Patent ID: 7471961

Claim:
A method for a wireless communication network to establish a wireless group call by at least one base transceiver system from one of a plurality of communication units to others of the plurality of communication units that are in the service coverage area of the at least one base transceiver system, the method comprising the steps of: establishing a group page identity for the plurality of communication units of the group; determining whether there are a sufficient number of communication units for the group call to enable Forward Access Channel (FACH) broadcast mode whereupon the communication units for the group are placed in a CELL_FACH state; providing a single group paging message using the group page identity on a paging channel (PCH) to the group of the plurality of communication units with information for group call set up; receiving, from a requesting communication unit of a group on a Random Access Channel (RACH), a request for a group call with other communication units of the group; allocating the Secondary Common Control Physical Channel (S-CCPCH) as a common downlink channel for the group call at each base transceiver system of the at least one base transceiver systems that is providing communication service to the others of the plurality of communication units of the group; allocating a dedicated forward access channel (FACH) for the requesting communication unit by a base transceiver system that is providing communication service to the requesting communication unit; and switching one of the communication units between a common forward access channel (CELL_FACH) state and a dedicated channel (CELL_DCH) state depending upon performance criteria measured for the group call.