Telecommunications – Transmitter and receiver at same station – Radiotelephone equipment detail
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-22
2002-05-07
Maung, Nay (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Transmitter and receiver at same station
Radiotelephone equipment detail
C455S343200, C455S560000, C455S414200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06385469
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile stations, and more specifically to preserving battery power in mobile stations.
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 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
.
Each MS
20
is powered by a rechargeable battery. These batteries retain their charge for only a limited period of time. When the battery life has expired, the mobile subscriber must recharge the battery in order to continue using the MS
20
. In many cases, it may be important for a subscriber to prolong the battery life of the MS
20
as long as possible. For example, if the subscriber is traveling in a remote area where sources of electricity are sparse, the subscriber may not be able to recharge the battery when the battery life expires. This may result in missed important calls.
In these situations, the only option for the subscriber is to turn off the MS
20
in order to preserve the battery life. However, if the MS
20
is simply turned off, the subscriber has no ability at all to make or receive calls. In addition, even if the MS
20
is turned off, the battery is still being depleted, although at a lower rate. For example, a sample MS
20
battery may have the following battery life specifications: talk time: 3 hours; stand-by mode with MS
20
power on: 170 hours; stand-by mode with MS
20
power off: 600 hours. Therefore, even if the MS
20
is simply turned off, the battery will still be depleted in
600
hours.
In addition, if the MS
20
is turned off, the subscriber will not be able to make or receive calls or send or receive short messages. Furthermore, calling parties attempting to reach the mobile subscriber with a powered off MS
20
have no way of knowing if or when the mobile subscriber may turn the MS
20
back on. Therefore, the mobile subscriber with the powered off MS
20
may also miss important calls by attempting to preserve the battery life.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to telecommunications systems and methods for extending the life of a battery within a Mobile Station (MS), while still allowing a mobile subscriber to use the MS. A new battery gapping feature can be implemented within both the MS
20
and the cellular network. On the MS side, the feature will allow the subscriber to select the desired battery gapping mode, which is a combination of the stand-by mode with the MS power on and the stand-by mode with the MS power off. When in this battery gapping mode, the MS will alternate between power off and power on states depending upon the subscriber defined stand-by times for each of these states. On the network side, the MS will inform the network when the MS powers off, as well as indicate when the MS will be powered on again. Therefore, the network can inform calling parties that place incoming calls to the MS during the time that the MS is powered off of the reason the call is rejected and the next time that the MS will be reachable. In addition, the mobile subscriber can also define a maximum amount of talk time for each incoming call while the MS is powered on, but in battery gapping mode.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5752195 (1998-05-01), Tsuji et al.
patent: 5799256 (1998-08-01), Pombo et al.
patent: 5949484 (1999-09-01), Nakaya et al.
patent: 6078826 (2000-06-01), Croft et al.
patent: 6208851 (2001-03-01), Hanson
Alperovich Vladimir
Evanyk Walt
Valentine Eric
Craver Charles
Ericsson Inc.
Jenkens & Gilchrist P.C.
Maung Nay
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