Method and apparatus for digital cellular internet voice communications

DETAILED DESCRIPTION In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a digital cellular handset capable of supporting voice communications over the Internet, in addition to the digital cellular handset's usual mode of voice communications over the digital cellular network/public telephony network.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided the use of the Short Message Service (SMS) with PCS digital cellular communication systems to allow call alerting for call set-up, initiation and establishment.
Internet communications facilitated by the present invention are enabled by embedding Internet protocol software within the digital cellular handset device, and by modifying the handset's hardware to accommodate the novel features of the present invention.
In operation, a digital cellular handset of the present invention will establish a normal data call through the digital cellular network and into the Internet.
The data call will establish a data link between the handset and an Internet-enabled terminating device (such as a computer or Internet phone) on the Internet.
Once the Internet enabled terminating device and the digital cellular handset have established a data connection, both units will exchange voice telephony information over the data link.
The voice telephony information will be encoded as per one of the emerging Internet voice protocols such as ITU H.
323 voice over Internet protocol (International Telecommunication Union Standard H.
323: Visual Telephone System and Equipment for Local Area Networks Which Provide a Non-Guaranteed Quality of Service) which will be built into the handset and run on an H.
323 Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and H.
323 processor device.
Other emerging voice over Internet standards may also be employed, such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), and Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP).
Hardware modifications to prior art digital cellular handsets will be required to allow the voice information received over the data link to be used