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Mobile Phone Patent Abstract
Methods, systems, and computer program products for bridging mobile
phone networks with other telephone networks. A telephone network
comprises multiple individually addressable telephone lines connected
to telephones and to a gateway, which in turn is connected to one
or more mobile phones and potentially to one or more landlines.
When the gateway receives an inbound call from one of the mobile
phones, or an outbound call from one or the telephones, the gateway
applies routing rules to determine how to route the call. Routing
may depend on a variety of factors, such as time of day, cost, the
mobile phone receiving an inbound call. To help identify the mobile
phone as the source of an inbound call, a distinctive ring may be
selected. To account for differences in the mobile phone network
and the telephone network, the gateway translates signals between
the two networks.
Mobile Phone Patent Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In a gateway for a telephone network that comprises multiple
individually addressable telephone lines and at least one telephone
connected to at least one of the individually addressable telephone
lines, a method of routing one or more calls, inbound to one or
more mobile phones connected to the gateway, to any of the individually
addressable telephone lines such that any of the individually addressable
telephone lines can be used to receive the one or more calls inbound
to the one or more mobile phones, the method comprising acts of:
the gateway receiving an inbound call addressed to a mobile phone
connected to the gateway, the inbound call being received by the
gateway through the connected mobile phone; the gateway applying
one or more routing rules to the inbound call for identifying one
or more of the individually addressable telephone lines through
which the inbound call should be routed; and connecting the inbound
call to the one or more of the individually addressable telephone
lines identified by the routing rules.
2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising an act of
the gateway selecting one of one or more available ring options
to identify the mobile phone as the addressee of the inbound call.
3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein multiple mobile phones
are connected to the gateway and at least one of the one or more
rules comprises a component that is specific to a particular mobile
phone.
4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein at least one of the
one or more routing rules comprises a time-of-day component for
routing inbound calls.
5. A method as recited in claim 4, wherein the at least one routing
rule that comprises a time-of-day component causes the inbound call
to be routed to an individually addressable telephone line connected
to an answering machine.
6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a telephone connected
to the one or more of the individually addressable telephone lines
identified by the routing rules comprises either a single-line analog
telephone, a multi-line analog telephone, an integrated services
digital network telephone, a digital telephone, or an Internet protocol
telephone.
7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein one or more signals
for interacting with a mobile phone network corresponding to the
mobile phone differ from one or more signals for interacting with
the telephone network through a telephone connected to at least
one of the individually addressable telephone lines, the method
further comprising an act of the gateway translating between the
one or more mobile phone network signals and the one or more telephone
network signals.
8. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more telephone
network signals comprise a ring voltage signal.
9. A method as recited in claim 7, wherein the one or more mobile
phone network signals comprise at least one of (i) a call waiting
signal, (ii) an abandoned call signal, (iii) a hold signal, (iv)
a message notification signal, (v) a caller ID signal, (vi) a caller
waiting ID signal, (vii) a call forward signal, (viii) a phone forward
signal, (ix) a conference call signal, and (x) a transfer call signal.
10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein a computer is connected
to the gateway, the method further comprising an act of receiving
configuration information for the gateway from the computer.
11. For a gateway connected to a telephone network that comprises
multiple individually addressable telephone lines and at least one
telephone connected to at least one of the individually addressable
telephone lines, a computer program product comprising one or more
computer readable media carrying computer executable instructions
that implement a method of routing one or more calls, inbound to
one or more mobile phones connected to the gateway, to any of the
individually addressable telephone lines such that any of the individually
addressable telephone lines can be used to receive the one or more
calls inbound to the one or more mobile phones, the method comprising
acts of: the gateway receiving an inbound call addressed to a mobile
phone connected to the gateway, the inbound call being received
by the gateway through the connected mobile phone; the gateway applying
one or more routing rules to the inbound call for identifying one
or more of the individually addressable telephone lines through
which the inbound call should be routed; and connecting the inbound
call to the one or more of the individually addressable telephone
lines identified by the routing rules.
12. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, the method
further comprising an act of the gateway selecting one of one or
more available ring options to identify the mobile phone as the
addressee of the inbound call.
13. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, wherein
multiple mobile phones are connected to the gateway and at least
one of the one or more rules comprises a component that is specific
to a particular mobile phone.
14. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, wherein
at least one of the one or more rules comprises a time-of-day component
for routing inbound calls.
15. A computer program product as recited in claim 14, wherein
the at least one rule that comprises a time-of-day component causes
the inbound call to be routed to an individually addressable telephone
line connected to an answering machine.
16. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, wherein
a telephone connected to the one or more of the individually addressable
telephone lines identified by the routing rules comprises either
a single-line analog telephone, a multi-line analog telephone, an
integrated services digital network telephone, a wireless telephone,
a digital telephone, or an Internet protocol telephone.
17. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, wherein
one or more signals for interacting with a mobile phone network
corresponding to the mobile phone differ from one or more signals
for interacting with the telephone network through a telephone connected
to at least one of the individually addressable telephone lines,
the method further comprising an act of the gateway translating
between the one or more mobile phone network signals and the one
or more telephone network signals.
18. A computer program product as recited in claim 11, the method
further comprising an act of applying one or more other rules that
dictate operation of the gateway.
19. A gateway for bridging one or more mobile phone networks supporting
one or more mobile phones and a telephone network that comprises
multiple individually addressable telephone lines and at least one
telephone connected to at least one of the individually addressable
telephone lines, the gateway comprising: one or more mobile phone
connectors that connect one or more mobile phones to the gateway
so that the gateway can receive and route inbound calls addressed
to one or more mobile phones connected to the gateway, wherein each
inbound call received by the gateway is received through one of
the connected mobile phones; one or more telephone line connectors
that connect the plurality of individually addressable telephone
lines and the at least one telephone to the gateway so that the
gateway can receive and route the received inbound call through
one or more of the individually addressable telephone lines; one
or more storage media containing one or more routing rules that
are applied to the received inbound call to identify one or more
of the individually addressable telephone lines through which the
received inbound call should be routed; and a processor that executes
the routing rules and causes the inbound call received through a
mobile phone connected to the gateway to be routed according to
the executed routing rules.
20. A gateway as recited in claim 19, further comprising one or
more computer network connectors that connect the gateway to one
or more computers.
Mobile Phone Patent Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
N/A
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mobile phone networks. More particularly,
the present invention relates to methods, systems, and computer
program products for bridging mobile phone networks with other telephone
networks.
2. Background and Related Art
Cellular phones are becoming increasing popular. Initially, size,
cost, and geographic coverage limited most cellular phone use to
a business context. Early cellular phones frequently were referred
to as "bricks," due to their bulk and inconvenience. Professionals
and technicians with on-call responsibilities were the typical cellular
phone user. In many circumstances, numeric and text pagers provided
an economical and convenient alternative to early cellular phones.
Today's cellular phones are compact enough to fit in a user's pocket,
have, purchase and monthly service costs similar to traditional
telephones, and offer local, regional, and national coverage. Often,
a single household will have multiple cellular phones. With the
increasing popularity of cellular phones, some are beginning to
realize that a separate home or office phone may not be necessary.
Over the next five years, it is estimated that up to 30% of landlines
in homes will be disconnected and users will depend solely on cellular
phone service.
As consumers begin to make the transition from home or office landlines
to exclusive (or principle) cellular use, they are likely to encounter
some loss of convenience. For example, a cellular phone can only
be located in a single place at once. In particular, user's often
charge their cellular phone in the evening so they will be ready
for use the next day. Accordingly, users generally do not or cannot
carry their cellular phone around with them while at home in the
evening. Of course, even if a user elects to carry the cellular
phone around while awake, the phone may be inadvertently left in
one room when the user moves to another room, making it difficult
to locate the cellular phone when it rings. Where multiple users
share a cellular phone, these difficulties are likely to be more
pronounced.
In addition to the foregoing problems, other customer satisfaction
issues are likely to arise as well, including the perceived health
concerns about cellular phone radiation. This health concern may
be particularly manifested where users are faced with extended exposure.
Naturally, limited battery life for talk and standby time also will
present barriers to increased cellular phone use. Furthermore, the
benefit of automated addressing for emergency 911 response usually
is tied to a landline. On the other hand, eliminating the cost of
a landline and the convenience of a single telephone number are
attractive objectives.
In an effort to address some of the shortcomings associated with
increased cellular telephone usage, some have proposed products
that are essentially a cellular phone charger with a telephone jack.
By attaching a cordless or other telephone to the jack in the charger,
a traditional telephone may be used for placing and receiving calls
through the cellular phone. While providing some benefits, these
simple products lack many features that consumers will find useful.
For example, consumers may want to route incoming calls to particular
telephones within a house or office. This feature may be of particular
value where multiple cellular telephones are available for use.
Similarly, consumers also may wish to automatically route outgoing
calls to any of multiple cellular telephones or to either a cellular
phone or a landlines depending on the circumstances surrounding
the outgoing calls. As a further convenience, consumers may desire
call routing for incoming and outgoing calls to vary over the course
of a day. Support for a variety of telephone types may help address
certain needs in business or relatively sophisticated home installations.
Furthermore, rudimentary charger products fail to expose the rich
call feature sets available in most cellular networks. Due at least
in part to the simplicity of these products, they offer no facility
for receiving configuration information, such as from a personal
computer. Accordingly, methods, systems, and computer program products
are desired for bridging mobile phone networks with other telephone
networks.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It should be appreciated that this summary is intended only to
provide a brief overview of the invention and should not be interpreted
as limiting its scope, which is defined by the claims. The present
invention extends to methods, systems, and computer program products
for bridging mobile phone networks with other telephone networks.
For example, a telephone network may comprise multiple individually
addressable telephone lines connected to one or more telephones.
The individually addressable telephone lines are connected to a
gateway, which in turn is connected to one or more mobile phones.
The gateway also may be connected to one or more landlines.
When the gateway receives an inbound call from one of the mobile
phones, the gateway applies one or more routing rules to determine
one or more of the individually addressable telephone lines through
which the inbound call should be connected. Once identified, the
gateway connects the inbound call to the one or more individually
addressable telephone lines, allowing the telephones connected to
the individually addressable telephone lines to be used for the
call inbound from the mobile phone. To help identify the mobile
phone as the source of the inbound call, a distinctive ring option
may be selected.
Similarly, when the gateway receives an outbound call from a telephone
connected to the gateway through one of the individually addressable
telephone lines, the gateway applies one or more routing rules to
select a mobile phone or landline through which the outbound call
should be routed. Having selected a mobile phone or landline, the
gateway connects the outbound call appropriately.
Routing may depend on a variety of factors, such as time of day,
cost, the mobile phone receiving an inbound call, etc. Telephones
may be any or a combination of analog telephones, integrated service
digital network telephones, digital telephones, Internet protocol
telephones, and the like. Due to differences in the mobile phone
network and the telephone network, the gateway translates signals
between the two networks. This translation allows for the generation
of appropriate ring voltages and dial tones, as well as features
like call waiting, message notifications, caller ID, caller waiting
ID, call forwarding, phone forwarding, conference calls, transferring
calls, and so forth, which may be available at the mobile phone
network, but not at the telephone network at all, or not at the
telephone network with the same interaction as would occur directly
with the mobile phone network.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set
forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious
from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention.
The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and
obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly
pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of
the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following
description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice
of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In order to describe the manner in which the above-recited and
other advantages and features of the invention can be obtained,
a more particular description of the invention briefly described
above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof
which are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that
these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention
and are not therefore to be considered as limiting its scope, the
invention will be described and explained with additional specificity
and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for practicing the present
invention;
FIG. 2 shows an example embodiment of the present invention;
FIGS. 3A-3B show example acts and steps for methods of routing
calls in accordance with the present invention; and
FIG. 4 illustrates an example system that provides a suitable operating
environment for the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
The present invention extends to methods, systems, and computer
program products for bridging a mobile phone network and another
telephone network. The embodiments of the present invention may
comprise one or more special purpose and/or one or more general
purpose computers including various computer hardware, as discussed
in greater detail below.
FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment for practicing the present
invention, where gateway 130 operates as a bridge between cellular
network 120 and a telephone network with multiple individually addressable
telephone lines 170 connected to telephones 180. Cellular network
120 may be any type of cellular network, including, for example,
a GSM network, a TDMA network, or a CDMA network. GSM or global
system for mobile communication is a digital mobile telephone system
used widely in Europe and other areas. GSM is the most widely used
of these three technologies and is a variation of TDMA. TDMA or
time division multiple access divides each cellular channel into
three time slots. CDMA or code-division multiple access uses a spread
spectrum technology and generally refers to any of various protocols.
Both TDMA and CDMA are common in the United States.
For gateway 130 the connection to cellular network 120 includes
a connection to cellular phone 140 through connection 132 and a
wireless connection from cellular phone 140 to the cellular network
120. It should be noted that cellular phone 140 is one type of mobile
phone. As used in this specification, the term "mobile phone"
refers to wireless phones that connect directly with a third-party
wireless service provider, in contrast to, for example, cordless
phones, which connect directly to a consumer base station. Accordingly,
"mobile phone" includes cellular phones, satellite phones,
etc.
Connection 132 between cellular phone 140 and gateway 130 may comprise
a serial connection, a universal serial bus ("USB") connection,
a Bluetooth connection, an 802.11x connection, or some other type
of connection, including other wired and wireless connections. 802.11
is a family of specifications related to wireless local area network
("LAN") technology. Specifically, 802.11 specifies a wireless
interface between a wireless client and a base station or between
two wireless clients. Similarly, Bluetooth defines a short-range
wireless connection specification for mobile phones, computers,
and personal digital assistants ("PDAs"). It is appropriate
to point out here, that the term "connection" should be
interpreted broadly to encompass any type of link that allows for
the transfer of information.
As indicated above various telephones 180 are also connected to
gateway 130 through individually addressable telephone lines 170.
For example, single-line analog POTS telephone 180a is connected
to gateway 130 through wired line 170a; multi-line analog POTS telephone
180b is connected to gateway 130 through one or more wired lines
170b; wireless POTS telephone 180c is connected to gateway 130 through
wireless line 170c; digital, 802.11, or other telephone 180d is
connected to gateway through line 170d; and serial POTS telephones
180e are connected to gateway 130 through a common line 170e. Similar
to connection, the term "line" should be interpreted broadly
to encompass any link capable of transferring data, whether wireless
or wired. In some implementations, a single line may be multiplexed
for multiple phones, using, for example, some form of frequency-based
or time-based multiplexing. It should be noted that line 170e represent
an individually addressable telephone line even though three serial
(i.e., daisy-chained) telephones are connected to it.
FIG. 1 shows mostly POTS telephones. POTS is short for plain old
telephone service and refers to the standard telephone service that
most homes in the United States use. POTS may be contrasted with
high-speed digital communication lines, like ISDN and FDDI, which
offer greater bandwidth and speed. Often, POTS is used interchangeably
with PSTN, or public switched telephone network.
Of course, telephones 180 can be any type of telephones, including
analog telephones, digital telephones, ISDN telephones, wireless
telephones, Internet protocol telephones, session initiation protocol
("SIP") telephones, etc. SIP telephones allow for various
services, such as instant messaging ("IM"), short message
service ("SMS"), multimedia message service ("MMS"),
and the like.
PSTN 110 is connected to gateway 130 through dMark 112 and includes
one or more landlines. (Although many portions of PSTN 110 may be
digital, historically the final link between a home and the central
or local telephone office ("CO") is analog.) Personal
computer 150 and other computer 160 are also connected to gateway
130 through line or connection 132, and may be used as phones and/or
for configuring gateway 130.
To help appreciate the benefits of gateway 130, consider the following
scenario. A family that includes a father, a mother, and a son lives
in a single family house with standard POTS phones in most rooms.
Because each of them has their own cellular phone, they have decided
to cancel their POTS phone service. Prior to canceling their POTS
phone service, when the family members arrived home they placed
their cellular phones in chargers to prepare the phone for use the
next day. This is inconvenient now because people call their cellular
phones rather than their home phones. With, their cellular phones
in the chargers, the family found that they missed calls because
the chargers were frequently in another room away from at least
some of the family members. However, by keeping their phones with
them, the family members occasionally forgot to put their phone
in the charger and would not have enough of a charge for the next
day.
Installing gateway 130 solved many of the problems the family experienced,
without having to reactivate the POTS line. (Although, it should
be pointed out that in some embodiments of the invention, one or
more POTS lines are available to the gateway.) A splitter plugged
into the house's dMark 112 isolates the house from the PSTN 110
and allows the gateway to address various phone lines (170a-170e)
individually. (Among other things, isolation is important because
gateway 130 will generate ring voltages.) For configuration, gateway
130 may be connected to a USB port on PC 150.
The family's cellular phones (like cellular phone 140) are connected
to chargers that are connected to the gateway through connection
132. Note that the chargers may be incorporated into the gateway
130, may be separate but connected to gateway 130, etc. When configuration
begins, PC 150 shows the three cellular telephones and their corresponding
numbers. (An example embodiment for PC 150 is described in greater
detail below with respect to FIG. 4.) The configuration software
then discovers each of the available phones in the house by trying
each of the telephone lines 170a-170e. As each telephone rings,
a descriptive name may be entered to help better identify the phone
through the remainder of the configuration process. (Descriptive
names also may be given to each cellular phone.)
Continuing on with more advanced configuration; options, various
of the telephone lines (and corresponding telephones) are selected
for routing inbound calls on each of the cellular phones. For example,
one or more routing rules may route inbound calls to the son's cellular
telephone to only the kitchen, the TV room, and the son's bedroom.
Routing rules also may include a time-of-day component. For example,
to establish quiet time, calls inbound to the son's cellular telephone
may be routed to an answering machine (including a voice messaging
system) during late evening and early morning hours. These routing
rules also may restrict outbound calls. During configuration, unique
rings may be assigned to everyone's cellular phone to help identify
the source of an inbound call. When the configuration is complete,
the configuration information is downloaded to the gateway 130 from
PC 150 so that the gateway does not need the PC to function correctly.
Sometime after the gateway 130 has been configured, the father
returns home and places his cellular phone into a charger. Later,
the correct phones ring in the house as determined by the routing
rules for the father. The phones ring with a ring tone indicating
that the father's cellular phone is the source of the call. The
father answers the call with the nearest POTS phone, just as when
the family had POTS service. During the call, he conferences his
wife into the call. Again, like when the family had POTS service,
the father does a flash hook, dials the number for his wife, and
does another flash hook to connect the conference call. This is
possible because the gateway maps the POTS telephone network signals
to their cellular equivalent.
While his parents are on their call, the son determines he would
like to call a friend. He plugs his phone into the charger and goes
to his room to make the call. He picks up his telephone and makes
the call just like he did when he had a POTS line, except, whereas
before the family had only one POTS line and only one person could
make a call at a time, the gateway routes the son's call from his
room to his cellular telephone. This is possible because the gateway's
routing rules associate the telephone in the son's room with his
cellular telephone.
FIG. 2 shows some additional details for an example gateway 200
in accordance with the present invention. Gateway 200 includes one
or more mobile phone connectors/charging cradles 210, one or more
telephone connectors 220, one or more landline connections 230,
and one or more computer network connectors 240. It should be noted
that each of these connectors should be interpreted broadly to encompass
any structure suitable for linking gateway 200 to a mobile telephone,
a telephone line, a landline, and/or a computer network.
Within gateway 200, each of these connectors is connected to one
or more line interfaces 250, which may be included within the connectors,
within the processor 260, or as a separate component as shown in
FIG. 2. One or more storage media 270 store data 272, routing rules
274, map instructions 276, synchronize instructions 278, etc. (Note
that as described with respect to FIG. 4, storage media may take
any of a variety of forms, including solid state devices for enhanced
reliability.) Synchronize instructions 278 are for synchronizing
data 272 with a version of the data stored on a connected mobile
telephone. For example, data 272 might include a telephone directly,
a call log, etc. The processor 260 executes the routing rules 274,
synchronize instructions 278, map instructions 276, and other instructions,
to direct the operation of the gateway.
Map instructions 276 are used to map mobile phone network signals
to the telephone network equivalent, and vice-versa. This allows
gateway 200 to expose the rich functionality offered by most cellular
phone networks to the telephone network. These signals may include
a call waiting signal, an abandoned call signal, a hold signal,
a message notification signal, a caller ID signal, a caller waiting
ID signal, a call forward signal, a phone forward signal, a conference
call signal, a transfer call signal, a ring voltage signal, a dial
tone signal, a signal for indicating received messages, etc. The
gateway 200 may include various other computer hardware and software
as discussed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4.
The present invention also may be described in terms of methods
comprising functional steps and/or non-functional acts. The following
is a description of acts and steps that may be performed in practicing
the present invention. Usually, functional steps describe the invention
in terms of results that are accomplished, whereas non-functional
acts describe more specific actions for achieving a particular result.
Although the functional steps and non-functional acts may be described
or claimed in a particular order, the present invention is not necessarily
limited to any particular ordering or combination of acts and/or
steps.
Specifically, FIGS. 3A-3B show example acts and steps for methods
of routing calls in accordance with the present invention. For inbound
calls (FIG. 3A), a gateway may perform an act of receiving (310A)
configuration information, such as from a PC. This configuration
information may include routing rules ring options, other rules,
etc. The gateway receives (320A) an inbound call. A step for determining
(330A) which of one or more line(s) of the individually addressable
telephone lines connected to the gateway should be used for routing
an inbound call may include acts of applying (332A) one or more
routing rules to the inbound call, an act of applying (334A) one
or more other rules that control operation of the gateway, and selecting
(336A) one of one or more available ring options to identify the
mobile phone that is the source of the inbound call.
A step for mapping (340A) one or more mobile phone network signals
to one or more corresponding telephone network signal and mapping
one or more telephone network signals to one or more corresponding
mobile phone network signals may include an act of translating (342A)
between the one or more mobile phone network signals and the one
or more telephone network signals. A step for routing (350A) an
inbound call to the one or more of the individually addressable
telephone lines that the gateway determined should be used for routing
the inbound call may include an act of connecting (352A) the inbound
call to the one or more of the individually addressable telephone
lines identify by the routing rules.
For outbound calls (FIG. 3B) a gateway may perform an act of receiving
(310B) configuration information from a PC. It should be noted that
showing this act in both FIGS. 3A (310A) and 3B (310B), does not
necessarily require separate receiving acts for inbound and outbound
calls. This configuration information may include routing and other
rules. The gateway receives (320B) an outbound call. A step for
determining (330B) which of one or more mobile phones and one or
more landlines should be selected to carry the outbound call may
include acts of applying (332B) one or more routing rules to the
outbound call and an act of applying (334B) one or more other rules
that control operation of the gateway.
A step for mapping (340B) one or more mobile phone network signals
to one or more corresponding telephone network signal and mapping
one or more telephone network signals to one or more corresponding
mobile phone network signals may include an act of translating (342B)
between the one or more mobile phone network signals and the one
or more telephone network signals. A step for routing (350B) an
inbound call to one of the one or more mobile phone and one or more
landlines may include an act of connecting (352B) the outbound call
to the one or more of the selected one of the one or more mobile
phones and one or more landlines.
Embodiments within the scope of the present invention also include
computer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executable
instructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readable
media can be any available media that can be accessed by a general
purpose or special purpose computer. By way of example, and not
limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM,
EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, magnetic disk storage
or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can
be used to carry or store desired program code means in the form
of computer-executable instructions or data structures and which
can be accessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer.
When information is transferred or provided over a network or another
communications connection (either hardwired, wireless, or a combination
of hardwired or wireless) to a computer, the computer properly views
the connection as a computer-readable medium. Thus, any such connection
is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Combinations of the
above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable
media. Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions
and data which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or special purpose processing device to perform a certain
function or group of functions.
FIG. 4 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief,
general description of a suitable computing environment in which
the invention may be implemented. Although not required, the invention
will be described in the general context of computer-executable
instructions, such as program modules, being executed by computers
in network environments. Generally, program modules include routines,
programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform
particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Computer-executable
instructions, associated data structures, and program modules represent
examples of the program code means for executing steps of the methods
disclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executable instructions
or associated data structures represents examples of corresponding
acts for implementing the functions described in such steps.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may
be practiced in network computing environments with many types of
computer system configurations, including personal computers, hand-held
devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable
consumer electronics, network PCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers,
and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed
computing environments where tasks are performed by local and remote
processing devices that are linked (either by hardwired links, wireless
links, or by a combination of hardwired or wireless links) through
a communications network. In a distributed computing environment,
program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage
devices.
With reference to FIG. 4, an example system for implementing the
invention includes a general purpose computing device in the form
of a computer 420, including a processing unit 421, a system memory
422, and a system bus 423 that couples various system components
including the system memory 422 to the processing unit 421. The
system bus 423 may be any of several types of bus structures including
a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus, and a local
bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory
includes read only memory (ROM) 424 and random access memory (RAM)
425. A basic input/output system (BIOS) 426, containing the basic
routines that help transfer information between elements within
the computer 420, such as during start-up, may be stored in ROM
424.
Although not shown in FIG. 4, the various connectors and interfaces
shown in FIG. 2 may be present where the computer shown in FIG.
4 is used as a gateway. It should be noted that the relatively complexity
of a gateway may depend on whether configuration will occur through
an external computer or if the gateway is completely self-sufficient,
as well as other factors. Furthermore, FIG. 4 represents only an
example of one possible embodiment for a gateway according to the
present invention or a computer used to configure the gateway. Accordingly,
much of the hardware and software described with respect to FIG.
4 is optional and is likely to vary from one implementation to another.
The computer 420 may also include a magnetic hard disk drive 427
for reading from and writing to a magnetic hard disk 439, a magnetic
disk drive 428 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic
disk 429, and an optical disc drive 430 for reading from or writing
to removable optical disc 431 such as a CD-ROM or other optical
media. The magnetic hard disk drive 427, magnetic disk drive 428,
and optical disc drive 430 are connected to the system bus 423 by
a hard disk drive interface 432, a magnetic disk drive-interface
433, and an optical drive interface 434, respectively. The drives
and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile
storage of computer-executable instructions, data structures, program
modules and other data for the computer 420. Although the exemplary
environment described herein employs a magnetic hard disk 439, a
removable magnetic disk 429 and a removable optical disc 431, other
types of computer readable media for storing data can be used, including
magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital versatile discs,
Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, and the like.
Program code means comprising one or more program modules may be
stored on the hard disk 439, magnetic disk 429, optical disc 431,
ROM 424 or RAM 425, including an operating system 435, one or more
application programs 436, other program modules 437, and program
data 438. A user may enter commands and information into the computer
420 through keyboard 440, pointing device 442, or other input-devices
(not shown), such as a microphone, joy stick, game pad, satellite
dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often
connected to the processing unit 421 through a serial port interface
446 coupled to system bus 423. Alternatively, the input devices
may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, a
game port or a universal serial bus (USB). A monitor 447 or another
display device is also connected to system bus 423 via an interface,
such as video adapter 448. Of course, a gateway may not require
any type of display or may include a display integrated within the
gateway itself, such as a relatively small liquid crystal display.
In addition to the monitor, computer 420 may include other peripheral
output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers.
The computer 420 may operate in a networked environment using logical
connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computers
449a and 449b. Remote computers 449a and 449b may each be a personal
computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other
common network node, and typically include many or all of the elements
described above relative to the computer 420, although only memory
storage devices 450a and 450b and their associated application programs
436a and 436b have been illustrated in FIG. 4. The logical connections
depicted in FIG. 4 include a local area network (LAN) 451 and a
wide area network (WAN) 452 that are presented here by way of example
and not limitation. Such networking environments are commonplace
in office-wide or enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets and
the Internet.
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 420 is
connected to the local network 451 through a network interface or
adapter 453. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer
420 may include a modem 454, a wireless link, or other means for
establishing communications over the wide area-network 452, such
as the Internet. The modem 454, which may be internal or external,
is connected to the system bus 423 via the serial port interface
446. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative
to the computer 420, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote
memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections
shown are exemplary and other means of establishing communications
over wide area network 452 may be used.
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without
departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described
embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative
and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated
by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.
All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency
of the claims are to be embraced within their scope. |