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Developing Innovative Technology & Advancing Device Connectivity

Since 1993

Beamed From Boulder

Technology Overview

Cellport Technology Milestones

These Cellport technologies form the backbone of an ever increasing portfolio of innovation.

Mobile Connectivity

Cellport was founded to address the problems of mobile connectivity. At that time portable cell phones were widely different in shape, size, operating voltage, and connector interface. Phone vendors had proprietary car-kits; many vendors had none. Then, it was impossible to use phones from different vendors or even different models from in a single vehicle adapter (car kit). Surprisingly, this situation still exists today. As its first project Cellport decided to solve the problem with the concept of interchangeable cell phone adapters, each enabling a phone model to connect with a universal electronics module, called a docking station. The docking station supplied a robust physical and electrical interface to the vehicle. The universal docking station could be placed in any vehicle and allow use of any supported cell phone.

During the era of the first generation product only analog systems were deployed and battery technology was limited to NiCad cells. Limited battery capacity and poor phone efficiency severely restricted call-time, making a programmable battery charging a major priority. Hands free operation and secure latching mechanism were incorporated in the docking station. The unit could also be used with an external speaker. Finally, means to connect the phone to external antenna were included to extend the range and minimize RF radiation in then car. Cellport was amongst the first to take the automobile environment seriously and set out to develop a car kit that would safely secure and function with many brands and types of phones while meeting the difficult requirements of the automobile physical and electrical environment. With financial encouragement from Cellular One (which became AT&T-WS) and Hello Direct, Cellport set out to design and build this first "universal" car kit. During the development process significant insights into how to solve these problems were learned. As a consequence Cellport derived an early patent position in these important technologies.

Cellport has continued to develop products and connectivity technology as the cell phone market has matured. Tracking the migration to digital cellular systems and the continued miniaturization of portable communication devices, Cellport further developed its concept with later generation products incorporating DSP echo cancellation, voice recognition, speech synthesis, miniaturized cell phone adapters, and improved OEM physical and electrical interfaces while retaining the signature concept of universal connectivity.

Mobile Internet Connectivity

While developing the car kit product, Cellport realized that during the time the cell phone was connected to the automobile, digital data could be passed bi-directionally between the vehicle and a remote wireless server. The cellular system then became part of a digital network connecting the vehicle to external resources. Further investigation revealed that the best structure would be to connect the digital data from the mobile phone to a vehicle-side web server which would also act as a telecommunication controller for vehicle devices. This structure would use TCP/IP as the communication protocol. This server could then act as a gateway to vehicle automotive buses allowing a vehicle to connect to the Internet.

With Cellport, Mercedes Benz demonstrated the world's first Internet connected automobile in 1997. This was followed by telematics projects with John Deer, Case Equipment and others. Although the projects provided many user advantages, the high price of wireless data services, lack of standardization, and poor network interconnectivity slowed market acceptance of telematic systems. In fact until recently most telematics systems relied on low-bandwidth analog cellular modems which severely limit performance and access to advanced client services.

Cellport has continued to invest in the concept of the vehicle as a node on the Internet and has been granted significant patent rights in this emerging technology. Cellport's long-term research along with the availability of low cost high-bandwidth of 802.xx networks and the emergence of less costly high-speed data services from cellular carriers is poised to enable a new class of consumer and commercial products. Applications such as OnStar, vehicle tracking and routing systems, fleet management, entertainment, and other Internet-based applications are examples of cost effective products and services that will benefit from Cellport's technology portfolio.

Cellport Technology Resources