Abstract: The load of a coverage area in a wireless wide area network can be used as a basis to determine which vocoder to use in establishing a call between a wireless device in that coverage area and a wireless device in a different coverage area. If the load of the coverage area is above a threshold, then a higher-compression vocoder may be used during the call for communications between the wireless device and an access point serving the wireless device in that coverage area. However, if the load of the coverage area is below the threshold, then a lower-compression vocoder may be used during the call for communications between the wireless device and the access point.

Abstract: Methods and systems for disabling paging to a WCD that fails to communicate properly with a RAN are introduced. In an exemplary embodiment, a first WCD that fails to communicate properly with the RAN may inform the RAN of the failure to communicate by relaying a message to the RAN via a second WCD. The second WCD preferably is able to communicate properly with the RAN. Upon receiving the message from the second WCD, the RAN may disable paging to the first WCD, thereby helping to conserve data storage, processing cycles, and paging channel capacity at the RAN.

Abstract: Methods are disclosed for identifying the carrier to which a phone, such as a mobile phone, subscribes in real time, at the time a call is originating from or terminating to the mobile phone. Where both parties to a call are subscribers to the same carrier, the methods can be used for applying preferential call rates to intra-carrier calls, e.g., making the calls free. The methods are particularly useful in the telephony networks with local number portability, in which the mere identification of the phone number does not necessarily identify the carrier to which the phone subscribes. The methods can use either existing databases to identify the carrier, such as LERG (Local Exchange Routing Guide) tables, number portability databases, name databases, and home location registers, or a new database can be created correlating mobile phone directory numbers with carriers.

Abstract: A method and system for distributing messages to mobile stations operating in a picocell network that is communicatively coupled to a macrocell network. In one example, the macrocell network may receive a message that includes an identifier of the picocell network and send the message to the picocell network. In turn, the picocell network may receive the message, responsively identify each mobile station operating in the picocell network, and then send a given instance of the message to the identified mobile stations. In another example, a macrocell network may maintain data indicating an identifier of each mobile station operating in the picocell network, receive a message that includes an identifier of the picocell network, use the maintained data to identify each mobile station operating in the picocell network, and send a given instance of the message to the identified mobile stations via the picocell network.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for aging EV-DO pages in a queue based on latency-sensitivity. An access node receives data for access terminals, and responsively generates pages and adds them to the back of a queue. The access node associates a respective aging value with any latency-tolerant pages. The access node transmits the pages in the queue, which involves: (a) assessing the pages on a first-in, first-out basis; (b) transmitting latency-sensitive pages when those pages reach the front of the queue; (c) sending latency-tolerant pages to the back of the queue (and incrementing their aging values) when those pages reach the front of the queue with an aging value that is less than a maximum-delay parameter; and (d) transmitting latency-tolerant pages when those pages reach the front of the queue with an aging value that is greater than or equal to the maximum-delay parameter.

Abstract: Air interface protocols under the numerous wireless communication standards allow use of a quick-paging channel (QPCH) to expedite paging and call setup. When a hybrid mobile device is engaged in wireless communications under a first air interface protocol, it may periodically switch over to a second air interface protocol to check for pages on the slower standard paging channel (PCH). To increase throughput under the first air interface protocol, it would be useful to employ the QPCH under the second air interface protocol, to reduce time spent by hybrid device checking for pages under the second air interface protocol. However, the QPCH uses resources under the second air interface protocol, so it would be best to not have the QPCH activated at all times. According to the invention, the system would activate the QPCH under the second air interface protocol in response to there being more than an upper threshold number of hybrid devices active under the first air interface protocol.

Abstract: Methods and systems for adjusting a transmit power of a forward link or reverse link signal make use of variable adjustment parameters. The wireless signal is received to obtain a received signal. An observed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and an observed frame error rate (FER) for the received signal are determined. In an outer loop process, an adjustment increment is selected based on how much the observed FER differs from the target FER, and the target SNR is adjusted by the adjustment increment. In an inner loop process, a power adjustment command is selected based on a comparison between the observed SNR and a target SNR. The power adjustment command instructs the transmitter of the wireless signal to either increase or decrease the transmit power of the wireless signal. The power adjustment increment may also depend on the observed FER.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for implementing global neighbor lists to support low-cost Internet base stations (LCIBs). In a macro wireless-communication network, each sector has a neighbor list that contains the pseudorandom number (PN) offsets of surrounding sectors. To account for LCIBs, a global neighbor list, configurable across sectors, access networks, markets, and/or vendors, is introduced. The global list may be maintained on an access network or on a separate server that interfaces with access networks. The global list may be incorporated at the beginning, in the middle (i.e. at specific priority levels), or at the end of each respective sector's neighbor list. If a given sector's neighbor list is full, it could be left unmodified, or some global-list entries could displace some existing entries. Other than incorporating entries from the global list, each macro sector's neighbor list remains, for the most part, independently modifiable.

Abstract: A method and system for a wireless communication device (WCD) to perform handover from a first BTS that serves a plurality of WCDs via a first air interface protocol (AIP) and a second BTS that serves another plurality of WCDs via a second AIP. The first BTS includes a modem for data-transfer via the second AIP, and the second BTS includes a modem for data-transfer via the first AIP. While the WCD is engaging in a communication session via the first BTS and first AIP, the modem of the first BTS transmits a handover request via the second AIP. The second BTS receives the request and responsively reserves resources for the WCD to use after handover and notifies the first BTS of the resources via the second AIP. The first BTS notifies the WCD of the resources via the first AIP and the WCD hands over to the second BTS.

Abstract: An access network may identify paging areas based on a reference location (e.g., a mobile station's last known location), where each paging area includes at least one coverage area. The access network may then determine paging-channel occupancies for coverage areas in at least identified paging area. In turn, the access network may adjust a given identified paging area based on the determined paging-channel occupancies, resulting in an adjusted paging area. For example, the access network may add coverage areas to the given identified paging area and/or remove coverage areas from the given identified paging area based on the paging-channel occupancies for those coverage areas. Thereafter, the access network may page a mobile station associated with the reference location in the adjusted paging area.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for achieving quality of service (QoS) by using the reverse activity bit (RAB) in creation of neighbor lists for selected access terminals. In an embodiment, an access node provides service to a plurality of access terminals in a first wireless coverage area. The access node maintains and broadcasts a standard neighbor list identifying neighboring wireless coverage areas, each having a respective RAB. The access node generates a QoS neighbor list, consisting of one or more coverage areas from the standard neighbor list having a RAB that is cleared. The access node transmits the QoS neighbor list to a subset of the access terminals. Each access terminal in the subset uses the QoS neighbor list in place of the standard neighbor list, while the other access terminals use the standard neighbor list.

Abstract: Exemplary methods and systems are described that may be employed in a radio access network in order to aggregate the power-control messages from the sectors in a mobile station's active set, and provide an aggregate reverse-link power-control indication, in all active sectors. To do so, an exemplary base station may periodically determine an appropriate reverse-link power adjustment for a mobile station. However, rather than immediately send power-adjustment indications to the mobile station, each base station serving an active sector is preferably configured to send the power-adjustment indication to mobile switching center. The mobile switching center then determines an aggregate power-control indication for the mobile station. The aggregate power-control indication may then be transmitted to the mobile station in each of the mobile station's active sectors.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are methods and systems for scheduling pages to mobile stations in a radio access network. An exemplary method involves (a) at a radio access network, determining whether or not a first load that is scheduled for transmission during a first paging period, is greater than a threshold load, (b) if the first load is greater than the threshold load, then (i) determining whether or not a second load that is scheduled for transmission during a second paging period, is less than the threshold load and (ii) if the second load is less than the threshold load, then rescheduling at least a portion of the first load for transmission during the second paging period, and (iii) otherwise, refraining from rescheduling the portion of the first load for transmission during the second paging period.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for interlaced control channel. When a RAN in a wireless communication system operating at least according to IS-856 determines that a delay condition exists in the transmission of control packets to access terminals, it invokes interlacing of time slots bearing control-channel data. By so doing, control packets are transmitted in interlaced fashion, thereby reducing delay in transmission compared with sequential transmission of control packets. A delay condition could correspond to a measured delay exceeding a threshold delay, a predicted delay (e.g., based on queue occupancy) exceeding a threshold number, or the number of access terminals eligible to receive control messages during a particular time interval exceeding a different threshold number.

Abstract: A method and system for integrating imaging printing and communication service in a subscriber service plan. A service provider, such as a wireless carrier, will establish for a subscriber an integrated service plan that entitles the subscriber to engage in a designated quantity of communications on a recurring time period basis, such as monthly, and to also have a designated quantity of images printed on the recurring time period basis, for a designated fee. The integrated service plan will then be used as a basis to authorize communication service to the subscriber and further as a basis to authorize image prints requested by the subscriber.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and system for use of a trusted server such as an over-the-air provisioning server to facilitate mobile location determination. If a mobile location server (MLS) sends a location-determination message to a mobile station and does not receive a response back from the mobile station, there is a chance that the mobile station is not provisioned with a correct address of the MLS and that the mobile station therefore did not respond. To help jump start the location-determination process, the MLS may respond to that situation by instead causing a trusted server such as an over-the-air-service-provisioning (OTASP) server to send a location-determination message to the mobile station, triggering a response from the mobile station.

Abstract: A mobile station will sort wireless coverage sectors in order of distance of the sectors from the mobile station, and the mobile station will then scan for pilot signals from the sectors in the sorted order. The invention can be applied advantageously to provide an order of scanning remaining set sectors in a mobile station operating according to a code division multiple access protocol.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for communicating the location of a split sector in a cellular wireless communication system. A processor receives a definition of the separate coverage areas defining the split sector and programmatically determines whether a minimum composite angle spanning the coverage areas exceeds a threshold such as 180°. If so, the processor establishes an data-representation of the split sector as an omnidirectional sector. Otherwise, the processor establishes a data-representation of the split sector as a non-omnidirectional sector. The processor may then communicate the established data-representation for use as a basis to facilitate a location-based service keyed to the location of the split sector, such as response to an emergency service call for instance.

Abstract: A method and system is disclosed for dynamic reverse activity bit (RAB) offset adjustment based on soft handoff ratio. A base station controller (BSC) or radio node controller (RNC) or similar network device will determine the ratio of access terminals in soft handoff service to a total number of access terminals in service in each of a first and a second sector. Based at least on a comparison of a the ratio in the two sectors, the BSC (or RNC) will dynamically set a RAB offset in each sector in such a way that the response by served access terminals to RAB broadcasts from the two sectors will impact the smallest number of access terminals, while still achieving the intended purposes of RAB broadcasts.

Abstract: A method and system for determining a location of a wireless communication device (WCD) provisioned to operate in (a) a first access network that defines a first plurality of coverage areas and (b) a second access network that defines a second plurality of coverage areas. A location system may receive a request to determine a location of the WCD. In response, the location system may identify (a) a first coverage area of the first access network in which the WCD is located and (b) a second coverage area of the second access network in which the WCD is located. Thereafter, the location system may determine an overlapping area between the first coverage area and the second coverage area. In turn, the location system may determine an indication of the overlapping area's location, which the location system may define as a low precision indication of the WCD's location.