Radiotelecommunications system having a mobile terminal that operates both in cellular mode and in cordless mode

• US 6,141,547 A
• Filed: 07/13/1998
• Issued: 10/31/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: WSOU Investments, LLC (WSOU Holdings, LLC)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Vasnier, Frederic, Rousseau, Emmanuel
• Primary Examiner(s): Hunter, Daniel S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woldetatios, Yemane
• Application Number:
  US09/114,499
• Time in Patent Office: 841 Days
• Field of Search: 455/552, 455/553, 455/462, 455/463, 455/464, 455/426, 455/454, 455/447, 455/466
• US Class Current: 455/426.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/16 for PBS [Private Base Station] arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/105 PBS [Private Base Station] network H04W84/12 - H04W84/16 take precedence

Abstract

The invention relates to a radiotelecommunications system having a mobile terminal equipped with a subscriber identity module and designed to operate in a cellular network having a plurality of cells. The system has a private base station independent from the cellular network and connected to a wired telecommunications network. The private base station occupies at least a part of one of the cells of the cellular network, to which cell the cellular network has allocated at least one frequency from among all of the frequencies available in the cellular network; if it is situated within a zone close to the private base station, the mobile terminal can operate in cordless mode, in which it communicates with the wired network by communicating by radio with the private base station, radio communication taking place on at least one frequency selected from a predetermined set of one or more frequencies chosen from among all of the frequencies available in the cellular network except at least those frequencies which are allocated to said cell, the set of frequencies being pre-recorded in the subscriber identity module or in a memory zone of the terminal. According to the invention, said set of frequencies is transmitted to the mobile terminal by radio from a base station of the cellular network.

Claims

1. A radiotelecommunications system having a mobile terminal equipped with a subscriber identity module and designed to operate in a first mode referred to as "cellular mode" in a cellular network having a plurality of cells, the radiotelecommunications system comprising:

a private base station independent from said cellular network and connected by wire to a wired telecommunications network, said private base station occupying at least a part of one of the cells of the cellular network, to which cell the cellular network has allocated at least one frequency from among all of the frequencies available in the cellular network using a predetermined frequency re-use scheme;

wherein the mobile terminal comprises;

a selector enabling the mobile terminal to operate in a second mode referred to as "cordless mode" when the mobile terminal is situated within a predetermined zone in the vicinity of the private base station, in which mode the mobile terminal can set up a call to or receive a call from said wired telecommunications network by communicating by radio with said private base station, radio communication taking place on at least one frequency selected from a predetermined set of one or more frequencies also chosen from among all of the frequencies available in the cellular network except at least those frequencies which are allocated to said cell, said selector comprising;

storage means for storing said predetermined set of one or more frequencies in a storage zone of the two-part unit formed by the mobile terminal and by the subscriber identity module, wherein, when the mobile terminal operates in cellular mode, said predetermined set of one or more frequencies is previously transmitted by radio from a base station of the cellular network that is closest to the mobile terminal, so that said predetermined set of one or more frequencies can be stored in said storage means.

2. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein the storage zone is situated in the subscriber identity module.

3. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 2, wherein said storage means comprise an elementary file of the subscriber identity module.

4. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined set of one or more frequencies is transmitted in the form of a point-to-point short service message.

5. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 4, wherein said point-to-point short service message is of class 2.

6. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein said selector comprises:

a switch accessible to the user of the mobile terminal to enable the user to select the operating mode of the mobile terminal between "cellular mode" and "cordless mode".

7. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is associated with two telephone numbers whereby the mobile terminal can receive an incoming call, namely a first telephone number whereby the incoming call comes from the cellular network, and a second telephone number whereby the incoming call comes from the wired telecommunications network.

8. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein, whenever the mobile terminal is setting up an outgoing call via the cellular network while the mobile terminal is situated within said zone in the vicinity of the private base station, the cellular network comprises:

a wired network priority controller for setting up the call via the wired telecommunications network on a priority basis.

9. A radiotelecommunications system according to claim 1, wherein the frequencies allocated to the cells adjacent to said cell are also excluded from said predetermined set of one or more frequencies.