BILLING SYSTEM IN MOBILE COMMUNICATION

• US 3,764,747 A
• Filed: 04/13/1971
• Issued: 10/09/1973
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/1970
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hisao Nakajima, Takashi Suzuki, Takuya Hokawa
• Original Assignee: Hisao Nakajima, Takashi Suzuki, Takuya Hokawa
• Inventors: Nakajima, Hisao, Suzuki, Takashi, Hokawa, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Cooper, William C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baugh, Kenneth D.
• Application Number:
  US05/133,532
• Time in Patent Office: 910 Days
• Field of Search: 179/7R,7MM,1VE,2E,2.5B,41R,41A,7.1R 325/51,53,54 343/177
• US Class Current: 455/407
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 15/00 Arrangements for metering, time-control or time indication ; Metering, charging or billing arrangements for voice wireline or wireless communications, e.g. VoIP
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2215/32 Involving wireless systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/24 Accounting or billing

Abstract

In a mobile communication system wherein connection is provided between a vehicle and an ordinary telephone network through one of the radio base stations which are installed within a district in which the vehicle passes the radio base station being connected to an exchange station associated with the telephone network, a billing system in mobile communication, wherein an out-band signal is sent from the vehicle to an exchange equipment in the exchange station whereupon a second out-band signal is sent from the exchange equipment to the vehicle so that, only while the second out-band signal is being received, measurement of time and billing are carried out in the vehicle, and wherein a billing classification is discriminated on the basis of a dial signal sent from the vehicle and the result of the discrimination is sent from the exchange equipment to the vehicle in the form of a voice-band multifrequency signal, also serving as a response signal, so that the condition for the billing is set in the vehicle.

Claims

1. In a telephone system for effecting communication between a mobile station and a fixed exchange station through a radio link, a billing system comprising pulse generator means in said mobile station for generating timing pulses providing a time measurement, billing index means in said mobile station responsive to said timing pulses for effecting said time measurement, out-band signal generating means in said exchange station responsive to receipt of a connection signal from said mobile station for sending an out-band signal to said mobile station, and meterpulse generator means in said mobile station for connecting said pulse generator means to said billing index means only when receiving said out-band signal.

2. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said mobilE station includes trunk circuit means for sending said connection signal to said exchange equipment upon detection of answer supervision by the called subscriber.

3. The system defined in claim 1 wherein said exchange station further includes multifrequency in-band signaling means for sending to said mobile station a multifrequency in-band signal representing zonal information concerning the called subscriber for purposes of charge determination, said billing index means being responsive to said multifrequency in-band signal and said timing pulses for determining the charge for the call.