(12) United States Patent
`Holfman
`
`(10) Patent N0.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 6,622,017 B1
`Sep. 16, 2003
`
`US006622017B1
`
`(54) OVER-THE-AIR PROGRAMMING OF
`WIRELESS TERMINAL EEATURES
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Ted L_ H011-man, Camp Hm, PA (US)
`.
`.
`.
`
`<73) Assenw f§;')°° Parn*ersh'P,Bedm1nster» NJ
`
`*
`
`Notice:
`
`J
`Y
`Sub'ect to an disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U_S_C_ 154(b) by 0 dayS_
`
`(21) APPL NO’: 09/556’-144
`(22) Filed:
`Apr. 24, 2000
`
`(60)
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`Provisional application No. 60/185,131, filed on Feb. 25,
`2000'
`Int. CL7 ............................................... .. H04M 3/00
`(51)
`(52) U.S. Cl.
`455/419; 455/418; 455/412
`(58) Field of Search ............................... .. 455/412-420,
`455/551, 70, 517, 1861, 352; 709/219,
`328, 329
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`6,023,620 A *
`6,029,064 A
`6,029,065 A
`
`2/2000 Hansson ................... .. 455/419
`2/2000 Farris et al.
`..
`455/412
`2/2000 Shah . . . . . . . . . . .
`. . . .. 455/414
`
`4/2000 Fette et al.
`6,052,600 A *
`6,138,009 A * 10/2000 Birgerson . . . . . . . . . . .
`*
`'
`‘
`
`455/419
`. . . .. 455/419
`
`
`‘I31 9 $1388? $§:'§§$:“2?;f‘ .1:.....11: 123/213
`
`2:£;‘3‘:§3i
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`11/V1997
`12/1998
`
`W0 97/42782
`W0
`wo 98/58506
`wo
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner—DWayne Bost
`Assistant Exam.iner—Eliseo Ramos-Feliciano
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm—McDermott, Will & Emery
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`Terminal devices for a wireless communication network are
`manufactured and distributed with predetermined commu-
`nication capabilities and a minimal operation capability.
`Each unit includes a substantial memory for plug-in feature
`programming, which initially is empty. A terminal user
`selects a desired feature or set of features and contacts a
`service provider. The pr0vider’s equipment downloads soft-
`ware programming corresponding to the desired feature into
`
`455/433
`specification of the core software of the terminal device.
`12/1995 Lynch et at
`455/417
`When loaded into memory and interfaced through the core
`1/1997 Zicker et al.
`455/419
`software, the module allows the terminal device to imple-
`2/1997 Henry, Jr. el al.
`455/432
`ment the desired feature. Features can be sold in predefined
`3/1997 Hflbefmafl Ct
`fi1~
`455 419
`‘
`'
`'
`6 1998 L
`h
`l.
`455/432 Zitlfjfi,:§?n:e,,:id:S;,3f§f,‘:E
`811998 szighoiizaer at
`455/418
`1
`.
`t
`th
`11/1998 Kcnagy ct al.
`455/419
`“ es 1“ 0
`‘’ memory‘
`1/1999 Zicker et al.
`455/466
`7/1999 Seazholtz eta]. .
`9/1999 Coursey ................... .. 455/432
`
`
`
`8 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
`5,536,333 A
`5,594,782 A
`5,603,084 A *
`5,613,204 A
`576 618 A
`5§79<1i952 A
`5,842,124 A
`5,862,475 A
`5,920,821 A
`5,950,130 A
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`US 6,622,017 B1
`
`1
`OVER-THE-AIR PROGRAMMING OF
`VVIRELESS TERMINAL FEATURES
`
`RELATE APPLICATIONS
`
`This application claims the benefit of US. Provisional
`Application No. 60/185,131, entitled “OVER-THE-AIR
`PROGRAMMING OF WIRELESS TERMINAL FEA-
`TURES” filed on Feb. 25, 2000, the disclosure of which is
`entirely incorporated herein by reference.
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`10
`
`The concepts involved in the present invention relate to a
`new approach to the manufacture, sale and distribution of
`wireless communication terminals, such as digital cellular
`telephones, and the special functions and features for such
`devices.
`
`BACKGROUND
`
`25
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`30
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`
`Mobile communication is becoming increasingly popular,
`particularly for voice-grade telephone services, and more
`recently for data communication services. As a result, there
`is an increasing demand for development of communication
`terminals with ever more sophisticated features. Even a
`low-end model of a digital cellular telephone will include
`caller identification capability, a large speed-dial list, called
`and calling party phone number lists, etc.
`At present, manufacturers build the wireless terminal
`devices with a complete set of hardware and read-only
`software to support a full set of desired features. Develop-
`ment of a new wireless telephone currently takes about 18
`months, from initial feature specification to first street-sale.
`Costs of development of new models of cellular telephones,
`with ever more sophisticated features are high and continue
`to spiral upward.
`At the same time, driven by a long decline in consumer
`electronics prices, the price that the market will bear for such
`telephones has remained steady or even declined, in spite of
`the high demand. As a result, the margin on each telephone
`or terminal unit made and sold by a manufacturer is
`extremely small, sometimes only a few dollars a unit. The
`resellers, typically cellular carriers or their agents, sell the
`terminal units at a loss, as a form of subsidy or discount, to
`encourage customers to subscribe to and use their cellular
`network services.
`
`Some capability exists today to program service-related
`information into digital cellular telephones. However, this
`capability has been limited to data needed to provision a new
`unit or to provision an existing unit for a new service. During
`initial provisioning, for example, the carrier programs in the
`mobile identification number assigned to the unit, a home
`system identifier, and a preferred roaming list containing the
`identifiers of systems providing financially favorable roam-
`ing services. Until recently, such programming involved a
`local physical connection to the unit and required a techni-
`cian. More and more, the carriers are deploying various
`systems to enable at least some of the requisite programming
`data to be downloaded to the units via the wireless network.
`
`For example, commonly assigned US. Pat. No. 5,613,204
`to Haberman et al. teaches downloading a list of system
`identifiers (SIDS) over-the-air into a mobile station. The
`downloaded list is used to control system selection during
`roaming. The downloaded information may include infor-
`mation about features available through the identified sys-
`tems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,130 to Coursey teaches down-
`loading a system access list for roaming control as part of an
`over-the-air service activation process.
`
`60
`
`65
`
`2
`Essentially, these downloading techniques turn on or off
`available features by setting bits to toggle features on/ofi or
`by loading necessary control data, such as the list of system
`identifiers used to control system selection by the handset
`during roaming. The carrier may download new or updated
`data, for example, a new version of the preferred roaming
`list, from time to time.
`The existing programming and downloading techniques
`do enable the carrier to modify some operations of the
`handset, to turn services on or olf and/or to update necessary
`data. However,
`the feature functionality desired must
`already be present in the unit as manufactured and sold to the
`user. If the user desires a new feature that an existing unit
`does not support, the user still must discard the old unit and
`purchase a new unit that can support the desired feature.
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`The inventive concepts alleviate the above noted prob-
`lems in development and distribution of wireless terminal
`devices with new features. Essentially, the manufacturer will
`develop and sell a terminal device having predetermined
`communication capabilities and a minimal operation capa-
`bility. However, the unit will include a substantial memory
`for plug-in feature programming. After sale to an end user,
`the end user selects a desired feature or set of features and
`
`contacts a service provider. The provider may be the carrier
`operating the network that the user subscribes to, the manu-
`facturer of the terminal unit or an independent third party.
`The user obtains software programming from the service
`provider, which is then loaded into the memory of the
`terminal device.
`
`The downloaded software is essentially a plug-in software
`module, written to the application program interface speci-
`fication of the core software of the terminal device. When
`
`loaded into memory, the core software together with the
`plug-in module implements the desired feature(s). Features
`can be added, upgraded or replaced virtually at any time by
`downloading new feature modules into the memory to add
`to or over-write the software for features previously down-
`loaded into the terminal.
`
`The manufacturer or other parties can upgrade units
`simply by writing new software. The manufacturer can sell
`the units for a set price, which may be small. However, the
`later sales of the features and/or sales of feature upgrades
`provide an additional revenue stream.
`From the end users’ perspective, they can obtain exactly
`the set of features that
`they desire. Also,
`there can be
`competition for writing the best software, for at least some
`features. For example, if a third party oifers a better voice-
`recognition dialer module than that available from the
`carrier or the manufacturer, the user may opt to buy that
`software from the third party.
`The downloading of the software into the wireless termi-
`nal device may utilize a variety of available technologies.
`For example, a data port on the terminal may be temporarily
`connected to a computer or to a disk or card reader and the
`software plug-in modules transferred into memory through
`the port. Preferably, the software downloading utilizes an
`over-the-air transfer.
`
`The minimal capability of the base-line terminal device
`enables the device to establish a wireless link through the
`carrier‘s network to a data system. For network-related
`features and/or initial provisioning, this data system would
`be a private system operated by the carrier. The data system
`would send at least one software module containing the
`executable program necessary to allow the particular type of
`
`6
`
`

`
`US 6,622,017 B1
`
`3
`terminal to implement one or more features selected by the
`individual user.
`
`In a preferred embodiment, the base-line functionality of
`the terminal implements a wireless web browser. The initial
`data communication would provide web pages for display
`on the terminal and allow the user to select packages of
`features and/or individual features from those available from
`the carrier. Upon selection and agreement to payment, a
`server would transmit the module(s) for the selected features
`through the network and over-the-air to the user’s wireless
`terminal device. The terminal would check the integrity of
`the received module and load the software into flash
`memory. Once loaded,
`the terminal would execute the
`software, as needed to allow the user access to the selected
`service features. The user could initiate similar procedures to
`obtain other feature modules later, from the carrier directly,
`from the manufacturer or from a third party.
`Thus, certain aspects of invention relate to methods for
`distributing and programming one or more wireless com-
`munication terminals. The methodology entails obtaining
`one or more programmable wireless communication termi-
`nals. Each terminal has a predetermined minimal set of
`operational capabilities. Each terminal includes a program
`memory for storing one or more feature modules and a
`processor for executing one or more of the feature modules
`to control the operational capabilities of the terminal. A
`substantial portion of the program memory is initially blank.
`In the preferred embodiments,
`the methodology also
`involves establishing a database of plug-in program mod-
`ules. A plug-in program module comprises program code
`executable by the processor to enable implementation of a
`predetermined one or more communication features by a
`terminal.
`When a terminal is distributed to a subscriber of commu-
`nication services offered by a wireless network, the sub-
`scriber selects one or more features from those available
`through the network. The methodology then involves
`retrieving an executable program module corresponding to
`the selected feature from the database. That module is
`downloaded into the program memory in the subscriber’s
`wireless communication terminal, to enable that terminal to
`implement the selected feature.
`Other aspects of the invention relate to a network pro-
`viding features based on the inventive downloading of
`feature modules and to the system providing the database
`and module transmissions to the handsets.
`
`A further aspect of the invention relates to a unique
`implementation of the wireless terminal device itself. The
`terminal includes a wireless transceiver for communication
`
`via a public wireless communication system and a program-
`mable controller. The terminal provides a user interface,
`coupled to the programmable controller, to enable a user to
`activate a temiinal feature. A memory coupled to the con-
`troller includes two sections. The first section of memory
`stores a kernel of software necessary to implement a base-
`line functionality of the terminal device. The functionality
`implemented by the software kernel supports the user inter-
`face and is suflicient to support downloading of software
`into the terminal device. Also,
`the kernel implements a
`software interface. The second section of memory is write-
`able. This section is for receiving and storing at least one
`downloaded feature module program, which is executable
`by the programmable controller through the software inter-
`face. Execution of the module program would serve to
`implement one or more terminal features upon activation via
`the user interface.
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`A further aspect of invention relates to the unique soft-
`ware. A software product,
`in accord with this aspect,
`includes at least one machine readable medium and pro-
`gramming code, carried by the medium. A computer read-
`able medium, as used herein, may be any physical element
`or carrier wave, which can bear instructions or code for
`performing a sequence of steps in a machine readable form.
`Examples of physical forms of such media include floppy
`disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tape, any other
`magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other optical medium, a
`RAM, a ROM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,
`any other memory chip or cartridge, as well as media
`bearing the software in a scannable format. A carrier wave
`medium is any type of signal that may carry digital infor-
`mation representative of the instructions or code for per-
`forming the sequence of steps. Such a carrier wave may be
`received via a wireline or fiber-optic network, via a modem,
`or as a radio-frequency or infrared signal, or any other type
`of signal which a computer or the like may receive and
`decode.
`
`In the disclosed embodiments, various software products
`reside on disks or in memory of network server computers,
`are transported via one or more data networks, as well as
`through the switching center, trunks and base stations of the
`wireless carrier’s network, and over the air link to the
`terminal devices. The software also resides in program
`memory,
`typically a flash memory, within the terminal
`devices.
`
`In the case of the software invention, the programming
`code on any such medium comprises a plug-in terminal
`feature module for execution by a controller of a wireless
`communication terminal. The module is compatible with a
`predetermined program interface implemented by the wire-
`less communication terminal, for example, through the core
`kernel of software included at time of manufacture. Execu-
`tion of the module by the controller from a memory in the
`terminal causes the terminal to perform a sequence of steps
`for implementing a predetermined terminal feature through
`a mobile wireless communication network.
`
`Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the
`invention will be set forth in part in the description which
`follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in
`the art upon examination of the following and the accom-
`panying drawings or may be learned by practice of the
`invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may
`be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities
`and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended
`claims.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The drawing figures depict the present invention by way
`of example, not by way of limitations. In the figures, like
`reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements.
`
`FIG. 1 is a process diagram useful in explaining the
`distribution of wireless terminals and associated feature
`programming, in accord with the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a simplified block diagram of a public wireless
`telephone network useful in explaining operations in accord
`with the invention.
`
`FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an exemplary
`wireless telephone station capable of implementing the
`inventive feature programming.
`FIG. 4 is a front plan View of the exemplary wireless
`telephone station.
`FIG. 5 is a logical block diagram, useful in explaining the
`organization of the software within a terminal device imple-
`menting the present invention.
`
`7
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`

`
`US 6,622,017 B1
`
`5
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`The present invention involves a new business model for
`development and distribution of new features for cellular
`telephones and other types of wireless communication ter-
`minals. FIG. 1 shows an example of the process flow, for
`distribution of the terminal devices and feature software in
`
`accord with the invention. In the illustrated example, the
`wireless terminals are digital cellular telephones 5, although
`the inventive methodology may apply to other types of
`wireless terminal devices.
`
`10
`
`Initially, the manufacturer develops and produces digital
`cellular telephone stations 5. Each station includes all hard-
`ware necessary to implement standard cellular telecommu-
`nication functions as well as a wide range of features desired
`by users of such stations. Each station 5 includes program
`memory, which can be logically considered as two sections
`M1 and M2. The first section M1 contains core program-
`ming software, that is to say the minimum kernel of software
`necessary to implement the base-line functionality of the
`wireless station 5. As discussed more later, this software
`enables voice and data communication over the wireless
`air-link interface. These communications at the base-line
`level may point
`to specific destinations, for example to
`enable provisioning and initial feature selection. The pro-
`gramming in memory section M1 also implements at least a
`minimal user interface. Preferably, the software implements
`some form of graphical user interface (GUI) designed for
`wireless terminals, such as a wireless web browser conform-
`ing to the wireless application protocol
`The second section of memory M2 is designed for storage
`of plug-in feature programs or modules. However, when
`initially manufactured, the memory section M2 is blank. The
`manufacturer sells the stations 5, with the blank memory
`section M2 to the carrier (at S1), and the carrier sells or
`otherwise distributes the terminals to its subscribers (at S2).
`When a subscriber first receives the cellular telephone 5, the
`section M2 of the memory for the plug-in feature modules
`is still blank. The core programming in memory section M1,
`however, enables the subscriber to make at
`least some
`communications using the station 5.
`Typically,
`the subscriber with the new station has an
`opportunity to review information about features available
`for implementation through the new station or terminal
`device. The carrier or other provider may use any convenient
`means to distribute this information, such as conventional
`advertising media, print or electronic information products
`distributed in the packaging with the new station, or even
`verbal description from an operator during a telephone
`conversation. In a preferred embodiment,
`the subscriber
`receives the information via the terminal 5, for example as
`one or more web page displays.
`In a preferred embodiment, the subscriber with the new
`cellular station 5 would use the station to Contact the carrier
`and or certain data systems operated by the carrier to obtain
`feature software. This is analogous to an initial communi-
`cation utilized to provision the station 5 on the carrier’s
`network and typically would coincide with the provisioning
`process. In step SSA the subscriber communicates feature
`selections to the carrier. At some point, the subscriber may
`communicate certain feature selections to the manufacturer
`
`(S3B). Data systems of the carrier and/or the manufacturer
`will transmit one or more plug-in software modules to the
`station 5. The subscriber could receive a hard media of some
`type, such as a disk or card, and use some direct coupling to
`transfer the plug-ins to the station. In the illustrated example,
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`however, the data systems of the carrier and/or the manu-
`facturer transmit the plug-in(s) through the cellular network
`and thus over the air-link to the station 5 (step S4A and/or
`step S4B).
`The programming initially resident in the station 5 will
`enable the station hardware to check the received feature
`programming modules to insure that each plug-in was
`completely received and/or to correct any errors in data
`transmission. When the station has verified that a plug-in
`was correctly and completely received, it loads the module
`into a part of the second memory section M2. Hence, after
`completion of the download procedure (S4A and/or S4B),
`the section M2 will contain one or more feature plug-in
`modules as shown. The carrier also has provisioned the
`station on the network by this time, therefore the subscriber
`can utilize the station in the normal manner. Of particular
`note, the station 5 can now perform all operations or steps
`in the sequence necessary to implement the particular fea-
`tures selected by the subscriber. Typically, the user views the
`terminal features now available in the terminal on a display
`and selects one of those features through the keypad or other
`user interface, each time the user desires to activate a
`particular features of the handset.
`The carrier often will obtain the software plug-in modules
`for various features from the manufacturer(s) of the stations
`5. However, the carrier may write its own programming or
`obtain some plug-ins from other sources. Many of the
`modules will be specific to one make and/or model of station
`available for service through the carrier’s network. For a
`given feature or package of features, there may be as many
`dilferent versions of the program module as there are dif-
`ferent. versions (make and/or model) of stations. However, if
`written to a standard program interface, some modules may
`run equally well in two or more types of station.
`The inventive concepts also encompass downloading fea-
`ture software for the station 5 from third party sources. For
`example, the manufacturer may offer a voice processing
`plug-in module for voice activated automatic dialing from
`the station 5. Athird party, however, may offer a competing
`plug-in product. The competing product may be better or
`cheaper or more desirable for some other
`reason.
`Alternatively,
`the third party may offer a feature for the
`station that neither the carrier nor the manufacturer offers. In
`any such case, the subscriber can initiate a communication
`to a data system or server 37 operated by the third party
`programmer and indicate a desire to select a feature from
`that provider (S5). The server 37 transmits the plug-in for the
`selected feature to the station 5 (step S6), preferably through
`the cellular network and thus over the air-link. After recep-
`tion and error checking,
`the plug-in is loaded, and the
`subscriber can utilize the new feature in the same manner as
`for the feature software downloaded from the carrier or the
`manufacturer.
`
`As shown by the loop at S7, the various process steps of
`selecting features and downloading plug-in modules may be
`repeated any number of times. The subscriber may elect to
`repeat
`the process with any of the three providers,
`for
`example to obtain software upgrades for selected features, to
`select and obtain software for new features, etc. The down-
`load technique also is useful for debugging purposes. If a
`user has a problem with a feature,
`the user can initiate
`communications with a server of the particular software
`provider, and if necessary obtain a download of a new copy
`of the relevant module or obtain a download of a software
`patch for the existing module.
`The storage of plug-in feature modules in the stations 5 is
`relatively permanent. Once successfully loaded into the
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`US 6,622,017 B1
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`7
`section M2 of the memory, a module may remain there
`unchanged for the useful life of the terminal device 5. Most
`often, the methodology entails replacing a module previ-
`ously stored in the terminal memory only when the sub-
`scriber desires to purchase a new module, either as a feature
`upgrade or to replace an old feature with a new feature.
`Consequently, the feature downloads tend to occur when the
`subscriber first purchases a new terminal device and infre-
`quently thereafter.
`Aspects of the invention relate to the methodology for
`distributing the terminal stations and software, to the sta-
`tions themselves, to the software, as well as to the networks
`and systems involved. To insure a complete understanding
`of these various inventive concepts, it may be helpful to
`discuss examples of these various elements in somewhat
`more detail. Consider first a network implementing the
`feature programming in accord with the invention and
`providing a variety of services using stations programmed in
`accord with the invention.
`
`FIG. 2 depicts a system for providing voice telephone
`communications as well as data communication services.
`
`Although the invention may apply to other types of wireless
`networks, as shown, a wireless telephone network 3 pro-
`vides cellular or personal communications service (PCS)
`type services to mobile stations depicted by way of example
`as mobile handsets 5. The network 3 enables users of the
`mobile stations 5 to initiate and receive telephone calls to
`each other as well as through the public switched telephone
`network (PSTN) 7 to landline telephones 9.
`The network 3 includes a number of mobile switching
`centers (lVISCs) 11, one of which appears in the drawing for
`simplicity of illustration. Each MSC 11 connects through
`trunk circuits to a number of base stations (BS5) 13, which
`the MSC controls. Through the MSC 11 and the base stations
`13, the network 3 provides voice-grade digital telephone
`services over the common air interface to and from the
`mobile stations 5. The network elements also may provide
`data services over the logical communication channels, as
`discussed more later.
`
`The mobile stations 5, the MSCS 11 and the base stations
`13 implement one or more standard air-link interfaces. For
`example,
`the wireless telephone network 3 may support
`dual-mode services. Although not shown separately, such a
`dual-mode network includes wireless telephone components
`that output analog telephone signals for transmission accord-
`ing to an analog wireless protocol (e.g., AMPS) as well as
`digital wireless system components that operate in accord
`with a digital wireless protocol. Digital wireless equipment
`is available today to support any one of several common
`interface standards, including time division multiple access
`(TDMA) and the Global System for Mobile communications
`(GSM). In the preferred embodiment, the digital wireless
`telephone components support the code division multiple
`access (CDMA) standards, for example the CDMA protocol
`IS-95. The base stations may provide both types of services.
`Alternatively, the network may comprise base stations that
`send and receive voice and signaling traflic according to the
`prescribed analog protocol as well as digital base stations
`that utilize the digital wireless protocol. Each dual-mode
`MSC typically includes a switching subsystem for analog
`telephone services, a switching subsystem for digital tele-
`phone services, and a control subsystem. Other MSCs may
`implement only one type of service.
`As noted,
`the preferred digital equipment provides
`CDMA service. With CDMA, each transmitted signal com-
`prises a dilferent pseudorandom binary sequence, also
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`referred to as a pseudonoise (PN) sequence, which modu-
`lates a carrier signal, spreading the spectrum of the wave-
`form. Thus, since each CDMA subscriber unit is assigned a
`unique PN code, a plurality of subscriber stations can send
`and receive CDMA signals sharing the same frequency
`spectrum. If these CDMA signals were viewed in either the
`frequency or time domain, the multiple access signals would
`appear to be superimposed on top of each other. The CDMA
`signals are separated in the receivers of the base stations or
`the subscriber stations by using a correlator which accepts
`only signal energy from the selected binary PN sequence and
`despreads its spectrum. The CDMA signals from other
`sources, whose codes do not match the selected binary PN
`sequence, are not despread in bandwidth and as a result,
`contribute only to the background noise and represent a
`self-interference generated by the system.
`As will be familiar to those of ordinary skill, an air-link
`interface for each cellular service in a geographic area
`includes paging channels and/'or signaling channels, as well
`as actual communications channels for voice and/or data
`services. The channels may be separate frequency channels,
`or the channels may be logically separated, for example
`based on time division or code division. The paging and
`signaling channels are used for preliminary coded commu-
`nications between a cellular telephone and a cell site in
`setting up a telephone call or other session, after which a
`communication channel is assigned or set up for the tele-
`phone’s use on that call.
`The wireless network 3 includes a home location register
`(IILR) 15 that stores subscriber profiles for each of the
`wireless subscribers and their associated digital wireless
`telephones 5. The HLR 15 may reside in the home MSC 11
`or in a centralized service control point that communicates
`with the MSC(s) via an out-of-band signaling system such as
`an SS7 network. As recognized in the art, the HLR 15 stores
`for each mobile subscriber the subscriber’s mobile telephone
`number, the mobile identification number, and information
`specifying the wireless services subscribed to by the mobile
`subscriber, such as numeric paging or text-based paging,
`data communication services, etc.
`The carrier also operates a number of different systems in
`one or more customer service centers 17. These systems
`include one or more billing systems, network provisioning
`systems such as the Mobile Telephone Administration Sys-
`tem or “MTAS”, client account administration systems, and
`the like. The billing system, for example, receives usage and
`operations data from the MSCs 11 and processes that data to
`generate bills for individual subscriber and to forward data
`regarding users roaming through the carrier’s service area
`through a clearinghouse (not shown) for reconciliation. The
`MTAS provides data to the HLR 15 and/or to the MSCs 11
`to provision services for new stations 15 and modifies
`provisioning data as customers change their subscriptions to
`obtain different sets of services from the carrier.
`
`In the more advanced implementations of cellular
`networks, such as the network 3, the carrier provides