Method and apparatus of maintaining an open communications channel between a cellular terminal and an associated cellular radio network
First Claim
1. A cellular radio communications system comprising:
- a cellular radio network;
a first cellular terminal which communicates with said cellular radio network via a first voice channel;
a second cellular terminal which communicates with said cellular radio network via a second voice channel;
termination means, responsive to receipt of an end communications signal for said first cellular terminal which indicates that communications between the first cellular terminal and the cellular network have been terminated, for disconnecting the first voice channel from said first cellular terminal such that the first voice channel can be reused; and
open voice channel maintaining means, responsive to receipt of an end communications signal for said second cellular terminal which indicates that the communications between the second cellular terminal and the cellular network have been terminated, for maintaining the second voice channel open for a predetermined time period after receipt of the end communications signal for said second cellular terminal, such that the second cellular terminal continues to access said cellular radio network during the predetermined time period thereafter, via the second voice channel, thereby allowing the second cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A cellular radio communications system includes a cellular radio network for establishing communications, via a communications link such as a voice channel, with a cellular terminal and open communications link maintaining means for maintaining the communications link in an open state for a predetermined time period following termination of the communications with the cellular terminal. Accordingly, the user of the cellular terminal may continue to access the cellular radio network within the predetermined time period via the open communications link or voice channel. The cellular radio communications system may also include a feature node for providing predetermined functions to the cellular terminals associated with the cellular radio network. The open communications link maintaining means typically includes a timer and related controller for initiating and monitoring the predetermined time period. In addition, either the cellular terminals, themselves, or a feature node associated with the cellular radio network may include the communications link maintaining means.
59 Citations
47 Claims
-
1. A cellular radio communications system comprising:
-
a cellular radio network; a first cellular terminal which communicates with said cellular radio network via a first voice channel; a second cellular terminal which communicates with said cellular radio network via a second voice channel; termination means, responsive to receipt of an end communications signal for said first cellular terminal which indicates that communications between the first cellular terminal and the cellular network have been terminated, for disconnecting the first voice channel from said first cellular terminal such that the first voice channel can be reused; and open voice channel maintaining means, responsive to receipt of an end communications signal for said second cellular terminal which indicates that the communications between the second cellular terminal and the cellular network have been terminated, for maintaining the second voice channel open for a predetermined time period after receipt of the end communications signal for said second cellular terminal, such that the second cellular terminal continues to access said cellular radio network during the predetermined time period thereafter, via the second voice channel, thereby allowing the second cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network. - View Dependent Claims (2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
3. The cellular radio communications system according to claim I further comprising means for receiving further communications from said cellular radio network to said second cellular terminal via the open second voice channel during the predetermined time period.
-
16. A cellular radio communications system comprising:
-
a cellular radio network for establishing communications link between a cellular terminal associated with said cellular radio network and a second terminal; and open communications link maintaining means for maintaining the communications link in an open state between the cellular terminal and said cellular radio network for a predetermined time period following termination of communications between the cellular terminal and the second terminal such that the cellular terminal continues to access said cellular radio network within the predetermined time period via the open communications link thereby allowing the cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular radio network, notwithstanding termination of communications between the cellular terminal and the second terminal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. A feature node for providing predetermined functions to a plurality of cellular terminals, wherein the cellular terminals are in communication, via an associated voice channel, with a cellular radio communications network, the feature node comprising:
-
means for bidirectionally communicating with the plurality of cellular terminals via the cellular radio communications network; and open voice channel maintaining means for maintaining the associated voice channel between a cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network in an open state for a predetermined time period following termination of communications by the cellular terminal with the cellular radio communication network, such that the cellular terminal continues to access the cellular radio communications network within the predetermined time period via the open voice channel thereby allowing the cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network, notwithstanding termination of communications between the cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
-
-
28. A cellular radio terminal comprising:
-
communication means for transmitting signals to and receiving signals from a cellular radio communications network such that a channel may be established between the cellular radio terminal and a second terminal; and open channel maintaining means for maintaining the channel in an open state between the cellular radio terminal and the cellular radio communications network for a predetermined time period following the termination of communications between the cellular radio terminal and the second terminal such that the cellular radio terminal continues to access the cellular radio communications network within the predetermined time period via the open channel thereby allowing the cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network, notwithstanding termination of communications between the cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
-
-
31. A method of maintaining an open voice channel between a cellular terminal and an associated cellular radio communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
-
detecting the termination of communications, via a voice channel, between the cellular terminal and another terminal; and maintaining the voice channel, which supported the terminated communications, open between the cellular terminal and the associated cellular radio communications network for a predetermined time period following the detected termination of communications such that the cellular terminal continues to access the cellular radio communications network within the predetermined time period via the open voice channel thereby allowing the cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network, notwithstanding termination of communications between the cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43)
-
-
44. A method of maintaining an open voice channel between a cellular terminal and an associated cellular radio communications network, the method comprising the steps of:
-
detecting the termination of communications, via a first voice channel, between a first cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network, and, via a second voice channel, between a second cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network; disconnecting the first voice channel from the first cellular terminal once the termination of communications has been detected such that the first voice channel can be reused; and maintaining the second voice channel open between the second cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network for a predetermined time period following the detected termination of communications such that the second cellular terminal continues to access the cellular radio communications network during the predetermined time period via the open voice channel thereby allowing the cellular terminal to initiate and receive new communications to and from said cellular telephone network without requiring a new access to the cellular network, notwithstanding termination of communications between the second cellular terminal and the cellular radio communications network. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47)
-
Specification