Method and system for establishing an emergency call in a communications system

• US 8,731,515 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2004
• Issued: 05/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l. (f/k/a Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l.) (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Original Assignee: Conversant Wireless Licensing S.à.r.l. (f/k/a Core Wireless Licensing S.a.r.l.) (MOSAID Technologies Inc. (f/k/a Conversant Intellectual Property Management))
• Inventors: Muhonen, Janne Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): Hua, Quan M
• Application Number:
  US10/550,074
• Publication Number:
  US 20070004378A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,710 Days
• Field of Search: 4554041-4042, 455/445, 4554561-4564, 455/422.1, 455/433, 455/461, 379 37- 51, 370328-338, 340287-309, 340988-996, 342450-465
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0244 Accuracy or reliability of position solution or of measurements contributing thereto
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

A method for establishing an emergency call between a user equipment within a radio coverage area and one of at least two points able to answer the call, the method comprising: receiving said emergency call request; determining a first estimate of the position of said user equipment within said coverage area; interrupting said call establishment by triggering a control point; and using the control point to select, based on said first position estimate, which one of said at least two answering points the call is established with.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

establishing an emergency call between a user'"'"'s mobile equipment located within a radio coverage area of a serving cell and one of at least two answering points that are associated with the serving cell for emergency call handling, wherein the at least two answering points each have a service zone within the radio coverage area and the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located in only one of the two answering points'"'"' service zones, the establishing comprising;

receiving an emergency call request;

sending a request to a location positioning system, wherein the request indicates a first requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment that is sufficient to specify a particular answering point of the at least two answering points in which the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located;

determining a first estimate of a position of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment within the radio coverage area based on the first requested level of accuracy;

delaying the call establishment of the emergency call;

upon receiving the first estimate at a control point, translating the position in the first estimate to a destination address, wherein the destination address specifies the particular answering point;

selecting the particular answering point as a destination for the emergency call;

extending the call establishment, which was delayed, to the selected answering point to resume emergency call establishment handling, wherein the emergency call is extended after the first estimate is determined;

querying a second position estimate by sending a second request to the location positioning system, wherein the second request indicates a second requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and wherein the second requested level of accuracy is greater than the first requested level of accuracy; and

sending the second position estimate to the selected answering point before releasing the emergency call.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein non-call associated signalling is used wherein messages used to select the at least one of the two answering points during the emergency call establishment are separate from messages used for the established emergency call.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selecting is done using the control point to translate the first estimate, which is a geographical position, into a routing number of the selected answering point.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first estimate of the position is determined by using an identifier of the radio coverage area and timing advance information.

5. A network, comprising:

a call establisher system comprising circuitry configured to establish an emergency call between a user'"'"'s mobile equipment located within a radio coverage area of a serving cell and one of at least two points that are associated with the serving cell for emergency call handling, wherein the at least two answering points each have a service zone within the radio coverage area and the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located in only one of the two answering points'"'"' service zone and wherein the call establisher system is configured to;

receive an emergency call request;

send a request to a location positioning system, wherein the request indicates a first requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment that is sufficient to specify a particular answering point of the at least two answering points in which the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located;

determine a first estimate of a position of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment within the radio coverage area based on the first requested level of accuracy;

delaying the call establishment of the emergency call;

upon receiving the first estimate at a control point, translate the position in the first estimate to a destination address, wherein the destination address specifies the particular answering point;

select the particular answering point as a destination for the emergency call;

extend the call establishment, which was delayed, to the selected answering point to resume emergency call establishment handling, wherein the emergency call is extended after the first estimate is determined;

query a second position estimate by sending a second request to the location positioning system, wherein the second request indicates a second requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and wherein the second requested level of accuracy is greater than the first requested level of accuracy; and

send the second position estimate to the selected answering point before releasing the emergency call.

7. The network according to claim 5, wherein the call establisher system is configured to use non-call associated signalling wherein messages used to select the at least one of the two answering points during the emergency call establishment are separate from messages used for the established emergency call.

8. The network according to claim 5, wherein selection of an answering point comprises use of the control point to translate the first estimate, which is a geographical position, into a routing number of the selected answering point.

9. The network according to claim 5, wherein the first estimate is determined by using an identifier of the radio coverage area and timing advance information.

6. A system, comprising:

a base controller comprising circuitry configured to control a base transceiver that provides a radio coverage area;

a switching center in communication with the based controller, the switching center configured to receive an emergency call request from the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and send a request to a location center, wherein the request indicates a first requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment that is sufficient to specify a particular answering point of the at least two answering points in which the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located;

the location center configured to determine a first estimate of the position of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment within a coverage area based on the first requested level of accuracy; and

a control point in communication with the location center, the control point configured to;

delay the call establishment of an emergency call between the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and one of at least two answering points;

upon receiving the first estimate, translate the position in the first estimate to a destination address, wherein the destination address specifies the particular answering point;

select the particular answering point as a destination for the emergency call; and

extend the call establishment, which was delayed, to the selected answering point to resume emergency call establishment handling, wherein the emergency call is extended after the first estimate is determined,

query the location center for a second position estimate by sending a second request to the location center, wherein the second request indicates a second requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and wherein the second requested level of accuracy is greater than the first requested level of accuracy;

send the second position estimate to the selected answering point before releasing the emergency call.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium configured to control a processor to perform operations comprising:

establishing an emergency call between a user'"'"'s mobile equipment located within a radio coverage area of a serving cell and one of at least two points that are associated with the serving cell for emergency call handling, wherein the at least two answering points each have a service zone within the radio coverage area and the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located in only one of the two answering points'"'"' zones, the establishing comprising;

receiving an emergency call request;

sending a request to a location positioning system, wherein the request indicates a first requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment that is sufficient to specify a particular answering point of the at least two answering points in which the user'"'"'s mobile equipment is located;

determining a first estimate of a position of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment within the radio coverage area based on the first requested level of accuracy;

delaying the call establishment of the emergency call;

upon receiving the first estimate at a control point, translating the position in the first estimate to a destination address, wherein the destination address specifies the particular answering point;

selecting the particular answering point as a destination for the emergency call;

extending the call establishment, which was delayed, to the selected answering point to resume emergency call establishment handling, wherein the emergency call is extended after the first estimate is determined;

querying a second position estimate by sending a second request to the location positioning system, wherein the second request indicates a second requested level of accuracy for position information of the user'"'"'s mobile equipment and wherein the second requested level of accuracy is greater than the first requested level of accuracy; and

sending the second position estimate to the selected answering point before releasing the emergency call.