HOME NETWORK ROAMING MANAGEMENT FOR eCALL-ONLY SUBSCRIBERS

• US 20120289179A1
• Filed: 10/28/2011
• Published: 11/15/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: Bourdu, Jean-Baptiste Bertrand, Leung, Nikolai Konrad, Williams, David Hugh
• Granted Patent: US 8,923,802 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/404.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• 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 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) or home network immediately accepts a registration requests from “eCall-only” subscribers attempting to register with any Visitor Public Land Mobile Networks (VPLMNs) or roaming network. This avoids unnecessary delays in the establishment of an eCall (emergency call) that might be otherwise introduced by the home network'"'"'s roaming registration management policy (RRMP) that otherwise would only permit registrations (and subsequent call servicing) by preferred roaming VPLMN partners and automatically reject registrations from non-preferred roaming networks (which may hinder or prevent timely completion of an eCall).

Claims

1. A method for establishing an emergency call in a mobile communications network, the method comprising:

receiving a registration request;

determining if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber;

if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber, then approving the registration request; and

if the registration request is not from an eCall-only subscriber, then further processing the registration request to ascertain whether to approve or disapprove the registration request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the registration request is received from an in-vehicle system (IVS) via a roaming network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a home network, and wherein the registration request is received via a roaming network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining comprises referencing a Home Location Register (HLR), wherein the HLR includes an indicator designating eCall-only subscribers.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the determining comprises referencing an eCall-only list separate from the Home Location Register (HLR).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the home network provides the eCall-only list on a server accessible by at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the home network pushes the eCall-only list to at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a roaming network that is not a home network for the registration request.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining comprises:

identifying a home network for approving the registration request;

forwarding the registration request to the home network; and

receiving an indication from the home network that the registration request is approved or disapproved.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the determining comprises referencing an eCall-only list provided by a home network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval for the roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the referencing comprises accessing a server on which the home network has provided information pertaining to the eCall-only list.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the referencing comprises accepting from the home network information pertaining to the eCall-only list that has been pushed from the home network to the roaming network.

13. A system for establishing an emergency call in a mobile communications network, the system comprising:

a receiver for receiving a registration request; and

a processor for determining if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber and;

if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber, then approves the registration request, and

if the registration request is not from an eCall-only subscriber, then further processes the registration request to ascertain whether to approve or disapprove the registration request.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the registration request is received from an in-vehicle system (IVS) via a roaming network.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a home network, and wherein the registration request is received via a roaming network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the determining is performed by referencing a Home Location Register (HLR), wherein the HLR includes an indicator designating eCall-only subscribers.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the determining is performed by referencing an eCall-only list separate from the Home Location Register (HLR).

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the home network provides the eCall-only list on a server accessible by at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the home network pushes the eCall-only list to at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a roaming network that is not a home network for the registration request.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the determining performed by the processor further comprises:

identifying a home network for approving the registration request;

forwarding the registration request to the home network; and

receiving an indication from the home network that the registration request is approved or disapproved.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the determining is performed by referencing an eCall-only list provided by a home network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval for the roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the referencing comprises accessing a server on which the home network has provided information pertaining to the eCall-only list.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the referencing comprises accepting from the home network information pertaining to the eCall-only list that has been pushed from the home network to the roaming network.

25. An apparatus for establishing an emergency call in a mobile communications network, the apparatus comprising:

means for receiving a registration request;

means for determining if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber;

means for, if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber, approving the registration request; and

means for, if the registration request is not from an eCall-only subscriber, processing the registration request to ascertain whether to approve or disapprove the registration request.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the registration request is received from an in-vehicle system (IVS) via a roaming network.

27. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a home network, and wherein the registration request is received via a roaming network.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for determining comprises means for referencing a Home Location Register (HLR), wherein the HLR includes an indicator designating eCall-only subscribers.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the means for determining comprises means for referencing an eCall-only list separate from the Home Location Register (HLR).

30. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for enabling the home network to provide the eCall-only list on a server accessible by at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

31. The apparatus of claim 29, further comprising means for enabling the home network to push the eCall-only list to at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

32. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the receiving and determining are performed by a roaming network that is not a home network for the registration request.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising:

means for identifying a home network for approving the registration request;

means for forwarding the registration request to the home network; and

means for receiving an indication from the home network that the registration request is approved or disapproved.

34. The apparatus of claim 32, wherein the means for determining comprises means for referencing an eCall-only list provided by a home network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval for the roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for referencing comprises means for accessing a server on which the home network has provided information pertaining to the eCall-only list.

36. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the means for referencing comprises means for accepting from the home network information pertaining to the eCall-only list that has been pushed from the home network to the roaming network.

37. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that cause a computer to:

receive a registration request;

determine if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber;

if the registration request is from an eCall-only subscriber, approve the registration request; and

if the registration request is not from an eCall-only subscriber, further process the registration request to ascertain whether to approve or disapprove the registration request.

38. The computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to receive the registration request further comprise instructions to cause the computer to receive the registration request from an in-vehicle system (IVS) via a roaming network.

39. The computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions are executed by a home network, and wherein the registration request is received from a subscriber via a roaming network.

40. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to determine comprise instructions to cause the computer to reference a Home Location Register (HLR) that includes an indicator designating eCall-only subscribers.

41. The computer-readable medium of claim 39, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to determine comprise instructions to cause the computer to reference an eCall-only list separate from the Home Location Register (HLR).

42. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, further comprising instructions that cause the computer to provide the eCall-only list on a server accessible by at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

43. The computer-readable medium of claim 41, further comprising instructions that cause the computer to push the eCall-only list to at least one roaming network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval to the at least one roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

44. The computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions are executed by a roaming network, and wherein the registration request is received from a subscriber of a home network that is not the roaming network.

45. The computer-readable medium of claim 44, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to determine further comprise instructions to cause the computer to:

identify a home network for approving the registration request;

forward the registration request to the home network; and

receive an indication from the home network that the registration request is approved or disapproved.

46. The computer-readable medium of claim 44, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to determine further comprise instructions to cause the computer to reference an eCall-only list provided by a home network, the eCall-only list equating to pre-approval for the roaming network to approve a registration request from a subscriber listed on the eCall-only list.

47. The computer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to reference further comprise instructions to cause the computer to access a server on which the home network has provided information pertaining to the eCall-only list.

48. The computer-readable medium of claim 46, wherein the instructions that cause the computer to reference further comprise instructions to cause the computer to accept from the home network information pertaining to the eCall-only list that has been pushed from the home network to the roaming network.