Mobile telecommunications system

MOBILE COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a communication system. The invention includes, but is not limited to, a communication system for mobile phones.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In a standard fixed communication system, calls are routed from one fixed point to another, and therefore the route of the calls is directly determinable. The invitation issuer enters into the system information (usually the destination subscriber's telephone number) that contains sequential information about the route of the invitation.

relatively secure

Consequently, the system can easily determine the required commutation for the call route by sequentially decoding the entered information. Each commutation center must consider only some of the information.

If cellular telephones are used in the communication system, the situation is more complicated because the mobile telephone invitation is not intended to be transmitted to a particular fixed point and therefore the system must determine the location of the target subscriber. On an ongoing basis, routing an invitation to a cellular telephone involves transmitting a signal to a data storage device, known as a Location Register (hereinafter: HLR), which determines the location of the cellular telephone and makes it possible to route the invitation.

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Unfortunately, the volume of HLRs is limited, and it is necessary to take some measures within the communication system to access a large number of location registers. At first glance, it seems sufficient to introduce a large number of location registers and associate different mobile phone numbers with different HLRs.

This, however, is inconsistent with the objective of providing customers with a flexible mobile phone system. There are two types of numbers associated with each mobile10 phone, one is the number used by third parties to establish a communication channel with the mobile phone (called MSISDN) and the other is the Identification Number (IMSI) used by the communication system to address the mobile phone. With current technology, information concerning both numbers must be stored in the same location register (HLR).

It is contemplated that a user may require multiple MSISDN numbers, for example, if he must be able to transfer both voice and data within the same system, every other MSISDN number with a Common Identification Number (IMSI) must be the same HLR number as the previous MSISDN number. This is impossible, for example, if the HLR containing the initial information is full. In this case, the only way to provide additional services would be to change the subscriber's telephone number, which is not desirable. However, this becomes a particularly serious problem when it is advisable for the user to be able to dial the number instead of assigning it to them.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above problems, the invention provides a solution in which a switching network that connects a user to other users, HLRs and services provided by the system has a related recording device, and the recording device contains information for each of the telephone numbers in the plurality of HLRs. Within the recording device, the relationship between the telephone number and the HLR is freely selectable so that the recording device acts as a converter between that number and the information identifying the HLR.

As a result of the introduction of such a recording device 15, the numbers and HLRs are not closely related and any number can be assigned to any

HLR, provided that the capacity available so permits.

The recording device may also store additional information concerning the cellular telephone, which enables the switching network to direct the cellular telephone to a service which, in addition to the number dialed from the cellular telephone, also depends on the calling cellular telephone itself.

The first is an example where mobile phones provided by multiple organizations (the service provider) would be able to access an access code provider (for example, use the same public domain

150) to address issues of basic taxation. It is convenient if these access codes are independent of the association

EE 03329 B1 service organization. In this case, a signal is issued to the recording device along with the call from the mobile phone, which generates a signal identifying the serving device corresponding to that mobile phone number. The signal containing this identifying information may then be redirected back to the switching network for transmission to the correct serving device.

As another example, users may be able to access the voicemail in their respective mailbox after selecting another public access code, such as 123, whereby the recording device provides the information needed to forward the invitation.

In either case, the system may be adapted so that, when the user is using his public telephone, he can manually transmit information to the switching network, which enables the switching network to obtain additional information from the registrant's mobile phone.

instead of a mobile phone

Another possibility for the recording device is to use the information directed to the mobile phone instead of the information about the connections out there. For example, this additional information may be intended to redirect a connection originally directed to that mobile phone when it is not possible to connect to said mobile phone because it is either busy,

EE 03329 Bl outdoor or its owner does not respond. In such a system, for example, it may be possible to redirect from the initially established connection channel to a service, such as voicemail, in the event that someone tries to connect to a cellular phone that is not available.

As a result of the practice of the invention, a communication system with several preferred features is obtained. In the event of any malfunction of the mobile telephone identification device (denoted by SIM) in the mobile telephone, it shall be possible to replace this device quickly. In the present invention, the user does not need to change his / her telephone number (MSISDN), even if the new IMSI identification number assigned to a different location register HLR is different from the previous IMSI number, as the redirection to the new HLR can take place through a recording device.

Thus, it is possible to assign any telephone number (MSISDN) 20 to any user.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a simplified block diagram of a communication system covered by the invention, and Figure 2 is a more detailed view of a part of the communication system shown in Figure 1.

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figure 1 shows that the switching network 10 connects fixed and mobile telephones. When an invitation is sent from a landline telephone to a mobile telephone, the invitation is routed to the switching network via the public switched telephone network 11 and to the mobile telephone (BSS) 12 via the switching network 10. To do this, the switching network 10 must determine the information needed for routing and, in order to determine the information needed for routing, the location of the mobile phone 12 must be determined through the HLR to which the mobile phone belongs. If there are a plurality of location registers HLR 13, 14, the switching network 10 must identify the location register HLR 13, 14 to be accessed by the mobile telephone number (MSISDN) selected by the connection originator.

According to the invention, the switching network accesses the recording device 15, which identifies the dialed number and forwards it to a specific HLR 13 or 14 to which the mobile telephone 12 is associated. The recording device 15 makes it easy to determine the relationship between any mobile phone number and HLR 13, 14 so that the corresponding HLR 13, 14 associated with the mobile phone does not affect its number. Due to the recording device 15, there is no need to associate each mobile number with a specific HLR 13, 14.

Once a specific HLR 13, 14 associated with the cellular telephone 12 is identified, the signal is transmitted to and received from that HLR as usual. That

The information from the BX is used to establish a connection to the mobile phone 12, and is then routed to the target subscriber's phone as usual.

If the call originates from the mobile telephone 12, the switching network 10 must determine the routing of the call, similarly to the preceding one. If the invitation is intended to be transmitted to a landline telephone connected to the PSTN 11 via a switched network, the call is routed to the appropriate destination subscriber number as usual.

If the call is from a mobile telephone 12 to one of a plurality of speech processing systems 16, 17, or via a short code (e.g. 123) to a switching network service 18, the interconnection between the mobile phone 12 and the respective services must be determined by the recording device 15 before the switching network determines the respective speech processing system 16, 17 or the services 18 being called.

It should be noted that the systems currently in use are similar to those shown in Figure 1, but without the recording device 15 and having only one HLR. In the systems currently in use, there is no need to identify the HLR to contact because there is only one. According to the idea of ​​the invention, the switching network 10 accesses the recording device 15 in any connection that inquires about the HLR in the systems currently in use. to determine which side of many

HLR 13, 14 must be contacted. Thus, it is the practice of the invention

The presence of the recording device 15 and the corresponding programming of the switching network 10 are required.

Figure 2 illustrates in more detail the switching network 10. 5 It has a number of MSCs.

20, 21, and 22, and the call to any particular cellular telephone results in signal waxing between the MSC 20 and the MSC 22 and one of the plurality of signal transfer points (STP) 30, 31 from which the signal is transmitted to the recording device 15 to determine which HLR 13 of 14 are best suited for mobile phone. The recording device 15 identifies the corresponding data on the basis of the Mobile Telephone Number 12 (MSISDN). The recording device 15 can then transmit the corresponding signal directly to the respective HLR 13, 14, but as shown in Figure 2, it is more preferable to send the data back to the corresponding STP 30, 31 which transmits the signals to the correct HLR 13, 14.

A similar signal flow is also observed when a mobile telephone user accesses a single speech processing system (VPS) 16, 17. The invitation is received by one of the MSCs 20, 21 or 22 which transmits the dialed numbers and the cellular telephone identification signal to one of the STPs 30, 31 or 32. The latter transmits the information to the recording device 15 which uses this information in the corresponding voice processing system (VPS) 16, 17. to derive an address. From the recording device, this information is transmitted via one STP 30, 31 or 32 back to the original MSC 20, 21 or 22. This address is then used by the switch network 10 to route the call.

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The routing transmits the invitation from the MSC 20, 21 or 22, respectively, through a switching network (which includes transit switching centers TSC 32, 33) to the corresponding VPS 16, 17.

The signal transmitted by the mobile telephone to the switching network and identifying the mobile telephone need not be fixed, but may be altered, for example, by a data card inserted into the telephone apparatus. Consequently, by placing a personal identification card on a mobile phone, it is possible for the user of the mobile phone to be identified by the switching network, and according to the results of the identification, subsequent redirection takes place to the corresponding VPS.

The routing of calls to the VPS, taking advantage of the information contained in the recording device 15, makes it possible to provide personalized voice processing services (e.g., leaving messages to the voice mailbox) near the most common location of the mobile telephone. This can significantly reduce call transfer costs.

If the area of ​​most frequent use of the mobile phone changes to suit the use of different VPSs 16, 17, it is possible to record this change in the recording device 15. The calling subscriber retains access to his VPS messages (although this is now at the second level). Also, when the mobile phone user changes service provider, the recording device 15 takes into account the corresponding change and the user does not have to dial different numbers. For example, if there are many service providers and the mobile phone user changes service provider, no

EE 03329 Bl he does not need the old number to contact the new service provider. Instead, the old number is used and the new call routing is controlled by the signals transmitted between the MCS 20, 21 and 22 and the recording device 15.

The switching network 10 may also use information related to cellular phones when the cellular telephone is busy, out of range or out of range, to redirect calls initially directed to that cellular telephone to a corresponding VPS, such as a voice mailbox.