Method and apparatus for spanning operation of a cellular telephone

A wireless communication device capable of spanning operation simultaneously between a public cellular system for packet services and an autonomous cellular system for circuit services in communication with the public cellular system, wherein the public cellular system covers a first geographic region and the autonomous cellular system covers a second geographic region, the first geographic region intersecting the second geographic region, comprising:

• a receiver for receiving (i) a pointer message via an autonomous broadcast control channel associated with the autonomous cellular system in communication with the public cellular system, the pointer message including a pointer to a public control channel associated with the public cellular system, (ii) a success message from the public cellular system via the public control channel, the success message being indicative of a positive acknowledgment to the attach message, and (iii) a circuit page message from the autonomous cellular system via the public control channel using a second tunneling protocol, the circuit page message being indicative of a request to accept a pending cellular telephone voice call;
• a transmitter for transmitting (i) an attach message to the public cellular system via the public control channel, the attach message being indicative of a request for packet services, (ii) a first registration message to the autonomous cellular system via the public control channel using a first tunneling protocol, the first registration message being indicative of a request to initiate circuit services, and (iii) a page response message to the autonomous cellular system via the autonomous broadcast control channel, the page response message being indicative of a positive acknowledgment to the circuit page message;
• and
• a controller operatively coupled to the transmitter and the receiver, the controller being adapted to (i) decode the pointer message, (ii) decode the success message, (iii) decode the circuit page message, (iv) generate the attach message, (v) generate the first registration message, and (vi) generate the page response message.

A method for spanning operation of a cellular telephone simultaneously between a public cellular system for packet services and an autonomous cellular system for circuit services in communication with the public cellular system, wherein the public cellular system covers a first geographic region and the autonomous cellular system covers a second geographic region, the first geographic region intersecting the second geographic region, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving a pointer to a public control channel associated with the public cellular system via an autonomous broadcast control channel associated with the autonomous cellular system in communication with the public cellular system;
• transmitting an attach message to the public cellular system via the public control channel, the attach message being indicative of a request for packet services;
• receiving a success message from the public cellular system via the public control channel, the success message being indicative of a positive acknowledgment to the attach message;
• and
• transmitting a first registration message to the autonomous cellular system via the public control channel using a first tunneling protocol, the first registration message being indicative of any of a request for circuit services and a communication path comprises the public cellular system.