Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-03
2003-08-05
Chin, Vivian (Department: 2682)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S466000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06603974
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of communication; and more particularly, a method for transferring data.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 1
illustrates a logical block diagram of a conventional communication system that provides mobility. This logical block diagram represents either wireless or wireline (or landline) communication systems that provide subscriber mobility. As shown, an end user
2
communicates with a destination entity
6
via a first communication device
4
, a serving system
12
, a network
14
, a home system
16
, and a second communication device
8
. The end user
2
represents an entity (human, system or machine) which generates information for communication to the destination entity
6
(also a human, system or machine).
The first communication device
4
represents a device for interfacing with the serving system
12
. For instance, taking wireless communication as an example, the serving system
12
includes any number of base stations, mobile switching centers, authentication centers, etc. to provide wireless communication services for a coverage area in which the communication device
4
is located, and the communication device
4
represents a mobile station. Continuing with the wireless communication example, the network
14
presents a public or private communication network such as the Public Switch Telephone Network, a public packet network or a private packet network, and the home system
16
represents the wireless communication service provider with whom the user of the mobile station (i.e., the communication device
4
) has established an agreement to provide mobile wireless communication services. Accordingly, the home system
16
, like the serving system
12
, also includes any number of base a stations, mobile switching centers, authentication centers, etc. to provide mobile wireless communication services for a coverage area. Because a particular mobile wireless communication service provider has a limited coverage area, service providers having different coverage areas establish roaming agreements to serve each other's customers. In this example, the second communication device
8
could be a mobile station or wireline connection to the home system
16
. Alternatively, in this example or any other embodiment, the second communication device
8
is connected to the home system
16
via a network such as the network
14
. As a further alternative, the second communication device
8
forms part of the home system
16
.
As an example of how
FIG. 1
represents a wireline mobile communication system, the serving system
12
represents the landline mobile communication service provider for the location in which the communication device
4
is located, the network
14
represents, for example, a long distance landline carrier, and the home system
16
represents another landline mobile communication service provider with whom the end user
2
has established an agreement to provide landline mobile communication services. The first communication device
4
could then represent an intelligent or programmable phone. One embodiment of an intelligent phone allows the end user
2
to place a programmed integrated circuit card into the intelligent phone, and convert the intelligent phone into the end user's personal phone. Namely, the programmed integrated circuit card provides the intelligent phone with the subscriber information for the end user
2
such that communication of this information to the serving system
12
and communication between the serving system
12
and the home system
16
allows, for example, (1) calls to the end user
2
to be routed to the intelligent phone (i.e., communication device
4
) or (2) the end user
2
to originate calls in the serving system
12
as if he were still in the area served by the home system
16
.
The wireline and wireless examples given above provide only two examples of the many possible mobile communication systems represented by FIG.
1
.
The mobile communication systems represented by the logical block diagram of
FIG. 1
present various challenges to the serving system
12
and the home system
16
which want to provide communication services only to valid users and receive appropriate payment for having provided those services. Accordingly, each communication system has associated therewith numerous different standards and protocols for ensuring that the above mentioned goals are achieved.
The most prevalent techniques employed by these standards utilize permanent identifiers associated with the end user
2
. One of the identifiers is assigned by the home system
16
, and is referred to hereinafter as the first permanent identifier. The first permanent identifier includes two portions. The first portion includes routing information to the home system
16
, and identifies the home system
16
with which the serving system
12
should communicate. The second portion of the first permanent identifier identifies the end user
2
to the home system
16
, and is often an identification number. Many wireless communication standards refer to the first permanent identifier as the mobile station identifier (MSID).
An example of the first permanent identifier is the International Mobile Station (or Subscriber) Identification (IMSI) specified by the International Telecommunication Union—Telecommunication Sector (ITU-T) Recommendation E.212. The format of the IMSI is given below: IMSI (up to 15 digits)=MCC (3 digits)+MNC (1 to 3 digits)+MSIN (9-11 digits)
The mobile country code (MCC) forms the first three digits of the IMSI and identifies the country in which the home system
16
is located. Together with the mobile network code (MNC), which forms the next 1 to 3 digits, the MCC forms a home system code identifying the home system
16
. Communication standards in the United States often refer to this home system code as the home network identifier (HNI). The next 9-11 digits form the identification number pre-assigned to the end user
2
by the home system
16
.
Another permanent user identifier (hereinafter “the second permanent identifier”), while known by the home system
16
and associated with the end user
2
, is not necessarily assigned by the home system
16
. This identifier is also associated in some manner with the first communication device
4
or a portion thereof being used by the end user
2
. In a mobile wireless communication system, the second permanent identifier could be the electronic serial number (ESN) of the mobile station serving as the first communication device
4
. In a wireline mobile communication system such as the intelligent phone example discussed above, the second permanent identifier could be the serial number of the programmed integrated circuit card. The second permanent identifier could even be the phone number of, for example, and integrated services digital network (ISDN) phone.
There are plans to expand the second permanent identifier in the future. The expanded second permanent identifier includes three portions. The first and second portions generally represent the unexpanded second permanent identifier, while the third portion represents the expanded portion of the second permanent identifier. The first portion includes a code. When that code is a pre-established code, the expanded second permanent identifier is triggered. Accordingly, this technique permits use of either unexpanded or expanded second permanent identifiers. If the expanded second permanent identifier is triggered, the system or device receiving the first and second portions of the expanded second permanent identifier will expect the third portion to follow, and if the third portion is not received, a request therefor will be generated.
When the first portion of the second permanent identifier does not include the pre-established code, the first portion represents a first identification number as in the unexpanded second permanent identifier. The second portion of the second permanent identifier, and
Chin Vivian
Moore James K
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