Cell phone position measurement system, position measurement method, and cell phone terminal

• US 20030054839A1
• Filed: 09/09/2002
• Published: 03/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/14/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Innovations Ltd Hong Kong (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Ono, Hiroshi
• Granted Patent: US 7,039,419 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/21 Interference related issues ; Issues related to cross-correlation, spoofing or other methods of denial of service
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/46 the supplementary measurement being of a radio-wave signal type
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/18554 using the position provided by an existing geolocalisation system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/90 Services for handling of emergency or hazardous situations, e.g. earthquake and tsunami warning systems [ETWS]
• 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 76/20 Manipulation of established connections
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/50 for emergency connections

Abstract

In a cell phone position measurement system, a position measurement unit performs position measurement using a (GPS) satellite. A cell phone terminal notifies the position measurement unit of a (GPS) signal received from the satellite and receives a position information service. In the cell phone terminal, a receiving unit receives the signal from the satellite. A radio phone unit notifies the position measurement unit via a radio channel and a cell phone network of position measurement data obtained from the signal received by the receiving unit. A controller controls the radio phone unit and temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in position measurement through the receiving unit. A position measurement method is also disclosed.

Claims

1. A cell phone position measurement system comprising:

position measurement means for performing position measurement using a satellite; and

a cell phone terminal which notifies said position measurement means of a signal received from the satellite and receives a position information service,

wherein said cell phone terminal comprises

a receiving unit which receives the signal from the satellite,

a radio phone unit which notifies said position measurement means via a radio channel and a cell phone network of position measurement data obtained from the signal received by said receiving unit, and

a controller which controls said radio phone unit and temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in position measurement by said receiving unit.

2. A system according to claim 1, wherein said controller transmits to the cell phone network a call control message which designates temporal communication interruption for position measurement.

3. A system according to claim 1, wherein said controller temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in accordance with a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement.

4. A system according to claim 3, wherein when the radio channel communication state is one of a voice channel-connected state and a packet channel-connected state, said controller temporarily interrupts transmission while sustaining a channel during communication, and notifies said position measurement means by channel connection data communication of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

5. A system according to claim 3, wherein when the radio channel communication state is a channel-disconnected state, said controller notifies said position measurement means by disconnection message communication of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

6. A system according to claim 3, wherein when the radio channel communication state is an emergency channel-connected state, said controller changes an emergency channel to an intermittent transmission mode, and notifies said position measurement means by disconnection message communication of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

7. A system according to claim 1, wherein said controller temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in accordance with a radio channel communication state and a position measurement frequency of position measurement at the start of position measurement.

8. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set not to repeat and the radio channel communication state is a channel-connected state, said controller changes the radio channel to an intermittent transmission mode, and notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

9. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set not to repeat and the radio channel communication state is a channel-disconnected state, said controller notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

10. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set to repeat at a frequency of not less than a predetermined interval and the radio channel communication state is a channel-connected state, said controller changes the radio channel to an intermittent transmission mode, and notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

11. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set to repeat at a frequency of not less than a predetermined interval and the radio channel communication state is a channel-disconnected state, said controller notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

12. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set to repeat at a frequency of less than a predetermined interval and the radio channel communication state is a channel-disconnected state, said controller notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal.

13. A system according to claim 7, wherein when the position measurement frequency is set to repeat at a frequency of less than a predetermined interval and the radio channel communication state is a channel-connected state, said controller notifies said position measurement means of the position measurement data obtained from the received signal after the connected channel during connection is disconnected.

14. A system according to claim 1, wherein

said position measurement system further comprises an analyzer which performs lower layer data transmission between a plurality of base stations constituting the cell phone network, and analyzes radio signal arrival time, and

said controller notifies said position measurement system by channel disconnection message communication of position measurement data obtained by said receiving unit when a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement is a channel-disconnected state, and notifies said position measurement system by channel connection data communication of position measurement data obtained from an analysis result of said analyzer when the radio channel communication state is a voice/data communication state.

15. A cell phone terminal comprising:

a receiving unit which receives a signal for position measurement from a satellite;

a radio phone unit which notifies a position measurement system via a radio channel and a cell phone network of position measurement data obtained from the signal received by said receiving unit; and

a controller which controls said radio phone unit and temporarily interrupts communication in position measurement by said receiving unit.

16. A terminal according to claim 15, wherein said controller transmits to the cell phone network a call control message which designates temporal communication interruption for position measurement.

17. A terminal according to claim 15, wherein said controller temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in accordance with a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement.

18. A terminal according to claim 15, wherein said controller temporarily interrupts communication via the radio channel in accordance with a radio channel communication state and a position measurement frequency of position measurement at the start of position measurement.

19. A terminal according to claim 15, wherein

said cell phone terminal further comprises an analyzer which performs lower layer data transmission between a plurality of base stations constituting the cell phone network, and analyzes radio signal arrival time, and

said controller notifies the position measurement system by channel disconnection message communication of position measurement data obtained by said receiving unit when a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement is a channel-disconnected state, and notifies the position measurement system by channel connection data communication of position measurement data obtained from an analysis result of said analyzer when the radio channel communication state is a voice/data communication state.

20. A position measurement method comprising the steps of:

receiving a signal from a satellite by a cell phone terminal;

notifying a position measurement system via a radio channel and a cell phone network of position measurement data obtained from the received signal; and

temporarily interrupting communication via the radio channel from the cell phone terminal upon reception of the receiving signal.

21. A method according to claim 20, further comprising the step of transmitting to the cell phone network a call control message which designates temporal communication interruption for position measurement.

22. A method according to claim 20, wherein the interruption step comprises the step of temporarily interrupting communication in accordance with a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement.

23. A method according to claim 20, wherein the interruption step comprises the step of temporarily interrupting communication in accordance with a radio channel communication state and a position measurement frequency of position measurement at the start of position measurement.

24. A method according to claim 20, wherein

the position measurement method further comprises the step of performing lower layer data transmission between a plurality of base stations constituting the cell phone network, and analyzing radio signal arrival time, and

the interruption step comprises the step of notifying the position measurement system by channel disconnection message communication of position measurement data when a radio channel communication state at the start of position measurement is a channel-disconnected state, and notifying the position measurement system by channel connection data communication of position measurement data obtained from an analysis result of the radio signal arrival time when the radio channel communication state is a voice/data communication state.