Abstract:
A method for allowing a radiotelephone to scan for alternate radiotelephone systems, where each cellular radiotelephone system is within a corresponding geographic area and each cell has a base station providing paging and voice communication, includes a first step of registering the radiotelephone on a radiotelephone system. A next step includes establishing whether alternate technology scanning has been enabled for the radiotelephone. If alternate technology scanning is disabled, the radiotelephone receives paging messages from the base station and acknowledges the paging messages addressed to the radiotelephone. If alternate technology scanning is enabled, the radiotelephone scans for an alternate technology while the base station repeats any paging messages addressed to the radiotelephone and ignores a lack of acknowledgement from the radiotelephone for paging messages addressed to the radiotelephone.
Abstract:
A method and apparatus enabling a mobile user device (102) to anonymously access a network (108, 114) in the absence of a subscriber identity module (SIM) card (142) that includes an interim identity generator (138), positioned in the mobile user device, generating an interim international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) in response to the SIM card not being positioned within the mobile user device. The interim IMSI is utilized for signaling exchanges requiring information corresponding to the SIM card when the SIM card is not inserted within the mobile user device. A user identity module (152, 154) detects the presence of the interim IMSI in a signaling message, and routes the signaling message to a first home location register (156), in response to the signaling message including the interim IMSI, which then computes and transmits an authentication triplet to the mobile user device. The user identity module routes the signaling message to a second home location register (150) in response to the signaling message not including the interim IMSI.
Abstract:
A method for a radiotelephone to scan for service in a radiotelephone system having a plurality of carriers within a corresponding geographic area includes establishing (202) a list of a predetermined number of carriers having the strongest signal strengths from cells proximate to the cell where the radiotelephone is camped. A next step includes determining (206) those proximate carriers from the list that are unsuitable for reselection by the radiotelephone. A next step includes scanning (208) for other suitable carriers within the area to substitute for those unsuitable carriers found in the determining step. A next step includes modifying (212) the list to include those suitable carriers found in the scanning step.