METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING EMERGENCY CALLS (eCALLS)

• US 20090253403A1
• Filed: 03/31/2009
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Edge, Stephen W., Subramanian, Ramachandran
• Granted Patent: US 8,200,185 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.200
• 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

Techniques for supporting eCalls are described. In an aspect, an eCall indicator may be used to indicate an eCall being established. In one design, a terminal may generate a message including an eCall indicator and may send the message to originate an eCall. The eCall indicator may indicate (i) whether or not a call is an eCall or (ii) whether an eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user. In another aspect, a terminal may avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management to wireless networks except for eCalls and designated calls. The terminal may avoid performing location updating, performing registration, responding to paging requests, etc. The terminal may exchange signaling with a wireless network for an eCall initiated by the terminal. After the eCall is initiated, the terminal may perform location updating with the wireless network and call establishment for the eCall.

Claims

1. A method of performing emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

generating a message comprising an eCall indicator; and

sending the message to originate an eCall for a terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

setting the eCall indicator to indicate whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises one of a Connection Management (CM) Service Request message, an Emergency SETUP message, and a SETUP message.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a Service Category information element having at least one bit used for the eCall indicator.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one bit used for the eCall indicator comprises a first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal and a second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one bit used for the eCall indicator comprises a single bit indicating whether or not an eCall is being initiated.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises an information element including the eCall indicator.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a Connection Management (CM) Service Type information element having at least one value used for the eCall indicator.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a Mobile Station (MS) Classmark 2 information element having at least one flag used for the eCall indicator.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the message comprises a called party number reserved for the eCall indicator.

11. An apparatus for performing emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

means for generating a message comprising an eCall indicator; and

means for sending the message to originate an eCall for a terminal.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising:

means for setting the eCall indicator to indicate whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user.

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the message comprises a Service Category information element having first and second bits used for the eCall indicator, the first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal, and the second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

14. An apparatus for performing emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

at least one processor configured to generate a message comprising an eCall indicator and to send the message to originate an eCall for a terminal.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is configured to set the eCall indicator to indicate whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the message comprises a Service Category information element having first and second bits used for the eCall indicator, the first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal, and the second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

17. A computer-readable medium encoded with instructions, when executed by at least one processing unit, perform emergency call (eCall) establishment, the instructions comprising:

code to cause the at least one processing unit to generate a message comprising an eCall indicator, and

code to cause the at least one processing unit to send the message to originate an eCall for a terminal.

18. A method of supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

receiving a message to originate an eCall from a terminal; and

obtaining an eCall indicator from the message.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

determining whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user based on the eCall indicator.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the message comprises a Service Category information element having first and second bits used for the eCall indicator, the first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal, and the second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

21. An apparatus for supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

means for receiving a message to originate an eCall from a terminal; and

means for obtaining an eCall indicator from the message.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, further comprising:

means for determining whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user based on the eCall indicator.

23. A method of operating a terminal, comprising:

avoiding sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) by the terminal to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls; and

exchanging signaling by the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

periodically searching for wireless networks by the terminal after being powered on without sending signaling to detected networks.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein the avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises avoiding performing location updating by the terminal prior to the eCall or designated call.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein the avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises avoiding performing registration and responding to paging requests prior to the eCall or designated call.

27. The method of claim 23, wherein the exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or designated call comprises

performing location updating with a wireless network after the eCall or designated call is initiated, and

performing call establishment with the wireless network for the eCall or designated call.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the performing location updating comprises sending a message comprising an indication of a pending eCall for location updating.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the performing call establishment comprises sending a message comprising an eCall indicator for call establishment, the eCall indicator comprising a first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal and a second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

30. The method of claim 23, wherein the exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or designated call comprises performing call establishment with a wireless network for the eCall or designated call, and wherein location updating is performed by the terminal with the wireless network prior to initiation of the eCall or designated call.

31. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or designated call; and

avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the predetermined time period comprises a first time period for an eCall or a second time period for a designated call.

33. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and

avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

exchanging signaling with the wireless network for network attachment, location updating, responding to paging requests, and reconfiguring of allowed services for the terminal within the predetermined period of time.

35. An apparatus comprising:

means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) by a terminal to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls; and

means for exchanging signaling by the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises means for avoiding performing location updating by the terminal prior to the eCall or designated call.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or designated call comprises

means for performing location updating with a wireless network after the eCall or designated call is initiated, and

means for performing call establishment with the wireless network for the eCall or designated call.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the means for performing call establishment comprises means for sending a message comprising an eCall indicator for call establishment, the eCall indicator comprising a first bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal and a second bit indicating whether the eCall is initiated manually by a user.

39. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or designated call; and

means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.

40. The apparatus of claim 35, further comprising:

means for enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and

means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.

41. A method of supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

receiving no signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) from a terminal except for eCalls and designated calls; and

exchanging signaling with the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the receiving no signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises receiving no signaling for location updating from the terminal prior to the eCall or designated call.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein the exchanging signaling with the terminal for the eCall or designated call comprises

performing location updating with the terminal when the eCall or designated call is initiated, and

performing call establishment with the terminal for the eCall or designated call.

44. An apparatus for supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:

means for receiving no signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) from a terminal except for eCalls and designated calls; and

means for exchanging signaling with the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.

45. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the means for receiving no signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises means for receiving no signaling for location updating from the terminal prior to the eCall or designated call.

46. The apparatus of claim 44, wherein the means for exchanging signaling with the terminal for the eCall or designated call comprises

means for performing location updating with the terminal when the eCall or designated call is initiated, and

means for performing call establishment with the terminal for the eCall or designated call.