Apparatus and method for mapping a location of wireless base stations in a mobile communication system

• US 20040152472A1
• Filed: 11/19/2003
• Published: 08/05/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/29/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba (Toshiba Corporation)
• Inventors: Shoki, Hiroki, Seto, Ichiro, Yoshida, Hiroshi, Ito, Kuniaki, Sekine, Shuichi, Toyoda, Takehiko, Ono, Naoko
• Granted Patent: US 7,305,232 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• 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 48/20 Selecting an access point
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

The present invention is intended to provide a mobile communication terminal permitting a user to obtain location information of wireless base station which provides contents data in certain areas. The terminal accumulates identification information of wireless base stations when wireless services are received. The invention has functions of interrelating the identification information with location information of the terminal when the services are received and of storing both kinds of information. Wireless LAN service areas are displayed together with map information.

Claims

1. An apparatus used in a mobile communication system with a plurality of wireless base stations, comprising:

an acquiring unit configured to acquire identification information of said wireless base stations;

a location detecting unit configured to detect a present location of the apparatus upon acquiring at least one of identification information of said wireless base stations;

an storing unit configured to store the acquired identification information being associated with the detected present location of said apparatus;

a location information providing unit configured to figure a location of said wireless base stations using the detected present location of said apparatus stored in said storing unit and to provide the figured location of said wireless base stations.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said location information providing unit having map information, configured to add information of said figured location of said wireless base stations to the map information.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said location information providing unit configured to display the map information indicating said figured location of said wireless base stations.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mobile communication system is a wireless local area network system being compliant with a standard of IEEE 802.11.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication unit configured to communicate with said wireless base stations, said communication unit being adapted to a standard of IEEE 802.11.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a cellular telephone unit configured to perform cellular communication with a cellular base station being a part of a cellular network.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said acquiring unit configured to acquire identification information of said wireless base stations which is included in a signal transmitted from said wireless base stations.

8. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said acquiring device configured to acquire identification information of said wireless base stations which is included in a signal transmitted from said cellular base station.

9. A method for mapping location information of a wireless base station which provides contents data to a mobile communication terminal, comprising:

acquiring identification information of said wireless base stations;

detecting a location of said terminal;

storing the acquired identification information of said wireless base stations being associated with the detected location of said terminal;

figuring the location of said wireless base stations based on the detected terminal location associated with the acquired identification information of said wireless base stations; and

providing map information indication information of the figured location of said wireless base stations.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said mobile communication terminal is adapted to a standard of IEEE 802.11.

11. A mobile terminal communicatable with a plurality of wireless base stations, comprising:

a receiver which receives an identification data of at least one of base stations;

a location detector which detect a present location data of the terminal when the identification data is received;

a memory to store the identification data associated with the present location data;

a map generating unit configured to generate a map showing the present position of the terminal among base stations, using the identification data with the present location data from the memory; and

a display to show the map.