Wireless Router and Method for Processing Traffic in a Wireless Communications Network

Abstract

A wireless communications network includes a wireless-specific router topology layer that connects cellular sites to a wireline topology. The wireless-specific router topology provides a distributed architecture in which call processing including call setup, resource preservation, air bandwidth allocation, switching, soft handoff, and micromobility is performed at the cell level. The wireless routers are technology independent to support various cellular technologies. The wireless router may include a first interface operable to communicate wireless packets for a call with a remote device and a second interface operable to communicate wireline packets for the call with the wireline network. A traffic controller is coupled to the first and second interfaces and operable to convert traffic between the wireless and wireline packets and to route packets to a destination mobile or wireline device. A selection and distribution unit is operable to select and distribute traffic to support soft handoff for calls in the wireless communications network.

1 . A wireless communications network, comprising: 
 a first wireless router;    a second wireless router;    a first wireless virtual path configured for a call between the first and second routers for transmission of wireline protocol traffic; and    a second wireless virtual path configured for the call between the first and second routers for transmission of wireless protocol traffic, the first and second wireless virtual paths each comprising a multi-protocol label switched path (MPLS), the wireline protocol traffic and the wireless protocol traffic including labels generated upon receipt of the wireline protocol traffic and the wireless protocol traffic for routing over the first and second wireless virtual paths to facilitate soft handoff of a call.    
   
   
       2 . The wireless communications network of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second wireless routers are operable to intercommunicate over the second wireless virtual path to provide a soft handoff for a call.  
   
   
       3 . The wireless communications network of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second wireless routers are operable to intercommunicate to allocate bandwidth for a call.  
   
   
       4 . The wireless communications network of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second wireless routers are operable to intercommunicate to reserve resources for a call.  
   
   
       5 . The wireless communications network of  claim 1 , wherein the first and second wireless routers are operable to intercommunicate to provide mobility management for a call.  
   
   
       6 . The wireless communications network of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a set of active wireless routers for a call, the set including the first and second routers; and    the set of routers operable to intercommunicate over wireless virtual paths to provide a plurality of call mobility, soft handoff, and resource management for the call.    
   
   
       7 . A communications signal transmitted on a wireline link, the communication signal comprising: 
 a payload including one of wireless protocol and wireline protocol traffic for a call with a mobile device; and    a virtual path label generated upon receipt of the payload for the call for routing the payload over a wireless virtual path associated with one of the wireless protocol traffic and the wireline protocol traffic established for the call to a wireless router for call processing, the virtual path label comprising a multi-protocol label switch (MPLS) path label.    
   
   
       8 . The communications signal of  claim 7 , wherein the payload is generated by the mobile device.  
   
   
       9 . The communication signal of  claim 7 , further comprising: 
 a synchronization bias for the payload.    
   
   
       10 . The communications signal of  claim 7 , wherein the virtual path label identifies a primary router for the call.  
   
   
       11 . A wireless router for communicating signals in a wireless network, the wireless router comprising: 
 a radio frequency (RF) front end operable to receive a first signal from a mobile device and generate a label associated with the first signal;    a selection and distribution unit coupled to the RF front end, the selection and distribution unit operable to receive the first signal, to receive a second signal corresponding to the first signal from a disparate wireless router transmitted over a first wireless virtual path for wireless protocol traffic established according to the first signal in accordance with a label generated by the disparate wireless router and associated with the second signal, and to select one of the first signal and the second signal; and    a resource manager coupled to the selection and distribution unit, the resource manager operable to communicate the selected signal to a wireline network, wherein the wireless router is a first wireless router, and wherein the selection and distribution unit comprises a label switched path (LSP) module operable to define the first wireless virtual path for the wireless protocol traffic from the first wireless router to the disparate wireless router, the LSP module of the selection and distribution unit operable to define a second wireless virtual path for wireline protocol traffic associated with the wireless protocol traffic from the first wireless router to the disparate wireless router.    
   
   
       12 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , wherein the selection and distribution unit is operable to define the first and second wireless virtual paths using a forwarding table.  
   
   
       13 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , wherein the selection and distribution unit is operable to define the first and second wireless virtual paths using a trigger rule.  
   
   
       14 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , wherein the selection and distribution unit is operable to select one of the first signal and the second signal using pattern matching on a frame-by-frame basis.  
   
   
       15 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , wherein the selection and distribution unit is operable to select one of the first signal and the second signal using error correction bits.  
   
   
       16 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , wherein the selection and distribution unit is operable to synchronize the first signal and the second signal using a frame sequence number (FSN) in each of the signals.  
   
   
       17 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 an active list comprising at least one cell site with which the mobile device is actively communicating.    
   
   
       18 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 a candidate list comprising at least one cell site with which the mobile device is operable to communicate.    
   
   
       19 . The wireless router of  claim 11 , further comprising: 
 an antenna coupled to the RF front end and operable to receive the first signal from the mobile device and to communicate the first signal to the RF front end.    
   
   
       20 . A method for configuring a wireless communications network for processing a call, comprising: 
 receiving a communication from a mobile device identifying an active set of wireless routers for a call, the active set of wireless routers including a primary wireless router and one or more secondary wireless routers for soft handoff of the call;    informing the primary and secondary wireless routers of their status;    configuring wireless virtual paths for wireless protocol traffic and wireline protocol traffic for the call between the primary and secondary wireless routers; and    allocating resources in the primary and secondary wireless routers for the call, wherein the wireless virtual paths are label switch paths (LSPs);    forwarding information associated with the call between the primary and secondary wireless routers over the wireless virtual paths, the information including labels generated upon receipt for routing over the wireless virtual paths to facilitate the soft handoff of the call.    
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the wireless virtual paths comprise radio frame virtual paths.  
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the wireless virtual paths comprise LSPs transporting at least one of CDMA, CDMA 2000, WCDMA, TDMA and GSM radio frames.  
   
   
       23 . A method for providing soft handoff for a call including a mobile device, comprising: 
 receiving an instance of a radio frame from a mobile device at an active set of wireless routers, the active set including a plurality of active wireless routers for a call;    assigning a label to each instance of the radio frame at each of the plurality of active wireless routers;    establishing at least a first wireless virtual path for carrying wireline protocol traffic and a second wireless virtual path for carrying wireless protocol traffic between the primary wireless router and secondary wireless routers;    routing the radio frame instances from secondary wireless routers in the active set to a primary wireless router in the active set over a wireless virtual path established for the call by the primary wireless router to the secondary wireless routers in accordance with the labels; and    selecting at the primary wireless router one of the radio frame instances for transmission to a destination device, wherein the radio frames are routed from the secondary wireless routers to the primary wireless router over the wireless virtual paths through label switched paths (LSPs) established between the primary and the secondary wireless routers.    
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising: 
 assembling the selected radio frame instance with other selected radio frame instances to form an Internet protocol (IP) packet; and    transmitting the IP packet to the destination device.    
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the radio frames received at the primary wireless router from the mobile device are routed to the secondary wireless routers through the wireless virtual path.  
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the radio frames are routed from the secondary wireless routers to the primary wireless router through virtual paths established between the primary and the secondary wireless routers.  
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 23 , further comprising: 
 receiving traffic from the destination device at the primary wireless router;    assigning a label to each instance of the traffic at the primary wireless router;    multicasting instances of the traffic from the primary wireless router to each of the secondary wireless routers in the active set of wireless routers over the wireless virtual paths established for the call in accordance with the labels; and    transmitting instances of the traffic to the mobile device from each of the wireless routers in the active set.    
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising synchronously transmitting instances of the traffic from the wireless routers in the active set to the mobile device.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the traffic comprises an Internet protocol (IP) packet, further comprising: 
 segmenting the IP packet into a plurality of radio frames at the primary wireless router;    assigning a label to each radio frame;    multicasting instances of each radio frame to the secondary wireless routers in the active set of wireless routers over the wireless virtual paths established for the call in accordance with the labels; and    transmitting instances of the radio frame to the mobile device from each of the wireless routers in the active set.    
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising transmitting at least one instance of the traffic from the primary wireless router to a secondary wireless router with a synchronization bias operable to delay transmission of the instance from the secondary wireless router to the mobile device.  
   
   
       31 . A method for providing mobility for mobile devices in a wireless communications network, comprising: 
 providing a network anchor wireless router;    providing a primary wireless router receiving traffic from a mobile device for a call and forwarding the traffic to the network anchor wireless router through a wireless virtual path carrying wireless protocol traffic established for the call by the primary wireless router for delivery to a destination device, the primary wireless router assigning labels to the traffic to facilitate routing to the network anchor wireless router over the wireless virtual path;    the network anchor wireless router receiving traffic from the destination device and forwarding the traffic to the primary wireless router through a wireless virtual path carrying wireline protocol traffic established for the call by the primary wireless router for delivery to the mobile device, the network anchor wireless router assigning labels to the traffic to facilitate routing to the primary wireless router over the wireless virtual path;    receiving a new primary wireless router;    terminating the existing wireless virtual path between the network anchor and primary wireless router; and    establishing a new wireless virtual path for the call between the network anchor wireless router and the new wireless router for communication of traffic for the call, wherein the virtual paths comprise label switch paths (LSPs).