Systems, Devices and Methods for Providing Access to a Distributed Network

Abstract

Systems and apparatus, and methods relating thereto, can be implemented to include base station having a transceiver adapted to establish a radio-frequency link with a mobile telephone; a first interface, separate from said transceiver, that is adapted for communication over the public Internet; and a controller. The controller can be adapted to obtain from a server accessed via the public Internet, gateway address information for a remote gateway that provides an interface between the public Internet and a network of a telephone service provider and route data from the mobile telephone, over the public Internet, to the remote gateway.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A base station comprising:
 a transceiver adapted to establish a radio-frequency link with a mobile telephone;   a first interface, separate from said transceiver, that is adapted for communication over the public Internet; and   a controller adapted to:   obtain, from a server accessed via the public Internet, gateway address information for a remote gateway that provides an interface between the public Internet and a network of a telephone service provider; and   route data from the mobile telephone, over the public Internet, to the remote gateway.   
     
     
         2 . The base station of  claim 1  wherein the data from the mobile telephone comprises call data for a voice call. 
     
     
         3 . The base station of  claim 2  wherein the voice call is routed to a second telephone using an Internet address associated with the second telephone. 
     
     
         4 . The base station of  claim 1  wherein the controller transmits a periodic update to the server via the public Internet. 
     
     
         5 . The base station of  claim 1  wherein the controller is adapted to determine and report geographical location data for the base station to the server via the public Internet. 
     
     
         6 . The base station of  claim 5  wherein the controller is adapted to determine the geographical location data for the base station using a GPS device. 
     
     
         7 . The base station of  claim 5  wherein the controller is adapted to detect transmissions from other base stations and to report an identity and received signal level of transmissions from the other base stations. 
     
     
         8 . The base station of  claim 1  wherein the base station is connected to the public Internet via a wired connection and the base station is adapted to communicate cellular network control signals with the mobile telephone. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 a server adapted for communication over the public Internet with a plurality of base stations;   a plurality of base stations, with each base station including:   a transceiver adapted to establish a radio-frequency link with a mobile telephone;   a first interface, separate from said transceiver, that is adapted for communication over the public Internet;   a controller adapted to:   obtain, from the server via the public Internet, gateway address information for a remote gateway that provides an interface between the public Internet and a network of a telephone service provider; and   route data from the mobile telephone, over the public Internet, to the remote gateway.   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the data from the mobile telephone comprises call data for a voice call. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10  further comprising the gateway between the public Internet and the network of a telephone service provider, wherein the gateway routes the call data for the voice call received over the public Internet to the network of the telephone service provider for communication to a destination telephone. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the controller transmits a periodic update to the server via the public Internet. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 9  wherein the controller is adapted to determine and report geographical location data for the base station to the server via the public Internet. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the controller is adapted to determine the geographical location data for the base station using a GPS device. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the controller is adapted to detect transmissions from other base stations and to report an identity and received signal level of transmissions from the other base stations. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the server is adapted to activate the base station in response to receiving the geographical location data. 
     
     
         17 . A method comprising:
 establishing a radio-frequency link between a mobile telephone and a radio-frequency transceiver of a base station;   reporting a geographical location of the base station via a first interface, separate from said transceiver, that is adapted for communication over the public Internet to a server on the public Internet; and   routing data from the mobile telephone over the public Internet to a remote gateway to the network of a telephone service provider.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the data from the mobile telephone comprises call data for a voice call. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising determining the geographical location of the base station based on transmitted signals received at the base station. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  further comprising transmitting a periodic update from the base station to the server via the public Internet.