Method and apparatus for providing enhanced communication capability for mobile devices on a virtual private network (VPN)

• US 20060079250A1
• Filed: 11/22/2005
• Published: 04/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stanford Wayne Lockhart
• Original Assignee: Stanford Wayne Lockhart
• Inventors: Lockhart, Stanford Wayne
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.100
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2242/30 Determination of the location of a subscriber
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42042 Notifying the called party of information on the calling party details within substation equipment H04M1/57, signalling details H04Q3/72
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42348 Location-based services which utilize the location information of a target
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 3/42357 where the information is provided to a monitoring entity such as a potential calling party or a call processing server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/00 Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/02 Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/265 for initial activation of new user
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/10 Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/16 WPBX [Wireless Private Branch Exchange]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 : Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A service communication system for mobile vehicles has a cellular telephony interface in individual ones of the mobile vehicles, for establishing telephony events over a cellular network with a base station, and a global positioning system in individual ones of the mobile vehicles for determining global position from transmissions from GPS satellites. A network of cellular base stations receives from and broadcasts to the mobile vehicles, and bridges events between cellular and public switched telephone service (PSTN) protocol. A unique network-level routing system is connected by first telephony trunks to the base stations and enabled to retrieve GPS position from the telephony events, and is connected by other trunks to a plurality of service centers connected to the network-level routing system, which determines a destination for individual ones of the telephony events among the plurality of service centers according to the retrieved GPS position.

Claims

1-8. -8. (canceled)

9. A system for directing a request from a mobile unit having a wireless communication system, comprising:

a mechanism for tracking position of the mobile unit;

a base station for communicating with the mobile unit over the wireless communication system;

a network-level routing system in communication with the base station and enabled to retrieve position of the mobile system through the mechanism for tracking position; and

a plurality of service centers in communication with the network-level routing system;

wherein the network-level routing system determines a destination for the request among the plurality of service centers according to the retrieved position of the mobile system.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the network-level routing system further comprises an interactive voice solution (IVS) system for providing synthesized voice responses.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein individual ones of the service centers each comprise a telephone switching apparatus connected by a computer telephony integration (CTI) link to a CTI processor for monitoring a controlling the connected telephone switching apparatus, and the network routing center comprises a network-level CTI processor connected to a network-level switch, and wherein the CTI processors at network and service center level are interconnected by a data link separate from the second telephony trunks.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein data about a communication is stripped at the network-level routing system and transmitted by the data link separate from the second telephony trunks to a service center to which the call event is routed.

13. A method for directing a request from mobile unit having a wireless communication system, comprising:

tracking position of the mobile unit by a position-tracking mechanism;

receiving a request from the mobile unit over the wireless communication system from a base station;

retrieving position of the mobile system through the mechanism for tracking position by a network-level routing system in communication with the base station; and

determining a destination for the request among a plurality of service centers according to the retrieved position of the mobile system.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the network-level routing system further comprises an interactive voice solution (IVS) system for providing synthesized voice responses to incoming events.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein individual ones of the service centers each comprise a telephone switching apparatus connected by a computer telephony integration (CTI) link to a CTI processor for monitoring a controlling the connected telephone switching apparatus, and the network routing center comprises a network-level CTI processor connected to a network-level switch, and wherein the CTI processors at network and service center level are interconnected by a data link separate from the second telephony trunks.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein data about a communication is stripped at the network-level routing system and transmitted by the data link separate from the second telephony trunks to a service center to which the call event is routed.