METHOD OF CONFIGURING VOICE AND DATA COMMUNICATION OVER A VOICE CHANNEL

• US 20070190950A1
• Filed: 02/15/2006
• Published: 08/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/15/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Motors Company
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Madhavan, Sethu, Yi, Ki
• Application Number:
  US11/307,637
• Publication Number:
  US 20070190950A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/99
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/22 Negotiating communication rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/181 Transcoding devices; Rate adaptation devices

Abstract

A method for configuring voice and data communication over a voice channel of a wireless telecommunications network that includes an onboard vehicle communications system, a cell tower, a base station, a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and a remote call center. Initially, a component on the network side, such as a network vocoder incorporated within a base station, selects a data rate during configuration of the voice channel. Thereafter, an onboard vocoder incorporated within a chipset of the onboard vehicle communications system sends a service option control message to the network vocoder requesting a higher data rate for the subsequent voice and data transmissions. A similar process occurs during a handoff that involves a change of network vocoders.

Claims

1. A method for configuring voice and data communication over a wireless telecommunications network that includes a cell tower, a network vocoder and a call center, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing an onboard vehicle communications system having an antenna, a chipset with an onboard vocoder, a modem and a telephony device, the modem provides for data transmissions and is coupled to the chipset for communication through the onboard vocoder, the telephony device provides for voice transmissions and is also coupled to the chipset for communication through the onboard vocoder, and the antenna provides for voice and data transmissions to the cell tower and is coupled to the chipset;

(b) establishing a voice channel between the onboard vocoder and the network vocoder over the wireless network, and the voice channel is configured with a first data rate that is selected by the network vocoder;

(c) sending a message from the onboard vocoder to the network vocoder requesting a second data rate that is selected by the onboard vocoder and is greater than the first data rate, and;

(d) altering the configuration of the voice channel so that voice and data transmissions can be sent between the onboard system and the call center according to the second data rate.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the network and onboard vocoders is a CDMA2000-compatible vocoder, and the network vocoder has exclusive control over selecting the first data rate.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein each of the network and onboard vocoders is an EVRC-B vocoder.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (b) the onboard vocoder initiates the establishment of the voice channel by sending an origination message to the network vocoder.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (b) the network vocoder initiates the establishment of the voice channel by sending a page response message to the onboard vocoder.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (b) the first data rate is established by the network vocoder in either an extended channel assignment message or a service connect message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (c) the second data rate is established by the onboard vocoder in a service option control message.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the service option control message includes a data rate field that the onboard vocoder uses to select the highest possible data rate (operating point zero).

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the service option control message includes a plurality of fields other than the data rate field, and the onboard vocoder populates the plurality of fields with default values or selected values.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the service option control message is sent by the onboard vocoder after a traffic channel has been established by the network vocoder.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the service option control message is sent after the network vocoder sends a service connect message and before the onboard vocoder sends a service connect completion message.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (a) the modem applies a Differential Binary Phase Shift Keying (DBPSK) modulation to the data transmissions for communication through the onboard vocoder.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein during said step (a) the onboard vehicle communications system further includes a Vehicle System Module (VSM), and the VSM provides diagnostic-related, navigation-related or infotainment-related data and is coupled to the chipset for communication through the onboard vocoder.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the network vocoder is incorporated within a base station that is coupled to the cell tower.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step:

(e) sending an additional message from the onboard vocoder to a new network vocoder reestablishing the second data rate, in the event that a handoff occurs between the network vocoder and the new network vocoder.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein during said step (e) the second data rate is reestablished by the onboard vocoder in a service option control message.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein during a handoff that does not involve a new network vocoder, the onboard vocoder does not send an additional message to the network vocoder reestablishing the second data rate.

18. A method for configuring voice and data communication in a wireless telecommunications network that includes a base station having a network vocoder and a vehicle communications system having an onboard vocoder, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) establishing a voice communication connection over the wireless telecommunications network between the base station and the vehicle communications system;

(b) configuring the base station and the vehicle communications system to transmit over the voice communication connection at a first data rate that is selected by the base station;

(c) sending a message from the vehicle communications system to the base station requesting a second data rate that is selected by the vehicle system and is greater than the first data rate; and

(d) reconfiguring the base station and the vehicle communications system so that voice and data transmissions are sent over the voice communication connection between the base station and the vehicle system at the second data rate.

19. A method for establishing a sufficient data rate for voice and data transmissions over a voice channel of a wireless telecommunications network, comprising the steps of:

(a) utilizing a CDMA2000-compatible network vocoder;

(b) utilizing a CDMA2000-compatible onboard vocoder that is in wireless communication with the network vocoder;

(c) participating in the configuration of a voice channel between the network and onboard vocoders over the wireless network, where the voice channel configuration includes a first data rate whose selection is exclusively within the authority of the network vocoder;

(d) sending a service option control message from the onboard vocoder to the network vocoder over the wireless network, where the service option control message includes a request for a second data rate that is greater than the first data rate and whose selection is exclusively within the authority of the onboard vocoder;

(e) participating in the modification of the voice channel between the network and onboard vocoders, where the voice channel modification includes replacing the first data rate with the second data rate, and;

(f) sending voice and data transmissions over the voice channel between the network and onboard vocoders according to the second data rate.