System for digital radio communication between a wireless LAN and a PBX

A wireless telephone system, comprising:

• at least one access point for communicating with mobile units using a wireless protocol;
• a plurality of mobile units, each having a network address and a telephone extension address;
• and a telephone service interface unit connected to said access point and a central office, said interface unit providing a correspondence between the telephone extension addresses of said mobile units and the network addresses of said mobile units;
• wherein said mobile units can provide telephone communication with other mobile units using said network addresses, and wherein said mobile units can receive telephone communication from said central office addressed to said telephone extension addresses via said telephone service interface unit.

In a local area network having at least one access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, and a telephone service interface connected to said access point and a central office, a method of providing telephone service to said mobile units, said method comprising:

• assigning telephone extension numbers and network addresses to said mobile units;
• establishing telephone connections using data messages between said mobile units using said network addresses;
• providing, for outgoing calls, DTMF signals from said mobile units as data messages to said telephone service interface to establish external telephone connections from said mobile units to said central office;
• and
• receiving, for incoming calls, signals from said central office representing telephone extension numbers and correlating said extension numbers with network addresses to establish telephone connections from said central office to said mobile units.

A telephone system, comprising:

• a PBX having a gateway for providing a correspondence between telephone extension numbers and network addresses;
• telephone extensions having extension numbers connected to said PBX;
• at least one data communications access point connected to said gateway of said PBX;
• and a plurality of mobile units, arranged for radio data communication with said access point and each having a network address corresponding to a telephone extension number;
• wherein said PBX receives telephone extension numbers corresponding to said mobile units and establishes a connection to said mobile unit via said access point using said corresponding network address, and wherein said mobile units generate DTMF signals corresponding to an extension number of a telephone extension and provide said DTMF signals as a data message to said PBX via said access point to establish a connection to said telephone extension.

A wireless telephone system, comprising:

• a plurality of mobile units, each having a network address and a telephone extension address;
• and
• an interface unit connected to an access point, said interface unit including a memory for correlating telephone extension addresses of said mobile units and network addresses of said mobile units;
• wherein said mobile units can provide telephone communication with other mobile units using said network addresses, and wherein said mobile units can receive telephone communication from other mobile units addressed to said telephone extension addresses via said interface unit.

In a local area network having at least one access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, and a gateway connected to an access point and a public switched network, a method of providing telephone service to the mobile units, said method comprising:

• storing telephone extension numbers and network addresses assigned to the mobile units;
• receiving, for out-going calls, DTMF signals from the mobile units as data messages via said access point to establish external telephone connections from the mobile units to said public switched network;
• and
• receiving, for incoming calls, signals from said public switched network representing telephone extension numbers and providing a correspondence between said telephone extension numbers and network addresses to establish telephone connections from said public switched network to the mobile units.

In a local area network having at least one access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, and a gateway connected to an access point and a public switched network, a method of providing telephone service to the mobile units, said method comprising:

• storing telephone extension numbers and network addresses assigned to the mobile units;
• receiving DTMF signals from the mobile units via said access point as data messages representing telephone extension numbers and providing a correspondence between said telephone extension numbers and network addresses to establish telephone connections from the mobile units to other mobile units;
• and
• receiving signals from said public switched network representing telephone extension numbers and providing a correspondence between said extension numbers and network addresses to establish telephone connections from said public switched network to the mobile units.

In a local area network having an access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, a method for establishing telephone communication from a first mobile unit to a second mobile unit, said method comprising:

• storing a correlation between telephone extension numbers and network addresses of said mobile units;
• receiving a dialed telephone extension number corresponding to said second mobile unit;
• correlating said dialed telephone extension number to a network address;
• and
• transmitting said network address to said access point using a wireless protocol to establish telephone communication with said second mobile unit.

In a local area network having an access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, a method for establishing telephone communication from a first mobile unit to a second mobile unit, comprising:

• storing a correlation between names and network addresses associated with the mobile units;
• receiving a name associated with a second mobile unit;
• correlating said name to a network address;
• and
• transmitting said network address to said access point using a wireless protocol to establish telephone communication with the second mobile unit.

A wireless telephone system, comprising:

• at least one access point for communicating with mobile units using a wireless protocol;
• a plurality of mobile units, each having a network address and a telephone number including a telephone extension address;
• and a telephone service interface connected to said access point and a central office, said interface including a gateway for providing a correspondence between said telephone numbers including said telephone extension addresses of said mobile units and network addresses of said mobile units;
• wherein said mobile units can provide telephone communication with other mobile units using said network addresses, and wherein said mobile units can receive telephone communication from said central office addressed to said telephone numbers including said telephone extension addresses via said telephone service interface.

In a local area network having at least one access point for providing wireless communication to mobile units, and a telephone service interface connected to said access point and a central office, a method of providing telephone service to said mobile units, comprising:

• assigning telephone numbers, including telephone extension numbers, and network addresses to said mobile units;
• establishing telephone connections using data messages between said mobile units using said network addresses;
• providing DTMF signals from said mobile units as data messages to said telephone service interface to establish external telephone connections from said mobile units to said central office;
• and
• receiving signals from said central office representing telephone numbers including telephone extension numbers and correlating said telephone numbers with network addresses to establish telephone connections from said central office to said mobile units.

A telephone system, comprising:

• a PBX having a gateway for providing a correspondence between telephone numbers, including telephone extension numbers, and network addresses;
• telephone extensions having telephone numbers connected to said PBX;
• at least one data communications access point connected to said gateway of said PBX;
• and a plurality of mobile units, arranged for radio data communication with said access point and each having a network address corresponding to a telephone number;
• wherein said PBX receives telephone numbers corresponding to said mobile units and establishes a connection to said mobile unit via said access point using said corresponding network address, and wherein said mobile units generate DTMF signals corresponding to a telephone number of a telephone extension and provide said DTMF signals as a data message to said PBX via said access point to establish a connection to said telephone number.