Emergency calling with a GSM radiotelephone

• US 20050288051A1
• Filed: 06/24/2004
• Published: 12/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive Systems, Inc. (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Temic Automotive of North America, Incorporated (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Van Bosch, James A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,239,883 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/521
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72418 for supporting emergency services
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/12 including a sensor for measuring a physical value, e.g. temperature or motion telephones including GPS signal receivers H04M2250/10
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

An apparatus and method for allowing emergency calling with a Global System for Mobile (GSM) radiotelephone during temperature extremes includes a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card, a temperature sensor; and a controller that detects when the radiotelephone has a SIM card error, whereupon the controller obtains a temperature measurement from the temperature sensor. If it is found that the temperature measurement is outside of an operating temperature range of the SIM card, the controller permits the radiotelephone to make an emergency calls only.

Claims

1. A method for allowing emergency calling with a Global System for Mobile (GSM) radiotelephone during temperature extremes, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting an error condition in a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card of the GSM radiotelephone;

measuring a temperature;

determining whether the temperature is outside of an operating range of the SIM card; and

allowing emergency calls to be made by the radiotelephone if the temperature is outside of an operating range of the SIM card.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step includes periodically checking for proper operation of the SIM card.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein after the detecting step further comprising the step of resetting the radiotelephone once and repeating the detecting step.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting step includes determining whether the radiotelephone is in an emergency call and then waiting until the call is completed.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of notifying a user that only emergency calls are allowed.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the radiotelephone is in an emergency call;

waiting until the call is completed; and

resetting the radiotelephone;

waiting a predetermined amount of time; and

repeating the detecting, measuring, determining, allowing, resetting and waiting steps up to a predetermined number of times.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of sending a failure indication to a user interface of the radiotelephone upon reaching the predetermined number of times.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, if the measuring and determining step indicate that the temperature has not changed significantly from the last measuring and determining step, the repeating step includes skipping the resetting step.

9. A method for allowing emergency calling with a Global System for Mobile (GSM) radiotelephone during temperature extremes, the method comprising the steps of:

periodically checking for an error condition in a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card of the GSM radiotelephone;

measuring a temperature upon detection of an error condition;

determining whether the temperature is outside of an operating range of the SIM card;

allowing emergency calls to be made by the radiotelephone if the temperature is outside of an operating range of the SIM card; and

detecting whether the radiotelephone is in an emergency call and then waiting until the call is completed.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein after the detecting step further comprising the step of resetting the radiotelephone once and repeating the checking step.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the checking step includes detecting whether the radiotelephone is in an emergency call and then waiting until the call is completed.

12. The method of claim 9, the allowing step includes notifying a user that only emergency calls are allowed.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising the steps of:

resetting the radiotelephone;

waiting a predetermined amount of time; and

repeating all of the previous steps up to a predetermined number of times.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of sending a failure indication to a user interface of the radiotelephone upon reaching the predetermined number of times.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, if the measuring and determining step indicate that the temperature has not changed significantly from the last measuring and determining step, the repeating step includes skipping the resetting step.

16. An apparatus for allowing emergency calling with a Global System for Mobile (GSM) radiotelephone during temperature extremes, the apparatus comprising:

a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card coupled to the GSM radiotelephone;

a temperature sensor; and

a controller being coupled to the temperature sensor and SIM card, the controller periodically checks for a SIM card error, whereupon the controller obtains a temperature measurement from the temperature sensor, wherein if the temperature measurement is outside of an operating temperature range of the SIM card the controller allows the radiotelephone to make an emergency call.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller determines when the radiotelephone is not in an emergency call and attempts to reset the radiotelephone.

18. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a user interface coupled to the controller, wherein the controller will signal a user to check the SIM card upon reaching a predetermined number of attempts to reset the SIM card.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller determines when the radiotelephone is not in an emergency call and repeatedly attempts to reset the radiotelephone up to a predetermined number of times before indicating a failure.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the controller obtains temperature measurements after each reset, wherein if the SIM card is again within an operating temperature range, the controller will skip resets of the radiotelephone as it periodically checks for a SIM card error.