determination is made as to whether the signal strength or other like factor compares unfavorably to a predetermined threshold (e.g., is below a threshold of −80 to −85 dB). If not, the process continues to loop between steps  180  and  182 .  
      If an unfavorable comparison results, the process proceeds to step  184  where another network coupled device is identified. The process then proceeds to step  186  where a new piconet is established between universal wireless multimedia device  12  and other network coupled device. This enables the universal wireless multimedia device to roam within the WLAN and maintain its wireless multimedia device functionality with host devices as the handset roams. A graphic example of this was provided with reference to  FIG. 5 .  
      The preceding discussion has presented a method and apparatus for supporting a universal wireless multimedia device. With such support, a wireless multimedia device in accordance with the present invention extends the range of the user&#39;s mobility, extends the range of the headset and enhances the functionality of the headset. As one of average skill in the art will appreciate, other embodiments of the present invention may be derived from the teaching of the present invention without deviating from the scope of the claims.