Call Forwarding Enhancements in a Device-to-Device Environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025080956-A1
Application number	US-202418817792-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 28, 2024
Priority date	Aug 31, 2023
Publication date	Mar 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

An apparatus configured to enable, based on user input, a call forwarding functionality for voice calls, process, based on user input, an identification of a communication device to which voice calls are to be forwarded, generate, for transmission to the communication device via a short-range connection, a forwarding request and process, based on signaling received from the communication device via the short-range connection, a forwarding response indicating whether the communication device has accepted the forwarding request.

First claim

What is claimed:

1 . An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:
enable, based on user input, a call forwarding functionality for voice calls; process, based on user input, an identification of a communication device to which voice calls are to be forwarded; generate, for transmission to the communication device via a short-range connection, a forwarding request; and process, based on signaling received from the communication device via the short-range connection, a forwarding response indicating whether the communication device has accepted the forwarding request.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the short-range connection comprises a cellular sidelink connection, a Bluetooth connection, a Zigbee connection or a Wi-Fi Direct connection.

3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
generate, for transmission to the communication device via the short-range connection, an acknowledgement corresponding to the forwarding response.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
determine the forwarding response indicates the communication device has accepted the forwarding request; and in response to the determination that the second communication device has accepted the forwarding request, generate, for transmission to a network, a request to forward calls to the communication device.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
determine the forwarding response indicates the communication device has not accepted the forwarding request; and in response to the determination that the communication device has not accepted the forwarding request, disable the call forwarding functionality.

6 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
determine the forwarding response indicates the communication device has conditionally accepted the forwarding request.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
in response to the determination that the communication device has conditionally accepted the forwarding request, generate, for transmission to a network, a request to forward calls to the communication device.

8 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
generate, for transmission to the communication device, a further forwarding request comprising information related to the conditionally accepted forwarding request.

9 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the identification comprises a phone number of the communication device.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the forwarding request comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating the forwarding request to forward voice calls to the communication device.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the forwarding response comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating the communication device accepted the forwarding request, did not accept the forwarding request or conditionally accepted the forwarding request.

12 . An apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:
process, based on signaling received from a communication device via a short-range connection, a forwarding request indicating voice calls destined for the communication device are to be forwarded; configure a user interface (UI) to display the forwarding request; process, based on user input, a response indicating whether a user has accepted the forwarding request; and generate, for transmission to the communication device via the short-range connection, a forwarding response indicating whether the forwarding request has been accepted.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the short-range connection comprises a cellular sidelink connection, a Bluetooth connection, a Zigbee connection or a Wi-Fi Direct connection.

14 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
process, based on signaling received from the communication device, an acknowledgement corresponding to the forwarding response.

15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the forwarding request comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating the communication device is requesting to forward voice calls to the first communication device.

16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the forwarding response comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating the forwarding request has been accepted, not accepted or conditionally accepted.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
process, based on signaling received from the communication device, a further forwarding request comprising information related to the conditionally accepted forwarding request.

18 . An apparatus of a communication device configured to operate in dual Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) dual standby (DSDS) mode, the apparatus comprising processing circuitry configured to:
connect a voice call using a first connection associated with a first SIM; suspend a second connection associated with a second SIM; and configure voice calls to be forwarded from the second SIM to the first SIM while the voice call remains connected using the first connection.

19 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
configure a user interface (UI) of the communication device to display an option for a user to select voice calls to be forwarded from the second SIM to the first SIM while the voice call remains connected using the first connection.

20 . The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:
determine the voice call has been disconnected; disable voice calls being forwarded from the second SIM to the first SIM in response to the voice call being disconnected; and reactivate the second connection associated with the second SIM in response to the voice call being disconnected.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Dalsania Chintan H
• Tripathi Pranav
• Bylin Anton

Classifications

• H04W88/06

  adapted for operation in multiple networks {or having at least two operational modes}, e.g. multi-mode terminals · CPC title

• H04M1/006

  Call diverting means · CPC title

• H04M1/82 Primary

  Line monitoring circuits for call progress or status discrimination {(for detecting caller identity H04M1/573)} · CPC title

• H04M1/72412

  using two-way short-range wireless interfaces · CPC title

• H04M2250/02

  including a Bluetooth® interface · CPC title