METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AN ALERT WITH INFORMATION SIGNAL BETWEEN A MOBILE SWITCHING CENTER AND A BASE STATION

摘要

The invention is a method and apparatus for providing an Alert With Information Message signal between a mobile switching center (36) and a base station (34) in a cellular communication system. The invention recognizes that current provisions of the IS-634 standard lack support for certain required functionality on the interface between a mobile switching center (36) and a base station (34), or the A-Interface. An Alert With Information Message signal is introduced on the A-Interface to support the required functionality. Introduction of the Alert With Information Message provides support for reliable call processing on the A-Interface for the call waiting procedure, the hard handoff procedure, and the resolution of a glare condition. A message generator (38) in the mobile switching center (36) generates the Alert With Information Message, which is transmitted to message receiver (40) in the base station (34) when needed.