Method of wirelessly accessing network

1

METHOD OF WIRELESSLY ACCESSING
NETWORK

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

5

The present invention relates to network accessing and more particularly to a method of wirelessly accessing a network (e.g., Hinet available from Chunghwa Telecom Company in Taiwan) by a host (e.g., personal computer or notebook computer) via a mobile communication device 10 (e.g., cellular phone).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This is a fast changing age due to quick information 15 exchange. Also, people have an increasing demand for obtaining information and for exchanging information. Hence, for keeping up with the trend, many people use cellular phones as an indispensable tool of their daily life. It only takes several years from the birth of cellular phone to 20 the worldwide use thereof. For some people, they even own more than one cellular phone. Cellular phones have increased interaction and information exchange among people. It is typical that you may find a busy person, whether on the street, subway, or doing other things, using a cellular 25 phone for making or receiving a call at any time of the day. Moreover, many cellular phone manufacturers state that their cellular phones can cover all communication regions. In other words, a person can use the cellular phone for communication at any place. Further, more advanced fea- 30 tures are added in a cellular phone in which Internet accessing is an important one of the features for the convenience of user.

However, Internet accessing speed of a conventional cellular phone is very slow. Also, the cellular phone is less 35 convenient than a personal computer (PC) or notebook computer (NB) in accessing the Internet. This is because many keys of the cellular phone are multiple input keys. Also, the keys are closely arranged. It is often that a user may delete previous input data if enough care is not taken. 40 Hence, it is time consuming and inconvenient. Further, it is often that a businessman may take a PC or NB while traveling. As such, the businessman can use the PC or NB to retrieve information from the Internet or to handle some emergency things on the Internet. However, sometimes there 45 is no telephone line available for coupling the PC or NB to the Internet. As such, the only choice for a computer is to access the Internet via a cellular phone.

As stated above, Internet accessing speed of a conventional cellular phone is very slow. Also, the cellular phone is 50 less convenient than the PC or NB in accessing the Internet. Further, a cellular phone has become more compact for ease of being carried by a user. Unfortunately, it is a very difficult and time consuming task of inputting data from a cellular phone. To the worse, many keys of the cellular phone are 55 multiple input keys. It is often that a user may delete previous input data if enough care is not taken.

Thus, it is desirable to provide a fast network permitting an access thereto in any place any time. Next, it is possible of taking advantage of the popularity of cellular phones and 60 802.11 technique of high data transfer rate in cooperation with a PC or NB. Eventually, a network capable of transferring data in a high rate in any place any time is obtained by combining all of the above components together.

The operating principle of the above 802.11 technique of 65 high data transfer rate is that not only data but also voice can be sent in a frequency of 2.45 GHz. Each 802.11 connecting

2

device has a 48 bit address defined by IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802. It can be connected in a one-to-one or one-to-many mode with a transfer distance ranged from about 10 meters to about 100 meters. The 802.11 technique not only has a high data transfer capacity but also permits an encryption. A frequency switch rate is about 1,600 times per minute. Frequency can be divided into a plurality of small channels by means of frequency jumping technique. Further, a signal is transmitted among the channels randomly for preventing one electronic device from interfering with the other. Initially, the data transfer rate is from about 21 Kbps to about 432 Kbps. Desirably, it will reach up to 2 Mbps in the near future.

Moreover, signal sent by the 802.11 technique has a strong penetration capability. In a typical example, it can penetrate into a wall about 10 meters. Hence, data transferred by the 802.11 technique can be carried out irrespective of the existence of wall, pocket, or briefcase. In addition, the 802.11 technique can carry out a data transfer rate higher than that of an IR (infrared) transmission. Additionally, a data transfer rate of the 802.11 technique is about 20 times higher than that of a conventional modem.

It is understood that a cellular phone is portable. Hence, a user does not need to worry about no network available for accessing the Internet at any time if a cellular phone is combined with the 802.11 technique. As such, it is possible of quickly, wirelessly accessing the Internet by taking advantage of both a cellular phone incorporated the 802.11 technique and a host incorporated the 802.11 technique. Further, a recipient at the other end of the Internet can quickly receive data by means of the 802.11 technique of high data transfer rate.

In view of the above, there are many restrictions about accessing the Internet by means of a PC or NB in ay place any time. In another aspect, calls made by cellular phones are increased gradually and more and more people have at least one cellular phone. Thus, it is desirable to combine a cellular phone incorporated the 802.11 technique by taking advantage of the high data transfer rate of the 802.11 technique in which a cellular phone incorporated the 802.11 technique is combined with a PC or NB incorporated the 802.11 technique. As such, the PC or NB can access the Internet via the cellular phone for transferring data by utilizing the 802.11 technique. This is desirable among vast users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a method of wirelessly accessing network. The present invention enables a user to use his/her cellular phone to access the Internet in any place any time by coupling an 802.11 interface of the cellular phone to a computer also having an 802.11 interface. Moreover, data can be transmitted securely between the cellular phone and the internet in faster rate by taking advantage of the 802.11 interface of high data transfer rate and frequency jumping technique. Further, locations of both the cellular phone and the computer can be adjusted as needed. In other words, neither the cellular phone nor the computer is needed to fix at the same place. By utilizing the present invention, the above drawback of the prior art can be overcome. These drawbacks are that no telephone line is available for coupling a PC or NB to the Internet when the PC or NB is carried by a person leaving the office. Also, Internet accessing speed of a prior cellular phone is very slow. Further, the cellular phone is less convenient than the