Systems and methods for handling emergency calls in hierarchical cell structures
First Claim
1. A method for transmitting emergency calls in a radiocommunication system comprising the steps of:
- receiving, over an air interface, at least one emergency call number;
detecting input of a key sequence from a keypad of a remote station;
identifying, in said remote station, a call as an emergency call by comparing said input key sequence to determine if said input key sequence matches said at least one emergency call numbers;
determining if a current control channel to which said remote station is listening has been designated for emergency call transmissions;
if so, transmitting said emergency call using said current control channel; and
otherwise, switching to another control channel which has been designated for emergency call transmissions and transmitting said emergency call.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Emergency call handling may, in the near future, require terminal unit location information to be provided to emergency service centers. Exemplary embodiments of the present invention facilitate the provision of this information by reducing a number of monitoring stations needed to track terminal location based upon control channel access. First, mobile units placing emergency calls can be forced to used designated control channels which may differ from control channels to which they are currently listening. Second, mobile units may be required to transmit at greater than specified power levels so that monitoring stations receive their emergency call access.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for transmitting emergency calls in a radiocommunication system comprising the steps of:
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receiving, over an air interface, at least one emergency call number; detecting input of a key sequence from a keypad of a remote station; identifying, in said remote station, a call as an emergency call by comparing said input key sequence to determine if said input key sequence matches said at least one emergency call numbers; determining if a current control channel to which said remote station is listening has been designated for emergency call transmissions; if so, transmitting said emergency call using said current control channel; and otherwise, switching to another control channel which has been designated for emergency call transmissions and transmitting said emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for transmitting an emergency call in a radiocommunication system comprising the steps of:
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determining whether a remote station is locked to a control channel associated with an umbrella cell; and selectively, based on a result of said determining step, using one of said control channel and a different control channel to transmit said emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. A remote station comprising:
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a receiver for receiving a list of emergency call numbers over an air interface; a transmitter for transmitting messages over an air interface; an input device for inputting a number associated with a call to be placed; and a processor for evaluating said number to determine if said call is to one of said emergency call numbers and, based on a result of said evaluation, selectively commanding said transmitter to transmit messages associated with said call using a control channel that has been designated for emergency calls. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A remote station comprising:
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means for determining whether said remote station is locked to a control channel associated with an umbrella cell; and means for selectively, based on a result of said determining step, using one of said control channel and a different control channel to transmit an emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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Specification