MXPA99003704A - Method and apparatus for downloading tones to mobile terminals - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for downloading tone data from a public land mobile network (50) to a mobile telephone unit (20) are disclosed. A mobile telephone unit (20) includes means (160) enabling the user to request downloading of tone data to the mobile telephone unit (20) from a public land mobile network (50) via a connectionless communications link such as the USSD or SMS. The downloaded tone data is uniquely associated with a selected telephone number within the mobile telephone unit (20) such that a call to the mobile unit (20) involving the telephone number initiates audio play back of the tone data.

Description

"METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DOWNLOADING TONES TO MOBILE TERMINALS" BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to personal communication systems and, more particularly, to the downloading of the tone data to a mobile terminal to allow the tones to be played in association with a specific telephone number.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED TECHNIQUE The increasingly expanded list of services available through the personal communication service (PCS) systems have provided PCS users with the ability to select a number of services from their mobile phone unit in addition to the services of normal telephone communication. A number of these services require the user to see a certain type of graphic or alphanumeric presentation in the mobile phone unit. Having to see the presentation in some cases can be inconvenient, for example, if the user is driving, if the phone is placed in the bag or user's wallet, or if the user is involved in an activity that prevents the use of their hands. Therefore, it would be beneficial to allow the user to know who is calling without having to verify the presentation of the calling number. In other cases, using existing PCS technologies, the user may have more than one telephone number associated with a specific mobile telephone unit, for example, a personal telephone number and a business telephone number. The user can benefit from knowing and has been called the personal or business number by using an indicator that does not require the user to see the phone. This will allow the user to answer the mobile phone unit based differently on whether the business number or personal number was called. In this way, a mobile phone unit that provides the user with the option to select and download new tones that go. to be used for different call scenarios, to provide it with ease of use and flexibility that will greatly benefit the user.

COMPENDIUM OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the aforementioned problems and others with a method and apparatus for downloading the tone data between a land mobile public network (PLMN) and a mobile unit, a mobile unit includes a request from the customer to request the download of data from tone from a PLMN through a connection-free communication link. Requests for the client's request are received by a request from the server placed within the public land mobile network. The server request is normally associated with the mobile switching center (MSC). The server request provides access to a tone database where a user can select a tone to be downloaded through the user interface of the mobile unit. once a tone is selected, the tone data associated with the tone is downloaded to the mobile unit through the connection-free user interface. The preferred interface comprises either short message service messages (SMC) or unstructured supplemental services data messages (U? SD) which are useful for downloading the data designated to the unstructured user. The downloaded tone data is then uniquely associated with a telephone number selected from the called or called party, or a group of numbers such that when a call to the mobile unit involves the selected phone number, an audio playback of the tone data starts.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A more complete understanding of the method and apparatus of the present invention can be obtained by referring to the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a functional diagram illustrating the communication of messages from short message service (SMS) between an SMS operator and the mobile station; Figure 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the communication of non-structural supplemental services (USSD) data messages between a user of the external USSD node and a mobile station; Figure 3 is a functional diagram illustrating the components necessary to download the tones between a PLMN and a mobile unit; and Figure 4 is a functional diagram illustrating the manner in which a user interactively downloads the tones to a subscriber identity module (SIM) card.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Telecommunication services are normally carried out in a structured manner. For example, the specific predefined data, the formats and the names of the signal are used to establish a talking connection, to carry out the deliveries and to authenticate the information of the mobile subscriber when providing a telecommunication service to a subscriber. mobile. With the introduction of the global system for mobile communications (GSM) and personal communication systems (PCS), mobile subscribers are being provided with a number of new advanced supplementary services. Since these supplementary services use data specified by the user, there are no structured ways to communicate this data between the public land mobile network (PLMN) and a mobile station. As a result, a number of unstructured business protocols have been developed for GSM or PCS environments. Since the transmission of the tone data between a PLMN and a mobile unit falls under the category of transmitting unstructured user data, the transfer will be controlled by one of these protocols. Once this protocol is the unstructured supplementary service (USSD) data that has been introduced to allow user interaction between the PLMN requests and the mobile station in a way transparent, through a mobile telecommunication network. The communication is transparent due to the fact that no revision or manipulation of the content of the message is carried out during the transport period. A type of information specified by the user that can be transmitted between a PLMN and a mobile phone unit is the tone data, which can then be associated with the numbers that have been called or called in a manner designated by the user, reference is now made to Figure 1, wherein a functional diagram generally illustrates the communication of a short message service (SMS) message between an SMS operator 10 and a mobile station 20. The SMS operator 10 sends the data to the short message service center (SMS-C) 30 to be transmitted to the mobile station 20. The SMC-C 30 encapsulates the admitted data in a packet message such as signals from the signaling system number 7 (SS7) or the X.25 protocol packets and routes the message towards a mobile gate switching center short message service (SMS-GMSC) 40 within a PLMN 50 serving the mobile station 20. The SMS-GMSC 40 interrogates a home location register (HLR) 60 associated with a mobile unit 20 to route "the information (i.e., an identification where the mobile station 20 is currently placed) _ and subsequently routes the message to a mobile switching center (MSC) 70 that serves the current location of the mobile station. The mobile station 20 is radiolocated and a connection is established between the mobile station and the PLMN 50. If the mobile station 20 is already occupied, the establishment of the connection is not carried out because the network already knows that the mobile station is accessible. 20 mobile station. If the connection has been successful and in this way authenticates the mobile station 20, the MSC 70 encapsulates the tone data in the SMS message 80 and supplies the SMS message to the mobile station 20 through one of the data channels. of control . The control data channel such as a dedicated control channel only (SDCCH) is used instead of a traffic channel (TCH) to allow communication of the connection-free data. After receiving the SMS message 80 encapsulating the tone data, the mobile station acts simply as a buffer and passes the data to the card 90 of the attached subscriber identity mode (SIM). The SIM card 90 then stores the received data in an internal buffer or a memory register. Finally, if the delivery has been successful, a satisfactory supply report is sent again from MS 20 to the service MSC 70, and subsequently from the service MSC 70 to the SMS-C 30. Otherwise, a fault report is generated. With respect to the mobile originated SMS message (MO-SMS), a user in the mobile station 20 can initiate an SMS signal to request the download of the data, such as a tone data. The mobile station 20 provides a request to the mobile switching center (MSC) 70 to transmit the tone data to the mobile station 20. The .MSC 70 encapsulates the request in a packet message and routes the message to a short message service gateway (SMS-GMS) mobile switching center 40 within a PLMN 50 serving the mobile station 20. The SMS-GMSC 40 retrieves the requested data and subsequently routes a message to the SMS 70 that serves the current location of the mobile station. The mobile station 20 is then radiolocated and a connection is established between the mobile station and the PLMN 50. The MSC 70 encapsulates the tone data in an SMS message 80 and supplies the SMS message to the mobile station 20 through one of the channels, of control data. The data is then stored inside, the SIM card 90, as described above. Figure 2 is a functional diagram illustrating the communication of a USSD message between an external node user 100 of the USSD and a mobile station 20. USSD messages are used through the network of mobile telecommunications for transporting the data defined by the user to a mobile station 20 or a request module within the mobile station. Therefore, instead of storing and receiving the character data on an? IM card, the received data is either manipulated by the particularity request modules within the receiving mobile station to provide functions of the subscriber's special features. or it is presented in a presentation unit for user interactions. The user 100 of the external node transmits the USSD message that encapsulates the tone data to the HLR 60 within the service PLMN 50. The HLR 60 is associated within a different MSC number within the same PLMN 50. Since the mobile station 20 is moving from one area of the MSC to another, the HLR receives location update signals in a register of the current location of the location. the mobile station. When a USSD signal is received through the HLR, the HLR ensures a current location of the mobile station 20. The USSD manipulator 110 within the HLR 60 then transparently sends the USSD signal to the appropriate MSC 70 currently serving the mobile station 20. The USSD manipulator 120 within the serving MSC 70 receives the transmitted message and transports the USSD message 130 to the mobile station 20 through a connection-free communication link.

The USSD manipulator 140 within the mobile station 20 then receives the transmitted USSD message 130, extracts the encapsulated tone data and sends the extracted data to the appropriate request module. Referring now to Figure 3, wherein a functional diagram illustrates the components necessary to download the tones due by a subscriber (user). The subscriber requests access to a tone database 150 which contains a variety of predetermined data packets representing a tone or group of specific tones to be reproduced by the audio output 155 of the mobile unit 20, in response to a calling number or specific call. The request 160 of the client within the mobile unit 20 initiates a request for access to the tone database in response to the inputs by the user through the user interface 165. The request 160 of the client triggers a service request 170 placed within the PLMN. The service request 170 may be placed within the MSC / VLR, the HLR or some other external node. The service request 170 connects the suario with the database 150 using either the SMS or USSD protocols discussed above. The user then selects the desired tones in a manner that will be described more fully with respect to Figure 4.

The tone data associated with the selected tone of the tone database 150 is downloaded to the client request 160 as a digitally encoded tone pattern using either the USSD or SMS protocols described above with respect to FIGS. and 2. The manner of downloading a tone described above from the tone database 150 is used with respect to menu-driven options only using the SMS or USSD messages. Optionally, an audio menu may be provided to the user in such a way that the actual connection is generated between the mobile station 20 and the tone database 150. In this case, an audio version of the tones would be reproduced by the user and the request of the customer 160 will record the tone and convert it into a digital format for storage in the SIM card 90. In the case of a transmission using an SMS message, the service SMC 70 receives the tone signal transmitted from the SMS-G? MC 40 and then transmits an SMS message which encapsulates the tone data to the unit station 20 mobile through a link, connection-free communication such as? DCCH. The client request 160 within the mobile unit 20 acts as a buffer for the SMS message and passes the tone data from the message to the SIM card 90. The user then it can, through the client's request 160, associate the tone within the SIM card 90 with a specific telephone number called or called. If the USSD message is used for the download, the tone data is routed to the mobile station 20 ~ by the USSD manipulator 120 within the serving MSC 70 as a USSD message that encapsulates the tone data through the a connection-free communication link such as SDCCH. The USSD manipulator 140 within the mobile station receives the transmitted USSD message and sends the message to the client request 160 for extraction of the tone data. The extracted tone data is then stored inside the SIM card 90. Through the request 160 of the client, the user can then uniquely associate the tone with a specific telephone number called or called. Once the tone data is downloaded to the SIM card 90 of the mobile unit 20 and is associated with a specific telephone number, the receipt of the incoming call triggers the call logic circuit 200 within the mobile terminal 20 . The call logic circuit 200 checks to determine the presence of the tone pattern associated with the called number or the calling party number. If an association is found, the tone data is played through the audio output 155 for provide an audio indicator to the user of who is calling or which of the user's numbers is being called. Referring now to Figure 4, the procedure by which a user can download a specific tone pattern from the tone database 150 is illustrated. Once the mobile unit 20 has been interconnected with the tone database 150, the user of the mobile unit is presented in step 260 with a variety of menus that allow selection of tones by the user. Menus can disintegrate tones in a variety of ways such as alphabetically, through a type of music, through novelty items, etc. Once a specific tone is selected, the user can play a sample tone in step 270 to ensure how the tone sounds. When a desired tone or a desired tone pattern is found, the user can instruct the request 160 to download the tones in step 280. Otherwise, a user may return to the previous menus in step 300. Even when illustrated in the accompanying drawings is an embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention and described in the detailed description above, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without deviating from the spirit of the invention as defined and defined by the following claims.

Claims (22)

R E I V I N D I CA C I O N E S:

1. A mobile station comprising: a receiver for receiving the tone data through a communication link free of connection from a public land mobile network; a record to store the tone data; and a means for requesting the download of the tone data to the register from the land mobile public network through the connection-free communications link to associate a telephone number with the tone data in such a way that the call connections that involve the phone number starts the audio playback _ of the tone data.

2. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the register comprises a subscriber identity module card capable of being fixed to the mobile station.

3. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the connection-free communication link comprises short message service messages. -

4. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the connection-free communication link comprises data messages of unstructured supplementary services.

5. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the telephone number comprises a telephone number of the calling party.

6. The mobile station of claim 1, wherein the telephone number comprises a telephone number of the called party.

The mobile station of claim 1, further including a logic control circuit for determining whether an incoming call involves the telephone number and initiating an audio reproduction of the tone data for incoming calls involving the telephone number .

8. A system for downloading the tone data to a mobile station comprising: a public land mobile network serving the mobile station, the public land mobile network includes a first request module that responds to a request from the mobile unit for downloading the tone data to the mobile station of a connection-free communication link; and the mobile station comprises: a register for storing the tone data; a receiver for receiving the tone data from the public land mobile network through the connection-free communication link; Y means for requesting download of the tone data to the registration from the land mobile public network through the connection-free communication link and for associating a telephone number with the tone data in such a way that the call connections they involve the telephone number they initiate the reproduction of the tone data.

The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the register comprises a subscriber identity mode card capable of being fixed to the mobile station.

10. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the connection-free communication link comprises the short message service message.

The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the connection-free communication link comprises unstructured supplementary service data messages.

The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the telephone number comprises a telephone number and a calling party.

13. The mobile station of claim 8, wherein the telephone number comprises a telephone number of a called party.

14. The mobile station of claim 8, further including a logic control circuit to determine whether an incoming call involves the telephone number and to initiate the audio reproduction of the tone data for incoming calls involving the telephone number.

15. A method for downloading the tone data comprising the steps of: providing access to a public land mobile network using a communication link from a mobile unit; request access to the tone data placed within the public land mobile network from a customer request within the mobile unit; downloading the requested tone data to a SIM card within the mobile unit via a connection-free communication link; and associate the downloaded tone data with a selected telephone number.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the steps of reproducing an audio rendition of the tone data in response to the receipt by the mobile unit of a call involving the selected telephone number.

17. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the connection-free communication link comprises short message service messages.

18. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the connectionless communication link comprises unstructured supplementary service data messages.

19. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the telephone number comprises a telephone number of a calling party.

The mobile station of claim 15, wherein a telephone number comprises a telephone number of a called party.

21. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the requested access provides audio reproduction of the tone data.

22. The mobile station of claim 15, wherein the requested access provides a text selection of the tone data.