Patent Application
20050096029
The present invention relates generally to the art of telecommunication, and, more particularly, to a method and system for call forwarding in a multimedia telecommunication network.
Wireless telecommunication networks allow mobile devices to communicate with each other and other networks, such as the Internet and the public switched telephone network. First and second generation wireless telephone systems are generally constrained in the amount of bandwidth available for communication. This limits capacity and also the types of services that can be provided. Third generation wireless systems, which are being developed through the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), hold the promise of greater bandwidth, thereby increasing capacity and allowing for enhanced services, such as multimedia services. 3GPP is the new worldwide standard for the creation, delivery, and playback of multimedia over new, high-speed wireless networks. 3GPP enables the free sharing of multimedia files between a variety of devices, including cell phones, PDAs, and desktop computers. 3GPP devices include, in addition to a voice communication interface, capability for communication of data and display of data, including video.
Certain features are currently available to telephone service subscribers, including wireless subscribers. For example, select call forwarding is a service that automatically forwards calls from a selected set of numbers to a phone number of the subscriber's choice. Call forwarding services may also allow the subscriber to decide which calls to receive. Typically, incoming calls to the subscriber's phone from the numbers preselected are rerouted to a phone number of the subscriber's choice, whether it's the subscriber's mobile, office, or other number. When call forwarding is activated, the subscriber's home phone may ring once with a short burst as a reminder that the call is being transferred. Further, busy call forwarding is a service that automatically forwards calls to another number when the subscriber's line is busy. Busy call forwarding eliminates missing a call when the line is in use. Typically, incoming calls to the subscriber's busy line are rerouted to a phone number of the subscriber's choice, whether it's the subscriber's mobile, office, or other number.
There is a need for a method and system that would allow a subscriber to send forward calls to multiple numbers, based upon the type of data being sent or other provisioned settings. Also, it is desirable to have a method and system in which a call may be forwarded to different destinations based on the type of data.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method for method of forwarding calls for a subscriber having a primary communication device and a number of alternate communication devices in a multimedia telecommunication network is provided. The method includes storing a call forwarding profile for the subscriber's primary communication device in a network server, where the call forwarding profile specifies at least one of the alternate communication devices to which specific types of calls are to be forwarded, receiving a call for the subscriber's primary communication device from a caller, determining the type of the call that has been received, matching the type of call received to the call forwarding profile, and routing the call to the proper alternate communication device according to the call forwarding profile.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a system for forwarding calls for a subscriber having a primary communication device and a plurality of alternate communication devices in a multimedia telecommunication network is provided. The system includes means for storing a call forwarding profile for the subscriber's primary communication device at a network server, where the call forwarding profile specifies at least one of the alternate communication devices to which specific types of calls are to be forwarded, means for receiving a call for the subscriber's primary communication device from a caller, means for determining the type of the call that has been received, means for matching the type of call received to the call forwarding profile, and means for routing the call to the proper alternate communication device according to the call forwarding profile.
Still further advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification.
The invention may take form in various components and arrangements of components, and in various steps and arrangements of steps. The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments and are not to be construed as limiting the invention.
It is to be understood that the specific methods and systems illustrated in the attached drawings and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts defined in the appended claims. Therefore, specific examples and characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting, unless the claims expressly state otherwise.
For simplicity and ease of reference, the acronyms listed below shall be used in the specification to refer to structural and/or functional network elements, relevant telecommunication standards, protocols and/or services, terminology, etc., as they are commonly known in the telecommunication art, except to the extent they have been modified in accordance with aspects of the present invention.
3G—3rd Generation
3GPP—3rd Generation Partnership Project
3GPP2—3rd Generation Partnership Project 2
AAA—Authentication/Authorization/Accounting
AH—Address Handling
AS—Application Server
BGCF—Border Gateway Control Function
CCF—Call Control Function
CDMA—Code Division Multiple Access
CSCF—Call Session Control Function
HLR—Home Location Register
HSS—Home Subscriber Server
ICGW—Incoming Call Gateway
IMS—IP Multimedia Subsystem
IP—Internet Protocol
MGCF—Media Gateway Control Function
MGW—Media Gateway
MMT—Multimedia Terminal
MRFC—Multimedia Resource Function Controller
MRFP—Multimedia Resource Function Processor
PDN—Public Data Network
PLMN—Public Land Mobile Network
PSDN—Packet Switched Data Network
PSTN—Public Switched Telephone Network
PTT—Push-to-Talk
RAN—Radio Access Network
SIP—Session Initiation Protocol
SMS—Short Message Service
SMT—Single Media Terminal
SPD—Serving Profile Database
UMTS—Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
VoIP—Voice over IP
WLAN—Wireless Local Area Network
The multimedia telecommunication network 10 preferably includes an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 20. The IMS 20 relates to a technology standardized by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project, also known as 3GPP, and it is also defined by 3GPP2 (3rd Generation Partnership Project 2). The IMS 20 is used to join mobile communication with IP technologies by adding the ability to deliver integrated voice and data services over the IP-based packet switched network. IMS services are based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which is the signaling protocol standard for next-generation 3GPP mobile wireless networks. The IMS 20 includes a number of system elements, such as a call session control function (CSCF) 22, media gateways (MGW) 24, a media gateway control function (MGCF) 26, a border gateway control function (BGCF) 28, a multimedia resource function processor (MRFP) 30, a multimedia resource function controller (MRFC) 32, a home subscriber system (HSS) 34 and application servers 36. As is known in the art, the IMS 20 manages call sessions and provides and administers packet switching for multimedia communications within the network 10.
A first communication device 40 is shown in
A second communication device 50 is shown as a laptop or notebook computer operatively connected to the IMS 20 via the PDN 52. The communication device 50 optionally employs a wireless local area network (WLAN) or wireline network, in the usual manner, to operatively connect to the PDN 52. A third communication device 60 is shown as an ordinary telephone equipped to handle only voice communications. The communication device 60 is operatively connected to the IMS 20 via the public switched telephone network/public land mobile network (PSTN/PLMN) 62.
Only three communication devices (40, 50, and 60) are shown in
With continuing reference to
The CSCF 22 supports and controls multimedia sessions. The CSCF 22 invites elements such as the MGCF 26 and the MRFC 32 to call sessions to control the establishment and maintenance of bearer paths for call sessions by adding, modifying or deleting appropriate bearer paths for respective call sessions. The CSCF 22 is the signaling entity for call session control. It manages sessions by using SIP and/or other appropriate call/session establishment protocols, and it provides features and services and coordinates with other network elements for session control, service control and resource allocation.
The CSCF 22 may provide the following functionalities: incoming call gateway, call control function, serving profile database, and address handling. By functioning as an incoming call gateway the CSCF 22 acts as a call session entry point and routes incoming calls. The call control function generally refers to call setup/termination and state/event management. The CSCF 22 interacts with the MGCF 26 for calls to/from the PSTN/PLMN 62 and with the BGCF 28 for calls to the PSTN/PLMN 62 to determine the appropriate MGCF 26 to use. It also controls the MRFP 30 via the MRFC 32, which interprets information or signals coming from the CSCF 22 and controls the MFRP 30, in order to support conferencing and other multi-party services. SIP level registrations from subscribers are processed with the call control function. The call control function may also provide service trigger mechanisms to the application servers 24 to invoke services provided thereby, either locally, at the application servers 24, or elsewhere. It also reports call events for billing, auditing, intercept or other purposes, and may query the address handling function to check whether a requested communication is allowed given the current subscription. The serving profiling database function refers to the interaction of the CSCF 22 with the HSS 34 to receive and cache user profile information. The address handling function refers to address analysis, translation, modification (when appropriate) and mapping.
The MGW 24 acts as a bearer path interface between the IMS 20 and externals networks and/or subsystems, and provides translation resources and resources for modifying the bearer stream (e.g., encoding, transcoding, compression, packetization, depacketization, etc.). The bearer path elements include the MGCF 26, the MRFC 32, and the BGCF 28. These elements provide the flexibility to add, modify or delete bearers used by the users' services. More particularly, the MGW 24 interacts with the MGCF 26, which interprets signaling coming from the CSCF 22 and controls the MGW 24 to achieve resource allocation, bearer path control, and payload processing. The MGCF 26 communicates with the CSCF 22 in order to control the call state for media channels on one or more MGWs and performs conversions between Legacy and 3rd Generation (3G) Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)/Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network call control protocols. Similarly, the MRFC 32 controls the media stream resources in the MRFP 30, which also acts as a bearer path interface between the IMS 20 and external networks and/or subsystems, while being able to provide for conferencing or multiple party communications or other more advanced media services (relative to the MGW 24). The BGCF 28 selects the proper MGCF 26.
The HSS 34 is coupled to the CSCF 22 via a data link. The HSS 34 includes subscriber profile information, including information traditionally associated with a home location register (HLR) for a mobile subscriber. Suitably, the HSS 34 stores information such as user identification, user security information, including network access control information for authentication and authorization, user location information for user registration and locating, and user profiles, including identification of the services subscribed to and other service specific information.
The application servers 36 are preferably coupled to the IMS 20 for use in interaction with the communication devices 40, 50, 60. In particular, the CSCF 22 is coupled to the application servers 36 via a data link. Also, the HSS 34 is preferably coupled to the application servers 36. A myriad of services and applications may reside in or be coupled to the application servers 36, including a call forwarding method and system in accordance with the present invention.
In the preferred embodiment, the CSCF 22, the MGCF 26, the MGW 24, the HSS 34, and the application servers 36 are processor-based apparatus with data link interfaces for coupling together as described above and shown in
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
Initially, in step 101, a wireless subscriber logs on to the first communication device 40, which preferably supports wireless voice and data transmission as well as data push services (DPS) such as Instant Messaging (IM), which allows users to send messages to any of the people in their pre-selected contact list as long as that person is online, Short Message Service (SMS), which enables the transmission of alphanumeric messages between mobile subscribers and external systems such as electronic mail, paging, and voice-mail systems, and Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), which integrates the composition, storage, access and delivery of different kinds of media, e.g., text, voice, image, animations, music or video.
Next, because the subscriber needs to leave his or her present location and communication device, the subscriber sets up a call forwarding profile, which is stored in a centralized database, such as at the HSS 34 or at an AS 36. (step 102). The centralized database includes a number of data sub-blocks for each subscriber. These are shown in
The super block 200 includes the following data sub-blocks: block 202 contains the subscriber's IM forwarding information; block 204 contains the subscriber's SMS forwarding information; block 206 contains the subscriber's MMS forwarding information, block 208 contains the subscriber's voice call forwarding information, and block 210 contains the subscriber's data call forwarding information. Of course, additional blocks may be provided in the super block 200 for storing additional subscriber data.
The call forwarding profile may be programmed in various ways, including through the subscriber's communication device 40 via an automated service or by entering a feature activation code (e.g., *78), by logging on to the service provider's Internet Web site, or by calling a call center. The subscriber will generally want to forward the type of communication/media to the most convenient device available. Thus, the subscriber may want to submit a call forwarding profile along the lines of the following:
In step 103, an incoming call having a unique destination address is received at the CSCF 22 in the traditional manner. Next, the CSCF 22 determines the type of call based upon media parameters that are contained in the incoming call request (e.g. ISUP (ISDN User Part) IAM (Initial Address Message) or SIP INVITE) (step 104). These would indicate the “type of call,” be it data, text, voice, etc. via existing media description parameters. The CSCF 22 then queries the HSS 34 to determine the appropriate destination number (i.e., the appropriate communication device) for the call (step 105) based on the type of media identified in the incoming call request. The HSS 34 looks up the call forwarding information for the unique destination address and media type and returns this information to the CSCF 22 (step 106). The CSCF 22 routes the call to the appropriate destination address (step 107).
The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description of the preferred embodiments. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations insofar as they come within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalence thereof.
