Position registration method, information distribution method, mobile communication network, and mobile communication terminal

• US 20020177451A1
• Filed: 04/26/2002
• Published: 11/28/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Ogasawara, Koichi
• Granted Patent: US 6,947,754 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/04 Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 80/04 Network layer protocols, e.g. mobile IP [Internet Protocol]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/02 Inter-networking arrangements

Abstract

An ID signal indicating a base station ID is broadcasted by a base station 21 sited in a specific area of a location registration area. When receiving the ID signal, a mobile station 10 located in the radio zone of the base station 21 transmits to the base station 21 a location registration request signal including the base station ID and a mobile station ID. The base station ID and the mobile station ID are registered in a home memory 23 as narrow-area location registration information. An IP server 40a acquires location related information from a location-related information data base 41a and transmits it to a gateway server 25. The gateway server 25 specifies a destination of transmission for the received location related information by referring to the home memory 23 and transmits the location related information to the mobile station 10.

Claims

1. A location registration method for registering a location of a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

broadcasting, from each of one or plural specific base stations that constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

detecting in said mobile communications terminal its location in a radio zone of one of said one or said plural specific base stations when having received said radio-zone information notifying signal;

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal that has detected its location in said radio zone of said one base station, a request signal for requesting a location registration process to said one base station;

receiving in said one base station said request signal; and

performing, in said mobile communications network, a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station.

2. A location registration method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of deleting the present location information generated by said step of performing said location registration process.

3. A location registration method according to claim 1, wherein said mobile communications terminal is a portable telephone which performs voice communications by radio.

4. A location registration method for registering a location of a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

broadcasting, from a radio transmission device sited in each of one or plural specific base stations which constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating said radio zone of each specific base station, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

detecting in said mobile communications terminal its location in a radio zone of one of said one or said plural specific base stations when having received said radio-zone information notifying signal;

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal that has detected its location in said radio zone of said one base station, a request signal for requesting a location registration process to said one base station;

receiving in said one base station said request signal; and

performing, in said mobile communications network, a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station.

5. An information distribution method for distributing information to a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network through said mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

broadcasting, from each of one or plural specific base stations which constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

detecting, in said mobile communications terminal, its location in a radio zone of one of said one or said plural specific base stations when having received said radio-zone information notifying signal;

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal that has detected said location in said radio zone of said one base station to said one base station, a request signal for requesting a location registration process;

receiving in said one base station said request signal;

performing, in said mobile communications network, a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station; and

distributing, from an information distribution server, information to said mobile communications terminal located in said radio zone of said one base station, after designating said mobile communications terminal based on the present location information generated by said location registration process.

6. An information distribution method according to claim 5, further comprising the step of deleting said present location information generated by said step of performing said location registration process.

7. An information distribution method according to claim 6, wherein said step of deleting said present location information deletes said present location information when said mobile communications terminal moves out of that radio zone in which said mobile communications terminal has been located.

8. An information distribution method according to claim 6, wherein said step of deleting said present location information deletes said present location information when distribution of the provided information by said step of distributing said information is completed.

9. An information distribution method according to claim 5, wherein said radio-zone information notifying signal includes base-station identification information for uniquely specifying each of said one or plural specific base stations.

10. An information distribution method according to claim 5, wherein said present location information is information including base station identification information and terminal identification information linked with each other, said base station identification information uniquely specifying said one specific base station and said terminal identification information uniquely specifying said mobile communications terminal.

11. An information distribution method according to claim 5, wherein said mobile communications terminal is a portable telephone which performs voice communications by radio.

15. An information distribution method according to claim 14, further comprising the step of replacing said identification information of said base station affixed to said request signal with location information indicating a position at which said base station is located.

16. An information distribution method according to claim 14, wherein said information distribution server is provided outside said mobile communications network.

18. A mobile communications network according to claim 17, further comprising location registration deleting means for deleting said present location information generated by said location registration means.

19. A mobile communications network according to claim 17, wherein said mobile communications terminal is a portable telephone which performs voice communications by said radio communication.

12. An information distribution method for distributing information to a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network through said mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

broadcasting, from a radio transmission device sited in each of one or plural specific base stations which constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone of each specific base station, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

detecting, in said mobile communications terminal, its present location in a radio zone of one of said one or said plural specific base stations when having received said radio-zone information notifying signal;

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal that has detected said location in said radio zone of said one base station, a request signal for requesting a location registration process to said one base station;

receiving in said one base station said request signal;

performing, in said mobile communications network, a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station; and

distributing, from an information distribution server, information to said mobile communications terminal located in said radio zone of said specific base station, after designating said mobile communication terminal based on the present location information generated by said location registration process.

13. An information distribution method for distributing information to a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network through said mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal, a call signal for calling another communications terminal;

receiving said transmitted call signal in one of one or plural specific base stations which constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

performing, in said mobile communications network, a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said call signal received by said one base station; and

distributing, from an information distribution server, said mobile communications terminal located in said radio zone of said one base station, after designating said mobile communications terminal based on the present location information generated by said location registration.

14. An information distribution method for distributing information to a mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network through said mobile communications network comprising the steps of:

transmitting, from said mobile communications terminal, a request signal for requesting information distribution including its own identification information;

receiving said request signal in a base station constituting a radio zone in which said mobile communications terminal is located;

transferring said request signal, from said base station that has received said request signal to a given information distribution server, after affixing its own identification information to said request signal; and

distributing information from said information distribution server to said mobile communication terminal after specifying a location of said mobile communications terminal which has requested said information distribution based on said identification information of said base station affixed to said request signal and said identification information of said mobile communications terminal included in said request signal.

17. A mobile communications network for performing a location registration process of generating present location information of a mobile communications terminal comprising:

signal broadcasting means for broadcasting, from each of one or plural specific base stations that constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

signal broadcasting means for broadcasting a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone of one of said one or plural specific base stations through said each of said one or plural specific base stations;

signal reception means for receiving through said one base station a request signal for requesting a location registration process transmitted from a mobile communications terminal which has received said radio-zone information notifying signal from said one base station; and

location registration means for performing a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station.

20. A mobile communications network for performing a location registration process for generating present location information of a mobile communications terminal comprising:

a radio transmission device for transmitting a predetermined radio signal, said radio transmission device being sited in each of radio zones of one or plural specific base stations that constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones;

signal reception means for receiving through said one base station a request signal for requesting a location registration process, said request signal being transmitted from a mobile communications terminal which has received said transmitted radio signal; and

location registration means for performing a location registration process of generating information on a present location of said mobile communications terminal in said radio zone of said one base station based on said request signal received by said one base station.

21. A mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network comprising:

a memory for storing identification information of said mobile communications terminal itself;

signal reception means for receiving a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating a radio zone of one of said one or plural specific base stations, said radio-zone information notifying signal being transmitted from each of one or plural specific base stations that constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area, said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones; and

signal transmission means for transmitting, to said one base station, a request signal for requesting a location registration process of performing location registration by generating a present location information in said radio zone in response to the reception of said radio-zone information notifying signal, after including said stored identification information in said request signal.

22. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 21, further comprising means for transmitting said base station a request signal for requesting deletion of said present location information generated by said location registration process.

23. A mobile communications terminal according to claim 21, wherein said mobile communications terminal is a portable telephone which performs voice communications by radio.

24. A mobile communications terminal served by a mobile communications network comprising:

a memory for storing identification information of said mobile communications terminal itself;

signal reception means for receiving a radio-zone information notifying signal indicating its own radio zone of said base station, said radio-zone information notifying signal being transmitted from a given radio-signal transmission device sited in each of individual radio zones of each of one or plural specific base stations that constitute a radio zone corresponding to a part of a location registration area and said location registration area consisting of a plurality of radio zones; and

signal transmission means for transmitting a request signal for requesting a location registration process of performing location registration by generating information on a present location in said radio zone in response to the reception of said radio-zone information notifying signal, after including said stored identification information in said request signal.