Infrastructure equipment in a wireless communication system serves different service providers

Claim 1

In a communication system administered by a service provider including wireless telephones, radio frequency base stations that provide wireless communication channels for the wireless telephones, and a switched telecommunication office that supports communication channels, the improvement comprising: wireless network controller (WNC) means for interconnecting said communication channels supported by said switched telecommunications office and wireless communication channels, said WNC means receiving requests from said wireless telephones via said base stations for access to a service communication channel; a single database means separate from and coupled to said WNC means for assigning each wireless telephone to one of a plurality of independent groups of tenants, said database means also determining whether a wireless telephone making said request for access to a service communication channel is a member of the group of tenants supported by said base station that received the request based on records controlled by the service provider and stored in the database means for each wireless telephone; said WNC means, in response to said database means determining that a wireless telephone making a request for access to a service communication channel is a member of the group of tenants supported by said base station that received the request, interconnecting a communication channel from said telecommunications office with a wireless communication channel provided by the base station associated with the requesting wireless telephone, whereby the WNC means is capable of serving a plurality of groups of tenants and wireless telephone service is based on tenant group membership.

Claim 7

A method for supporting wireless communications by independent groups of tenants in a communication system including wireless telephones, radio frequency base stations that provide wireless communication channels for the wireless telephones, and a switched telecommunication office that supports wired communication channels, the method comprising the steps of: assigning each wireless telephone to only one of a plurality of groups of tenants during an initial registration of each wireless telephone said assigning step including the storing by a service provider of a record in a single database for each wireless telephone where the record contains information identifying the tenant group to which the wireless telephone is assigned, each tenant group being supported by a predetermined set of said base stations; receiving requests from said wireless telephones via base stations for access to a service communication channel; determining, based on said information contained in the record associated with requesting wireless telephone, whether a wireless telephone making said request is a member of the tenant group that is associated with the base station through which the request was made; responsive to said determining step determining a requesting wireless telephone is a member of the tenant group associated with the base station through which the request was made, coupling a wired communication channel from said telecommunications office with a wireless communication channel supported by the base station associated with the requesting wireless telephone to provide a service communications channel from the wireless telephone to the telecommunications office, whereby access to wireless communications is based on tenant group membership.

Claim 8

A method for supporting wireless communications by independent groups of tenants in a communication system including wireless telephones, radio frequency base stations that provide wireless communication channels for the wireless telephones, and a switched telecommunication office that supports wired communication channels, the method comprising the steps of: assigning each wireless telephone to only one of a plurality of groups of tenants during an initial registration of each wireless telephone said assigning step including the storing by a service provider of a record in a single database for each wireless telephone where the record contains information identifying the tenant group to which the wireless telephone is assigned, each tenant group being supported by a predetermined set of said base stations; receiving requests from said wireless telephones via base stations for access to a service communication channel; determining, based on said information contained in the record associated with requesting wireless telephone, whether a wireless telephone making said request is a member of the tenant group that is associated with the base station through which the request was made; responsive to said determining step determining a requesting wireless telephone is a member of the tenant group associated with the base station through which the request was made, coupling a wired communication channel from said telecommunications office with a wireless communication channel supported by the base station associated with the requesting wireless telephone to provide a service communications channel from the wireless telephone to the telecommunications office, whereby access to wireless communications is based on tenant group membership.