MXPA97006970A - Method and apparatus for indicating to a radiophonic or wireless network the operational mode of a radiophone or wireless communicator - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for establishing a communication over a radio or wireless network, which includes receiving a mode signal from a node in the network. The mode signal represents an operating mode of the network node. The operating mode is defined by selecting from among a plurality of services at least one service whose reception on the radio or wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated. The communication between the network node and the wireless or wireless network is subsequently conducted taking into account the signal of the received mode. The network node can be a wireless or wireless communicator such as a cell phone or a fixed station device. Alternatively, the network node may be a radio or wireless switch or a cellulose base station

Description

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INDICATING A RADIO NETWORK OR INAL MBRICA THE OPERATIONAL MODE OF A COMMUNICATOR RADIO OR WIRELESS Background of the Invention Wireless communication networks can provide a variety of services such as voice signal services and short message services. Short message services may include, for example, paging or searching for people, alphanumeric or numerical, notification services and information services. In certain circumstances it may be desirable to limit the number of services that a wireless or wireless communicator may receive during any given period of time. For example, when the radio or wireless communicator is registered over a wireless network and receives voice message messages, it may be desirable to temporarily or permanently suspend any additional services that may be received over the network. Methods are already known in which a wireless subscriber can specify how individual calls are going to be processed. For example, Rssf.025671 U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,578, entitled "Personal Communication Service With Mobility Manager", describes a communications network that maintains a profile of each subscriber of the mobile telephone that relates, for example, how callers should be treated depending on their relative importance. Callers designated with a low priority can only receive a pre-registered announcement while a caller with a higher priority can be immediately connected to the mobile subscriber. Although this system allows the subscriber to attend individual calls in a predetermined order of priority, it does not allow a subscriber to accommodate the service or the various services that are to be received over the network during any desired period of time.

Brief Description of the Invention The present invention provides a method and apparatus for establishing a communication over a wireless network. The invention allows a network node such as a radio or wireless communicator to accommodate the service or services that it will receive by transmitting a mode signal to the network, indicating the service or services that are desired.

In accordance with the method of the invention, a mode signal is received from a node of the network. The mode signal represents an operating mode of the network node. The operating mode is defined by selecting from among a plurality of services, at least one service whose reception on the wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated. The communication between the network node and the wireless node is subsequently conducted taking into account the signal of the received mode. The network node can be a wireless or wireless communicator such as a cell phone or a fixed station device. Alternatively, the network node may be a wireless switch or a cellular base station. In a particular embodiment of the invention, a radio or wireless communicator includes a transceiver, an antenna coupled to the transceiver, a microphone and a loudspeaker to provide an audio interconnection, and an input for the user to receive requests or requests initiated by the user. user. The transceiver is controlled by a controller that is coupled to a selector of the operating mode. The operating mode selector defines an operating mode of the radio or wireless communicator selecting from among a plurality of services at least one service whose reception on a wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated. The transceiver operates in response to the mode selector, such that the transceiver transmits a signal indicating the operating mode of the wireless network.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a diagram of the system of a conventional wireless network. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a radio or wireless communicator in which the principles of the present invention are embodied.

Detailed description of the invention Figure 1 shows a system diagram of a conventional wireless network that provides service to the radio service areas 1, 2, and 3. The radio service areas are interconnected by means of a signaling network 100 and a switched network Wireless (WSN) 200. Signaling network 100 typically employs packet switching to achieve asynchronous communication and the WSN 200 typically employs circuit switching to achieve asynchronous communication. The WSN 200 is interconnected with the public switched telephone network (PSTN) 300. Each radio service area is controlled by a wireless voice or data signal switch 16 which is surrounded by a plurality of sites 17 of the cell or cell. The wireless switches 16 are switches controlled by the activation or impulse of a program, which perform or perform functions of voice, data and signaling signals. Each site 17 of the cell or cell is equipped with one or more base stations 12 incorporating wireless transceivers. In operation, a wireless or radio communicator 11, if subscribed to the network, can establish RF communications with a site 17 of the cell or cell through its respective base station 12. The radio or wireless communicator 11 can be a mobile station such as a cell phone or a fixed station device such as a vending machine. The base station 12 at each site 17 of the cell or cell is connected to the wireless switch 16 which provides service to its respective radio service area by means of dedicated facilities. The base stations 12 are interconnected by means of the signaling network 100 and the wireless switched network 200 so that the radio or wireless communicators in different service areas can communicate with each other. Radio or wireless communicators can also communicate with landline systems via the WSN 200, which is connected to the PSTN 300. A radio or wireless database 13 is associated with the signaling network 100. The base of wireless or wireless data 13 maintains and updates subscriber information such as, but not limited to, identification numbers, authentication information, service characteristics, service feature status, privileges, and restrictions. A variety of access means for service providers may also be associated with signaling network 100 and WSN 200. In the radio or wireless network shown in Figure 1, for example, a message sending center 18 which provides a Short message service is associated with the signaling network 100. When a wireless communicator 11 is not available, the message sending center 18 may store to subsequently forward any messages that are to be received by the communicator 11, including paging or Search for people and email. A radio or wireless communicator may not be available, for example, because: 1) it is not registered over the radio or wireless network; or 2) is registered in an area where the capabilities for sending messages are not available; or 3) the subscriber wishes to store all messages for subsequent retrieval; or 4) the communicator is not yet activated and activation over the air is required. The network node may include additional access means for other service providers. The additional details that relate to the physical elements and the fixed and mobile programming elements necessary to implement a radio or wireless network are well known and therefore will not be described further. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a signaling protocol is defined in which the wireless communicator 11 indicates its mode of operation to the radio or wireless network. First, the operating mode of the radio or wireless communicator 11 is defined by selecting from among a plurality of services at least one service whose reception on the wireless network is suspended or, alternatively, reinstalled. Next, the cellular communicator 11 transmits a signal indicating the selected operating mode to the radio or wireless network. This signal is received by the radio or wireless data base 13, which updates the status of the service characteristics to be provided to the radio or wireless communicator in accordance with the selected operating mode. The transmitted signal may indicate a change in the operating mode of the communicator 11 or may simply confirm its common operating mode. In an embodiment of the invention, the radio or wireless communicator 11 not only indicates its status, but additionally requests the suspension or installation of the transmission of the selected service or services. The signal may also notify the network of the time interval that the communicator 11 will be unavailable to receive these services. For example, if the wireless or wireless network provides only two services broadly classified as a short message service and voice signals, the communicator can operate in one of the following four operating modes by notifying the service providers that transmit over the radio network or wireless: 1) a universal mode (available to receive both voice and short message services); 2) a message sending mode (available to receive short message services only); 3) a mode only of vocal signals (available to receive only vocal signals); and 4) a suspended or latent mode (not available to receive any services). This signaling protocol improves the efficiency of the radio or wireless network since the service providers will not transmit messages unnecessarily when the communicator is not available to receive these services. This protocol can also improve audio quality by allowing the user to prevent the simultaneous transmission of message data and voice signals so that the available bandwidth does not need to be shared between the different services. A person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the signaling protocol defined by the present invention can be easily incorporated into any of the standards of established digital cellular interconnection, including, but not limited to, EIA / TIA Standard 553, "Mobile Station-Land Compatibility Specification", September 1989, Electronic Industries Association, Washington, DC; EIA / TIA Provisional Standard IS-54-B, "Cellular System Dual-Mode Mobile Station - Basestation Compatibility Standard", April, 1992, Electronic Industries Association, Washington, D.C .; and EIA / TIA Provisional Standard IS-136, "Cellular System Dual-Mode Mobile Station - Bastion: Digital Control Channel Compatibility Standard", April, 1995, Electronic Industries Association, Washington, D.C. In the embodiment of the invention described above, the operating mode of a radio or wireless communicator is communicated to the radio or wireless network. In the alternative embodiments of the invention, the network nodes other than radio or wireless communicators may indicate their modes of operation to the radio or wireless network. Such network nodes include the wireless or wireless switches 16 and the base stations 12 shown in the wireless network of Figure 1. For example, a switch 16 that provides service to a particular radio service area may wish to limit the eligibility of the radio. Some or all of the radio or wireless communicators in this area to receive only selected services during periods of high congestion. The switch 16 can prevent all the short messages from being communicated so that the voice signal services can be received without conflict. Alternatively, switch 16 may wish to indicate that only certain radio or wireless communicators are eligible to receive short messages because ineligible communicators subscribe to lower priority, less expensive service plans or projects. The switch 16 may indicate that such eligibility extends for an indefinite period of time or for a specified period of time. In any case, the switch 16 transmits a signal to the radio or wireless data base 13 that indicates its desired mode of operation. The radio or wireless switch 16 may also indicate that certain kinds of communicators should be limited to selected services for several reasons. For example, using the short message sending service known as CellemeterSM provided by Bell South, the switch 16 can indicate to the network that radio or wireless communicators such as gas meters and vending machines should only be eligible to send or receive brief messages indicating, respectively, the gas reading or the conditions in the selling machine. Since these communicators can only operate in a message sending mode, the potential fraud involving voice signals services can be avoided. In general, the signal transmitted by a network node to the radio or wireless network may include a variety of different information. In addition to informing the network of the particular service or services that will be operative between the network node and the network, other information may include, for example, the duration of the specified operating mode, the directionality of each service (ie, bidirectional or unidirectional communication), and if any of the services that are not usually eligible, communicate with a node of The network must store any information that is received during the period of ineligibility for subsequent recovery. In another embodiment of the invention, the operating mode of the network node is established by an access means of the service provider or a radio or wireless data base such as the database 13 shown in FIG. 1 instead of by the own node of the network. For example, the message sending center 18 shown in Figure 1 can transmit a signal through the radio or wireless network to a network node such as a wireless or wireless communicator 11. This signal determines the eligibility of the communicator 11. to communicate with the message sending center 18. This capability advantageously allows a means of access of the service provider, controlling the communicator's eligibility to receive the service. For example, in some circumstances it may be desirable to limit the services that may be received by the radio or wireless communicators such as the gas meter and the vendor machine mentioned previously. Figure 2 shows a block diagram of a radio or wireless communicator in which the present invention takes shape. The radio or wireless communicator includes a transceiver 21, the antenna 20, the controller 22, a user input 26 such as a keyboard, a loudspeaker and a microphone 27, and a selector of the operating mode 28. The controller 22 processes the signals of input and output and includes a microprocessor 25, a digital signal processor 24 and a memory 23. The operating mode selector 28 allows the user to specify to the controller 22 the desired operating mode of the radio or wireless communicator. The controller 22 in turn directs the transceiver 21 to transmit a signal to the radio or wireless network indicating the selected operating mode.

It is noted that in relation to this date the best method known by the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention.

Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following

Claims (24)

1. A method for establishing a communication over a radio or wireless network, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: receiving from a node of the network a signal of the mode representing an operating mode of the network node, the operating mode is defined selecting from among a plurality of services at least one service whose reception on the radio or wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated; conduct communication with the network node taking into account the signal of the received mode.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the node of the network is a radio or wireless communicator.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the radio or wireless communicator is a cell phone.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the node of the network is a radio or wireless switch.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the node of the network is a base station.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the mode signal specifies a period of time during which the network node must remain in the operational mode.

7. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the mode signal specifies a transmission directionality of the at least one selected service.

8. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the mode signal specifies whether the suspended services should store the information received during the suspended periods of time for the subsequent recovery.

9. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the plurality of services include voice and short message services.

10. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that the operating mode defines at least one service whose reception on the radio or wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated for a class of radio or wireless communicators.

11. A radio or wireless communicator, characterized in that it comprises: a transceiver; an antenna coupled to the transceiver; a microphone and speaker to provide an audio interconnection; an entry for user, to receive requests or requests initiated by the user; a selector of the operating mode defining an operating mode of the wireless or wireless communicator selecting from among a plurality of services at least one service whose reception on a radio or wireless network is to be suspended or reinstalled, the transceiver operates in response to the mode selector , in such a way that the transceiver transmits a signal indicating the operating mode to the radio or wireless network; a controller to control the transceiver.

12. The wireless or wireless communicator according to claim 11, characterized in that the signal requests the radio or wireless network to conduct the communication according to the operating mode.

13. The radio or wireless communicator according to claim 12, characterized in that the signal specifies a period of time during which the network node must remain in the operational mode.

14. The radio or wireless communicator according to claim 12, characterized in that the signal specifies a transmission directionality of the at least one selected service.

15. The wireless or wireless communicator according to claim 12, characterized in that the signal specifies whether the suspended services should store the received information during the suspended periods of time for the subsequent recovery.

16. The radio or wireless communicator according to claim 11, characterized in that the plurality of services include voice and short message services.

17. A method for establishing a communication over a wireless or wireless network, the method is characterized in that it comprises the steps of: transmitting from a means of access of the service provider to a node of the network, a signal in the manner that establishes an operational mode of the network node, the operating mode determines the eligibility of the network node to communicate with the service provider's access means; conduct communication with the network node according to the received mode signal.

18. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the means of access of the service provider is a message sending center.

19. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the access means of the service provider is a radio or wireless database.

20. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the node of the network is a radio or wireless communicator.

21. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the radio or wireless communicator is a cell phone.

22. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the node of the network is a radio or wireless switch.

23. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that the node of the network is a base station.

24. The method according to claim 20, characterized in that the operating mode defines at least one service whose reception on the radio or wireless network is to be suspended or reinstated for a class of radio or wireless communicators.