Method and apparatus for providing emergency call cell selection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9843892-B2
Application number	US-201013882864-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 16, 2010
Priority date	Nov 16, 2010
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

A method for providing cell selection for emergency calls may include receiving position information indicative of a location of a mobile terminal relative to a geographic border, and causing modification of a candidate list of cells or public land mobile networks for cell selection or public land mobile network selection based on the position information and a position of the cells relative to the geographic border. A corresponding computer program product and apparatus are also provided.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
determining, by a mobile terminal and based on position information, that the mobile terminal is located on a first side of a geographic border separating two or more states and/or countries;
generating, at the mobile terminal, a modified candidate list by at least modifying a candidate list of cells and/or public land mobile networks for cell selection and/or public land mobile network selection, the candidate list being modified to at least prioritize one or more cells that are part of a first public land mobile network located on the first side of the geographic border;
performing, by the mobile terminal, the cell selection and/or the public land mobile network selection, the performing based at least in part on the modified candidate list; and
connecting, by the mobile terminal, to the selected cell and/or the selected public land mobile network.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritizing of the one or more cells comprises eliminating, from the candidate list, cells that are part of a second public land mobile network on a second side of the geographic border.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prioritizing of the one or more cells comprises assigning, to cells that are part of a second public land mobile network on second side of the geographic, border a prioritization that is lower than a prioritization assigned to cells that are part of the first public land mobile network on the first side of the geographic border.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an indication of an emergency call being placed from the mobile terminal.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the position information in response to a request by the mobile terminal.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining whether a cross border registration situation exists based on the position information.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein modifying the candidate list comprises causing cell reselection based on a modified candidate list in response to determining that the cross border registration situation exists for an emergency call.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determination that the mobile terminal is located on the first side of the geographic border and the modification of the candidate list occur in response to placement of an emergency call.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the cross border registration situation exists when the mobile terminal is located on an opposite side of the geographic border from a public land mobile network currently serving the mobile terminal.

10. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least:
determine, based on position information, that the apparatus is located on a first side of a geographic border separating two or more states and/or countries;
generate a modified candidate list by at least modifying a candidate list of cells and/or public land mobile networks for cell selection and/or public land mobile network selection, the candidate list being modified to at least prioritize one or more cells that are part of a first public land mobile network located on the first side of the geographic border;
perform, based at least in part on the modified candidate list, the cell selection and/or the public land mobile network selection; and
connect to the selected cell and/or the selected public land mobile network.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least prioritize the one or more cells by eliminating, from the candidate list, cells that are part of a second public land mobile network on second side of the geographic border.

12. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least prioritize the one or more cells by assigning, to cells that are part of a second public land mobile network on second side of the geographic border, a prioritization that is lower than a prioritization assigned to cells that are part of the first public land mobile network on the first side of the geographic border.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least receive an indication of an emergency call being placed from the apparatus.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least receive the position information in response to a request by the apparatus.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least receive position information and determine whether a cross border registration situation exists based on the position information.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least modify the candidate list by causing cell reselection based on a modified candidate list in response to determining that the cross border registration situation exists for an emergency call.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least determine that the apparatus is located on the first side of the geographic border and modify the candidate list in response to placement of the emergency call.

18. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the apparatus is further caused to at least to determine whether the cross border registration situation exists by determining whether the mobile terminal is located on an opposite side of the geographic border from a public land mobile network currently serving the mobile terminal.

19. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus comprises a mobile terminal.

20. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable program code instructions stored therein, the computer-executable program code instructions comprising program code instructions to:
determine, by a mobile terminal and based on position information, that the mobile terminal is located on a first side of a geographic border separating two or more states and/or countries;
generate, at the mobile terminal, a modified candidate list by at least modifying a candidate list of cells and/or public land mobile networks for cell selection and/or public land mobile network selection, the candidate list being modified to at least prioritize one or more cells that are part of a first public land mobile network located on the first side of the geographic border;
perform, by the mobile terminal, the cell selection and/or the public land mobile network selection, the performing based at least in part on the modified candidate list; and
connect, by the mobile terminal, to the selected cell and/or the selected public land mobile network.

21. The computer program product of claim 20 , wherein the prioritizing of the one or more cells comprises eliminating, from the candidate list, cells that are part of a second public land mobile network on second side of the geographic border.

Assignees

• Hietalahti Hannu Petri
• Lindholm Rune Adolf
• Nokia Technologies Oy

Inventors

• Hietalahti Hannu Petri
• Lindholm Rune Adolf

Classifications

• H04W48/00

  Access restriction (access security to prevent unauthorised access H04W12/08); Network selection; Access point selection · CPC title

• H04W4/90

  Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS] · CPC title

• H04W76/50

  for emergency connections · CPC title

• H04W48/20

  Selecting an access point · CPC title

• H04W48/18

  Selecting a network or a communication service · CPC title