Proximity based call management

• US 20080004002A1
• Filed: 06/30/2006
• Published: 01/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: SBC Knowledge Ventures LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Delaney, Michael T., Pearson, Larry B., Chin, Jae-Sun
• Granted Patent: US 8,326,276 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/425
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/14 Short messaging services, e.g. short message services [SMS] or unstructured supplementary service data [USSD]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• 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

Abstract

A method is disclosed for proximity-based call management that includes sensing a proximity event between a first device associated with a first network and a second device associated with a second network, sending a first communication address for the first device from the first device to the second device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the second device, and signaling the second network from the second device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device. A proximity based call management apparatus is disclosed including a processor coupled to a memory, a proximity sensor in data communication with the processor, a network interface in data communication with the processor, and a computer program stored in the memory for execution by the processor, the computer program comprising instructions proximity-based call management.

Claims

1. A method for proximity-based call management, comprising:

sensing a proximity event between a first device associated with a first network and a second device associated with a second network;

sending a first communication address for the first device from the first device to the second device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the second device; and

signaling the second network from the second device to establish a conference call between the first device and an ongoing call on the second device.

2. The method of the claim 1, wherein the communication address is sent using a short messaging service message.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network and the second network are the same network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sensing a loss of proximity between the first device and the second device; and

signaling the first network from the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is a wireline base station telephone and the second device is a mobile telephone.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

sensing a proximity event between the first device and a third device;

sending the communication address for the first device from the first device to the third device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the third device; and

signaling a third network to establish a conference call between the first device and the third device.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein sensing a proximity event further comprises:

accepting a signal from a device selected from the group consisting of the second device and the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

8. A proximity based call management apparatus, comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory;

a proximity sensor in data communication with the processor;

a network interface in data communication with the processor; and

a computer program stored in the memory for execution by the processor, the computer program comprising;

instructions to sense a proximity event between a first device associated with a first network and a second device associated with a second network, instructions to send a first communication address for the first device from the first device to the second device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the second device, and instructions to signal the first network from the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and an ongoing call on the second device.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first network and the second network are the same network.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the communication address is sent using a short messaging service message.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, the computer program further comprising instructions to sense a loss of proximity between the first device and the second device and signal the first network from the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

12. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first device is a wireline base station telephone and the second device is a mobile telephone.

13. The apparatus of claim 8, the computer program further comprising instructions to sense a proximity event between the first device and a third device, instructions to send the communication address for the first device from the first device to the third device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the third device, and instructions to signal a third network to establish a conference call between the first device and the third device.

14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein sensing a proximity event further comprises:

accepting a signal from a device selected from the group consisting of the second device and the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

15. A computer readable medium containing a computer program for execution by a processor, the computer program comprising:

instructions to sense a proximity event between a first device associated with a first network and a second device associated with a second network;

instructions to send a first communication address for the first device from the first device to the second device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the second device; and

instructions to signal the second network from the second device to establish a conference call management between the first device and an ongoing call on the second device address.

16. The medium of claim 15, wherein the first network and the second network are the same network.

17. The medium of claim 15, wherein the communication address is sent using a short messaging service message.

18. The medium of claim 15, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to sense a loss of proximity between the first device and the second device and instructions to signal the first network from the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

19. The medium of claim 15, wherein the first device is a wireline base station telephone and the second device is a mobile telephone.

20. The medium of claim 15, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to sense a proximity event between the first device and a third device,

instructions to send the communication address for the first device from the first device to the third device over a wireless communication path between the first device and the third device, and

instructions to signal a third network to establish a conference call between the first device and the third device.

21. The medium of claim 15, the computer program further comprising:

instructions to accept a signal from a device selected from the group consisting of the second device and the first device to establish a conference call between the first device and the second device.

22. A data structure in memory comprising:

a base station identifier field for containing data indicative of a base station identifier;

a base station communication address field for containing data indicative of a base station communication address;

a mobile device identifier field for containing data indicative of a mobile device identifier;

a mobile device communication address for containing data indicative of a mobile device communication address; and

a proximity field for indicating a proximity state between the base station and the mobile device.