Best effort call routing preference setting

• US 9,456,400 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2013
• Issued: 09/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Original Assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Inventors: Keller, Ralf, Lindholm, Fredrik
• Primary Examiner(s): Kizou, Hassan
• Assistant Examiner(s): FARAHMAND, ASHIL S
• Application Number:
  US14/390,218
• Publication Number:
  US 20150063298A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,280 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1016 IP multimedia subsystem [IMS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1069 Session establishment or de-establishment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1073 Registration or de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1083 In-session procedures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/80 Responding to QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 36/365 by manual user interaction
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/22 using selective relaying for reaching a BTS [Base Transceiver Station] or an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 40/36 due to handover

Abstract

The invention refers to providing call control within a mobile network with respect to a subscriber associated to one or a plurality of user equipments (10), the mobile network comprising an application server—SCC-AS—(18) responsible for an access domain selection, the application server performing the receiving an indication to provide a best effort—BE—access domain with respect to the user equipment (10), and selecting an access domain in dependency of the received indication for routing a call with respect to the one or the plurality of user equipments. The invention further refers to an application server (18), a computer program loadable into the application server and a user equipment (10).

Claims

1. A method of providing call control within a mobile network with respect to a subscriber associated to one or a plurality of user equipments (UEs), the mobile network comprising a packet switched (PS) access domain, a circuit switched (CS) access domain, and an application server (AS) responsible for an access domain selection, the application server performing the following steps:

receiving, from a UE, a routing request to establish a call to the subscriber, the request including an indication identifying a preferred access domain for routing the call;

receiving, from a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), access network capability information associated with the subscriber;

selecting an access domain for routing the call, where the access domain selection further comprises selecting the PS access domain responsive to determining that the access network capability information indicates that IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) Voice over PS is supported or selecting the PS access domain responsive to determining that the access network capability information indicates that IMS Voice over PS is not supported but that the received indication identifies the PS access domain as the preferred access domain; and

causing the call to be routed via the selected access domain.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the AS retrieves user information associated to the UE, and wherein the AS does not route the call via the CS access domain to the UE if the user information comprises information indicating to select the BE access domain.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the access domain selection is performed regardless of a quality level (QoS) or a capability supported or guaranteed with respect to a corresponding selected access domain.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the AS initiates routing the call to the PS access domain instead of routing the call over the CS access domain regardless of IMS voice over PS access domain is supported.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein in response to the received indication, the AS will not initiate a reservation of certain resources for the UE but instead allows corresponding media to be sent over a corresponding best effort bearer.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the AS terminates the call on the PS access domain even if that is not supporting IMS Voice over the PS access domain.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein a corresponding termination is provided either for voice and video call or for video call only.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the AS, by interacting with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), retrieves an information indicative of a currently used access, and

if said information indicates that the PS access domain is currently used the call is routed over the PS access domain, otherwise the call is routed to the CS access domain.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for the BE access domain selection is conveyed by means of a support information inserted in a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) REGISTER message to be received from the UE.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for the BE access domain selection is conveyed by means of a support information inserted in a SIP INVITE message received from the UE.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a first contact or network number and a second contact or network number is associated to the UE, and wherein if said indication is received stored or retrieved with respect to the UE, the AS forwards a terminating call directed to the first contact or network number to the second contact or network number.

13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a computer program, which when run by a processing unit of an application server, causes the application server to execute the method of claim 1.

12. An application server, in a network including a packet switched (PS) access domain and a circuit switched (CS) access domain, comprising:

a receiver adapted to;

receive, from a user equipment (UE), a routing request to establish a call to a subscriber, the request including an indication identifying a preferred access domain for routing the call, and

receive, from a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), access network capability information associated with the subscriber; and

a processor adapted to;

select an access domain for routing the call, where the access domain selection further comprises selecting the PS access domain responsive to determining that the access network capability information indicates that IMS Voice over PS is supported or selecting the PS access domain responsive to determining that the access network capability information indicates that IMS Voice over PS is not supported but that the received indication identifies the PS access domain as the preferred access domain; and

cause the call to be routed via the selected access domain.