Method and apparatus for restricting call terminations when a mobile unit is roaming

• US 20020068578A1
• Filed: 04/30/2001
• Published: 06/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 12/05/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Lucent Technologies, Inc. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Jacobson, Terry, Agarwal, Anjana, Rudolph, Michael Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 6,920,326 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/455
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit. A serving MSC, which is an MSC providing call processing a mobile unit that is not the home MSC of the mobile unit, sends a registration notification request to the home location register (HLR). The HLR retrieves the termination access code parameter from the HLR and sends it to the serving MSC. The termination access code parameter includes a value that indicates if the mobile unit is allowed to roamer port calls. The parameter is stored at a VLR associated with the serving MSC. When a call request comes in to the serving MSC and requests a roamer port call with the mobile unit, the serving MSC checks the value of the termination restriction code to determine if it should terminate, or complete, the call.

Claims

1. A method for preventing delivery of calls to a mobile unit that that is roaming from an originating system to a serving system, the originating system including an originating mobile switching center (MSC) and the serving system including a serving MSC, the method comprising the steps of:

registering the mobile unit with the serving MSC, the registration including a termination restriction code parameter; and

denying termination of a call to the mobile unit while roaming at the serving MSC when the termination restriction code parameter indicates that the mobile unit is not permitted to terminate calls at the serving MSC.

2. A method for restricting a call termination when a Roamer Access Number (RAN) call is attempted without requiring subsequent messaging to determine if the mobile unit has RAN permissions, the method comprising the steps of:

passing a termination restriction code from a home location register (HLR) to a serving MSC, the termination restriction code indicating whether the mobile unit can terminate roamer port call requests;

receiving a RAN call request; and

denying by the serving MSC of the roamer port call request if the termination restriction code indicates that the mobile unit is not allowed to terminate roamer port call requests.

3. A method for restricting a call termination in accordance with claim 2, wherein the step of passing the termination restriction code from the HLR to the serving MSC occurs during registration of the mobile unit with the serving MSC.

4. A method for restricting a call termination in accordance with claim 2, wherein the step of passing the termination restriction code from the HLR to the serving MSC occurs in response to a request from the serving MSC to the HLR.

5. A method for restricting a call termination in accordance with claim 4, wherein the request from the serving MSC to the HLR occurs prior to the serving MSC receiving a roamer port call request for the mobile unit.

6. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in communication with a serving Mobile Switching Center (MSC), the method comprising:

receiving at the serving MSC a call request for the roaming mobile unit;

determining if the call request has been received for a roamer port on the serving MSC;

if the call request was received via a roamer port on the serving MSC, determining if the roaming mobile unit has a service profile stored at the serving MSC;

if the roaming mobile unit has a service profile at the serving MSC, retrieving a termination restriction code associated with the roaming mobile unit; and

if the termination restriction code is set to allow roamer port access calls, terminating the call request at the roaming mobile unit.

7. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 6, wherein the step of receiving a call request for the roaming mobile unit comprises the step of receiving a call request for a prepaid call.

8. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 6, further comprising the step of receiving the service profile at the serving MSC from a home MSC.

9. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 8, wherein the service profile is received by the serving MSC at the time the roaming mobile unit registers with the serving MSC.

10. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 9, wherein the service profile includes a termination restriction code.

11. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 8, wherein the service profile is received by the serving MSC in response to a request by the serving MSC.

12. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 11, wherein the service profile includes a termination restriction code.

13. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 11, wherein the serving MSC requests the service profile at a time when a call is not incoming for the roaming mobile unit.

14. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 6, further comprising the step of, if the mobile unit does not have a service profile present at the serving MSC, performing an initiating qualification function.

15. A method for restricting call terminations for a roaming mobile unit in accordance with claim 6, further comprising the step of denying the call request if the termination restriction code is not set to allow roamer port access calls.

17. A mobile switching center in accordance with claim 16, wherein the means for receiving a call request for the roaming mobile unit comprises means for receiving a call request for a prepaid call.

18. A mobile switching center in accordance with claim 16, further comprising means for receiving the service profile at the mobile switching center from a home MSC.

19. A mobile switching center in accordance with claim 16, further comprising means for performing an initiating qualification function if the mobile unit does not have a service profile present at the serving MSC.

20. A mobile switching center in accordance with claim 16, further comprising means for denying the call request if the termination restriction code is not set to allow roamer port access calls.

16. A mobile switching center comprising:

means for receiving a call request for a roaming mobile unit registered with the mobile switching center;

means for determining if the call request has been received for a roamer port on the mobile switching center;

means for determining if the roaming mobile unit has a service profile stored at the mobile switching center if the call request was received for a roamer port on the mobile switching center;

means for retrieving a termination restriction code associated with the roaming mobile unit if the roaming mobile unit has a service profile at the mobile switching center; and

means for terminating the call request at the roaming mobile unit if the termination restriction code is set to allow roamer port access calls.