Patent ID: 7593750

Claim:
A method for operating a general purpose radio service network, comprising the steps of: (a) operating the general purpose radio service network as an overlay network to a GSM radio network by using authentication, mobility management, and signaling channels features of the GSM radio network; (b) selectively exchanging signaling information via standardized interfaces between both networks; (c) selectively accessing network information databases of the GSM radio network; (d) generating payload traffic by the general purpose radio service network through an interface of the general purpose radio service network; (e) keeping a terminal of the GSM radio network in an active state during use of the general purpose radio service network to assure the availability of signaling information required for operation of the general purpose radio service network to assure that a GSM signaling connection is available for sending signaling information to the general purpose radio network by using the signaling capacity of the GSM radio network; (f) receiving in-band signaling information for the general purpose radio service network via an air interface of the general purpose radio service network; and (g) receiving out-of-band signaling information for the general purpose radio service network via an air interface of the GSM radio network.