This invention relates to mobile communications and developments thereof. Mobile communications rely on 'cells' served by a receiving station and transmitting station. Any mobile phone within the network may, subject to permission, connect with a receiving station and be connected by the network to phone in the same cell or any other cell where they can receive a signal . Signal strength falls off with the square of the distance, so that beyond a certain distance, which might be further affected by clutter such as terrain and buildings, it is necessary to install a new transmitter/ receiver creating another cell. Other factors affecting cell size might be the number of users and the amount of data that a cell is likely to handle.

Recent developments in technology have enabled the creation of smaller local cells for relaying data over smaller distances. These have been termed microcells which have a range of up to two kilometres, picocells with a range of hundreds of metres and femtocells which have a range of the order of tens of metres.

These smaller cells, when used in conjunction with the wider network may enhance or supplement the performance of a network so for example in a busy train station or around a football stadium, a microcell might be an inexpensive means of handling local data surges.

In the case of a femtocell, these have been usefully employed in small businesses and domestic situations where the cell can be connected by a broadband connection to a network, operating in a similar fashion to a wi-fi network. Femtocells picocells, microcells and the like can be mounted electronically on a printed circuit board as a dedicated 'cell card' which has a back link to a network.

Femtocells thus are useful for local fast transmission of high bandwidth data over a short range, and by increasing the range a more or less local base station suitable for enhancing mobile communications can be set up. Further developments have seen the term used for more intelligent longer range cells.

Parts of the world, however are still untouched by any suitable communications network. Military on deployed operations, expeditions into wilderness areas, and ocean going vessels all must rely on satellite communications or radio transmissions etc. This can hamper the expedition or operation where data traffic is constrained through lack of bandwidth or the inability to send certain data streams because of poor integration between different systems. It would be advantageous to provide a local, contained data node to enable communications devices to connect over a desired area with all the functionality of a modern 3G network but capable of operating remotely from any fixed infrastructure.

Accordingly, the present invention provides for a data node comprising a cellular base station integrated with a core network part, the core network part comprising an ethernet switch, and components configured to run a computer operating system and applications wherein the cellular base station can be connected to an antenna, the core network part is configured to receive one or more data carrying signals and the data note is configured to connect to a power supply, and wherein the core network and the applications are controlled by the means of applications processors, where all the components are contained within a single, human portable envelope.

Such a system now allows remote access to an individual mobile phone and data network. By selection of the micro computers it is possible to provide 3G connectivity over a range defined by the base station. Range would be achieved by selecting a femtocell, a picocell or a microcell with an appropriate power source.

The applications are applications such as VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocols) and the cell is configured to operate with 3G functionality. Although unnecessary, it is possible that the data node could be linked to a wider network either by accessing the cable infrastructure or by satellite or radio links.

The components to run the computer operating system and applications might conveniently be microcomputers mounted on cards.

The power pack is integrated into the envelope and might be detachable in the same manner as a laptop battery or could be connected to an external power source. Such an external power supply could be from a stand alone battery, a car battery or mains or generated external supply. Alternatively, the power supply could be entirely integrated within the system with an external coupling to an external supply as required. The data node can now be completely portable with modern components allowing the data node to fit into a single human- portable box. Alternatively, it could be built into a vehicle or a portion of a ship or a remote command centre for operations, thus enabling the quick establishment of ad hoc dedicated data nodes when a closed local network is required. Such a situation might be in an emergency when normal communications nodes are overwhelmed, dedicated emergency provision could easily be realised. Mobile command centres which are often contained in containers such as Portakabins™ and in such a case it would be easy to fit a data node with a microcell or picocell with appropriate antennae and power supply for the emergency services' support.

In order to equip remotely operating teams, the equipment such as the node and ancillary equipment such as imaging equipment and hand held devices such as phones and PDAs might be ruggedized, but maintaining the functionality.

The antenna may be detachable or integral with the data node. Conveniently the antenna would transmit and receive data although it would be possible to have a data line in and the antenna separate from one another. An important part of the data node is the capability to need no configuration. For example, data nodes currently require certain information to enable users to access them such as authentification data files. An advantage of the data node is that all such information can be preloaded so that the data node requires no configuration. This means that it is ready to operate as soon as it is switched on for a given user community.

The invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings;

Figure 1 Shows the control face of the outside of the box Figure 2 sets out how the internal components are linked to achieve a femtocell based node.

In figure 1 , the data node is contained in a single human portable box. The box is made from milled aluminium with screw down covers either side. Each cover is recessed to hold an EMC gasket which also prevents water ingress. Circuit boards are screw-mounted on posts and protected from shock by washers.

The controls and connectors have been sited on the upper edge and include:

MIL-C-38999 connector (10) ON/OFF/CHARGE switch ( 12)

LED with cover ( 14) Antenna connector (16) Network monitor connector ( 18)

Figure 2 shows the inside schematic of the data node.

The cell chosen in this case is a 3g femtocell (20). The commercial 3G Oyster femtocell, supplied by IP Access supports 4 Users and provides data rates of 2 Mbps downlink and 64kbps uplink. In order to ruggedize the units, which are supplied with MCX connectors, two RF cables with SMA connectors were added to provide RF ports for transmit/receive and network monitoring.

Applications and operating systems are run on two microcomputers(22), (24) which are card based. The first (22) is a Gumstix Computer-on-Module running 3G Soft core. The Gumstix computer is mounted on a Tobi-Duo expansion board. Connectivity for the Gumstix computer is afforded through two Ethernet ports. The computer runs a Linux based 3G Soft core software to provide the Core Network functionality necessary to run a stand-alone 3G network.

The second micro computer (24) is a board mounted Gumstix Overo Water computer-on- module with the following characteristics is mounted on a Gumstix Tobi board:

ARM Processor 1 Off

USB connections 2 Off

Ethernet connection 1 Off

HDMI connection 1 Off

The component is loaded with a Linux Operating System to run the VoIP Server application.

The Teamtalk Voice-over-IP application server from Bearware.dk provides broadcast voice service with a Push-to-talk functionality.

The Ether net switch (26) is a Moxa 4-port Ethernet switch, is the EOM-104 module supplied by Amplicon, it provides connectivity between the Gumstix computer-on-modules and two external Ethernet ports on the D38999 connector. The EOM-104 was identified as being the smallest 4-port Ethernet switch available at the time of manufacture. The Power Supply module (29), consists of switch mode regulators and a change over circuit to automatically switch between the battery and vehicle supply. Internally the Power Supply (PCB4) provides the following:

+ 12V PCB 1 - Femtocell

+5V PCB2 - Tobi Duo/Yoggie Board

+3.3V PCB3 Moxa Embedded Ethernet Switch

+5V PCB5 - Tobi Board

The design accommodates supplies from a 12V integrated Li-ion battery or an external 28V dc vehicle supply through an automatic change over. The vehicle supply also charges the Li- ion battery pack.

The antenna (28) is a military grade 1000-2500 MHz OdB gain antenna made by Cobham Antennas.

The entire system is contained in a ruggedized container having dimensions of approximately 20cm x 20cm x 5cm, and weighing about 1.3 kg, making it entirely human portable. The system can work with existing systems or pre configured communications devices that may be similarly ruggedized.