The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 07, 1999
Filed:
Mar. 13, 1997
David P Petsko, Akron, OH (US);
Aironet Wireless Communications, Inc., Fairlawn, OH (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a peripheral apparatus which enables users to communicate with a mobile device via radio as well as optical transmission substantially simultaneously. The peripheral apparatus includes a radio card which includes circuitry for conducting RF communication; and an antenna apparatus that is selectively detachable from the radio card, the antenna apparatus includes an optical device for conducting optical communications. When the antenna apparatus is attached to the radio card, the radio card is capable of radio and optical communications. The peripheral apparatus is particularly useful in that an available com port does not have to be solely dedicated for optical communications. Furthermore, the peripheral apparatus avoids the problems associated with employing external wires to connect an optical transceiver to the mobile device. As a result, the present invention affords a user the benefit of simply attaching the peripheral apparatus to effect a mobile device that is capable of communicating via RF and optics substantially simultaneously.