Network and method for monitoring location capabilities of a mobile station

• US 20030060197A1
• Filed: 09/25/2001
• Published: 03/27/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/25/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gutowski, Gerald J., Benes, Stanley J., Declerck, William P., Downing, Lawrence
• Granted Patent: US 6,912,395 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/433
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 60/00 Affiliation to network, e.g. registration; Terminating affiliation with the network, e.g. de-registration
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Abstract

The present invention is a communication network (100) and method for monitoring location capabilities of mobile stations (102) in a database (120) of a communication network. Initially, the network receives an identification number from a mobile station (102). If the database (120) does not include a location capability corresponding to the identification number, then a processor (118) requests the location capability from the mobile station (102) and stores the requested location capability in the database (120). The location capability includes one or more of the following capabilities: an autonomous mode capability, an assisted mode capability and a legacy mode capability. To retrieve an entry from the database (120), the network reads the location capability corresponding to the identification number from the database (120). The network then assembles an assistance message based on the location capability of the mobile station (102) and transmits the assistance message to the mobile station (102).

Claims

1. A method for monitoring location capabilities of mobile stations using a communication network, the communication network including a database for storing the location capabilities, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an identification number from a mobile station;

creating an entry in the database corresponding to the identification number;

receiving a location capability from the mobile station;

storing the location capability in the database;

assembling an assistance message based on the location capability of the mobile station, the assistance message including location calculation parameters of the mobile station; and

transmitting the assistance message to the mobile station.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location capability is one of an autonomous mode capability, an assisted mode capability and a legacy mode capability.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving an identification number includes the step of receiving a location request.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of requesting the location capability from the mobile station before receiving the location capability from the mobile station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a response to the assistance message after transmitting the assistance message to the mobile station; and

updating an operation mode of the mobile station in the database, the operation mode being one of an autonomous mode, an assisted mode and a legacy mode.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of updating the database with statistical information about the mobile station, the statistical information including an instantaneous circular error probability and a cumulative circular error probability in the database.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the mobile station is in an autonomous mode; and

bypassing the steps of assembling the assistance message and transmitting the assistance message if the mobile station is in the autonomous mode.

19. The communication network of claim 1, wherein the database stores an operation mode of the mobile station based on the identification number, the operation mode being one of an autonomous mode, an assisted mode and a legacy mode.

20. The communication network of claim 1, wherein the database stores statistical information about the mobile station, the statistical information including an instantaneous circular error probability and a cumulative circular error probability.

21. The communication network of claim 1, wherein the processor is located in one of a Position Determining Entity (“

PDE”

), a Home Location Register (“

HLR”

), and a Mobile Position Center (“

MPC”

).

8. A method for monitoring location capabilities of mobile stations using a communication network, the communication network including a database for storing the location capabilities, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an identification number from a mobile station;

reading a location capability corresponding to the identification number from the database;

assembling an assistance message based on the location capability of the mobile station, the assistance message including location calculation parameters of the mobile station; and

transmitting the assistance message to the mobile station.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the location capability is one of an autonomous mode capability, an assisted mode capability and a legacy mode capability.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of receiving an identification number includes the step of receiving a location request.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of requesting the location capability from the mobile station before receiving the location capability from the mobile station.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

receiving a response to the assistance message after transmitting the assistance message to the mobile station; and

updating an operation mode of the mobile station in the database, the operation mode being one of an autonomous mode, an assisted mode and a legacy mode.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising the step of updating the database with statistical information about the mobile station, the statistical information including an instantaneous circular error probability and a cumulative circular error probability in the database.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising the steps of:

determining whether the mobile station is in an autonomous mode; and

bypassing the steps of assembling the assistance message and transmitting the assistance message if the mobile station is in the autonomous mode.

15. A method for monitoring location capabilities of mobile stations using a communication network, the communication network including a database for storing the location capabilities, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving an identification number from a mobile station;

identifying a category and a sub-category from the identification number;

locating a location capability corresponding to the identification number from the database based on the category and the sub-category;

assembling an assistance message based on the location capability of the mobile station, the assistance message including location calculation parameters of the mobile station; and

transmitting the assistance message to the mobile station.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the category includes manufacturers of mobile stations and the sub-category includes serial numbers of mobile stations.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the location capability is one of an autonomous mode capability, an assisted mode capability and a legacy mode capability.

18. A communication network of a wireless communication system for monitoring location capabilities of mobile stations comprising:

a database being capable of storing a location capability of a mobile station based on an identification number of the mobile station, the location capability including at least one of an autonomous mode capability, an assisted mode capability and a legacy mode capability; and

a processor, coupled to the database, to send an assistance message based on the location capability to the mobile station, the assistance message including a location of the mobile station, wherein the processor requests the location capability from the mobile station and stores the requested location capability in the database if the database does not include the location capability.