Granted Patent B2

US 7,613,154 · App. 10/952,306 · Granted Nov 3, 2009

Abstract

Claims (36)

1. A telecommunications processing device, comprising:

a wireless network interface; and

a processor operably coupled to an auto detect module configured to maintain a prioritized WiFi network connection list;

wherein said processor is programmed to access a wireless packet network using said wireless network interface via a wireless network access point defined on said prioritized WiFi network connection list in a first mode and is programmed to access the wireless packet network using said wireless network interface via a cellular telephone programmed to provide a function as a wireless network access point in a second mode when the cellular telephone fails to detect an alternate WiFi network connection.

2. The telecommunications processing device in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said auto detect module is configured to implement an algorithm for searching said prioritized Wi-Fi connection list, said algorithm comprising a least cost algorithm.

3. A telecommunications method for selecting an access point for connecting a telecommunications processing device to a network, said telecommunications method comprising:

configuring a WiFi connection list at the telecommunications processing device; and responsive to activating a network function on said telecommunications processing device,

sequentially selecting listed wireless access point connections in a listed order and connecting said telecommunications processing device to a wireless packet network through the first available listed wireless access point connection; and when connection is unsuccessful,

connecting said telecommunications processing device to said wireless packet network using a cellular telephone as a wireless access point, the cellular telephone providing the wireless access point functionality when said telecommunications processing device determines alternate wireless access point connections are not available.

4. The telecommunications method in accordance with claim 3 , wherein said sequentially selecting comprises implementing a least cost analysis of listed WiFi connections and connecting on the least cost basis.

5. The telecommunications method in accordance with claim 3 , wherein said using said cellular telephone as a wireless access point comprises accessing said cellular telephone using a wireless access point connection interface and accessing the wireless network using a cellular telephone modem function.

6. The telecommunications method in accordance with claim 5 , wherein said cellular telephone modem function includes a GPRS modem function.

7. A telecommunications method for selecting an access point for connecting a computer to a network, said telecommunications method comprising:

providing a first prioritized list of wireless network access points for connecting a computer, said first prioritized list including a cellular telephone wireless access point and a plurality of stationary wireless access points;

providing a second prioritized list of wireless network access points for connecting the computer on the cellular telephone wireless access point;

using an auto detect module on the computer to determine one or more available wireless network access points on the first list and accessing a network according to the listed priority;

using a mode select unit on the cellular telephone wireless access point to determine an availability of one or more of the wireless network access points on the second list and activating the wireless telephone access point when said one or more wireless network access points are not available.

8. The telecommunications method in accordance with claim 7 , wherein said cellular telephone wireless access point has lower priority than at least one wireless network access point.

9. The telecommunications method in accordance with claim 8 , wherein a plurality of wireless network access points have differing priorities.

10. A telecommunications method for use in a personal computer for selecting an access point for connecting the personal computer to a network, the method comprising using an auto-detect module in a said personal computer to find a plurality of available wireless networks including a cellular telephone network and a prioritized list of said plurality of available wireless networks and selectable access points to determine which wireless network to access, said cellular telephone network being available for said personal computer through a cellular telephone configured to function as a cellular telephone wireless access point, wherein said cellular telephone wireless network access point is assigned a relatively low priority.

11. A telecommunications system, comprising:

a wireless packet network including one or more access points;

a cellular telephone network;

at least one computing device including a wireless network interface card for communicating over the wireless packet network;

at least one cellular telephone device, the cellular telephone device having a cellular telephone mode for communicating over the cellular network and a packet network mode for communicating over the packet network;

wherein the cellular telephone device is configured to function as a cellular telephone wireless access point for said at least one computing device by interfacing the wireless network interface card to the wireless packet network via the cellular network and is configured to make available the cellular telephone wireless access point when it determines another network access point is not available;

wherein the at least one computing device maintains a prioritized list of wireless access points for accessing the wireless packet network, the cellular telephone wireless access point having a lower priority than a wireless network access point.

12. The telecommunications system in accordance with claim 11 , wherein the at least one computing device is configured to access the wireless packet network via the cellular telephone device when another higher priority wireless access point cannot be detected.

13. The telecommunications system in accordance with claim 11 , wherein the cellular network comprises a GPRS network.

14. The telecommunications system in accordance with claim 11 , wherein the wireless packet network comprises the Internet.

15. A telecommunications system, comprising:

a wireless packet network including a plurality of wireless access points;

a cellular telephone network;

a cellular telephone configured to function as a cellular telephone wireless access point and make the cellular telephone wireless access point functionality available for a computer when it fails to detect an alternate wireless access point;

the computing device including a wireless network interface and an autodetect module for maintaining a prioritized list of wireless networks and associated wireless access points, wherein the computing device will log in according to the order of priority, and wherein a cellular telephone wireless access point has a lower priority than a stationary wireless access point.

16. The telecommunications system in accordance with claim 15 , wherein a wireless access point associated with a private network has a higher priority than a public wireless access point.

Assignments (12)