Personal communication system and technique with zone report feature

A personal communication system network controller comprising:

• call connection request receiving means for receiving a call connection request;
• cell station loading monitoring means for determining loading of a cell station through which a call corresponding to said call connection request is to be connected;
• portable unit connectivity monitoring means for determining connectivity of portable units having calls connected through said cell station;
• and
• reconnection means for directing reconnection of a reconnectable portable unit determined by said portable unit connectivity monitoring means to be reconnectable to a different cell station;
• wherein said reconnection means comprises connectivity poll command sending means for sending a connectivity poll command to portable units having calls connected through said cell station, and receiving a zone report from each of said portable units, said reconnectable portable unit being one of said portable units having calls connected through said cell station, and being chosen based on its zone report.

A cell station for a cellular telephone system, said station comprising:

• call connection means for establishing a telephone call between a PCS unit and a PCS network controller;
• call connection request receiving means for receiving a call connection request from said PCS unit;
• and
• call connection request sending means for notifying said PCS network controller of receipt of said call connection request;
• loading poll command receiving means for receiving a loading poll command signal from said PCS network controller;
• and
• loading poll transmitting means for transmitting a loading response signal to said PCS network controller based on zone reports received from connected PCS units.

A personal communication system comprising:

• a network controller;
• a plurality of cell stations connected to said network controller;
• and
• a plurality of portable phones each connectable to one of said cell stations;
• wherein said network controller is for monitoring connection states between said cell stations and said portable phones to control the connection states thereof and for intermediating incoming calls, outgoing calls, and roaming connection requests through the cell stations and said portable phones, said network controller providing, through a given cell station, a reconnect message to each portable phone connected to said given cell station when said given cell station is fully loaded and connection is requested thereto by a portable phone presently unconnected thereto, by polling said each portable phone for reconnection determination purposes, and;
• said plurality of cell stations are each for connecting to the portable phones via wireless links, transmitting connection requests from the portable phones to the network controller, and reconnecting the portable phones responsive to reception of a reconnect message from said network controller;
• and
• said plurality of portable phones are each for providing a connection request to cell stations to which said phone is communicable other than a cell station to which said phone is presently connected, and for reconnecting to one of said cell stations which is connectable to reduce the full loading of the cell station to which said phone is presently connected when said portable phone generates a report indicative of its reconnectability to at least one of said cell stations, and as a result receives said reconnect message.

A method of managing cell station loading in a distributed communication system, comprising:

• checking loading of at least one cell station within a communication zone;
• determining whether the at least one cell station is fully loaded;
• when the at least one cell station is determined to be fully loaded, sending a connectivity poll command to all portable units having calls connected through the cell station;
• receiving a zone information report from each of the portable units in response thereto;
• and
• reconnecting a reconnectable portable unit having a call connected through the cell station to a different cell station, the reconnectable portable unit being chosen based on its zone information report.

A personal communications system portable unit cell station query method, comprising:

• receiving a zone report request;
• tuning to a system broadcast channel;
• synchronizing with a start of a broadcast frame of a cell station;
• determining parameters of the broadcast frame;
• repeating the synchronizing and determining for subsequent broadcasting cell stations;
• and
• generating a zone report when all cell stations broadcasting on the system broadcast zone have broadcast frame information.