Methods and systems that record the location of a user and transmit targeted content to a user based upon their current and past location information. A network is configured to include a server programmed with a database of targeted content, a database of location information, a database of user information, a database searching algorithm, and a wireless communication system capable of communicating with the user's mobile device. The location of the mobile device is ascertained and recorded. The location information is analyzed to determine the routes taken by the user, businesses visited by the user, and other behaviors of the user. Targeted content is sent to the mobile device of the user or exposure to physical content is tracked. Whether the user visits the physical locations associated with the content is monitored. Detailed conversion tracking is provided to producers of targeted content and business owners.

This invention generally relates to methods and systems that generate information associated with geographic locations, targeted content delivery, targeted search results, navigation systems, mobile conversion tracking, and location based services on mobile devices. More specifically, this invention relates to methods and systems for processing and reporting mobile location data in order to provide targeted content, conversion tracking, and other information and services to businesses and users of mobile devices. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see references 1 through 16 and 36 through 40 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
There is significant benefit provided by methods and systems that provide an improved targeted advertising system that is able to deliver content to a mobile audience that may subsequently conveniently visit the advertiser's business. The methods and systems also provide feedback to advertisers including conversion tracking of mobile advertisements that result in sales at their retail locations. Furthermore, significant benefit is also provided by methods and systems of paying via mobile phones that are coupled to mobile advertisement systems, and systems that track conversions.
There is significant benefit provided by methods and systems that provide a better display of content on a mobile device that exploits the form factor and features of the mobile device. Current targeted content efforts have not taken advantage of all the features mobile devices have to offer. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see reference 5 below, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
There is significant benefit provided by methods and systems that provide search results and targeted content based upon the current course of the user instead of simply the radial distance from the user. There is also significant benefit provided by methods and systems that provide up-to-date cartographic information. For purposes of illustration and without limitation, when a car is traveling north there may be a gas station one mile south but it is better to remain on course and visit a different gas station three miles ahead of the current location and along the desired route.
Significant benefit is provided by a content targeting methods and systems usable with mobile devices that not only search for results closest to the current location of the mobile device, but also take into account other information in order to provide more useful results for the user. The methods and systems analyze current or historical locations, speeds, headings of the mobile device, or combinations thereof, as recorded by the device, by a remote system, or both, and deliver search result information, including content from advertisers interested in targeting consumers in the areas the consumer typically travels. Thus, in one application, if a consumer usually travels along a given route to and from work, where a specific advertiser owns a business, it would be desirable if the content produced by the advertiser would be more likely to reach the consumer than another consumer that never passes by any business locations of the advertiser. In another application, targeted content for businesses on the right hand side of the road may have preference over targeted content on the left hand side of the road in the United States since it may be easier to make a right hand turn than a left hand turn. If the content is something that the targeted consumer is interested in, they are more likely to respond to the content and visit the business location of the advertiser because it is convenient for them to stop at the business location, based on the flow of automobile traffic. In forms of the invention with integrated navigation features, the current or any historical route may be used to provide results for businesses that are easily accessible from the current route or other likely routes. Furthermore, the types of businesses along the route that the mobile device is currently on or usually takes, the types of businesses that the mobile device appears to visit based on past location and other data, the types of targeted content that the device has responded to, preferences and favored keywords of the user, historical search queries from the mobile device or another associated device or account on a remote system, reminder flags set from the mobile device or another associated device or account on a remote system, and preferences of advertisers may also be used to more effectively target content for mobile devices. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see references 1, 2, and 17 through 35 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by a content targeting methods and systems usable with mobile devices that provide feedback to the advertisers—especially those advertisers that have brick and mortar businesses—to help them judge the effectiveness of their targeted content. The effectiveness of a business' advertising effort may be measured by determining with regard to a user of a device that has received targeted content one or more of: whether the user visits a business location of a content producer after their content has been delivered to the device; the time spent at the location; and, how much money was spent at the business by that user (especially in the case where the user pays through an online payment service utilizing the mobile device).
There is significant benefit provided by methods and systems that facilitate sharing of location information with friends, family, acquaintances, and the general public. These methods and systems may provide personal information or may anonomyze the data depending on privacy settings and the particular application. These methods and systems help a user of the system locate friends and family members and provide up-to-date information about the popularity or business of business locations. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see reference 50 below, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
There is significant benefit provided by improved GPS functionality in these devices in order to better provide location based services and to enable reliable location based services indoors. The methods and systems incorporate Bluetooth®, Near Field Radios such as RFID, Wi-Fi, WiMax, 700 MHz Radios, GPS, or combinations thereof. The methods and systems may incorporate more accurate GPS chipsets such as the SIRF Star III or even more accurate GPS chipsets, A-GPS, cell tower triangulation, terrestrial FM or TV signals, altimeters, pressure sensors, or a combination thereof in addition to other location determination and sensing technologies in conjunction with one another. To further improve the accuracy, filtering techniques may be employed (e.g., a Kalman filter, etc.). To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see references 41 through 64 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by methods and systems that report more accurate addresses, business names, and other information that corresponds to the location reported by mobile devices. Current location based services simply show a pinpoint on a map or an approximate street address that does not correspond to the actual location inside of a business location. Street addresses typically correspond to locations along the road while the location information from the cellular phone usually indicates a location set back from the road representing the user's actual location inside of a business location. Other reasons why street address information may be inaccurate is that the geocoding algorithms that calculate the street address are incorrect at times, or they cannot account for all of the variations that must occur in the addressing scheme to account for various city layouts. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, refer to references 17 through 28 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by navigation software that not only takes into account current traffic conditions in providing routes, but methods and systems that are able to determine how many people are taking any given route and orchestrate traffic by distributing travelers judiciously across all available streets to avoid congestion on the most well known paths. The methods and systems provide traffic information enabling users to avoid traffic congestion. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, refer to references 17 through 28, 65 through 69, and 131 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by an incentive system to entice consumers to go out of their way to visit the business location of an advertiser. The methods and systems provide digital coupon delivery usable with mobile devices. When the advertising system sends a targeted advertisement to a consumer, it may be beneficial to provide an incentive in the form of a coupon or discount valid at the advertiser's place of business. The type or value of the discount may be tied to the amount of effort that is required by the consumer to visit the advertiser's business from the current course of travel. The incentive may additionally or alternatively be subject to other conditions imposed by the advertising system or the advertiser.
There is significant benefit provided by methods and systems that entice users to visit business locations where there is relatively little effort on the part of the customer or the business to implement the incentive mechanism. The methods and systems may assign a value to the coupon related to the effort that would be required for the potential customer to get to the store from their current location and route. Furthermore, the methods and systems may automatically apply the coupon to the purchase price or they may provide a simple mechanism for application of the coupon. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see references 39, 40, and 130 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by advertising methods and systems that include one or more of: an interface for advertisers to produce or input their targeted content into an advertising system, a database that contains business locations and optionally other information such as phone numbers and business classifications, a secure database that contains tracking information for mobile devices and other user information, a search engine, a navigation or mapping system, and a software package with a suitable user interface for displaying location based targeted content on mobile devises. Using these and other elements as building blocks, any combination systems within the spirit of the invention may be put into place. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, refer to references 69 through 83 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Significant benefit is provided by methods and systems that encourage mobile device users to embrace the incredibly useful cell phone tracking features for their benefit. Despite the utility that this invention is provides, there is likely to be at least some resistance and reluctance to implement the invention due to what people perceive to be privacy concerns. Many people and organizations, such as the Electronic Freedom Foundation, are very reluctant to have their search habits, email, website viewing habits, and other personal information recorded while they browse the internet. This is true even if the information is not associated with any personal information. In order for increased privacy on the internet, some people even go as far as to disable very helpful and non-threatening features of web browsers such as cookies. Since many people are overly cautious of their internet location being known, they are even more resistant to their physical location known to a system that is able to analyze the data. Furthermore, there have been numerous recent court cases over the use of cell phone tracking. To shorten and simplify the description of the invention, see references 84 through 86 below, herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.
So as to reduce the complexity and length of the Detailed Specification, and to fully establish the state of the art in certain areas of technology, Applicant herein expressly incorporates by reference all of the following materials identified in each numbered paragraph below. The incorporated materials are not necessarily "prior art" and Applicant expressly reserves the right to swear behind any of the incorporated materials. Furthermore, the full text of non-patent literature incorporated by reference below may be included in the file wrapper of this application.    1. U.S. Publication Number 20060248062 entitled "Method and system for content search with mobile computing devices."    2. U.S. Publication Number 20060242017 entitled "Method and system of bidding for advertisement placement on computing devices."    3. U.S. Publication Number 20060190331 entitled "Delivering targeted advertising to mobile devices."    4. U.S. Pat. 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Applicant believes that the material incorporated above is "non-essential" in accordance with 37 CFR 1.57, because it is referred to for purposes of indicating the background of the invention or illustrating the state of the art. However, if the Examiner believes that any of the above-incorporated material constitutes "essential material" within the meaning of 37 CFR 1.57(c)(1)-(3), applicant will amend the specification to expressly recite the essential material that is incorporated by reference as allowed by the applicable rules.

Systems and methods to attribute real-world visits of physical business locations by a user of a wireless device to targeted digital content or publicly displayed physical content previously viewable by the user


The invention disclosed herein relates to an endless belt molding apparatus for the continuous molding of high pressure plastic foam products. The invention disclosed requires first and second adjustably spaced a part rotating endless belts between which the foamed product is molded. The space between the belts is vertically movable by means of fluid operated lifting/clamping means. The lifting/clamping means in cooperation with gauge blocks provide precise control of the space between the belts. Synchronized rotation of the belts is provided for any vertical positioning of the belts by a vertically extendable drive means rigidly coupled and mounted to said belts. A control circuit for the operation of the lifting/clamping means includes analogue sensing means positioned at selected locations between the first and second belts which provide signals representative of the pressures exerted by the foamed product during molding. The signals from the analogue sensing means are inputted to a control circuit for the fluid operated lifting/clamping means to adjust the spacing between on the speed of said belts in response to local variations in molding pressure.

Equipment employing spaced apart moving endless conveyor belts as the mold surfaces for continuous foam panel products is old and generally well known to those in the art. Numerous devices have been proposed, see e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,082,861 and 3,093,232. Continuous foam molding apparatus have been commercially available for many years. Many of these devices incorporate one or more improvements which have been made over the years such as the use of pneumatic clamping means, U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,245; the use of micro-switches to sense pressure build-ups between the belts, U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,648; side clamps, U.S. Pat. No. Re 29,125; panel type conveyors, U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,130; conveyor rails and rollers, U.S. Pat. No. 3,037,603; and the like.
In general, the production of continuous foam panels involves the use of a pair of continuous outer sheets of flexible material, such as paper, bent to include dependent sides. Respective sheets of material are fed to a molding machine having a pair of spaced apart endless belts so that each sheet is adapted to abut one of the belts. Foamable resins are continuously injected or spread between the sheets during operation of the machine. As the resin product travels between the belts, it begins to foam and expand to fill the space there and exert a pressure on the belts. These belts act as the mold cavity to constrain the foam and shape the final product.
While numerous improvements have been made in endless belt molding apparatus to provide more uniform products and attain high speed production, none of the prior art molding apparatus is capable of high speed molding at pressures in excess of 15 psi. Conventional endless belt molding apparatus operation with foam pressures ranging between 3 and 5 psi. One of the major problems associated with high pressure, high speed molding is that excess localized pressures can build-up during the foaming process. Unless that pressure is relieved, serious damage can result to the equipment.
Recent improvements in such equipment provide means for sensing such build-ups and to actuate controls to increase the spacing between the endless belts. A conventional method for protecting against excess pressure build-up, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,648, uses micro-switches to sense the pressure build-up by the disengagement of the switch contacts when such pressure raises one of the belts from the gauge block. The switches actuate an adjustable spacing means to lift the upper belt away from the product and completely relieve the pressure on the apparatus.
However, one of the disadvantages of such methods is that it normally results in a shutdown of the machine causing the product to backup. This results from the fact that the sensing means do not provide continuous monitoring of the pressure build-up, but rather an abrupt disengagement when a selected pressure is reached. Furthermore, conventional drive means do not permit synchronous rotation of the belts once a belt is raised. Accordingly, it is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an endless belt molding apparatus having means for continuously sensing pressure build-up during the molding operation and to permit relief thereof without stopping production. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a molding apparatus capable of operating with high pressure generating foam materials. It is still further object of the present invention to provide a drive means for synchronous rotation of the belts during vertical movement of the belts.


A vehicle barrier including a housing located in a pit, a barrier pivotally mounted on the housing and having a roadway surface and a barrier surface, hydraulic motors for moving the barrier from a retracted position where said roadway surface lies substantially flush with the roadway to an extended position where the barrier surface obstructs a vehicle on the roadway, energy absorbing members in the barrier, a break-away member effectively located between the barrier and the housing for permitting the barrier to pivot beyond its normal extended position when subjected to a vehicular impact above a predetermined value to thereby lift a vehicle off of the ground and throw it upwardly, and self-aligning structure between the barrier and the housing for effecting engagement between the hydraulic motors and the barrier upon installing the barrier into the housing.

The present invention relates to an improved vehicle barrier construction for stopping unauthorized passage of vehicles.
By way of background, there are numerous vehicle barrier constructions known wherein a pivotal barrier member is movable from a retracted position in which a vehicle can pass over it to an extended position in which it obstructs vehicles. This general type of vehicle barrier is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,949,295, 2,362,912, 2,741,859 and 4,152,871. It is with an improvement over the foregoing type of vehicle barrier that this invention is concerned.


An instructional, training, and assessment apparatus is provided for use in the activity of swimming. The apparatus includes a cable having a proximal end and a distal end, and a harness for coupling the distal end of the cable to a swimmer. A mechanism is coupled to the proximal end of the cable for winding and unwinding the cable to apply positive and negative forces to the swimmer as the swimmer swims laps in a pool. The apparatus of the present invention can also be used with a mechanism that applies only positive forces to the swimmer. A sensor is provided for generating an output signal responsive to a parameter measured by the sensor. The apparatus also includes a programmable controller responsive to the output signal from the sensor and to preprogrammed control parameters for controlling the forces applied by the winding and unwinding mechanism. The apparatus further includes a transmitter and sensor at the distal end of the cable for the transmission of the sensor output signal through the cable to a receiver located at the proximal end of the cable.

The ability to perform at the highest levels of swimming has been attributed to a number of factors including stroke mechanics, physical conditioning, and psychological factors. Therefore the key components of effective swim instruction and coaching programs include stroke mechanics instruction, training techniques designed to develop appropriate levels of physical conditioning, and the utilization of relevant assessment techniques for instructional diagnostics and feedback.
Stroke mechanics has only recently been supported by viable biomechanical theories and insights. Although previously propulsion was thought to be primarily related to the generation of drag forces or pushing against water, it is now believed that the fastest swimmers develop propulsive forces primarily derived from lift or Bernoulli effects. These forces are produced by the movement of the swimmers hand through the water in a lateral elliptical pattern. Two key elements in the completion of this pattern are hand angle relative to the direction of limb movement and the ability to accelerate the hand at appropriate positions throughout the range of this motion or swim stroke. In addition, the optimal stroke velocity may not necessarily be the maximal velocity that a swimmer is able to sustain. The utilization of the proper pull pattern is a function of neuromotor skill and limb strength. Given two swimmers with relatively equivalent pull patterns, the fastest swimmer will be the one who is able to generate the most power. However, to conclude that the strongest individual will be the fastest swimmer ignores the overwhelming importance of stroke pattern in determining swim velocity. In addition to the basics of hand angle and acceleration, a stroke pattern can be reduced to four components; outsweep, downsweep, insweep, and upsweep. Furthermore, strokes such as the backstroke and butterfly have other body components that are critical to proper technique including head and hip motion as well as multiple kick patterns.
Four measures of stroke mechanics known to be correlated with maximum swim velocity are stroke efficiency (distance per stroke), maximal stroke frequency, stroke balance, and stroke ripple. These four variables are inter-related, with power being an underlying influence of all four. In addition, the relationship of stroke propulsive efficiency to stroke velocity is influenced by the fact that drag increases to the cube of forward velocity, while forward velocity increases at a slower rate in proportion to stroke velocity. Elite swimmers take fewer strokes per pool length and yet maintain a stroke frequency equal to if not greater than lessor competitors. Balance of stroke reflects the contribution of each of the two arms. Stroke ripple provides an indication of the efficiency of power transfer to overall forward motion as well as the ability to moderate the effects of inertia. In addition to these basic measures of stroke mechanics, more advanced analysis is under development (Costill 1992). During the course of a stroke the time course profile of the various stroke components can provide valuable information for instruction and correction.
Both stroke efficiency and velocity are thought to be developed primarily through water based drills. Distance per stroke can be improved through emphasis of the elliptical pull pattern and hand entrance and hand exit exercises. Stroke frequency is improved by swim sprints at distances shorter than those of any of the competitive events. Sprint assisted exercise, the application of an assisting force, has been suggested as a means of improving both factors. Sprint-assist provides the opportunity to develop stroke velocity and efficiency at higher than maximum speed. A simple technique has been used by coaches to implement the sprint-assist technique via a line attached to the swimmer and the manual hauling of the line. Another method involves the use of a long bungi cord (surgical rubber cord) which is stretched the length of the pool. When the swimmer swims towards the anchor point, the cord contracts and applys an assistive force. Other systems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,675 which consists of a line, weights, and pulleys, can be used to apply a constant assistive force to a swimmer as well. An experimental system recently constructed at Stanford University employs a hydraulic motor and an overhead cable system which applys an assistive force to the swimmer. Similar methods have been utilized by track athletes. Runners have been pulled behind moving vehicles or have been trained to run on motorized treadmills at speeds above those which they are independently capable of achieving. These methods often result in improvements in stride length and stride frequencies. Floatation devices however, are the most prevalant training aid and are used to modify the bouyancy of the swimmer or of his limbs for the purpose of modifying movement and reducing the energy requirements necessary to sustain floatation. An example of this type of device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,326.
Training to develop physical conditioning is an important component of swimming success. As is true for most athletic activities, natural ability has a strong influence as well. A high aerobic capacity appears to be a requirement for enhanced endurance in swimming as is the case for long distance running and cycling. A key contributor to strength is the cross- sectional area of primary limb muscles. Thus, it is not surprising to find that the ability to generate power is related to skeletal muscle mass. Several scientific reports exist suggesting a high correlation between competitive swim performance and the ability of the swimmer to produce power as measured by a dry land device. This relationship appears to be particularly true when swimming shorter distances, those accomplished in less than two or three minutes.
One of the key concepts of athletic training is specificity of training. To train for the marathon one must run long distances. To be competitive in cycling, one must cycle. Therefore, the training activity most appropriate to achieving optimal swimming performance is actual swimming. While a number of land based exercise devices have been developed as a means to improve the strength and or muscular endurance of the swimmer, their overall effectiveness has not been determined. Councilman states that high-resistance fast-speed protocols are important for competitive swimming, and are best accomplished by sprinting in the water. The consensus is that aquatic based activity is more appropriate in both the training and assessment of swimmers.
A second key concept of training is that of physiological "overload". An important element of physical adaptation to physical demands is that to achieve optimal results athletes need to train for various elements of the activity in excess of that faced when they compete. Thus in order to develop the strength needed to perform maximally it is argued that loads in excess of those encountered during the event must be experienced during the training phase. These training activities can be placed into four categories, isometrics, isotonics, isokinetics, and biokinetics.
Isometric exercise allows no external muscle shortening or rather changes in joint angle. While clearly improving strength, isometric exercises are of limited use in a dynamic sense and provide few benefits in terms of muscle recruitment patterns. Isotonic exercise utilizes a constant weight moved through a range of motion wherein skeletal muscle shortening and joint angle changes do take place. This is the most common form of "weight lifting" exercise. The criticism concerning this exercise mode is that once the weight attains inertia less effort is required to continue to lift the weight. Also, the limiting factor for lifting the weight is the strength of the weakest muscle required to move it through the entire range of motion. Isokinetic exercise devices use cams or elliptical arcs to overcome this problem. By moving the weights along predetermined arcs the effective weight changes as a function of mechanical advantage. The disadvantage of this exercise mode concerns limited acceleration throughout the range of motion and aforementioned problems with inertia. There has also been criticism of this exercise mode in terms of it's specialized nature and the lack of development of the stabilizers and antagonistic muscle groups.
Biokinetic exercise provides accommodating resistance and acceleration throughout the range of motion thereby obviating the problems of the previously described modes of exercise. Accommodating resistance refers to the fact that muscle fibers employed to move a limb through a range of motion can be numerous and varied. Because the strengths of these muscles differs, a device that can provide the appropriate maximal forces, regardless of the limb dynamics, promotes strength gains at all points throughout complex motions. In line with the complex nature of the ballistic movements associated with the activity of swimming, biokinetic devices will provide the most benefits as they most closely emulate appropriate athletic movements.
Many of the standard dry land exercise techniques are utilized to train swimmers. Isometric and isotonic exercises employed by swimmers are of the dry land variety. In addition to these, specialized dry land devices provide analogs of swimming motions and are classified as isokinetic and/or biokinetic. U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,921 reveals a bench for simulating and developing swimming movement. "The Swim Bench", model 26E from Fitness Systems of Independence Mo., attempts to duplicate the full range of stroke motion on dry land. This device employs a governor controlled frictional mechanism. Other such systems include the BioKinetic Swim Bench of BioKinetics Inc. and the Biokinetic Bench of Isokinetic Inc.. These latter two systems utilize an electromagnetic braking system. Dry land systems such as the various swim benches do not replicate the true stroke dynamics encountered while swimming the crawl nor do they duplicate the metabolic loads required during actual swimming exercise.
The application of resistive forces to the swimmer while swimming may be categorized into three classes. The first includes those techniques employing attachments to a free- swimming person and which utilize hydrodynamic frictional drag. The second category includes those that tether or connect the swimmer to a stationary portion of a pool or dry land. The third classification encompasses techniques which connect the swimmer to a device which permits full swimming motion over the distance of a pool length or lap while applying resistance to that forward motion.
Most swimming resistance devices fall into the first category. A commonly used technique involves the attachment of small tires or other readily available items to the feet or body of the swimmer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,517,930, 5,002,268, and 5,011,137 describe variable resistance swimmer training devices which provide various degrees of resistance by employing hydrodynamic drag appendages. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,007 Counsilman and Oprean describe a drag belt with drag pockets. In the second class, various ropes, bungi cords (surgical rubber cords), and other lines are employed to attach the swimmer to a stationary object. U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,020 is a swimming exercise and training apparatus which restrains a swimmer in both the forward and lateral directions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,524,711 provides for a tethering line which incorporates a limited amount of stretching. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,192 alternatively restrains the swimmer with a pair of spring loaded shoulder pads.
The simplest variation of the third class is the use of bungi cords (surgical rubber cords) or lines by an assistant who follows the swimmer along the side of the pool or pays out the line while applying a degree of resistive force. Other more elaborate resistance systems attach to the swimmer via a line or rope and include weights and pulleys, and rotational frictional devices. U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,675 describes a swimmer training device consisting of a line, pulleys, and weights. U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,874 reveals a small, portable appliance which provides the swimmer with a resistive force via a line attached to a rotary frictional device, with a spring line recoil mechanism. The "Long Rope" (Fitness Systems model 65S) employed a mechanism similar to their Swim Bench, but permits the swimmer to exercise in the water. This device was said to provide improvements in stroke technique and resistance training. It was described as portable, isokinetic, variable speed, and possessing the ability to recoil 80 feet of rope. There are other exercise devices such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,694 which claim to be mechanically convertible to any sport, and therefore imply applicability to the sport of swimming. Specifics of such modifications are not revealed however, and no mention is made of modifications that would be necessary to the control system for use in swimming.
Assessment techniques require the measurement of various physical parameters during swimming and range from the trivial use of a stopwatch, to elaborate research installations. Measurement of speed is the primary variable of interest in competitive swimming, and is utilized by most swim instructors and coaches. One early device revealed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,825,224 described a spring-balance force scale for the purpose of indicating relative swimming stroke development, The swimmer swam tethered in a stationary position. Recently researchers have begun to investigate the contributions of various muscle groups to the swimming stroke mechanics (Bingham 1993) by employing techniques of electromyography. These investigations may lend insights into both stroke mechanics and muscle fatigue. Hull recently (Kelly 1993) developed a prototype system for the assessment of stroke mechanics in competitive swimmers. This system consists of a hydraulic motor, overhead pulleys and cable system that tows the swimmer through the water at high speeds. This permits the swimmer and coach to analyze differences in stroke at these speeds due to the lowered requirements of propulsion forces which are provided by the towing system rather than the swimmer. One technique for diagnostic measures of stroke mechanics is now commercially available. Bladimiro Mestre of Quebec, Canada, has developed four bio-feedback systems that analyze propulsive forces, resistances, stroke balance, and rhythms. These systems provide visual and auditory feedback based on measured swimming parameters.
The measurement of power production during swimming is one of the major goals of researchers in the field. Measurement of power in the arms has been used as a diagnostic in assessing swimming performance. Sharp (1982), demonstrated correlations between BioKinetic Swim Bench (BioKinetics Inc.) measures and times in the sprint free style. The direct measure of power produced while swimming would be useful, but is highly problematic due to the lack of adequate models of swimming hydrodynamics and bio- mechanics. Toussaint (1988) describes an elaborate system designed to measure power and drag forces during swimming. The method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,010 attempts to estimate relative power by the measurement of hydrodynamic pressures on the palm of the swimmers hand. This technique is problematic for theoretical reasons mentioned above.
A power related variable which has been commonly measured in the swimmer is termed excess force or excess power. By means of a tether, the velocity of the swimmer is controlled and the maximal force that can be generated by the swimmer at that set velocity is measured by use of a force transducer. Knowing the swimmer's displacement and the time interval, excess power can thereby be derived. This value, excess power, has been shown to be correlated to swim performance in shorter competitive swim events. A few researchers have developed systems for the measurement of excess force in laboratory. Costill (1986) assembled a computer based system for the measurement of excess force and power during front crawl swimming at one of several preselected speeds. This system utilized an electromagnetic braking system (The Biokinetic Bench of Isokinetic Inc.) adapted to accommodate a long line attached to the swimmer. The device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,267 describes the use of the simple voltage controlled generator means incorporated in the Bio-kinetic bench. A voltage signal representing speed and a force measurement derived from a load cell attached to a pulley on the line were supplied to a Personal Computer for recording and plotting. Klentrou (1991) utilizes an apparatus which measures force mechanically in conjunction with an electro-magnetic servo speed control system. This system is an adaptation of the CYBEX apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 3,465,592. Ria (1990) employed a speed measurement system involving an overhead tethered pulley system. This was cumbersome, but provided an accurate instantaneous speed measure. For force measurement they employed a force transducer in a tethered swim configuration. These two values were multiplied to produce a measure termed "EMP" or External Mechanical Power. Another power measure that has been used for anaerobic power estimates by Rohrs (1991) involves the recording of maximal tethered force integrated over time. Recently, Fry (1991) incorporated aerobic and anaerobic power tests in a battery of tests designed to detect overtraining. Again it is clear that conducting such tests while swimming would be most appropriate for swimmers. The research systems and measures described above and others of generally similar capability are not commercially available.
Various physiological measures may also be used to estimate power production. The upper regions of the heart rate curve provide a somewhat linear indirect measure of the level of intensity of exercise from which relative estimates of swimming efficiency might be calculated. One technique of monitoring heart rate while swimming has been disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,118. Dry-land systems such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,725 have also employed a direct feedback loop control of exercise resistance based on heart rate. Other physiological measures such as blood oxygen saturation, volumes of oxygen consumed and carbon dioxide expelled may be used as indirect measures of energy production or the metabolic intensity of exercise. Such indirect energy measures have typically been done only in controlled research experiments. Advanced research installations have recently employed swim flumes which permit the swimmer to remain stationary while the water flows around him. This permits researchers to attach various physiological monitoring devices to the swimmer.
It is quite apparent from the foregoing review and discussion that the application of current technologies for swimming instruction, training, and assessment is highly problematic. A review and critical analysis is now presented.
Advanced technology for the kinesthetic development of stroke mechanics during water based activities is not available. While a few commercial flotation, tethering and restraining systems claim to improve stroke mechanics, they provide only passive assistance under artificial conditions. Sprint-assist techniques employing a manual tow line or bungi cords are able to apply only uneven forces that vary over the course of a lap. Weight systems, such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,675 or the Power Rack provide constant forces, but only over limited distances, and at fixed force steps which are not practical for the precise individual adjustments which are necessary. The experimental systems such as the Stanford hydraulic towing device are cumbersome, can only be crudely adjusted for applied force, and are not commercially available. The commercial stroke mechanics assessment techniques which are available rely on auditory and visual bio-feedback. It is a well known principle that swimmers rely primarily on kinesthetic feedback ("the feel of the water"). This suggests that visual and auditory feedback are neither optimal nor appropriate for communicating with the swimmer. Any system that fails to provide kinethestic feedback to the swimmer circumvents the primary sensory system employed in the activity of swimming. Kinesthetic feedback-based stroke assessment systems are not commercially available.
Advanced biokinetic technology for training and physical conditioning while swimming is not available. Swimming-based training devices generally provide passive hydrodynamic drag resistance with little control. Mechanical friction devices or weight systems connected to a swimmer via a cable offer more resistance force, but are also passive and lack precise control. Although various dry land commercial devices claim to provide biokinetic exercise for swimmers, specificity of water movement and forces are difficult or impossible to replicate on dry land. Thus the dry land systems which simulate swimming motions are typically poor substitutes for water based drills. This has been supported in recent studies such as Roberts (1991) which failed to find any significant increase in benefit from dry land training that simulated swimming motions over other generic dry land training systems. Furthermore, generic exercise systems offer only restricted limb motions that inadequately provide for the complex muscle combinations encountered during swimming strokes.
Advanced technology for the quantified analysis and assessment of stroke mechanics is not commercially available, while commercial power analysis devices provide only passive measures of force and are incapable of active force measurement protocols. In addition, researchers developing power assessment protocols have had difficulty in adapting dry land biokinetic technology such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,267 (Costill 1992, page 179). Furthermore, the adaptation of such devices as the CYBEX provides only limited isokinetic control. Most stroke and power analysis research systems are extremely limited in scope, designed only to measure instantaneous speed and force. Finally, no single research system provides for the quantified analysis of a range of stroke mechanics measures such as stroke efficiency, balance, and ripple or the more advanced stroke component time course profile analysis.
It is also quite apparent from the foregoing review of prior art that no efforts have been made toward the development of a single device which would incorporate swimming instruction, training and assessment. Furthermore, no single device reviewed above incorporates any combination of instruction, training and assessment in further combination with advanced technology.
Many current research and commercial devices for swimming instruction, training and assessment require an assistant due to inadequate mechanical design, safety problems, or complex user interfaces. Clearly the requirement of an assistant limits the application of such devices in many circumstances.
Absent from the various devices and systems reviewed herein are control systems employing parametric biomechanical dynamic models or processing components. Biokinetic technology has relied primarily on the characteristics of analog control feedback loops. Such loops incorporate simple PID control algorithms and deal directly with a single sensor input and electric motor control variable such as voltage. Even devices incorporating microprocessor control provide only limited tragectory force/speed curves, and do not provide for modification of the feedback loop parameters. Other systems which incorporate physiological inputs, such as the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,725 employ a direct feedback loop control of exercise resistance. Such dry-land systems however are able to make simplifying assumptions due to the fact that power produced on a treadmill or cycle may be directly measured. The requirements of kinesthetic feedback and biokinetic motion systems include processing components which are able to dynamically adapt and respond to the complex loads and motions of swimming in real-time based on an indirect measure of activity. A biomechanic processing model accepts an ensemble of physiological and biomechanical inputs calculated from sensor signals and electrodynamic system variables, processes these input variables based on configurational parameters, and outputs a biomechanically based control signal which may then be converted into kinesthetic feedback or biokinetic motion.
Advanced control technology such as microprocessor based systems are not commercially available in swimming instruction, training and assessment devices. Current research systems for swimming instruction, training and assessment employ computers only in the data acquisition operations, and not for control functions. The adjustments of control parameters are performed manually. In addition to U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,694 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,998,725 described above, several generic dry-land exercise and training devices have been revealed recently, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,778,175, 4,869,497, and 4,930,770, which incorporate microprocessors for improved exercise control precision. Other applications include U.S. Pat. No. 4,907,795 which utilizes a microprocessor for monitoring and storage of exercise activity measurements. Such systems however provide protocols of extremely limited complexity, and would not be adaptable to the requirements of swimming instruction, training and assessment. Furthermore, systems such as the aforementioned which employ microprocessors for control and/or monitoring do not provide for the capability of user programmed functions or protocols, but simply provide means for the programming of the parameters of fixed protocol programs. An additional limitation associated with various microprocessor controller systems that operate in conjunction with a personal computer systems is that the controller is either physically located within a personal computer, or is incapable of operating while disconnected from the computer.
In general, there is a lack of advanced technology in devices specific to swimming instruction, training, and assessment. Devices which provide for the techniques of sprint-assist and resistance training during swimming currently employ control and mechanical technology of limited sophistication and thus preclude accuracy and repeatability in their application. In particular, the application of forces to the swimmer during sprint-assist and resistance swimming must be accurately specified and controlled so that the resulting speed is close to the swimmer's natural speed. The greater the deviation from the natural speed, the greater the deviation in stroke mechanics. This requirement for fine percentage adjustment and control is particularly critical when dealing with young swimmers. Various dry-land controllers such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,175 rely on tables of values rather than to calculate control variables parametrically. This type of technique is inadequate where flexible complex algorithms are necessary. In order to implement appropriate biomechanical models as described above, advanced signal processing control technology would have to be employed. The requirements of real-time loop processing of complex control models and extensible programmable control models preclude the use of fixed analog or fixed logic control technologies.
Recently, advanced motor control technology such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,447 have improved the electric motor control capabilities of exercise devices. Such control methods however are inadequate for applications such as swimming instruction, training, and assessment devices. Swim training devices would require DC motor controllers which operate with very low voltages, over a wide range of currents and motor temperatures, and additionally provide dynamic braking. Furthermore, such devices must include reliable redundant overload and disabling circuits.
A further problematic area of current swimming technology is that of the user interface. For effective use, simple control panels are essential. Dry land exercise systems employing advanced technology often incorporate complex key pads and displays. Research systems, and in some cases generic exercise systems such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,497 and 4,934,694, employ personal computer systems to provide the user interface which include full alphanumeric keyboards and full page displays. Obviously it would be unfeasible for a swimmer to operate such systems from within a pool. The swimmer must be provided with a conceptually straightforward system that minimizes buttons and switches, as well as the quantity of displayed information.
The measurement of a swimmers physiological and biomechanical variables while swimming requires some form of telemetry. Various systems have been devised to transmit such variables as ECG and hydrodynamic pressure by way of radio telemetry. In consideration of the wide range of variables that may be required for swimming assessment, the problem of interference, available channels, channel bandwidth, and the simultaneous use of several physically adjacent devices, radio transmission becomes problematic. In addition, the size, shape, and location of a radio antenna must be considered as well. A more flexible and convenient system of transmission is clearly warranted.
Advanced technology for the statistical recording of quantified stroke mechanics and physical conditioning assessments for swimming is not commercially available. In addition, research systems providing such statistical summary information do so for only limited variables of interest.
Although various systems as mentioned above incorporate, or communicate directly or indirectly with personal computers, none fully utilizes the possibilities of such communication links. As discussed above, the major shortcoming of previous systems employing communication links is one wherein the personal computer is an integral component of the system. In other systems, the computer provides data collection and statistical functions. Given the complex functional, environmental, and logistic demands of swimming instruction and training in a team or institutional setting, considerable flexibility in the introduction of portable personal computers at pool side is warranted. The use of the external computer link should be complementary to the functions of a swimming device and optional. The data communications hardware interface employed should be generic, such as the RS-232 communications standard. In addition to the interchange of data and operational parameters, such an interface should provide for the downloading of protocol programs of machine language and provide as well for a remote over-ride and replication of the pool side swimming device user interface panel.
The swimming pool environment itself presents several engineering challenges. Electrical safety considerations in a pool area preclude the use of devices that employ AC mains as a power source. In addition, battery powered devices require specialized efficient power control circuitry and dynamic braking techniques, some or all of which are absent in the devices reviewed herein. Another consideration is that of the logistics of installation and physical size. In a crowded pool situation, often with two or more people per lane during practice sessions and a wide variety of starting platform sizes and installation techniques, pool deck space is limited. Many of the commercial or research devices mentioned previously are cumbersome or present a safety risk due to the amount of floor space required adjacent to the pool. Any device for use adjacent to the pool must provide for a convenient and rapid removal. In addition to the above mentioned concerns, installation is often problematic. Due to the nature of tiled decks around institutional pools, the surface is generally slick and permanent installations require the use of specialized mountings.
A major problem in the application of electromechanical technology in a swimming pool environment is the harsh corrosive halogenated atmosphere and pool water. Most devices possess an inherent limitation in their ability to resist such environments. Electromechanical systems susceptible to the corrosive environment may degrade slowly. Electronic systems however will often fail abruptly and completely in these atmospheres. Even if existing dry land systems could be adapted mechanically to swimming, they would be impractical from an economic viewpoint to maintain in such a corrosive environment. Researchers employing technology such as Biokinetic swim bench U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,267, the CYBEX device, and personal computers subject such devices to only relatively brief and periodic exposures to the pool environment. Manufacturers who have adapted dry land systems, such as the aforementioned "Long Rope" have found it necessary to eliminate electronic display devices from their pool side products due to corrosion, and encountered early failures of mechanical friction resistance technology due to water related failures. These and other failures have led to the withdrawal of products from the market. Another problem confronted by most devices is the rapid deterioration of nylon and other readily available synthetic ropes when exposed to pool water over long periods.
It is quite clear therefore that a system incorporating precise and rugged technology, for use by swimmers in a pool environment, that provided kinesthetic feedback for instruction, biokinetic training, and physiological and biomechanical performance assessment, as well as providing programmable measurement and control of complex relationships of speed, force, power, distance, and time, would offer a substantial contribution to the field of swimming.

Swim instruction, training, and assessment apparatus


An ultra-wideband (UWB) system and method provide a local area network (LAN) and/or LAN access. LAN access versions of the UWB system includes an emulator layer and bridge that allow data to be transmitted between a LAN-UWB hybrid device and a LAN network switch, such as an IEEE 802 network switch, through in part a UWB node of a UWB WPAN that can receive UWB super-frames from the LAN-UWB hybrid device. In some implementations the LAN-UWB hybrid device uses Wi-Fi protocol layers above the emulator layer and a WiNet Peer IP PAL layer below the emulator layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to data network communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wi-Fi is used to identify a technology directed to wireless local area networks (WLAN) based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specifications (including 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g). The technology can be used for mobile computing devices, such as laptops, in local area networks (LAN), and other device connectivity. Both the 802.11 family of networking protocols and the 802.3 family of networking protocols involves an area of networking sometimes referred to as infrastructure networking that is related to networking other than peer-to-peer networking.
802.11 has a maximum bandwidth of 2 Mbps, which can be too small for many applications. 802.11b supports bandwidth up to 11 Mbps, which is comparable to traditional IEEE 802.3 and other Ethernet versions. 802.11a supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps and signals in a regulated frequency spectrum around 5 GHz. Compared with 802.11b, 802.11a is faster, supports more simultaneous users, and uses regulated frequencies to prevent signal interference from other devices. 802.11a has a shorter range signal that is more easily obstructed than 802.11b. 802.11b uses the same radio signaling frequency as the original 802.11 standard whereas 802.11a uses higher frequency.
802.11g has bandwidth up to 54 Mbps with a comparably large number of simultaneous users, uses the 2.4 GHz frequency for greater range and relatively high resistance to obstruction, and is backwards compatible with 802.11b. Unfortunately, since 802.11g uses the same unregulated frequency range as 802.11b it can also experience interference with appliances that has caused problem for 802.11b.
As defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ultra-wideband (UWB) in general refers to a radio technology having bandwidth larger than 500 MHz or 25% of the center frequency. To its credit, UWB is able to share spectrum between users. In 2002, the FCC authorizes unlicensed use of UWB in a portion of the radio spectrum between 3.1 GHz and 10.6 GHz. Consequently, various communication technologies can share this portion of the radio spectrum due also to the inherent ability of UWB to share spectrum between devices. Some of these technologies can range from radar, imaging systems, and short range and long range data communication.
The short duration of UWB pulses allows for very high data rates and has allowed UWB technology to emerge in the area of wireless personal area network (WPAN) transmission systems with bandwidths of at least 500 MHz or a signal occupying an instantaneous fractional bandwidth (BW) of at least 20%. The WPAN technology utilizes point-to-point or peer-to-peer communication directly between two devices as opposed to other types of network traffic found on local area networks (LAN). UWB technology used for WPANs enables the transmission of very high data rates, such as up to 480 Mbps, at a range less than 10 meters, which is a range suitable for a WPAN. UWB also has the potential for upward scalability (up to 1 Gbps) and the throughput capability of multiple streams of simultaneous high definition video/multimedia/data payload.
The following key application areas for UWB technology have been identified in the UWB community: 1. wireless video connection between set top boxes and/or digital video disk (DVD) players and display devices such as monitors and projectors; 2. multiple high definition television (HDTV) video stream transmission from server to multiple clients/terminals; 3. synchronized transmission of HDTV video streams from video server to wide screen or multi-screen display systems; 4. computing equipment interconnection with universal serial bus (USB)-over-UWB (wireless USB); and 5. consumer equipment interconnection using IEEE1394-over-UWB (wireless IEEE1394) and/or co-existent wireless USB.
Standards for implementing WPANs using UWB radio transceivers are defined by the WiMedia Alliance and address issues such as data sharing and transmission within WPANs. The UWB/WiMedia conventional standards are directed toward peer-to-peer data sharing or transmission with WPANs. Pursuant to these standards, WPAN systems have been developed to provide methods of adaptation to standard protocol layers such as a peer-to-peer wireless universal serial bus (WUSB) such with a conventional ultra-wideband wireless universal serial bus (UWB WUSB) device 10 shown in FIG. 1. The UWB WUSB device 10 has a USB application layer 12 that passes data through a universal serial bus protocol adaptation layer (USB PAL) 14 and furthermore through a WiMedia wireless personal area network ultra-wideband media access control (WPAN UWB MAC) layer 16 to transmit the data through a UWB physical layer 18 in the assigned UWB radio frequency spectrum.
The USB PAL 14 is used to enable communication between conventional USB application layer 12 that was originally designed for use with other forms of MACs for other physical media such as USB cabling. The USB PAL 14 packages data and instructions from the USB application layer 12 to conform with the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC layer 16.
In the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC layer 16, timing between UWB devices is based on super-frame time periods. Features of the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC layer 16 include decentralized device operations and a combined use of a carrier sense multiple access (CSMA) protocol portion and time division multiple access (TDMA) protocol portion. A beacon portion of each super-frame time period serves as the initial timing portion of the super-frame period in which the UWB devices of a WPAN have autonomous access to the WPAN and identify themselves with individualized beacons. Through the TDMA protocol portion, reservations are announced during the beacon portion and a distributed reservation protocol (DRP) is used for isochronous data or other time-critical data. In turn, the CSMA protocol portion is used as the medium access method with prioritized contention access (PCA). Furthermore, each super-frame time period includes 256 medium access slots (MAS) with the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC layer 16 providing security and encryption to prevent unauthorized access.
One implementation of the UWB physical layer 18 has a total frequency allocation of 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz, 14 bands each with a band width of 528 MHz. It uses 128 point orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with 100 data, ten guard, 12 pilot and six null subcarriers. Mandatory data rates of 53.3, 106.7 and 200 Mb/s are specified while 80, 160, 320, 400 and 480 Mb/s are optional. A total of five band groups are defined with group one being mandatory. There are four groups of three bands each and one group of two bands, yielding a total of 30 channels.
Other standard protocol layers, namely Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP) protocol layers, have been adopted for use with UWB for other peer-to-peer communication between devices so enabled such as shown in FIG. 2 with a conventional peer IP device 20 having TCP/IP layers 22. The TCP/IP layers 22 pass data through a WiNet peer IP PAL 24 and furthermore through the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC layer 16 to transmit the data through the UWB physical layer 18. The WiNet peer IP PAL 24 generates a WiNet frame 30 having a WiNet portion 32 to contain among other things peer-to-peer networking information such as peer-to-peer addressing, a destination address portion 34, a source address 36, and a data portion 38. The WiNet peer IP PAL 24 places peer-to-peer information 40 that is above the IP layer, such as found in a peer-to-peer implementation of TCP into the data portion 38 of the WiNet Frame 30. The WiNet peer IP PAL 24 places a WiNet destination IP address 42 and a WiNet source IP address 44 into the destination address portion 34 and the source address portion 36. The WiNet peer IP PAL 24 passes the WiNet frame 30 on to the WiMedia WPAN UWB MAC 16, which then processes the WiNet frame to be placed into a UWB super-frame 50 as positioned between the two beacon slots 52 of the super-frame to occupy a slot 54.
Unfortunately, the high bandwidth of UWB technology remains dedicated to peer-to-peer communication being limited to the relatively small areas of individual personal area networks.


After a mobile user connection is assigned a particular type of channel, a sliding window with a predetermined number of time intervals is established for that connection. For each of the time intervals in that sliding window, information associated with the type of channel supporting the mobile radio connection is determined. The associated information may include one or more parameters including the type of channel currently supporting the connection, an amount of data to be transmitted for the mobile user connection, a requested quality of service, etc. The information in the sliding window is analyzed for a pattern or trend. Different patterns or trends may be used to assist in making channel-type switching as well as other decisions, e.g., power regulation. The analyzed sliding window information may be used both to determine when it is desirable to switch a user connection to another channel type and to prevent or reduce inefficient, excessive, or rapid switching of the user connection between different channel types.

The present invention relates to data packet communications, and in particular, to controlling switching between communication channels of different types.
In current and future mobile radio communications systems, a variety of different services either are or will be provided. While mobile radio systems have traditionally provided circuit-switched services, e.g., to support voice calls, packet-switched data services are also becoming increasingly important. Example packet data services include e-mail, file transfers, and information retrieval using the Internet. Because packet data services often utilize system resources in a manner that varies over the course of a data packet session, the flow of packets is often characterized as xe2x80x9cbursty.xe2x80x9d Transmitted packet bursts are interspersed with periods where no packets are transmitted so that the xe2x80x9cdensityxe2x80x9d of packets is high for short time periods and often very low for long periods.
Mobile communications systems must be able to accommodate both circuit-switched services and packet-switched services. But at the same time, the limited radio bandwidth must be used efficiently. Consequently, different types of radio channels may be employed to more efficiently accommodate different types of traffic to be transported across the radio interface.
The Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) is one example of a mobile communications system that offers circuit-switched services via a Mobile Switching Center (MSC) node and packet-switched services via a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) node. For circuit-switched, guaranteed service, dedicated traffic channels are employed. A radio channel is dedicated (for the life of the mobile connection) to a particular mobile user and delivers frames of information as received without substantial delay. Typically, a dedicated channel provides a high data throughput. For packet-switched, best effort service, common channels are employed where plural mobile users share the common channel at the same time. Typically, a common channel delivers packets of information at a relatively low data throughput. Thus, when the quality of service parameter(s) requested is (are) relatively high, e.g., for a speech or synchronized communication, soft/softer handover, etc., a dedicated, circuit-switched channel is well suited to handle this kind of traffic. When the quality of service requested is relatively low, e.g., for an e-mail message, or if the user only has a small amount of data to transmit, a common, packet-switched channel is well suited to handle this kind of traffic. However, there is no xe2x80x9cswitchingxe2x80x9d between different types of channels in GSM/GPRS. All dedicated traffic is GSM circuit-switched, and all common traffic is GPRS packet-switched.
The selection of the appropriate channel type and channel type switching are prominent features to be included in third generation mobile systems that employ Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA). The third generation wideband CDMA systems must support a variety of circuit-switched and packet-switched services over a wide range of bit rates, e.g., kilobits per second to megabits per second. Two of the most critical radio resources in wideband CDMA needed to support such services are channelization codes and transmission power. Channelization codes are used to reduce interference and to separate information between different users. The more channel capacity required, the more channelization codes that must be allocated. The other critical radio resource is transmission power/interference level. Dedicated channels employ closed loop transmit power control which provides more accurate power assignments resulting in less interference and lower bit error rate. Common channels usually employ open loop power control which is less accurate and not as well suited for transmitting large amounts of data.
There are additional challenges in wideband CDMA systems to offering new and diverse services while at the same time effectively and efficiently distributing the limited system resources. For example, while data traffic is by nature xe2x80x9cbursty,xe2x80x9d as described above, traffic patterns are also affected by the particular transmission protocol employed. For example, the most commonly used transmission protocol on the Internet today is Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). TCP provides reliable, in-order delivery of a stream of bytes and employs a flow control mechanism and a congestion control mechanism. The amount of data delivered for transmission is regulated based on the amount of detected congestion, i.e., packets lost due to overflow in routers caused by traffic greater than the network capacity. To accomplish this regulation, when TCP senses the loss of packets, it reduces the transmission rate by half or more and only slowly increases that rate to gradually raise throughput. Another factor to consider is the use of different Quality of Service (QoS) classes. For example, three different priority classes may be provided to users in a network: low priority would include users with small demands in throughput and delays (e.g., an e-mail user), medium priority users that demand a higher level of throughput (e.g., Web service), and high priority users requiring high throughput with low delays (e.g., voice, video, etc.).
Because of the bursty nature of packet data transmissions, congestion-sensitive transmission protocols, QoS parameters, and other factors, (collectively xe2x80x9cdynamic aspectsxe2x80x9d of packet data transmissions), the channel-type best-suited to efficiently support a user connection often changes during the life of that user connection. At one point, it might be better for the user connection to be supported by a dedicated channel, while at another point it might be better for the user connection to be supported by a common channel. The problem addressed by the present invention is determining if, when, and how often to make a channel-type switch during the course of a particular user connection.
One way of determining when to switch a user connection from a dedicated channel to a common channel is to monitor the amount of data currently being stored in a transmission buffer associated with that user connection. When the amount of data stored in the buffer is less than a certain threshold, that smaller amount of data may not justify the use of a dedicated channel. On the other hand, the decrease in the amount of data to be transmitted for that user may only be temporary, given the dynamic aspects of data transmission, and the amount of data in the buffer may quickly accumulate because of the load on the common channel or increased capacity needs for the connection. As a result, the connection may need to be switched right back to a dedicated channel.
Consider the situation where a user connection is currently assigned a dedicated radio channel having a higher data transmission rate/capacity than the current incoming rate of the user data to be transmitted over that channel. This situation might arise if there is congestion at some part of the Internet, e.g., Internet congestion causes TCP to dramatically reduce its transmission rate as described above. A slower incoming rate may also be the result of a xe2x80x9cweak linkxe2x80x9d in the connection external to the radio network, e.g., a low speed modem. In such situations, the radio transmit buffer is emptied faster than the data to be transmitted arrives. As a result of the slow incoming data rate, which may very well only be temporary, the user connection is switched to a common channel, even though soon thereafter, the user has a large amount of data to transmit. Consequently, shortly after the user connection is transmitted to the common channel, the buffer fills up rapidly due to lower throughput on the common channel, and the user connection is switched right back to a dedicated channel. These conditions may ultimately result in rapid, prolonged switching back and forth between a common channel and a dedicated channel as long as such conditions persist. Such xe2x80x9cping-pongxe2x80x9d effects are undesirable because each channel type switch consumes power of the battery-operated terminal, loses packets during the switch, and requires additional control signaling overhead.
FIG. 1 is a graph simulating a constant 32 kbit/sec incoming data stream to the transmission buffer where the user connection is assigned a dedicated channel with a capacity of 64 kbit/sec. The common channel capacity was simulated at 16 kbit/sec but is illustrated as 0 kbit/sec in FIG. 1. The buffer""s channel switch threshold which triggers a switch from dedicated-to-common channel and from common-to-dedicated channel is set at 1000 bytes. An expiration timer is set to one second. FIG. 1 shows the allocated achieved channel capacity (in kbit/sec) plotted against time under these simulated conditions where the user connection is cyclically switched between a 64 kbps dedicated channel (after about one second) and a common channel (after less than 0.5 seconds).
FIG. 2 shows the buffer amount (in bytes) versus time for this same simulation. The buffer amount is approximately 600 bytes when the user is on the dedicated channel, which is below the threshold of 1,000 bytes. Therefore, the user connection is switched to the common channel as soon as the one second timer expires. But on the common channel, the transmit buffer is filled very quickly by the 32 kbit/sec incoming stream up to about 2000 bytes which, because it exceeds the 1000 byte threshold, results in a rapid channel switch back to the dedicated channel. This kind of rapid channel switch cycling (xe2x80x9cping-pongxe2x80x9d effect) is undesirable, as described earlier, because of the resources necessary to orchestrate each channel-type switch and the time required to set up a dedicated channel.
The present invention solves the above-identified problems. Information associated with a type of communications channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a radio network is determined over a number of time intervals. The determined information is analyzed for a pattern or trend. A channel-type switching decision is made, i.e., whether to switch the mobile radio connection to a different type of radio channel, based on the analysis. The associated information may include the actual channel type currently supporting the mobile connection during each of the time intervals. Channel types may include, for example, a dedicated type of channel temporarily allocated to support a single mobile radio connection and a common type of radio channel shared by plural mobile radio connections. Alternatively, there may be three or more different types of channels.
One criteria for the channel-type switching decision may be to avoid undesirable channel-type switching such as rapid back-and-forth channel-type switching. In this regard, if the channel type over the number of time intervals differs, it may be decided to maintain the mobile user connection on one type of channel for a predefined number of time intervals to prevent back-and-forth channel-type switching.
The information associated with the type of communications channel supporting a mobile radio connection over a number of time intervals may also include an amount of data to be transmitted over the radio connection. If the data amount for each of the time intervals is below a threshold while the mobile user connection is being supported by a higher capacity channel, a decision may be made to switch the mobile user connection down to a lower capacity type of channel. Alternatively, if the data amount for each of the time intervals is above a threshold while the mobile user connection is being supported by a lower capacity channel, the mobile user connection may be switched up to a higher capacity channel. If a decision is made to switch the mobile radio connection down from the higher capacity channel, the mobile radio connection may first be switched to an intermediate capacity channel before a decision is made to switch the connection down to the lower capacity channel. Similarly, if a decision is made to switch the mobile radio connection up from the lower channel, it may be switched to the intermediate channel before switching to the higher capacity channel. As yet another example alternative, if a decision is made to switch the mobile radio connection down from the higher capacity channel, a switch may be made to the lower capacity channel followed by a switch to the intermediate channel if a switch up decision is subsequently made.
The first number of time intervals may be viewed as a sliding window. In an example, non-limiting embodiment, the sliding window stores both a channel type and a data amount for each time interval in a memory array. Of course, other parameters may be monitored in the sliding window. At the end of the next time interval, data stored in the memory array is shifted so that the channel type and data amount in the last window position are removed and a most recently determined channel type and data amount are stored in the first window position. A second, longer sliding window may also be maintained in a second memory array. Other longer term decisions may be made based on the longer sliding time window such as power regulation, channel-type switching, etc.
The present invention may be implemented in a radio network control node or in a mobile station. In a preferred example embodiment, the invention is implemented in a radio network control node having a memory coupled to data processing circuitry. The data processing circuitry determines over a first number of time intervals information associated with a type of channel supporting a mobile radio connection between a mobile radio and a mobile radio network for each of the time intervals. The determined information is stored in and shifted through the memory as described above. The information in the sliding window is analyzed for a trend or pattern, and the channel-type switching decision is based on that analysis. The radio network control node includes a channel switching mechanism that may be configured for example at a lower communications protocol layer to implement channel-type switching decisions.