DYNAMICALLY SELECTING A WIRELESS NETWORK OFFERING A DESIRED SERVICE FEATURE

Abstract: A method and apparatus is provided for communicating on a wireless network which offers a selected service. In accordance with the method, a wireless communicator is tuned to a first signaling control channel broadcast by a wireless network. The first channel identifies one or more services provided over that network. This procedure is repeated for successive signaling control channels until a wireless network providing the selected service is identified. Once this has been identified, communication is conducted between the wireless communicator and the network.

Description: DYNAMICALLY SELECTING A WIRELESS NETWORK OFFERING A DESIRED SERVICE FEATURE Technical Field of the Inv ention This invention relates to communications s> stems and more specificallv to a wireless end- user device that is dynamicallv reconfigurable Background of the Inv ention A wireless telephone communication system typicallv prov ides services to a geographic area by dividing the area into mam smaller individual radio coverage areas known as cells in a cellular s stem, each of which is serviced by a transmitter-recei er station, known .as a cell site The cell sites are connected through land nes or other communication links, to so-called mobile telephone switching offices (MTSO's) which are. in turn, connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) Any given -area is typically serviced by up to two competing wireless earners each providing a wireless system As more users rely on wireless systems for deli ery of communications serv ices, many of those users -are increasingly demanding from their wireless earners at least the same sophisticated communications service features that are available from their wireline networks In response to this need of the marketplace, some wireless earners have enhanced their switching s stems to provide features, such as call waiting, call forwarding and three-way calling, to name a few In addition, interconnecuon of wireless networks allows wireless subsenbers to access their pre-subscπbed communicauons sei-vices features even when they are roaming in another wireless communications earner's service area In spite of these developments, a wireless user is still unable to dynamically select a communications service feature that is not pre-subsenbed by the user The unavailability of non-pre-subsenbed service features stems from a variety of factors, not the least of which is the inability of a wireless communicator to dynamically select on a call-by-call basis a wireless communications earner or network that offers the desired service feature In an attempt to address this problem, some wireless communicator manufacturers have included in their telephone sets multiple Number Assignment Modules fNAMs) to support subscnptions to services from multiple earners A NAM is a memory location within the wireless communicator in which an installer technician stores an assigned telephone number and a System Identification Number ( SID ) w hich uniquely identifies a particular wireless netw ork which is primanlv intended to provide airtime service for that communicator A conv entional wireless communicator determines whether at any giv en time it is located within its home local service area by scanning certain frequencies to receive SIDs broadcast b> w ireless networks and then comparing the received SIDs to SIDs stored in the NAM While the prov ision of a NAM allows the communicator to identify the primary network to which it is pre-subscπbed. it does not allow the communicator to select a network based on the availability of a desired serv ice feature Rather, the wireless user must possess a priori knowledge of which service feature is prov ided by which network. Hence, it is a continuing problem for wireless users to transparentl> access service features from different wireless earners without pre- subscription to each one of those wireless carriers Summary of the Invention The present invention provides a method and apparatus for communicating on a wireless network providing a selected service. In accordance with the method, a wireless communicator is tuned to a first signaling control channel broadcast by a wireless network. The first channel identifies one or more services provided over that network. This procedure is repeated for successive signaling control channels until a wireless network providing the selected service is identified. Once this has been identified, communication is conducted between the wireless communicator and the network In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the first channel is broadcast in a radio coverage area such as a cell and identifies one or more services provided bv a wireless network in the radio coverage area. The wireless communicator tunes to the first channel and then to successive channels which identify one or more services provided bv successiv e wireless networks in the radio cov erage area. This procedure is continued until a given channel is located that identifies the selected service. Communication then commences between the wireless communicator and the wireless network broadcasting the given channel. Brief Description of the Draw ing The sole Figure shows a simplified block diagram of wireless communicator constructed in accordance with the present inv ention. Detailed Description The present invention is directed to a wireless communicator that is designed to dynamically identify and select from a group of wireless networks (or. alternatively, a group of subnetworks or cells) a particular network (or subnetwork or cell) which offers or supports a communications service feature requested by a user. The user may select the service feature for a short time such as for the duration of a call or for any longer duration. After the particular wireless network is chosen by the wireless communicator, the wireless communicator automatically initiates (i.e.. without the user ' s intervention) communication with the wireless network that provided the requested service for the delivery of the communications service feature. According to one aspect of the invention, the communications service feature requested by the user may be, for example, a cellular communications service, a Personal Communications Service (PCS), a paging or Short Message Service (SMS), or a Specialized Mobile Radio (SMR) service. The respective services may be provided by a service provider operating over the network via a service provider gateway associated therewith. Alternatively, the services may be provided by the wireless carrier itself. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the wireless communicator dynamically * identifies and selects a radio coverage area which offers the requested service feature or features. Individual radio coverage areas, which may be cells in a cellular network, for example, are typically provided with wireless communications via two or more distinct wireless networks. The radio coverage area that is selected may be one other than the local area in which the wireless communicator is currently operating. In other words, the communicator may initiate service with a network that does not ordinarily provide local radio coverage if there is no available network normally operating in the local radio coverage area that offers the desired service feature. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a wireless communicator in accordance with the present invention. The wireless communicator includes a transceiver 21. antenna 20. controller 22, a user input 26 such as a keypad, and a speaker and microphone 27. The controller 22 processes incoming and outgoing signals and includes a microprocessor 25. a digital signal processor 24 and a memory 23. The user input 26 includes a service request selector 28 which allows the user to specify to the controller 22 the service or services that are desired. The controller 22 in turn directs the transceiver 21 to monitor signaling control channels (discussed in more detail below) broadcast by various wireless networks so that communication can be established with a network that is identified as offering the desired service or services. In one embodiment of the invention, a wireless communicator tunes to a first signaling control channel over which a wireless network broadcasts carrier-specific information such as a System Identification (SID) number and a service menu. The service menu lists the various service features available over that network, such as call waiting, dial forwarding, facsimile transmission, and three-way calling, for example. The wireless communicator browses the service menu to assess the availability of the communications service feature requested by the user via the service request •selector 28. If the wireless network offers the communications service feature requested by the user, the communicator initiates a service request to the wireless network. If necess-ary. the wireless communicator registers onto the wireless network supporting the requested service. Alternatively, if the wireless communicator is already registered onto the appropriate network, the wireless communicator simply conducts communication with the network so that the desired service feature is provided to the user. If the first wireless network to which the communicator tunes does not offer the communications service feature requested by the user, the communicator tunes to a second control channel to browse through the menu of the wireless network associated with the second control channel. The control channel tuning .and menu-browsing process continues until the wireless communicator identifies a wireless or wired network that offers the communications service feature requested by the user or until the list of networks is exhausted Thereafter, a service request is initiated to the identified network for delivery of the communications serv ice feature desired by the user As prev iouslv mentioned the identified network ma or may not be operational in the current local radio coverage area of the communicator The user mav also configure the de ice through an appropnate input to select from among a plurality of networks that each have the requisite service feature on an additional basis such as cost and speed, for example One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the signaling control channel defined bv the present invention may be readily incorporated into am of the established digital cellular interface standards, including, but not limited to. EI.A IA Standard 553. " Mobile Station-Land Station Compatibility Specification, " September 1989. Electronic Industries Association. Washington, D C , EIA/T1A Intenm standard IS-54-B. ' • Cellular System Dual-aMode Mobile Station - Basestation Compatibility Standard," Apπl. 1992, Electronic Industries Association. Washington, D C ; and EI 'TIA Intenm Standard IS- 136, "Cellular System Dual-.Mode Mobile Station - Basestation. Digital Control Channel Compatibility Standard." Apπl. 1995, Electronic Industries Association, Washington, D C Moreover, the IS- 136 standard incorporates a digital control channel that may broadcast the SID number and a serv ice menu In one embodiment of the invention, the service request selector 28 is configured so that the user can select one of three different operational states In the first operational state, upon activation of the wireless commumcator. the communicator automatically begins monitonng vaπous signaling control channels and registers onto a wireless network that offers a preselected service or services In a second operational state, the commumcator only begins momtoπng signaling control channels when the user manually selects a desired service or ser ice Finally, in a third operational state, the commumcator begins momtoπng vaπous signaling control channels to conduct communication with a network that offers a service that the commumcator itself identifies as being required For example, if the user connects facsimile equipment through an appropnate input poπ of the communicator, the commumcator when operating in this state, will automatically attempt to identify and communicate with a wireless network offeπng facsimile service In some embodiments of the invention the sen ice request selector 28 may offer all three of these operational states or. altemativelv . any one or two of these operational states The communicator also mav be prov ided with status indicators such as LEDs. for example, that indicate the current operational state of the mode selector Status indicators mav also be prov ided to identify the selected serv ice or ser ices requested bv the user

Claims: Claims: 1 A method for communicating on a wireless network pro iding a selected serv ice, said method compπsing the steps of (a) tuning, with a wireless communicator to a first signaling control channel broadcast bv a wireless network, said first channel identifv ing at least one serv ice prov ided over the wireless network. (b) repeating step (a) for successive signaling control channels until a wireless network providing the selected service is identified (c) conducting communication with said wireless network providing the selected ser ice 2 The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one service is a personal communications service 3 The method of cl-aim 1 wherein said at least one service is a paging service 4 The method of claim 1 wherein said at least one service is a short message service 5 The method of claim 1 wherein said first channel includes a serv ice menu and a system identification number 6 The method of claim 5 wherein said ser ice menu composes a service selected from the group consisting of call waiting, dial forwarding, facsimile transmission, and three-way calling 7 The method of claim 1 wherein step (c) includes the step of registeπng onto said wireless network 8 The method of claim 1 wherein said first signaling control channel is included in a digital cellular interface standard 9 A method for communicating on a wireless network prov iding a selected service, said method compπsing the steps of (a) tuning, with a wireless communicator, to a first signaling control channel broadcast in a radio coverage area, said first channel identifying at least one serv ice provided bv a wireless network in said radio coverage area; (b) repeating step (a) for successive signaling control channels until a given channel is located that identifies said selected service; (c) conducting communication with a wireless network broadcasting said given channel; 10. The method of claim 9 wherein at least said first signaling control channel and one of said successive signaling control ch-annels are broadcast in different radio coverage areas 1 1. The method of claim 9 wherein said at least one service is a paging ser ice. 12. The method of claim 9 wherein said at least one service is a short message service. 13 The method of claim 9 wherein said first channel includes a service menu and a system identification number 14 The method of claim 13 wherein said service menu compπses a service selected from the group consisting of call waiting, dial foι * warding. facsimile transmission, and three-wav calling. 15 The method of claim 9 wherein step (c) includes the step of registering onto said wireless network 16 The method of claim 9 wherein said first signaling control channel is included in a digital cellular interface standard 17 A wireless communicator, compπsing a transceiver. an antenna coupled to said transceiver. a microphone and speaker for providing an audio interface. a user input for receiv ing user-initiated requests, said user input including a service request selector for selecting a service from among of plurality of serv ices, said transceiver. responsive to said service request selector, being adapted to momtor control signals broadcast from a plurality of wireless networks, said control signals identifying services provided over respective ones of said wireless networks, said transceiver being further adapted to initiate communication with a wireless network broadcasting a control channel that identifies the selected service. a controller for controlling said transceiver 18 The commumcator of claim 17 wherein said service request selector provides a plurality of user-selectable operational states, a first of said operational states 19 The commumcator of claim 18 wherein in a first of said operational states the commumcator automatically performs steps (a)-(c) upon activation for a preselected service. 20 The commumcator of claim 19 wherein in a second of said operational states the communicator performs steps (a) - (c) subsequent to activation and upon manual selection of the user 21 The communicator of claim 20 wherein in a third of said operational states the communicator automatically performs step (a) -(c) to conduct communication with a network offering a sen ice identified bv the communicator as being required 22 The method of claim 17 wherein said at least one serv ice is a personal communications sen ice 23 The method of claim 17 wherein said selected service is a paging service 24 The method of claim 17 wherein said selected service is a short message service. 25 The method of claim 17 wherein said control signals include a serv ice menu and a system identification number 26. The method of claim 25 wherein said service menu compπses a service selected from the group consisting of call waiting, dial forwarding, facsimile transmission, and three-way calling 27 A wireless communicator, comprising. a transceiver, an antenna coupled to said transceiver. a microphone and speaker for providing an audio interface; a user input for receiving user-initiated requests, said user input including a service request selector for selecting a service from among of plurality of services, said transcei er, responsive to said serv ice request selector, being adapted to monitor control signals broadcast within at least one radio coverage area, each of said control signals identifying services provided by a wireless net ork in the radio coverage area, said transceiver being further adapted to automatically initiate communication with a wireless network broadcasting a control channel that identifies the selected service, a controller for controlling said transceiver 28 The wireless communicator of claim 27 wherein said transceiver is adapted to monitor signals broadcast within a plurality of radio coverage areas 29. The communicator of claim 27 wherein said service is a personal communications service. 30. The communictor of claim 27 wherein said service is a paging service. 31. The communicator of claim 27 wherein said service is a short message service. 32. The communicator of claim 27 wherein said control signals include a service menu and a system identification number 33. The communicator of claim 32 wherein said service menu comprises a service selected from the group consisting of call waiting, dial forwarding, facsimile transmission, and three-way calling

Inventors: LAWRENCE CHRISTOPHER GREGORY, RAFFEL MICHAEL ALLEN, LAWRENCE, CHRISTOPHER, GREGORY, RAFFEL, MICHAEL, ALLEN
Applicants: AT & T WIRELESS SERVICES INC, AT & T WIRELESS SERVICES, INC.
Application year: 1997
Main classification: H04Q7
IPC codes: H04W48