Dispatch service architecture framework

• US 7,787,896 B2
• Filed: 05/23/2003
• Issued: 08/31/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kodiak Networks (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Kodiak Networks (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Patel, Krishnakant, Ayyasamy, Ravi, Kundu, Gorachand
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tu X
• Application Number:
  US10/515,556
• Publication Number:
  US 20050239485A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,657 Days
• Field of Search: 455/553.1, 455/428, 455/439, 455/560, 455/518, 455/3.05, 455/426.1, 455/521, 455/519, 455/520, 455/414.1
• US Class Current: 455/518
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/10 Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-On-Call services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/45 for Push-to-Talk [PTT] or Push-to-Talk over cellular [PoC] services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/08 Trunked mobile radio systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/16 Gateway arrangements

Abstract

Group voice services are provided in a wireless network, such as a cellular telephone network (104, 108, 116), by a dispatch gateway (102) that interfaces to the wireless network to provide the group voice services therein, wherein both the dispatch gateway and mobiles (120) that use the group voice services communicate with each other using cell setup and in-band signaling within the wireless network.

Claims

1. A dispatch service apparatus for providing group voice services in a cellular telephone network, comprising:

a cellular telephone network for making calls between mobiles, wherein the calls are initiated by call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network and voice frames for the calls are switched between the mobiles by at least one mobile switching center across bearer paths in the cellular telephone network; and

a dispatch gateway that interfaces to at least one mobile switching center in the cellular telephone network to provide group voice services therein, without requiring any changes to the mobile switching center or other equipment of the cellular telephone network to provide the group voice services,

wherein the dispatch gateway is independent of the cellular telephone network'"'"'s radio access technology,

the group voice services provide instant two-way half-duplex voice messaging within a group of users of the cellular telephone network,

both the dispatch gateway and the mobiles that use the group voice services communicate with each other using the call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network,

such that at least one mobile switching center routes an originating leg of the group voice services from an originating mobile to the dispatch gateway,

the dispatch gateway initiates one or more terminating legs of the group voice services to one or more terminating mobiles through at least one mobile switching center, and

the dispatch gateway switches the voice frames for the group voice services from the originating mobile to the terminating mobiles across the bearer paths and through at least one mobile switching center that switches the voice frames for both the calls and the group voice services in the cellular telephone network, and

wherein the dispatch gateway provides a registration and presence application that enables members of a group to track their fellow members'"'"' presence in the cellular telephone network on their mobiles, such that when a member powers on or off their mobile, the presence of the member is updated in their fellow members'"'"' mobiles.

2. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 1, wherein the dispatch gateway handles registration requests and updates group members with presence information for fellow group members.

3. A dispatch service apparatus of claim 1 for providing group voice services in a cellular telephone network, comprising:

a cellular telephone network for making calls between mobiles, wherein the calls are initiated by call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network and voice frames for the calls are switched between the mobiles by at least one mobile switching center across bearer paths in the cellular telephone network; and

a dispatch gateway that interfaces to at least one mobile switching center in the cellular telephone network to provide group voice services therein, without requiring any changes to the mobile switching center or other equipment of the cellular telephone network to provide the group voice services,

wherein the dispatch gateway is independent of the cellular telephone network'"'"'s radio access technology,

the group voice services provide instant two-way half-duplex voice messaging within a group of users of the cellular telephone network,

both the dispatch gateway and the mobiles that use the group voice services communicate with each other using the call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network,

such that at least one mobile switching center routes an originating leg of the group voice services from an originating mobile to the dispatch gateway,

the dispatch gateway initiates one or more terminating legs of the group voice services to one or more terminating mobiles through at least one mobile switching center, and

the dispatch gateway switches the voice frames for the group voice services from the originating mobile to the terminating mobiles across the bearer paths and through at least one mobile switching center that switches the voice frames for both the calls and the group voice services in the cellular telephone network, and

wherein the originating mobile originates the voice group services by dialing digits that include a group ID, and the mobile switching center notifies the dispatch gateway that the dialed digits satisfy an origination trigger condition for the group voice services, so that the dispatch gateway can set up the terminating legs in parallel to the set up of the originating leg, thereby providing a faster group voice services setup.

4. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the group voice services comprises a Push To Talk (PTT) service.

5. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway interfaces with a group and subscriber database for retrieving group and subscriber related information, and for validating members'"'"' authenticity.

6. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 5, wherein the group related information is stored in the group database associated with a unique group id.

7. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 5, wherein the group related information comprises a set of subscribed members and their privileges.

8. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 5, wherein subscriber related information is stored in the subscriber database associated with a mobile identifier or member id.

9. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 5, wherein the group and subscriber database is distributed across multiple dispatch gateways to support nationwide group voice services.

10. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs call setup for selected members within a group.

11. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs call setup on the terminating legs in parallel with a call setup for the originating leg.

12. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs intelligent voice buffering for the originating leg of a group call.

13. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway provides voice frame duplication for a group call.

14. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs dynamic multicasting of voice frames for a group call involving multiple dispatch gateways.

15. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs vocoder conversion on one or more legs of a group call.

16. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3 wherein the dispatch gateway communicates with other dispatch gateways.

17. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 16, wherein the dispatch gateways support group voice services across network, regional and national boundaries.

18. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the mobile includes a dispatch application.

19. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the mobile can administer dispatch services provided by the dispatch gateway.

20. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the mobile can roam across a plurality of networks and still participate in the group voice services.

21. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 3, wherein the dispatch gateway performs optimal routing to terminate group voice calls for subscribers roaming outside of their home networks.

22. A dispatch service apparatus for providing group voice services in a cellular telephone network, comprising:

a cellular telephone network for making calls between mobiles, wherein the calls are initiated by call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network and voice frames for the calls are switched between the mobiles by at least one mobile switching center across bearer paths in the cellular telephone network; and

a dispatch gateway that interfaces to at least one mobile switching center in the cellular telephone network to provide group voice services therein, without requiring any changes to the mobile switching center or other equipment of the cellular telephone network to provide the group voice services,

wherein the dispatch gateway is independent of the cellular telephone network'"'"'s radio access technology,

the group voice services provide instant two-way half-duplex voice messaging within a group of users of the cellular telephone network,

both the dispatch gateway and the mobiles that use the group voice services communicate with each other using the call setup and in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network,

such that at least one mobile switching center routes an originating leg of the group voice services from an originating mobile to the dispatch gateway,

the dispatch gateway initiates one or more terminating legs of the group voice services to one or more terminating mobiles through at least one mobile switching center, and

the dispatch gateway switches the voice frames for the group voice services from the originating mobile to the terminating mobiles across the bearer paths and through at least one mobile switching center that switches the voice frames for both the calls and the group voice services in the cellular telephone network, and

both the dispatch gateway and the mobiles that use the group voice services use DTMF tones for the in-band signaling within the cellular telephone network as call control events to regulate a floor for the group voice services.

23. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 22, wherein the cellular telephone network sets up a call between a mobile and the dispatch gateway, and the dispatch gateway interacts with the mobile across the network through DTMF signaling on the call.

24. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 22, wherein the dispatch gateway exchanges a set of defined in-band DTMF tones with a mobile within the cellular telephone network as call control events to regulate a group call.

25. The dispatch service apparatus of claim 22, wherein the dispatch gateway controls a floor of a group call by allowing only one member to speak at any time during a group call.