Simultaneous registration in multiple overlapping domains

• US 5,960,365 A
• Filed: 09/30/1997
• Issued: 09/28/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Levelt, Willem Gerard, Leih, George
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisenzopf, Reinhard J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kincaid, Lester G.
• Application Number:
  US08/940,728
• Time in Patent Office: 728 Days
• Field of Search: 455/403, 455/422, 455/426, 455/432, 455/434, 455/435, 455/551, 455/552, 455/553, 455/414, 455/417, 455/415, 455/463, 455/515, 455/516, 455/186.1, 455/425, 455/443 , 455/576, 379/357
• US Class Current: 455/552.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/183 Processing at user equipment or user record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/26 Network addressing or numbering for mobility support

Abstract

System for mobile communication, comprising a mobile station (1) and a communication domain (A) comprising at least one base station, which communication domain (A) overlaps another communication domain (B) at least partially, a mobile station (1) being functionally divisible into a plurality of virtual stations (1A, 1B) and each virtual station being assigned to a communication domain. Preferably, the mobile stations are designed for a plurality of users (u1, u2, u3). The system may be arranged for assigning to a mobile station a plurality of virtual stations which each support one or more user-service-pairs.

Claims

1. A method of implementing a mobile communication station for use in a mobile communication system, the mobile communication system including a plurality of communications domains, the method comprising the steps of:

storing information in a single physical mobile station, for each one of a plurality of virtual stations, the information stored for each one of the plurality of virtual stations including;

i. data identifying the virtual station;

ii. user identifying data which identifies a user associated with the virtual station;

iii. data identifying a particular domain associated with the virtual station;

the stored user identifying data identifying a plurality of different users, each of the different users being associated with at least one of the plurality of virtual stations;

utilizing the stored information to generate the plurality of virtual stations using the single physical mobile station, the step of utilizing the stored information including the step of registering different virtual stations included in the plurality of virtual stations in different domains so that the virtual stations of the single mobile communication station are simultaneously registered in, and can be simultaneously accessed from, multiple domains; and

using the single physical mobile communication station to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of said multiple domains using virtual stations associated with different users.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stored for each one of the plurality of virtual stations further includes service identification information, the user identification and service identification information associated with each of the virtual stations representing user service pair information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of storing information includes the step of storing the data identifying a user, service and domain, associated with a particular one of the virtual stations, in a user data table.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising the step of:

storing domain preference information in the user data table.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:

storing user specific information in the user data table.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising the step of:

allocating a unique identifier to each one of the plurality of virtual stations within a communication domain.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising the step of:

assigning precisely one virtual station in the single physical mobile station to each one of a plurality of domains in which the single physical mobile station is located.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of assigning precisely one virtual station involves the step of reserving memory capacity, the method further comprising the step of:

discontinuing a virtual station assigned to a domain upon leaving said domain thereby releasing reserved memory capacity for use in generating other virtual stations.

9. The method of claim 8,

wherein the step of assigning precisely one virtual station further involves the step of reserving transmission/reception capacity;

and

wherein the step of discontinuing a virtual station assigned to a domain upon leaving said domain further involves the step of releasing said transmission/reception capacity for use in generating other virtual stations.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of arranging the single physical mobile telephone station for use in a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of:

discontinuing a virtual station assigned to a domain upon leaving said domain, the step of discontinuing a virtual station including the step of removing information from the user data table.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the information stored for each one of the plurality of virtual stations further includes service identification information and domain preference information.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of including in the mobile communication station first and second transceivers.

14. A mobile physical communication station, comprising:

means for storing information within the mobile physical communication station corresponding to each one of a plurality of virtual stations;

information, stored in the information storing means, said information including data identifying a plurality of virtual stations and a plurality of different users each of the different users being associated with a separate one of the plurality of virtual stations, said information further including data identifying a plurality of domains, one of the plurality of domains being associated with each one of the virtual stations; and

means for utilizing the stored information to generate the plurality of virtual stations for the plurality of different users and for registering different virtual stations, included in the plurality of virtual stations, in different domains so that at least some of the virtual stations, of the single mobile communication station, which are associated with different users, are simultaneously registered in, can be simultaneously accessed from, and can simultaneously communicate with multiple domains.

15. The mobile physical communication station of claim 14, wherein the stored information further includes:

data associated with each one of the plurality of virtual stations identifying a service associated with the associated virtual station.

16. The mobile physical communication station of claim 15, wherein the stored information further includes:

data associated with each one of the plurality of virtual stations identifying a domain preference.

17. The mobile physical communication station of claim 16, wherein the means for storing information includes a user data table.

18. The mobile physical communication station of claim 14, wherein the means for utilizing the stored information include:

first and second receivers.

19. The mobile physical communication station of claim 18, wherein the second receiver supports paging.

20. The mobile physical communication station of claim 14, wherein the means for utilizing the stored information include:

first and second transceivers.

21. The mobile physical communication station of claim 20, wherein the second transceiver supports paging.

22. A method of implementing a mobile communication station for use in a mobile communication system, the mobile communication system including a plurality of communications domains providing the same type of communication service, the method comprising the steps of:

storing information in a single physical mobile station, for each one of a plurality of virtual stations, the information stored for each one of the plurality of virtual stations including;

i. data identifying the virtual station;

ii. user identifying data which identifies a user associated with the virtual station;

iii. data identifying a particular domain associated with the virtual station;

the stored user identifying data identifying a single user associated with multiple virtual stations, each of the multiple virtual stations being associated with a different domain which provides the same type of service to said single user;

utilizing the stored information to generate the plurality of virtual stations using the single physical mobile station, the step of utilizing the stored information including the step of registering different virtual stations included in the plurality of virtual stations in different domains so that the virtual stations of the single mobile communication station are simultaneously registered in, and can be simultaneously accessed from, multiple domains; and

using the single physical mobile communication station to simultaneously communicate with a plurality of said multiple domains using virtual stations associated with said single user to thereby simultaneously provide the same type of communication service to the single user via multiple domains.

23. The mobile physical communication station of claim 22, wherein said type of communication service is a cellular telephone communication service.

24. A mobile physical communication station, comprising:

means for storing information within the mobile physical communication station corresponding to each one of a plurality of virtual stations;

information, stored in the information storing means, said information including data identifying a plurality of virtual stations and a user associated with each one of the plurality of virtual stations, said information further including data identifying a plurality of different domains used for providing the same type of communication service, one of the plurality of domains being associated with each one of the virtual stations; and

means for utilizing the stored information to generate the plurality of virtual stations and for registering different virtual stations, included in the plurality of virtual stations, in different domains so that at least some of the virtual stations of the single mobile communication station, are simultaneously registered in, and can be simultaneously accessed by said user from, multiple domains used to provide the same type of communication service to said user.

25. The mobile physical communication station of claim 24, wherein said type of communication service is a cellular telephone communication service.