Patent ID: 6845236

Claim:
A method for providing concurrent service in a mobile communication system, comprising: allocating a service identifier on a logical signaling connection to uniquely identify an additional concurrent service if the additional service is requested while a first service is established; sending an Additional Service Request message from a base station controller (BSC) to a mobile switching center (MSC) to establish an additional service connection setup with the BSC using information about the additional service and the service identifier for the additional service in response to a request for additional service; sending an Assignment Request message from the MSC to the BSC to request a resource allocation in response to the Additional Service Request message; sending a Call Assignment message from the BSC to a subscriber unit with allocated resource information of the BSC in response to the Assignment Request message; sending one of a Service Connect message, a General Handoff Direction message, and a Universal Handoff Direction message from the BSC to the subscriber unit to initialize a service setup procedure in the subscriber unit for the additional service using the allocated resources; performing a service negotiation procedure between the BSC and the subscriber unit to initialize the additional service in response to the initiation of the service setup procedure for the additional service; sending a Service Connect Completion message from the subscriber unit to the BSC to notify the BSC that the concurrent service connection setup is completed; and sending an Assignment Complete message from the BSC to the MSC to indicate that the concurrent service connection setup and the resource allocation are completed.