Apparatus, and associated method, for broadcasting short codes for use in directing a call to a service center during operation of a mobile communication system

• US 20050003803A1
• Filed: 02/04/2004
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Malikie Innovations Limited (Key Patent Innovations Limited)
• Original Assignee: Blackberry Limited
• Inventors: Buckley, Adrian
• Granted Patent: US 7,515,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2757 by data transmission, e.g. downloading
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72418 for supporting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/04 for emergency applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42178 by downloading data to substation equipment
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/44 Additional connecting arrangements for providing access to frequently-wanted subscribers, e.g. abbreviated dialling at the subscriber's set H04M1/27; automatic redialling H04M3/424
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/4931 Directory assistance systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/28 Number portability ; Network address portability

Abstract

Apparatus (58), and an associated method, for facilitating delivery of network-specific dialing codes to a mobile node (12). Broadcasts of the network-specific dialing codes are scheduled by a broadcast scheduler 64 embodied at a cell broadcast center (38). Signals containing the codes are broadcast and detected by the mobile node (12), thereby to download the values to the mobile node. And, the downloaded dialing codes are indexed (88) together with the dialing codes normally used by the mobile node (12) to call the corresponding service centers (44). Subsequently, when a call is placed to a service center, the dialing codes are transposed (94), if necessary, to permit the call to a designated service center (44) to be completed.

Claims

1. In a radio communication system having a mobile node operable to communicate with a network part of a communication network, and the radio communication system having at least a first service center to which a call, originated at the mobile node, is routable by way of the network part, an improvement of apparatus for facilitating placement of the call to a selected service center of the at least the first service center, said apparatus comprising:

a network-positioned code-delivery detector adapted to receive a network-part identifier code that identifies at least the selected service center of the at least the first service center, said network-positioned code-delivery detector for detecting values of each network-part identifier code received thereat; and

an identifier-code broadcast scheduler coupled to said network-positioned code-delivery detector to receive indications of the values detected thereat, said identifier-code broadcast scheduler for scheduling at least a selected broadcast of the values throughout at least a portion of an area encompassed by the network part.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said network-positioned code-delivery detector is embodied at the network part through which the call to the selected service center is routable.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said identifier-code broadcast scheduler is further embodied at the network part through which the call to the selected service center is routable.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the radio communication system operates pursuant to an operating specification that defines a cell broadcast center and wherein said network-positioned code-delivery detector and said identifier-code broadcast scheduler are embodied at the cell broadcast center.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the operating specification pursuant to which the radio communication system operates comprises a GSM/3PP (Global System for Mobile communications/Third Generation Partnership Project) operating specification and wherein the cell broadcast center at which said network-positioned code-delivery detector and said identifier-code broadcast center are embodied comprises a GSM/3PP-compliant cell broadcast center.

6. In the radio communication system of claim 1, a further improvement of communication-network apparatus also for facilitating placement of the call to the selected service center, said communication-network apparatus comprising:

a computer-network-positioned retriever for retrieving the network-part identifier code that identifies at least the selected service center and for providing values thereof to said network-positioned code-delivery detector.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a data base element at which the values of the network-part identifier code that identifies at least the selected service center are stored and wherein said retriever retrieves the network-part identifier code by accessing the values stored at said data base element.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein a mnemonic is further associated with the network-part identifier code and wherein values representative of the mnemonic are stored at said data base element.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the network-part further comprises at least a first base transceiver station and a base station controller, and wherein said identifier-code broadcast scheduler provides indicia of the scheduling scheduled thereat to the base station controller to cause effectuation of the at least the selected broadcast of the values throughout the at least the portion of the area encompassed by the network part.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the at least the selected broadcast scheduled by said identifier-code broadcast scheduler is scheduled for broadcast at selected intervals.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 wherein the radio communication system operates pursuant to an operating specification that defines a cell broadcast channel and wherein the at least the selected broadcast scheduled by said scheduler is caused to be broadcast upon the cell broadcast channel.

12. In the radio communication system of claim 9, a further improvement of mobile-node apparatus, also for facilitating placement of the call to the selected service center, said mobile-node apparatus comprising:

a mobile node-positioned code-broadcast detector for detecting values of the at least the selected broadcast caused to be broadcast responsive to the scheduling scheduled by said identifier-code broadcast scheduler.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 further comprising an indexer embodied at the mobile node and coupled to said mobile node-positioned cell-broadcast detector, said indexer for indexing values of the network part identifier code detected by said mobile node-positioned code-broadcast detector together with values of at least a first mobile-node identifier code.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the mobile node further comprises a user input actuator actuable by a user of the mobile node, wherein said apparatus further comprises a transposer coupled to the user actuator and to said indexer, said transposer operable responsive to actuation of the user input actuator with values of a mobile-node identifier for transposing the values into corresponding values of a network-part identifier code.

15. In a method of communicating in a radio communication system having a mobile node operable to communicate with a network part of a communication network, and the radio communication system having at least a first service center to which a call, originated at the mobile node, is routable by way of the network part, an improvement of a method for facilitating placement of the call to a selected service center of the at least the first service center, said method comprising:

maintaining values, at the network-part, of at least a first network-part identifier code that identifies at least the selected service center of the at least the first selected service center; and

scheduling at least a selected broadcast of the values maintained during said operation of maintaining throughout at least a portion of an area encompassed by the network part.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising the operation of broadcasting the at least the selected broadcast scheduled during said operation of scheduling.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the operation of detecting, at the mobile node, the values broadcast during said operation of broadcasting.

18. The method of claim 17 further comprising the operation of:

indexing, at the mobile node, at least a first mobile-node identifier code that identifies, at the mobile node, the at least the first service center, together with a corresponding at least first network-part identifier code, values of which are detected during said operation of detecting.

19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the operations of:

entering, at the mobile node, values of a selected mobile-node identifier code of the at least the first mobile-node identifier code; and

transposing the values into a corresponding network-part identifier code indexed together therewith.

20. In a radio communication system having a mobile node operable to communicate with a network part of a communication network, and the radio communication system having at least a first service center to which a call, originated at the mobile node is routable by way of the network part, an improvement of apparatus for facilitating placement of the call to a selected service center of the at least the first service center, said apparatus comprising:

a mobile node-positioned code-broadcast detector for detecting values of a broadcast to the mobile node of at least a first network-part identifier code that identifies the at least the first selected service center; and

an indexer coupled to said mobile node-positioned code-broadcast detector, said indexer for indexing values of the network-part identifier code detected by said mobile node-positioned code-broadcast detector together with values of at least a first mobile-node identifier code.