Location system and method for client terminals which provide location-based service to mobile terminals
First Claim
1. A location system for a client terminal which provides a location-based service over a coverage area, comprising:
- at least one mobile communication network for storing information indicating an area in which a mobile terminal is located and determining location of said mobile terminal in response to a location request message;
first means, responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, for retrieving area indicating information from said network corresponding to identity of said target mobile terminal to determine the area in which said target mobile terminal is located; and
second means for forwarding the location request message to said network to determine the location of said target mobile terminal if said determined area is within said coverage area and transmitting an error message to said client terminal if said determined area is outside of said coverage area.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
In one of multiple mobile communication networks, a serving node responsible for locating mobile terminals is responsive to a registration request from a mobile terminal for storing the serving node identity in a home location database to which the mobile terminal is subscribed. In response to a location request message from a client terminal requesting the location of a target mobile terminal, a serving node identity is retrieved from the home location database of the target mobile terminal. The serving node identity represents the current location of the target mobile terminal. If the current location area is within the coverage area of location-based service provided by the client terminal, the location request message is forwarded to a serving node identified by the retrieved serving node identity. Otherwise, an error message is transmitted to the client terminal to indicate that the target mobile terminal is roaming outside of the coverage area.
73 Citations
61 Claims
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1. A location system for a client terminal which provides a location-based service over a coverage area, comprising:
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at least one mobile communication network for storing information indicating an area in which a mobile terminal is located and determining location of said mobile terminal in response to a location request message;
first means, responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, for retrieving area indicating information from said network corresponding to identity of said target mobile terminal to determine the area in which said target mobile terminal is located; and
second means for forwarding the location request message to said network to determine the location of said target mobile terminal if said determined area is within said coverage area and transmitting an error message to said client terminal if said determined area is outside of said coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A location system for a client terminal which provides a location-based service over a coverage area via at least one of a plurality of mobile communication networks to which mobile terminals are subscribed respectively,
a plurality of databases associated respectively with said networks, each database being a home location of the mobile terminals of the associated network and storing identity of a gateway of the associated network; -
a plurality of serving nodes, each serving node registering identity of a mobile terminal in response to a registration request message therefrom and storing identity of the serving node in the home location database of said mobile terminal, said serving node being responsible for producing location information of the registered mobile terminal, said serving node identity representing a location area of said mobile terminal, a first gateway comprising;
first means including a first cache memory, the first means being responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, for retrieving a serving node identity and identity of a second gateway from the home location database corresponding to the target mobile terminal if said identity of the second gateway is not stored in said first cache memory, and storing the retrieved identity of the second gateway in said first cache memory; and
second means for requesting the location information of the target mobile terminal from a serving node identified by the retrieved serving node identity if a location area represented by the serving node identity is within said coverage area and for transmitting an error message to said client terminal if the location area is outside of said coverage area, or forwarding the location request message to the second gateway if said identity of the second gateway is stored in said first cache memory, said forwarded message containing coverage information representing said coverage area, said second gateway comprising;
third means including a second cache memory, said third means being responsive to the location request message from said first gateway, for retrieving a serving node identity from the home location database of said target mobile terminal if said serving node identity is not stored in said second cache memory or retrieving said serving node identity from said second cache memory if the same is present therein; and
fourth means for requesting the location information of the target mobile terminal from a serving node identified by the retrieved serving node identity if a location area represented by the serving node identity is within a coverage area represented by the coverage information contained in said location request message and for transmitting an error message to said client terminal via said first gateway if the location area is outside of said coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A gateway for serving a client terminal which provides a location-based service to mobile terminals over a coverage area through at least one mobile communication network which stores information indicating an area in which a mobile terminal is located and determines the location of said mobile terminal in response to a location request message, comprising:
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first means, responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, for retrieving area indicating information from said network corresponding to identity of said target mobile terminal to determine the area in which said target mobile terminal is located; and
second means for forwarding the location request message to said at least one network to determine the location of said target mobile terminal if said determined area of the target mobile terminal is within said coverage area and transmitting an error message to said client terminal if said determined area of the target mobile terminal is outside of said coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A method of locating a mobile terminal when a location request message is received from a client terminal which provides location-based service to said mobile terminal when the mobile terminal is located within the coverage area of said service, comprising:
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a) responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, determining an area in which said target mobile terminal is located; and
b) determining location of said target mobile terminal if said determined area is within said coverage area and transmitting an error message to said client terminal if said determined area is outside of said coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer program for locating a mobile terminal when a location request message is received from a client terminal which provides location-based service to said mobile terminal when the mobile terminal is located within the coverage area of said service, said program comprising code means adapted to perform, when said program is run on a data processing system, the steps of:
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a) responsive to a location request message from said client terminal requesting location information of a target mobile terminal, determining an area in which said target mobile terminal is located; and
b) determining location of said target mobile terminal if said determined area is within said coverage area and transmitting an error message to said client terminal if said determined area is outside of said coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61)
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Specification