Mobility management system in personal communication system

• US 6,018,573 A
• Filed: 12/22/1997
• Issued: 01/25/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Tanaka, Shoji
• Primary Examiner(s): Zele, Krista
• Assistant Examiner(s): TIEU, BENNY QUOC
• Application Number:
  US08/995,859
• Time in Patent Office: 764 Days
• Field of Search: 379/210, 379/211, 379/212, 379/201, 455/422, 455/432, 455/433, 455/435, 455/436, 455/456, 340/825.49, 340/825.72, 342/457, 342/357.07, 342/357.01, 342/44
• US Class Current: 379/211.02
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 3/005 Personal communication services, e.g. provisions for portability of subscriber numbers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/04 using triggered events
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/12 between location registers or mobility servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/18 Processing of user or subscriber data, e.g. subscribed services, user preferences or user profiles; Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/20 Transfer of user or subscriber data
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

A subscriber normally uses telephone sets 1 and 2 and a facsimile machine 3 accommodated in a wired telephone network 4, a subscriber terminal unit 10 that is a handy phone accommodated in a low speed mobile communication network 5, and a subscriber terminal unit 11 that is a portable telephone set accommodated in a high speed mobile communication network 6. Each of the networks is connected to a home database 7 to which the subscriber has subscribed. The home database 7 shares mobility management information for tracking a subscriber to which a call is connected in the wired communication system and mobility management information for registering the location of the subscriber who travels in the mobile communication system. The home database 7 updates the mobility management information for tracking the location of the subscriber with a location registration update request signal issued by the subscriber and changes the subscriber tracking priority.

Claims

1. A mobility management system in a personal communication system having a first home database for managing location registration information of a subscriber and said subscriber'"'"'s personal information so as to control the connection of a call in by tracking the location of said subscriber corresponding to said location registration information which comprises:

a plurality of communication networks for receiving a location registration update request from a subscriber terminal unit and sending said location registration update request to said first home database,

wherein said location registration update request represents a change of said location registration information due to power-on of said subscriber terminal unit used by said subscriber, traveling of said subscriber terminal unit, or the use of another terminal unit by said subscriber,

wherein said location registration update request comprises;

(a) location registered network/means information comprising location registered communication network information which represents one of said plurality of communication networks with which said subscriber terminal is registered and terminal type information of said subscriber terminal unit;

(b) call in address information comprising a telephone number used for providing a service to said subscriber terminal unit in a relevant local network;

(c) order designation information for designating the priority of reference information that the first home database refers to so as to track the location of said subscriber terminal unit; and

(d) tracking control information for designating a tracking method performed based on said location registered network/means information and said call in address information; and

wherein said first home database comprises;

a mobility managing portion for managing a plurality of tracking information blocks and time information as mobility management information, for updating said priority data and internal information of each of said tracking information blocks based on said location registered network/means information, said call in address information, said order designation information, and said tracking control information included in the received location registration update request, for updating said mobility management information upon the reception of the mobility management information change request including information for changing said mobility management information generated corresponding to the schedule of said subscriber, said mobility management information change request being input by said subscriber and sent from said subscriber terminal unit through said communication networks, and for controlling the call in by tracking the location of said subscriber terminal unit corresponding to the information of said tracking information blocks upon occurrence of a call to said subscriber, each of said tracking information blocks including said location registered network/means information, said call in address information, said order designation information, and said tracking control information for each subscriber terminal unit, each of said tracking information blocks having the priority data referenced when the location of said subscriber terminal unit is tracked, and the time information representing a time zone in which said subscriber uses said subscriber terminal unit; and

a call out controlling portion for controlling the connection of a call in corresponding to said mobility management information.

2. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein at least one of said communication networks is a wired telephone network which receives said mobility management information change request in the form of a DTMF signal from a telephone set and transfers said mobility management information change request to said first home database, and

wherein the first home database comprises:

means for converting said mobility management information change request in the form of said DTMF signal into digital message information.

3. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 2,

wherein the telephone set is a cordless parent/child telephone set, a parent unit thereof detects whether or not a child unit thereof is present in a service area thereof and sends said location registration update request for said child unit to said first home database.

4. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 3,

wherein said wired telephone network receives said location registration update request for said child unit of said cordless parent/child telephone set from said parent unit thereof in the form of said DTMF signal and transfers said location registration update request to said first home database, and

wherein said first home database comprises:

means for converting said location registration update request in the form of said DTMF signal into digital message information.

5. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein each of said communication networks comprises a second home database for managing said tracking information block corresponding to the respective local network which is one of said tracking information blocks in said mobility management information managed by said first home database, updating the relevant tracking information block upon the reception of said local registration update request, and controlling the call to said subscriber in the relevant communication network by tracking the location of said subscriber terminal unit corresponding to information of said tracking information block upon occurrence of a call in to said subscriber in the relevant communication network.

6. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 5,

wherein said first home database manages routing information of said second home database and routes a call in for the subscriber to said second home database upon occurrence of an inquiry about said call in to said subscriber, and

wherein said second home database extracts a call number of said subscriber from said relevant tracking information block so as to control said call in.

7. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the subscriber'"'"'s personal information comprises one subscriber number, one subscriber name, and one subscriber certification number.

8. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the subscriber'"'"'s personal information is one of numbers which constitute routing information assigned to a plurality of terminal units used by said subscriber, respectively.

9. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said mobility managing portion determines whether or not a tracking information block for said subscriber terminal that has sent said location registration update request is registered in said mobility managing information when said mobility managing portion receives said location registration update request from said subscriber, newly generates a tracking information block corresponding to the information included in said received location registration update request, registers said generated tracking information block with said mobility management information in case that said tracking information block is not registered, and updates the registered tracking information block corresponding to the information contained in said received location registration update request in case that said tracking information block is registered in said mobility management information.

10. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein each of the tracking information blocks updates the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information contained in said mobility management information in accordance with said order designation information and said tracking control information in said location registration update request issued by said subscriber, and

wherein if said location registration update request issued by said subscriber does not includes said order designation information and said tracking control information, each of the tracking information blocks does not update the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information.

11. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein when said tracking control information of said location registration update request issued by said subscriber or said order designation information in said mobility management information designates a communication network or a communication means as a non-tracking object, said mobility managing portion track the locations of said subscriber terminal units excluding said designated communication network or said communication means.

12. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein said mobility managing portion successively references said tracking information blocks in accordance with the priority so as to track the location of said subscriber terminal units;

wherein when communication means on the call in side is changed, said mobility managing portion informs a subscriber on the call out side of changed communication means on the call in side with voice or character string and said subscriber terminal unit on call out side which is informed of the change of the communication means on call in side performs checking to determine whether or not a communication between the terminal unit on the call out side and the call in side through said changed communication means on the call in side can be established;

wherein if it is determined that the communication cannot be established, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side informs said first home database of the determined result and terminates the location tracking operation;

wherein if it is not determined whether or not the communication can be established, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side informs said subscriber in call out side of the result and said mobility management portion tracks the location of said subscriber terminal unit in call in side corresponding to information entered by said subscriber in call out side through a key pad; and

wherein if it is determined that the communication can be made, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side changes the communication means and said mobility managing portion tracks the location of said subscriber terminal unit in call in side.

13. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 1,

wherein the mobility management information change information comprises:

changed information of said location to registered network, said terminal type information of said subscriber terminal unit, said call in address information and time information concerning the time when said subscriber uses said subscriber terminal unit in said mobility management information;

tracking order designation information; and

tracking control information.

14. A mobility management system in a personal communication system having a first home database for managing a location registration information for a subscriber and subscriber'"'"'s personal information so as to control the connection of a call in by tracking the location of said subscriber corresponding to said location registration information and said subscriber'"'"'s personal information, which comprises:

a low speed mobile communication network, connected to a first subscriber terminal unit which is a low speed mobile communication terminal unit equivalent to a telephone terminal in a simple portable telephone system, for managing first location registration information of a subscriber who uses said first subscriber terminal unit, receiving a first location registration update request representing a change of said first location registration information due to power-on of said first subscriber terminal unit or traveling of the first subscriber terminal unit from said first subscriber terminal unit, updating said first location registration information, and transferring said first location registration update request to said first home database;

a high speed mobile communication network, connected to a second subscriber terminal unit which is a high speed mobile communication terminal unit equivalent to a telephone terminal unit in a portable telephone system, for managing second location registration information of a subscriber who uses said second subscriber terminal unit, receiving a second location registration update request that represents a change of the second location registration information due to power-on or traveling of said second subscriber terminal unit from said second subscriber terminal unit, updating said second location registration information, and transferring said second location registration update request to the first home database; and

a wired telephone network, connected to a third subscriber terminal unit which is a telephone set or a facsimile machine, for managing third location registration information of a subscriber who uses said third subscriber terminal unit, receiving a third location registration update request that represents that said subscriber uses said third subscriber terminal unit from said third subscriber terminal, updating said third location registration information, and transferring said third location registration update request to said first home database,

wherein each of said first location registration update request, said second location registration update request, and said third location registration update request comprises;

(a) location registered network/means information comprising location registered network information representing a network with which the location of the relevant subscriber terminal unit is registered and terminal unit type information of said subscriber terminal unit;

(b) call in address information comprising a number that is routing information used to provide a service to said subscriber terminal unit in the relevant local network;

(c) order designation information for designating the priority of reference to a plurality of pieces of reference information with which said first home database tracks the location of said subscriber; and

(d) tracking control information for designating a tracking method which is performed based on the location registered network/means information and the call in address information, and

wherein the first home database comprises;

a mobility managing portion

for managing a plurality of tracking information blocks and time information as mobility management information, each of said tracking information blocks comprising said location registered network/means information, said call in address information, said order designation information, and said tracking control information for each subscriber terminal unit, each of said tracking information blocks having priority data referenced when the location of said subscriber terminal units are tracked, each of said tracking information being referenced according to said priority while the location of subscriber terminal units are tacked, the time information representing a time zone in which said subscriber uses said subscriber terminal unit;

for updating the priority data and internal information of each of said tracking information blocks corresponding to said location registered network/means information, said call in address information, said order designation information, and said tracking control information included in the first, second, and third received location registration update requests;

for updating said mobility management information upon the reception of said mobility management information change request comprising information for changing said mobility management information generated corresponding to a schedule of said subscriber, said mobility management information change request being input by said subscriber and sent from said first, second, or third subscriber terminal units through said low speed mobile communication network, said high speed mobile communication network, or said wired telephone network, respectively;

for tracking the location of the subscriber terminal unit corresponding to the tracking information blocks upon occurrence of a call in to the subscriber, and for controlling the call in to the subscriber;

a low speed mobile communication network interface portion, having an interface circuit connecting said low speed mobile communication network to said mobility managing portion, for transferring said first location registration update request received from said low speed mobile communication network to said mobility managing portion;

a high speed mobile communication network interface portion, having an interface circuit connecting said high speed mobile communication network to said mobility managing portion, for transferring said second location registration update request received from said high speed mobile communication network to said mobility managing portion;

a wired telephone network interface portion, having an interface circuit connecting said wired telephone network to said mobility managing portion, for transferring said third location registration update request received from said wired telephone network to said mobility managing portion; and

a call out controlling portion for controlling the connection of a call in corresponding to said mobility management information.

15. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein said wired telephone network receives said mobility management information change request in the form of a DTMF signal from the telephone set and transfers said mobility management information change request to said first home database, and

wherein said first home database has means for converting said mobility management information change request into digital message information.

16. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 15,

wherein said telephone set is a cordless parent/child telephone set, a parent unit thereof detects whether or not a child unit thereof is present in a service area thereof and sends a location registration update request for said child unit to said first home database.

17. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 16,

wherein said wired telephone network interface portion of said first home database receives a location registration update request of said child unit of said cordless parent/child telephone set in the form of the DTMF signal, converts the location registration update request into the message information compatible with said first location registration update request and said second location registration update request, and sends the resultant information to said mobility managing portion.

18. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein each of said low speed mobile communication network, said high speed mobile communication network, and said wired telephone network has a second home database for managing a tracking information block corresponding to the relevant local network which is one of said tracking information blocks in the mobility management information managed by said first home database, updating the relevant tracking information block in the reception of the first, second, and third location registration update request, respectively, and controlling call in by tracking said location of the subscriber terminal unit corresponding to information of said tracking information block upon occurrence of a terminating call to said subscriber in the relevant local network.

19. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 18,

wherein said first home database manages the routing information of said second home database and routes a terminating call for said subscriber to said second home database upon occurrence of an inquiry of the call in to said subscriber, and

wherein said second home database extracts a call number of said subscriber from said relevant tracking information block so as to control said call in.

20. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein the subscriber'"'"'s personal information comprises one subscriber number, one subscriber name, and one subscriber certification number.

21. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein the subscriber'"'"'s personal information is one of numbers which constitute routing information assigned to a plurality of terminal units used by said subscriber, respectively.

22. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein said mobility managing portion determines whether or not a tracking information block for said subscriber terminal that has sent said location registration update request is registered in said mobility managing information when said mobility managing portion receives said location registration update request from said subscriber, newly generates a tracking information block corresponding to the information included in said received location registration update request, registers said generated tracking information block with said mobility management information in case that said tracking information block is not registered, and updates the registered tracking information block corresponding to the information contained in said received location registration update request in case that said tracking information block is registered in said mobility management information.

23. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 22,

wherein each of the tracking information blocks updates the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information contained in said mobility management information in accordance with said order designation information and said tracking control information in said location registration update request issued by said subscriber, and

wherein if said location registration update request issued by said subscriber does not includes said order designation information and said tracking control information, each of the tracking information blocks does not update the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information.

24. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein each of the tracking information blocks updates the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information contained in said mobility management information in accordance with said order designation information and said tracking control information in said location registration update request issued by said subscriber, and

wherein if said location registration update request issued by said subscriber does not includes said order designation information and said tracking control information, each of the tracking information blocks does not update the information corresponding to said order designation information and said tracking control information.

25. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein when said tracking control information of said location registration update request issued by said subscriber or said order designation information in said mobility management information designates a communication network or a communication means as a non-tracking object, said mobility managing portion track the locations of said subscriber terminal units excluding said designated communication network or said communication means.

26. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein said mobility managing portion successively references said tracking information blocks in accordance with the priority so as to track the location of said subscriber terminal units;

wherein when communication means on the call in side is changed, said mobility managing portion informs a subscriber on the call out side of changed communication means on the call in side with voice or character string and said subscriber terminal unit on call out side which is informed of the change of the communication means on call in side performs checking to determine whether or not a communication between the terminal unit on the call out side and the call in side through said changed communication means on the call in side can be established;

wherein if it is determined that the communication cannot be established, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side informs said first home database of the determined result and terminates the location tracking operation;

wherein if it is not determined whether or not the communication can be established, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side informs said subscriber in call out side of the result and said mobility management portion tracks the location of said subscriber terminal unit in call in side corresponding to information entered by said subscriber in call out side through a key pad; and

wherein if it is determined that the communication can be made, said subscriber terminal unit in call out side changes the communication means and said mobility managing portion tracks the location of said subscriber terminal unit in call in side.

27. The mobility management system as set forth in claim 14,

wherein the mobility management information change information comprises:

changed information of said location registered network, said terminal type information of said subscriber terminal unit, said call in address information and time when information concerning the time said subscriber uses said subscriber terminal unit in said mobility management information;

tracking order designation information; and

tracking control information.