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EP0656735A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Bimodal portable telephone

Assignee: AT&T Inc
•
Filing: 1994-11-23
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2014-11-23
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Abstract

Abstract A bimodal portable telephone provides cellular service and improved cordless service in a common handset (107). Operation of the bimodal portable telephone in a cellular telephone system provides telephone service over a wide geographical area of coverage through operation with multiple cellular bases (104), and in a cordless telephone system provides telephone service over a localized geographical area of coverage through operation with an associated cordless base (115). The cordless service provides improved performance over conventional cordless telephone service by advantageously employing a frequency hopping spread spectrum modulation technique for communications between the portable telephone (107) and the cordless base unit (115). This improved performance achieves increased operating range of the cordless telephone system. This increased operating range is particularly advantageous to the user of the portable telephone in that it permits this more economical system to be used over a much greater distance than is possible with conventional cordless telephone service. Also, commonality of circuitry within the portable telephone is facilitied through the selection of operating frequencies for the cordless telephone system to be in close proximity with those of the cellular telephone system.

Inventors

  • 👤 Kyle Leslie Burson
  • 👤 Yum Cheng Chang
  • 👤 Wilson Fok
  • 👤 Kenneth White Leland
  • 👤 Denis P. Orlando
  • 👤 Andrzej Partyka

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-03 17:23
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04W; H04W88/00; H04W88/02; H04W88/06

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 16
Claim 1
Independent Claim 67 words
A portable telephone handset (107) including: circuit means for communicating with a first base station (115) configured for operation in a frequency hopping system and for communicating with a second base station (104) configured for operation in a cellular radio system; and control means (340)for selectably configuring said circuit means for operation of the handset in either of said frequency hopping system or said cellular radio system.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 69 words
A handset as claimed in claim 1 wherein the circuit means includes baseband circuitry (334,335) for processing received radiotelephone signals and signals generated by a user of the handset, and radio-frequency circuit means (317,336-339) for commonly generating signals in the handset both for transmission to said first base station operating in said frequency hopping system and for transmission to said second base station operating in said cellular radio system.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 70 words
A handset as claimed in claim 2 wherein the radio-frequency circuit means includes a first synthesizer (317) for providing a selected frequency for use in determining the frequency of a radio-frequency signal for transmission by the handset, the control means (340) configuring said first synthesizer for providing the selected frequency from a range of selected frequencies for use in operating in said frequency hopping system and said cellular radio system.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 60 words
A handset as claimed in claim 3 wherein the radio-frequency circuit means includes a second synthesizer (336) for providing a reference frequency for use in determining the frequency of the radio-frequency signal for transmission by the handset and a mixer (337) for combining the selected frequency and the reference frequency for generating the radio-frequency signal for transmission by the handset.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 51 words
A handset as claimed in claim 4 wherein the radio-frequency circuit means includes amplifying means (338,339) for amplifying both radio-frequency signals generated for transmission to said first base station configured for operation in said frequency hopping system and to said second base station configured for operation in said cellular radio system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 50 words
A handset as claimed in claim 1 wherein the circuit means includes receive signal means (301,311-315; 301,351,352,315) for receiving radio-frequency signals from said first base station while configured for operation in said frequency hopping system and from said second base station while configured for operation in said cellular radio system.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 62 words
A handset as claimed in claim 6 including standby circuit means for configuring the handset to a standby state, the receive signal means being configured by the standby circuit means for monitoring both a selected radio frequency channel in said frequency hopping system and a selected one from a group of channels in said cellular radio system while in said standby state.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 91 words
A handset as claimed in claim 7 wherein the receive signal means includes means for monitoring the selected radio frequency channel in said frequency hopping system for a first time period for detecting an incoming call on said frequency hopping system directed to the handset and for monitoring the selected one from a group of channels in said cellular radio system for a second time period for detecting an incoming call on said cellular radio system directed to the handset, said second time period being greater than said first time period.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 30 words
A handset as claimed in claim 8 wherein the monitoring means includes means for cycling between said first and second time period while the handset is in the standby state.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 42 words
A handset as claimed in claim 6 wherein the receive signal means includes first radio-frequency circuit means for receiving the radio-frequency signals from said first base station and second radio-frequency circuit means for receiving the radio-frequency signals from said second base station.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 67 words
A handset as claimed in claim 10 wherein the receive signal means includes switching means (316,319,320,321,326,329,330) operably responsive to said control means for interconnecting commonly shared multiple amplifier means (353,321,327,331) to the first radio-frequency circuit means when the handset is configured for operation in said frequency hopping system and to the second radio-frequency circuit means when the handset is configured for operation in said cellular radio system.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 56 words
A handset as claimed in claim 11 including means for initializing the handset for operation with one of the first or second base stations, the handset including means for originating calls from the handset to one of the first or second base stations and for receiving calls from one of the first or second base stations.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 64 words
A handset as claimed in claim 12 wherein the call originating means includes means for connecting said handset and said first base unit for exchanging radio signals when said handset is within reception range of the first base unit, said connecting means connecting said handset to said second base unit when said handset is outside of the reception range of said first base unit.
Claim 14
Independent Claim 64 words
A method of selectively operating a portable telephone handset, the method including the steps of: communicating with a first base station (115) configured for operation in a frequency hopping system; communicating with a second base station (104) configured for operation in a cellular radio system; and configuring the handset selectably for operation in either of said frequency hopping system or said cellular radio system.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 46 words
A method as claimed in claim 14 including the steps of receiving radio-frequency signals from said first base station while configured for operation in said frequency hopping system and receiving radio-frequency signals from said second base station while configured for operation in said cellular radio system.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim 50 words
A method as claimed in claim 15 including the step of configuring the handset to a standby state and monitoring both a selected radio frequency channel in said frequency hopping system and a selected one from a group of channels in said cellular radio system while in said standby state.

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