Telecommunications – Carrier wave repeater or relay system – Portable or mobile repeater
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-25
2001-02-27
Eisenzopf, Reinhard J. (Department: 2745)
Telecommunications
Carrier wave repeater or relay system
Portable or mobile repeater
C455S426100, C379S338000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06195531
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of communications, and in particular, to a system and method for enabling a fixed cellular terminal (FCT) to activate appropriate landline parameters automatically.
2. Description of Related Art
Cellular telephone (or, more broadly, wireless) systems provide an attractive alternative to conventional wire-based (e.g., landline) telephone systems, especially in connection with the provision of new or expanded telephone service in heavily populated or remote areas where significant increases in demand are or have been encountered. The expense, aggravation, and time involved in acquiring rights of way and establishing the infrastructure to provide telephone service are substantially reduced with the installation and use of a cellular telephone system. However, the mobility advantage of cellular telephone systems, which is accounted for in the increased subscriber cost of the service, is often a feature that many telephone service users do not want to pay for or necessarily need.
Accordingly, efforts have been made to couple wireless systems with conventional analog telephones (e.g., those 2-wire phones used for providing Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS)) and to provide a hybrid telephone system wherein hybrid telephone devices are fixed at certain locations as in a wire-based system but instead provide telephone service using radio frequency communications in a wireless environment. Such systems, conventionally referred to as fixed cellular systems, interface a conventional POTS telephone, like those used in wire-based telephone systems, with a radio frequency transceiver, like those used in mobile stations (MSs) operating within wireless systems. The primary advantages of fixed cellular systems are (i) the reduction of the costs and hassles of acquiring rights of way and of laying or stringing telephone cables and (ii) the ease and swiftness with which the system may be installed and made operational. The availability of a fixed cellular system thus offers service providers a tool for quickly reacting to increases in demand at a reasonable provider and subscriber expense.
Conventional FCTs, however, increase costs for service providers because significant time and expense are invested into programming each FCT for interfacing with the POTS telephones of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) that is associated with a given geographical area in which the FCT will be physically located. Each PSTN around the world defines a set or collection of parameters governing how a standard POTS telephone connects to and operates within the PSTN. Such a set or partial set of parameters can be termed a line interface (LI) protocol (LIP) that each POTS telephone incorporates to accommodate the particular country and/or network in which the POTS telephone will be used. With conventional FCTs, each FCT undergoes an expensive customization process in which the appropriate LIP is programmed either at the factory or at the premises of the customer. It would be beneficial for both manufacturers and service providers if the expenses of the aforementioned customization process could be reduced or eliminated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The deficiencies of the prior art are overcome by the method and system of the present invention. For example, as heretofore unrecognized, it would be beneficial for both manufacturers and service providers if FCTs were capable of automatic configuration of LIPs. In fact, it would be beneficial if FCTs could be automatically configured according to the LIP of the PSTN in which they are to be physically located.
An FCT provides telephone access to standard POTS phones via a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN). The FCT accesses the PLMN with a wireless connection in a manner analogous to a standard MS. However, the FCT differs from a standard MS by providing one or more inputs for connecting standard POTS telephones. The FCT, therefore, preferably communicates with standard POTS telephones according to the LIP of the PSTN that the relevant POTS telephone is designed to work in.
LIPs typically differ from one PSTN to another PSTN. Thus, the FCT preferably uses the LIP of the PSTN of the area in which it is physically located. According to the principles of the present invention, the FCT includes the LIPs of many, if not all, of the PSTNs around the world, especially those PSTN areas into which the FCT may possibly be physically located. The FCT is therefore prepared (e.g., at the factory) to provide the requisite LIP for any standard POTS telephone. According to the principles of the present invention, the FCT is automatically configured by determining, selecting, and activating the appropriate LIP for the standard POTS telephone(s) that will be connected to it.
According to one embodiment of the invention, information stored in a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card is used by the FCT to determine the appropriate LIP. A GSM-type SIM card, for example, includes a country code (e.g. the Mobile Country Code (MCC)) and a network code (e.g., the Mobile Network Code (MNC)). The country code and, if necessary, the network code can be used to uniquely determine the associated PSTN in which the FCT is designed to provide service. The FCT may then select and activate the LIP corresponding to the uniquely-determined PSTN.
An important technical advantage of the present invention is that it enables FCTs manufactured according to one LIP collection to be physically located within many different PSTN areas without special LIP pre-programming.
Another important technical advantage of the present invention is the ability to easily select an appropriate LIP after installation of an FCT.
Yet another important technical advantage of the present invention is that it provides an efficient method and system for automatically configuring FCTs based on received information, such as information retrieved from a SIM card.
Yet another important technical advantage of the present invention is the ability to activate an appropriate LIP based on the country and/or network/operator information in a GSM-type SIM card.
The above-described and other features of the present invention are explained in detail hereinafter with reference to the illustrative examples shown in the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the described embodiments are provided for purposes of illustration and understanding and that numerous equivalent embodiments are contemplated herein.
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Fixed Cellular Accessby J.M. Garcia Aguilera, XP000544985; Electrical Communication, Jan. 1, 1995; pp. 43-46.
Aguirre Fernando
Irizar Alberto
Ruiz Alberto
Eisenzopf Reinhard J.
Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C.
Ramos-Feliciano Eliseo
Telefonaktiebolaget L M Ericsson (publ)
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