Summarized Group Member Information in Mobile Communication Systems
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current group communication systems lack summarized information on group members, which is essential for users to decide between individual or group calls, and existing presence services do not provide this information effectively, especially in public mobile communication systems.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that integrate group communication services with presence services to provide summarized group member information, allowing users to view the availability and status of group members without restricting group communication features, using a server-based system that manages group memberships and presence information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If group communication systems provide detailed individual member information, then users can make informed decisions about call types, but system complexity and information management burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and presents only the essential summarized information about group members (such as presence status, number of active members) rather than displaying all detailed individual member data. This extraction approach provides users with sufficient information for decision-making while avoiding the complexity of managing and displaying comprehensive individual member details.
Solution Approach 2:
The information about group members is segmented into different levels of detail. The system provides a summarized view showing key information (presence, activity status) and allows users to access more detailed individual member information only when needed. This segmentation reduces the information overload and system complexity while maintaining data availability.
2Loss of information
If the system integrates presence service with group communication service, then summarized group member information becomes available, but service integration complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the presence service functionality with the group communication service by having the group communication server also handle presence information management. Instead of maintaining completely separate systems, the solution combines these services so that the same server infrastructure provides both group communication and presence information, reducing overall system complexity while enabling summarized group member information.
Solution Approach 2:
The group communication server is designed to perform multiple functions: it handles both group communication operations and presence information management. This multi-functionality allows the system to provide summarized group member information without requiring a separate dedicated presence service, thereby reducing service integration complexity while achieving the desired information availability.
3Measurement precision
If the system provides comprehensive presence information for all users, then individual presence information is accurate, but information processing overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts and processes only the essential presence information needed for group communication decisions rather than maintaining and processing all possible presence attributes for every user. By focusing on key information elements (presence status, activity state), the system maintains accuracy where needed while reducing overall processing overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies partial action by providing detailed presence information only when relevant to group communication context, rather than continuously processing and displaying all presence data for all users. This approach maintains measurement precision for relevant information while avoiding the excessive processing overhead of comprehensive presence information management in all scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
Group communication service is becoming more and more popular in communications systems. The users of the group communication would benefit especially from summarized group information. A member of a group comprising at least two members can receive the summarized group information by subscribing to information on other group members; wherein information on the group is summarized at least on the basis of current information on at least one other group member whose information was subscribed to; and by showing the thus obtained summarized group member information to the member.