# US 7,609,702 B2 · Interworking between cell and packet based networks > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,609,702 B2 - Document ID: US7609702B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/086,557 - Filed: 2005-03-23 - Published: 2006-07-20 - Granted: 2009-10-27 - Earliest claimed: 2005-01-18 - Assignees: Nokia Corporation - Inventors: Tamas Major - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7609702B2 ## CPC - H04L 12/5601: {Transfer mode dependent, e.g. ATM} - H04L 12/66: Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways - H04L 2012/5656: {using the AAL2} - H04W 4/18: Information format or content conversion, e.g. adaptation by the network of the transmitted or received information for the purpose of wireless delivery to users or terminals - H04W 28/06: Optimizing {the usage of the radio link}, e.g. header compression, information sizing {, discarding information (system modifying transmission characteristic according to link quality by modifying frame length H04L1/0007; dynamic adaptation of the packet size for flow control or congestion control H04L47/365)} - H04W 92/02: Inter-networking arrangements - H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M) - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract A method and apparatus of communicating data between a cell based network and a packet based network. Received segments of data units are formed into new data segments which are transmitted irrespective of whether a complete data unit has been received. The received segments may be stored, used to form cells and/or transport packets, and transmitted to the cell based network or the packet based network. Also, conditions may be detected, such as timer expiration or a maximum reception capacity achieved, before the segments are used to form the cells and/or transport packets. Forming transport packets may comprise including segments belonging to a specific data unit in a transport packet and/or adding an indication of a specific data unit to which a segment belongs. These operations may be performed by a base station, an interworking unit, or a radio network controller. ## Claims ### Claim 1 An apparatus, comprising: a receiver configured to receive segments of data units from a cell based network, wherein the data units are data units of a higher layer of the cell based network, and wherein the higher layer of the cell based network terminates at the apparatus; a processor configured to form transport packets out of the segments of the data units irrespective of whether a complete data unit has been received, using a segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer of the apparatus which is introduced on top of a transport layer of the apparatus, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is configured to add an indication to a segment out of the segments received, the indication configured to indicate a specific data unit to which the segment belongs, and put the segment with the indication into a transport packet to be transmitted to a packet based network, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is configured to repeat these processes for each of the segments received, thereby forming the transport packets; and a transmitter configured to transmit the transport packets to the packet based network. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cell based network comprises an asynchronous transfer mode network. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the packet based network comprises Ethernet. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the receiver is configured to receive segments of data units from the packet based network, wherein the segments of data units received are distributed over a plurality of packets from the packet based network, and wherein the apparatus further comprises: a storage configured to temporarily store received segments, wherein the processor is configured to form cells, and wherein the transmitter is configured to transmit the cells formed by the processor to the cell based network. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the segments of data units received by the receiver are segments distributed over a plurality of cells from the cell based network, and wherein the apparatus further comprises: a storage configured to temporarily store received segments. ### Claim 6 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to detect conditions to be fulfilled in order to build a transport packet out of stored segments from the storage. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to detect a timer expiration as one of the conditions. ### Claim 8 (depends on 6) The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the processor is further configured to detect that a number of received segments reaches a maximum size of the transport packets as one of the conditions. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a maximum size of the transport packets. ### Claim 10 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the transport packets each have a same maximum size. ### Claim 11 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is further configured to form the transport packets by including segments belonging to a specific data unit into different transport packets. ### Claim 12 (depends on 5) The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is further configured to form the transport packets by including segments belonging to different data units into one transport packet. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a base station. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises an interworking unit. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus comprises a radio network controller. ### Claim 16 A method for an apparatus, comprising: receiving segments of data units from a cell based network, wherein the data units are data units of a higher layer of the cell based network, and wherein the higher layer of the cell based network terminates at the apparatus; forming transport packets out of the segments of the data units irrespective of whether a complete data unit has been received, using a segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer of the apparatus, which is introduced on top of a transport layer of the apparatus, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer adds an indication to a segment out of the segment received, the indication indicating a specific data unit to which the segment belongs, and puts the segment with the indication into a transport packet to be transmitted to a packet based network, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer repeats these processes for each of the segments received, thereby forming the transport packets; and transmitting the transport packet to a packet based network. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, comprising: receiving segments of data units from the packet based network, wherein the segments are distributed over a plurality of packets from the packet based network, and wherein the method further comprises: temporarily storing received segments, forming cells, and transmitting the cells to the cell based network. ### Claim 18 (depends on 16) The method according to claim 16, wherein the segments of data units received are segments distributed over a plurality of cells from the cell based network, and wherein the method further comprises: temporarily storing received segments. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The method according to claim 18, further comprising: detecting conditions to be fulfilled in order to build a transport packet out of stored segments. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method according to claim 19, wherein the detecting comprises detecting a timer expiration as one of the conditions. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method according to claim 19, wherein the detecting comprises detecting that a number of received segments reaches a maximum size of the transport packets as one of the conditions. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The method according to claim 21, further comprising: determining a maximum size of the transport packets. ### Claim 23 (depends on 18) The method according to claim 18, wherein the transport packets each have a same maximum size. ### Claim 24 (depends on 18) The method according to claim 18, wherein the forming of the transport packets comprises forming the transport packets by including segments belonging to a specific data unit into different transport packets. ### Claim 25 (depends on 18) The method according to claim 18, wherein the forming of the transport packets comprises forming the transport packets by including segments belonging to different data units into one transport packet. ### Claim 26 A computer program embodied in a computer-readable medium, the computer program configured to control a processor to perform operations comprising: receiving segments of data units from a cell based network, wherein the data units are data units of a higher layer of the cell based network, and wherein the higher layer of the cell based network terminates at the apparatus; forming transport packets out of the segments of the data units irrespective of whether a complete data unit has been received, using a segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer of the apparatus which is introduced on top of a transport layer of the apparatus, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer adds an indication to a segment out of the segments received, the indication indicating a specific data unit to which the segment belongs and puts the segment with the indication into a transport packet to be transmitted to a packet based network, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer repeats these processes for each of the segments received, thereby forming the transport packets; and transmitting the transport packets to the packet based network. ### Claim 27 (depends on 26) The computer program according to claim 26, wherein the computer program is directly loadable into an internal memory of a computer. ### Claim 28 An apparatus, comprising: receiving means for receiving segments of data units from a cell based network, wherein the data units are data units of a higher layer of the cell based network, and wherein the higher layer of the cell based network terminates at the apparatus; forming means for forming transport packets out of the segments of the data units irrespective of whether a complete data unit has been received, using a segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer of the apparatus which is introduced on top of a transport layer of the apparatus, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is configured to add an indication to a segment out of the segments received, the indication configured to indicate a specific data unit to which the segment belongs, and put the segment with the indication into a transport packet to be transmitted to a packet based network, wherein the segmentation/reassembly and multiplexing/demultiplexing layer is configured to repeat these processes for each of the segments received, thereby forming the transport packets; and transmitting means for transmitting the transport packets to the packet based network.