US 20120083257A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2012/0083257 A1 Gentry et al. (43) Pub. Date: Apr. 5, 2012 (54) ENABLING MID-CALL SERVICES TO BE Publication Classification ADDED TO A COMMUNICATION SESSION (51) Int. Cl. BY AWIRELESS DEVICE H04W 4/6 (2009.01) (52) U.S. Cl. ...................................... 455/417:455/414.1 (76) Inventors: William Gentry, Raleigh, NC (US); David Tubb, Reading (GB); (57) ABSTRACT Raheel Yuhanna, Dallas, TX (US) Mid-call services may be added to a communication session Such as a telephone call (call session) by a wireless device on a mobile telephone network by causing the wireless device (21) Appl. No.: 13/315,036 associated with the communication session to invoke a sec ond call session directed to a vertical service code. The sec (22) Filed: Dec. 8, 2011 ond call session is established on the wireless communication network and terminated on the PSTN to an application server associated with the vertical service code. The application Related U.S. Application Data server on the PSTN instantiates the service and matches the (63) Continuation of application No. 12/556,992, filed on service associated with the vertical service code on the second Sep. 10, 2009, now Pat. No. 8,107,932. call session with the first call session. The application server then applies the mid-call service associated with the vertical service code to the first call session to thus enable mid-call (60) Provisional application No. 61/095,657, filed on Sep. services to be applied to the first call session by the wireless 10, 2008. device. Application Server 20 Server Logic 22 PSTN/SIP Gateway 24 Media Server 26 Patent Application Publication Apr. 5, 2012 Sheet 1 of 3 US 2012/0083257 A1 Figure 1 PSTN/SIP Server Cellular Mobile 3CCGSS MSC 14 SCP 16 Class 5 Device 10 Network 20 20 Switch 18 12 Application Media Server LEGEND Server 20 26 MSC: Mobile Service Center SCP. Service COntrol Point Figure 2 ----------------------------------------------------------- Server Logic 22 PSTN/SIP Gateway 24 Media Server 26 Patent Application Publication Apr. 5, 2012 Sheet 2 of 3 US 2012/0083257 A1 Figure 3 NetWork Application PSTN to SIP Media Class 5 End Mobile MSC Server Gateway Server Office Line 1 300 322 324 326 w w w w wo - - - 334 - - - TT - - - - - 338 - - - 340 342 - - - 354 - - - - - - - - - - Patent Application Publication Apr. 5, 2012 Sheet 3 of 3 US 2012/0083257 A1 Figure 4 Network Application PSTN to SIP Media Class 5 End Mobile MSC Server Gateway Server Office Line 1 430 - - - - - - - - -432- - - - - - - - - - --434 442 444 US 2012/0083257 A1 Apr. 5, 2012 ENABLING MID-CALL SERVICES TO BE tones. In that scenario, the media path of the active call would ADDED TO A COMMUNICATION SESSION be monitored so that any tones applied by the user to activate BY AWIRELESS DEVICE a mid-call service could be detected and reported to the Mobile Service Center. Although the term “call” will fre CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED quently be used herein to refer to a Voice communication APPLICATIONS session, the term “call is intended to be interpreted in a 0001. This application is a continuation of U.S. patent broader sense to refer to other types of communication ses application Ser. No. 12/556,992, filed Sep. 10, 2009, and also sions as well. For example, the term "call also encompasses claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Video telephony, streaming media, and other types of com Application No. 61/095,657, filed Sep. 10, 2008, entitled munication sessions that may be established by a mobile Application of Mid-Call Services to a Mobile Device via device on a communication network. Independent Call Sessions”, the content of each of which is 0007. With the advent of fixed mobile convergence, there hereby incorporated herein by reference. is a strong desire in the marketplace to be able to deliver a converged set of services to both wireless and wireline TECHNICAL FIELD devices. This will serve to extend additional services to the mobile user, and do so in Such a way that is backwards 0002 The present invention relates to communication net compatible to existing 2G mobile devices. This allows addi works and, more particularly, to a method of enabling mid tional centrex business services to be extended to mobile call services to be added to a communication session by a devices, and increases the set of mid-call services that are wireless device. possible to invoke on an existing Voice session. However, the traditional mechanisms for invoking mid-call services (noted BACKGROUND above) can impose limitations on the solution when used with 0003 Communication services such as voice calls have these new business services. For example, the new service traditionally been provided via circuit switched (CS) net may not be integrated into the service set supported by USSD, works, such as the Public Switched Telephone Network or the media resources needed to monitor for in-band DTMF (PSTN) or cellular wireless networks. In addition to estab tones may be cost-prohibitive. As the potential set of services lishing a circuit for the Voice call, network elements on the grows with new business services in Fixed to Mobile conver communication network may provide particular services on gence solutions, it would be advantageous to provide a pro the call to enable different functions to be implemented on the cess of enabling mid-call services to be added to a call on a call. For example, a user may wish to block caller ID so that, mobile telephone network. when the call is dialed through to the intended recipient, the user's caller ID may not be viewed. Likewise, a person may SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION wish to have privacy on the call to prevent other third parties 0008. The following summary is included only to intro from interrupting the call. Many types of services have been duce Some concepts discussed in the Detailed Description developed, and are typically accessed by having the person below. This Summary is not comprehensive and is not dial a “vertical service code” when first initiating the tele intended to delineate the scope of protectable subject matter phone call on the network. In the US, vertical service codes which is set forth by the claims presented below. are typically invoked by dialing “*” and then a service code 0009 Mid-call services may be added to a communication number before dialing the telephone number. In other juris session Such as a telephone call (call session) by a wireless dictions, Vertical service codes may require the user to use a device on a mobile telephone network by causing the wireless different symbol, such as the “if” symbol, or require the user device associated with the communication session to invoke a to dial a particular series of digits such as “11”. second call session directed to a vertical service code. The 0004. In addition to invoking services before the call is second call session is established on the wireless communi initiated, other services may be invoked while the call is cation network and terminated on the PSTN to an application underway. These services are commonly referred to as “mid server associated with the vertical service code. The applica call services'. For example, a person on a telephone call may tion server on the PSTN instantiates the service and matches wish to add additional parties to the telephone call. Rather the service associated with the vertical service code on the than terminate the first call, the person may seek to add the second call session with the first call session. The application additional parties to the call by invoking a mid-call service server then applies the mid-call service associated with the (conference call service) on the existing connection. vertical service code to the first call session to thus enable 0005 Traditionally, services extended to second genera mid-call services to be applied to the first call session by the tion (2G) wireless devices are provided directly by the wire wireless device. less access network, e.g. by the Mobile Service Center, Home Location Register, and possibly the Service Control Point. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Conventionally, mid-call services on a 2G wireless network could be invoked in one of two ways. In the first case, the 0010 Aspects of the present invention are pointed out with mid-call service could be invoked using a menu from the particularity in the appended claims. The present invention is phone, such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data illustrated by way of example in the following drawings in (USSD) techniques within Global System for Mobile com which like references indicate similar elements. The follow munications (GSM) networks. USSD provides a data mes ing drawings disclose various embodiments of the present saging capability similar to text messaging that is built into invention for purposes of illustration only and are not the GSM standard. intended to limit the scope of the invention. For purposes of 0006. The second way that mid-call services could be clarity, not every component may be labeled in every figure. invoked in a 2G mobile network was using in-band DTMF In the figures: US 2012/0083257 A1 Apr. 5, 2012 0011 FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of example the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) whereas SIP reference network showing an example set of functions that is commonly used to enable Voice over Internet Protocol may be used to establish a mid-call services on a call from a (VoIP) communication sessions to be established. In the mobile device operating on a wireless network; example shown in FIGS.