Abstract:
A business method and telecommunications system is described which is specifically adapted to provide wireless communication services such as internet access as a vehicle moves down a predefined transportation corridor such as a highway or railroad tracks.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This application relates to a business method and apparatus for providing wireless telecommunications specifically adapted for use in mobile applications, for example, when a client is in a moving vehicle such as a car, a truck, a bus, a train, a plane or any other moving vehicle.  
         [0002]     Typical wireless telecommunication systems such as cell phone systems attempt to cover large geographic areas with large towers, each tower containing a plurality of sector antennas which transmit high power signals to receive and send signals to/from a client device such as a cell phone user. These large towers and high power wireless transmission systems are extremely expensive to build and maintain.  
         [0003]     In contrast, the present application teaches a telecommunication system particularly suited for use along a transportation corridor, for example, a railway car as it travels down the tracks or a car as it travels down a highway. This telecommunication system provides various client services such as internet access, voice-over-internet-protocol services and other telecom services to passengers of vehicles as they travel along a transportation corridor.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004]     According to one aspect of the present invention, a wireless telecommunication system is provided comprising a client device configured to send and receive telecommunication signals. A plurality of transceiver sites are positioned along a path traveled by the client device, each transceiver site being in communication with the client device as the client device passes within range of the transceiver site and each transceiver site is in communication with at least one other transceiver site wherein there is also provided at least one connection to a communications backbone which is connected to a transceiver site.  
         [0005]     In another aspect of the invention, a device for providing wireless internet service for client devices wherein the client devices are disposed in a moving railway car is provided comprising an enclosure configured to house and protect a predetermined set of electronic components and the enclosure is configured to attach to a utility pole. Also provided is a central processing unit disposed in the enclosure for program execution and control of the device. A computer readable memory for storage of a control program is provided and the control program is read and executed by the central processing unit. A first wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a plurality of client devices under the control of the control program is provided and a second wireless transceiver configured to communicate with any adjacent device under the control of the control program is also provided. A network interface is provided which is configured to receive a wired connection to a telecommunications backbone.  
         [0006]     In a further aspect of the invention, a system for providing wireless internet access to passengers of a train as the train travels along the tracks is provided that comprises a plurality of wireless repeaters disposed along the tracks, the repeaters being in wireless communication with a plurality of wireless client devices associated with the passengers, wherein each wireless repeater is in communication with any adjacent wireless repeaters in a chain arrangement and at least one wireless repeater is in communication with the internet.  
         [0007]     In yet another aspect of the present invention a business method of providing wireless telecommunication services for passengers of a train is provided comprising the steps of affixing a plurality of transceiver sites along a path traveled by the train with each transceiver site configured to communicate with a client device associated with a passenger as the train passes within range of a respective transceiver site. Each transceiver site is in communication with at least one other transceiver site. Connecting at least one said transceiver site to the internet and establishing a wireless connection between at least one said transceiver site and the client device. Capturing data to determine the identity of the passenger associated with the client device and then verifying the identity of the passenger associated with the client device by comparing the captured data to data contained in a database. Maintaining the wireless connection between the client device and at least one transceiver site as the train travels down the tracks. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]      FIG. 1  is a simplified plan view of the wireless system in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a simplified cross sectional view of a wireless repeater in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3  is a simplified top view in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.  
         [0012]     Broadly, a wireless communication system is provided that allows for the deployment of wireless repeaters along transportation corridors and provides uninterrupted internet access to client devices as the client device travels along the transportation corridor. A typical transportation corridor would include for example a road, a highway, train tracks or even established routes of aircraft and boats.  
         [0013]     Referring first to  FIG. 1 , a wireless communication system  10  is shown in accordance with one aspect of the present invention.  FIG. 1  depicts a train  9  made up of multiple interconnected train cars with for example a pair of client devices  16  and  17  disposed therein. Typically, the client devices  16  and  17  may be laptop computers having wireless communication capabilities of their own. Recently, wireless interfaces such as those that attach to a laptop&#39;s USB port or PCMCIA card port have become quite popular. Typically these wireless interfaces are IEEE 802.11 compliant devices which typically communicate in the unlicensed ISM frequency band of approximately 2.4 Ghz and can support up to a 54 Mps data transmission rate.  
         [0014]     Disposed along the train tracks  11  may be a plurality of utility poles  13   a,    13   b,    13   c  and  13   d.  Disposed on each of these utility poles is a respective wireless repeater  12   a,    12   b,    12   c,  and  12   d.  Associated with each wireless repeater may be antennas  14   a,    14   b,    14   c  and  14   d.  Each wireless repeater  12  is positioned along the tracks  11  such that it may communicate with any adjacent wireless repeater and maintain complete, uninterrupted coverage of the client devices  16  and  17  as they travel down the tracks  11 . Depending on the capabilities of the repeaters and the terrain along the tracks, each repeater could be several miles or more apart, therefore, not every pole will have a repeater.  
         [0015]     While this arrangement only depicts four repeaters  12  along the tracks  11 , many such repeaters  12  may be located along the tracks to cover hundreds of miles of track. A network connection  18  through a router  20  is shown attached to at least one of the repeaters  12   d,  which provides the connection to the internet  22  for all the repeaters and allows the client devices  16  and  17  to connect to the internet wirelessly through the network of repeaters. More than one connection to the internet backbone may be provided in order to reduce network latency. It should also be mentioned that while the internet connection in  FIG. 1  is shown as hard wired to a repeater  12   d  that is located adjacent to the tracks  11 , this connection could easily be a wireless connection to a router  20  that is remote from the tracks.  
         [0016]     With each wireless repeater  12  in communication with any adjacent repeater, a chain like communication network is provided which allows all repeaters to communicate with the internet connection thereby providing uninterrupted internet connection to the client devices  16  and  17  as they travel down the tracks.  
         [0017]     Turning now to  FIG. 2 , the configuration and operation of the wireless repeater will be described in more detail. An enclosure  34  may be affixed to a utility pole  13  by a pair of fasteners  41  located inside the enclosure. Obviously, other attachment arrangements are possible, and all such arrangements are fully contemplated by the present invention. Housed inside the enclosure  34  may be an electronics board  46  which is configured to retain and provide power to various electronic components. A Central Processing Unit  40  may be disposed on the board  46  which reads and executes program instructions located in ROM  44  also disposed on the board  46 . In one embodiment, the ROM  44  is a 64 MB compact flash card which has been formatted to contain the control program. A first radio transceiver  36  may be disposed on board  46 , first transceiver  36  may be configured to communicate with any adjacent repeaters  12  to provide a flow of data to and from the client devices  16  and  17  back to the internet connection  22  under the control of CPU  40  in accordance with the control program.  
         [0018]     In one embodiment, the first radio transceiver  36  may be a mini-PCI IEEE 802.11b compliant device with a transmit power of 200 mW. One such device is made by a company named Senao and it provides the ability to attach two antennas  24   a  and  24   b  to a single transceiver to enhance the sensitivity and increase the effective range of the radio transceiver by using antenna diversity. This transceiver may plug into a mini-PCI slot located on board  46 .  
         [0019]     A second radio transceiver  38  may also be disposed on board  46  similar to first radio transceiver. However, the purpose of this radio transceiver is to communicate directly with the client device  16  and  17 . Second radio transceiver  38  is configured to maintain a continuous wireless connection with a plurality of client devices as the client devices enter and remain in the effective range of the second transceiver. In an effort to increase the signal strength and effective range of the second transceiver  38 , a high gain antenna, such as a parabolic grid antenna  28  may be in communication with the second transceiver  38 . The beam form of the antenna  28  may be chosen to specifically maintain wireless communication with the client devices between each repeater site. Using a high gain antenna  28  allows the signal to be concentrated in the area of the traveling vehicle and thereby overcome any attenuation that may occur due to the client device being located inside the vehicle.  
         [0020]     As shown in  FIG. 2 , a low loss cable  32  may be interconnected between the antenna  28  and the second transceiver  38  and the antenna  28  may be disposed on the pole  13  by a rod or pipe  30 . The positioning of the antenna  28  may be adjusted by a pivot  31  which allows the beam form to be adjusted for maximum coverage.  
         [0021]     A network interface  52  such as a typical CAT 5 interface may also be disposed on board  46  which allows another network device to connect to the repeater  12  for diagnostic or other purposes. In the event the internet connection  22  is hard wired to the system, this may be where that connection may occur.  
         [0022]     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a top view of a section of railroad track is shown with a telecommunication system  10  in accordance with one aspect of the present invention. A pair of trains  9   a  and  9   b  are shown traveling in the direction of arrow A down the same set of railroad tracks  11 . As shown (but not by limitation), each train  9   a  and  9   b  are in range of two different repeater stations  12   a  and  12   b.  In this arrangement, client devices  16   a  and  17   a  are in communication with repeater  12   a  because they are located in the beam  54   a  as projected by high gain antenna  28   a.  Client devices  16   b  and  17   b  are in communication with repeater  12   b  because they are located in the beam  54   b  as projected by high gain antenna  28   b.  Due to beam form  56   a  and  56   b,  repeater  12   b  is in communication with both repeaters  12   c  and  12   a  and this allows data from the respective client devices to be relayed to the internet  22 . It should be mentioned that in order to reduce interference, first radio transceiver  36  and second radio transceiver  38  are configured to operate at different radio frequencies. With this configuration, network latency may be reduced and reliability of the wireless connections will be improved.  
         [0023]     In order to maintain an uninterrupted connection between the client devices and the internet, an overlap  58  may be provided in the beam forms generated by the high gain antennas  54   a  and  54   b.  The overlap  58  is configured to allow client devices to maintain a wireless connection as the train travels between the various repeaters  12 . The control program may be specifically configured to allow a client device to associate with a new repeater before it losses a connection to the current repeater. This is often referred to as “roaming capability”.  
         [0024]     This arrangement of repeaters  12   a - c  may therefore be easily repeated along the tracks  11  to cover many miles of track. It may be advantageous to provide more than one internet connection to the system to improve network performance. This may be easily done by installing multiple internet connections to selected repeaters  12  which are spaced along the tracks.  
         [0025]     With this configuration, wireless telecommunication services such as internet access can be seamlessly provided to vehicle passengers as they travel to their destination. In one embodiment of the present invention, a client device  16  associates and wirelessly communicates with a repeater site  12 . The repeater site  12  delivers to the client device  12  a log in screen and asks for a username and password. The passenger associated with the client device  12  enters a username and a password and wirelessly transmits this to a repeater site  12 . This information is relayed through the necessary repeater sites  12  until it reaches the internet connection  22  and through the internet the username and password are compared to information contained in a database that may be remote from the repeater sites. If the username and password are confirmed, the client device  16  is granted access to surf the internet or use other telecommunication services. In this way, access is only granted to client/users that have an account. This also allows the system to track usage by client device/user for proper accounting and billing purposes. An alternative method to grant access to client devices may include receiving and comparing the MAC address of the client device attempting to log on. Each wireless interface is hard coded with a unique MAC address which may be used to allow or deny access to the system.  
         [0026]     It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to preferred embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.