Method and Apparatus for Supporting Emergency Calls (eCalls)

Abstract

Techniques for supporting eCalls are described. In an aspect, an eCall indicator may be used to indicate an eCall being established. In one design, a terminal may generate a message including an eCall indicator and may send the message to originate an eCall. The eCall indicator may indicate (i) whether or not a call is an eCall or (ii) whether an eCall is initiated automatically by the terminal or manually by a user. In another aspect, a terminal may avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management to wireless networks except for eCalls and designated calls. The terminal may avoid performing location updating, performing registration, responding to paging requests, etc. The terminal may exchange signaling with a wireless network for an eCall initiated by the terminal. After the eCall is initiated, the terminal may perform location updating with the wireless network and call establishment for the eCall.

1 . A method of operating a terminal, comprising:
 avoiding sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) by the terminal to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls; and   exchanging signaling by the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 periodically searching for wireless networks by the terminal after being powered on without sending signaling to detected networks.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises avoiding performing location updating by the terminal prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises avoiding performing registration and responding to paging requests prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or the designated call comprises performing location updating with a wireless network after the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and performing call establishment with the wireless network for the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the performing location updating comprises sending a message comprising an indication of a pending eCall for location updating. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the performing call establishment comprises sending a message comprising an eCall indicator for call establishment. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or the designated call comprises performing call establishment with a wireless network for the eCall or the designated call, and wherein location updating is performed by the terminal with the wireless network prior to initiation of the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or the designated call; and   avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the predetermined time period comprises a first time period for the eCall or a second time period for the designated call. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and   avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 exchanging signaling with a wireless network for network attachment, location updating, responding to paging requests, and reconfiguring of allowed services for the terminal within the predetermined time period.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus comprising:
 means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) by a terminal to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls; and   means for exchanging signaling by the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises means for avoiding performing location updating by the terminal prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the means for exchanging signaling by the terminal for the eCall or the designated call comprises means for performing location updating with a wireless network after the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and means for performing call establishment with the wireless network for the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the means for performing call establishment comprises means for sending a message comprising an eCall indicator for call establishment. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 means for enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or the designated call; and   means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , further comprising:
 means for enabling signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and   means for avoiding sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.   
     
     
         19 . A terminal, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to avoid sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls, and to exchange signaling for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         20 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to periodically search for wireless networks after being powered on without sending signaling to detected networks. 
     
     
         21 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by being configured to avoid performing location updating prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         22 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by being configured to avoid performing registration and responding to paging requests prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         23 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to exchange signaling for the eCall or the designated call initiated by the terminal by being configured to perform location updating with a wireless network after the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and to perform call establishment with the wireless network for the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         24 . The terminal of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform the location updating by being configured to send a message comprising an indication of a pending eCall for the location updating. 
     
     
         25 . The terminal of  claim 23 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform the call establishment by being configured to send a message comprising an eCall indicator for the call establishment. 
     
     
         26 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to exchange signaling for the eCall or the designated call initiated by the terminal by being configured to perform call establishment with a wireless network for the eCall or the designated call, and wherein location updating is performed by the terminal with the wireless network prior to initiation of the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         27 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to enable signaling for mobility management and connection management for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or the designated call; and
 to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management after a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         28 . The terminal of  claim 27 , wherein the predetermined time period comprises a first time period for the eCall or a second time period for the designated call. 
     
     
         29 . The terminal of  claim 19 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to enable signaling for mobility management and connection management for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management after the predetermined time period. 
     
     
         30 . The terminal of  claim 29 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to exchange signaling with a wireless network for network attachment, location updating, responding to paging requests, and reconfiguring of allowed services for the terminal within the predetermined time period. 
     
     
         31 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoded with instructions, when executed by at least one processing unit to operate a terminal, the instructions comprising:
 code to avoid sending signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) by the terminal to wireless networks except for emergency calls (eCalls) and designated calls; and   code to exchange signaling by the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 31 , the instructions further comprising:
 code to enable signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period after termination of the eCall or the designated call; and   code to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after a predetermined time period.   
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 31 , the instructions further comprising:
 code to enable signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal for a predetermined time period upon powering on or manual re-activation of the terminal; and   code to avoid sending signaling for mobility management and connection management by the terminal after the predetermined time period.   
     
     
         34 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 33 , the instructions further comprising:
 code to exchange signaling with a wireless network for network attachment, location updating, responding to paging requests, and reconfiguring of allowed services for the terminal within the predetermined time period.   
     
     
         35 . A method of supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:
 receiving no signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) from a terminal except for eCalls and designated calls; and   exchanging signaling with the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the receiving no signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises receiving no signaling for location updating from the terminal prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the exchanging signaling with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call comprises performing location updating with the terminal when the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and performing call establishment with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         38 . An apparatus for supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:
 means for receiving no signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) from a terminal except for eCalls and designated calls; and   means for exchanging signaling with the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the means for receiving no signaling for mobility management and connection management comprises means for receiving no signaling for location updating from the terminal prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the means for exchanging signaling with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call comprises
 means for performing location updating with the terminal when the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and   means for performing call establishment with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call.   
     
     
         41 . An apparatus for supporting emergency call (eCall) establishment, comprising:
 at least one processor configured to receive no signaling for mobility management (MM) and connection management (CM) from a terminal except for eCalls and designated calls, and to exchange signaling with the terminal for an eCall or a designated call initiated by the terminal.   
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 41 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to receive no signaling for mobility management and connection management by being configured to receive no signaling for location updating from the terminal prior to the eCall or the designated call. 
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 41 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to exchange signaling with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call by being configured to perform location updating with the terminal when the eCall or the designated call is initiated, and to perform call establishment with the terminal for the eCall or the designated call.