Call forwarding enhancements

Abstract

The invention relates to call forwarding enhancement. An apparatus configured to: enable a call forwarding function for a voice call based on a user input; processing, based on the user input, an identification of the communication device to which the voice call is to be transferred; generating a transfer request for transmission to the communication device via a network service; and processing a transfer response indicating whether the communication device has accepted the transfer request based on signaling received from the communication device via the network service.

Description

Background Art

[0001] A first wireless communication device capable of performing a voice call may also be capable of transferring a call to a second wireless communication device. However, the second wireless communication device has no way of knowing that a call from the first wireless communication device is being transferred. Summary of the invention

[0002] Some exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus having processing circuitry configured to: enable a call forwarding feature for a voice call based on user input; process an identification of a communication device to which the voice call is to be forwarded based on the user input; generate a forwarding request for transmission to the communication device via a network service; and process a forwarding response indicating whether the communication device has accepted the forwarding request based on signaling received from the communication device via the network service.

[0003] Other exemplary embodiments relate to an apparatus having processing circuitry configured to: process a transfer request received from a communication device via a network service, the transfer request indicating that a voice call destined for the communication device is to be transferred to the apparatus; configure a user interface (UI) to display the transfer request; based on user input, process a response indicating whether the user has accepted the transfer request; and generate a transfer response indicating whether the transfer request has been accepted for transmission to the communication device via the network service. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Figure 1 An exemplary call forwarding arrangement is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0005] Figure 2 An exemplary wireless communication device is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0006] Figure 3 An exemplary call flow for call transfer between communication devices according to various exemplary embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 4 Exemplary message formats that may be exchanged during a call transfer procedure between communication devices according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0008] Figure 5 Exemplary methods for call forwarding according to various exemplary embodiments are shown.

[0009] Figure 6 An exemplary call flow for call transfer between communication devices having a short-range communication connection is shown according to various exemplary embodiments.

[0010] Figure 7 An exemplary call flow for call transfer between different Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) of the same device is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.

[0011] Figure 8 Exemplary network arrangements are shown according to various exemplary embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0012] The exemplary embodiments may be further understood by reference to the following description and associated drawings, wherein similar elements have the same reference numerals.The exemplary embodiments relate to improved call forwarding behavior for wireless communication devices.

[0013] The exemplary embodiments are described with respect to a communication device. As will be described in more detail below, a communication device may include any electronic component that can establish a connection to one or more networks and is configured with hardware, software, and / or firmware to perform a voice call using the one or more networks. In the following examples, a communication device will be described as a wireless communication device, for example, a communication device capable of establishing a connection with a wireless network. However, it is not required that the communication device be a wireless communication device. For example, one of the communication devices described in the exemplary call forwarding arrangement may be a desktop computer hosting a voice call application that accesses a network via a wired connection (e.g., an Ethernet connection). Therefore, the use of a wireless communication device in the following description is only an example.

[0014] Figure 1 An exemplary call forwarding arrangement 100 is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. The exemplary call forwarding arrangement 100 includes a first wireless communication device 110 and a second wireless communication device 120. Examples of these wireless communication devices 110 and 120 are described in more detail below. For purposes of the exemplary call forwarding arrangement 100, it may be assumed that both the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 are capable of conducting voice calls.

[0015] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , a user of the wireless communication device 110 uses a transfer function of a voice application executed by the wireless communication device 110 to transfer a call to the wireless communication device 120. As will be described in more detail below, the transfer operation may include various intermediate components within the network for performing voice calls. However, as described above, when the call is transferred to the wireless communication device 120, neither the wireless communication device 120 nor the user of the wireless communication device 120 is aware of the transfer.

[0016] The exemplary embodiments provide a way to notify the device to which the call is being transferred (e.g., wireless communication device 120) that the call is being transferred. In addition, the exemplary embodiments also allow the device to which the call is being transferred to accept, reject, or conditionally accept the call transfer from another device (e.g., wireless communication device 110). These exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail below.

[0017] Figure 2 An exemplary wireless communication device 200 is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. Figure 2 The wireless communication device 200 may represent Figure 1 The wireless communication device 110 or the wireless communication device 120 described in the call forwarding arrangement 100. The wireless communication device 200 can be any type of electronic component configured to perform a voice call via a network. Non-limiting examples include mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, desktop computers, wearable devices, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, embedded devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.

[0018] The wireless communication device 200 may include a processor 205, a memory arrangement 210, a display device 215, an input / output (I / O) device 220, a transceiver 225, and other components 230. The other components 230 may include, for example, an audio input device, an audio output device, a data acquisition device, a port for electrically connecting the parent device 110 to other electronic devices, a sensor for detecting the status of the parent device 110, and the like.

[0019] The processor 205 may be configured to execute a plurality of engines for the parent device 110. For example, the engines may include a call forwarding engine 235 for performing operations related to call forwarding between the wireless communication device 200 and another communication device. These operations may include operations performed by the communication device that is forwarding the voice call and operations performed by the communication device to which the voice call is being forwarded. Examples of these operations will be described in more detail below.

[0020] The above-mentioned engine is merely exemplary as an application (e.g., a program) executed by the processor 205. The functions associated with the engine may also be represented as an independent combined component of the wireless communication device 200, or may be a modular component coupled to the wireless communication device 200, for example, an integrated circuit with or without firmware. For example, an integrated circuit may include an input circuit for receiving a signal and a processing circuit for processing signals and other information. The engine may also be embodied as an application or an independent application. In addition, in some parent devices, the functions described for the processor 205 are split between two or more processors such as a baseband processor and an application processor. The exemplary embodiments may be implemented in accordance with any of these or other configurations of the parent device.

[0021] The memory arrangement 210 may be a hardware component configured to store data related to operations performed by the wireless communication device 200. The display device 215 may be a hardware component configured to display data to a user (e.g., display a user interface (UI), a text message, etc.). The I / O device 220 may be a hardware component that enables a user to enter input (e.g., call forwarding instructions, call forwarding acceptance / rejection, etc.). The display device 215 and the I / O device 220 may be separate components or may be integrated together (such as a touch screen).

[0022] The transceiver 225 can be a hardware component configured to establish a connection with one or more networks. For example, the wireless communication device 200 can perform a voice call on a cellular network (e.g., a long-term evolution (LTE) network, a new radio (NR) network, a 5G advanced network, a 6G network, etc.) or a Wi-Fi network (e.g., an IEEE 802.11xx protocol network). The transceiver 225 can be configured with a network interface card that allows a wired connection (e.g., an Ethernet connection) to one or more networks, or can communicate wirelessly with the one or more networks. Therefore, the transceiver 225 can operate on a variety of different frequencies or channels (e.g., a set of continuous frequencies) to communicate with the network. The transceiver 225 includes a circuit configured to transmit and / or receive signals (e.g., control signals, data signals). Such signals can be encoded with information that implements any of the methods described herein. The processor 205 can be operably coupled to the transceiver 225 and is configured to receive signals from the transceiver 225 and / or transmit signals to the transceiver. The processor 205 may be configured to encode and / or decode a signal (eg, signaling from a base station of a network) for implementing any of the methods described herein.

[0023] Figure 3An exemplary call flow 300 for call transfer between communication devices 110 and 120 is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. Call flow 300 also includes activation server 130. Exemplary operations that may be performed by activation server 130 will be described below.

[0024] At 310, a user of the wireless communication device 110 may enable call forwarding. For example, a voice call application executed by the wireless communication device 110 may include a user interface (UI) that allows the user to select to enable a call forwarding feature of the voice call application.

[0025] At 320 , the user will identify the communication device (eg, wireless communication device 120 ) to which the voice call will be transferred. For example, the UI described above may allow the user to enter the phone number of the wireless communication device 120 .

[0026] In 330, the wireless communication device 110 may send a transfer request to the wireless communication device 120. The transfer request 330 may include various information. In one example, the transfer request 330 includes at least information indicating that the wireless communication device 110 is requesting to transfer the voice call to the wireless communication device 120 (e.g., the user of the wireless communication device 110 wishes to transfer the call to the user of the wireless communication device 120). Figure 4 Examples of other types of information that may be included in transfer request 330 are described in more detail.

[0027] The transfer request 330 may be facilitated by the enabling server 130. For example, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may be associated with the same equipment manufacturer that implements a messaging service for the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 via the enabling server 130. The messaging service may, for example, implement end-to-end encryption for messages sent via the messaging service. Thus, the transfer request 330 may be delivered to the wireless communication device 120 using the enabling server 130. In another example, the transfer request 330 may be sent via a text message (e.g., a short message service (SMS)) or a multimedia message service (MMS), and the enabling server 130 may be a server that facilitates SMS or MMS messages between the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120.

[0028] In any case, the wireless communication device 120 may receive the transfer request 330 and display the transfer request 330 to a user of the wireless communication device 120. For example, the UI of the wireless communication device 120 may display a message or text message indicating that the wireless communication device 110 is requesting that the voice call be transferred to the wireless communication device 120.

[0029] The user of the wireless communication device 120 may accept, reject, or conditionally accept the transfer request 330. Conditional acceptance is described in more detail below. At 340, the wireless communication device 120 will send a transfer response (e.g., acceptance, rejection, or conditional acceptance) to the wireless communication device 110. The transfer response 340 may be sent in the same manner as the transfer request 330 (e.g., messaging service, text message, etc.).

[0030] At 350, the wireless communication device 110 will acknowledge the transfer response 340 to indicate that the user of the wireless communication device 110 has received the transfer response 340. If the transfer response 340 is negative, the call flow 300 may end at this point because the user of the wireless communication device 120 has not accepted the call transfer request.

[0031] If the transfer response 340 is positive, then in 360 the wireless communication device 110 will contact the network (e.g., the cellular network on which the wireless communication device 110 makes / receives the voice call) to indicate that the voice call will be transferred to the wireless communication device 120. Operation 360 may be a standard operation for the wireless communication device 110 to transfer a call to the wireless communication device 120.

[0032] If the transfer response 340 is a conditional acceptance, then in 360 the wireless communication device 110 will contact the network to indicate that the voice call will be transferred to the wireless communication device 120, but there may be further information entered by the user prior to operation 360. Examples of this further information are described in more detail below.

[0033] Figure 8 An exemplary network arrangement 800 according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The exemplary network arrangement 800 includes the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 described above. A practical network arrangement may include any number of wireless communication devices used by any number of users. Therefore, the example with two wireless communication devices 110 and 120 is provided for illustrative purposes only.

[0034] The wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may be configured to communicate with one or more networks. In the example of the network configuration 800, the network with which the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 can wirelessly communicate is a 5G NR radio access network (RAN) 820. However, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may also communicate with other types of networks (e.g., sixth generation (6G) RAN, 5G cloud RAN, next generation RAN (NG-RAN), traditional cellular network, wireless local area network (WLAN), etc.), and the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may also communicate with the network through a wired connection. Therefore, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may have a 5G Nr chipset for communicating with the NR RAN 820, and optionally have any other suitable type of chipset for communicating with other types of networks.

[0035] The 5G NR RAN 820 may be part of a cellular network that may be deployed by a network operator (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, etc.). The 5G NR RAN 820 may include cells and base stations configured to send and receive traffic from wireless communication devices equipped with appropriate cellular chipsets. In this example, the 5G NR RAN 120 includes a gNB 820A. However, reference to a gNB is provided for illustration purposes only, and exemplary embodiments may be utilized with any appropriate type of access node (e.g., Node B, eNodeB, HeNB, eNB, gNB, gNodeB, macro cell, micro cell, small cell, femto cell, etc.).

[0036] Any association procedure may be performed for connecting the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 to the 5G NR RAN 180. For example, as described above, the 5G NR RAN 820 may be associated with a specific network operator at which the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 and / or their users have protocol and credential information (e.g., stored on a SIM card). Upon detecting the presence of the 5G NR-RAN 820, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may transmit corresponding credential information in order to associate with the 5G NR-RAN 820. More specifically, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may be associated with a specific cell (e.g., a gNB 820A). The wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 associated with the same gNB 820A are merely examples, and for example, the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 may be associated with different base stations of the 5G NR RAN 820.

[0037] The network arrangement 800 also includes a cellular core network 830, the Internet 840, an IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) 850, and a network service backbone 860. The cellular core network 830 may refer to an interconnected set of components that manage the operation and traffic of the cellular network. The cellular core network 830 also manages the traffic flowing between the cellular network and the Internet 840. The IMS 850 may generally be described as an architecture for delivering multimedia services to the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 using the IP protocol. The IMS 850 may communicate with the cellular core network 830 and the Internet 840 to provide multimedia services to the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120. The network service backbone 860 communicates directly or indirectly with the Internet 840 and the cellular core network 830. The network service backbone 860 may generally be described as a set of components (e.g., servers, network storage arrangements, etc.) that implement a set of services that may be used to extend the functionality of the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120 to communicate with various networks. In one example, the enabling server 130 is a component of the network service backbone 860. However, this is merely an example, and the enablement server 130 may reside anywhere within the network arrangement 800 .

[0038] Figure 4 An exemplary message format 400 that may be exchanged during a call transfer process between communication devices according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The message format 400 may be used for a transfer request 330 and / or a transfer response 340 and may be delivered via, for example, a messaging service, a text message, etc., as described above.

[0039] The exemplary message format 400 may include a header 410 and a body 420. The header 410 may include a first field 414 that provides an identification of a source device (e.g., wireless communication device 110) that is requesting the call forwarding. The identification may be, for example, a telephone number of the source device. However, other means of identifying the source device may also be used. The header 410 may also include a second field 418 that provides an identification of a destination device (e.g., wireless communication device 120) to which the voice call is to be forwarded. Likewise, the identification may be, for example, a telephone number of the destination device or any other means of identifying the destination device.

[0040] The body 420 may include an 8-bit field that may be used to convey information about a call forwarding operation. For example, if the message format 400 is used for a transfer request 330, the body 420 may be set to a bitmap 421. To provide an example, the wireless communication device 110 may format the transfer request 330, which includes an identification of the wireless communication device 110 as a source device, an identification of the wireless communication device 120 as a destination device, and a body with a bitmap 421. When the wireless communication device 120 receives the transfer request 330 in this format, the wireless communication device 120 will understand from the bitmap 421 in the body 420 that the wireless communication device 110 wishes to transfer the voice call to the wireless communication device 120.

[0041] The wireless communication device 120 may also use the message format 400 for the transfer response 340. The source field 414 and the destination field 418 may be the same as described above. If the transfer response 340 is positive, the bitmap 422 may be included as the body 420 of the transfer response 340. If the transfer response 340 is negative, the bitmap 423 may be included as the body 420 of the transfer response 340.

[0042] In this example of an 8-bit body 420, five (5) unused bitmaps remain. These bitmaps may be used for other purposes, including in connection with conditional acceptance. The use of an 8-bit body 420 is merely an example, as bodies greater than or less than 8 bits may also be used. Additionally, bitmaps 421 through 423 are merely examples, as other bitmaps may be used to signal the information described for these bitmaps.

[0043] As described above, the transfer request 330 may include information that the wireless communication device 110 wishes to transfer the voice call to the wireless communication device 120. Other information may also be included in the transfer request 330. For example, additional options related to call forwarding may also be presented to the user of the wireless communication device 110, such as via a UI of the wireless communication device 110. These additional options may allow the user to select parameters related to the call forwarding, such as duration, start time, end time, etc.

[0044] In some exemplary embodiments, the additional information may be signaled via one or more bitmaps in the remaining bitmaps of the exemplary 8-bit body 420 of the message format 400. For example, the first bitmap in the remaining bitmaps of the exemplary 8-bit body 420 may correspond to a call forwarding request for a duration of 1 hour, the second bitmap in the remaining bitmaps may correspond to a call forwarding request for a duration of 2 hours, the third bitmap in the remaining bitmaps may correspond to a request to start call forwarding at the beginning of the next hour, and so on.

[0045] In other exemplary embodiments, the bitmap of the exemplary 8-bit body 420 can be used to signal that further messages regarding the call forwarding request will be sent by the wireless communication device 110. For example, one of the bitmaps can correspond to an indication of the call forwarding request and a further message indicating the duration of the call forwarding request. The further message including the duration information can be sent at a later time, such as after the transfer request 330 but before the transfer response 340. When the wireless communication device 120 receives this information in the transfer request 330, the wireless communication device 120 will understand to wait for a subsequent message before sending the transfer response 340.

[0046] In addition, as described above, when the wireless communication device 120 sends the transfer response 340, this may include a conditional acceptance. The conditional acceptance may include an indication from the wireless communication device 120 of a period of call forwarding that is accepted that is different from the period of call forwarding proposed by the request from the wireless communication device 110. The conditional acceptance may be a period with a different start time, a different end time, or both. The conditional acceptance may be a period that is shorter than the proposed period, or a period that is longer than the proposed period. To provide an example, the wireless communication device 110 may have requested a call forwarding duration of 2 hours. The wireless communication device 120 may indicate in the transfer response 340 that the call forwarding is conditionally accepted but only for a duration of 1 hour. In another example, the wireless communication device 110 may have requested a call forwarding start time of 1:00 p.m. and an end time of 3:00 p.m. The wireless communication device 120 may indicate in the transfer response 340 that the call forwarding is conditionally accepted with a start time of 2:00 p.m. and an end time of 4:00 p.m.

[0047] Likewise, the conditional acceptance may be signaled via one or more bitmaps in the remaining bitmaps of the body 420 of the message format 400, or may be signaled using another message format. For example, a first bitmap in the remaining bitmaps of the exemplary 8-bit body 420 may correspond to a conditional acceptance but a different duration, a second bitmap in the remaining bitmaps may correspond to a conditional acceptance but a different start time, a third bitmap in the remaining bitmaps may correspond to a conditional acceptance but a different end time, a fourth bitmap in the remaining bitmaps may correspond to a conditional acceptance but a different start time and end time, and so on.

[0048] In some exemplary embodiments, details of the conditional acceptance may be included in the transfer response 340 (e.g., accepted duration, accepted start time, accepted end time, etc.). In other exemplary embodiments, a bitmap of the exemplary 8-bit body 420 may be used to signal that further messages regarding the conditional acceptance (e.g., details of the conditional acceptance) will be sent by the wireless communication device 120.

[0049] In some embodiments, the conditional acceptance may provide sufficient information to the user of the wireless communication device 110 to proceed with the conditions set for the acceptance of the wireless communication device 120. For example, after receiving the conditional acceptance, the wireless communication device 110 may send a confirmation 350 and send a call forwarding request to the network 360.

[0050] In other embodiments, the conditional acceptance may trigger further negotiations between the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120. For example, when the wireless communication device 110 receives the conditional acceptance in the transfer response 340, this may trigger the wireless communication device 110 to send additional messages to the wireless communication device 120 to determine details about the conditional acceptance and / or to determine whether the user of the wireless communication device 120 will accept different conditions. These exchanges may be similar to those already described above (e.g., transfer request 340, transfer response 350, etc.).

[0051] Figure 5 An exemplary method 500 for call forwarding is shown in accordance with various exemplary embodiments. The method 500 is described from the perspective of a source device (eg, wireless communication device 110).

[0052] At 505, the user of the source device (or a voice call application) enables call forwarding. At 510, the source device determines whether the user has identified a destination for the call forwarding. Figure 5In the example of , the user may not have yet entered the destination phone number, and the method 500 ends. However, if call forwarding remains enabled, this can be a continuous determination until call forwarding is disabled or the user enters the destination phone number.

[0053] Once the source device has received the destination phone number, the source device sends a transfer request (eg, transfer request 330) to the destination device at 515. At 520, the source device receives a transfer response (eg, transfer response 340) from the destination device.

[0054] If the response is negative, the method 500 ends and the call forwarding is not implemented. If the response is positive, the method continues to 535, where the source continues the call forwarding operation by contacting the network and indicating that the voice call of the source device can be transferred to the destination device.

[0055] If the response is a conditional acceptance, the method may proceed to 535, where the source continues the call forwarding operation by contacting the network and indicating that the voice call of the source device may be forwarded to the destination device. Figure 5 In contrast, Figure 5 It is shown that upon receiving the conditional acceptance, the source device continues to negotiate with the destination device to determine the details of the conditional acceptance in 530. Once these details are acceptable to both the source device and the destination device, the source device can receive an affirmative response to the transfer request, and the method can continue to 535, where the source continues the call transfer operation by contacting the network.

[0056] An example of conditional acceptance and negotiation is provided. In 515, the source device may send a transfer request including a requested duration and start time (e.g., starting at 1:00 p.m. for 2:00 hours). The destination device may send a conditional acceptance with the negotiated time (e.g., starting at 1:00 p.m. for 1:00 hours). The source device may accept the conditional acceptance and proceed with the call transfer negotiated by the destination device by sending a confirmation, or the source device may find an alternative. For example, a user of the source device (via a voice call application) may decide to send a transfer request to a different destination device. In another example, a user of the source device (via a voice call application) may decide to send an updated transfer request with a different duration and / or start time (e.g., starting at 1:00 p.m. for 1:30 hours, starting at 3:00 p.m. for 2:00 hours, etc.).

[0057] In the above examples, it is considered that the source device and the destination device communicate via a messaging service regarding a call transfer, for example, the source device and the destination device are far away from each other. In the following exemplary embodiments, it can be considered that the source device and the destination device are in close proximity to each other and can communicate via a short-range connection. The short-range connection can be, for example, a cellular sidelink connection, a Bluetooth connection, a Zigbee connection, a Wi-Fi direct connection, etc. As will be described in the following examples, the short-range connection can alleviate the need for an intermediary enabling server (e.g., reference Figure 3 Devices that are in close proximity to each other may not require an enabling server because the devices can communicate directly with each other over a short-range connection.

[0058] Figure 6 An exemplary call flow 600 for call transfer between a communication device 110 and a communication device 120 having a short-range communication connection is shown according to various exemplary embodiments. The call flow 600 is similar to the call flow 300, except that, as described above, the enabling server 130 does not need to facilitate the sending of messages between the wireless communication device 110 and the wireless communication device 120.

[0059] In some examples of call flow 600, wireless communication device 110 and wireless communication device 120 may already have an active short-range communication link before operations of call flow 600 begin. In other examples of call flow 600, operations of call flow 600 may trigger wireless communication device 110 and wireless communication device 120 to establish an active short-range communication link.

[0060] At 610, a user of wireless communication device 110 may enable call forwarding. At 620, the user identifies a communication device (eg, wireless communication device 120) to which the voice call is to be forwarded.

[0061] In examples where there is no active short-range communication link between wireless communication device 110 and wireless communication device 120 , user input into wireless communication device 110 may cause wireless communication device 110 to establish a short-range communication link to wireless communication device 120 .

[0062] In 630, the wireless communication device 110 may send a transfer request to the wireless communication device 120 via the short range communication link. The transfer request 630 may be similar to the transfer request 330 described above.

[0063] The wireless communication device 120 may receive the transfer request 630 and display the transfer request 630 to a user of the wireless communication device indicating that the wireless communication device 110 is requesting that the voice call be transferred to the wireless communication device 120 .

[0064] The user of the wireless communication device 120 may accept, reject, or conditionally accept the transfer request 630. At 640, the wireless communication device 120 will send a transfer response (e.g., acceptance, rejection, or conditional acceptance) to the wireless communication device 110 via the short-range communication link. The transfer response 640 may be similar to the transfer response 340 described above.

[0065] At 650, the wireless communication device 110 will acknowledge the transfer response 640 via the short-range communication link to indicate that the user of the wireless communication device 110 has received the transfer response 640. If the transfer response 640 is negative, the call flow 600 may end at this point because the user of the wireless communication device 120 has not accepted the call transfer request.

[0066] If the transfer response 640 is positive, then in 660 the wireless communication device 110 may contact the network (e.g., a cellular network on which the wireless communication device 110 is making / receiving the voice call) to indicate that the voice call is to be transferred to the wireless communication device 120. Operation 660 may be a standard operation for the wireless communication device 110 to transfer a call to the wireless communication device 120.

[0067] If the transfer response 640 is a conditional accept, the operations may be similar to those described above for a conditional accept.

[0068] In all of the above examples, there are scenarios where the wireless communication device 110 has transferred the voice call to the wireless communication device 120. In the current scenario where the call is transferred, there is no mechanism for the user of the device to which the call is transferred (e.g., the wireless communication device 120) to know whether the received voice call was originally destined for the wireless communication device 120 or is a transferred call (e.g., the voice call was originally destined for the wireless communication device 110).

[0069] The exemplary embodiment provides a way for the user of the wireless communication device 120 to understand whether the received call is a transferred call. For example, when the wireless communication device 120 receives a voice call, the wireless communication device 120 can check the data associated with the voice call. The data can include information included in a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) message associated with the voice call. The data can indicate that the voice call is a transferred call, for example, the identification of the wireless communication device 110 is included in a field of the SIP message. When the wireless communication device 120 determines that the voice call is a transferred call, the UI of the wireless communication device 120 can indicate that the call is a transferred call and the communication device (e.g., the wireless communication device 110) from which the call is transferred. In this way, the user of the wireless communication device 120 is aware that the voice call was not originally destined for the wireless communication device 120, and can act appropriately in response to the information, for example, transferring the wireless communication device 120 to the user of the wireless communication device 110 so that he can answer the voice call.

[0070] In the above examples, it is considered that the source device and the destination device are different physical devices. In the following exemplary embodiments, it can be considered that the source device and the destination device are different subscriber identity modules (SIMs) in the same device. Therefore, these examples consider the scenario of a wireless communication device including two SIMs that are both active (for example, the communication device can operate in a dual SIM dual standby (DSDS) mode).

[0071] Under normal circumstances, in a DSDS scenario, when a voice call is received on a connection associated with one of the SIMs, the other SIM is suspended, e.g., the connection associated with the other SIM is out of service (OOS). In this scenario, the user of the communication device cannot receive calls on the connection associated with the other SIM. This may result in a negative user experience because the other SIM may receive an important call (e.g., from a child's school, from a hospital, etc.) that the user cannot accept because the other SIM is OOS. The following exemplary embodiment addresses this issue and allows calls to be transferred from the suspended SIM to the currently active SIM.

[0072] Figure 7An exemplary call flow 700 for call transfer between different subscriber identity modules (SIMs) of the same device according to various exemplary embodiments is shown. The call flow 700 is shown as occurring between SIM1 710 and SIM2 720. As described above, SIM1 710 and SIM2 720 are SIMs of the same communication device operating in DSDS mode. Therefore, before the call flow 700 begins, both SIM1 710 and SIM2 720 may have active communication links with their respective networks.

[0073] In 730, a user of the communication device makes or accepts a voice call using a connection associated with SIM2 720. In 740, an indication is provided to SIM1 710 that there is an active voice call using SIM2 720. When the voice call is active on SIM2 720, SIM1 710 may transfer the voice call to SIM2 720. In some examples, this may be done automatically once one of the SIMs is engaged in an active voice call. In other examples, the communication device may display via a UI an option for the user of the communication device to transfer a voice call from a SIM that is not engaged in an active voice call. In call flow 700, it is assumed that the call is transferred from SIM1 710 to SIM2 720.

[0074] In 750, SIM1 710 is suspended because SIM2 720 is in an active voice call. However, because call forwarding has been established, the user can receive voice calls destined for SIM1 710 on the connection associated with SIM2 720 during the time the voice call is active on SIM2 720.

[0075] In 760, the active voice call on SIM2 720 is terminated. In 770, SIM2 720 informs SIM1 710 that the voice call has been terminated, allowing SIM1 710 to be reactivated in 780. In 790, the call transfer from SIM1 710 to SIM2 720 is interrupted because the communication device is once again able to receive voice calls on the connection associated with either SIM1 710 or SIM2 720.

[0076] Example

[0077] In a first embodiment, a method includes: enabling a call forwarding function for a voice call based on user input; processing an identification of a communication device to which the voice call is to be forwarded based on the user input; generating a forwarding request for transmission to the communication device via a network service; and processing a forwarding response indicating whether the communication device has accepted the forwarding request based on signaling received from the communication device via the network service.

[0078] In a second embodiment, the method of the first embodiment, wherein the network service is one of a messaging service, a Short Messaging Service (SMS), or a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) that provides end-to-end encryption of messages.

[0079] In a third embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the method further comprises: generating a confirmation corresponding to the transfer response for transmission to the communication device.

[0080] In a fourth embodiment, according to the method described in the first embodiment, the method further includes: determining that the transfer response indicates that the communication device has accepted the transfer request; and in response to determining that the communication device has accepted the transfer request, generating a request to transfer the call to the communication device for transmission to the network.

[0081] In a fifth embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the method further comprises: determining that the transfer response indicates that the communication device has not accepted the transfer request; and in response to determining that the communication device has not accepted the transfer request, disabling the call forwarding function.

[0082] In a sixth embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the method further comprises: determining that the transfer response indicates that the communication device has conditionally accepted the transfer request.

[0083] In a seventh embodiment, according to the method of the sixth embodiment, the method further comprises: in response to determining that the communication device has conditionally accepted the transfer request, generating a request to transfer the call to the communication device for transmission to the network.

[0084] In an eighth embodiment, according to the method of the sixth embodiment, the method further comprises: generating a further transfer request including information related to the conditionally accepted transfer request for transmission to the communication device via the network service.

[0085] In a ninth embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the identification includes a telephone number of the communication device.

[0086] In a tenth embodiment, the method according to the first embodiment, wherein the transfer request includes (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body including a bitmap indicating the transfer request to transfer the voice call to the communication device.

[0087] In an eleventh embodiment, the method according to the first embodiment, wherein the transfer response includes (i) a header identifying the second communication device and (ii) a body including a bitmap, wherein the bitmap indicates whether the communication device accepted the transfer request, did not accept the transfer request, or conditionally accepted the transfer request.

[0088] In a twelfth embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the transfer request includes information related to the transfer of the voice call.

[0089] In a thirteenth embodiment, according to the method of the first embodiment, the information includes the duration of the call forwarding, the start time of the call forwarding or the end time of the call forwarding.

[0090] In a fourteenth embodiment, a processor is provided. The processor is configured to execute any one of the methods described in accordance with the first to thirteenth embodiments.

[0091] In a fifteenth embodiment, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device is configured to perform any one of the methods described in accordance with the first to thirteenth embodiments.

[0092] In a sixteenth embodiment, a method includes: processing a transfer request received from a communication device via a network service, the transfer request indicating that a voice call with the communication device as a destination is to be transferred to the device; configuring a user interface (UI) to display the transfer request; based on user input, processing a response indicating whether the user has accepted the transfer request; and generating a transfer response indicating whether the transfer request has been accepted for transmission to the communication device via the network service.

[0093] In a seventeenth embodiment, the method of the sixteenth embodiment, wherein the network service is one of a messaging service, a short messaging service (SMS), or a multimedia messaging service (MMS) that provides end-to-end encryption of messages.

[0094] In an eighteenth embodiment, according to the method of the sixteenth embodiment, the method further comprises: processing a confirmation corresponding to the transfer response based on signaling from the communication device via the network service.

[0095] In a nineteenth embodiment, the method according to the sixteenth embodiment, wherein the transfer request includes (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body including a bitmap indicating that the communication device is requesting to transfer the voice call.

[0096] In a twentieth embodiment, the method according to the sixteenth embodiment, wherein the transfer response includes (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body including a bitmap, the bitmap indicating that the transfer request has been accepted, has not been accepted, or has been conditionally accepted.

[0097] In a twenty-first embodiment, according to the method of the twentieth embodiment, the method further comprises: processing a further transfer request including information related to the conditionally accepted transfer request based on signaling from the communication device via the network service.

[0098] In a twenty-second embodiment, the method according to the sixteenth embodiment, wherein the transfer request includes information related to the transfer of the voice call.

[0099] In a twenty-third embodiment, according to the method of the twenty-second embodiment, the information includes the duration of the call forwarding, the start time of the call forwarding, or the end time of the call forwarding.

[0100] In a twenty-fourth embodiment, a processor is provided, the processor being configured to execute any one of the methods described in accordance with the sixteenth to twenty-third embodiments.

[0101] In a twenty-fifth embodiment, a wireless communication device is provided. The wireless communication device is configured to perform any one of the methods described in accordance with the sixteenth to twenty-third embodiments.

[0102] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the exemplary embodiments described above may be implemented with any suitable software configuration or hardware configuration or combination thereof. Exemplary hardware platforms for implementing the exemplary embodiments may include, for example, Intel x86-based platforms with compatible operating systems, Windows OS, Mac platforms and MAC OS, mobile devices with operating systems such as iOS, Android, etc. The exemplary embodiments of the above methods may be embodied as a program comprising lines of code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which, when compiled, may be executed on a processor or microprocessor.

[0103] Although this patent application describes various combinations of various embodiments each having different features, those skilled in the art will understand that any feature of an embodiment may be combined with features of other embodiments in any manner not publicly denied or with features that are not functionally or logically inconsistent with the operation or function of the device of the embodiments disclosed in the present invention.

[0104] It is understood that the use of personally identifiable information should be subject to privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized to meet or exceed industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of the authorized use should be clearly stated to users.

[0105] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the present disclosure is intended to cover modifications and variations of the present disclosure, provided that these modifications and variations are within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising a processing circuit, wherein the processing circuit is configured to: Based on user input, enabling a call forwarding feature for the voice call; processing, based on user input, an identification of a communication device to which the voice call is to be transferred; generating a transfer request for transmission to the communication device via a network service; as well as Based on signaling received from the communication device via the network service, a transfer response is processed indicating whether the communication device has accepted the transfer request.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the network service is one of a messaging service, a short messaging service (SMS), or a multimedia messaging service (MMS) that provides end-to-end encryption of messages.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: An acknowledgement corresponding to the transfer response is generated for transmission to the communication device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determining that the transfer response indicates that the communication device has accepted the transfer request; and In response to determining that the communication device has accepted the transfer request, a request to transfer the call to the communication device is generated for transmission to a network.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: determining that the transfer response indicates that the communication device has not accepted the transfer request; and In response to determining that the communication device has not accepted the transfer request, the call forwarding function is disabled.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: Determining the transfer response indicates that the communications device has conditionally accepted the transfer request.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: In response to determining that the communication device has conditionally accepted the transfer request, a request to transfer the call to the communication device is generated for transmission to a network.

8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: A further transfer request including information related to the conditionally accepted transfer request is generated for transmission to the communication device via the network service.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the identification comprises a telephone number of the communication device.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transfer request comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating the transfer request to transfer a voice call to the communication device.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the transfer response comprises (i) a header identifying the second communications device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating whether the communications device accepted the transfer request, did not accept the transfer request, or conditionally accepted the transfer request.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transfer request includes information related to the transfer of the voice call.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the information comprises a duration of the call forwarding, a start time of the call forwarding, or an end time of the call forwarding.

14. An apparatus, comprising a processing circuit, the processing circuit being configured to: processing a transfer request received from a communication device via a network service, the transfer request indicating that a voice call destined for the communication device is to be transferred to the apparatus; configuring a user interface (UI) to display the transfer request; processing, based on user input, a response indicating whether the user has accepted the transfer request; as well as A transfer response is generated for transmission to the communication device via the network service indicating whether the transfer request has been accepted.

15. The device of claim 14, wherein the network service is one of a messaging service, a short messaging service (SMS), or a multimedia messaging service (MMS) that provides end-to-end encryption of messages.

16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: An acknowledgement corresponding to the forwarded response is processed based on signaling from the communication device via the network service.

17. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transfer request comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating that the communication device is requesting that the voice call be transferred.

18. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transfer response comprises (i) a header identifying the communication device and (ii) a body comprising a bitmap indicating that the transfer request has been accepted, has not been accepted, or has been conditionally accepted.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing circuit is further configured to: Based on signaling from the communication device via the network service, further transfer requests are processed including information related to the conditionally accepted transfer request.

20. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the transfer request includes information related to the transfer of the voice call, The information includes the duration of the call forwarding, the start time of the call forwarding or the end time of the call forwarding.

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