Queuing for radio channel availability
First Claim
1. In a mobile cellular switching network, a method of establishing a cellular call from a cellular station comprising the steps of:
- signaling a request for service comprising an identification of a destination station, over a control channel between said cellular station and a base station;
if a serving mobile switching center detects that a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station is available, establishing a connection to the base station having said available channel over the available radio traffic channel;
if said serving mobile switching center detects that no radio traffic channel is available between said mobile station and any base station, allowing said mobile station to go on-hook and disconnecting the control channel while the network waits for a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station to become available;
when a radio traffic channel becomes available, calling said mobile station back; and
when the mobile station goes off-hook, establishing a connection over the available radio traffic channel.
9 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and a method for establishing a cellular mobile call. If no radio traffic (voice or data) channels are available for a calling Mobile Station (MS), then a test is made to determine the expected wait time before a channel becomes available. If the expected wait time is less than a first threshold, then the call request is queued. If a channel does not become available before a second time threshold, then the caller is notified that the call has been queued and is expected to be established in a short time. A control message is sent to the MS to trigger an indication of the queued status to the user. The indication may be one or more tones, a data display, or the playing of a pre-recorded announcement. If the expected wait time is more than the first threshold, the caller is given the opportunity to be called back when a radio channel becomes available. Advantageously, the number of failed calls because of unavailable traffic channels is reduced, and the caller'"'"'s annoyance level is reduced.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a mobile cellular switching network, a method of establishing a cellular call from a cellular station comprising the steps of:
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signaling a request for service comprising an identification of a destination station, over a control channel between said cellular station and a base station; if a serving mobile switching center detects that a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station is available, establishing a connection to the base station having said available channel over the available radio traffic channel; if said serving mobile switching center detects that no radio traffic channel is available between said mobile station and any base station, allowing said mobile station to go on-hook and disconnecting the control channel while the network waits for a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station to become available; when a radio traffic channel becomes available, calling said mobile station back; and when the mobile station goes off-hook, establishing a connection over the available radio traffic channel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In a mobile cellular switching network, apparatus for establishing a cellular call from a mobile station, comprising:
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means for transmitting a request for service, comprising an identification of a destination station, over a control channel between said mobile station and a base station; means, responsive to a serving mobile switching center detecting that a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station is available, for establishing a connection toward said cellular station over the available radio traffic channel; means, responsive to said serving mobile switching center detecting that no radio traffic channel is available between said mobile station and any base station, for disconnecting said control channel while said mobile station goes on-hook and while the network waits for a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station to become available; means for calling said mobile station back when a radio traffic channel between said mobile station and any base station becomes available; and means, responsive to the mobile station going off-hook, for establishing a connection between said mobile station and a base station over the available radio traffic channel. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification