Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Including personal numbering system
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-07
2003-09-30
Maung, Nay (Department: 2684)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Including personal numbering system
C455S433000, C455S426100, C455S555000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06628954
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to communication services, and, in particular, to a system, method, and program for providing communication services in a wireless network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a system, method, and program for controlling access to and invocation of data services in a wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Over the last several years, wireless or mobile communication has proliferated throughout the world, and usage of digital and cellular services for voice and data communication has been on the rise. The popularity of wireless communication services has driven communication service providers to develop and provide various new services and features for their subscribers.
One such service is pre-paid wireless communication service for voice or data. To obtain pre-paid services, a subscriber purchases communication services in advance of use. Following payment, the service provider permits the subscriber to utilize communication services and electronically tracks subscriber usage (e.g., by time or data throughput) to maintain a running balance in the subscriber's account. If the balance reaches zero (or other predefined threshold), the service provider terminates the subscriber's access to the communication services until the subscriber pre-pays for additional communication services.
With reference now to
FIG. 1
, a block diagram of a conventional Generalized Packet Radio Service (GPRS) wireless communication system
100
that provides pre-paid data services to a subscriber of pre-paid data services is shown. Wireless communication system
100
includes a subscriber unit
102
and an access system
105
, which provides subscriber unit
102
with access to public switched telephone network (PSTN)
118
and data network
120
. Access system
105
includes a base station system (BSS)
104
, a mobile switching center (MSC)
106
, a home location register (HLR)
110
, a service control point (SCP)
112
, at least one serving GPRS support node (SGSN)
114
, and at least one gateway GPRS support node (GGSN)
116
. MSC
106
controls access to voice communication services by subscriber unit
102
, and SGSN
114
and GGSN
116
control access to data communication services by subscriber unit
102
. While GGSN
116
may be in the subscriber's home network or a visited network, the HLR
110
and SCP
112
that interact with SGSN
114
to provide subscriber unit
102
with access to pre-paid data services are always located in the subscriber's home network, as indicated by dashed line illustration. Although the subscriber's home network will also likely include an MSC, BSS, and SGSN, the BSS, MSC, and SGSN involved in providing the subscriber with access to pre-paid data services belong to the network in which subscriber unit
102
is physically located, and therefore may or may not be in the subscriber's home network depending upon whether the subscriber is roaming.
To obtain communication services, subscriber unit
102
first initiates communication with access system
100
by performing an attach procedure initiated by turning on subscriber unit
102
. In response to subscriber unit
102
attaching, SGSN
114
queries HLR
110
to obtain the subscriber's profile, which identifies services and features available to the subscriber. Subscriber unit
102
then sends to BSS
104
a request to establish data communication with data network
120
. BSS
104
in turn forwards the request to SGSN
114
, which utilizes the previously obtained subscriber profile to determine whether or not to enable the requested access. If required, SGSN
114
queries SCP
112
regarding whether or not to enable subscriber unit
102
to access pre-paid data services. In response to this query, SCP
112
determines whether or not the subscriber has subscribed to pre-paid data services and has a sufficient account balance to permit access. SCP
112
then sends a reply to SGSN
114
in answer to the query. If SGSN
114
receives a negative reply from SCP
112
, then SGSN
114
denies access to pre-paid data services by subscriber unit
102
. However, if SGSN
114
receives a positive reply from SCP
112
, then SGSN
114
continues setting up the requested session and forwards the request for data services to GGSN
116
. During a session in which pre-paid data services are utilized by subscriber unit
102
, SGSN
114
informs SCP
112
, via a query, after a unit of services has been utilized. SCP
112
processes such queries to track the services utilized by subscriber unit
102
and responds to each query with a reply indicating whether the remaining account balance for subscriber unit
102
is sufficient to allow continued access. If so, SGSN
114
permits the data session to continue. If, on the other hand, the reply from SCP
112
indicates that the subscriber's account balance is too low, SGSN
114
terminates the data session. Thus, SCP
112
controls the data communication session between subscriber unit
102
and data network
220
.
The conventional access paradigm for data services illustrated in
FIG. 1
is subject to a number of drawbacks recognized by the present invention. First, even though a subscriber has subscribed to pre-paid or other data services in his home network, the subscriber may not be able to access such data services when roaming. This problem arises because, in order for the SGSN
114
of a visited network to inter-operate with the home network's SCP
112
to regulate access to data services, the visited network's SGSN
114
must be configured with appropriate software for each data service. Thus, if the SGSN
114
of the visited network in which subscriber unit
102
is roaming is not configured with the appropriate software, then requested data services cannot be provided to subscriber unit
102
. As a result, the ability of subscribers to data services to roam is restricted by the software configurations of the SGSNs
114
with which subscriber unit
102
communicates.
Second, the conventional access paradigm for data services is inefficient in terms of the number of messages (queries and replies) required to support a data session. As subscriber unit
102
is moved within a wireless network, the data session may be handed off between BSSs
204
and SGSNs
114
. Because the SGSN
114
is required to regulate access to data services under control of SCP
112
, when a handoff occurs the SGSN
114
receiving the handoff must query SCP
112
and receive a reply from SCP
112
in order to obtain state for the data session. The queries and replies resulting from handoff of a data session between SGSNs
114
consume valuable network bandwidth and processing resources.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above and other disadvantages of the prior art, the present invention recognizes the need to provide an improved method and system for accessing wireless data services that reduce messaging and enable roaming subscribers to access data services.
In accordance with the present invention, a wireless communication system includes at least a service control point and a gateway system that is coupled to a data network. To obtain access to data services, a wireless subscriber unit establishes communication with a gateway system and requests data services from the gateway system. In response to the request, the gateway system queries the service control point regarding authorized data services for the subscriber unit. If the gateway system receives a negative reply from the service control point, then the gateway system denies access to the data services by the subscriber unit. However, if the gateway system receives a positive reply from the service control point, then the gateway system enables access to the data services by the subscriber unit.
In a preferred embodiment, the gateway system tracks the requested data services utilizing pre-defined resource units. In one embodiment, the gateway system tracks service utilizati
Keeler Donald
MaClean Ian
McGowan Rosemary
Bracewell & Patterson L.L.P.
Crane John D.
Lee John J
Maung Nay
Mishler Randall
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