Cellular telephone system and method for dynamically switching between call routing options

• US 5,142,654 A
• Filed: 08/09/1990
• Issued: 08/25/1992
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Appex Corp. (Perspecta, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sonberg, Kenneth W., Bein, Timothy A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dwyer, James L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne D.
• Application Number:
  US07/565,016
• Time in Patent Office: 747 Days
• Field of Search: 379/59, 379/60, 379/63, 379/201, 379/211, 379/67, 379/88, 379/89
• US Class Current: 455/433
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/16 Communication-related supplementary services, e.g. call-transfer or call-hold
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/06 Registration at serving network Location Register, VLR or user mobility server
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber located in a foreign service area to designate how calls placed to the subscriber should be handled by entering selections (such as call forwarding, caller notification) from the keyboard of his mobile telephone set. When these selections are received by a foreign service MTSO, the foreign service MTSO validates the roaming subscriber and the services that are available to the subscriber and then notifies the home MTSO how calls received at the home site should be handled. If the caller is to receive calls in the foreign service area (either forwarded calls or direct calls to the foreign service area), the foreign MTSO assigns a temporary roaming number to the subscriber for use in the foreign service area after the subscriber has been validated.

Claims

1. A method for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the method comprising:

receiving at a roam site MTSO information indicating which of at least two call handling options is being requested by the subscriber;

validating the subscriber requesting the call handling option;

providing information to a subscriber'"'"'s home service area MTSO that indicates, based on one of said at least two call handling options, how calls to the subscriber are to be handled while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area;

saving call handling settings that existed prior to the time subscriber specified a manner in which the subscriber'"'"'s calls are to be handled in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings.

2. A system for enabling a cellular telephone subscriber to dynamically specify the manner in which calls to the subscriber are to be handled when the subscriber is located in a foreign service area, the system comprising:

means for receiving one of at least two call handling instructions from a subscriber in a foreign service area and for providing from the foreign service area a mobile identification number, and a code representing the call handling instructions issued by the subscriber;

a central host processor means for validating the subscriber issuing call handling instructions and for providing information to the subscriber'"'"'s home service area concerning which of said at least two call handling instructions are to be implemented while the subscriber is located in the foreign service area;

means for saving call handling instructions that existed prior to a selection of a call handling option by the subscriber in order to enable the subscriber to restore previous call handling settings.