IP Library › Granted Patent US 12665785

Granted Patent B2

US 12665785 · App. 18/158,271 · Granted Jun 23, 2026

Data communications over virtual local area networks (VLANs) and wireless communication networks

Inventors: Zheng Cai (Fairfax, VA); Zheng Fang (McLean, VA)

Assignee: T-MOBILE INNOVATIONS LLC

H04L12/4641 H04L12/2856 H04W28/0268

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12665785
App. No.: 18/158,271
Granted: Jun 23, 2026
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

A wireless communication device determines QoS levels for wireless network links. The wireless communication device associates the QoS levels for the wireless network links with a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN). The wireless communication device indicates to a user communication device the association of the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN. The wireless communication device exchanges the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN using the QoS levels for the wireless network links that are associated with the VLAN. The wireless communication device wirelessly exchanges the user data over the wireless network links using the QoS levels for the wireless network links.

Claims (54)

1 . A method to transfer user data, the method comprising:

determining Quality-of-Service (QoS) levels for wireless network links;

indicating the QoS levels for the wireless network links to a user communication device;

receiving, from the user communication device, associations of the QoS levels for the wireless network links with a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) and in response, associating the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN based on the associations received from the user communication device;

confirming the associations of the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN to the user communication device;

exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN using the QoS levels for the wireless network links that are associated with the VLAN; and

wirelessly exchanging the user data over the wireless network links using the QoS levels for the wireless network links.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over a single Local Area Network (LAN) connection.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 (Ethernet) connection.

4 . The method of claim 1 wherein exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi) connection.

5 . The method of claim 1 wherein exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection.

6 . The method of claim 1 wherein the user communication device determines the associations based on an input received from a human operator.

7 . The method of claim 1 wherein:

determining the QoS levels for wireless network links comprises signaling a wireless access node to establish the wireless network links and to determine network addresses and the QoS levels for the wireless network links;

indicating to the user communication device the QoS levels for the wireless network links comprises indicating to the user communication device the network addresses and the QoS levels for the wireless network links;

receiving, from the user communication device, the associations of the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN and associating the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN comprises receiving, from the user communication device, individual associations of the network addresses with the VLAN and associating the network addresses and the VLAN based on the individual associations received from the user communication device; and

exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN using the QoS levels comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN using the network addresses and the QoS levels individually associated with the VLAN.

8 . A method of operating a wireless communication device to communicate user data over a Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN), the method comprising:

the wireless communication device determining Quality-of-Service (QoS) levels for Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) links;

the wireless communication device indicating the QoS levels for the WWAN links to the user communication device;

the wireless communication device receiving from the user communication device, associations of a Virtual Local Area Network Identifier (VLAN ID) with the QoS levels for the WWAN links and in response, associating the VLAN ID with the QoS levels for the WWAN links based on the associations received from the user communication device;

the wireless communication device confirming the associations of the VLAN ID with the QoS levels for the WWAN links to the user communication device;

the wireless communication device exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the WWAN links associated with the VLAN ID; and

the wireless communication device wirelessly exchanging the user data with the WWAN links using the QoS levels for the WWAN links.

9 . The method of claim 8 further comprising:

the wireless communication device determining network addresses for the WWAN links; and wherein:

the wireless communication device indicating the QoS levels for the WWAN links to the user communication device comprises indicating the QoS levels and the network addresses for the WWAN links to the user communication device; and

the wireless communication device receiving from the user communication device, the associations of the VLAN ID with the QoS levels for the WWAN links and associating the VLAN ID with the QoS levels comprises receiving from the user communication device, the associations of the VLAN ID with the QoS levels and the network addresses and in response, associating the VLAN ID with the network addresses and the QoS levels.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein:

the wireless communication device exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the WWAN links comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the network addresses and the QoS levels for the WWAN links associated with the VLAN ID.

11 . The method of claim 8 wherein the user communication device determines the associations based on an input received from a human operator.

12 . The method of claim 8 wherein the wireless communication device determining the QoS levels for the WWAN links comprises signaling a wireless access node to establish the WWAN links and to determine network addresses and the QoS levels for the WWAN links.

13 . The method of claim 8 wherein

the wireless communication device exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the WWAN links comprises receiving video data from the user communication device; and

the wireless communication device wirelessly exchanging the user data with the WWAN links using the QoS levels for the WWAN links comprises transferring the video data to the WWAN links.

14 . The method of claim 8 wherein the wireless communication device exchanging the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the WWAN links comprises exchanging the user data with the user communication device over at least one of an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 (Ethernet) link, an IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi) link, and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) link.

15 . A wireless communication device to transfer user data over wireless network links, the wireless communication device comprising:

processing circuitry configured to determine Quality-of-Service (QoS) levels for the wireless network links;

communication circuitry configured to indicate the QoS levels for the wireless network links to the user communication device and receive from the user communication device associations of a Virtual Local Area Network Identifier (VLAN ID) with the QoS levels of the wireless network links;

the processing circuitry configured to associate the VLAN ID with the QoS levels of the wireless network links based on the associations received from the user communication device;

the communication circuitry further configured to confirm the associations of the VLAN ID with the QoS levels for the wireless network links to the user communication device;

the communication circuitry further configured to exchange the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the wireless network links that are associated with the VLAN ID; and

the communication circuitry further configured to wirelessly exchange the user data with the wireless network links using the QoS levels for the wireless network links.

16 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 wherein the communication circuitry is further configured to:

determine the QoS levels and network addresses for the wireless network links;

indicate the network addresses and the QoS levels for the wireless network links to the user communication device; and

receive, from the user communication device, individual associations of the network addresses and the QoS levels for the wireless network links with the VLAN ID.

17 . The wireless communication device of claim 16 wherein:

the communication circuitry is configured to exchange the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the network addresses and the QoS levels for the wireless network links individually associated with the VLAN ID to exchange the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the wireless network links.

18 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 wherein the user communication device determines the associations based on an input received from a human operator.

19 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 wherein the communication circuitry is further configured to signal a wireless access node to establish the wireless network links and to determine the QoS levels and network addresses for the wireless network links.

20 . The wireless communication device of claim 15 wherein

the communication circuitry is configured to receive video data from the user communication device to exchange the user data with the user communication device over the VLAN ID using the QoS levels for the wireless network links; and

the communication circuitry is configured to wirelessly transfer the video data to the wireless network links to wirelessly exchange the user data with the wireless network links using the QoS levels for the wireless network links.