Method and apparatus for defining and updating mobile services based on subscriber groups
First Claim
1. In a communications system, a method comprising the steps of:
- defining a group of mobile subscribers;
assigning a supplementary service group identifier to each member of the group; and
establishing one or more supplementary mobile subscriber service to which mobile subscribers may subscribe, in addition to basic mobile connection service, for the group of mobile subscribers associated with the supplementary service group identifier,wherein a change to the established group supplementary mobile subscriber services is automatically implemented for the mobile subscribers in the group.
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Accused Products
Abstract
New services and/or new subscribers are efficiently and flexibly defined and added to a mobile communications network using service groups and service group identifiers. One or more groups of mobile subscribers are defined, and a group identifier is assigned to each member of the group. One or more services are established for the group of mobile subscribers and are associated with the group identifier. In particular, the group identifier links each member of the group with the established services. Using this service group approach, existing mobile communications system nodes are readily updated with new service and subscriber information. Likewise, subscriber service information may be easily restored to corrupted mobile databases. Advantageously, the signaling and time required to perform location update procedures as mobile units move between different location areas in a mobile communications system are considerably reduced.
204 Citations
49 Claims
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1. In a communications system, a method comprising the steps of:
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defining a group of mobile subscribers; assigning a supplementary service group identifier to each member of the group; and establishing one or more supplementary mobile subscriber service to which mobile subscribers may subscribe, in addition to basic mobile connection service, for the group of mobile subscribers associated with the supplementary service group identifier, wherein a change to the established group supplementary mobile subscriber services is automatically implemented for the mobile subscribers in the group. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. In a mobile radio communications network, apparatus for providing supplementary mobile subscriber services to which mobile subscribers may subscribe in addition to a basic mobile subscriber connection service, comprising:
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a home location register (HLR) node that defines first and second groups of mobile subscribers and assigns to each member of the first and second groups a corresponding first and second supplementary service group identifier, wherein the mobile radio communications network provides supplementary mobile subscriber services to members of the first and second groups using the corresponding first and second supplementary service group identifiers. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A mobile subscriber database node for communicating with other nodes in a mobile communications system including mobile communications units, comprising:
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a first memory area storing mobile subscriber records including a mobile unit identifier and a first supplementary service group identifier for those mobile units that are members of a first supplementary service group or a second supplementary service group identifier for those mobile units that are members of a second supplementary service group; a second memory area storing a first set of supplementary mobile subscriber services associated with the first supplementary service group and a second set of supplementary mobile subscriber services associated with the second supplementary service group, where supplementary services may be selectively subscribed to in addition to basic mobile connection service; and data processing circuitry coordinating communications to and from the mobile subscriber database node, and during call handling operations, linking mobile subscriber records containing a supplementary service group identifier to a corresponding set of supplementary mobile subscriber services stored in the second memory area. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. In a mobile radio communications system including a mobile communications database storing mobile subscriber data records for plural mobile subscribers, a method comprising the steps of:
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assigning a supplementary service group identifier to a new supplementary mobile subscriber service selectively supported by the mobile radio communications system in addition to basic mobile connection service, and establishing the new supplementary mobile subscriber service in the mobile radio communications system for a plurality of mobile subscribers using the supplementary service group identifier. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A mobile subscriber database node for communicating with other nodes in a mobile communications system including mobile communications units, comprising:
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memory storing mobile subscriber records including a mobile unit identifier and a first service group identifier for those mobile units that are members of the first service group or a second service group identifier for those mobile units that are members of the second service group; memory storing a first set of mobile services associated with the first service group and a second set of mobile services associated with the second service group, where at least one of the services associated with each of the first and second set of mobile services includes an associated service condition; and data processing circuitry coordinating communications to and from the mobile subscriber database node, and during call handling operations, for linking mobile subscriber records containing a service group identifier to a corresponding set of mobile services stored in the second memory area; wherein the memory includes a dynamic service group database including plural dynamic service group records where each dynamic service group record is linked to one of the sets of services and specifies a set of conditions for some of those services. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49)
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Specification