US 6,954,634 B1
Reconfigurable communication networkGeneral
US 6,954,634 B1
Reconfigurable communication network
Tech Center:
2600 Communications
Examiner:
Vivian Chin
Art Unit:
2682 Telemetry and Code Generation; Vehicles and System Alarms; Selective Communication; Dynamic Storage Systems; Mechanical parts of Disk Drives; Signal Processing and Control Processing in Disk Drives
Inventors:
Paul Bucknell; Timothy J. Moulsley
Assignee:
Priority:
04/23/99
Filed:
04/19/00
Granted:
10/11/05
Expiration:
04/19/20
Abstract
A communication system includes first and second terminals which are able to communicate control messages to each other. One of the terminals can reconfigure itself by a process of service negotiations with the other terminal where the capabilities of the reconfigurable terminal are provided to the other terminal. Each of the terminals has a transceiver, a memory for storing software functions, and a processor for controlling the operation of the terminal in accordance with stored software functions. At least one of the software functions is alterable in response to the receipt of a control message containing the new software function plus interface software required by the processor in building a new function into an actual implementation on the terminal. The communication system may be a cordless and/or cellular telephone system where messages are sent over-the-air, or a corded system where messages are relayed by landline.