Apparatus, and associated method, for effectuating a data service designated by a service delivery mode

The present invention relates to a method of supplying data generated by a data service to a receiving station such as a mobile station that can operate in a wireless communication system such as cellular. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device and a method for selectively routing a data service for which a service provision mode is specified to a receiving station. Routing is determined by the designated service provision mode and also selectively by service interaction indicators such as call transfer or call rejection indicators associated with the receiving station. When the service provision mode is the background mode, the data service is selectively performed at the receiving station regardless of the service handling sign associated with the receiving station.

Telephone communication is a necessary function in modern society. The function of realizing telephone communication between a plurality of communication stations via a telephone network enables telephone communication between communication stations regardless of the location of each communication station. According to such telephone communication, both voice service and data service can be implemented.

Telephone networks have already been set up throughout the world's major residential areas. To carry out communication over the telephone network, use a communication station connected to the telephone network. The caller uses the calling communication station to start a communication session to call the called party of the receiving station, but in the conventional telephone network, the start of the communication service at this calling station is the target. It is executed by the caller entering the dial number associated with the receiving station in accordance with the call request. This dialed number is interpreted by the telephone network and the receiving station is notified of the call request. At the receiving station, after the called person picks up the handset of the receiving station and accepts the calling request, a communication service is provided between the calling station and the receiving station via the telephone network.

Recently, wireless communication systems such as cellular have been installed in major residential areas in the world. The cellular communication system includes a network infrastructure connected to a conventional wired telephone communication system, and a mobile station capable of operating in a wireless communication system such as a cellular system can be connected to the network infrastructure of the cellular communication system via a wireless link. connect.

The user of the mobile station can make and receive a call to and from another communication station, and these other communication stations can be composed of a conventional wired station or another mobile station. Since the communication path to or from the mobile station is formed on the wireless link, the wired connection required to connect the conventional wired station to the telephone network is unnecessary. Therefore, excellent communication mobility is inherent in wireless communication systems such as cellular. Although mobile stations are wireless transceivers, they are usually made to mimic the behavior of traditional wired stations, and mobile station users follow a communication session to communicate by telephone in a manner similar to using a traditional wired station. Can be executed.

Advances in communication and processing technology have made it possible to implement more functions and services for communications performed over the telephone network. For example, control devices such as telephone switches have been manufactured to provide special delivery services such as call transfer and call rejection services, which are both traditional wired telephone systems and wireless systems such as cellular. It is offered at. These additional functions and services are usually services provided by the user's subscription, and the user (that is, the subscriber) subscribes to these additional communication services according to the subscription plan.

The call rejection service is a service that controls calls. If you apply for the service and the incoming call rejection function is enabled, the call made to the communication station that made the application will not be delivered to the communication station. Similarly, call transfer services such as Call Transfer [busy] (CFB), Call Transfer [Default] (CFD), Call Transfer [No Answer] (CFNA), and Call Transfer [Unconditional] (CFU) , It is a call redirect service, and if you apply for the service and the call transfer function is enabled, the call made to the communication station that made the application is transferred to another communication station. That is, the call requesting the execution of the communication service is redirected to another incoming call endpoint.

<p> The services and features mentioned above were initially implemented for voice services. However, the implementation of data services by telephone systems (both wired systems and wireless systems such as cellular) is increasing at present. And while voice services are user-specific, data services are not. That is, in the case of a data service, there is a case where it is not specific to a user but specific to a communication station, and in order to implement a data service specific to a communication station, the existence of a subscriber of the communication station or another user is not necessarily present. Not necessary. However, in the case of a conventional system in which call rejection and call transfer services are enabled, data service calls are automatically redirected, and as a result, the provision of data services to the target receiving communication station is hindered. ..</p><p> Therefore, in a communication system that provides such an additional application service, there is a demand for an improved method for implementing a data service.</p><p> The major improvements made by the present invention have been made in the light of such background information related to the implementation of data services in communication systems.</p>

<p> Therefore, to an advantage, the present invention provides a device and a method for supplying data generated by a data service to a receiving station such as a mobile station that can operate in a wireless communication system such as cellular.</p><p> By operating the embodiment of the present invention, a method of selectively routing a data service in which a service delivery mode is specified to a receiving station is provided. Routing is determined by the designated service provision mode, and optionally by service handling indicators such as call transfer and call rejection indicators associated with the receiving station. The choice between routing the data service to the receiving station or redirecting it to another incoming endpoint is determined by the designated service delivery mode and optionally by the service handling indicator. The service handling sign includes, for example, the values of the call transfer sign and the call rejection sign associated with the receiving station.</p><p> The embodiments of the present invention describe a methodology that enables the provision of services in the background, usually in the presence of service interaction flags that prevent contact with the receiving station for communication services. Conventionally, when such a flag is set, the receiving station related to the provision of the communication service is not contacted, and the communication service is not performed at the receiving station.</p><p> In one aspect of the invention, the service provision mode is associated with the communication service initiated by the calling station. The service delivery mode is associated with the communication session. Alternatively, instead, the service provision mode is associated with the calling station and all communication sessions initiated by the calling station are associated with the particular service provision mode. Then, according to the call start procedure, the service provision mode is determined, and in response to the determination result of this service provision mode, inquiries regarding the value of the service handling indicator such as the call transfer or call rejection service indicator value are selectively made. Will be called. The service provision mode associated with the communication service is selected from at least two provision modes (background service provision mode and foreground service provision mode).</p><p> The background service providing mode is a mode associated with a communication service that can be executed without the attention or operation of the called person existing at the receiving station, and the called person does not need to be involved in the execution of the communication service. When the background service provision mode is associated with the communication service, it is not necessary to determine the service handling sign (eg, the sign related to the call transfer and call rejection function), and the communication service is not the target receiving station. There is no need to redirect to the incoming call endpoint. That is, some communication services are not unique to the user but specific to the communication station, and in the case of such a communication service specific to the communication station, the background service provision mode is associated with the communication service. The communication service can be provided to the target receiving station regardless of the presence of the called person who accepts (or receives the delivery of) the communication service.</p><p> The foreground service mode is also defined. In the case of a communication service that requires acceptance by the called party or communication with the called party, there are still restrictions due to the service handling indicator value. That is, if the communication service is unique to the user, the normal call transfer and call rejection procedures will be followed. That is, when it is necessary to provide the communication service in the foreground, the value of the service handling sign is determined, and it is determined whether or not the service handling function is enabled. And if enabled, the communication service is either redirected to another incoming endpoint or not implemented.</p><p> In another aspect of the invention, a further service provision mode is defined. A maintenance mode is a mode associated with a particular communication service that, when implemented, functions to maintain the receiving station. Such a communication service is unique to a communication station, and when the service provision mode is identified as the maintenance provision mode, the communication service is the target receiving station regardless of the setting contents of the service handling sign. It is carried out in. Similarly, a diagnostic service providing mode is also defined, and this diagnostic service providing mode is also a mode specific to the communication station. That is, when the communication service is specified in the diagnosis providing mode, the communication service is executed at the target receiving station regardless of the value of the service handling sign. Further service provision modes can be defined in the same way.</p>

<p> By defining a background service delivery mode and a foreground service delivery mode, the called party, network operator, and service provider can all discriminate the services to be provided to the receiving station or other incoming endpoint. it can. In the background mode, the communication service is performed at the target receiving station without communication with the called person, so that the communication can be improved in the communication system in which the embodiment of the present invention is implemented.</p><p> In one embodiment, a service provision mode is defined in cellular or PCS (personal communication service) and associated with a communication service performed in a mobile station capable of operating in these systems. When a background service delivery mode is associated with a communication service, the communication service is the receiving station (ie, mobile) regardless of whether the called party is present on the mobile station to accept the provision and implementation of the communication service. It will be carried out at the station). Further, a foreground service providing mode is also defined, and when the foreground providing mode is associated with a communication service, it is further determined whether or not a service handling sign such as a call transfer or an incoming call rejection function is enabled. Then, when the service handling function is enabled and the called person cannot accept the communication service, the communication service is appropriately routed (redirected or terminated) according to the situation. ).</p><p> Therefore, in these and other aspects, a device and method for a communication system having a calling station for making a data service call is provided. This data service call is invoked to call the target calling station, and routing to the incoming endpoint of the data service call is selectively performed. The incoming call endpoint is selected at least in response to the offer mode type. That is, when the start of the data service call is detected, the provision mode type determiner operates. The offer mode type determiner determines the offer mode type associated with the data service call in relation to the target calling station. Then, a call distribution director is connected to the provision mode type determination device, and this call distribution director guides the data service call to the incoming call endpoint. When the provided mode type determined by the provided mode type determiner is the background mode, the incoming call endpoint becomes the target incoming call station.</p><p> A full understanding of the invention and its scope can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings of preferred embodiments of the present invention and the accompanying claims.</p>

First, referring to FIG. 1, this communication system, indicated by reference numeral 10, can operate to perform data services between the calling station 12 and the target receiving station (here, mobile station 14) according to a communication session. is there. In the exemplary implementation shown in this figure, the mobile station 14 can operate according to the so-called 2G, 2.5G, and 3G (third generation) cellular communication systems that provide data communication for performing data services. In other implementations, the mobile station can operate in other wireless communication systems such as cellular, and in yet another implementation, the receiving station (here, one consisting of mobile station 14) is a wired communication station. Consists of.

The communication system includes a radio part, which in this implementation consists of a radio access network (RAN) 16. This radio access network can also typically operate according to 2G, 2.5G, and / or 3G cellular communication standards, which allows it to communicate with the mobile station 14 over the radio link 18.

The elements of the radio access network 16 define cells that form a service area that can communicate with mobile stations such as mobile stations 14. This figure shows a single cell 22, but in a real implementation, many cells are defined by the radio access network.

The communication system also includes a public network 24, which in this implementation represents a PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) and PDN (Packet Data Network) such as the Internet backbone. This public network is connected to the radio access network via gateway (GW) 34 and mobile exchange (MSC) 36, where the mobile exchange is used for circuit-switched connections and gateway 34 is used for packet-switched connections. To.

In the exemplary implementation shown in this figure, the calling station 12 is connected to the public network 24 and is connected to the mobile station via a gateway or mobile exchange, radio access network, and radio link. A communication path can be formed, whereby the data service called by the calling station can be provided to the mobile station forming the receiving station. The communication called by the mobile station for distribution to the communication station 12 is also communicated on the same communication path. That is, in the following, the exemplary operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in relation to the communication called from the communication station 12, but the communication can also be called from the mobile station 14 as well. ..

FIG. 2 shows a part of the communication system 10 and shows various elements constituting the device 42 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Each of the above elements is functionally represented and in this embodiment is located at the mobile exchange 36. In other embodiments, these elements are located elsewhere, such as within a radio access network or distributed across both mobile exchanges and radio access networks.

The mobile exchange is connected to a home location register (HLR) 46 that includes the database 48 of the embodiments of the present invention.

The mobile exchange is also connected to multiple radio network controllers (RNCs) implemented in the radio access network 16, one of which is shown in this figure, RNC52. The wireless network controller, for example, controls the operation of multiple base transceiver stations, one of which is shown in this figure as the Base Transceiver Station (BTS) 54. The wireless link 18 connection from the mobile station 14 to the base transceiver station is shown here by line 18. The arrow 58 is then generated by the calling station (eg, calling station 12 shown in FIG. 1) to start implementing the data service at the target receiving station (consisting of mobile station 14 in this implementation). It represents the requested request and the data communicated to the mobile station by the implementation of the data service.

In one embodiment, as part of the request generated on line 58, the calling station provides an indication of the service delivery mode for providing the request data service. This service provision mode is selected from at least two different types of service provision modes (background provision mode and foreground provision mode). The background provision mode is a mode in which the data service can be provided at the receiving station regardless of the presence of the called person who accepts the provision of the data service. Conversely, the foreground offer mode is associated with a data service that is more relevant to the called party than to the receiving station that was originally requested to route the data service. That is, the data service associated with the background provision mode is likely to be unique to the communication station, and the data service associated with the foreground provision mode is unique to the user.

In another embodiment, additional service delivery modes are defined. That is, when the data service performs maintenance on the receiving station, the maintenance provision mode is specified. Further, the diagnostic providing service mode is associated with the data service that executes the diagnostic service at the receiving station when it is executed. Both of these maintenance and diagnostic modes are similar to the background service provision mode, and these data services are services based on the communication station. Similar to the provision of the data service specified in the background service provision mode, the data service specified in the maintenance service provision mode or the diagnostic service provision mode is provided to the receiving station regardless of the presence of the called party in the receiving station. can do.

The apparatus 42 of the embodiment of the present invention is located in the control center (in this embodiment, the mobile exchange 36) and is connected to the line 58 as a delivery mode type. Detects the display of the service delivery mode associated with the data service initiated by the calling station, including determiner) 62. In one embodiment, the designation of the background provided service mode is included in the call request. That is, this designation content constitutes a part of the call request, and the display related to this designation is provided by the calling station. In another embodiment, the provision service mode designation is associated with the calling station's identity. Furthermore, in another embodiment, the receiving station selects the service mode associated with the calling station. In the case where the service provision mode is related to the calling station rather than the data service, the specified content is stored in a database such as database 46 accessed by MSC42 or other internal or external database and issued. Indexed with a marker that identifies the calling office. This database 48 is shown to be located in the HLR (Home Location Register) in this implementation, but in other embodiments it can be located in a different location accessible to the MSC, eg, another In the embodiment, it is placed in an entity connected to the public network 24.

When the determination device 62 determines that the data service start request is in the background service provision mode, the maintenance service provision mode, or the diagnostic service provision mode, the call setup procedure is executed for the target receiving station, and the call setup procedure is executed. The data service is implemented at the target receiving station. If one or more service handling flags are set, the target receiving station is instructed by appropriate means so as not to generate an audible or other alarm to the user. The mobile station is notified by a page message or service negotiation procedure that a background service has been requested. Since the requested service is a background service, an alarm to the mobile station user regarding the request due to generation of an audible sound or the like is not notified. On the contrary, when the determination device 62 determines that the data service is specified to be executed in the foreground service provision mode, the presence of a called person who accepts the provision of the data service at the receiving station is required. ..

In response to the start of a request, a page message is generated and routed to the receiving station. The call distribution director 63 can operate to generate a page message and perform other call setup procedures in response to a determination by the determiner 62. If the page response reveals that the called party does not exist at the target receiving station in order to accept the provision of the data service, the service handling indicator determiner 64 is the service associated with the receiving station. It can operate to determine the setting contents of the handling flag. The service handling sign is associated, for example, with a call transfer and call rejection function that the called party has applied for according to the service application plan. Call transfer functions include, for example, call transfer [busy] (CFB), call transfer [default] (CFD), call transfer [no answer] (CFNA), and call transfer [unconditional] (CFU) function. Is included. In response to the value of the service handling indicator, the calling request is selectively routed to another receiving station or another incoming calling endpoint such as a storage and forwarding location.

Therefore, by defining the service provision mode for the data service, it is possible to improve the communication in the communication system. A background service delivery mode is also defined when the called party is unable to accept the provision of data services and the service handling indicator specifies that a normal call request should be routed to another incoming call endpoint. Therefore, the data service can be provided to the target receiving station.

Figure 3 shows database 48 (in this implementation, it is maintained in home location register 46 (shown in Figure 2)). This figure shows the first exemplary database entry 72. This database entry identifies the receiving station's identifier (in this implementation, the mobile station's identifier 74), along with which the flag settings 76, 78, 82, 84, and 86 are indexed. These flag settings correspond to call rejection, CFB, CFD, CFNA, and CFU settings selected by the called party associated with the mobile station according to the service application.

When the service provision mode executes a call request to execute the data service in the foreground mode and the call setup can be performed for the target receiving station, the value of these flag settings is the service handling indicator determination. Judged by the vessel. Entry 72 further includes a service delivery mode flag 88 associated with the calling station in this embodiment. In the case of the embodiment in which the receiving station determines the service providing mode associated with the calling station, the service providing mode associated with the calling station is identified in this database.

The database of this embodiment also contains another exemplary database entry 94, which indexes the calling station identifier 96 and its associated service delivery mode 98. Such database entries are used when a particular service delivery mode is associated with all data services provided by the calling station.

FIG. 4 shows a message sequence diagram representing the signaling generated when the communication system 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 operates (indicated by reference numeral 102 as a whole). A request (eg, a calling request) indicated by line 104 is generated by the calling station in order for the receiving station (here, mobile station 14)) to carry out the data service called by the calling station 12. .. This request is routed to the mobile exchange 36 or other control center via the communication system network. Then, when received, the service provision mode associated with the request is determined. In one embodiment, the display of the service provision mode is stored in the request, and in the other embodiment, it is necessary to access the database in which the information is stored in order to determine the service provision mode.

The value of the service handling sign, such as whether the call transfer or call rejection function is enabled, is also determined. Query database 49 located in HLR or elsewhere to determine the value. A query for this database is shown at line 106. Line 108 is the response to this inquiry.

Once the service delivery mode and service handling indicator values are known, a decision is made to the mobile station whether to generate a page message (shown in block 112). The page message contains an indication of the service delivery mode, and the figure shows the transmission of this page message by line 114.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of the method of the embodiment of the present invention (shown by 134 as a whole). This method 134 facilitates routing of data service calls to incoming endpoints. First, the offer mode type is assigned to the data service call, as shown in block 136. Then, as shown in block 138, the offer mode type assigned to the data service call is determined.

An incoming call endpoint that guides the data service call is then selected, as shown in block 142. This incoming call endpoint is composed of the target incoming call station when the provided mode type is background mode.

Therefore, when the service providing mode is the background mode, the data service call is not redirected to the incoming call endpoint other than the target receiving station, so that the communication in the communication system can be improved.

The above description relates to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not necessarily limited to this description. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims.

<figref num="1">It is a functional block diagram of an exemplary communication system that implements an embodiment of the present invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a functional block diagram of a part of the communication system shown in FIG.</figref><figref num="3">Demonstrates an exemplary database generated and accessed in operation of the embodiments of the present invention.</figref><figref num="4">It is a sequence diagram of the message which shows the signaling generated when the Example of this invention operates.</figref><figref num="5">It is a flowchart which listed the method which the Example of this invention operates.</figref>