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US 8,284,711 B2Granted
Apparatus and methods for addressable communication using voice-grade radios
AssigneeWorcester Polytechnic Institute
InventorsWilliam R. Michalson, James W. Matthews, Abhijit Navalekar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for conducting directed communication using voice-grade radios. The methods and apparatus can be used to form a packet-switched wireless network using legacy analog transceivers, providing, e.g., both data and voice-over-Internet Protocol communication.
Claims35
A method of transmitting via a radio comprising:
- obtaining data for transmission;
- converting the data into first packets having a destination network address;
- encoding the first packets in a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) tones, wherein the tones of the first plurality of OFDM tones are limited in frequency to a human speech range from about 300 Hz to about 3,000 Hz;
- modulating a carrier frequency with the first encoded tones;
- transmitting, via a voice grade radio, the modulated carrier frequency as a first Radio Frequency (RF) signal;
- receiving, using the voice grade radio, a second plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, wherein the voice grade radio comprises a bandpass filter to exclude components of received signals with frequencies outside of the human speech range;
- decoding data encoded in the received second plurality of OFDM tones into second packets;
- determining a destination address of the decoded second packets;
- determining a next-hop node to which to forward the second packets;
- re-encoding the second packets into third packets;
- and
- retransmitting the third packets to the next-hop node using a third plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, wherein said retransmitting comprises:
- encoding the third packets in the third plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range;
- modulating the carrier frequency with the third encoded tones;
- and
- transmitting the modulated carrier frequency as a second RF signal.
13 more elements
A voice grade radio apparatus comprising:
- a housing;
- a data input incorporated into the housing for receiving data to transmit;
- a voice grade radio interface incorporated in the housing for communicatively coupling the apparatus to a radio via a wire;
- and
- a processor disposed within the housing and in electrical communication with the data and an output configured for:
- packetizing the received data into first packets, such that the each resultant packet of the first packets includes a destination network address;
- encoding the first packets in a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) tones, wherein the tones are limited in frequency to a human speech range from about 300 Hz to about 3,000 Hz;
- outputting the encoded first tones via the voice grade radio interface;
- decoding data encoded in a received second plurality of OFDM tones into second packets, wherein the received second plurality of OFDM tones is limited in frequency to the human speech range, and wherein the voice grade radio comprises a bandpass filter to exclude components of received signals with frequencies outside of the human speech range;
- determining a destination address of the decoded second packets;
- determining a next-hop node to which to forward the second packets;
- re-encoding the second packets into third packets;
- and
- retransmitting the third packets to the next-hop node using a third plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, wherein said retransmitting comprises:
- encoding the third packets in the third plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range;
- and
- outputting the third plurality of OFDM tones via the voice grade radio interface.
14 more elements
A communications device comprising:
- a voice grade FM transceiver comprising a bandpass filter to exclude components of received signals with frequencies outside of a human speech range from about 300 Hz to about 3,000 Hz;
- and
- a processor configured for:
- receiving FM transmissions including a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed tones modulated on a first carrier frequency, wherein the first tones encode first data packets having a destination address and are limited in frequency to the human speech range from about 300 Hz to about 3,000 Hz;
- decoding data encoded in the received first plurality of OFDM tones into the first packets;
- determining the destination address of the decoded first packets;
- determining a next-hop node to which to forward the first packets;
- re-encoding the first packets into second packets;
- and
- retransmitting the second packets to the next-hop node using a second plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, wherein said retransmitting comprises:
- encoding the second packets in the second plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, and
- transmitting the second plurality of OFDM tones to the next-hop node.
9 more elements
A wireless local area network comprising:
- a plurality of nodes configured for transmitting first digital data packets encoded in a first plurality of orthogonal frequency division multiplexed tones having frequencies limited to a human speech range between about 300 Hz to about 3,000 Hz, wherein the tones are modulated on a first Frequency Modulation (FM) carrier frequency and the first data packets include a destination address;
- and
- a router configured for:
- receiving the first plurality of modulated orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) tones,
- decoding data encoded in the received first plurality of OFDM tones into the first packets,
- determining the destination address of the decoded first packets,
- determining a next-hop node to which to forward the first packets,
- re-encoding the first packets into second packets, and
- retransmitting the second data packets to the next-hop node using a second plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, wherein said retransmitting comprises:
- encoding the second packets in the second plurality of OFDM tones limited in frequency to the human speech range, and
- transmitting the second plurality of OFDM tones to the next-hop node.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.