Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-01
2002-11-05
Maung, Nay (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S417000, C455S461000, C379S211010
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477374
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems and, more particularly, to an improved system and method for controlling call routing based on a user's calendar scheduling.
2. Description of the Related Art
During a call connecting a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, with another telephone, the wireless communication device may cross from the domain of one wireless network to an independent wireless network. Such networks may comprise a company's private cellular telephone network ad the public cellular telephone network, for example. Thus, to complete the call, the wireless communication device must be capable of being used in both the company's internal wireless system and in the public system, and accommodation must be made for controlling hand-offs from one network to the other.
Hand-off of a telephone call from the domain of the first wireless network to the domain of the second wireless network may be made via a control link shared between central processing units of the two networks. Using the control link, the two wireless networks are able to negotiate feasibility and operations of hand-off as described, for example, in EIA/TIA interim standard IS-42.2-B, “Cellular Radio Telecommunications Intersystem Operations: Intersystem Hand-Off,” which is hereby incorporated by reference. While ideally, hand-offs from one network to another are imperceptible to the user, in practice, hand-offs frequently introduce extraneous clicks and temporary loss of signal.
Frequently a user of the wireless communication device is required to travel from one company site to one or more other company sites, which can cause the wireless communication device to repeatedly switch back and forth between the public and private systems. This can cause unnecessary hand-offs, particularly since typical systems assume that a private wireless system, free of call charges, is preferable to a public system, even though the public systems typically charge a per call access fee. In such systems, a hand-off is always made to the private system, whether or not it is the most efficient in terms of cost or signal quality.
This situation is illustrated more clearly with regard to FIG.
1
. In
FIG. 1
, an exemplary two-network wireless communication system
100
is shown. A private company wireless system is installed in buildings
104
,
106
and
108
. As illustrated, each building
104
,
106
,
108
is associated with its own cell or service area
110
a
,
110
b
, and
110
c
, respectively. Overlapping the private wireless system is a public wireless system
102
having multiple cells, only two of which,
102
a
and
102
b
, are shown.
As illustrated by the dashed line in
FIG. 1
, a user can travel from building
104
to building
108
, crossing through cell areas
110
a
,
102
a
,
110
b
,
102
b
and
110
c
. Assuming that the user begins executing a telephone call in building
104
, the user's call will be serviced by the private wireless network so long as he is within region
110
a
. As soon as the user leaves region
110
a
, he will be transferred to the public wireless carrier (so long as he is in region
102
a
). As the user approaches the vicinity of building
106
, he will re-enter into the service area of the private wireless network as represented by cell
110
b
. His call will then be transferred back to the private network. As soon as the user leaves the area surrounding building
106
, his call will be transferred from the private network to the public wireless network as he enters region
102
b
. Finally, as he approaches building
108
, his call will be transferred back to the private network as he enters region
110
c.
By the time the user gets to building
108
, he has been transferred four times, each time with a momentary loss of conversation, a change in signal quality and, with every transfer to the public wireless carrier, a new charge per call. Accordingly, a system and apparatus is desired which minimizes the number of unnecessary hand-offs between private and public wireless networks so as to minimize charges and enhance the quality of the call.
A similar difficulty arises in the context of ordinary (wired) telephone systems and Voice-Over Local Area Network (VOL) applications. In VOL systems, telephony applications are provided over a user's LAN. When the user leaves his desk or workstation, such as for a meeting, he typically travels to another location, such as a co-worker's office or a conference room, provided with a telephone or computer. In such cases, when the user receives a message, he must be tracked down, either manually by a secretary or via a predetermined messaging sequence. For example, the telephone system may, after failing to locate the user at his “home” location, sequentially call a pager, cell phone, or home phone to reach the user. Alternatively, the user may manually input a “call forwarding” number.
Such systems, however, are inefficient in that they are not likely to regularly catch the user on the first attempt or are dependent on the user remembering to leave a call forwarding number. Accordingly, there is a need for a system which is configured to forward calls and messages based on a user's schedule.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above-described problems are overcome in large part by a system and method according to the present invention in which a user's access patterns are accounted for in deciding to switch between the private and public wireless networks. A system and method according to one embodiment of the present invention includes monitoring a location of a wireless communication device within a plurality of regions serviced by a plurality of wireless systems, e.g., a first region serviced by a first wireless communication system and a second region serviced by a second wireless communication system. The first and second regions have an overlapping region which could be serviced by both networks. The system predicts the future location of the wireless communication device within the first and second regions based on the monitoring of the previous locations of the wireless communication device. When the wireless communication device is detected as being within the overlapping region, the system determines whether to transfer an active connection between the wireless communication device and one of the networks to the other network based on the monitoring information.
In one embodiment, past patterns of usage of the wireless communication device within the first and second regions are identified and used to predict a future location based on the past pattern. In another embodiment, a calendar of predetermined time-location associations is input into a controller associated with the wireless communication device, and the prediction is based on an actual location and current time being compared with the values input into the calendar.
A method according to another embodiment of the invention comprises compiling a database of time-location associations of a wireless communication device within a first region serviced by a first wireless communication system and a second region serviced by a second wireless communication system. The first region and second regions have a predetermined overlapping region. The method further comprises detecting when the wireless communication device is present within the overlapping region during an active connection and predicting a future location of the wireless communication device within the first region or the second region during the active connection. Finally, the method comprises determining whether to transfer the active connection between the wireless communication device and the first or second wireless communication systems to the other when the wireless communication device is detected as being within the overlapping region.
A wireless telecommunication system according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a first wireless network providing service over a first
Beyda William J.
Shaffer Shmuel
Maung Nay
Siemens Information and Communication Networks Inc.
Vuong Quochien B.
LandOfFree
Apparatus and method for calendar based call routing does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Apparatus and method for calendar based call routing, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Apparatus and method for calendar based call routing will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2950695