Call handling on dual-mode wireless handsets

• US 20070015535A1
• Filed: 07/19/2006
• Published: 01/18/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Qwest Communications International Incorporated (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cook, Charles, Stevens, Gilman, LaBauve, Lance
• Granted Patent: US 8,825,108 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/552.100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4557 Directories for hybrid networks, e.g. including telephone numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1095 Inter-network session transfer or sharing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/2535 adapted for voice communication over an Internet Protocol [IP] network Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network equipment and services H04M7/006; implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP] H04L69/16
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/06 including a wireless LAN interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/00224 between packet switched [PS] and circuit switched [CS] network technologies, e.g. circuit switched fallback [CSFB]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/042 Public Land Mobile systems, e.g. cellular systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/06 adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/14 Backbone network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide novel solutions, including systems, methods and/or software, for handling calls in a dual-mode VoIP/cellular environment. Merely by way of example, some systems can be configured to determine whether to use a VoIP system or a cellular system to handle a particular call, and/or to transition a call from one network to the other network. Other systems can be configured to substitute a public number (which might be, for example, a VoIP number) for a private number (which might be, for example, a cellular number) when routing a call originating from a dual-mode phone on a cellular network. Further systems can be configured to allow a VoIP system to serve as an anchor for calls originated and/or delivered on a cellular system, for instance to facilitate a transition between cellular and VoIP service during a call.

Claims

1. A telecommunication system for handling a call involving a dual-mode phone capable of operating in a cellular mode and in a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIp”

) mode, the system comprising;

a cellular system comprising a mobile switching center (“

MSC”

) configured to provide cellular service to the dual-mode phone; and

a VoIP system in communication with the MSC, the VoIP system being configured to serve as an interface between the MSC and a public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

), such that when a call is received for the dual-mode phone, the VoIP system is configured to;

route the call directly to the dual-mode phone when the dual-mode phone is registered with the VoIP system; and

route the call to the cellular system when the dual-mode phone is not registered with the VoIP system.

2. The telecommunication system recited in claim 1, wherein the VoIP system is further configured to determine whether the dual-mode phone is registered with the cellular system before routing the call to the cellular system.

3. The telecommunication system recited in claim 2, wherein determining whether the phone is registered with the cellular system comprises obtaining information about the registration status of the dual-mode phone from another device.

4. The telecommunication system recited in claim 3, wherein the other device is selected from the group consisting of a service control point (“

SCP”

) and an application server.

5. The telecommunication system recited in claim 2, wherein the cellular system is configured to provide the information about the registration status of the dual-mode phone to the other device.

6. The telecommunication system recited in claim 2, wherein the cellular system comprises a home location register (“

HLR”

) associated with the MSC, and wherein determining whether the phone is registered with the cellular system comprises querying the HLR for the information about the registration status of the dual-mode phone.

7. The telecommunication system recited in claim 6, wherein the VoIP system is further configured to obtain from the HLR a temporary local destination number (“

TLDN”

) for the dual-mode phone.

17. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the information for transferring the call to the VoIP system comprises instructions for routing the call via the public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

) to a number operated by the VoIP system.

8. A voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) system configured to serve as an interface between a cellular system comprising a mobile switching center (“

MSC”

) and a public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

), such that when a call is received for the dual- mode phone, the VoIP system is configured to;

route the call directly to the dual-mode phone when the dual-mode phone is registered with the VoIP system; and

route the call to the cellular system when the dual-mode phone is not registered with the VoIP system.

9. A method of providing an interface between a cellular system comprising a mobile switching center (“

MSC”

) and a public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

), the method comprising;

receiving a call at a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) system;

routing the call directly to the dual-mode phone when the dual-mode phone is registered with the VoIP system; and

routing the call to the cellular system when the dual-mode phone is not registered with the VoIP system.

10. A computer software program embodied on a computer readable medium and comprising instructions executable by a computer to:

receive a call at a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) system;

route the call directly to the dual-mode phone when the dual-mode phone is registered with the VoIP system; and

route the call to the cellular system when the dual-mode phone is not registered with the VoIP system.

11. A telecommunication system for handling a call placed by a dual-mode phone capable of operating in a cellular mode and in a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) mode, the system comprising;

a mobile switching center (“

MSC”

) in a cellular system configured to;

receive a call originating from a phone associated with the cellular system, wherein the call is associated with a destination number identifying a destination for the call;

obtain information for transferring the call to a VoIP system; and

transfer the call to the VoIP system, such that the VoIP system can route the call to the destination number.

12. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the phone is registered with the cellular system.

13. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the phone is simultaneously registered with the cellular system and the VoIP system.

14. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the MSC comprises a translation directory, and wherein obtaining information for transferring the call to the VoIP system comprises:

searching the translation directory for information about a calling number associated with the phone;

obtaining from the translation directory information for transferring the call to a VoIP system.

15. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein obtaining information for transferring the call to the VoIP system comprises:

the MSC recognizing that an origination attempt trigger has been set for the phone;

in response to the origination attempt trigger, the MSC communicating with a service control point (“

SCP”

); and

the MSC receiving from the SCP the information for transferring the call to the VoIP system.

16. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the information for transferring the call to the VoIP system comprises instructions for routing the call to the VOIP system via a trunk tandem.

18. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, further comprising:

an end office in communication with the PSTN and with the VoIP system, the end office comprising a switch, wherein transferring the call to the VoIP system comprises the MSC routing the call via the PSTN to the switch at the end office.

19. The telecommunication system recited in claim 18, wherein the switch at the end office is configured to connect the call with the VoIP system.

20. The telecommunication system recited in claim 19, wherein the call is connected with the VoIP system via an integrated services digital network (“

ISDN”

) connection between the end office and the VoIP system.

21. The telecommunication system recited in claim 20, wherein the switch at the end office is further configured to provide the destination number to the VoIP system as part of a field in a primary rate interface (“

PRI”

) call setup message.

22. The telecommunication system recited in claim 19, wherein the switch at the end office is further configured to obtain the destination number.

23. The telecommunication system recited in claim 22, wherein:

the MSC is further configured to provide the destination number to the end office as part of a specified field in an ISUP message transmitted to the end office; and

the switch at the end office is configured to obtain the destination number by parsing the specified field of the ISUP message.

24. The telecommunication system recited in claim 22, wherein:

the MSC is further configured to store the destination number at an additional device in communication with the MSC and the switch; and

the switch at the end office is configured to obtain the destination number by querying the additional device for the destination number.

25. The telecommunication system recited in claim 24, wherein the additional device is a service control point (“

SCP”

).

26. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the MSC is part of a global system for mobile communications (“

GSM”

) system.

27. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the wherein the MSC is part of a code division multiple access (“

CDMA”

) system.

28. The telecommunication system recited in claim 11, wherein the MSC is further configured to:

recognize that the call has originated from a phone requiring special call handling.

29. The telecommunication system recited in claim 28, wherein the MSC is configured to obtain information for transferring the call to a VoIP system based on a recognition that the call has originated from a phone requiring special handling.

30. The telecommunication system recited in claim 29, further comprising a service control point (“

SCP”

) in communication with the MSC, wherein;

obtaining information for transferring the call to a VoIP system comprises the MSC transmitting a message for reception by the SCP; and

the SCP is configured to;

receive the message;

obtain a redirection number associated with the VoIP system; and

transmit the redirection number for reception by the MSC.

31. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the message comprises the destination number, and wherein the SCP is further configured to store the destination number.

32. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the MSC is incorporated within a cellular system, and wherein the cellular system comprises the SCP.

33. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the SCP is associated with the VoIP system.

34. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the message is a transaction capabilities application part (“

TCAP”

) request.

35. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the SCP is configured to obtain the redirection number by performing a database lookup for the redirection number.

36. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, further comprising an application server in communication with the SCP, wherein the SCP is configured to obtain the redirection number from an application server.

37. The telecommunication system recited in claim 36, wherein the VoIP system comprises the application server.

38. The telecommunication system recited in claim 30, wherein the SCP is a first SCP, wherein the telecommunication system further comprises a second SCP in communication with the first SCP, and wherein the first SCP is configured to obtain the redirection number from the second SCP.

39. The telecommunication system recited in claim 38, wherein the MSC is incorporated within a cellular system, wherein the cellular system comprises the first SCP, and wherein the second SCP is associated with the VoIP system.

40. A method of handling a call placed by a dual-mode phone capable of operating in a cellular mode and in a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) mode, the method comprising;

a mobile switching center (“

MSC”

) in a cellular system receiving a call originating from a phone associated with the cellular system, wherein the call is associated with a destination number identifying a destination for the call;

obtaining information for transferring the call to a VoIP system; and

transferring the call to the VoIP system, such that the VoIP system can route the call to the destination number.

41. A voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) system for handling a call placed by a dual-mode phone capable of operating in a cellular mode and in a VoIP mode, the system comprising;

a VoIP switch comprising a processor and instructions executable by the processor to;

accept a connection with a cellular system, the connection comprising a call originating from a phone registered with the cellular system, the call having a destination number associated with a desired destination for the call and a first calling number associated with the phone and with the cellular system;

determine that the first calling number is associated with the cellular system;

identify a second calling number associated with the phone and with he VoIP system;

prepare a call setup message for connecting the call with the destination number, wherein the call setup message uses the second calling number as the caller identity for the call; and

using the call setup message, route the call to a public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

) for routing to the destination number.

42. In a voice over Internet Protocol (“

VoIP”

) system, a method for handling a call placed by a dual-mode phone capable of operating in a cellular mode and in a VoIP mode, the method comprising;

accepting a connection with a cellular system, the connection comprising a call originating from a phone registered with the cellular system, the call having a destination number associated with a desired destination for the call and a first calling number associated with the phone and with the cellular system;

determining that the first calling number is associated with the cellular system;

identifying a second calling number associated with the phone and with the VoIP system;

preparing a call setup message for connecting the call with the destination number, wherein the call setup message uses the second calling number as the caller identity for the call; and

using the call setup message, routing the call to a public switched telephone 12 network (“

PSTN”

) for routing to the destination number.

43. A computer software program embodied on a computer readable medium and comprising instructions executable by a computer to:

accept a connection with a cellular system, the connection comprising a call originating from a phone registered with the cellular system, the call having a destination number associated with a desired destination for the call and a first calling number associated with the phone and with the cellular system;

determine that the first calling number is associated with the cellular system;

identify a second calling number associated with the phone and with the VoIP system;

prepare a call setup message for connecting the call with the destination number, wherein the call setup message uses the second calling number as the caller identity for the call; and

using the call setup message, route the call to a public switched telephone network (“

PSTN”

) for routing to the destination number.