Reducing cost of cellular backhaul

Abstract

Methods and systems for reducing the cost of cellular backhaul are disclosed.

1 . A method for backhauling wireless voice and data transmissions, the method comprising:
 receiving, at a base station, a wireless transmission;   forwarding the transmission from the base station to a base station controller over a shared network.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 receiving, at the base station controller, a second transmission;   forwarding the second transmission to the base station over the shared network.   
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shared network comprises a non-private network. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the shared network comprises the Internet. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing a jitter buffer at the base station controller; and   using the jitter buffer to compensate for jitter introduced by the shared network.   
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising:
 providing a jitter buffer at the base station; and   using the jitter buffer to compensate for jitter introduced by the shared network.   
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein forwarding the transmission comprises forwarding the transmission using a secure protocol. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the secure protocol comprises SSL. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining a priority of the received transmission; and   forwarding the transmission based on the determined priority.   
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein determining a priority comprises:
 assigning a first priority to voice transmissions; and   assigning a second priority to data transmissions, wherein the first priority is greater than the second priority.   
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein forwarding the transmission comprises forwarding the transmission using voice over IP technology. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing decryption of the transmission at the base station controller. 
   
   
       13 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising performing encryption of the second transmission at the base station controller. 
   
   
       14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising performing power control at the base station. 
   
   
       15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transmission comprises a transmission from a cellular telephone. 
   
   
       16 . A method comprising:
 receiving, at a base station, a wireless transmission from a first mobile unit to be routed to a second mobile unit;   determining if the second mobile unit is within a communication range of the base station; and   if the second mobile unit is within the range, locally routing the transmission from the first mobile unit to the second mobile unit at the base station.   
   
   
       17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising forwarding the transmission from the base station to a base station controller if the second mobile unit is not within the range. 
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein forwarding the transmission from the base station to the base station controller comprises forwarding the transmission from the base station to the base station controller over a shared network. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the shared network comprises the Internet. 
   
   
       20 . A system for backhauling wireless voice and data transmissions, the system comprising:
 a base station configured to:
 receive a wireless transmission; and 
 forward the transmission to a base station controller over a shared network. 
   
   
   
       21 . The system of  claim 20 , further comprising:
 a base station controller configured to:
 receive a second transmission; and 
 forward the second transmission to the base station over the shared network. 
   
   
   
       22 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the shared network comprises the Internet. 
   
   
       23 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the base station controller comprises a jitter buffer configured to compensate for jitter introduced by the shared network. 
   
   
       24 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the base station comprises a jitter buffer configured to compensate for jitter introduced by the shared network. 
   
   
       25 . The system of  claim 20 , wherein the base station is further configured to:
 determine a priority of the received transmission; and   forward the transmission based on the determined priority.   
   
   
       26 . A system comprising:
 a base station configured to:
 receive a wireless transmission from a first mobile unit to be routed to a second mobile unit; 
 determine if the second mobile unit is within a communication range of the base station; and 
 if the second mobile unit is within the range, locally route the transmission from the first mobile unit to the second mobile unit at the base station. 
   
   
   
       27 . The system of  claim 26 , further comprising a base station controller, wherein the base station is further configured to forward the transmission to the base station controller if the second mobile unit is not within the range.