Abstract:
A method for automatic call forwarding, includes: designating a first subscription as a subscription to receive circuit switched calls and packet switched calls; designating a second subscription as a subscription to receive circuit switched calls; and automatically forwarding a circuit switched call received on the first subscription to the second subscription when a packet switched call is active on the first subscription.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    A Dual-Subscriber Identity Module, Dual-Active (DSDA) mobile communication device can be in active call states with two parties via two subscriptions. Typically, with a DSDA mobile communication device, i.e., user equipment (UE), one subscription is enabled for data services, i.e., packet-switched (PS) calls, and voice services, i.e., circuit-switched (CS) calls (referred to as a CS+PS enabled subscription), for example, but not limited to, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) subscription, and the other subscription is enabled for only voice services (referred to as a CS Only subscription), for example, but not limited to, a Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) subscription. When two voice sessions are active simultaneously, i.e., one on each subscription, a user may participate in only one of the voice sessions while the voice call on the other subscription is kept on local hold; thus, one of the voice sessions will be kept alive while the other voice session on local hold is wasting the network resources. 
         [0002]    In cases where a voice call is active on the CS Only subscription and a data call is active on the CS+PS enabled subscription and a call is then received on the CS+PS enabled subscription, the data call may be suspended to receive the incoming voice call, or the voice and data sessions on the CS+PS enabled subscription may transition to Dual Transfer Mode (DTM). However, if the data session is suspended the mobile communication device will not be able to perform any data activity while the call is active. On the other hand, if the mobile communication device transitions into DTM, the user will experience only one-fourth to one-half of the data rate as compared to a standalone data call. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0003]    Apparatuses and methods for automatically forwarding an incoming voice call on a circuit switched and packet switched enabled subscription to a circuit switched only subscription are provided. 
         [0004]    According to various embodiments there is provided a method for automatic call forwarding. The method may include: designating a first subscription as a subscription to receive circuit switched (CS) calls and packet switched (PS) calls; designating a second subscription as a subscription to receive CS calls; and automatically forwarding a CS call received on the first subscription to the second subscription when a PS call is active on the first subscription. 
         [0005]    According to various embodiments there is provided a mobile communication device. The mobile communication device may include: a first communications unit configured to receive circuit switched (CS) calls and packet switched (PS) calls on a first subscription; a second communications unit configured to receive circuit switched CS calls on a second subscription; and a control unit configured to cause automatic forwarding of a CS call received on the first subscription to the second subscription when a PS call is active on the first subscription. 
         [0006]    According to various embodiments there is provided a method for automatic call forwarding. The method may include: designating a first subscription as a subscription to receive circuit switched (CS) calls and packet switched (PS) calls; designating a second subscription as a subscription to receive CS calls and PS calls; and automatically implementing call forwarding of CS calls for one of the first subscription and the second subscription that first initiates a PS call. 
         [0007]    According to various embodiments there is provided a mobile communication device. The mobile communication device may include: means for designating a first subscription as a subscription to receive circuit switched (CS) calls and packet switched (PS) calls; means for designating a second subscription as a subscription to receive CS calls; and means for automatically forwarding a CS call received on the first subscription to the second subscription when a PS call is active on the first subscription. 
         [0008]    Other features and advantages of the present inventive concept should be apparent from the following description which illustrates by way of example aspects of the present inventive concept. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    Aspects and features of the present inventive concept will be more apparent by describing example embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a wireless communication device according to various embodiments; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a method according to various embodiments; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is flowchart illustrating a method according to various embodiments. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    While certain embodiments are described, these embodiments are presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of protection. The apparatuses, methods, and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the example methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the scope of protection. 
         [0014]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a mobile communication device  100  according to various embodiments. As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the mobile communication device  100  may include a control unit  110 , a first communications unit  120 , a second communications unit  125 , a first antenna  130 , a second antenna  135 , a first SIM  140 , a second SIM  150 , a user interface device  170 , and a storage  180 . 
         [0015]    The mobile communication device  100  may be, for example but not limited to, a mobile telephone, smartphone, tablet, computer, etc., capable of communications with one or more wireless networks. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the mobile communication device  100  may include one or more transceivers (communications units) and may interface with one or more antennas without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept. 
         [0016]    The first communications unit  120  may include, for example, but not limited to, a first transceiver (not shown). The second communications unit  125  may include, for example, but not limited to, a second transceiver (not shown). 
         [0017]    A SIM (e.g.,  140 ,  150 ) in various embodiments may be a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) that is configured with SIM and/or USIM applications, enabling access to GSM and/or UMTS networks. The UICC may also provide storage for a phone book and other applications. Alternatively, in a CDMA network, a SIM may be a UICC removable user identity module (R-UIM) or a CDMA subscriber identity module (CSIM) on a card. A SIM card may have a CPU, ROM, RAM, EEPROM and I/O circuits. An Integrated Circuit Card Identity (ICCID) SIM serial number may be printed on the SIM card for identification. However, a SIM may be implemented within a portion of memory of the multi-SIM, Multi-Active (MSMA) communication device, and thus need not be a separate or removable circuit, chip, or card. 
         [0018]    A SIM used in various embodiments may store user account information, an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), a set of SIM application toolkit (SAT) commands and other network provisioning information, as well as provide storage space for phone book database of the user&#39;s contacts. As part of the network provisioning information, a SIM may store home identifiers (e.g., a System Identification Number (SID)/Network Identification Number (NID) pair, a Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) code, etc.) to indicate the SIM card network operator provider. 
         [0019]    The first SIM  140  may associate the first communications unit  120  with a first subscription (Sub 1 )  192  on a first communication network  190  and the second SIM  150  may associate the second communications unit  125  with a second subscription (Sub 2 )  197  on a second communication network  195 . In active mode, a communications unit receives and transmits signals. In idle mode, a communications unit receives but does not transmit signals. 
         [0020]    For convenience, throughout this disclosure Sub 1  is associated with the first communications unit  120  and Sub 2  is associated with the second communications unit  125 . One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that either subscription may be associated with either communications unit without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept. 
         [0021]    The first communication network  190  and the second communication network  195  may be operated by the same or different service providers, and/or may support the same or different communication technologies, for example, but not limited to, WCDMA and GSM. 
         [0022]    The user interface device  170  may include an input device  172 , for example, but not limited to a keyboard, touch panel, or other human interface device, and a display device  174 , for example, but not limited to, a liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting diode (LED) display, or other video display. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that other input and display devices may be used without departing from the scope of the present inventive concept. 
         [0023]    The control unit  110  may be configured to control overall operation of the mobile communication device  100  including control of the first communications unit  120 , the second communications unit  125 , the user interface device  170 , and the storage  180 . The control unit  110  may be a programmable device, for example, but not limited to, a microprocessor or microcontroller. 
         [0024]    The control unit  110  may include a determination unit  112  configured to determine if a PS call is active on Sub 1   192  and/or if Sub 2   197  is already engaged in a call when a forwarded Sub 1   192  CS call is incoming on Sub 2   197 . Alternatively, the determination unit  112  may be implemented as electronic circuitry separate from the control unit  110 . 
         [0025]    The storage  180  may be configured to store application programs necessary for operation of the mobile communication device  100  that are executed by the control unit  110 , as well as application data and user data. 
         [0026]    Various embodiments provide automatic call forwarding for a mobile communication device  100  for automatically forwarding an incoming CS call on a designated CS+PS enabled subscription, for example Sub 1   192 , to a designated CS Only subscription, for example, Sub 2   197 , when Sub 1   192  is engaged in an active data call. The designated CS+PS enabled subscription and CS Only subscription may be based on subscription plans purchased from providers. The subscriptions may be designated as CS+PS enabled and CS Only via input to the input device  172 . 
         [0027]      FIG. 2  is flowchart  200  illustrating a method according to various embodiments. With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , Sub 1   192  may be a designated CS+PS enabled subscription and may be registered for the call forward feature with the service provider for the first communication network  190  ( 205 ). Sub 2   197  may be a designated CS Only subscription. Sub 1   192  and Sub 2   197  may be designated via input to the input device  172  and/or pre-registered with the service providers. The service provider for Sub 1   192  may forward CS calls received on Sub 1   192  to the Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN) for Sub 2   197  when Sub 1   192  is engaged in an active PS call. 
         [0028]    The determination unit  112  may determine whether a PS call is active on Sub 1   192  ( 210 ). If a PS call is not active on Sub 1   192  ( 210 -N), incoming CS calls on Sub 1   192  may be routed to the Sub 1   192  MSISDN and incoming CS calls on Sub 2   197  may be routed to the Sub 2   197  MSISDN ( 215 ), and the process  200  continues at operation  210 . 
         [0029]    If a PS call is active on Sub 1   192  ( 210 -Y), the control unit  110  may cause the mobile communication device  100  to send a communication to the first communication network  190  indicating that a PS call is active on Sub 1   192  ( 220 ). In response to the communication from the mobile communication device  100 , the first communication network  190  may initiate automatic call forwarding of incoming CS calls for Sub 1   192  to the Sub 2   197  MSISDN ( 225 ), and the PS call on Sub 1   192  may remain active as the only call on Sub 1   192  ( 230 ). 
         [0030]    The determination unit  112  may determine whether a PS call on Sub 1   192  has been terminated ( 235 ). If the PS call on Sub 1   192  has not been terminated ( 235 -N), the process  200  continues at operation  230 . If the PS call on Sub 1   192  has been terminated ( 235 -Y), the first communication network  190  may terminate the automatic forwarding of incoming CS calls on Sub 1   192  to the Sub 2   197  MSISDN ( 245 ). 
         [0031]    If a forwarded Sub 1   192  CS call is incoming on Sub 2   197  ( 250 ), the determination unit  112  may determine whether a CS call is already active on Sub 2   197  ( 255 ). If a CS call is already active on Sub 2   197  ( 255 -Y), the control unit  110  may cause a call waiting notification to be displayed on the display device  174  ( 260 ) (or otherwise provide notification of the forwarded call), and the forwarded call to Sub 2   197  may be answered or ignored ( 265 ). 
         [0032]    If a CS call is not already active on Sub 2   197  ( 255 -N), the forwarded call may be answered or ignored ( 260 ) without a call waiting notification being displayed. 
         [0033]    In various embodiments, both subscriptions may be CS+PS enabled subscriptions. For these embodiments, call forwarding may be automatically implemented as described for the first subscription to initiate a PS call. In various embodiments, one of the CS+PS enabled subscriptions may optionally be designated via input to the input device  172  and/or pre-registered with a service provider as the subscription to have a CS call automatically forwarded. 
         [0034]      FIG. 3  is flowchart illustrating a method  300  according to various embodiments. With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 3 , Sub 1   192  may be a designated CS+PS enabled subscription and Sub 2   197  may be a designated CS+PS enabled subscription ( 310 ). If Sub 1   192  or Sub 2   197  is designated as a subscription to have a CS call automatically forwarded ( 320 -Y), when the designated subscription (e.g., Sub 1   192 ) is engaged in an active PS call, the control unit  110  may cause the service provider for the designated subscription to forward an incoming CS call on the designated subscription to the non-designated subscription (e.g., Sub 2   197 ) ( 330 ). 
         [0035]    If neither Sub 1   192  nor Sub 2   197  is designated as a subscription to have a CS call automatically forwarded ( 320 -N), the control unit  110  may cause the service provider for the subscription first engaged in an active PS call (e.g., Sub 1   192 ) to have an incoming CS call forwarded to the other subscription (e.g., Sub 2   197 ) ( 340 ). 
         [0036]    The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the protection. For example, the example apparatuses, methods, and systems disclosed herein can be applied to multi-SIM wireless devices subscribing to multiple communication networks and/or communication technologies. The various components illustrated in the figures may be implemented as, for example, but not limited to, software and/or firmware on a processor, ASIC/FPGA/DSP, or dedicated hardware. Also, the features and attributes of the specific example embodiments disclosed above may be combined in different ways to form additional embodiments, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure. 
         [0037]    The foregoing method descriptions and the process flow diagrams are provided merely as illustrative examples and are not intended to require or imply that the steps of the various embodiments must be performed in the order presented. As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art the order of steps in the foregoing embodiments may be performed in any order. Words such as “thereafter,” “then,” “next,” etc. are not intended to limit the order of the steps; these words are simply used to guide the reader through the description of the methods. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular. 
         [0038]    The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention. 
         [0039]    The hardware used to implement the various illustrative logics, logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but, in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of receiver devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Alternatively, some steps or methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a given function. 
         [0040]    In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or non-transitory processor-readable storage medium. The steps of a method or algorithm disclosed herein may be embodied in processor-executable instructions that may reside on a non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage medium. Non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may be any storage media that may be accessed by a computer or a processor. By way of example but not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable or processor-readable storage media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, FLASH memory, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that may be used to store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that may be accessed by a computer. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of non-transitory computer-readable and processor-readable media. Additionally, the operations of a method or algorithm may reside as one or any combination or set of codes and/or instructions on a non-transitory processor-readable storage medium and/or computer-readable storage medium, which may be incorporated into a computer program product. 
         [0041]    Although the present disclosure provides certain example embodiments and applications, other embodiments that are apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art, including embodiments which do not provide all of the features and advantages set forth herein, are also within the scope of this disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the present disclosure is intended to be defined only by reference to the appended claims.