Provisioning mobile station with destination communication address during de-registration

• US 9,510,171 B1
• Filed: 03/22/2012
• Issued: 11/29/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Original Assignee: Sprint Spectrum LP (Deutsche Telekom AG)
• Inventors: Sill, Tim W., Wingo, Louie E., Sharma, Sanjay K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Beamer, Temica M
• Application Number:
  US13/427,357
• Time in Patent Office: 1,713 Days
• Field of Search: 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/414.1, 455/417, 455/432.1, 455/445
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and system for provisioning a mobile station with a destination communication address, such as a public safety answering point address for instance, during de-registration of the mobile station from a cellular radio access network (RAN). During de-registration of the mobile station from the cellular RAN, a location of the mobile station may be determined. The location may then be used as a basis to look up a communication address of a PSAP or other such destination, and the communication address may be provided to the mobile station in a de-registration response message, or the de-registration response message may be otherwise used as a basis to convey the communication address to the mobile station. Thereafter, when the mobile station seeks to place an emergency service call while not registered with the RAN, the mobile station may conveniently retrieve the communication address and place the call to that address.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving into a radio access network (RAN) wirelessly from a mobile station registered with the RAN a de-registration message seeking to de-register the mobile station from the RAN; and

sending from the RAN wirelessly to the mobile station, in response to the de-registration message, a de-registration response message;

determining a communication address that the mobile station can contact when the mobile station has de-registered from the RAN and is thus not registered with the RAN;

using by the RAN the de-registration response message to communicate to the mobile station the determined communication address so that the mobile station can contact the communication address after the mobile station has de-registered from the RAN and is thus not registered with the RAN,

wherein the RAN uses the de-registration response message to communicate to the mobile station the determined communication address by carrying out a function selected from the group consisting of (i) specifying the determined communication address in the de-registration response message, to provide the communication address to the mobile station in the de-registration response message and (ii) providing in the de-registration response message a directive for the mobile station to retrieve the determined communication address from a particular network address.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication address is selected from the group consisting of an E.164 telephone number and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication address is a communication address of a public safety answering point (PSAP).

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining a location of the mobile station; and

using the determined location as a basis to determine the communication address to communicate to the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein using the determined location as a basis to determine the communication address to communicate to the mobile station comprises:

referring to data that maps PSAP telephone numbers to locations, to determine from the data a PSAP communication address corresponding with the determined location of the mobile station.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

receiving, in the de-registration message from the mobile station, an indication of the location of the mobile station, wherein determining the location of the mobile station comprises reading the indication from the de-registration message.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein the location of the mobile station is a geographic location of the mobile station.

8. The method of claim 4, wherein the location of the mobile station is a location of a base station or base station coverage area serving the mobile station while the mobile station is registered with the RAN.

9. A system comprising:

a radio access network (RAN) having a base station arranged to engage in wireless communication with a mobile station, wherein the base station wirelessly receives from the mobile station a de-registration message seeking to de-register the mobile station from the RAN and wirelessly sends to the mobile station, in response to the de-registration message, a de-registration response message;

a processing unit arranged to determine a communication address that the mobile station can contact when the mobile station has de-registered from the RAN and is thus not registered with the RAN,

wherein the base station is arranged to use the de-registration response message to communicate to the mobile station the determined communication address so that the mobile station can contact the communication address after the mobile station has de-registered from the RAN and is thus not registered with the RAN,

wherein the base station is arranged to use the de-registration response message to communicate to the mobile station the determined communication address by carrying out a function selected from the group consisting of (i) specifying the determined communication address in the de-registration response message, to provide the communication address to the mobile station in the de-registration response message and (ii) providing in the de-registration response message a directive for the mobile station to retrieve the determined communication address from a particular network address.

10. The RAN of claim 9, wherein the communication address is selected from the group consisting of an E.164 telephone number and a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address.

11. The RAN of claim 9, wherein the processing unit is part of the base station.

12. The RAN of claim 9, wherein the processing unit is communicatively linked with the base station.

13. The RAN of claim 9, wherein the processing unit is arranged to carry out at least the following functions so as to determine the communication address:

determining a location of the mobile station; and

determining the communication address based on the determined location of the mobile station.

14. The RAN of claim 13, wherein the communication address is a communication address of a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), and wherein determining the communication address based on the determined location of the mobile station comprises:

referring to data that maps PSAP communication addresses with locations, to determine from the data a PSAP communication address corresponding with the determined location of the mobile station.

15. The RAN of claim 13, wherein the de-registration message from the mobile station carries an indication of the location of the mobile station, and wherein determining the location of the mobile station comprises reading the indication from the de-registration message.

16. The RAN of claim 13, wherein the location of the mobile station is a geographic location of the mobile station.

17. The RAN of claim 13, wherein the location of the mobile station is a location of a base station or base station coverage area serving the mobile station while the mobile station is registered with the RAN.

18. A mobile station comprising:

a first wireless communication interface arranged to engage in wireless communication with a cellular radio access network (RAN);

a second wireless communication interface arranged to engage in wireless communication with a wireless local area network (WLAN);

data storage; and

a user interface,

wherein when the mobile station is registered with the RAN and seeks to de-register from the RAN, the mobile station uses the first wireless communication interface to transmit to the RAN a de-registration message and to receive from the RAN, in response to the de-registration message, a de-registration response message,

wherein the de-registration response message contains a communication address of a public safety answering point (PSAP),

wherein the mobile station obtains the communication address from the de-registration response message and stores the obtained communication address in the data storage for later reference, and

wherein when the mobile station is not registered with the RAN and seeks to place a PSAP call as a result of input received at the user-interface, the mobile station retrieves the stored communication address from the data storage and uses the second wireless communication interface to place a call via the WLAN to the retrieved communication address.

19. The mobile station of claim 18, wherein the communication address is structured as a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) address, and wherein using the second wireless communication interface to place the call via the WLAN to the retrieved telephone number comprises sending via the second wireless communication interface a SIP INVITE seeking setup of a call to the SIP address.

20. The mobile station of claim of claim 18, wherein the first wireless communication interface and second wireless communication interface are integrated together.