Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-06
2002-03-26
Hunter, Daniel (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S414200, C455S422100, C455S428000, C455S460000, C455S424000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06363253
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems and methods for establishing a call connection within a cellular network, and specifically to reducing the call setup time for calls within an internet protocol based cellular network.
2. Background of the Present Invention
Cellular telecommunications is one of the fastest growing and most demanding telecommunications applications. Today it represents a large and continuously increasing percentage of all new telephone subscriptions around the world. A standardization group, European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), was established in 1982 to formulate the specifications for the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) digital mobile cellular radio system.
With reference now to
FIG. 1
of the drawings, there is illustrated a sample GSM Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), such as cellular network
10
, which in turn is composed of a plurality of areas
12
, each with a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)
14
and an integrated Visitor Location Register (VLR)
16
therein. The MSC
14
provides a circuit-switched connection of speech and signaling information between a Mobile Station (MS)
20
and the PLMN
10
. The MSC/VLR areas
12
, in turn, include a plurality of Location Areas (LA)
18
, which are defined as that part of a given MSC/VLR area
12
in which the MS
20
may move freely without having to send update location information to the MSC
14
that controls the LA
18
. Each LA
18
is divided into a number of cells
22
. The MS
20
is the physical equipment, e.g., a car phone or other portable phone, used by mobile subscribers to communicate with the cellular network
10
, each other, and users outside the subscribed network, both wireline and wireless.
The MSC
14
is in communication with at least one Base Station Controller (BSC)
23
, which, in turn, is in contact with at least one Base Transceiver Station (BTS)
24
. The BTS
24
is the physical equipment, illustrated for simplicity as a radio tower, that provides radio coverage to the cell
22
for which it is responsible. It should be understood that the BSC
23
may be connected to several BTS's
24
, and may be implemented as a stand-alone node or integrated with the MSC
14
. In either event, the BSC
23
and BTS
24
components, as a whole, are generally referred to as a Base Station System (BSS)
25
.
With further reference to
FIG. 1
, the PLMN Service Area or cellular network
10
includes a Home Location Register (HLR)
26
, which is a database maintaining all subscriber information, e.g., user profiles, current location information, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, and other administrative information, for subscribers registered within that PLMN
10
. The HLR
26
may be co-located with a given MSC
14
, integrated with the MSC
14
, or alternatively can service multiple MSCs
14
, the latter of which is illustrated in FIG.
1
.
As the amount of traffic within cellular networks
10
increases, so does the amount of time required to setup a call to or from an MS
20
. Long call setup times are frustrating to calling subscribers. The longer the call setup time, the less likely the calling subscriber will be to use the system, and the lower the perceived quality of the system. Currently, little is being done to shorten the call setup time. In some cases, an attempt is made to mollify the calling subscriber by playing tones or announcements while they are waiting for the connection to go through. These tones or announcements really only tell the calling subscriber that something is happening, but it does not speed up the connection time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to telecommunications systems and methods for decreasing the average call setup time in a cellular network. Existing call setup procedures are based on establishing a circuit connection. At the end of the call, the circuit connection is released. In order to setup another call, another circuit connection must be established. However, in Internet Protocol (IP)-based cellular networks, circuits are not used. Instead, the bandwidth is shared as an aggregate. Therefore, by using an IP-based cellular network, call information (such as routing information, channel types, etc.) for a particular call initiated by a calling MS can be stored in a call cache within a serving Mobile Switching Center (MSC) to immediately allow a call to the same called party number with the same bearer capabilities set to be re-established without tying-up circuits. A call cache identifier (CCI) can be assigned to that call cache. This CCI is preferably stored in both the MSC and in the calling MS. When the calling MS wants to re-establish a previous call, the calling MS can include the CCI for that previous call with the call setup message. Thereafter, the MSC accesses the call cache associated with the received CCI, and uses the call setup information stored in the call cache to re-establish the call.
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PCT International Search Report dated Nov. 9, 2000.
Timberlake Andreea
Valentine Eric
Ericsson Inc.
Hunter Daniel
Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C.
Woldetatios Yemane
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