Method and apparatus for intercepting calls in a communications system

Claim 3

The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of layers are sublayers in a signal layer.

Claim 4

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of providing a plurality of control points includes providing a control point in a layer for handling a call forwarding service within the communications system.

Claim 5

The method of claim 3 further comprising routing call data associated with the target call to the destination.

Claim 6

The method of claim 4, wherein the step of routing call data associated with the target call to the destination comprises establishing a connection to the destination and sending call data to the destination over the connection.

Claim 7

The method of claim 5, wherein the step of establishing a connection to the destination comprises establishing a one way call to the destination.

Claim 8

The method of claim 5, wherein the call data is voice data.

Claim 9

The method of claim 5, wherein the call data is a facsimile transmission.

Claim 10

A wireless communications system comprising: a base station system, wherein the base station system and sends messages to and from a mobile station; and a mobile switching center connected to the base station system, the mobile switching center including: a plurality of layers for handling messages associated with a call associated with the mobile station, wherein the plurality of layers are selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management layer, a mobility management layer, a connection management layer, a call control layer, a call independent supplementary services support layer, and a short message service support layer; a call interception layer, wherein the call interception layer routes data associated with a target mobile station to a call-intercept destination; and a plurality of control points, wherein each control point within the plurality of control points is associated with a different layer within the plurality of layers and wherein each control point monitors messages within the associated layer to identify messages relating to a target mobile station and sends data associated with communications to the target mobile station to the call intercept layer in response to detecting messages relating to the target mobile station.

Claim 11

A wireless communications system comprising: a base station system, wherein the base station system and sends messages to and from a mobile station; and a mobile switching center connected to the base station system, the mobile switching center including: a plurality of layers for handling messages associated with a call associated with the mobile station, wherein the plurality of layers are selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management layer, a mobility management layer, a connection management layer, a call control layer, a call independent supplementary services support layer, and a short message service support layer; a call interception layer, wherein the call interception layer routes data associated with a target mobile station to a call-intercept destination; and a plurality of control points, wherein each control point within the plurality of control points is associated with a different layer within the plurality of layers and wherein each control point monitors messages within the associated layer to identify messages relating to a target mobile station and sends data associated with communications to the target mobile station to the call intercept layer in response to detecting messages relating to the target mobile station.

Claim 12

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of layers are located within the mobile switching center.

Claim 13

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the call interception layer is located within the mobile switching center.

Claim 14

The wireless communications system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of control points are located within the plurality of layers.

Claim 15

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the data associated with communications to the target mobile station is voice data.

Claim 16

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the data associated with communications to the target mobile station is a facsimile transmission.

Claim 17

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the data associated with communications to the target mobile station is a message.

Claim 18

The wireless communications system of claim 15, wherein the message is a setup message including a number dialed at the target mobile station.

Claim 19

The wireless communications system of claim 15, wherein the message is an outgoing message to the target mobile station.

Claim 20

The wireless communications system of claim 15, wherein the message is an incoming message from the target mobile station.

Claim 21

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the plurality of layers includes a layer for handling call forwarding services.

Claim 22

The wireless communications system of claim 19, wherein the data associated with communications to the target mobile station is data associated with a forwarded call.

Claim 23

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the call interception layer establishes a connection to the destination and sends the data to the destination over the connection.

Claim 24

The wireless communications system of claim 21, wherein the connection is a one way call to the destination.

Claim 25

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the wireless communications system is a global system for wireless mobile communications public land mobile network.

Claim 26

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the wireless communications system is a time-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 27

The wireless communications system of claim 9, wherein the wireless communications system is a code-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 28

A mobile service center for intercepting calls comprising: a plurality of layers that receive messages associated with calls; a call intercept layer, wherein the call intercept layer routes data from messages associated with target calls to a call-intercept designation; and a plurality of control units, wherein each control unit within the plurality of control units is associated with a different layer within a plurality of layers selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management layer, a mobility management layer, a connection management layer, a call control layer, a call independent supplementary services support layer, and a short message service support layer, each control unit monitoring messages received at an associated layer to determine whether a received message should be intercepted and sending the received message to the call intercept layer in response to a determination that the received message should be intercepted.

Claim 29

A mobile service center for intercepting calls comprising: a plurality of layers that receive messages associated with calls; a call intercept layer, wherein the call intercept layer routes data from messages associated with target calls to a call-intercept designation; and a plurality of control units, wherein each control unit within the plurality of control units is associated with a different layer within a plurality of layers selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management layer, a mobility management layer, a connection management layer, a call control layer, a call independent supplementary services support layer, and a short message service support layer, each control unit monitoring messages received at an associated layer to determine whether a received message should be intercepted and sending the received message to the call intercept layer in response to a determination that the received message should be intercepted.

Claim 30

The mobile switching center of claim 26, wherein the received message is a setup message.

Claim 31

The mobile switching center of claim 26, wherein the received message is an incoming message from a mobile station.

Claim 32

The mobile switching center of claim 26, wherein the received message is an outgoing message.

Claim 33

A wireless communications system comprising: a base station system, wherein the base station system receives and sends communication signals to and from at least one mobile station; and a mobile service center coupled to the base station system and including: a plurality of message handling units selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management unit, a mobility management unit, a connection management unit, a call control unit, a call independent supplementary services support unit, and a short message service support unit, wherein each of the plurality of message handling units handles messages associated with calls; and a plurality of control points, each control point being associated with a different message handling unit within the plurality of message handling units, each control point having an active state and an inactive state in which the active state has a plurality of modes of operation including: a first mode of operation in which the control point waits for a message to arrive at an associated message handling unit; a second mode of operation, responsive to arrival of a message in the first mode of operation, in which the control point examines the message arriving at the associated message handling unit to determine whether the message is appropriate for interception; and a third mode of operation in which the message is sent to a call intercept unit in response to a determination that the message is appropriate for interception in the second mode of operation, wherein the call intercept unit sends data received from the plurality of control points to a call-intercept destination.

Claim 34

A wireless communications system comprising: a base station system, wherein the base station system receives and sends communication signals to and from at least one mobile station; and a mobile service center coupled to the base station system and including: a plurality of message handling units selected from the group consisting of a radio resource management unit, a mobility management unit, a connection management unit, a call control unit, a call independent supplementary services support unit, and a short message service support unit, wherein each of the plurality of message handling units handles messages associated with calls; and a plurality of control points, each control point being associated with a different message handling unit within the plurality of message handling units, each control point having an active state and an inactive state in which the active state has a plurality of modes of operation including: a first mode of operation in which the control point waits for a message to arrive at an associated message handling unit; a second mode of operation, responsive to arrival of a message in the first mode of operation, in which the control point examines the message arriving at the associated message handling unit to determine whether the message is appropriate for interception; and a third mode of operation in which the message is sent to a call intercept unit in response to a determination that the message is appropriate for interception in the second mode of operation, wherein the call intercept unit sends data received from the plurality of control points to a call-intercept destination.

Claim 35

The wireless communications system of claim 30, wherein the wireless communications system is a global system for wireless mobile communications public land mobile network.

Claim 36

The wireless communications system of claim 30, wherein the wireless communications system is a time-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 37

The wireless communications system of claim 30, wherein the wireless communications system is a code-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 38

The wireless communication system of claim 30, wherein the control point sends data associated with the message to the call intercept unit.

Claim 39

The wireless communications system of claim 34, wherein the data associated with the message is voice data from a target mobile station.

Claim 40

The wireless communications system of claim 34, wherein the data associated with the message is a facsimile transmission.

Claim 41

The wireless communications system of claim 34, wherein the call intercept unit has a plurality of modes of operation including: a first mode of operation in which the call intercept unit formats data received from a control point to form formatted data; a second mode of operation in which the call intercept unit establishes a connection to the destination; a third mode of operation in which the call intercept unit sends the formatted data to the destination.

Claim 42

The wireless communication system of claim 34, wherein the connection is a one way call to the destination.

Claim 43

A wireless communications system comprising: a plurality of layers for handling messages associated with a call involving a mobile station; call interception means for formatting data from target calls and routing the formatted data to a designation; and a plurality of control means, wherein each of the plurality of control means monitors messages handled by one of the plurality of layers, identifies target calls, and sends data from target calls to the call interception means.

Claim 44

A wireless communications system comprising: a plurality of layers for handling messages associated with a call involving a mobile station; call interception means for formatting data from target calls and routing the formatted data to a designation; and a plurality of control means, wherein each of the plurality of control means monitors messages handled by one of the plurality of layers, identifies target calls, and sends data from target calls to the call interception means.

Claim 45

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers are sublayers within a signal layer in the wireless communications system.

Claim 46

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a layer for handling call forwarding services.

Claim 47

The wireless communications system of claim 41, wherein the data is data associated with a forwarded call associated with a target mobile user within the wireless communications system.

Claim 48

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a radio resource management layer.

Claim 49

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a call control layer.

Claim 50

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a supplementary service support layer.

Claim 51

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a short message service support layer.

Claim 52

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the plurality of layers includes a mobility management layer.

Claim 53

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the wireless communications system is a global system for wireless mobile communications public land mobile network.

Claim 54

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the wireless communications system is a time-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 55

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the wireless communications system is a code-division multiple access based wireless communications system.

Claim 56

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein each of the plurality of control means is located within an associated layer within the plurality of layers.

Claim 57

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the target call is a forwarded call associated with a selected subscriber.

Claim 58

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein, the data is voice data.

Claim 59

The wireless communications system of claim 39, wherein the data is a facsimile transmission.