Multiplex communications – Communication over free space – Portable address responsive receiver
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-22
2003-02-11
Kizou, Hassan (Department: 2662)
Multiplex communications
Communication over free space
Portable address responsive receiver
C370S328000, C379S088170, C379S900000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06519232
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a peripheral unit which is set up to interactively exchange messages with subscribers of a telephone system which has an intelligent network with a service control node for managing and controlling intelligent services and which has at least one telephone network linked to the intelligent network. At least one of the subscribers of the telephone system is authorized to use one or more intelligent services.
Furthermore, the invention relates to a telephone system which has an intelligent network with a service control node for managing and controlling intelligent services for subscribers of the intelligent network and at least one telephone network which is linked to the intelligent network and in which one or more peripheral units which are set up for the interactive exchange of messages with subscribers of the telephone system are provided. At least one of the subscribers of the telephone system is authorized to use one or more intelligent services.
The invention relates also to a method for implementing an intelligent service which is made available by an intelligent network and in which messages are exchanged interactively between a peripheral unit of a telephone system and a subscriber of the telephone system, who is authorized to use at least the intelligent service. The telephone system has, in addition to the intelligent network, at least one telephone network which is linked to the intelligent network, and the intelligent network has a service control node for managing and controlling intelligent services.
Telecommunications networks, in particular telephone networks, are implemented as fixed networks or mobile radio networks, such as the known GSM network (
G
lobal
S
ystem for
M
obile communications) and have switching devices which are networked to one another and which are used to set up and receive call connections between the subscribers of a network. In order to allow connections between subscribers of different networks, the telephone networks are linked to one another on the basis of corresponding cooperative agreements, and then form a superordinate telephone system. In such a telephone system, a subscriber is assigned in each case to a specific network, his home network, in which the subscriber data, and for example the call-metering, are managed. The concept of the home network is important in particular for mobile subscribers which “roam” between networks, i.e. can change to the coverage area of a different mobile radio network and continue to make calls in it, provided there is provision for this in a so-called roaming agreement between the home network of the subscriber and the network which is being visited.
In mobile radio networks, base stations, which can be used to connect telecommunications terminals via an air interface, are respectively connected to the switching devices. These terminals permit a subscriber of a mobile network to access the network. Moreover, the switching devices are also set up to interface with other networks, for example a data transmission network or a fixed network.
From the GSM network it is also known to use, within a mobile network, memory units in which subscriber-specific data relating to the network's own services are respectively stored. One of these memory units implements the so-called home register (HLR,
H
ome
L
ocation
R
egister) which is usually located at a fixedly defined location and in which data on which the registration of the subscriber is based are stored.
For the mobile subscriber and the base station which is connected to it, a memory unit is provided as a so-called visitor register (VLR,
V
isiting
L
ocation
R
egister) in which the subscriber-specific and connection-specific data are stored, and which is usually implemented in a mobile switching node (MSSP,
M
obile
S
ervice
S
witching
P
oint). Depending on the current location of the mobile subscriber, the memory unit also changes for the visitor register or the switching node.
Thus, each subscriber of a mobile network has the possibility of “roaming”, i.e. changing between cells, that is to say between coverage areas of the base stations, possibly even during a call. The changeover between the cells is ensured, as is known from the example of the GSM network, through the use of protocols which are set up for this purpose and through the use of which the subscriber data are exchanged, for example, between a home register which is permanently assigned to the subscriber, and the visitor register of the respective current cell.
At present, different protocols are used for the communication between the switching units, for example INAP protocols (Intelligent
N
etwork
A
pplication
P
art) such as the Core INAP according to the ETSI specification 300 374-1, July 1994, of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) or the MAP protocol (
M
obile
A
pplication
P
art) of the GSM standard. These protocols are usually used within networks. Furthermore, from ETSI specifications a so-called CAMEL platform (Customized Application for
M
obile
N
etwork
E
nhanced
L
ogic) is known, which is intended to permit additional provider-specific services for subscribers to be supported even between networks.
In a so-called intelligent network (IN or ISDN,
I
ntegrated
S
ervices
D
igital
N
etwork), in addition to the basic services such as the telephone service and facsimile service of a telephone network, further services are set up which can be taken up by a subscriber of the intelligent network. These services—referred to below as intelligent services—may be, for example, supplementary services in addition to the basic services, for example a call divert service, a call forwarding service, management-oriented services, for example an interrogation of the call tolls which have been incurred by a subscriber, or application services based on the basic services, for example a bank account transaction service in which bank account transactions and other banking transactions can be carried out and logged on the telephone. For the management and implementation of the services, there is a service control node, which is usually referred to as an SCP (
S
ervice
C
ontrol
P
oint) or, in particular in the CAMEL standard, as a CSE (
C
AMEL
S
ervice
E
nvironment), in the intelligent network, and it is generally different from the switching devices of the intelligent network. In an intelligent network which is implemented as a GSM network, the service control node can also perform the functions of the home register. The CAMEL standard specifies a CAP protocol (
C
AMEL
A
pplication
P
art), a set of messages which can also be used between networks, for the signaling between a mobile switching node and a service control node.
Particular intelligent services require subscriber interaction in which an interactive exchange of messages takes place, for example, the subscriber is played a recorded message or requested to enter data, and the entered data are received. According to the Core INAP, so-called intelligent peripheral units (IP) are provided which provide the intelligent services for the implementation of the subscriber interactions with a number of
S
ervice
R
esource
F
unctions (SRF); these are referred to below as peripheral units, for short. A peripheral unit is connected to a switching node of the network via a protocol for signaling between switching centers or for signaling between subscribers.
In many intelligent networks, it is possible for a subscriber to make use of intelligent services only within his home network. In the CAMEL standards, there is provision for intelligent services also to be used by “roaming” subscribers, that is to say subscribers which are located in another network. However, if the service requires a subscriber interaction, calls from roaming subscribers must be diverted into the home network because the respective peripheral unit can only be addressed in the home network. This is often cumbersome and time-consuming and also incurs hig
Elallam Ahmed
Greenberg Laurence A.
Kizou Hassan
Locher Ralph E.
Siemens Aktiengellschaft
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