FR2693863A1 - Mobile radiotelephone method and mobile subscriber radiotelephone terminal for the implementation of the method. - Google Patents

Abstract

The method aims to route calls between an ordinary telephone network (4) and mobile telephone terminals of subscribers. The routing takes place both through terminals (7) of a cellular telephone network (2) and through terminals (10) of a local telephone network (3). In the event of an outgoing call from a terminal, the contact with a proximity telephone terminal (10) is first sought. If accepted, the subscriber chooses between validating a proposal to execute the call in proximity telephony, refusing it, to have the call executed in cellular telephony, or abandoning the call. . The terminals are arranged to manage back and forth between the two cellular and proximity modes. The invention offers the advantage of communicating at the best cost.

Description

1 -

  METHOD OF MOBILE RADIOTELEPHONY AND

  SUBSCRIBER MOBILE RADIOTELEPHONE TERMINAL

FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROCESS

  The present invention relates to mobile radiotelephony. Two solutions have heretofore been proposed:

  cellular telephony and local telephony.

  Cellular telephony A cellular telephone network, interconnected with the ordinary telephone network, comprises a terrestrial structure, or infrastructure, consisting of a set of switching centers, each of which manages a set of base stations, or radio terminals, which are connected In the GSM (Special Mobile Group) network, a base transceiver station (BTS) base station is connected to the mobile switching center (MSC) via a base controller BSC (base site control) common to several base stations, just as an MSC exchange can be common to several BSC controllers Like other cellular network, we know the GSM 1800 network, the Radiocom 2000 network, the network

  SFR line (French radiotelephone company).

  The radio terminals are the centers of a set of cells which, as far as the French territory is concerned, are essentially contiguous and cover

the whole territory.

  The user of a cellular telephone network, holder of a terminal, or mobile telephone, can perfectly move It is automatically followed -2 - by a wire center which knows in which cell it is to be able to convey it to him incoming calls This is the location function of such

  network, implemented through various procedures.

  The range of the base stations is quite large and, obviously, the radio frequencies of two neighboring cells, and sometimes even two distant cells of several others, must be different to avoid

interference.

  Due to this requirement of frequencies and localization procedures, which make the spectral balance difficult, the operation of a cellular telephone network is expensive. Of course, it offers the advantage of

subscriber mobility.

  Proximity telephony A local telephony network, also interconnected with the ordinary telephone network, comprises a set of management centers (CG), each connected to a set of terminal connection units (URBs), each connected to a terminal. group of radio terminals These terminals are located in public places (railway stations, important road junctions,) or private (factories, homes,). As a local telephony network, we know the second-generation wireless network POINTEL / CT 2, the network DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone) The denominations CG and URB, mentioned above, are in fact those of the network POINTEL The range of the terminals is very low, of the order of a hundred meters and users can only use their mobile terminal near -3 - a terminal The entire territory is far from covered; large areas are not local telephony offers a service lower than that of the cellular telephone It was created because the cellular telephony could not answer the demand considering the limited frequencies available and the

traffic to satisfy.

  A local telephony network does not provide a permanent location function When a user plans to stay close to a terminal for a long time, by a manual action, and a so-called registration procedure, he can make himself known to the terminal and require the routing of incoming calls intended for it In practice, on the POINTEL network, it is with the connection unit, which controls the terminal, that the registration is made, the center of

  concerned by being informed.

  In local telephony, we therefore opted for a small number of frequency channels, since there is no interference from one terminal to the other, which allows a low-cost operation, but with the disadvantages of low territorial coverage and the obligation

  to stay near a terminal.

  In short, both cellular and local telephony have advantages and disadvantages. The present invention aims at proposing a mobile telephony method that, depending on the circumstances, combines the advantages of the two cellphone

Proximity.

  To this end, the present invention relates firstly to a mobile radio method for routing calls between an ordinary telephone network and a plurality of mobile telephone subscribers terminals, characterized in that the routing of calls can be carried out by means of both cellular telephony terminals and proximity telephony terminals and that, in the case of an outgoing call from a user terminal, contact with a telephony terminal is first sought. proximity, if it is accepted, it is proposed to execute the call in local telephony and the user has the choice between the validation of the proposal, its refusal, to execute the call in cellular telephony, or the abandonment of

the call.

  Naturally, and preferably, if no contact is accepted by a proximity telephony terminal, it is proposed to execute the cellular telephone call and the user has the choice between accepting to execute the call. in cell phones or abandonment

of the call.

  The method of the invention is therefore a mixed cellular and proximity method, according to the flowchart of FIG. 1, which offers the great advantage to a user of communicating at the best cost according to the circumstances, by using one or the other the other two networks, but seeking to launch an outgoing call in local telephony, the least expensive solution, and

  cell phone, only failing.

  Near a local (telephony) terminal, he can use it if he does not intend to move; otherwise, it will go through the cellular (telephony) network. - It should be noted that the proposal for routing a call exiting a terminal by a proximity terminal can

  be performed both visually and audibly.

  In an advantageous implementation of the method of the invention, it can also alternatively be chosen automatically according to the availability of the frequency channels, but under the control of the subscriber. who may or may not confirm the mode chosen, for example by

  pressing a key or equivalent command.

  It should be noted that in case of indifferently manual or automatic operation, it is preferable to select a priori the simplest exploitation and

  the least expensive, that is to say the manual exploitation.

  If the user is near a nearby terminal, he will choose the telephony mode of proximity while agreeing to be cut off from the cellular network, and vice versa For certain categories of users, this is fully sufficient he can users who only make outgoing calls, those whose schedules are routinely cut off and who, for example, use the local network at home and at their cellular network, between their home and their office. In the event of an incoming call on a terminal, a priori in cellular mode unless the user has been "registered" with a proximity terminal, the call mode is indicated to the terminal user for that he can accept it knowingly, possibly refuse it and, above all, tell him, if it is the mode

  proximity, that he should not go too far.

  As far as incoming calls are concerned, it is in fact preferable to carry out a radio watch and to periodically and alternately scan the channels of the cellular network and those of the local network, thanks to the fact that the current mobile telephone procedures, which whether it is cellular telephony or local telephony, allow a discreet watch, and not

continuous, without loss of event.

  If, in a listening phase in one of the two modes, a relevant event occurs (incoming or outgoing call) in the listening mode considered, the terminal, in single-mode management, then automatically switches to the mode considered and any event then arising in the other of the two modes will be masked until the return

Standby.

  The day before is absolutely not incompatible with the procedure of registration of the telephony of proximity But if a user was registered near a terminal of proximity and that his terminal has switched in cellular mode, any incoming call presented

  later by the nearby terminal will be masked.

  Advantageously, at the end of a call in one of the two modes and before the return to standby, and according to the flow chart of Figure 2, the masked network of the other of the two modes, during the communication, having been able to consider that the terminal was out of operation, the terminal is registered with this masked network, by the appropriate procedure, the procedure of recording POINTEL proximity telephony and the procedure IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) ATTACH in cellular telephony

GSM.

  It can still be interesting that two communications in the two cellular and proximity modes can be managed back and forth, as for example in the ISDN man-machine relations When a communication is in progress in a mode, a terminal, here more elaborate, remains in radio contact on the other mode This allows him, on the one hand, to pick up an incoming call in the other mode and, on the other hand, not to risk losing his record in the other mode If an incoming call occurs in the other mode, the user can take it by warning the current communication to resume after and so on It is a simultaneous management, or dual mode , as opposed to the singlemode management discussed above about radio watch and terminal switching in a mode, the

  eve, meanwhile, always being bimodal.

  The goal of using the local telephony network, preferably in the cell phone network, is relatively easy to reach with outgoing calls But for incoming calls, their mode is a priori left to the initiative of the calling party who dials either a cellular telephone number or a proximity telephone number,

different from each other.

  Well, the invention further provides for assigning only one telephone number to a mobile terminal and allowing the infrastructures of the two networks to route an incoming call by one of the two networks, depending on the circumstances, but with a preference for the network

proximity telephony.

  This other aim is achieved by connecting at least one switching center of the cellular network to at least one management center of the proximity network by an interstructure link, making systematic, and preferably automatic, the registration procedure of the network. local telephony and considering a cellular and proximity subscriber, first as a subscriber of the local network, so that any incoming call from a caller reaches the management center of the

proximity network.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3, if the subscriber is registered with a connection unit, the management center directs the incoming call before the call is established. proximity network management center, via the interstructure link, interrogates the cellular network which can confirm that the subscriber exists and is located, in which case the call is then transferred to the subscriber's base station and communication is established In the case

otherwise, the call is abandoned.

  As a variant, the management center could have a copy of the cellular network subscriber table and, instead of querying the cellular network, in the event of a subscriber not appearing in the table, the management center of the proximity network could directly transfer the call to the base station of the cellular network, the interstructure link no longer serving

than updating the table.

  The invention also relates to a radio terminal

  mobile subscriber telephone system for carrying out the telephony method as claimed above, comprising an antenna, a radio stage, a baseband stage, a central unit and a set of application members, characterized by the fact that the central unit is arranged to manage back and forth the two

cellular and proximity modes.

  Preferably, the central unit is arranged to provide a radio watch and a periodic and alternative listening of the channels of the two networks, perform automatic registration procedures,

  enter local telephony signals.

  Advantageously, there is provided a mixer stage, to ensure the separation of the cell phone channels and proximity telephony channels, the radio stage comprises a proximity telephony transceiver and a transmitter and a cell phone receiver. The invention will be better understood by means of the

  following description of several embodiments

  of the subscriber mobile radiotelephone terminal, with reference to the appended drawing in which: FIG. 1 represents a flowchart of steps for processing the outgoing calls of the method of the invention; FIG. 2 represents a flowchart of steps for processing incoming calls, by radio watch, of the method of the invention; FIG. 3 represents a flowchart of steps for automatically routing the incoming calls of the method of the invention; FIG. 4 represents the schematic organization of the mixed cellular telephony and telephony proximity infrastructure in which the terminal of the invention can evolve; FIG. 5 represents the schematic structure of the embodiment of the terminal with simultaneous operation; FIG. 6 represents the schematic structure of the embodiment of the single-mode terminal and FIG. 7 represents a flowchart of the procedure.

automatic recording.

  The terminal (radiotelephone) of the invention which will be described is designed to evolve in a mixed infrastructure 1 of cellular telephony and telephony proximity, in this case, and for example only, a GSM network infrastructure 2 and of

CT network 2 Pointel 3.

  The GSM network 2 is interconnected to the ordinary switched telephone network RTC 4 by one or more MSC centers 5 each controlling a set of BSC controllers 6 each of which in turn controls a set of BTS stations 7 with which the terminal can

directly communicate.

  The network Pointel 3 is interconnected to the network RTC 4 by one or more management centers 8 each controlling a set of connection units 9 each of which in turn controls a set of terminals 10 with which the terminal can directly communicate. The two networks GSM 2 and Point 3 are directly interconnected by a link 11, here X 25 type, between a switching center 5 and a management center 8 Alternatively, the two centers 5 and 8 could be integrated into one. only. It has been seen that such an inter-structure link allows the subscriber terminal to answer only one mixed call number and to let the infrastructure route incoming calls preferably via the Pointel network.

3, depending on the circumstances.

  With reference to FIG. 5, the subscriber terminal 12 comprises an antenna 13, a mixer stage 14, a radio stage 15, a baseband stage 16, a central unit 17 and a set of application members 18, all

  being powered by a battery 19.

  The antenna 13 is common to both cellular and proximity telephony modes thanks to the proximity of the GSM and Pointel frequencies It is an antenna for the frequency band 864-960 M Hz Similarly, an antenna for the frequency 1800 M Hz can also

  be common to GSM 1800 and DECT modes.

  The mixer stage 14 separates the GSM and Pointel channels and attacks the radio stage It comprises three filters, a first 20 for the Pointel channel, for the 864-868 MHz band, a second 21 for the emission of the GSM channel, for the band 890-915 M Hz and a third 22,

  for the reception of the GSM channel, for the band 935-

960 M Hz.

  The radio stage 15 comprises a transceiver 23

  Pointel, a 24 GSM transmitter and a 25 GSM receiver.

  In the GSM mode, the communications are done in duplex with one frequency for the transmission and another for the reception whereas in the Pointel mode, they are in duplex mode.

  are performed in time duplex on a single frequency.

  The baseband stage 16, with a Pointel circuit 26 and a GSN circuit 27, provides a dual function on transmission, they translate the information to be transmitted, delivered by the central unit 17, into frames defined by the CT standards. 2 and GSM for modulating the transmitters 23, 24 At the reception, they extract the frames received by the receivers 23, 25 and translate them into information and events that can be used by

the central unit 17.

  As application members, connected to the central unit 17, there is a digitizing / digitization circuit 28, a sounder 29, a display 30, a keyboard 31 and

a "mode" key 32.

  The central unit 17 manages and controls the application components 28-32, manages the CT 2 and GSM procedures and coordinates the two cellular and proximity modes as illustrated by the flowcharts.

Figures 1-3.

  The display 30, the keyboard 31, the mode key 32 and the buzzer 29 form a subscriber-terminal interface

common to both modes.

  The central unit here provides the compression / decompression of the voice from or to the digitized form of the signal of a microphone or speaker connected to the

circuit 28.

  As a variant, it should be noted that the compression / decompression could also be provided by a separate circuit, unless it is not provided at all if the networks

transmit analog sounds.

  It has been seen above that two communications in the two modes CT 2 and GSM could be managed back and forth, or simultaneously It is the central unit 17 which then simultaneously manages the two channels in accordance with the procedures CT 2 and GSM At rest, the central unit 17 collects on the GSM channel indications on the power received in particular from the nearest base station 7 and responds to its requests (incoming calls) Similarly, as regards the CT channel 2, the CPU 17 scans the channels looking

also incoming calls.

  We also saw above that the management could be only monomode, by radio watch and periodic listening and

  alternative channels of the two networks.

  In this case, the two channels, as presented above, can be maintained in the terminal but, alternatively, and for the sake of cost reduction, only one common way to the two modes can be left without mixing stage and with a common radio stage 15 'and a common base band stage 16'

(Figure 6).

  It will be recalled here that the choice of the mode of cellular telephony or of proximity, can be carried out automatically or manually, by pressing the key mode 32 Even with manual selection, the central unit continues to offer the advantage of its

common ergonomics.

  Generally, when a subscriber plans to stay near a point 10 of the Pointel 3 network, he

  Manually triggers the registration procedure.

  It has been seen above that in single-mode operation, before returning to standby, and at the end of a communication in cellular mode, the terminal is automatically

  register with the local network.

  We have also seen that, in the case of an automatic routing of incoming calls with a preference for the proximity network, the registration procedure

was systematic.

  This automatic recording procedure, whatever the mode, is implemented thanks to the unit

Central 17.

  With reference to the flowchart of FIG. 7, as soon as the power is turned on, the central unit 17 of the terminal 12 checks for the presence of Pointel signals, which are intended for it or not (near a Pointel terminal 10, the telephone traffic is rarely zero) As long as the CPU 17 captures such signals, it is considered that the subscriber is near a terminal 10 and the last record of the subscriber is still valid

(40).

  If the Pointel signals disappear for a determined duration (46), for example one minute, an attempt to contact the terminal is made by the central unit (41). In case of failure, the terminal considers that

  the record is potentially cleared (42).

  In the latter case, the central unit 17 starts to listen for new Pointel signals If new Pointel signals reappear in a lasting manner (43), for example for one minute, an attempt

  registration is performed (41).

  In the case of an unsustainable reappearance (44), the automatic registration procedure is not attempted because it is inappropriate (the subscriber can pass a terminal at

edge of a car, for example).

  If the central unit 17 enters point signals concerning the terminal 12 and indicates that the recording has not been lost, by receiving an incoming call for example (45), the central unit

  returns directly to the saved state (40).

-16-

Claims (13)

  A mobile radiotelephony method for routing calls between an ordinary telephone network (4) and a plurality of mobile subscriber telephone terminals (12), characterized in that call routing can be effected via as well of terminals (7) of a cellular telephone network (2) than of terminals (10) of a home telephony network (3) and that, in the event of an outgoing call from a user terminal (12) ), it first seeks contact with a proximity telephony terminal (10), if it is accepted, it is proposed to carry out the call in proximity telephony and the user has the choice between the validation of the proposal, its refusal, to execute the call in cellular telephony, or the abandonment of the call.  2 The method of claim 1, wherein, if no contact is accepted by a proximity telephony terminal (10), it is proposed to execute the outgoing call in cellular telephony and the user has the choice between acceptance to have the cellphone call abandoning the call.   Method according to one of claims 1 and 2, in   which it is possible to proceed to the choice of the telephony mode automatically according to the availability of the frequency channels and under the control of the subscriber.   The method of claim 3, wherein, when the subscriber is near a proximity terminal (10), he manually selects the mode proximity telephony.   Process according to one of claims 1 to 4, in   which the mode of a call is indicated to the subscriber   to be able to accept it knowingly.   Process according to one of claims 1 to 5, in   which can be carried out a radio watch and a periodic and alternative listening of the channels of the cellular network (2) and the channels of the network of proximity (3).   The method according to claim 6, wherein, if in a listening phase and in single-mode management, a relevant event occurs in the listening mode considered, the subscriber terminal (12)   automatically switches to the mode in question.   Method according to one of claims 6 and 7, in   which, at the end of a call in one of the two modes and before the return to standby, the subscriber terminal (12) is registered with the network on the other of the two modes.   Process according to one of claims 1 to 8, in   which, when a communication is in progress in one of the two modes of proximity telephony and cellular telephony, the radio contact is maintained on the other mode.   Method according to one of claims 1 to 9, in   which connects the cellular network (2) and the proximity network (3).   The method of claim 10, wherein, if a subscriber is registered with the proximity network (3), an incoming call is directed to the subscriber through the proximity network (3) and, if not, the subscriber network of proximity (3) questions the cellular network (2).   The method of claim 10, wherein a subscriber table of the cellular network (2) is set to   day in the proximity network (3).   13 Subscriber mobile telephone terminal for placing   process according to one of claims 1   at 12, comprising an antenna (13), a radio stage (15; 15 '), a base band stage (16; 16'), a central unit (17) and an assembly (18) of application members , characterized in that the central unit (17) is arranged to manage back and forth   both cellular and proximity modes.   Terminal according to claim 13, wherein the central unit (17) is arranged to provide a radio watch and a periodic and alternative listening   channels of the two networks (2, 3).   Terminal according to one of claims 13 and 14,   wherein the radio stages (15 ') and baseband   (16 ') are common to both modes.   Terminal according to one of Claims 13 and 14,   in which a mixing stage (14) is provided, for the separation of the cellular telephony channels and the proximity telephony channels, the radio stage (15) comprises a proximity telephony transceiver (23) and a transmitter (24)   and a cellphone receiver (25). -19-   Terminal according to one of Claims 13 to 16,   wherein the central unit (17) is arranged to perform automatic registration procedures. Terminal according to claim 17, wherein the central unit (17) is arranged to capture   proximity telephony signals.