Voice service handover
AssigneeBritish Telecommunications public limited company
InventorsFrancisco FAUS GREGORI, Alistair GOMEZ
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A user entity (UE) such as a smartphone is configured to connect to both WiFi and a Long Term Evolution (LTE) cellular network for voice and data services. For voice, the UE supports both Voice over LTE (VoLTE) and Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi). When the UE is connected to VoWiFi and roaming from a first WiFi access point to a second WiFi access point, the UE and Mobility Management Entity in the cellular network carry out a preparatory handover to VoLTE to prevent service loss in the event of an unsuccessful VoWiFi connection from the second WiFi access point.
Claims13
A method of operating a mobility management entity in a cellular network core in response to a connection request from a cellular client device for connectivity to a voice service accessible via the cellular network core, the method comprising:
- receiving a request by the cellular client device to access the voice service;
- analyzing the request to identify a presence of an identifier indicating that the request is a provisional request;
- if the request contains the identifier, performing a first subset of operations from a set of operations to establish a link between the cellular client device and the voice service;
- determining whether a further instruction to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service has been received within a predetermined period of time;
- and
- if the further instruction has been received, processing a second subset of operations to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service.
An apparatus in a cellular network core for managing a connection request from a cellular client device for connectivity to a voice service accessible via the cellular network core, comprising:
- means for receiving a request by the cellular client device to access the voice service;
- means for analyzing the request to identify a presence of an identifier indicating that the request is a provisional request;
- means for performing a first subset of operations from a set of operations to establish a link between the cellular client device and the voice service, if the request contains the identifier;
- means for determining whether a further instruction to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service has been received within a predetermined period of time;
- and
- means for processing a second subset of operations to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service if the further instruction has been received.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage element storing processor executable instructions which, when executed by a programmable processor, cause a mobile device to operate a mobility management entity in a cellular network core in response to a connection request from a cellular client device for connectivity to a voice service accessible via the cellular network core, by:
- receiving a request by the cellular client device to access the voice service;
- analyzing the request to identify a presence of an identifier indicating that the request is a provisional request;
- if the request contains the identifier, performing a first subset of operations from a set of operations to establish a link between the cellular client device and the voice service;
- determining whether a further instruction to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service has been received within a predetermined period of time;
- and
- if the further instruction has been received, processing a second subset of operations to complete the link between the cellular client device and the voice service.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.