1. A dispatch communication router comprising:
a protocol interworking function;
a media control stack coupled to the protocol interworking function;
a first dispatch technology protocol stack coupled to the protocol interworking function and to a first dispatch technology network; and
a second dispatch technology protocol stack coupled to the protocol interworking function and to a second dispatch technology network, wherein the first and second dispatch technology networks operate in accordance with different dispatch communication protocols.
2. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, further comprising:
a transcoder, wherein the first and second dispatch technology networks operate using different communication coders, and the transcoder converts media for dispatch communications between the first and second dispatch technology networks.
3. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, wherein a third dispatch technology network is coupled to the first dispatch technology protocol stack, wherein the first and third dispatch technology networks operate in accordance with the same dispatch communication technology.
4. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, wherein the first dispatch technology network operates according to an iDEN protocol and the second dispatch technology network operates according to a Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) protocol.
5. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, wherein the first dispatch technology protocol stack is arranged to convert dispatch communication signaling received from the first dispatch technology network into a common dispatch communication technology signaling format.
6. The dispatch communication router of claim 5, wherein the common dispatch communication technology signaling format is a session initiation protocol (SIP) format.
7. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, wherein the first dispatch technology protocol stack is arranged to convert dispatch communication media received from the first dispatch technology network into a common dispatch communication technology media protocol.
8. The dispatch communication router of claim 7, wherein the common dispatch communication technology media format is a real-time protocol (RTP).
9. The dispatch communication router of claim 7, wherein the first dispatch technology protocol stack is arranged to convert dispatch communication media received from the first dispatch technology network into a common dispatch communication technology media format.
10. The dispatch communication router of claim 9, wherein the common dispatch communication technology media format is a pulse code modulation (PCM) format.
11. The dispatch communication router of claim 1, further comprising:
a third dispatch technology protocol stack coupled to the protocol interworking function and to a third dispatch technology network.
12. A method for routing dispatch communications between a first dispatch network and a second dispatch network, the method comprising the acts of:
receiving a dispatch communication from the first dispatch communication network;
converting the dispatch communication into a common dispatch communication protocol;
converting the dispatch communication in the common dispatch communication protocol into a second dispatch communication protocol; and
transmitting the dispatch communication in the second dispatch communication protocol to the second dispatch communication network.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the dispatch communication comprises dispatch communication signaling and media.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the common dispatch communication protocol of the dispatch communication signaling is a session initiation protocol (SIP).
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the common dispatch communication protocol of the dispatch communication media is a real-time protocol (RTP).
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the act of:
converting dispatch communication media into a common dispatch communication media format.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the common dispatch communication media format is a pulse code modulation (PCM) format.
18. The method of claim 12, further comprising the acts of:
receiving dispatch communication media from the first dispatch communication network;
converting the dispatch communication media from a protocol and format of the first network into a protocol and format of the second network; and
transmitting the converted dispatch communication media to the second network.
19. The method of claim 12, further comprising the acts of:
determining whether a dispatch communication media protocol and format of the first and second networks are the same; and
converting the dispatch communication media from a media protocol and media format of the first network into a media protocol and media format of the second network when the dispatch communication media formats of the first and second networks are different.
20. The method of claim 12, wherein the first dispatch communication network operates according to an iDEN protocol and the second dispatch communication network operates according to a Push to talk over Cellular (PoC) protocol.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method comprising:
receiving a request to write data to a logical sector address of a flash memory medium;
selecting a physical sector address from a list of free physical sector addresses;
assigning the selected free physical sector address to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the addresses;
storing the corresponding relationship between the addresses in a data structure; and
writing the data into a physical sector of the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the selected free physical sector address.
2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data structure is stored on the flash memory medium.
3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the data structure is contained in a random access memory device.
4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the request is received from a file system.
5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising storing the logical sector address in the physical sector of the flash memory medium along with the data.
6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising
storing the logical sector address in the physical sector of the flash memory medium along with the data;
if the data structure is erased, then scanning the flash memory medium to locate the logical sector address stored with the data;
assigning the physical sector address containing the data to the logical sector address forming a reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses; and
storing the reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses in a new data structure.
7. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for performing stops comprising:
receiving a request to write data to a logical sector address of a flash memory medium;
selecting a physical sector of the flash memory medium to store the data based on the ability of the physical sector to store the data without first being erased;
assigning a physical sector address of the selected physical sector to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the addresses;
storing the corresponding relationship between the addresses in a data structure;
writing the data into the physical sector, and
writing the logical sector address in the physical sector of the flash memory medium along with the data.
8. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising:
if the data structure is erased, then scanning the flash memory medium to locate the logical sector address stored with the data;
assigning the physical sector address containing the data to the logical sector address forming a reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses; and
storing the reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses in a new data structure.
9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein writing the logical sector address in the physical sector of the flash memory medium includes writing the logical sector address into a spare portion of the physical sector.
10. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the data structure is contained in at least one memory device other than the flash memory medium.
11. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the data structure is contained in a random access memory device.
12. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the request is received from a file system.
13. A method comprising:
(a) receiving a request to write data to a logical sector address of a flash memory medium;
(b) assigning a physical sector address to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the addresses;
(c) storing the corresponding relationship between the addresses in a data structure;
(d) writing the data into a physical sector of the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the physical sector address;
(e) receiving a request to rewrite updated data to the logical sector address;
(f) assigning a new physical sector address to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the new physical sector address and the logical sector address;
(g) storing the corresponding relationship between the addresses from the aforementioned paragraph (f) in the data structure;
(h) writing the updated data into a physical sector of the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the new physical sector address; and
(i) marking the physical sector address from the aforementioned paragraph (b) as dirty.
14. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the data structure is contained in at least one memory device other than the flash memory medium.
15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the data structure is contained in a random access memory device.
16. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the requests are received from a file system.
17. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein the data structure is maintained by a flash abstraction logic of a flash memory driver.
18. A system, comprising:
flash medium logic, configured to store data in a physical sector of a flash memory medium;
a table, configured to map logical sector addresses received from a file system to physical sector addresses on the flash memory medium; and
flash abstraction logic, configured to ascertain a next free physical sector on a flash memory medium and assign an address associated with the free physical sector to a logical sector address associated with a write request received from the file system.
19. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the flash abstraction logic is further configured to update the map of the logical sector addresses to the physical sector addresses, after assigning the address associated with the free physical sector to the logical sector address associated with the write request.
20. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the flash medium logic marks a physical sector address as dirty after contents associated with the physical sector address are rewritten to a new physical sector address.
21. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the flash medium logic is further configured to store the logical sector address within a portion of the physical sector associated with the write request.
22. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the flash medium logic is further configured to:
store the logical sector address within a portion of the physical sector associated with the write request; and
scan the flesh memory medium for the portion of the physical sector storing the logical sector address after initialization of the system.
23. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the table is contained in a memory device other than the flash memory medium.
24. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the table is contained in a random access memory device.
25. The system as recited in claim 18, wherein the system is a flash driver system.
26. A computer-readable medium for a flash driver, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, direct the flash driver to:
receive a request to write data to a logical sector address of a flash memory medium;
selecting a physical sector address from a list of free physical sector addresses;
assign the selected physical sector address to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the addresses;
store the corresponding relationship between the addresses in a table; and
write the data into a physical sector of the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the physical sector address.
27. A computer-readable medium for a flash driver, comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed, direct the flash driver to:
receive a request to write data to a logical sector address of a flash memory medium;
assign a physical sector address to the logical sector address forming a corresponding relationship between the addresses;
store the corresponding relationship between the addresses in a table;
write the data into a physical sector of the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the physical sector address;
write the logical sector address in the physical sector of the flash memory medium along with the data;
if the table is erased, then scan the flash memory medium to locate the logical sector address stored with the data;
assign the physical sector address containing the data to the logical sector address forming a reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses; and
store the reestablished corresponding relationship between the addresses in a new table.
28. A system for tracking sectors in a flash memory medium, comprising:
means for receiving a request to retrieve data stored in the flash memory medium from a location indicated by a logical sector address;
means for locating a physical sector address corresponding to the specific logical sector address in a table; and
means for reading the data stored in the flash memory medium from the physical sector address located from the table.
29. The system as recited in claim 28, further comprising:
means for storing the logical sector address with the data in the flash memory medium at a location indicated by the physical sector address;
means for reestablishing a portion of the table in the event of a power interruption, by scanning the physical sector address for the associated logical sector address; and
means for storing the logical sector address in the table at a location corresponding to the physical sector address.
30. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the request is received from a file system.
31. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the table is maintained by a flash abstraction logic of a flash driver.
32. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the means for reading of the data is performed by flash media logic of a flash driver.
33. The system as recited in claim 28, wherein the memory device is a type of random access memory.