HK1102463B - Mobile-terminal gateway - Google Patents

Description

Mobile terminal gateway

Background

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to mobile terminal architectures and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to mobile terminal architectures employing gateways that use functional partitioning between access functions and application functions.

History of related art

In the future, mobile terminals are expected to continue to grow in their capabilities in both supported functions and applications. Mobile terminals include, for example, cellular telephones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and other personal hand-held computers. Over time, cellular telephones have tended to converge with Personal Computers (PCs). One important impact of this convergence is the need for mobile terminals to become more scalable in the kind of hardware that the network can interface with and in the software that can run on the mobile terminal.

There are two main insights into the construction of 3 rd generation (3G) mobile terminals. The first is a computer-centric insight, where access to the cellular network is a peripheral function, and the focus is on the application platform as the center of the mobile terminal architecture. In a computer-centric view, the existence of cellular networks is a posteriori idea, just one function added to personal handheld computers.

FIG. 1 is a computer-centric view illustration of a current typical mobile terminal architecture from a hardware perspective. In fig. 1, the mobile terminal architecture 100 includes a mobile terminal 102, and the mobile terminal 102 includes various interfaces to external devices and components. The mobile terminal 102 includes interfaces to a camera 104, a universal multimedia device 106, a USB device 108, a keyboard 110, and an LCD display 112 (via an LCD controller 114). Also shown connected to the mobile terminal 102 is an audio codec 116, which is connected via a PC or SPI interface and an i2S interface. In addition, the mobile terminal 102 interfaces with the power management component 118 via an i2C interface.

The NAND flash memory 120 is controlled by a NAND controller of the mobile terminal 102. The mobile terminal 102 also controls a mobile Double Data Rate (DDR) memory 122 via an SDRAM controller. The IrDA 124 is controlled by the FlrDA of the mobile terminal 102, while the bluetooth module 126 is connected to the UART of the mobile terminal 102. An antenna 128 is used for the bluetooth module 126. The mobile terminal 102 is also connected to a modem 130 via a modem interface of the mobile terminal 102. An antenna 132 is used for the modem 130.

The mobile terminal architecture 100 is computer-centric, meaning that various external devices and components are connected to the mobile terminal 102 via multiple interfaces in a manner similar to that currently employed by PCs. Mobile terminal 102 is an example of a computer-centric mobile terminal that is proposed by an industry alliance known as the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) alliance.

Fig. 2 shows a computer-centric view of a possible future system bus oriented view of the mobile terminal architecture from a hardware point of view. In fig. 2, a mobile terminal architecture 200 includes a mobile terminal 202. One of the main aspects of mobile terminal architecture 200 that differs from mobile terminal architecture 100 is the inclusion of a system bus 204. The system bus 204 may be used to connect a number of external devices to the mobile terminal 202. Thus, the mobile terminal architecture 200 may be referred to as a system bus oriented, computer centric architecture.

System bus 204 is shown connecting mobile terminal 202 to modem 130, bluetooth module 126, camera 104, keyboard 110, power management component 118, and Global Positioning System (GPS) module 206. Also shown connected to the mobile terminal 202 are a NAND flash memory 120, a Mobile DDR 122, an IrDA 124, a USB device 108, and a Universal multimedia device 106. Additionally, general purpose input/output (GPIO)208 is shown as part of mobile terminal 202.

System bus 204 is used to make architecture 200 even more PC-like than mobile terminal architecture 100; in effect, architecture 200 demonstrates the computer industry's insight into the evolution path of mobile phones. In particular, the interfaces handled by the mobile terminal 202 (e.g., the USB108) and the interfaces handled by the system bus 204 (e.g., the camera 104) are still organized in a computer-centric manner. Architecture 200 may be used to form delineations (delineations) between various component manufacturers, thereby taking advantage of cooperative synergies and allowing industrial partners to reduce costs.

A white paper XP 002251759 "Intel personal internet client architecture" in 9 months 2001 discloses a personal internet client architecture for wireless internet clients. The architecture is described as including an application subsystem software architecture comprised of platform services, operating systems and services, middleware, and applications. The architecture is also described as including a communication subsystem that provides the application subsystem with services to access the cellular wireless network independent of the physical medium.

Us patent application 2003/0143973 discloses a wireless mobile communication device. The apparatus includes a first processor for configuring operation of a software application. The apparatus also includes a second processor configured to manage wireless communication operations and a communication link between the first and second processors. A reliable communication protocol is used for communication between the first and second processors over the communication link to ensure that data sent from either of the two processors is received by the other processor.

Summary of The Invention

The mobile terminal comprises an access subsystem and an application subsystem. The access subsystem comprises at least one access technology interface. The application subsystem is connected to the access subsystem in an interoperable manner. The application subsystem and the access subsystem are separated by a functional split. The access subsystem provides access by the application subsystem to the first wireless network via a first access technology interface of the at least one access technology interface.

The wireless network access method includes providing a mobile terminal including an application subsystem and an access subsystem separated by a function division. The method also includes accessing, by the application subsystem, the first wireless network via a first access technology interface of the at least one access technology interface of the access subsystem.

Brief Description of Drawings

The present invention may be more completely understood in consideration of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a computer-centric view illustration of a typical present mobile terminal architecture from a hardware perspective;

FIG. 2 shows a computer-centric view of a future possible system bus oriented view of the mobile terminal architecture from a hardware perspective;

FIG. 3 illustrates a network-centric view of interaction between a mobile terminal user and various networks in accordance with a gateway architecture;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary mobile terminal according to a gateway architecture; and

fig. 5 illustrates a wireless network including servers and gateways operating in a personal area network.

Detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The invention should be viewed as limited only by the claims currently available and the equivalents thereof.

Advances in wireless technology and computing have exacerbated the need to interconnect personal devices to each other or to the outside world. For example, laptop computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), cameras, accessories, and personal entertainment devices are all devices that compete for access to the internet over the main four aspects of a user's life. The four aspects are: 1) entertainment; 2) working; 3) family; and 4) in motion. Yet another need is to synchronize information in a mobile terminal with a Personal Information Management (PIM) server, such as a PDA or on a desktop personal computer or the internet.

There are certain advantages to the mobile terminal architecture shown in fig. 1 and 2 over that which does not employ any prescribed separation between the processing interfaces. In a mobile terminal gateway architecture, the communication (i.e., access) subsystem and peripheral subsystems of the mobile terminal are separated in a unified manner from the application subsystem, which includes an application processor. Separately complying with the basic protocol underlying the internet, for example, and enabling a distributed architecture of mobile terminals. The gateway architecture allows for a uniform separation between application functions and access functions of the mobile terminal while also enabling a Personal Area Network (PAN) of multiple devices that may be carried by the user. In various embodiments of the present invention, the mobile terminal architecture is not considered as a set of hardware modules that need to interoperate with each other. Rather, in various embodiments of the present invention, it is recognized that adding multiple communication interfaces to the architecture of a mobile terminal makes the ability to communicate central to the distribution of functions.

Figure 3 shows a network-centric view of the interaction between a mobile terminal user and various networks according to the gateway architecture. The view 300 includes a PAN302 representing a so-called personal space of a mobile terminal user. For example, a PAN may be represented by an area around the mobile terminal with a radius of about 10 meters. The PAN302 comprises a radio part 304 of the user's mobile terminal. Connected to the radio part 304 are a plurality of interfaces 306. The interface 306 and the radio part 304 together form an access subsystem 307. The mobile terminal operating in the PAN302 comprises an application subsystem 308 and an access subsystem 307. The interface 306 interconnects one or more of the radio 304, application subsystems, peripherals 310, and services 312 accessible from within the PAN 302. Also shown is a service 314 accessible via interface 306 and peripheral 310.

The PAN302 is part of a radio access network 316. The radio access network 316 is connected to a core network 318. The core network 318 allows access to core network services 320. The radio access network 316 and the core network 318, including the PAN302, are part of a mobile network 322. The mobile network 322 is connected to other sub-networks 324 that include various services 326. The mobile network 322 and other subnetworks 324 are part of the internet 328. The PAN302, radio access network 316, mobile network 322, and internet 328 represent an ever-increasing circle of functional interaction between mobile terminal users and the mobile terminal user's environment.

The application subsystem 308 and peripheral devices 310 may access other entities via the access subsystem 307, which acts as a router or gateway. Other entities may be within the PAN302, the radio access network 316, the mobile network 322, or the internet 328.

Unlike prior art solutions, the wireless network (e.g., PAN 302) is central to the gateway architecture, and the applications (on application subsystem 308 or peripheral devices 310) are participants in the user's interaction with information in the form of services or other users over the wireless network. The connection of the mobile terminal user to the wireless network can thus be seen to occur from an ever increasing circle of influence. The network-centric view 300 has profound implications for the software and hardware architecture of a mobile terminal employing a gateway architecture.

The gateway architecture enables the manufacture of mobile terminals that are in fact routers in the mobile network 322. The mobile terminal acts as a hub for the PAN302 and allows the mobile terminal user flexibility in routing information both within and outside the PAN302 and/or the mobile network 322, between various applications and personal or peripheral devices and the mobile network 322.

The gateway architecture takes advantage of the separation between the application subsystem 308 and the access subsystem 307. Access-application separation, which may also be referred to as functional partitioning, is discussed in U.S. patent application entitled "Method of and System for Scalable Mobile-terminal platform", filed on even date herewith, and having a filing number 53807-.

Third generation access technologies provide a service infrastructure for both mobile terminals and other devices. Many services provide higher quality when accessed from more capable devices; for example, services that benefit from more capable devices include streaming audio and streaming video. The PAN302 provides the same service to all devices connected to the PAN. In addition, the services on each device may be easily distributed to all other PAN302 devices. The PAN302 is also scalable. The functionality of the gateway depends on the number of devices that can be connected to the PAN302 (i.e. the number of available interfaces) and the capacity of the gateway. The minimum configuration has only one device and access subsystem 304 as nodes of the PAN 302. The device may be the application subsystem 308 or another device (e.g., in a telematics solution). In larger configurations, the PAN302 may be limited only by the capacity (i.e., number of packets per second) of the access subsystem 307.

The gateway architecture results in an architecture that is very different from the architecture of fig. 1 or fig. 2. Depending on the gateway architecture, the access-application separation is actually a separation between the access function and the application function. The gateway architecture employs a distributed processing concept and a network-centric view of the mobile terminals.

If the separation of the access and application functions is implemented in two separate processors, the access subsystem 307 may handle common access (i.e., communication) services and the application subsystem 308 may handle end user needs in a flexible and scalable manner. The purpose of splitting the application function and the access function is to achieve the following effects: 1) isolation of the designed functionality of the access subsystem 307 and the application subsystem 308 from subsequent optimization; 2) mobile terminal versatility with little cost increase, such that the application subsystem 308 may be extended, for example, by applications used by the mobile terminal, and the access subsystem 307 may be extended, for example, by the mobile terminal's network access capabilities; and 3) enhanced control of access functions of mobile terminal platform developers.

Figure 4 illustrates an exemplary mobile terminal according to a gateway architecture. The mobile terminal 400 includes an access subsystem 402, an application subsystem 404, and optional peripheral hardware 406. The access subsystem 402 serves as a gateway allowing a user of the mobile terminal 400 to access the application subsystem 404, optional peripheral hardware 406, and any other devices within the PAN302 of the mobile terminal user. The application subsystem 404 includes an audio interface 414 and a graphics interface 416. The access subsystem includes routing logic 408, an interface 410 to the application subsystem 404, and interfaces 412 to the various access technology interfaces. The various access technology interfaces include IR 418, USB/serial 420, Bluetooth 422, GSM/GPRS 424, UMTS 426, and WLAN 428.

In contrast to fig. 4, in the conventional work-separated view within a mobile terminal, the access function is actually only a modem serving the application function. Fig. 1 and 2 show variations of the conventional insight. Traditional insights come from the PC world (e.g., Operating System (OS) manufacturers and application developers), where modems are considered peripherals that are PC-dependent. In contrast to the conventional, gateway architecture allows for the construction of network access devices that can be integrated with the application engines of various devices. The access subsystem 402 provides added value to device developers and provides a more optimized connectivity solution than the modem-only solution.

In addition to the application subsystem 404, which is typically integrated into the mobile terminal 400, other devices within the PAN302 may also gain access to external networks (e.g., the internet) via the access subsystem 402. In the gateway architecture, the application subsystem 404 and all other devices connectable to the PAN302 may access services in the access subsystem 402 or in other connected devices via the access subsystem 402. Within the PAN302, the access subsystem 402 routes data to the appropriate receiving device or services to request services from devices in the PAN 302. The device may also be connected to the outside world via the access subsystem 402 via various standard wireless technologies, such as UMTS, GSM/GPRS, EDGE or W-LAN, for example. In various implementations of the gateway architecture, the only major difference between the application subsystem 404 and other devices connected to the PAN302 (e.g., optional peripheral hardware 406) is that the application subsystem 404 is typically integrated into the mobile terminal 400 itself and uses a different interface (i.e., hardwired) to the access subsystem 402.

The application-access functionality split need not be a pure hardware split, although a mobile terminal using the gateway architecture may have a physical separation of computing resources for application services and access services on different processors. The split between access functionality and application functionality allows the application subsystem 404 and the access subsystem 402 to complement and borrow each other's functionality. In addition, functional interfaces between applications and services in the various components of the PAN302 may be defined to allow consistency of access regardless of whether the various components that are separated are software processes in the mobile terminal 400, hardware components, or hardware devices that are completely removed from the mobile terminal 400.

Fig. 5 illustrates a wireless network including servers and gateways operating in a personal area network. The network 500 includes an access subsystem 502 that includes a PAN 504 connected to an application subsystem 506 and external devices 508, 510, and 512. The access subsystem 502 includes a gateway 512 and an access server 514. The access server 514 is an access point for access subsystem services and may be accessed by any entity seeking services installed thereon within the PAN 504. The gateway 512 and the access server 514 are shown as being included within block 516, as the gateway 512 and the access server 514 are typically logical entities implemented in the same physical entity. The mobile terminal includes an access subsystem 502 and an application subsystem 506. The gateway 512 allows user access to the external network 516 by the application subsystem 506 or any of the devices 508, 510, or 512.

The access subsystem 502 provides a networking hub for access to external networks via the PAN 504 and a router for the PAN 504. In some mobile terminals employing a gateway architecture, the application subsystem 506 is viewed as simply another device on the PAN 504, as shown in fig. 5. In other mobile terminals employing a gateway architecture, the application subsystem and the access subsystem together form a PAN gateway, and from the perspective of the PAN gateway, the remote device (i.e., the device external to the mobile terminal) is treated as equivalent. In either case, the access subsystem services may be accessible via an access server on the associated PAN.

Communication within the PAN may occur via TCP/IP, as TCP/IP provides a standard communication interface and most operating systems provide a socket Application Programming Interface (API). The services are built on top of the socket API, which makes the services device and operating system independent. Since the gateway architecture can become application operating system independent, communication with the service does not necessarily depend on the application operating system used. Thus, the gateway may be built on facilities that most operating systems may support, such as a socket API, for example. However, if the application operating system determines that the socket API is insufficient for some reason, the application operating system may determine how to implement the relevant functionality and exclude the socket API implementation when designing the constraint commands.

For example, a real-time operating system from ENEA, referred to as OSE, provides a mechanism for inter-process communication using message passing constructs such as semaphores, and shared memory. Thus, in a platform that implements application functions and access functions using a single processor, or in a mobile terminal that uses multiple processors all running OSEs, the socket API may be omitted and the complete functions implemented separately using a low-level operating system construct. Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to facilitating standardized interfaces that allow low-level calls to be extracted via a socket API to the low-level calls. Thus, in various embodiments of the present invention, the standard socket API may map to a proprietary protocol suite that cooperates with the interprocessor communication facility. Additionally, in various embodiments of the invention, the standard socket API may map to another link layer, for example, a link layer as provided by a dedicated serial link such as MSL, or to a non-IP link layer based configuration file (profile) as provided by, for example, bluetooth. Furthermore, in various embodiments of the present invention, the socket API may communicate with a server function, which in turn may set up a non-IP routing protocol for certain kinds of traffic, such as, for example, voice over telephone. In various embodiments of the present invention, the separation of functionality between access functionality and application functionality does not depend on the conventional wisdom of a particular manner in which functionality is implemented via hardware and/or software.

Using TCP/IP for the PAN is a logical choice in case most external networks to which the access subsystem can connect are based on TCP/IP. In most cases, using non-IP based solutions requires some type of access subsystem translation gateway. TCP/IP stacks are often implemented in devices such as laptops and PDAs, for example.

One major problem associated with IPv4 is reduced address availability if IP is to be used for communication within a PAN. Together, Network Address Translation (NAT), Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), or masquerading under Linux addresses the deficiencies of IPv4 addresses. NAT allows private networks to share a single external IP address. The internal network uses a non-routable IP address as specified in IETF RFC 1918. NAT, in its simplest form, only translates IP addresses; however, the simplest form of NAT is rarely implemented. The most common form of NAT is formally known as NAT with port translation (natpt). In NATPT, translation of IP addresses and port addresses between an internal network and an external network is enabled.

Although as described above, some applications still require an end-to-end connection, and the NAT interrupts the connection. One common way to address this problem is to use an Application Level Gateway (ALG) that parses incoming packets and repackages the content, and then sends the repackaged content to its destination. ALGs are tailored for each application (e.g., FTP) and must be implemented in the gateway. The complexity and resource requirements of ALGs depend on the application. In addition, quality of service (QoS) of different Packet Data Protocol (PDP) contexts cannot be handled in IP communications. To classify packets into different PDP contexts, packet filtering is required in the gateway.

Prioritization of data transmission may be changed via the use of QoS provisioning (provisioning). At a lower level, interfaces such as the MSL of Intel provide the ability to change QoS over several logical channels carried over one hardware interface. At a higher level, modern operating systems provide functions such as Microsoft's Generalized Quality of Service (GQoS) or standardized protocols such as resource reservation protocol (RSVP), which can be used to manage prioritization of data support. In practice, several fixed QoS profiles are typically attached to each available logical channel and the application requirements are mapped to the best available profile. Data links and control links may be distinguished in a similar manner.

The address space problem that exists when IPv4 is used is not an issue for IPv 6. In IPv6, the address is 128 bits instead of 32 bits, which means that there are a sufficient number of addresses for each device to have its own global IP address. Thus, when the gateway is connected to an external network, the gateway obtains a global address subnet for the internal network. With a global address, NAT and ALG are no longer needed.

However, when implementing an IPv6 PAN, the external access may still be an IPv4 connection. There are at least two options to address the connection to the external network: 1) using NAT/ALG solutions; 2) IPv4 traffic is tunneled over the PAN. The first solution is discussed above. A disadvantage of the second solution is that only one PAN node at a time can be connected to the external network.

With IPv6, no Dynamic Host Control Protocol (DHCP) server is needed in the PAN, since the local IPv6 network implements stateless auto-configuration. In addition, using IPv6 instead of IPv4, the access subsystem tends to be more independent of the application subsystem, since application specific ALGs need not be implemented. Further, IPv6 increases quality of service (QoS) capabilities, and thus, a sender can request and a device can apply special treatment to heterogeneous traffic. Making the QoS information explicit helps the router to process packets faster, making it easier to provide a higher QoS than default for real-time multimedia, for example, while simple file transfers may result in an even lower QoS. While basing PAN302 on IPv6 has some of the advantages described above, the PAN may be based on any suitable protocol.

An example of an advantage of the gateway architecture is when the access subsystem provides voice compression functionality for telephony and multimedia. If the compression library on the access subsystem is available as a functional interface to the application subsystem or other devices in the PAN, the application developer need not repeat the voice compression function. Thus, the useful part of the access subsystem may be exposed to the application subsystem and other devices in the PAN, such as voice messaging applications, for example, without major software development.

As another example, an advanced application subsystem may have some of the networking functionality typically provided by an access subsystem. Thus, while exposing functionality within the access environment, functional components such as DHCP may actually be deleted from the access subsystem and transferred to the application subsystem.

As another example, the GSM specification requires the use of a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to store subscriber-specific information, which allows information such as, for example, subscriber identity and phonebook data to be transferred from one terminal to another. Exposing specific functional interfaces to the SIM allows more complex databases of personal information on the application subsystem to be synchronized with the access subsystem on a real-time basis.

As another example, advanced mobile devices such as smart phones or PDAs may be interested in gaming and other multimedia applications. The gateway architecture allows hardware interfaces such as audio or graphics to be moved out of the access subsystem so that the gateway architecture can be easily extended. Thus, an access subsystem implemented using a baseband processor with preliminary graphics and audio functions for a basic cellular telephone may be used with more advanced application environments in a manner that allows transfer of multimedia peripheral functions to access the new application environment.

The middleware services that allow application developers to access both the application subsystem and the access subsystem may be exported via a set of interfaces and related functions called open platform api (opa). The OPA is in turn part of an overall middleware component (not shown) that separates third party application software from platform services software (i.e., application subsystem software and access subsystem software). OPA represents platform functionality that a customer can use to develop an application. The OPA functionality relies on an execution model introduced at the middleware component.

When a standard operating subsystem is used by the application subsystem, the OPA may implement communication via the access subsystem functionality of the socket API, which may be used to hide proprietary methods, e.g., inter-process communication functions as specific to the operating system, e.g., as a link handler in the OSE or non-TCP/IP protocol families associated with other types of link layer protocols. Within each of the application subsystem and the access subsystem, process communication may be based on a link handler. Applications built on top of the OPA do not see the difference between the application subsystem and the access subsystem.

For external operating systems loaded on the application subsystem, only the access functionality of the OPA may be supported to minimize external operating system support. In such cases, the OPA may be modified for each different application operating system, or a description of how to access the access service through the socket API may be provided. The selection is between a functional interface (i.e., OPA) or a message-based interface (i.e., socket). Software control and configuration of the access subsystem and the application subsystem may be performed by a socket-based interface. For example, SNMP/TCP/IP based access may be provided.

The access subsystem may extend from low-end to high-end devices. The access subsystem is typically extended by three parameters: 1) the number of external interfaces; 2) throughput (number of packets per second); and 3) services provided by the access subsystem. If an IP solution is used, the TCP/IP stack may be located on both the access subsystem and the application subsystem. If the PAN is IPv6 based, devices connected to the PAN may not need to implement IPv4 and IPv 6; however, whether IPv4 support is required depends on how the possible external IPv4 connections will be handled.

Telematics solutions are used when a connection is added to an embedded device, such as an automated system or a beverage machine, for example. The gateway architecture provides the autonomous access subsystem with standard interfaces and protocols for accessing the access subsystem. The selection of the interface may be any external interface supported by the access subsystem.

As described above, the gateway may be implemented such that the application subsystem is only seen as another device in the PAN302, among other devices. When looking at the application subsystem as such, services that depend on the real-time aspects of the IP stack may degrade in performance. One possible example is the transport of audio data between the access subsystem and the application subsystem. To achieve adequate performance, the IP stack needs to have acceptable throughput, latency, and latency variation.

One way to avoid possible performance degradation of services depending on real-time aspects of the IP stack is to tie the application subsystem more closely to the access subsystem. In such a case, the application subsystem is no longer considered just another node in the PAN. Rather, in the audio data example described above, a special audio data path may be established via a direct channel on the logical interface between the application subsystem and the access subsystem, with the only control being transmitted over IP. Thus, the application subsystem is handled differently than other devices connected to the PAN. In such a case, the access subsystem supports a direct channel for each supported external interface if the processing of the application subsystem is the same as the other devices.

An extreme of tighter integration between the access subsystem and the application subsystem is when the access subsystem and the application subsystem together form a gateway and communication between them is via a dedicated protocol, such as, for example, a link manager in an OSE. The PAN then includes the mobile terminal as one node and other devices connected through the external interface of the mobile terminal as other nodes. Another option is to optimize the communication channel between the gateway and the PAN device, e.g. by removing the IP stack and directly implementing the socket API on the external interface. Thus, there will be one implementation for each external interface.

In contrast to the tighter integration described above, any device that can connect to the PAN can be considered an application subsystem of the mobile terminal when the gateway simply treats the application subsystem as another device in the PAN. The PAN may be based on the IP protocol, but is not required. The access subsystem forms a self-contained access device whose services are accessible via, for example, a socket API.

The foregoing description has been directed to embodiments of this invention. The scope of the invention should not necessarily be limited by this description. But rather the scope of the invention is defined by the following claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims (39)

1. A mobile terminal, comprising:

an access subsystem (307), the access subsystem (307) comprising at least one access technology interface (306);

an application subsystem (308) interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307), the connection comprising at least one access technology interface (306) associated with the access subsystem (307);

wherein the application subsystem (308) and the access subsystem (307) are separated by a functional partition;

wherein the access subsystem (307) is adapted to provide access to a first wireless network by the application subsystem (308) via a first access technology interface of the at least one access technology interface (306),

characterized in that the access subsystem comprises interfaces (412) to various access technology interfaces (418, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428), the access subsystem being adapted to act as a gateway allowing a user of the mobile terminal to access the application subsystem (308) and any other devices within the personal area network of the user of the mobile terminal and to provide access to the various access technology interfaces.

2. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of service components (312, 314), each of the plurality of service components (312, 314) being interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307),

wherein at least one of the plurality of service components (312, 314) is adapted to provide access to functions required by the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308).

3. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein access to the application subsystem (308) and the access subsystem (307) via middleware is allowed.

4. The mobile terminal of claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of service components (312, 314) comprises a separable hardware module, a separable software module, or a combination of hardware and software components.

5. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein communication between the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) is via an internet protocol.

6. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the access subsystem (307) is adapted to function as a wireless router adapted to connect at least one external device (310) interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307) to a second wireless network.

7. The mobile terminal of claim 6, wherein the application subsystem (308) and the at least one external device (310) are mutually interconnected in an interoperable manner via the access subsystem (307).

8. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) are adapted to communicate via a socket-based interface.

9. The mobile terminal of claim 8, wherein the socket-based interface utilizes a link-specific address and protocol family of a socket library.

10. The mobile terminal of claim 1, further comprising

A middleware;

wherein the middleware provides access to the access subsystem and the application subsystem by an application developer; and

wherein the functional partitioning is hidden from the application developer via an application programming interface.

11. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the capabilities of the access subsystem (307) are providable to the application subsystem (308) for use by applications executed via the application subsystem (308).

12. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the capabilities of the application subsystem (308) are providable to the access subsystem (307) for use by the access subsystem (307).

13. The mobile terminal of claim 11 or 12, wherein the capabilities comprise at least one of hardware functions and software functions.

14. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the prioritization of data communicated between the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) is via quality of service, QoS, provisioning.

15. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the access subsystem (307) is adapted to be implemented in a telematics application without the application subsystem (308).

16. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the access subsystem (307) comprises at least one of a speech codec and a video codec, and the application subsystem (308) is adapted to access the at least one of a speech codec and a video codec in a transparent manner.

17. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the access subsystem (307) comprises subscriber identity module, SIM, functionality, and the application subsystem (308) is adapted to access the SIM functionality of the access subsystem (307) in a transparent manner.

18. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein at least one of the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) comprises a voice compression library.

19. The mobile terminal of claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal further comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) module.

20. The mobile terminal of claim 19, wherein the GPS module is adapted to be used by the access subsystem (307) to obtain an assisted GPS position or by the application subsystem (308).

21. A wireless network access method, comprising the steps of:

providing a mobile terminal comprising an application subsystem (308) and an access subsystem (307), the access subsystem (307) comprising at least one access technology interface (306), and the application subsystem (308) being interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307) via the at least one access technology interface (306), wherein the application subsystem (308) and the access subsystem (307) are functionally separated;

-making, by the application subsystem (308), access to a first wireless network via a first access technology interface of at least one access technology interface (306) of the access subsystem (307);

characterized in that the access subsystem comprises interfaces (412) to various access technology interfaces (418, 420, 422, 424, 426, 428), the access subsystem being adapted to act as a gateway allowing a user of the mobile terminal to access the application subsystem (308) and any other devices within the personal area network of the user of the mobile terminal and to provide access to the various access technology interfaces.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising:

providing a plurality of service components (312, 314), each of the plurality of service components (312, 314) being interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307); and

providing access to functions required by the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) via the plurality of service components (312, 314).

23. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing access to the application subsystem (308) and the access subsystem (307) via middleware.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein at least one of the plurality of service components (312, 314) comprises a separable hardware module, a separable software module, or a combination of hardware and software components.

25. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of making access to a first wireless network by the application subsystem (308) via a first one of at least one access technology interface (306) of the access subsystem (307) comprises the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) communicating via internet protocol.

26. The method of claim 21, further comprising an external device (310) accessing a second wireless network via a second access technology interface of the at least one access technology interface (306) via the access subsystem (307).

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the external device accessing step comprises the access subsystem (307) interoperably interconnecting the application subsystem (308) and the external device (310) with each other.

28. The method of claim 26, further comprising:

wherein the access provided by the access subsystem (307) via the second access technology interface is within a personal area network; and

providing, by the access subsystem (307), access by the external device (310) to a third wireless network, the third wireless network comprising an area outside of the personal area network.

29. The method of claim 21, further comprising the access subsystem (307) acting as a wireless router to connect at least one external device (310) interoperably connected to the access subsystem (307) to a second wireless network.

30. The method of claim 21, wherein the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) communicate via a socket-based interface.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the socket-based interface utilizes a link-specific address and protocol family of a socket library.

32. The method of claim 21, further comprising

Providing access to the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) by an application developer; and

wherein the functional partitioning is hidden from the application developer via an application programming interface.

33. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing the capabilities of the access subsystem (307) to the application subsystem (308) for use by applications executing via the application subsystem (308).

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the capabilities comprise at least one of hardware functionality and software functionality.

35. The method of claim 21, further comprising providing the capabilities of the application subsystem (308) to the access subsystem (307) for use by the access subsystem (307).

36. The method of claim 21, further comprising using a network management tool to configure and control functions provided by at least one of the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308).

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the network management tool conforms to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

38. The method of claim 21, further comprising prioritizing data communicated between the access subsystem (307) and the application subsystem (308) via quality of service, QoS, provisioning.

39. The method according to claim 21, wherein the access subsystem (307) comprises subscriber identity module, SIM, functionality and the application subsystem (308) is adapted to access the SIM functionality of the access subsystem (307) in a transparent manner.