Method and system for increasing data rate in wireless communications through aggregation of data sessions
View Patent ↗An access aggregator may receive a data stream from a first computing device. The access aggregator may divide the data stream into a plurality of sub-streams. Then, the access aggregator may transmit the sub-streams over multiple wireless communication channels to a network interface. The network interface can then send the sub-streams to a second computing device. Similarly, the second computing device may send data to the network interface, where the data is divided into sub-streams. The sub-streams can be sent to the access aggregator over multiple wireless communication channels and then sent to the first computing device.
1. A method of communicating a sequence of packets from a first entity to a second entity, the method comprising:
dividing the sequence of packets into a plurality of subsequences of packets;
sending each of the subsequences over a respective wireless communication channel and in turn to the second entity; and
wherein each packet of each subsequence includes a header that has a source address field and a destination address field, wherein each of the subsequences defines a respective source address and a respective destination address, and wherein sending each of the subsequences over a respective wireless communication channel and in turn to the second entity comprises:
sending each of the subsequences over a respective wireless communication channel;
modifying the source address fields to change all of the respective source addresses to be a common source address; and
modifying the destination address fields to change all of the respective destination addresses to be a common destination address.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective source and destination addresses are respective IP addresses.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending each of the subsequences over a respective wireless communication channel comprises:
establishing respective PPP sessions for each of the wireless communication channels; and
sending each of the subsequences over the respective wireless communication channel using the respective PPP sessions.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first entity is a router, an Ethernet concentrator, an Internet device, a personal digital assistant or a computer.
5. A method for increasing data transmission rates in a wireless network, the method comprising:
receiving a packet stream destined for a remote entity, the packet stream comprising a plurality of packets;
dividing the packet stream into a plurality of packet sub-streams, each comprising a subset of the plurality of packets;
sending each of the packet sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel for transmission in turn to the remote entity; and
wherein each packet of each sub-stream includes a header that has a source address field and a destination address field, wherein each of the sub-streams defines a respective source address and a respective destination address, and wherein sending each of the sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel and in turn to the second entity comprises:
sending each of the sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel;
modifying the source address fields to change all of the respective source address to be common source address; and
modifying the destination address fields to change all of the respective destination addresses to be a common destination address.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the packet sub-stream defines a respective source address, wherein all of the packet sub-streams define a common destination address, and wherein sending each of the packet sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel for transmission in turn to the remote entity comprises:
sending each of the packet sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel and thereafter to a translation node that converts the respective source addresses of the packet sub-streams to a common source address; and
whereby the remote entity identifies the plurality of packets as originating from the common source address.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the respective source addresses are respective IP addresses.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the translation node is a gateway or a PDSN.
9. The method of claim 5 , wherein each of the packet sub-streams defines a respective source address, wherein all of the packet sub-stream define a common destination address, and wherein sending each of the packet sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel for transmission in turn to the remote entity comprises:
establishing respective PPP sessions with a PDSN for each of the packet sub-streams, wherein the PDSN provides connectivity with a packet switched network on which the remote entity resides.
10. The method of claim 5 , wherein receiving the packet stream comprises:
receiving a packet stream of IP packets from a network device over an Ethernet connection.
11. The method of claim 5 , wherein sending each of the packet sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel comprises:
sending the packet sub-streams over a radio access network using respective Walsh codes.
12. An access aggregator, comprising:
a processor;
data storage;
an access interface capable of connecting to a network device; a plurality of wireless communication interfaces, each wireless communication interface operable to communicate over a respective wireless channel; and
instructions stored in the data storage and executable on the processor (i) to receive a packet stream from the access interface, (ii) to divide the packet stream into a plurality of packet sub-streams, and (iii) and to transmit the plurality of packet sub-streams over the respective wireless channels, wherein each packet of each sub-stream includes a header that has a source address field and a destination address field, wherein each of the sub-streams defines a respective source address and a respective destination address, and wherein sending each of the sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel and in turn to the second entity comprises: (a) sending each of the sub-streams over a respective wireless communication channel, (b) modifying the source address fields to change all of the respective source addresses to be a common source address, and (c) modifying the destination address fields to change all of the respective destination addresses to be a common destination address.
13. The access aggregator of claim 12 , wherein the access interface is an RJ45 Ethernet port.
14. The access aggregator of claim 12 , wherein the access interface comprises a plurality of access interfaces.
15. The access aggregator of claim 12 , wherein the plurality of wireless communication interfaces includes a universal serial bus port, a PCMCIA slot, or a serial port.
16. The access aggregator of claim 12 , further comprising:
a plurality of mobile stations respectively connected to the plurality of wireless communication interfaces.
17. The access aggregator of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of mobile stations are capable of communicating over the respective wireless communication channels using respective IP addresses.
18. The access aggregator of claim 12 , further comprising:
a network device connected to the access interface through an Ethernet connection.
19. The access aggregator of claim 18 , wherein the device is a broadband voice router, an Ethernet concentrator, an Internet device, a personal digital assistant or a computer.