U.S. patent application number 10/299312 was filed with the patent office on 2004-10-14 for mobility communications system.
This patent application is currently assigned to TOSHIBA AMERICA INFORMATION SYSTEMS, INC.. Invention is credited to Astarabadi, Shaun, Baba, Shinichi, McCloskey, Andrew, Swonk, Glenn, Wojaczynski, David.
Application Number | 20040203752 10/299312 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 32297665 |
Filed Date | 2004-10-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20040203752 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Wojaczynski, David ; et
al. |
October 14, 2004 |
Mobility communications system
Abstract
A method of wireless communication includes establishing a
wireless connection with a first access point via a wireless
protocol in a first sub-network by a wireless electronic device. A
network address is assigned to the wireless electronic device
having a telephone address. The wireless electronic device roams
from the first sub-network to a second sub-network. The wireless
connection is automatically disconnected with the first access
point, and the wireless connection is seamlessly established with a
second access point in the second sub-network. A new network
address is assigned to the wireless electronic device at the second
sub-network. Alternatively the network address is still assigned to
the wireless electronic device at the second sub-network.
Inventors: |
Wojaczynski, David; (Mission
Viejo, CA) ; McCloskey, Andrew; (Yorba Linda, CA)
; Swonk, Glenn; (Laguna Niguel, CA) ; Astarabadi,
Shaun; (Laguna Niguel, CA) ; Baba, Shinichi;
(Morristown, NJ) |
Correspondence
Address: |
Eric Chen
PILLSBURY WINTHROP LLP
Suite 1200
725 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles
CA
90017
US
|
Assignee: |
TOSHIBA AMERICA INFORMATION
SYSTEMS, INC.
|
Family ID: |
32297665 |
Appl. No.: |
10/299312 |
Filed: |
November 18, 2002 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/432.1 ;
370/401; 455/426.1; 455/433; 455/560 |
Current CPC
Class: |
Y02D 30/70 20200801;
H04W 92/02 20130101; H04L 69/327 20130101; H04L 63/08 20130101;
H04M 2215/202 20130101; H04W 80/04 20130101; Y02D 70/30 20180101;
H04W 40/02 20130101; Y02D 70/23 20180101; H04M 15/63 20130101; H04M
15/8292 20130101; H04L 29/12216 20130101; H04M 15/56 20130101; H04L
29/1216 20130101; Y02D 70/142 20180101; H04L 61/2007 20130101; H04L
63/0272 20130101; H04L 61/157 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/432.1 ;
455/433; 455/560; 370/401; 455/426.1 |
International
Class: |
H04Q 007/20; H04L
012/56 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A mobility communications system, comprising: a local area
network (LAN) backbone; a private branch exchange (PBX) system in
communication with a public switched telephone network (PSTN); a
gateway in communication with the PBX system and the LAN backbone;
a mobility communications system (MCS) server in communication with
the LAN backbone; a first sub-network, including a first node
server in communication with the LAN backbone, and at least one
first access point in communication with the first node server; a
second sub-network, including a second node server in communication
with the LAN backbone, and at least one second access point in
communication with the second node server; and a wireless
electronic device having a wireless connection with the at least
one first access point of the first sub-network via a wireless
protocol, wherein when the wireless electronic device roams from
the first sub-network into the second sub-network, the wireless
connection with the first access point is automatically
disconnected and seamlessly re-connected with the at least one
second access point of the second sub-network.
2. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the gateway provides real-time two-way communications between a PBX
protocol of the PBX system and an Internet Protocol (IP) of the LAN
backbone.
3. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the wireless electronic device is selected from the group
consisting of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook
computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, an Internet
Protocol (IP)-based wireless telephone handset, and a portable
computer.
4. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the wireless electronic device utilizes Mobile Internet Protocol
(IP) for data communication and Session Initiated Protocol-Mobile
(SIP-M) for voice communication.
5. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the wireless electronic device is adapted to simultaneously
communicate wirelessly data and voice.
6. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the MCS server assigns a network address to the wireless electronic
device when the wireless electronic device is in the first
sub-network, and the MCS server assigns a new network address to
the wireless electronic device when the wireless electronic device
roams from the first sub-network to the second sub-network.
7. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the MCS server assigns a network address to the wireless electronic
device when the wireless electronic device is in the first
sub-network; and the MCS server assigns the network address to the
wireless electronic device when the wireless electronic device
roams from the first sub-network to the second sub-network.
8. The mobility communications system according to claim 1, wherein
the wireless electronic device includes a telephone address and a
corresponding network address.
9. The mobility communications system according to claim 8, wherein
the network address is an alias address.
10. The mobility communications system according to claim 9,
wherein the alias address is a uniform resource locator (URL)
address.
11. The mobility communications system according to claim 8,
wherein the network address is an Internet Protocol (IP)
address.
12. The mobility communications system according to claim 8,
wherein the telephone address is a PBX extension telephone
number.
13. The mobility communication system according to claim 1, wherein
at least one of RADIUS and DIAMETER extensions are utilized for
secure communication while roaming
14. The mobility communication system according to claim 1, wherein
the MCS server further includes simple network management protocol
(SNMP) management system that performs user management, server
management, node server management, call feature management,
enterprise integration configuration, policy definition and
enforcement, event monitoring, and general and specific
reporting.
15. The mobility communication system according to claim 14,
wherein the SNMP management system has a web interface.
16. The mobility communication system according to claim 14,
wherein the SNMP management system is accessed from other
SNMP-based tools.
17. The mobility communications system according to claim 1,
wherein the MCS server, the first node server, the second node
server, and the wireless communications device each include a
Quality of Service (QOS) module to ensure that data users utilize a
specific bandwidth.
18. The mobility communications system according to claim 1,
wherein the wireless communications device includes advanced call
features, including call hold, transfer, forward, forward to voice
mail, conference call, and intra-enterprise call
receiving/transmitting
19. A mobility communications system, comprising: at least one
first access point in a first sub-network adapted to communicate
wirelessly via a wireless protocol; a mobility communications
system (MCS) node server in communication with the first access
point; a wireless electronic device having a wireless connection
with the at least one first access point via the wireless protocol,
the wireless electronic device including a telephone address and a
network address; a mobility communications system (MCS) server in
communication with the at least one first access point and a public
switched telephone network (PSTN), the MCS server including a table
of the network address of the wireless electronic device
corresponding to the telephone address of the wireless electronic
device, wherein when the wireless electronic device roams from the
first sub-network to a second sub-network, the wireless connection
with the at least one first access point is automatically
disconnected and seamlessly re-connected with at least one second
access point of the second sub-network.
20 The mobility communications system of claim 19, wherein the
wireless electronic device is assigned a new network address at the
second sub-network.
21 The mobility communications system of claim 19, wherein the
wireless electronic device is assigned the network address at the
second sub-network.
22. The mobility communications system of claim 19, wherein the
wireless connection with the at least one first access point is
automatically disconnected and seamlessly re-connected with the at
least one second access point of the second sub-network based on
variable business rules, including as signal strength, quality of
service, and cost.
23. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the MCS server assigns the network address to the wireless
electronic device when the wireless electronic device is in the
first sub-network, and the MCS server assigns the new network
address to the wireless electronic device when the wireless
electronic device roam from the first sub-network to the second
sub-network.
24. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the network address is an alias address.
25. The mobility communications system according to claim 24,
wherein the alias address is a uniform resource locator (URL)
address.
26. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the network address is an Internet Protocol (IP)
address.
27. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the wireless electronic device is selected from the group
consisting of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook
computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, an Internet
Protocol (IP)-based wireless telephone handset, and a portable
computer.
28. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the telephone address is a private branch exchange (PBX)
extension telephone number.
29. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the wireless electronic device utilizes Mobile Internet
Protocol (IP) for data communication and Session Initiated
Protocol-Mobile (SIP-M) for voice communication.
30. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
wherein the wireless electronic device utilizes Mobile Internet
Protocol (IP) for both data communications and for voice
communications.
31. The mobility communications system according to claim 19
wherein the wireless electronic device is adapted to simultaneously
communicate wirelessly data and voice.
32. The mobility communications system according to claim 19,
further including a private branch exchange (PBX) system in
communication with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and
the mobility communications system (MCS) server.
33. A method of wireless communication, comprising: establishing a
wireless connection with at least one first access point via a
wireless protocol in a first sub-network by a wireless electronic
device; assigning a network address to the wireless electronic
device having a telephone address; roaming from the first
sub-network to a second sub-network; disconnecting automatically
the wireless connection with the at least one first access point;
establishing seamlessly the wireless connection with at least one
second access point in the second sub-network; and assigning a new
network address to the wireless electronic device at the second
sub-network.
34. The method according to claim 33, further including updating a
table having the network address of the wireless electronic device
with the new network address corresponding to the telephone address
of the wireless electronic device.
35. The method according to claim 33, wherein the wireless
electronic device is selected from the group consisting of a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook computer, a tablet
computer, a cellular telephone, an Internet Protocol (IP)-based
wireless telephone handset, and a portable computer.
36. The method according to claim 33, further including utilizing
Mobile Internet Protocol (IP) for data communication and utilizing
Session Initiated Protocol-Mobile (SIP-M) for voice
communication.
37. The method according to claim 33, wherein the telephone address
is a private branch exchange (PBX) extension telephone number.
38. The method according to claim 33, further including
communicating simultaneously voice data and non-voice data over the
wireless connection.
39. A program code storage device, comprising: a machine-readable
storage medium; and machine-readable program code, stored on the
machine-readable storage medium, having instructions to establish a
wireless connection with at least one first access point via a
wireless protocol in a first sub-network; receive a network address
corresponding to a telephone address; disconnect automatically the
wireless connection with the at least one first access point when a
wireless electronic device roams from the first sub-network to a
second sub-network; establish seamlessly the wireless connection
with the at least one second access point in the second
sub-network; and receive a new network address at the second
sub-network.
40. The program code storage device according to claim 39, wherein
the machine-readable program code further includes instructions to
update a table having the network address with the new network
address corresponding to the telephone address.
41. The program code storage device according to claim 39, wherein
the wireless electronic device is selected from the group
consisting of a personal digital assistant (PDA), a notebook
computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, an Internet
Protocol (IP)-based wireless telephone handset, and a portable
computer.
42. The program code storage device according to claim 39, wherein
the machine-readable program code further includes instructions to
utilize Mobile Internet Protocol (IP) for data communication and to
utilize Session Initiated Protocol-Mobile (SIP-M) for voice
communication.
43. The program code storage device according to claim 39, wherein
the telephone address is a private branch exchange (PBX) extension
telephone number.
44. The program code storage device according to claim 39, wherein
the machine-readable program code further includes instructions to
communicate simultaneously voice data and non-voice data over the
wireless connection.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] Embodiments of the present invention relate to wireless
network communication systems. More particularly, embodiments of
the present invention relate to wireless network communication
systems that support secured seamless roaming of real-time voice
and data communications sessions utilizing portable wireless
electronic devices.
[0003] 2. Discussion of the Related Art
[0004] Not long ago, discrete technologies had discrete purposes.
Telephones made calls, office-bound computers accessed databases,
and personal digital assistants (PDAs) were simple scheduling
devices. But the changing, and increasingly mobile, needs of
business dictated a new strategy: convergence of business
communications technologies into a flexible array of services that
can be accessed through the enterprise and beyond, by almost any
device.
[0005] Therefore, mobile computing has become more prevalent. In
recent years, there has been an increase in the deployment of
notebook personal computers (notebook PCs) and PDAs. This
deployment is a result of the increasing need for users to be
productive in places other than in the office or behind the desk.
Companies are requiring more work to be accomplished with less
people. Productivity increases are a key metric for wireless return
on investment (ROI). Virtual private networks (VPNs) and wired and
wireless modems permit secured access to corporate data outside of
the office. And, deployments of wireless local area networks
(W-LANs) are also increasing in schools and corporate campuses.
[0006] Public W-LANs are emerging as a viable alternative to
circuit-switched or packet-switched cellular data connections.
Moreover, the convergence of voice and data on the LAN is rapidly
occurring. Several companies are pushing toward the widespread
adoption of Internet Protocol (IP) telephony. Many intra-offices
and intra-enterprises are now migrating from traditional
circuit-switched solutions to traffic that are transported and
switched as packets or cells. Moreover, the standards governing
Voice over IP (VoIP), such as H.323, Session Initiation Protocol
(SIP), Power over Ethernet (or Power over LAN), for example, are
being finalized and established, which further promotes acceptance
and adoption of packet-based communications.
[0007] Personal computers (PCs), PDAs, and other devices are
managing more voice and multi-media communications. More telephones
are connected to data networks, or LANs, so that in addition to
making calls, they can access directories, messaging, and other
database information. Whether in and around the office or campus,
at home, or somewhere in between, being connected to these voice,
data, and other multimedia resources is critical to meeting the new
business demands for productivity and responsiveness.
[0008] Accordingly, it is desirable to have a wireless
communications system capable of interacting with a voice network,
such as a private branch exchange (PBX), and a data network, such
as a LAN or Internet, to provide users with secured seamless mobile
access to the same resources they would otherwise have at their
desks while roaming throughout a community, such as an office or
school campus.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates a mobility communications system
according to an embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates a mobility communications system
according to an embodiment of the present invention. A local area
network (LAN) backbone 110 provides connectivity between the
various components of the mobility communications system 100. At
the heart of the mobility communications system 100 is the mobility
communications system (MCS) server 140, which provides main control
over the entire system 100. A private branch exchange (PBX) system
120, such as the Toshiba.TM. Strata-CTX system, is connected to a
public switched telephone network 102. The PBX system 120 may also
have a connection with a time division multiplexing (TDM) network
104 (also known as digital leased lines). A gateway 130, such as a
Cisco.TM. 2600 intelligent media gateway, interconnects the PBX
system 120 and the LAN backbone 110. The gateway 130 is a liaison
to permit communications between two protocols, for example,
between the PBX protocol and the Internet Protocol (IP).
[0011] The mobility communications system 100 is connected to a
wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet 106, via a router 150
and a firewall 152. A virtual private network (VPN) server 148 may
be included in the mobility communications system 100 to provide
security and encryption/decryption capabilities to the system 100
utilizing, for example, the IP Security (IPSec) protocol. A remote
authentication dial-in user service (RADIUS) server 156 may be
included in the mobility communications system 100 to provide
authentication and accounting of users of the system 100. Other
authentication protocols and server systems may be implemented as
well, and integration with other authentication protocols, such as
the Diameter protocol for example, may be implemented. Furthermore,
a domain server 154 may be included in the mobility communications
system 100 to facilitate access to and from the WAN, such as the
Internet 106.
[0012] An applications server 142 may be included in the mobility
communications system 100 to store and provide applications to the
system 100. A database server 144 may also be included in the
mobility communications system 100 to provide database storage and
functionality to the system 100. A dynamic host configuration
protocol (DHCP) and/or a dynamic rapid configuration protocol
(DRCP) server 146 is connected to the LAN backbone 110 to assign IP
addresses to the nodes of the network.
[0013] A plurality of wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40
communicate wirelessly with the mobility communication system 100
via a wireless protocol. The wireless electronic devices 10, 20,
30, 40 communicate wirelessly with access points 191, 192, 193,
194, which are preferably radio frequency (RF) transceivers, for
example, and which are in communication with a node server 181, 182
via a switch 171, 172. The switch 171, 172 may be connected to a
router 160, which is connected to the LAN backbone 110. The switch
171, first node server 181, access points 191, 193, and wireless
electronic devices 10, 20 (before roaming) form a first
sub-network, or virtual local area network (VLAN 1). The switch
172, second node server 182, access points 192, 194, and wireless
electronic devices 20 (after roaming), 30, 40 form a second
sub-network, or virtual local area network (VLAN 2).
[0014] Each wireless electronic device 10, 20, 30, 40 is
authenticated, accounted, and authorized by the MCS server 140,
which relays this information (e.g., via certificates) to the first
node server 181 and the second node server 182. Accordingly, when a
wireless electronic device 20 moves/roams from one sub-network to
another, the wireless electronic device 20 need only communicate
and re-authenticate with the corresponding first node server 181 or
second node server 182, and the communication path need not go back
to the MCS server 140 across the LAN backbone 110. The Protocol for
carrying Authentication for Network Access (PANA), may be utilized
to provide authentication, accounting, and authorization (AAA) to
authenticate clients (i.e., wireless electronic devices) when they
roam. PANA is a Layer 3 network authentication protocol that
supports secure authentication over wireless connections. PANA
supports seamless roaming between sub-networks and between W-LAN
and cellular packet-based networks as well.
[0015] The wireless electronic device 20, for example, establishes
a wireless connection with an access point 193 in the first
sub-network. Accordingly, the wireless electronic device 20 is
provided with access to the mobility communications system 100
network and all its resources, including access to the Internet 106
and the PBX system 120. According to an embodiment of the present
invention, the wireless electronic device 20 is adapted to function
as a wireless telephone having a telephone address or number (or a
PBX extension number). The wireless electronic device 20 is capable
of accessing all of the PBX functionality of the PBX system 120 as
if it was a hardwired telephone, including voice mail, conference
calling, call waiting, call forwarding/transferring, directory
look-up, etc. Moreover, the wireless electronic device 20 may also
be adapted to function like a desktop computer connected to the
corporate LAN, including access to the Internet 106, and available
software applications.
[0016] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the
wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40 utilize the Session
Initiation Protocol-Mobile (SIP-M) for voice communications
(packet-based), and utilize the Mobile Internet Protocol (Mobile
IP) for data communications. Integration of both the SIP-M and
Mobile IP protocols provide greater flexibility to the roaming
capabilities of the wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40.
Mobile IP is an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard
protocol that runs on the network layer. Mobile IP permits a
wireless PC, wireless PDA, or other mobile node to move from one
network link to another without interrupting communications. In an
organization with W-LAN, a wireless notebook PC may be physically
moved from one building to another, into a new sub-network, without
interrupting a file download or video stream, and without requiring
the user to renew their network/IP address. SIP-M is an IETF
standard protocol for IP communication that initiates
information-transfer sessions between applications. Unlike the
traditional telecommunications model that operates via a central
switching element, SIP-M allows the control of services, like
telephony, to be moved to the endpoints of a network in SIP-based
PDA, notebook PC, Tablet PC clients or SIP-based mobile phones.
SIP-M is flexible and extensible, and supports many different types
of applications, including video, telephony, messaging or instant
messaging, and collaboration. However, any other suitable protocol
or protocols may be utilized, though, for voice communication, data
communication, or both.
[0017] A network address is assigned to the wireless electronic
device 20 once a wireless connection is established with the access
point 193. If the wireless electronic device 20 should roam within
the first sub-network to another access point 191, its network
address does not change, but the wireless connection is simply
disconnected from one access point 193 and re-established with the
other access point 191. Various quality of service (QoS) protocols
or business rules may be implemented to determine with which access
point a wireless electronic device should establish a wireless
connection. For example, signal strength and available bandwidth
may be factors in the consideration when a wireless electronic
device is choosing from among a plurality of access points of which
it is within range. In one instance, it may be more preferable to
establish a wireless connection with an access point having a
poorer signal strength but has a greater availability of bandwidth
than compared to an access point having a stronger signal but has
29 other users already connected.
[0018] When the wireless electronic device 20 roams out of range
from the access points 191, 193 of a first sub-network and into a
second sub-network, the wireless connection with the access point
193 of the first sub-network is automatically disconnected, and
seamlessly re-established with a second access point 192 of the
second sub-network. In an embodiment utilizing SIP-M for roaming,
because the wireless electronic device 20 moved from one
sub-network to another, a new network address is assigned to the
wireless electronic device 20. In an embodiment utilizing MobileIP
for roaming, when the wireless electronic device 20 moves from one
subnet to another, a new network address is assigned to the
wireless electronic device.
[0019] The MCS server 140 manages a table of network addresses
corresponding to, for example, telephone numbers/addresses (e.g., a
PBX extension number) of each wireless electronic device 10, 20,
30, 40 on the system 100. The table (e.g., see Table 1 below) may
also include an alias, or uniform resource locator (URL) address,
e.g., joe.doe@toshiba.com, corresponding to a telephone number or
address of a wireless electronic device 10, 20, 30, 40. When the
wireless electronic device 20 roams from a first sub-network to a
second sub-network, the new network address (or alias/URL address)
assigned to the wireless electronic device 20 at the second
sub-network is updated in the table. The table permits routing of
incoming telephone calls from the PSTN 102 to the wireless
electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40, as well as telephone calls from
one wireless electronic device 10, 20, 30, 40 within the system 100
to another, either on the same sub-network or to another
sub-network. The table may be forwarded to the first node server
181 and the second node server 182 as well so that a local copy is
accessible without having to cross the LAN backbone 110. The
wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40 may also make calls out
to the PSTN 102 by dialing a conventional telephone number in the
normal fashion, and the wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40
communicate with the PBX system 120 to make such outgoing
calls.
1TABLE 1 Telephone Address Alias/URL Address Network Address x3338
joe.doe@toshiba.com 111.222.333.4 x3915 jane.doe@toshiba.com
111.222.333.8
[0020] The MCS server 140 preferably includes a simple network
management protocol (SNMP) management system that performs user
management, server management, node server management, call feature
management, enterprise integration configuration, policy definition
and enforcement, event monitoring, and general and specific
reporting. SNMP agents may be preferably included with the first
node server 181 and the second node server 182 to enable
communication with the MCS server 140. The SNMP management system
may be a Web-based system having a Web-based interface.
[0021] The MCS server 140, the first node server 181 the second
node server 182, and the wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30,
49, may each include a Quality of Service (QOS) module. The Quality
of Service Module may ensure that data users only use a specific
bandwidth (of the first node server 181 or the second node server
182 to the access points 192, 193 to client device network 100),
reserving the rest of the available bandwidth for voice users. In
embodiments of the invention not utilizing QoS, a user could start
a voice call with good voice quality but then this voice quality
would rapidly degrade if another user opens a large e-mail
attachment.
[0022] By utilizing a fast IP address assigning protocol such as
DRCP, the roaming of a wireless electronic device 20 from one
sub-network to another may be conducted seamlessly with a handoff
time of approximately 50-100 milliseconds (ms), or less.
Accordingly, the handoff time is so short that the disconnection
from one sub-network and re-connection with another is unnoticeable
by users carrying on a voice conversation, for example, with the
wireless electronic device 10, 20, 30, 40. The wireless electronic
device 10, 20, 30, 40 is preferably any electronic device having
telephony features (i.e., a speaker and a microphone), and may be
any suitable device, such as a PDA, a notebook PC, a tablet PC, a
cellular or mobile telephone (e.g., an IEEE 802.11b "Wi-Fi" IP
telephone (an H.323 telephone)), an Internet Protocol (IP)-based
Wireless telephone handset, a portable computer, etc. Moreover, the
wireless electronic device 10, 20, 30, 40 is preferably capable of
simultaneous communication of both voice and data over the wireless
connection, even while roaming from one sub-network to another.
[0023] Although the mobility communications system 100 illustrated
in FIG. 1 shows a local area network (LAN) implementation, the
system 100 may be implemented even more broadly on a global/wide
area network (WAN) scale, such that each sub-network may constitute
a radio cell much like cellular telephone networks (and may even
utilizing existing cellular telephone network infrastructure), thus
greatly expanding the wireless functionality of the wireless
electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40 to all corners of the world.
[0024] The wireless electronic devices 10, 20, 30, 40 may include
advanced call features. Advanced call features may include call
holding, transferring, forwarding, forwarding to voice mail,
conference calling, etc. These are not typically associated with
what non-telephone system devices can do, which is usually to just
make and receive a call. Another advanced call feature is the
ability to use internal four or five digit calling capability to
receive or transmit calls within the business enterprise.
[0025] While the description above refers to particular embodiments
of the present invention, it will be understood that many
modifications may be made without departing from the spirit thereof
The accompanying claims are intended to cover such modifications as
would fall within the true scope and spirit of the present
invention. The presently disclosed embodiments are therefore to be
considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the
scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims,
rather than the foregoing description, and all changes that come
within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are
therefore intended to be embraced therein.
* * * * *