Method and apparatus for the autoselection of an emergency number in a mobile station

Abstract

A method and apparatus for the selection of an emergency number in a mobile station having a geographic indicator, the method comprising the steps of and the apparatus characterized by means for: determining whether a user is attempting to reach an emergency service provider; and if the user is attempting to reach an emergency service provider, connecting to a network if the mobile station is not already connected to a network; looking up an emergency dial string in a look-up table based on the geographic indicator and the network connected to and the underlying service; and sending the emergency dial string.

1 . A method at a mobile device comprising:
 acquiring an air interface at the mobile device;   determining an identifier from the air interface;   finding an emergency number based on the identifier; and   storing the emergency number while the mobile device has acquired the air interface,   wherein the storing utilizes a memory location quickly accessible during an emergency situation.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a mobile country code. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the mobile country code is received in an air interface overhead message. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the finding utilizes a table on the mobile device associating the identifier with the emergency number. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the table is stored on the mobile device during device manufacture. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the table is updated over-the-air or with software updates. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising:
 determining that the mobile device needs to update the air interface overhead message;   checking whether the mobile country code has changed; and   performing the finding the emergency number and storing the emergency number steps if the mobile country code has changed.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 determining that the identifier has changed;   performing the finding the emergency number and storing the emergency number steps based on the changed identifier.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the identifier is a geographic indicator. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the geographic indicator is a global positioning system location. 
     
     
         11 . A mobile device comprising:
 a processor; and   a communications subsystem, wherein the processor and communications subsystem are configured to:   acquire an air interface;   determine an identifier from the air interface;   find an emergency number based on the identifier; and   store the emergency number while the mobile device has acquired the air interface, the storing utilizing a memory location quickly accessible during an emergency situation.   
     
     
         12 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the identifier is a mobile country code. 
     
     
         13 . The mobile device of  claim 12 , wherein the mobile country code is received in an air interface overhead message. 
     
     
         14 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor and communications subsystem are configured to find by utilizing a table associating the identifier with the emergency number. 
     
     
         15 . The mobile device of  claim 14 , wherein the table is stored on the mobile device during device manufacture. 
     
     
         16 . The mobile device of  claim 14 , wherein the table is updated over-the-air or with software updates. 
     
     
         17 . The mobile device of  claim 13 , wherein the processor and communications subsystem are further configured to:
 determine that the mobile device needs to update the air interface overhead message;   check whether the mobile country code has changed; and   if the mobile country code has changed:
 find an emergency number based on the mobile country code; and 
 store the emergency number while the mobile device has acquired the air interface. 
   
     
     
         18 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor and communications subsystem are further configured to:
 determine that the identifier has changed;   find an emergency number based on the identifier; and   store the emergency number while the mobile device has acquired the air interface.   
     
     
         19 . The mobile device of  claim 11 , wherein the identifier is a geographic indicator. 
     
     
         20 . The mobile device of  claim 19 , wherein the geographic indicator is a global positioning system location.