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| Summary / Description | Abstract: A method of automatically forming a wireless local area network (WLAN) within a group of rail cars in a train, where each rail car in the group has an access point/router. ...discovering nodes associated with each rail car for inclusion in the WLAN by discovering authorized access point/routers; grouping the discovered nodes into an inter-car bridge group; connecting all nodes in the inter-car bridge group to form the WLAN; and connecting the WLAN to a wide area network (WAN) to share connectivity to the WAN... |
| Type of Prior Art | Issued Patents - US |
| Country | Germany |
| Patent/Application # | EP1598255A1 |
| Kind Code | European Patent Office (E... - Publ. of Application with sear... - A1 |
| Patentee Name | Pointshot Wireless Inc. |
| Relevant Pages, Columns, or Lines | Column 2 Lines 1-47 |
| URL | http://www.freepatentsonline.co... |
| Filing Date | May 23, 2005 |
| Additional Information | |
| Notes | |
Excerpt Column 2 Lines 1-47:[0006] It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate at least one disadvantage of the prior art. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of automatically discovering and dynamically forming a wireless network topology within a vehicle, such as a train. [0007] In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of automatically forming a wireless local area network (WLAN) within a group of rail cars in a train, each rail car in the group having an access point/ router. The method comprises the steps of discovering nodes associated with each rail car for inclusion in the WLAN by discovering authorized access point/routers; grouping the discovered nodes into an inter-car bridge group; connecting all nodes in the inter-car bridge group to form the WLAN; and connecting the WLAN to a wide area network (WAN) to share connectivity to the WAN with each of the nodes in the inter-car bridge group. [0008] In embodiments of this aspect of the present invention, the step of discovering nodes for inclusion can comprise the steps of detecting a first node associated with a first car; adding the first node to the inter-car bridge group; and repeating the steps of detecting and adding until all authorized nodes are found. In further embodiments, the step of detecting a first node can include detecting a node having a predetermined identifier, such as an extended service set identifier, using a service location protocol. The step of detecting and adding can be repeated until no node is detected within a predetermined time after the detection of a previous node. [0009] In other embodiments, the method further comprises the steps of monitoring the WLAN for a network topology change; and in response to a detection of a change in the network topology, rediscovering nodes associated with each rail car for inclusion in the WLAN to dynamically reconfigure the WLAN. The network topology change can be caused by the addition or removal of a rail car having an authorized access point/ router, at least one of the nodes in the inter-car bridge group can be a network access point, that establishes an in-car network for passenger access to the WAN through the network access point. The network access point can be a wireless network access point that pro- vides a wireless in-car network. |
A method for accessing a wireless railroad data network (25) comprising: sensing presence of a rail vehicle on a rail track (12); authenticating the rail vehicle to gain temporary access to the wireless railroad data network (25) based on sensed presence of the rail vehicle on the rail track (12 and permitting temporary access by the rail vehicle to the wireless railroad data network (25) based on sensed presence and authentication of the rail vehicle.
| Relevance | See the Excerpt: Column 2 Lines 1-47. |
A method for accessing a wireless railroad data network (25) comprising: sensing presence of a rail vehicle on a rail track (12); authenticating the rail vehicle to gain temporary access to the wireless railroad data network (25) based on sensed presence of the rail vehicle on the rail track (12); and permitting temporary access to the wireless railroad data network (25) base on sensed presence and authentication of the rail vehicle; wherein permitting temporary access to the wireless railroad data network (25) comprises allocating a temporal access window for accessing the wireless railroad data network (25).
| Relevance | See the Excerpt. |
United States