SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING OPTIMAL SERVICE ACQUISITION FOR A WIRELESS PHONE

摘要

A system for facilitating the acquisition of a most desirable wireless service for a wireless phone. The system includes a scanning mechanism (83) for a periodically scanning for a signal indicative of a wireless service having a coverage area that overlaps one or more coverage areas of other wireless services. A service aquisition mechanism (87) acquires the wireless service or one of the other wireless services based on predetermined selection criteria and the signal. More specifically, the present invention includes a wireless phone (26) having a first mechanism (85) for determining if a detected system, i.e., service is associated with a coverage area that overlaps one or more coverage areas of different systems. A second mechanism (84) compares the different systems to the detected system and selects a preferred system based on the comparison. A third mechanism (87) acquires the preferred system. In the specific embodiment, the wireless phone includes a computer that runs software for implementing the first, second, and third mechanisms.