Patent · US Expired

Bridging apparatus for interconnecting a wireless PAN and a wireless LAN

US7095748B2 · kind B2 · utility

26Cited by
6References
4Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 22, 2002
Grant dateAug 22, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateJan 8, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH04W88/10
  • WIPO fieldDigital communication
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A Wireless bridge conjoins two previously incompatible technologies within a single device to leverage the strengths of each. The Wireless bridge marries the Personal Area Network (PAN) technology of Bluetooth as described in Bluetooth Specification Version 1.0B with the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology described in the IEEE802.11a specification to provide a wireless system level solution for peripheral devices to provide Internet service interactions. The invention brings together in a single working device implementations of these technologies so they do not interfere or disrupt the operation of each other and instead provide a seamless transition of a Bluetooth connection to Wireless Local Area Network/Internet connection. From the Wireless Local Area Network perspective the inventive wireless bridge extension allows a Bluetooth-enabled device to roam from one Wireless Access Point (bridge) to the next without losing its back end connection. The invention takes into account the minimum separation and shielding required of these potentially conflicting technologies to inter-operate.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.