Claims
- 1. A method for providing a variable charging rate towards mobile stations traveling within a mobile telecommunications network, said method comprising the steps of:
- in the network:
- monitoring a traffic load associated with a particular geographic area;
- determining whether said monitored traffic load is less than a predetermined threshold level associated with said geographic area; and
- broadcasting to each mobile station within the geographic areas an indication that a reduced charging rate is available for calls; and
- in each mobile station:
- determining whether a mobile subscriber associated with the mobile station has a subscription to a flexible-charging feature; and
- in response to an affirmative determination, informing the associated mobile subscriber that a lower charging rate in accordance with said flexible-charging feature will be applied for subsequent call connections.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of monitoring said traffic load includes the step of monitoring said traffic load within a particular cell area.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of informing the associated mobile subscriber further comprises the step of broadcasting an indicative message over a Cell Broadcast Channel.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of informing the associated mobile subscriber further comprises the step of broadcasting an indicative message over a broadcast channel.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said geographic area is being served by a base station controller (BSC), and said step of monitoring said traffic load within said particular geographic area further comprises the step of receiving data representing said traffic load at a mobile switching center (MSC) serving said geographic area from said BSC.
- 6. The method of claim 5 further comprises the step of said BSC periodically communicating said data representing current traffic load to said serving MSC.
- 7. The method of claim 1 wherein said geographic area is being served by a base station controller (BSC) and said step of monitoring said traffic load within said particular geographic area further comprises steps of:
- determining whether said determined traffic load is lower than said threshold level by said BSC; and
- informing a mobile switching center (MSC) serving said geographic area if said traffic load is less than said threshold level.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein said telecommunications network includes a plurality of geographic areas and further comprises the step of associating a threshold value with each of said geographic areas.
- 9. A system for optimizing the utilization of channel resources within a plurality of cell areas associated with a mobile telecommunications network, comprising:
- in the network:
- means for evaluating a channel utilization level within each of said cell areas;
- means for determining from evaluated utilization levels which one of said plurality of cell areas is currently being underutilized; and
- in the mobile station:
- means for determining from stored feature information whether each associated mobile subscriber has a subscription to a flexible-charging feature; and
- means for informing each mobile subscriber having a subscription to the flexible-charging feature and traveling within said underutilized cell area that a reduced charging rate is being applied.
- 10. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for determining from said utilization level which one of said plurality of cell areas is currently being under-utilized further comprises means for comparing said evaluated utilization level with a threshold value associated with each of said cell areas.
- 11. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for informing each mobile subscriber further comprises means for transmitting an indicative information over a Cell Broadcast Channel.
- 12. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for informing each mobile subscribers further comprises means for broadcasting an indicative information over a broadcast channel (BCH).
- 13. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for determining which one of said plurality of cell areas is associated within a mobile switching center (MSC) serving said geographic area.
- 14. The system of claim 9 wherein said means for determining which one of said plurality of cell areas is associated within a base station controller (BSC) serving said geographic area.
- 15. A system for optimizing the utilization of channel resources within a plurality of cell areas associated within a mobile telecommunications network, said mobile telecommunications network serving a plurality of mobile stations, comprising:
- a plurality of base transceiver stations (BTSs), each serving a particular one of said plurality of cell areas;
- a plurality of channels associated with each of said plurality of BTSs; and
- a mobile switching center (MSC) connected to said plurality of BTSs, said MSC further comprising:
- an application module for ascertaining which one of said plurality of BTSs are under-utilizing said associated channels; and
- means for broadcasting an indication to mobile stations traveling within a cell area associated with said under-utilized BTS; and
- a mobile station receiving said indication, operable to check whether a mobile subscriber subscribes to a flexible-charging feature and if so then applying a reduced rate for calls in accordance with said flexible-charging feature.
- 16. The system of claim 15 wherein each cell area is further associated with a base station controller (BSC) and wherein said application module requests and receives data representing a channel utilization level from said BSCs for ascertaining which cell area is being under-utilized.
- 17. The system of claim 15 wherein each cell area is further associated with a base station controller (BSC) wherein each BSC is assigned with a threshold level for a cell area associated with said BSC and comprises an application module for comparing a channel resource utilization level associated with said cell area with said threshold level and informing said MSC if said utilization level is less than said threshold level.
- 18. The system of claim 15 wherein said means for broadcasting said indication to said mobile stations further comprises means for transmitting indicative information over a Cell Broadcast Channel.
- 19. The system of claim 15 wherein said means for broadcasting said indication to said mobile stations further comprises means for broadcasting indicative information over a broadcast channel (BCH).
- 20. A mobile telephone, comprising:
- means for receiving said indication at said mobile telephone that a reduced charging rate is available for subsequent calls;
- means for storing information indicating that a mobile subscriber has a subscription with a flexible-charging subscription feature wherein said flexible-charging subscriber feature for allowing a mobile subscriber the option of receiving an indication that a reduced charging rate is available for subsequent calls and allowing access to said reduced charging rate;
- means for determining whether a mobile subscriber has subscribed to said flexible-charging subscriber feature; and
- in response to an affirmative determination and receipt of said indication at said mobile telephone, means for providing said indication to the mobile subscriber that reduced charging rates are in effect.
- 21. The mobile telephone of claim 20 wherein said means for storing information comprises a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card associated, said SIM card for storing information indication that the mobile subscriber has a subscription with the flexible-charging subscriber feature.
- 22. The mobile telephone of claim 20 wherein said indication that a reduced charging rate is available for subsequent calls being received over a Cell Broadcast Channel.
- 23. The mobile telephone of claim 20 wherein said indication that a reduced charging rate is available for subsequent calls being received over a broadcast channel.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is related to U.S. application for patent Ser. No. 08/766,727, filed Dec. 13, 1996, entitled "Optimal Use of Logical Channels Within A Mobile Telecommunications Network", and to U.S. application for patent Ser. No. 08/699,661, filed Dec. 9, 1996, entitled "Broadcasting Messages To Mobile Stations Within A Geographic Area", all incorporated by reference herein.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (6)
Number |
Date |
Country |
526 118 |
Jul 1992 |
EPX |
0 647 055 A1 |
Sep 1994 |
EPX |
2 272 607 |
Nov 1993 |
GBX |
WO 9618259 |
Jun 1996 |
WOX |
WO 9737503 |
Apr 1997 |
WOX |
WO 9716038 |
May 1997 |
WOX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
PCT Search dated Oct. 30, 1998 for PCT/US98/04130. |