WO2001059995A1

WO2001059995A1 - Hybrid home network

Info

Publication number: WO2001059995A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/004073
Authority: WO
Inventors: Rex Naden
Original assignee: Atheros Communications, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-02-08
Filing date: 2001-02-07
Publication date: 2001-08-16
Also published as: AU2001236776A1

Abstract

A hybrid network combines wireline infrastructure (e.g., telephone lines) with wireless technology so that translations between protocols of the two networks are handled without interfering with the users. The hybrid network can be implemented in a building such as a home without requiring the use of directional antennas or substantial power requirements.

Description

HYBRID HOME NETWORK

Background of the Invention

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to communications networks and more particularly to hybrid networks that can be used in a home.

2. Description of Related Art

Communications networks have become increasingly important in home applications both for providing entertainment content and for controlling appliances. However, wired networks in buildings are generally limited by the extent of the installed infrastructure. For example, in a home a connection to a telephone line requires proximity to the installed lines.

Wireless networks also have disadvantages in home applications. To cover a distance of perhaps 40M through walls and ceilings, a wireless network would typically require using one or more directional antennas and relatively high power (e.g., 1-10 W effective radiated power). Such a power requirement could reduce battery life for portable devices. Directional antennas are also vulnerable to problems associated with movement and misalignment. Furthermore, multiple antennas may be needed at a base station to access several different terminals, and requirements on power may lead to exceeding the FCC radiation safety limits (e.g., lmW/cm²).

Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a hybrid network that combines wireline connections with wireless connections.

It is a further object to provide a hybrid network that can be implemented in a building with telephone wiring such as a home.

It is a further object to provide a hybrid network which has relatively low power requirements and which avoids the need for directional antennas.

It is a further object to provide flexibility in the location of devices attached to this hybrid network by way of wireless connections.

The above and related objects of the invention are realized by a hybrid network that includes a wireline network, a wireless network, and a bridge. The bridge connects the wireline network and the wireless network and includes a packet processor that provides a translation between the protocols of the two networks. Preferably this translation is accomplished automatically and seamlessly so that it is unnecessary for a user to intervene. The bridge may further include a wireline transceiver for communication between the wireline network and the bridge and a wireless transceiver for communication between the wireless network and the bridge via an antenna.

The bridge may also include a wireline media access controller to control wireline traffic across the bridge and a wireless media access controller to control wireless traffic across the bridge. Further traffic control may be provided by a packet buffer memory that buffers either wireline packets or wireless packets. An address lookup memory may be used to determine packet addresses in the translation process.

The present invention provides an efficient low-cost means for extending available wireline infrastructure in a home or other building without requiring undesirable hardware or excessive power requirements.

Brief Description of the Drawings

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following detailed description of the presently preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, where:

Figure 1 illustrates a network according to the present invention; and

Figure 2 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a bridge used in the network shown in

Figure 1. Detailed Description of the Presently Preferred Exemplary Embodiments

A network according to this invention is illustrated in Figure 1. A hub (or signal gateway) 2 receives external signals including an external cable television line 4, an external telephone wireline 6 and an extenal wireless input 8.

A first telephone wireline 10a connects the hub 2 to a first room 12a where it is received by a first bridge 14a. The first bridge 14a communicates with a first wireless device 16a and a second wireless device 16b in the first room 12a via corresponding wireless connections 18a — 18b. Additionally, the first bridge 14a communicates with a third wireless device 16c and a fourth wireless device 16d via wireless connections 18c — 18d, where these devices are located in a nearby third room 12c. Additionally the first bridge communicates with a fifth wireless device 16e via a wireless connection 18e, where this device is located outdoors. A second telephone wireline 10b connects the hub 2 to a second room 12b where it is received by a second bridge 14b. The second bridge 14b communicates with a sixth wireless device 16f, a seventh wireless device 16g, and an eighth wireless device 16h in the second room 12b via corresponding wireless connections 18f — 18h. Additionally, a wired terminal 20 in the second room 12b receives a wireline connection 22 that is connected to the second telephone line 10b.

The wireless devices 16a-16h may be desktop or notebook PCs, TV systems, home security or control systems, Personal Digital Assistants, remote cameras, digital books, digital video pads, or cordless phones. Additionally, the devices 16a-16h may be "smart" appliances including refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines, toasters, automobiles, lawn mowers, or vacuum cleaners.

Each of the bridges 14a — 14b includes a repeater station that effects a transition from a telephone wireline link to a wireless link. Such a bridge would desirably contain both a wired protocol transceiver and a wireless protocol transceiver. The wired transceiver may be based upon release 1.0 (1 Mb/s) or release 2.0 (10 Mb/s) of the HomePNA (Home Phoneline Networking Alliance) specifications such as those commercially available from Tut Systems, Epigram, and many other vendors. An alternative specification such as Ethernet 802.3 CSMA/CD, which is similar to the HomePNA standard, may also be used. The theoretical limit to the data rate possible with home phone wiring has been estimated by Epigram to be over 60 Mb/s. The wireless transceiver can use any of several protocols such as IEEE 802.11 (up to 11 Mb/s), HiperLAN (up to ~50Mb/s), HomeRF (~1 Mb/s), or Bluetooth (~1 Mb/s). Thus, depending on the protocols being used, there may be bandwidth compatibility between the wireline, which is transmitted in an environment with a relatively high inherent signal to noise ratio, and the wireless link, which only must operate over a relatively short distance but requires more signal processing due to the more serious signal impairments that result in a lower inherent signal to noise ratio. The bridge 14a — 14b integrates the two protocols seamlessly so that any data transported across the wired network is converted and transported wirelessly to a destination device (e.g., the eight devices 16a — 16h) and a user of any service is not be able detect the bridging function. As illustrated in Figure 2, a preferred embodiment of the bridge 14a consists of a wireline transceiver 24, a wireline media access controller (wireline MAC) 26, a packet processor 28, a packet buffer memory 30, an address lookup memory 32, a wireless media access controller (wireless MAC) 34, a wireless transceiver 36, and an antenna 38. Both the wireline 10a and wireless links 18a — 18h are preferably full duplex.

In the preferred embodiment, the packets arrive on the wireline 10a and are decoded from analog to digital form by the wireline transceiver 24. As discussed above, there are several possible wireless protocols, such as those defined by HomePNA and Ethernet 802.3 CSMA/CD. The wireline transceiver 24 connects to the wireline MAC 26 through an Ethernet-like interface(e.g., Mil or SMII). The wireline MAC 26 mediates traffic on the wireline link 10a by checking for errors, collisions, or runt packets, random backoff in the case of collisions, and other functions needed for CSMA CD protocols, and it delivers compete packets to the packet processor 28.

The packet processor 28 receives the complete packets, removes the headers, looks up the destination port in the address lookup memory 32, recomputes and appends the CRC checksum, and queues the packets for delivery while storing them in the packet buffer memory 30. The wireless MAC 34 receives a packet from the packet buffer memory 30 and wraps it in a packet supporting the wireless protocol being used. As discussed above, there are several possible wireless protocols, such as those defined in IEEE 802.11, HiperLAN, HomeRF, or Bluetooth. This wireless protocol packet is then transmitted by the wireless transceiver 36 to the devices 16a-16e across the RF links 18a — 18e by means of the antenna 38. The wireless MAC 34 handles access to the wireless medium for the specific protocol being implemented, for example handling carrier sense before transmission and error control upon the case of a collision or a corrupted transmission.

For traffic moving in the reverse direction, wireless packets arrive on the RF links 18a-18e and are received at the wireless transceiver 36 via the antenna 38. The wireless MAC 34 mediates traffic on the RF links 18a — 18e and delivers complete packets to the packet processor 28. The packet processor 28 receives the complete packets, removes the headers, looks up the destination port in the address lookup memory 32, recomputes and appends the CRC checksum, and queues the packets for delivery while storing them in the packet buffer memory 30. The wireline MAC 26 receives a packet from the packet buffer memory 30 and wraps it in a packet supporting the wireline protocol being used. This wireline packet is then transmitted by the wireless transceiver 24 to the wireline link 10a.

Those skilled in the art will realize that the bridge 14a described in Figure 2 can easily be implemented as a single low-cost CMOS chip or integrated circuit using technologies such as digital logic, wireline transceivers 24 (such as those for HomePNA from Tut Systems, Epigram, and many others), and wireless transceivers 36 (such as chipsets provided by Harris Corporation or modules produced by Symbol Technology, Proxim, and others). A small, low- cost module with the integrated antenna 38 could be produced with a size similar to a PDA device such as a Palm Pilot or smaller. Desirably each of the bridges 14a — 14b would be placed in proximity to a phone socket so as to make a convenient connection to the wireline network (e.g., the two telephone lines 10a — 10b). Terminal devices connected by wireless transmissions would be placed for convenience of the users but within the wireless transmission range, which may be approximately 40M so long as there is at most one intervening wall or ceiling between the bridge 14a — 14b and the device 16a — 16h. In this manner the bridge can operate with a simple antenna and relatively low power.

This invention extends the networking provided by the telephone wireline infrastructure by incorporating a wireless component. Phone lines typically go to some rooms of a house but not all rooms. These phone lines are capable of data transfer scales of approxi- mately lOOMbits/s. By providing a wireless repeater stations in a hybrid network, the reach of the phone-line network can be extended by approximately 40M in a way that avoids antennas and high-power RF links.

This invention can be employed not only in a home setting but also in any building where there is a need to extend the networking afforded by the telephone wire infrastructure. For example, the present invention may be used advantageously in an office or a school.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention can be easily extended to include other forms of wired networking in addition to or in replacement of the telephone wiring. Thus, the telephone wireline connections 10a — 10b of Figure 1 may be replaced by altemative wired systems including power lines and RF cables such as those used for connecting TV sets to antenna systems.

Although only certain exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A hybrid network, comprising: a wireline network; a wireless network; and a bridge connecting the wireline network and the wireless network, the bridge including a packet processor that provides a translation between a wireline protocol of the wireline network and a wireless protocol of the wireless network, a wireless transceiver that communicates with the wireless network, and a wireline transceiver that communicates with the wireline network.

2. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireline network includes home PNA lines.

3. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireline network includes power lines.

4. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireline network includes RF coaxial lines.

5. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol includes an 802.11 protocol.

6. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol includes a HiperLAN protocol.

7. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol include a Home RF protocol.

8. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireless protocol includes a Bluetooth protocol.

9. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising an integrated circuit that includes the bridge.

10. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the bridge further comprises: a wireline media access controller that communicates with the wireline transceiver and the packet processor and controls wireline traffic between the bridge and wireline network; and a wireless media access controller that that communicates with the wireless transceiver and the packet processor and controls wireless traffic between the bridge and wireless network.

11. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 10, further comprising an integrated circuit that includes the bridge.

12. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 10, wherein the bridge further comprises: a packet buffer memory that communicates with the packet processor and buffers packets in the translation between the wireline protocol and the wireless protocol; and an address lookup memory that communicates with the packet processor and determines packet addresses in the translation between the wireline protocol and the wireless protocol.

13. A hybrid network, as claimed in claim 12, further comprising an integrated circuit that includes the bridge.

14. A bridge for connecting a wireline network and a wireless network, comprising: a packet processor that provides a translation between a wireline protocol of the wireline network and a wireless protocol of the wireless network; a wireless transceiver that communicates with the wireless network; and a wireline transceiver that communicates with the wireline network.

15. A bridge, as claimed in claim 14, wherein an integrated circuit includes the bridge.

16. A bridge, as claimed in claim 14, further comprising: a wireline media access controller that communicates with the wireline transceiver and the packet processor and controls wireline traffic between the bridge and wireline network; and a wireless media access controller that that communicates with the wireless transceiver and the packet processor and controls wireless traffic between the bridge and wireless network.

17. A bridge, as claimed in claim 16, wherein an integrated circuit includes the bridge.

18. A bridge, as claimed in claim 16, further comprising: a packet buffer memory that communicates with the packet processor and buffers packets in the translation between the wireline protocol and the wireless protocol; and an address lookup memory that communicates with the packet processor and determines packet addresses in the translation between the wireline protocol and the wireless protocol.

19. A bridge, as claimed in claim 18, wherein an integrated circuit includes the bridge.

20. A method of translating packets, comprising: receiving a wireline packet from a wireline network, the wireline packet having a wireline protocol associated with the wireline network; translating the wireline packet to a wireless packet, the wireless packet having a wireless protocol associated with a wireless network. transmitting the wireless packet to the wireless network

21. A method of translating packets, as claimed in claim 20, further comprising: controlling wireline traffic between receiving the wireline packet and translating the wireline packet; and controlling wireless traffic between translating the wireline packet and transmitting the wireless packet.

22. A method of translating packets, as claimed in claim 21, further comprising: buffering at least one of the wireline packet and the wireless packet before transmitting the wireless packet; and determining an address of the wireless packet before transmitting the wireless packet.

23. A method of translating packets, comprising: receiving a wireless packet from a wireless network, the wireless packet having a wireless protocol associated with the wireless network; translating the wireless packet to a wireline packet, the wireline packet having a wireline protocol associated with a wireline network. transmitting the wireline packet to the wireline network

24. A method of translating packets, as claimed in claim 23, further comprising: controlling wireless traffic between receiving the wireless packet and translating the wireless packet; and controlling wireline traffic between translating the wireless packet and transmitting the wireline packet.

25. A method of translating packets, as claimed in claim 24, further comprising: buffering at least one of the wireline packet and the wireless packet before transmitting the wireline packet; and determining an address of the wireline packet before transmitting the wireline packet.