`
`
`
`
`
`(i2) United States Patent
`Virtanen et al.
`
`(io) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,879,828 B2
`Apr. 12,2005
`
`US006879828B2
`
`(54) UNBROKEN PRIMARY CONNECTION
`SWITCHING BETWEEN
`COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
`
`(75)
`
`Inventors: Keijo Virtanen, Tampere (FI);
`Tarja-Leena Ranta, Lohja (FI)
`
`(73) Assignee: Nokia Corporation, Espoo (FI)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 290 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 10/237,126
`(22) Filed:
`Sep. 9, 2002
`(65)
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2004/0048612 A1 Mar. 11, 2004
`Int. C l.
`(51)
`................................................... ...... H04Q 7/20
`(52) U.S. Cl......................... 455/426.1; 455/434; 455/462
`(58) Field of Search ............................... 455/426.1, 434,
`455/462
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,058,151 A
`10/1991 Tanaka et al.
`5,778,316 A
`7/1998 Persson et al.
`2004/0042541 A l
`3/2004 Matsumura
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`............ H04L/12/66
`0105108
`1/2001
`
`WO
`
`Primary Examiner—William D. Cumming
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Antonelli, Terry, Stout &
`Kraus, LLP
`(57)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`A method allows a user of a mobile terminal to switch from
`a communication service currently active between that
`mobile terminal and another mobile terminal to a different
`communication service in such a manner that the end to end
`connection between terminals appears unbroken to the user.
`The user initiates the switch by inputting an appropriate
`command at the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal then
`transfers a request to the other mobile terminal. The request
`invokes a user interface on the other mobile terminal and
`prompts the user of the other mobile terminal to indicate
`whether or not they agree to switch from the currently active
`communication service to the other communication service.
`After receiving the user’s response to the prompt, the other
`mobile terminal sends back a reply indicating the user’s
`response. Signaling to perform the switch is initiated in
`response to the reply. The active communication service is
`terminated at the first and second mobile terminal at sub­
`stantially the same time that the second communication
`service is initiated at the first and second mobile terminal.
`
`15 Claims, 17 Drawing Sheets
`
`-400
`
`GTL 1009
`PGR of U.S. Pat. No. 8,929,525
`
`0001
`
`

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`US. Patent
`
`Apr. 12, 2005
`
`Sheet 1 0f 17
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`US 6,879,828 132
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`U. S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 1 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 2 of 17
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 3 of 17
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Sheet 5 0f 17
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`US 6,879,828 132
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`501
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`502*
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`503*
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`FIG. 5
`
`USER COMMAND TO
`SWITCH SERVICES
`
`TRANSFER SWITCH
`REQUEST TO SECOND
`
`TERMINAL
`
`PROMPT USER OF
`SECOND TERMINAL:
`“SWITCH?"
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`TO SET UP SERVICE
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`RESOURCE MODIFICATION
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`505%
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`UNBROKEN SWITCHING
`OF SERVICES ON
`
`DISPLAYS OF TERMINALS
`
`0006
`
`U. S. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Sheet 5 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`FIG. 5
`
`0006
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`

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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Sheet 6 0f 17
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`U. S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 8 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`FIG. 8
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 10 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 11 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 12 of 17
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`US. Patent
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`Apr. 12, 2005
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`Sheet 13 0f 17
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 13 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`FIG. 13
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`

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`U. S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 14 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`FIG. 14A
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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 15 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`U. S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 16 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`FIG. 15A
`
`0017
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`

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`U.S. Patent
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`Apr. 12,2005
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`Sheet 17 of 17
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`

`

`
`
`
`
`1
`UNBROKEN PRIMARY CONNECTION
`SWITCHING BETWEEN
`COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
`
`BACKGROUND
`1. Field of the Invention
`The present invention relates generally to the field of
`wireless communications. In particular, the invention relates
`to the user interaction with a mobile terminal when switch­
`ing between communication services.
`2. Discussion of the Related Art
`In the development of wireless communications, there is
`a trend towards supporting various communication services
`in addition to a conventional voice call. Some communica­
`tions services, such as short message service (SMS), mul­
`timedia message service (MMS), e-mail, network operator
`messages, push services, etc., are not continuous services
`and can be provided in secondary connections which are
`simultaneous with the primary connection and which do not
`require disconnection of the primary connection. Depending
`on the particular air interface, multiple simultaneous con­
`nections may be possible to/from a wireless communication
`terminal. For example, GSM wireless communication net­
`works can provide a primary circuit switched (CS) connec­
`tion for a voice/data call and a simultaneous secondary
`connection which can send and receive SMS messages
`during the call to a mobile terminal with a headset.
`Some communications services, such as voice, instant
`messaging (such as chat), and video messaging, can only be
`provided through primary connections because the user
`interaction in the service is expected to be substantially
`continuous without any lengthy interruption. GSM and other
`conventional wireless communication networks can only
`provide one primary connection at a time to a mobile
`terminal. Thus, the primary connection for one communi­
`cation service must be ended before the primary connection
`for another communication service is initiated. Furthermore,
`a communication service, such as a chat session, may be
`automatically terminated by an incoming phone call and
`cannot be resumed after the incoming phone call has ended.
`A Wideband Code Division Multiplex Access (WCDMA)
`air interface has been proposed in the 3rd Generation
`Partnership Project which can provide several simultaneous
`primary connections to a single wireless communication
`terminal. However, even though multiple primary connec­
`tions may be available over a WCDMA air interface, the user
`experience at the terminal when switching between primary
`connections may not be fluent or otherwise satisfactory,
`especially when a user wishes to continue communicating
`with the same person but through a different type of com­
`munication service. A person may desire to switch from a
`voice service to a chat service because they no longer wish
`to speak out loud. A person may desire to switch from a
`voice service to a video service so that they can see
`something, such a person’s face, or to switch from a video
`service to a voice service so that something will not be seen.
`Even if multiple primary connections are available in a
`wireless communication network, the user interaction nec­
`essary to switch between communication services consists
`of performing two separate methods, the first method con­
`sisting of those steps necessary to terminate the first com­
`munication service and the second method consisting of
`those steps necessary to activate the second communication
`service. Although the network allows different types of
`communication services, there is still a disadvantage that the
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`user interaction is cumbersome at least because different
`methods and several steps are necessary to switch between
`the communication services. The lack of immediacy in
`switching is a concern because the user may believe that he
`has lost contact with the other person if there is a long period
`of time without contact while the switching occurs.
`There are now numerous communication services which
`carry various forms and combinations of multimedia content
`such as video, web content, graphics and text. As used in this
`application, the term “multimedia” refers to any content
`having a visual element. The mobile terminals of wireless
`communication networks, particularly phones of cellular
`networks, are now capable of transporting data, including
`multimedia data in various communication services. Many
`types of mobile terminals are being used, such as cellular
`phones, cordless telephones, personal digital assistants
`(PDAs), palm-held computers and laptop computers. The
`strong push in current wireless technology development is to
`use mobile terminals for varied applications and to allow
`users of such devices to seamlessly integrate events and
`needs in their lives while maintaining adequate communi­
`cations power to receive and transmit all of the data and
`information which has an impact on them.
`An advanced mobile terminal supported by so-called third
`generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) networks and
`using the latest innovations in computers, software, displays
`and other technologies may access and receive a variety of
`many different communication services. Unfortunately, the
`manner and duration (apparent to the user) of the procedure
`necessary for switching among the communication services
`may vary widely and unpredictably. These communication
`services may be provided by different information sources in
`other networks and may be based on and built upon a variety
`of data transfer techniques. This introduces more delay and
`uncertainty into mobile terminal switching among different
`communication services.
`For at least these reasons, present methods of switching
`between different communication services at a mobile ter­
`minal have disadvantages. Accordingly, there is a need for
`effective solutions that allow for easy and substantially
`immediate mobile terminal switching between different
`communication services without it appearing to the user that
`the connection is broken at any time.
`
`BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENTS
`To overcome limitations in the prior art described above,
`and to overcome other limitations that will be apparent upon
`reading and understanding the present specification, it is
`therefore an object of the following described preferred and
`exemplary embodiments to overcome the above mentioned
`disadvantages. In particular, an object of the preferred and
`exemplary embodiments is to provide a solution which
`facilitates mobile terminal switching among various com­
`munication services which appears, to the users of the
`mobile terminals, to be substantially immediate and the
`end-to-end connection unbroken.
`In the preferred and exemplary embodiments, a method
`allows a user of a mobile terminal to switch from a com­
`munication service currently active between the mobile
`terminal and another mobile terminal to a different commu­
`nication service in such a manner that the end to end
`connection between appears unbroken to the user. The user
`initiates the switch by inputting an appropriate command at
`the mobile terminal. The mobile terminal then transfers a
`request to the other mobile terminal. The request invokes a
`
`0019
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`

`

`3
`user interface on the other mobile terminal and prompts the
`user of the other mobile terminal to indicate whether or not
`they agree to switch from the currently active communica­
`tion service to the other communication service. After
`receiving the user’s response to the prompt, the other mobile
`terminal sends back a reply indicating the user’s response.
`Signaling to perform the switch is initiated in response to the
`reply. The active communication service is terminated at the
`first and second mobile terminal at substantially the same
`time that the second communication service is initiated at
`the first and second mobile terminal.
`A particular aspect of the preferred and exemplary
`embodiments involves a software application on the mobile
`terminal which carries out a method of switching between
`communication services in which the new communication
`service is substantially immediately presented to the users
`on the mobile terminals when the previous communication
`service is terminated without particular requests needing to
`be made by the user. Preferably, the user can make a simple
`selection on a displayed user interface to switch from a
`currently active communication service to one of a number
`of available communication services.
`This and other features of the preferred and exemplary
`embodiments of the invention will become apparent and
`better understood from the following detailed description
`when considered in conjunction with the accompanying
`drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the detailed
`description and drawings are designed solely for the pur­
`poses of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of
`the invention, for which reference should be made to the
`appended claims.
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals identify
`similar elements throughout the several views:
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network environment
`according to a 3GPP all IP reference model in which the
`preferred embodiments of the invention may be practiced.
`FIG. 2 is an illustration of a possible user interface which
`may be deployed on the display of a mobile terminal during
`a voice call.
`FIG. 3 is an illustration of a possible user interface which
`may be deployed on the display of a mobile phone in
`response to a request from another mobile terminal to switch
`from a voice call to a video call according to an embodiment
`of the present invention.
`FIG. 4 is an illustration of a possible user interface which
`may be deployed on the display of the mobile terminal after
`the voice call has been switched to a video call.
`FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of switching the
`communication services between mobile terminals accord­
`ing to a preferred embodiment of the invention.
`FIG. 6 is an illustration of the composition by a user of a
`request for a communication service at a first mobile termi­
`nal making the request according to a preferred embodiment
`of the invention.
`FIG. 7 is an illustration of the request composed in FIG.
`6 as it appears on the display of the first mobile terminal.
`FIG. 8 is an illustration of the request composed in FIG.
`6 as it appears on the display of a second mobile terminal
`receiving the request.
`FIG. 9 is an illustration of the request for a second
`communication service made on the first mobile terminal
`during the communication service in FIG. 6.
`FIG. 10 is an illustration of the display on the second
`mobile terminal at the time the request for the second
`communication service is made.
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`FIG. 11 is an illustration of the display on the first mobile
`terminal during the second communication service.
`FIG. 12 is an illustration of the display on the second
`mobile terminal during the second communication service.
`FIG. 13 is an illustration of the action taken at the first
`mobile terminal to end the second communication service
`and return to the first communication service.
`FIGS. 14A and 14B is illustrating a method of switching
`the communication services between two mobile terminals
`from a video call service to an audio call service to an audio
`call services between two mobile terminals.
`FIGS. 15A and 15B is illustrating a method of switching
`the communication services between two mobile terminals
`from an audio call service to a video call service.
`DETAIFED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`In the following description of the various preferred
`embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying draw­
`ings which form a part hereof, and in which is shown by way
`of illustration various preferred embodiments in which the
`invention may be practiced. It is to be understood that other
`embodiments may be utilized and structural and functional
`modifications may be made without departing from the
`scope of the present invention.
`Attention now is directed to FIG. 1, which shows a block
`diagram of a preferred and exemplary wireless communi­
`cation network according to a 3GPP all IP reference model
`and in which a method of switching between communication
`services at mobile terminals may be carried out according to
`a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It will be
`appreciated that the present invention is applicable to a
`variety of different types of communications services, but is
`most advantageously applied to multimedia communication
`services requiring a primary connection on a wireless com­
`munication network.
`According to FIG. 1, an Internet Protocol (IP) terminal
`device or terminal equipment 1 is connected to a third
`generation (3G) mobile terminal 2 which provides a
`bi-directional radio connection to an Universal Terrestrial
`Radio Access Network (UTRAN) 3 of the Universal Mobile
`Terrestrial Service, (UMTS) System. The mobile terminal is
`preferably capable of receiving any one or more of various
`communication services and providing corresponding
`received data to the user. The UTRAN 3 comprises at least
`one Radio Network Controller (RNC, not shown) for pro­
`viding a switching function to e.g. a General Packet Radio
`Service (GPRS) network comprising a Serving GPRS Sup­
`port Node (SGSN) 5 having a switching and mobility
`mangement function in the GPRS core network of the
`Universal Mobile Terrestrial Service (UMTS) system.
`Furthermore, the SGSN 5 is connected to a Gateway GPRS
`Support Node (GGSN) 6 which provides an access function
`to a multimedia IP-based network 12, such as the Internet.
`Additionally, the RNC of the UTRAN 3 may establish a
`connection to a circuit switched (CS) terminal equipment 11
`via a fixed network or PSTN/ISDN network 10 and a Media
`Gateway (MGW) 4 arranged for adapting the PS multimedia
`connection of the UMTS network (including the SGSN 5
`and the GGSN 6) to the CS connection of the PSTN/ISDN
`10. Similarly, the packet switched (PS) multimedia connec­
`tion can be adapted to a CS connection of a CS mobile
`network such as the UMTS release 1999 CS domain or a
`GSM network. In particular, the MGW 4 may allow a PS
`H.323 or a Session Initiation Protocol, (SIP) system defined
`by 3GPP for use in the IP multimedia (IM) Core Network
`
`0020
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`US 6,879,828 B2
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`5
`(CN) to interoperate with PSTN/ISDN terminals such as the
`CS terminal equipment 22 which may be a H.324 (H.324/1)
`compliant terminal. The gateway functionality of the MGW
`4 is addressed e.g. in the ITU-T recommendation H.246 for
`the case of an interworking of H-series multimedia terminals
`with H-series multimedia terminals and voice/voice-band
`terminals on PSTN and ISDN.
`The MGW 4 is connected to a Media Gateway Control
`Function (MGCF) 9 which is connected via a Transmission
`Signaling Gateway (T-SGW, not shown) to the PSTN/ISDN
`10. The MGCF 9 may be connected via a Call State Control
`Function (CSCF) 7 to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 8
`comprising a subscriber multimedia profile database 80.
`The preferred embodiments of the invention are con­
`cerned with improving the switching between a variety of
`communication services. For example, users on a call may
`want to make silent comments in a chat session or drawings
`that are forwarded for display on the mobile terminal 2 of the
`other user. To accomplish this, a software application/user
`interface is preferably stored in mobile terminal 2. Having
`the application resident on the mobile terminal 2 increases
`the speed of switching between the communication services,
`and allows the user interface to be well designed with
`suitable graphical elements for the characteristics of mobile
`terminal 2.
`FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary display 200 of a mobile
`terminal 2 of a user (Eric Williams) having an active voice
`call to another person (Susan Adkins). The display 200
`preferably includes a window 201 relating to the voice call.
`The window may contain, for example, the name of the other
`person, a preexisting picture of the other person (the picture
`is not a live picture), and an indication of the current
`duration of the call. The displayed text may be “Active
`Susan Adkins” as shown in FIG. 1, or “Audio call to Susan
`Atkins” or something similar. As will be explained more
`below, display 200 preferably includes tabs 202-205 corre­
`sponding to other available communication services (for
`example, a video call, a chat session, a whiteboard applica­
`tion and a shared view application as shown in FIG. 2). The
`other tabs 202-205 have closed connections and only the
`voice call tab with window 201 has an active connection.
`Alternatively, there may be a drop-down menu or some other
`method provided to allow easy selection and requesting of
`other available communication services. The variety of
`available communication services may vary greatly from
`one network environment to another. For example, a 2.5 G
`network may have only a chat service and whiteboard
`application service while a 3G network may also have a
`video call service and a shared view application service.
`A example of the user interfaces on the mobile terminals
`in a preferred embodiment of the method of switching
`between communications services is shown in FIGS. 3 and
`4. In the example, Eric having a voice call communication
`service with Susan wants to switch to a video call commu­
`nication service with Susan. Eric enters a command on his
`mobile terminal 2 to send a request to Susan’s terminal
`indicating his desire to switch from a voice call to a video
`call. In the example of a mobile terminal having a software
`application/user interface to provide display 200 as shown In
`FIG. 2, Eric makes the request by simply selecting the tab
`corresponding to the desired service.
`Various information may be contained in the request
`message transmitted by the mobile terminal 2, such as
`details of the mobile terminal related to carrying out the
`suggested service (video format type, etc). The request may
`be logged in the receiving mobile terminal. It is a design
`
`6
`choice when to remove request entries; for example a
`request can be removed when that session is completed, plus
`some predetermined time.
`FIG. 3 illustrates a simple example of a display 300 at
`Susan’s terminal upon receipt of the request to switch to
`another communication service. The display 300 includes a
`window 301 which may contain, for example, the name and
`a preexisting picture of Eric. The window 301 preferably
`automatically includes a prompt such as “Change to video
`call” without the user of the receiving terminal having to
`take any action. Also, although the user interface is shown
`in FIG. 3 as being rather simple, the user interface may take
`a variety of forms and be in any number and combination of
`multimedia formats (video, audio, graphics, animation, etc.).
`The content may, for example, announce the identity or
`source of the other party or service provider with video
`programming, either with text, audio, video or graphics.
`There are several general methods in which either Eric or
`Susan, by accessing the multimedia subscriber profile 80 for
`Susan’s terminal, is able to exert some control over the user
`interface and prompt on Susan’s terminal, including window
`301. The prompt typically includes at least a display shown
`to the user on the display of the mobile terminal, but it may
`also consist of tactile notification, such as vibration of the
`mobile terminal, or a distinctive ringing tone.
`It is particularly preferable that the user interface, includ­
`ing prompt, be available on Susan’s terminal substantially
`immediately after the request is made at Eric’s terminal.
`Susan can then respond to the prompt by simply pressing
`YES button 302-1 or NO button 302-2 or taking any other
`action appropriate for the user interface utilized on her
`terminal for the request to indicate whether or not she agrees
`to switch the communication service.
`FIG. 4 shows an example of the resulting display 400 on
`Eric’s mobile terminal immediately after the switch from the
`voice call communication service to the video call commu­
`nication service has been completed. Unlike the preexisting
`pictures of the users in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pictures in FIG.
`4 are “live” pictures according to the specification of the
`video call communication service. There may also be other
`information displayed or otherwise provided during the
`video call, such as, for example, the duration of the video
`call and/or the cumulative duration of the video call and the
`previous voice call. As explained below, at any time, the
`users may again switch to another communication service in
`the same manner as described above with respect to FIGS.
`2-4.
`The method of switching communication service may
`utilize software application in a network element (e.g.,
`MGCF a) to adapt the existing resources by releasing part of
`the used connection resources. Alternatively, the MGCF
`may reserve new resources and release earlier reserved
`resources. Another alternative is that the MGCF a reserves
`an additional portion of the required network connection
`resources in respect to an earlier used network connection in
`such a way that newly reserved and earlier provisional
`network connection resources are used together to satisfy the
`connection resource needs to support the newly switched
`service requirements.
`The software application carrying out the above method
`of switching communication services may itself be able to
`perform one or more of the communication services or there
`may be one or more other software applications on mobile
`terminal 2 to perform one or more of the communication
`services. For example, there may be one software applica­
`tion to perform the video call service, another software
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`0021
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`US 6,879,828 B2
`
`7
`application to perform the chat session, etc. Alternatively, a
`software application may perform more than one commu­
`nication service. In any event, such software applications
`may interact with the software application carrying out the
`above method of switching communication services through
`application programming interfaces (APIs) or similar meth­
`ods. Alternatively, each of such software applications may
`be revised or developed to include user interface commands
`for each one of the communication service change request.
`The mobile terminal 2 may have any one of a variety of
`different software application managers for managing the
`software applications resident on the mobile terminal 2 or
`downloaded to the mobile terminal 2. Such a software
`manager may be terminal and implementation dependent.
`Once stored in the mobile terminal 2, the software appli­
`cation for carrying out the method of switching communi­
`cations services can be launched at any time as long as a
`primary connection is active. The launch can be user acti­
`vated or activated automatically whenever a primary con­
`nection is opened. However, it is preferred that some ele­
`ments of user interface do not have to always be present. For
`example, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a clock or timer in the
`upper right of the display, the function buttons on the left
`side (for printing, navigation, etc.) and the right side of the
`display (volume control, adding member, ending call, etc.)
`may be constant. The various windows 201,301, and 401 are
`present and absent according to the state of communications.
`Furthermore, the tabs 202-205, the Yes button 302-1, the
`NO button 302-2, and the function buttons for diverting a
`call are also present according to the state of communica­
`tions. As indicated in FIG. 3, there may be a background,
`either fixed or at the user’s preference, on the display when
`the elements are not present.
`It is preferred that once the software application perform­
`ing the method for switching communication services is
`launched, it remains in the background until the method is
`invoked, for example, a change in communication service is
`requested. Preferably, neither user has to provide compli­
`cated inputs. It is a particular feature of the preferred
`embodiments that the software application utilizes previ­
`ously obtained information and requires only one single
`action by the appropriate user at the various steps in the
`method. This can be done as shown in FIGS. 2-4, for
`example, by providing a plurality of tabs 202-205 each
`corresponding to an available communication service which
`may be requested and YES and NO buttons 302-1 and 302-2
`for the reply to the request. In order to switch to a particular
`service according to a preferred embodiment of the
`invention, the user merely selects one of the tabs 202-205,
`and in order to reply, the user selects one of the YES and NO
`buttons 302-1 and 302-2. However, the implementation of
`FIGS. 2-4 is merely exemplary and others may be used
`instead.
`FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the general method of the
`preferred embodiments without specific reference to the
`implementation in FIGS. 2-4. The first step in the method is
`the receipt of a user command at a first terminal to switch
`communication services (step 501). The second step is the
`transfer of the request to switch communication services
`from the first terminal to the second terminal (step 502).
`When the request is received at the second terminal, a
`prompt is provided to the user of the second terminal to