Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Usage measurement
Reexamination Certificate
2003-05-13
2004-08-31
Tieu, Binh (Department: 2643)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Usage measurement
C455S403000, C455S408000, C379S114010, C379S126000, C370S338000, C370S352000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06785535
ABSTRACT:
The present invention concerns the management of cellular radiocommunication networks.
In conventional telecommunications systems, consisting of a set of interconnected networks, each of these networks being managed by a single operator, each network gathers information on each service provision to a subscriber, in order to calculate billing data. The gathered information is then sorted based on the subscriber's identity, in order to debit the subscribers or organizations responsible for debiting a subset of subscribers.
Wireless systems are examples of such interconnected networks. One special feature is that under certain conditions a network subscriber may occasionally use the resources of another network. This is called roaming.
Assuming that a subscriber of a network A, located within the coverage of another network B, makes a call or performs any other billable telecommunications transaction, network B records the information on this transaction with a subscriber identification, which in particular indicates his/her home network. Network B sorts these records based on subscriber identities, and it builds a file for network A, which in particular includes the record concerning the roaming subscriber.
If the interconnected networks A and B mutually call upon their resources to route traffic, each network records data describing the traffic to the other network, and cross billing is carried out by comparing the traffic exchanged without referring to the subscribers' identities. This situation is typically that of international telephone traffic.
This situation is also that of the interoperation of a private network with a public network. The public operator measures the traffic exchanged at a gateway between the two networks, and bills the private operator on this basis.
If network B belongs to a hierarchically higher layer than network A (e.g. A is a regional telephone company and B is the national operator), network A uses the resources of network B to route these communications. The operator of network A must then pay for the routing services provided by network B.
In the field of cellular radiocommunication networks, the ETSI (European Telecommunications Standard Institute) has suggested interconnecting large coverage cellular public land mobile networks (PLMN) with broadband radio access networks (BRAN).
The BRAN is typically a wireless local area network (WLAN) which can be of the HiperLAN/1 or HiperLAN/2 type according to ETSI standards. These HiperLAN networks are short range and operate in frequency bands around 2.4 or 5.2 GHz. The ETSI recommends convergence protocols above the HiperLAN/2 protocols, for connecting these WLANs with more extensive networks, in particular cellular networks.
The aim is to allow WLAN subscribers to take advantage of the services offered by the cellular network.
There are similar WLAN standards in the United States, namely standards IEEE 802.11 b and IEEE 802.11 a.
An object of the present invention is to organize interoperation between a cellular network and WLANs such that subscribers of the cellular network may use the broadband resources of the WLAN.
The invention thus proposes a method for monitoring communications in a cellular radiocommunication system comprising a core network including switches, at least one gateway to an external network, subscriber management means and billing management means, as well as a plurality of radio access networks connected to the core network switches, each including base stations capable of radio communication with mobile stations. The radio access networks include a first access network managed with the core network by a cellular operator and at least one second access network having a substantially less extensive radio coverage and a substantially wider bandwidth than the first access network. During a communication with a mobile station through the core network and one of the access networks, at least one report message is generated including an identification of said access network independent of the identities associated with the mobile station.
Thus, a user registered in the network managed by the cellular operator can use the resources of the second BRAN type access network to benefit from the very wide spectrum offered by the BRAN and thus access the broadband services offered by the external networks (e.g. IP networks) connected to the core network. This can be used to increase the capacity of public access to the cellular network.
The BRAN manager can be remunerated by the cellular operator for the access service that it provides. This is implemented simply by enhancing the report messages circulating in the core network. Various management methods may then be applied between the cellular operator and the BRAN manager in order to remunerate the latter. This remuneration may help financing the cost of installing the BRAN.
Another aspect of the present invention relates to a cellular radiocommunication system core network comprising switches, at least one gateway to an external network, subscriber management means and billing management means, the switches being connected to a plurality of radio access networks each including base networks capable of radio communication with mobile stations, the radio access networks including a first access network managed with the core network by a cellular operator and at least one second access network having a substantially less extensive radio coverage and a substantially wider bandwidth than the first access network, the core network comprising means for generating at least one report message during a communication with a mobile station through the core network and one of the access networks, which access network is identified in the report message independently of the identities associated with the mobile station.
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3G TS 32.015 V3.1.1 (Mar. 2000), 3rdGeneration Partnership Project; Technical Specification Services and System Aspects; GSM call and event data for the packet switched domain, Release 1999.
Duplessis Philippe
Lucidarme Thierry
Piper Rudnick LLP
Tieu Binh
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