JP2002534874A - Flexible communication system with internet protocol compliant performance - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract A system and method for a mobile communication system subscriber that selectively identifies the priority of a cell capable of connecting to an Internet protocol application is disclosed. The identified cell capability priority is utilized by the system for allocating cells to subscribers. The system broadcasts the cell's IP capabilities to subscribers to facilitate specification of cell capability priorities. The subscriber terminal sends its terminal IP-based capabilities to the system to facilitate the cell allocation process.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

Technical Field of the Invention The present invention BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION related to general communication system, especially relates to a system and method for formulating the communication means in a wireless communication system that has an Internet Protocol-compliant capabilities.

[0002] BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE mobile wireless communications safety invention, convenience, to provide improved productivity, simply conversational satisfaction, is becoming increasingly important. One prominent mobile wireless communication option is cellular communication. Cellular phones are found, for example, in cars, briefcases, handbags and even pockets.

[0003] In a mobile cellular telecommunications system, a mobile station typically communicates with a base station corresponding to the cell area in which the mobile station is located. However, there is an environment in which communication with a mobile station changes from one cell to another cell in a telecommunications network. The first situation is a handover process in which a mobile station moves to another cell during a telephone call or other business. In order to select the best cell to use by the roaming mobile station, signal strength measurements of cell signaling are performed by the roaming mobile station. During the handover operation, various nodes in the network negotiate cell and mobile station switching according to the characteristics of the handover.

A second situation in which communication with a mobile station or terminal switches from one cell to another is part of the terminal / mobile station idle mode processing procedure. By selecting which cell to use by the terminal, the process is applied as cell camp-on. The process involves updating the location information such that the serving mobile switching center (MSC) and the corresponding visitor location register (VLR) know the approximate terminal location. For example, when a terminal is powered up, a camp-on process occurs. A camping process occurs when a terminal is not involved in a telephone call, but is free to move and monitor the transmission quality of different cells. When the terminal changes the location area, the terminal updates the location update information while monitoring the transmission quality of the cell.

[0005] For cellular telephone system providers who offer new services for mobile telephone subscribers, cellular radio networks must be upgraded. Finally, wireless telecommunication networks exist or are designed to provide both standard GSM services and IP-compliant services or applications. One advantage provided by such a network is that it is backward compatible. In other words, while retaining the traditional GSM wireless communication service for terminals that cannot use IP applications, such as due to restrictions on the terminals themselves, the network will at the same time provide VoIP services to terminals that can connect IP-compliant applications. It provides both GSM services and IP applications.

One IP compliant application that can be connected by a cellular telephone subscriber is Voice over IP (VoIP). VoIP applications provide high quality voice communications over packetized Internet. When compared to conventional mobile phone service charges, for example, on the current Internet, VoIP can provide users with receivable voice communication at a significant cost reduction.

While telecommunications services can be provided to many subscribers, the wireless networks mentioned above are not without their shortcomings. For example, if the caller is Vo
If you want to make a call to a wireless communication network with an IP application, circuit-switched calls are sent from the corresponding base station system to the mobile switching center,
The call is then made by the MSC to the Internet Service Provider (ISP)
Is sent along the trunk line to the gateway connected to. The gateway converts circuit-switched voice calls into packet-switched calls that can be sent over the Internet.
Although the means of using the Internet realizes a reduction in call charges, VoIP calls nevertheless use circuit-switched communication resources for call processing. It is therefore necessary to have a connection point established in the mobile communication network with the terminal or the Internet close to the mobile station.

[0008] One solution is to place an interface to the Internet in a base control station so that when an IP compliant application is provided to a mobile station user, it substantially bypasses the switched portion of the network. That is.
In a communications network utilizing this example, some of the cells of the network may provide IP-compliant applications and / or communications such as VoIP in addition to conventional GSM communications. For example, a call connected to a terminal operated by these cells or on a mobile station can be transferred over the Internet because of a relatively low service charge. All B on the mobile network
Because the SC does not have the capability to provide IP compliant services and / or applications to mobile stations normally functioning in the cell, terminals that have requested IP compliant services can be satisfied and receive efficient services. You need to do that.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system in which the cell allocation of a terminal is determined by user preferences.

[0010] It is another object of the present invention to provide a communication system with improved communication of both network information and terminal information between the network and the terminal.

[Summary of the Invention]

The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of current communication systems and satisfies the great need for communication systems that have improved means of connecting to the system's IP compliance capabilities.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mobile communication network, such as a public land mobile network (PLMN) divided into a number of cells communicating with at least one MSC via a number of base stations. At least one base station can connect to an IP-compliant application, such as VoIP, that includes a transcoder that converts voice calls transmitted within packet-switched calls by terminals over the Internet. Since the terminal receiving the transmission wave knows the service capabilities of the present cell and the neighboring cells, the cell associated with each base station transmits the service capability including the IP compliant capability. Conversely, each terminal of the mobile communication network transmits its own capability to be IP-enabled for the network. In this way, both the network and each terminal can announce each other's capabilities, since decisions associated with the work associated with the service being provided, such as forwarding a telephone call, are performed efficiently.

Further, the present invention is necessary to facilitate a user to select a cell priority between cells supporting GSM-related services and IP-compliant applications, and cells supporting only GSM-related services. Includes various line components and terminals with interfaces. For example, the interface may be a Vo that transfers a telephone call established by a user's mobile station on the Internet.
Allows a user to give priority to a cell that supports IP. The system provides a service to a terminal that complies with the cell's service-related capabilities and the selected cell's priority in the area immediately adjacent to the terminal, such as to forward calls by phones located there. Select As a result, the telecommunications system reconciles the services that are appropriate for the user's service priority.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, which show preferred embodiments of the invention. However, the invention can be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limiting the invention to the following examples. Rather, the embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile communication network 2 and the Internet or IP
A communication system 1 including a network 3 is shown. The mobile communication network 2
Each MSC 4 includes a plurality of interconnected MSCs 4 that communicate with one or more base station controllers (BSCs) 5. Each BBC 5 has at least one base transceiver station (BT
S) Communicate with 6. A single BTS supports one or more cells in a mobile communication network. The interoperation between the MSC 4 and the BSC 5 and the BTS 6 in the operation of the mobile communication network 2 and especially in the provision of mobile cellular services is well known in the art and will not be described for simplicity.

One or more BSCs 5 of the mobile communication network 2 can connect to the IP network 3 to provide one or more IP applications to subscribers of the mobile communication network 2. For example, one BSC 5 is connected to an IP network 3 using one or more Internet Service Providers (ISPs) 7.

One IP application that the BSC 5 can provide to subscribers of the mobile communication network 2 is VoIP, which provides acceptable voice communications with significantly reduced subscriber costs as described above. . Therefore, the mobile communication network 2
The BSC 5 that can provide VoIP to existing subscribers includes a transcoder 8 or a device that converts circuit-switched (GSM) voice for packet-switched calls for transfer on the Internet. By including the transcoder 8 in the BSC 5, VoIP telephone calls established by terminals 9, such as mobile stations, bypass the circuit-switched component (MSC4) of the mobile communication network 2.

It is understood that the cell can connect to many IP-compliant applications in addition to VoIP through the corresponding BSC 5. For example, the cell of the mobile communication network 2 is H323. Connect to compliant multimedia applications.

The present invention enables a subscriber of the mobile communication network 2 to more efficiently connect the communication services provided by the mobile communication network 2 and the IP network 3. It is understood that not all BSCs 5 can connect to the IP network 3. The BSC 5 that can connect to the IP network 3 can usually connect to a limited number of IP applications. For example, the IP-compatible BSC 5
A unique ISP 7 is used to connect to the network 3. According to the present invention, the subscriber of the mobile communication can communicate with the BSC of the mobile communication network 2 because the BSC and the corresponding cell provide different IP applications and / or have different IP capabilities. A preferable one can be selected from the ability of the cell.

In particular, the present invention allows a subscriber to optionally specify a cell / BSC that supports a unique IP-compliant application for communication. When the mobile communication network 2 selects a cell to communicate with the subscriber terminal 9, such as when the mobile communication network 2 executes a handover process of the cell or camps on the cell, Use your preferences.

To facilitate the process of selecting cell preferences and assigning cells to communicate with terminal 9, information about network 2 is rather transmitted to terminal 9. The information transmitted by the mobile communication network 2 to the terminal 9 rather informs the terminal 9 of the capabilities of each cell. In other words, for each cell, the mobile communication network 2 provides a list of services and / or applications including connectable IP-compliant applications. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the broadcast channel (BCC
H) is partially modified to include capability information for this cell. In this way, based on the broadcast of the capabilities of the cell, terminal 9 can determine the cell currently supporting terminal 9 and the capabilities of the cells adjacent thereto.

As mentioned above, the present invention allows for the selection of a cell preference to be used in assigning terminals 9 to cells in the mobile communication network 2. Referring to FIG. 2, terminal 9 rather includes an interface 20 coupled to a transceiver 21 for receiving the BCCH information associated with the cell capability and producing the necessary signals on display 22 to indicate the cell capability to the subscriber. In. Display device 2
2 further indicates the currently assigned cell, its capabilities and / or the services being provided to the subscriber.

Further, the terminal 9 allows the terminal 9 to select or designate a favorite cell for allocation to the cell, such as during a handover process or while the cell is camped on. The cell preferences are entered into the terminal 9 by the subscriber using the keypad 23. Thus, cell preferences are stored in a SIM card 24 which can be permanently or otherwise operatively connected to the terminal 9. By processing many SIM cards with different cell capability preferences stored in the storage device, the terminal 9 can
By inserting the IM card 24, it is possible to easily adapt to different cell capability preferences.

The present invention allows the mobile communication network 2 (FIG. 1) to determine the capabilities of the terminal 9 located therein. In particular, the terminal 9 transmits an IP to the mobile communication network 2.
Communicate compliance capabilities. For example, the information is transmitted from the terminal 9 to the H.264 terminal. It indicates whether or not one condition of the invention specification such as H.323 or SIP is satisfied. The capability information of the terminal gives priority to communication with the IP-capable cell and gives a great priority in assigning the IP-capable cell to the terminal 9 which is itself IP-capable. It is used by the mobile communication network 2 in reaching the assignment decision. A unique channel type or target cell can be assigned and selected for terminal capability information according to terminal 9. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the IP compliant capability of the terminal 9 corresponds to the GS corresponding to the communication of the terminal 9 to the mobile communication network 2.
Added to the NM class mark.

Furthermore, the subscriber list stored in the storage device in the home location register (HRL) 10 indicates whether the IP support of the terminal 9 is given priority or is prohibited. The information in this list is downloaded and used together with the terminal capability information in the class mark by allocating the cells supporting the terminal 9.

The process of the present invention is described in FIGS. 3-5. In step 30, the terminal 9 monitors the signal strength of the cells in the area in order to perform the cell handover operation on which the selection of the cell gives priority to the user communication to some extent. If the transmission of one or more cells measured by the terminal 9 of the priority-given cell or other cell has the priority-given communication capability, then the terminal 9 sends to the mobile communication network 2 at step 31 The cell sends the capability information of the cell to which priority has been given. For example, the terminal 9 sends the priority of the cell described in the mobile communication network 2. Next, if the mobile communication network 2 determines that the new cell communicating with the terminal 9 is associated with a different BSC 5 based on the prioritized cell information sent by the terminal 9, then the cell capability The channel priority corresponding to the priority is sent in step 32 to the BSC 5 corresponding to the new cell. In this way, the BSC 5 knows the type of channel that has been given priority and the equipment needed to support it.

It should be noted that the operating MSC 4 does not understand the channel type with the priority corresponding to the priority of the capability of the cell to which the terminal 9 has been given priority. Therefore, the MSC confirms that the cell capability given priority for the best cell is possible in step 33. If the priority of the priority cell capability is not possible or incompatible, the handover function is rejected at step 34 for the then selected cell. Thus, if it is determined that the priority of the given cell capability is possible for the best cell, then terminal 9 is handed over to it in step 35.

FIG. 4 illustrates the process of selecting a cell for terminal 9 while camping on the cell. At the outset, each base transceiver station (BTS) 6 in any case responds to the reception by the terminal 9 in step 41 and sends the IP capability towards the corresponding cell there. Next, the interface 20 interprets the cell IP capability information and displays the information on the display device 21 in step 42. In this regard, the priority of the cell capability is recognized in step 43. This recognition is based on the subscriber manually entering the priority of the cell capability using the terminal keypad 23 or the S connected thereto.
It is contracted by the terminal 9 which has read the priority of the cell from the IM card 24.

If the terminal 9 indicates to the mobile communication network 2 that the terminal 9 has been selected or remains in the cell to which priority has been given, then the terminal 9 stays in the cell selected in step 44. If the cell that stayed during step 44 is in a new location range, an update of location information is performed at step 45.

The process of updating the location information in the VLR corresponding to the operating MSC 4 is shown in FIG.
Is described in. In step 51, the MS updates the reception position request from the terminal 9 to MS.
C4 receives and stores the class mark in the storage device in step 52. The class mark includes cell capability priority information in the terminal 9. If it is determined that the terminal 9 is not registered with the MSC 4, the MSC 4 notifies the HLR 10 corresponding to the terminal 9. HL
R10 transmits data including the cell capability priority to the MSC 4 in step 53 accompanying the terminal 9 as a result. Thereafter, the subscriber list at the terminal 9 is stored in a storage device at step 54 in the MSC 4 or in the corresponding VLR.

[0030] Preferred embodiments of the systems and means of the present invention are illustrated in the following figures and described in the foregoing detailed description, but the invention is limited to only the disclosed embodiments. Instead, many re-arrangements, modifications, and substitutions may be made without departing from the spirit and spirit of the invention by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings shown below.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telecommunications system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a handover process according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a cell reallocation process related to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a process of the latest information of a position related to the present invention.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (81) Designated country EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, IT, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE ), OA (BF, BJ, CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, KE, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, TZ, UG, ZW), EA (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ, TM), AE, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA, BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CR, CU, CZ, DE, DK, DM, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, GE, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID , IL, IN, IS, JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MA, MD, MG, MK, MN, MW, MX, NO, (72) Invention NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU, SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, TZ, UA, UG, UZ, VN, YU, ZA, ZW Rey, Subhanker United States 75074 Plano, Texas, # 322, Shiro Road 1414 (72) Inventor Valentine, Eric United States 75075 Plano, Texas, Brazos Trail 1600 F-term (reference) 5K030 HA08 HC01 HC09 JT09 KA04 LD01 5K051 AA05 AA09 CC01 CC02 CC05 CC07 DD01 DD15 EE01 FF12 GG03 HH01 HH17 HH27 JJ13 5K067 AA21 BB04 BB21 BB34 CC04 DD11 DD51 EE02 EE10 EE16 FF02 HH11 HH22 JJ17 JJ21 JJ61

Claims (26)

[Claims] 1. A communication system, comprising: at least one serving a plurality of cells of a mobile communication network.
At least one mobile communication network accommodating one base station, at least one of said cells being connected to a packet-switched network; and each of said predetermined cells serving a mobile station. At least one mobile station comprising identification means for identifying capabilities associated with the prioritized service, wherein the preferred capabilities associated with the service of the corresponding cell include mobile connectivity to the packet switched network. A communication system comprising: a station; and allocating means for allocating the mobile station to a given one of the cells of a mobile communication network based on capabilities associated with each of the preferred cell services. 2. The mobile communication network according to claim 1, further comprising instruction means for indicating to said mobile station a capability associated with at least one service of a plurality of cells included in said mobile communication network. The described system. 3. The capability associated with the service of at least one of the plurality of cells indicated by the indicating means indicates whether at least one of the plurality of cells is connectable to a packet-switched network. Claim 2 including
System. 4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the indicating means transmits a capability associated with the service of at least one of the cells in the system to the mobile station as a BCCH signal. 5. The system of claim 2, wherein said indicating means comprises an electrical circuit for indicating by said mobile station at least one of said cells in a mobile communication network a capability associated with said service. 6. The system according to claim 1, further comprising notifying means for informing the mobile communication network of the mobile station's service-related capabilities from the mobile station. 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein said notifying means transmits a capability associated with said service of said mobile station as class mark information of a signal. 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the service-related capabilities of the mobile station include an indication of whether the mobile station can execute an application from a packet switched network. 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the service-related capabilities of the mobile station are managed in a mobile communication network as part of a subscriber list. 10. A SIM card operably couplable to a mobile station, the cell card having a cell capability associated with each of the prioritized services stored in a storage device, and the allocating means being stored in the SIM card. The system of claim 1, comprising selecting a cell in a mobile communication network compliant with a cell capability associated with each prioritized service. 11. The system of claim 1, wherein the cell capabilities associated with each prioritized service include a cell's ability to connect to an Internet Protocol application associated with a packet switched network. 12. A mobile communication network having a plurality of cells, at least one of said cells being connectable to an Internet Protocol (IP) application, for providing one or more telephone-related services to a terminal. The method comprises: identifying a capability associated with a preferred service for a cell in a mobile communication network supporting a terminal, wherein the capability of the cell associated with the preferred service includes a cell connection to an IP application; A method comprising selecting one of said cells of a mobile communication network supporting a terminal based on the capabilities of an associated cell. 13. The mobile terminal may further indicate to the terminal a capability associated with a service of the cell in the mobile communication network, wherein the cell capability associated with the service includes an indication whether one or more cells can connect to the IP application. 13. The method of claim 12, comprising the step of: 14. The method of claim 13, wherein said indicating step comprises the step of signaling a service-related cell capability in a mobile communication network. 15. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of displaying on a terminal a cell capability associated with the service indicated in the indicating process. 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of informing the mobile communication network by the terminal whether the terminal can use the IP application. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the notifying step includes transmitting class mark information in a signal indicating whether the terminal can use the IP application. 18. The method of claim 16, further comprising the step of storing terminal capabilities in a storage device for utilizing the IP application as a subscriber list. 19. A system for use in a mobile communication system having a plurality of cells, the system comprising at least one mobile station and one or more of the cells in a mobile communication system supporting Internet Protocol (IP) compliant applications. A mobile communication system having a plurality of cells having configuration means associated with said mobile station, wherein said mobile station is configured to separately configure priority of cells serving said mobile station. 20. The system of claim 19, further comprising selecting means for selecting one of the cells supporting the mobile station based on the priority of the configured cell. 21. The system of claim 20, further comprising indicating means for the mobile station indicating cell information including whether one or more cells in a mobile communication system support an IP-compliant application. 22. The system of claim 21, wherein the indicating means signals whether one or more of the cells in a mobile communication system supports an IP compliant application. 23. The system of claim 21, wherein said mobile station includes an indication representing said cell information provided by said indicating means. 24. The system of claim 19, wherein the priority of the configured cell supporting the mobile station is selected by a user of the mobile station using the configuration means. 25. The system of claim 19, wherein said configuration means comprises a SIM card operably connectable to said mobile station and having stored thereon a priority of said configured cell in a storage device. 26. The IP compliant application having an Internet service provider (ISP) connectable from within a mobile communication system.
System.