Emergency call handling in a wireless communication system
First Claim
1. A method of using a user equipment (UE) for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
- the UE scanning a plurality of acceptable cells, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers;
the UE selecting a cell from the plurality of the acceptable cells, the selected cell having a highest power of the acceptable cells; and
the UE placing the emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the selecting the cell comprises acquiring the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call.
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Accused Products
Abstract
This disclosure describes techniques for efficiently handling emergency calls in a wireless communication system. The techniques are executed in a wireless communication device (WCD) that is interoperable between radio access technologies (RATs). For example, the WCD may support interoperability between the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). Typically, the emergency call is redirected to another RAT or frequency following an unsuccessful emergency call. However, instead of searching only suitable cells on which to place the emergency call, a WCD that implements the described techniques searches acceptable cells of any public land mobile network and attempts to place the emergency call on the cell with the highest power. By placing the emergency call on the cell with the highest power, the techniques reduce delay in placing emergency calls by reducing the number of attempts required before successfully placing the emergency call.
12 Citations
55 Claims
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1. A method of using a user equipment (UE) for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:
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the UE scanning a plurality of acceptable cells, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers; the UE selecting a cell from the plurality of the acceptable cells, the selected cell having a highest power of the acceptable cells; and the UE placing the emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the selecting the cell comprises acquiring the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A user equipment apparatus configured for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:
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a scanning module that scans a plurality of acceptable cells, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers; a cell selection module that selects a cell with a highest power from the plurality of acceptable cells; and an emergency call module that places the emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the cell selection module acquires the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A processor in a wireless communication user equipment device for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the processor being configured to:
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scan a plurality of acceptable cells in a wireless communication network, select a cell from the plurality of cells that has a highest power, and place an emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers, and wherein the processor acquires the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A non-transitory machine-readable medium in a user equipment, the machine-readable medium comprising instructions for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the instructions causing the user equipment to:
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scan a plurality of acceptable cells, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers; select a cell from the plurality of the acceptable cells, the selected cell having a highest power of the acceptable cells; and place the emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the selecting the cell comprises acquiring the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44)
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45. A user equipment apparatus for reducing delay in placing an emergency call by a subscriber of a service provider in a wireless communication network, the apparatus comprising:
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means for scanning a plurality of acceptable cells, wherein the acceptable cells include cells of the service provider and additional cells from one or more other service providers; means for selecting a cell from the plurality of the acceptable cells, the selected cell having a highest power of the acceptable cells; and means for placing the emergency call on the selected cell, wherein the means for selecting the cell comprises means for acquiring the cell without ever performing a location update to place the emergency call, wherein the delay is reduced by reducing a number of failed attempts in placing the emergency call. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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Specification