Method, apparatus and computer program providing for rapid network selection in a multimode device

• US 20060234705A1
• Filed: 04/14/2005
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Nokia Corporation
• Inventors: Oommen, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 7,937,083 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/435.300
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service

Abstract

A mobile station includes at least one radio frequency transceiver, a data processor and a memory coupled to the data processor. The memory stores information that includes an overlay function and overlay parameters for use by the data processor to perform system selection by invoking the overlay function to determine if the overlay parameters specify that a home system is to be acquired and, if so, to initiate a scan using the transceiver to attempt to acquire the home system using home system-related overlay parameters, else attempting to acquire a non-home system.

Claims

1. A method to perform system selection with a mobile station, comprising:

invoking an overlay function;

determining if a set of overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired; and

if so, initiating a scan to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters,

else attempting to acquire a lower priority system.

2. A method as in claim 1, where invoking occurs in response to power on of the mobile station.

3. A method as in claim 1, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station roaming.

4. A method as in claim 1, where if the attempt to acquire the higher priority system is not successful, attempting to acquire the lower priority system.

5. A method as in claim 1, where after acquiring the lower priority system, further comprising determining if the overlay parameters specify that the mobile station is to perform a background scan for the higher priority system and, if so, periodically scanning for the higher priority system in an attempt to acquire the higher priority system.

6. A method as in claim 1, where the overlay parameters comprise higher priority system and lower priority system acquisition parameters.

7. A method as in claim 1, where the overlay parameters comprise at least one of a list of RF channels with which to search for the system and a network identification for identifying a preferred network.

8. A method as in claim 7, where the network identification comprises at least two of the following:

network identifier, system identifier, mobile country code, and mobile network code.

9. A method as in claim 1, where the overlay parameters comprise higher priority system and network identification information.

10. A method as in claim 9, where the overlay parameters are configured remotely over an air interface.

11. A method as in claim 1, where when a CDMA system is selected by the overlay function, a Preferred Roaming List is used to acquire the CDMA system.

12. A method as in claim 1, where when a GSM system is selected by the overlay function, a Public Land Mobile Network list is used to acquire the GSM system.

13. A method as in claim 1, where when a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system is selected by the overlay function, WLAN information is used to acquire the WLAN system.

14. A method as in claim 1, where attempting to acquire a system uses an acquisition record stored in the mobile station.

15. A method as in claim 1, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

16. A mobile station comprising at least one radio frequency transceiver, a data processor and a memory coupled to the data processor, the memory storing information comprising an overlay function and overlay parameters for use by the data processor to perform system selection by invoking the overlay function to determine whether the overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired and, if so, to initiate a scan using the transceiver to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters, else attempting to acquire a lower priority system.

17. A mobile station as in claim 16, where invoking the overlay function occurs in response to power on of the mobile station.

18. A mobile station as in claim 16, where invoking the overlay function occurs in response to the mobile station roaming.

19. A mobile station as in claim 16, where if the attempt to acquire the higher priority system is not successful, the data processor executes the overlay function to attempt to acquire the lower priority system.

20. A mobile station as in claim 16, where after acquiring the lower priority system, execution of the overlay function further comprises making a determination if the overlay parameters specify that the mobile station is to perform a background scan for the higher priority system and, if so, using the transceiver to periodically scan for the higher priority system in an attempt to acquire the higher priority system.

21. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay parameters comprise a prioritized list of system acquisition parameters.

22. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay parameters comprise at least one of a list of RF channels with which to search for the system and a network identification for identifying a preferred network.

23. A mobile station as in claim 22, where network identification comprises at least two of the following:

network identifier, system identifier, mobile country code, and mobile network code

24. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay parameters comprise home system and network identification information.

25. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses a Preferred Roaming List stored in the memory.

26. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses a Public Land Mobile Network list stored in the memory.

27. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses wireless local area network access information stored in the memory.

28. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses an acquisition record stored in the memory.

29. A mobile station as in claim 16, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

30. A mobile station as in claim 16, where overlay function and overlay parameters are stored in a smart card.

31. A mobile station as in claim 16, where overlay function is stored in the mobile station memory, and the overlay parameters are stored in a smart card.

32. A computer program stored on a computer readable medium the execution of which by a processor of a mobile station performs system selection by operations that comprise:

invoking an overlay function;

determining if a set of overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired; and

if so, initiating a scan to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters,

else attempting to acquire a lower priority system.

33. A computer program as in claim 32, where invoking occurs in response to power on of the mobile station.

34. A computer program as in claim 32, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station roaming.

35. A computer program as in claim 32, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station detecting from a paging message parameter that it has entered a new location.

36. A computer program as in claim 32, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station being in an idle state and detecting from a paging message parameter that it has entered a new location.

37. A computer program as in claim 32, where if the attempt to acquire the higher priority system is not successful, attempting to acquire the lower priority system.

38. A computer program as in claim 32, where after acquiring the lower priority system, further comprising determining if the overlay parameters specify that the mobile station is to perform a background scan for the home system and, if so, periodically scanning for the higher priority system in an attempt to acquire the higher priority system.

39. A computer program as in claim 32, where the overlay parameters comprise higher priority system and lower priority system acquisition parameters.

40. A computer program as in claim 32, where the overlay parameters comprise at least one of a list of RF channels with which to search for the system and a network identification for identifying a preferred network.

41. A computer program as in claim 40, where the network identification comprises at least two of the following:

network identifier, system identifier, mobile country code, priority and mobile network code.

42. A computer program as in claim 32, where the overlay parameters comprise higher priority system and network identification information.

43. A computer program as in claim 32, where attempting to acquire a system uses a Preferred Roaming List stored in the mobile station.

44. A computer program as in claim 32, where attempting to acquire a system uses a Public Land Mobile Network list stored in the mobile station.

45. A computer program as in claim 32, where attempting to acquire a system uses wireless local area network access information stored in the mobile station.

46. A computer program as in claim 32, where attempting to acquire a system uses an acquisition record stored in the mobile station.

47. A computer program as in claim 32, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

48. A computer program as in claim 32, where overlay function and overlay parameters are stored in a smart card.

49. A computer program as in claim 32, where overlay function is stored in the mobile station memory, and the overlay parameters are stored in a smart card.

50. A multimode mobile station comprising at least one radio frequency transceiver means, data processor means and memory means coupled to the data processor means, the memory means storing information comprising an overlay function and overlay parameters for use by the data processor means to perform system selection by invoking the overlay function to determine if the overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired and, if so, to initiate a scan using the transceiver means to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters, else attempting to acquire a lower priority system, where if the attempt to acquire the higher priority system is not successful, the data processor means executes the overlay function to attempt to acquire the lower priority system, and where after acquiring the lower priority system, execution of the overlay function further comprises making a determination if the overlay parameters specify that the mobile station is to perform a background scan for the higher priority system and, if so, using the transceiver means to periodically scan for the higher priority system in an attempt to acquire the higher priority system.

51. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where invoking the overlay function occurs in response to one of power on of the mobile station and the mobile station roaming.

52. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the overlay parameters comprise higher priority system and lower priority system acquisition parameters.

53. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the overlay parameters comprise a list of RF channels with which to search for the system, and system and network identification information.

54. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses one of a Preferred Roaming List stored in the memory and a Public Land Mobile Network list stored in the memory.

55. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses wireless local area network access information stored in the memory.

56. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the overlay function, when attempting to acquire the system, uses an acquisition record stored in the memory.

57. A multimode mobile station as in claim 50, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

58. A method to perform system selection with a mobile station, comprising:

invoking an overlay function;

determining if a set of overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired; and

if so, initiating a scan to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters,

else attempting to acquire a lower priority system, further comprising changing a content of the overlay parameters with information transmitted to the mobile station.

59. A method as in claim 58, where changing the content of the overlay parameters comprises the use of an over-the-air programming technique.

60. A method as in claim 58, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

61. A method for performing system selection with a mobile station, comprising:

a step for invoking an overlay function;

a step for determining if a set of overlay parameters specify that a higher priority system is to be acquired; and

if so, a step for initiating a scan to attempt to acquire the higher priority system using higher priority system-related overlay parameters,

else executing a step for attempting to acquire a lower priority system.

62. A method as in claim 61, where invoking occurs when the mobile station is in the idle state.

63. A method as in claim 61, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station detecting from a paging message parameter that it has entered a new location.

64. A method as in claim 61, where invoking occurs in response to the mobile station being in an idle state and detecting from a paging message parameter that it has entered a new location.

65. A data structure for storage in a memory medium readable by a data processor of a multimode mobile station for use by a system selection overlay function, said data structure comprising information for specifying whether the overlay function, after being invoked, is to first scan for a higher priority system or is to first scan for a lower priority system, the information further comprising system acquisition-related parameters.

66. A data structure as in claim 65, where the information further specifies whether the overlay function is to rescan for the higher priority system in the event the lower priority system is acquired, and at least one rescan-related parameter.

67. A data structure as in claim 65, where the system acquisition-related parameters comprise cdma2000 system-related parameters.

68. A data structure as in claim 65, where the system acquisition-related parameters comprise GSM system-related parameters.

69. A data structure as in claim 65, where the higher priority system comprises a home system and the lower priority system comprises a non-home system.

70. A data structure as in claim 65, where the system acquisition-related parameters are stored in a memory storage medium that is removable from said multimode mobile station.

71. A data structure as in claim 65, where at least one of the overlay function and the information are revisable over-the-air.

72. A computer program stored on a computer readable medium the execution of which by a processor of a multimode mobile station performs system selection by operations that comprise:

invoking a current configuration of a configurable overlay function;

determining from the current configuration a set of overlay parameters that specify how a system is to be acquired; and

initiating a scan to attempt to acquire the system using the set of overlay parameters of the current configuration.

73. A multimode mobile station comprising at least one radio frequency transceiver means, data processor means and memory means coupled to the data processor means, the memory means storing information comprising an overlay function that is dynamically configured with a current configuration, and overlay parameters for use by the data processor means to perform system selection by invoking the current configuration of the overlay function to initiate a scan using the transceiver means to attempt system acquisition using the overlay parameters and the current configuration.

74. A multimode mobile station as in claim 73 wherein the memory means further storing an alternate configuration and the data processor replaces the current configuration with the alternate configuration in response to a command received from said transceiver means.